By IGN.com
Hands-on I-Ninja
Full impressions, exclusive shots and movies on Namco's smart, diverse ninja-platformer.
May 28, 2003 - Namco is diversifying in ways it's never really done before. With all of the action games -- from Spawn to kill.switch to Time Crisis 3 -- coming down the pipe in November, it's interesting to see the company return, in a way, to its roots.
I-Ninja, like Klonoa and Pac-Man World before it, follows in the footsteps of all good platformers, but in this case, the themes and the actions differ from the norm. First of all, you're a round-headed ninja. Second, your super-deformed little guy is capable of things few ninjas or platformers can do. But before I get ahead of myself, let me start where things should be started. At the beginning.
In development with Argonaut Studios, whose history spotlights healthy platformer roots (with Croc and Croc 2 amongst the others), I-Ninja is slated for a PlayStation 2 and GameCube release in November. This single-player game, which at one point was cel-shaded, invites players to step into the wooden platform sandals of a short little teenage ninja who happens to have killed his mentor and, in his own dark and brooding way, must endeavor through a series of missions (five worlds in all) to face his own dark consequences. If you're getting that Anakin Skywalker vibe (i.e. Darth Vader) of Star Wars fame, you're spot on.
Only this is a superdeformed, almost bobble headed ninja we're talking about. He's in parts cute, whimsical and bad ass, and his range of basic moves, along with those he earns is happily surprising. In fact, the whole game is rather surprising. For starters and like any good ninja, he can run along walls (Shinobi, eat your heart out), hurl shurikens, use a blow gun, slice other small-bodied enemies with his sword and use a momentum-style running technique to run and down half-pipes to get to out-of-the-way areas. And like any good traditional ninja, Ninja (that's his name, "Ninja") can slide like Tony Hawk (or if you prefer, like Tarzan did in his movie-based game back in the day) on rails using his traditional Japanese wooden sandals. Nothing wrong with a little rail sliding, eh? If Klonoa can snowboard, Knuckles can glide, and Jak can talk, rail-sliding is hardly far-fetched.
Ironically enough, the rails, along with rope swings, chain leaps, and a slew of other moving-style platform maneuvers, are handled extremely well. Little Ninja even gets the chance to partake in a gaggle of mini-games, the most prominent being the ninja ball. In one of the first levels, Ninja must make his way through a series of platforms to free a giant robotic eyeball.
The eyeball was stolen from a madmen who's taken over Robot Island and has plans turn it into a robot colony, where he can produce en masse thousands of robots to do his bidding. What's interesting is that the island is run by a giant mother-robot, which controls and regulates its functions. It's from that good robot that the evil madmen has bit by bit stolen parts, including this giant robot eye I'm speaking of.
Once he's reached and freed the giant robot eyeball, he then attaches himself to it, and gamers happily enough then get the chance to enter into the ninja ball mini-game. Much like Marble Madness or Super Monkey Ball or even Sonic the Hedgehog before it, players control the eyeball and navigate it through a chute, knocking down enemies (lined up as bowling pins) along the way and collecting goods. If you knock the enemies down perfectly, you receive the text command "strike!" Even if it sounds a little hackneyed, this little game, along with many more, are handled well and add small new dimensions to the overall experience.
Along with his shurikens and such, Ninja's assortment of moves comprise a healthy combat system. Players can attack with quick, strong or uppercut or mix them up for interesting results. Quick attacks enable players to clear out a crowd and then set up for a better attack. Strong attacks will literally slice the enemies into halves. They fall apart like ripe fruit, and strangely they're all green inside. The enemies actually get sliced up with a number of different animations, so it's light entertainment just seeing how many different ways they die. (Hey, it's a videogame, after all.) And the juggle is fun to experiment with too. Players can lift enemies into the air and have at them wholesale.
As of now, Ninja has a rather mature voice that only occurs during cutscenes and end-of-level point roundups. However, Namco is looking for top Hollywood talent to infuse this little guy with the perfect voice, which will apparently play a large part in the still-secret cutscenes and crucial storyline.
As for his expressions, his eyebrows tell all. They range from mad to extra mad, and it's true, we have seen his face too. At one point, Ninja is clamped by a robotic hand and the little guy grimaces in pain as he is carried from one platform to another.
I-Ninja may be overlooked with much bigger, more prominent games such as Ratchet: Going Commando and Jak II hitting retail stores this fall, but this cool little ninja is hard to deny. What's interesting to note is that if I-Ninja is well received this fall, Namco will fulfill its wish and expand upon its new IP (intellectual property).
To sum it up, the character himself is cute but kick-ass. The game's robust engine, the wide range of abilities given to your ninja, and the constant little surprises that Argonaut throws out will keep gamers pleasingly off-balance, surprised and engaged throughout. I suspect traditional platform fans will have a quiet surprise on their hands with I-Ninja when it hits PS2 and CG this November.
-- Douglass C. Perry
zou iemand een bewegende icon van Ikaruga kunnen maken voor mij ? plz plz
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Voor 5% gewijzigd door
NoTimeRemains op 29-05-2003 12:06
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