Game Review: Ninjatown

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

"Ninjatown"

For: Nintendo DS

ESRB Rating: Everyone (mild cartoon violence, crude humor)

One of the more upstart gaming rackets of 2008 is the tower defense genre, which basically is the real-time strategy genre with some of the fat trimmed. You're still building armies and playing live chess with an approaching enemy, but the sole goal is to prevent your turf from succumbing to invasion.

The absolute best introduction to this genre is "PixelJunk Monsters" on the Playstation 3, but the most accessible - and perhaps stylish - comes courtesy of "Ninjatown," which threads the needle between player freedom and entry-level accessibility to produce one of the most pleasantly surprising experiences to hit the Nintendo DS all year.

Part of that surprise comes from the fact that, with its cheerful color palette and obscenely cute cast of ninjas (the good guys) and demons, "Ninjatown" initially looks like a game for kindergarteners.

Give "Ninjatown" a whirl, though, and it becomes apparent awfully quick how polished every facet of the game, from the menus on down, is. A little time with the game's characters reveals a sly writing style that both complements and belies the cute exterior. And while the tutorial level is pretty simple, it does more than enough to communicate the possibilities that lie ahead.

Once those possibilities kick in, "Ninjatown" starts rolling. At no point does the game offer troop control on a "StarCraft" scale, but between the different types of ninjas you eventually can employ and your ability to upgrade and manage each unit, there's plenty of on-the-fly masterminding at your disposal. You'll also acquire a few special powers, which come in handy when your ninjas need a breather or simply aren't cutting it.

You'll need them, too. Tiny opening levels quickly give way to larger maps, and "Ninjatown" steadily ups the challenge ante from there. Once you tap into the game's latter half, don't be surprised if you don't find it so cute anymore, especially when the game slaps you with a C grade after you finally scrounge up a plan that gets you through a map by the skin of your back. (The grades don't hinder your progress - only your morale.)

"Ninjatown's" multiplayer component (two players, local wireless only) would have benefitted from co-op or a mode that allowed one player to play as the demons, but what you get - a race against a friend to clear a map first - is quite fun. Experienced players will particularly benefit from this feature, which lets you pit your management tactics against each other in the ultimate test of strategic supremacy.

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