Underrated:- Ninjatown
Hello and welcome to the third edition of Thoroughly Underrated Games You Probably Should Play; a series of articles in which we attempt to transform you mindless drones into cultured, well informed gamers by introducing you to some under-appreciated gaming goodness. This time we bring to you a lovely little tower defence game (they are mostly rubbish but stick with this, this one is really good!) for the Nintendo DS. Take it away Crofterz.
Welcome to Ninjatown, a bright, vibrant, funny and criminally underrated game in the vastly huge DS catalogue. You may well accuse T.U.G.Y.P.S.P of being a series of childish and cutesy game reviews, but this is mainly due to the fact that games such as these are often overlooked because of their graphical style. Thus, they go unnoticed. Ninjatown is a prime example of this kind of ignorance. That, and I’m an absolute sucker for anything charming. God I’m such a big girl.
I don’t want to get all iRate on your asses but it’s this pig headed ignorance that really gets my goat. I once recall telling a friend about Viva Piñata (another excellent, cutesy game on the Xbox 360) and as I was explaining why the game was so great, he stopped me mid sentence and completely dismissed the idea of playing “a kids game”. So angry was I due to his utter closed mindedness that I then proceeded to garrotte him with his own shoelaces… well, at least I did in my imagination.
“What’s so special about Ninjatown”, I hear you cry? Well, I’m not entirely sure. Let’s be straight here; as a tower defence game, Ninjatown does nothing new. It doesn’t have any unique or brand new gameplay mechanics or do anything fantastically different from any other tower defence game, but what sets it apart from others in the genre is that this is a tower defence game done right.
I wish I'd written this caption
I’ll be frank. I hate tower defence games. Until Ninjatown, I had never played a tower defence game that I’d actually liked. They all seemed to be like RTS games (Real Time Strategy games) minus all the fun, skill and size. And whilst Ninjatown certainly doesn’t have the size or scale of an RTS, it is the first tower defence game I’ve played that is genuinely fun.
Whilst most in the genre seem to test your strategic skill and thus get too hard way too quickly, Ninjatown is far more relaxed, casual and focused on being fun. The difficulty curve isn’t particularly steep. However, that’s not to say the game is too easy. It does get hard, especially on the later levels, but the curve is so finely balanced that you never feel unprepared and don’t really notice the change in difficulty.
What makes this game so great is character. Everything from the brilliantly oddball cartoon graphics to the genuinely brilliant, humorous cut scenes in between levels. Ninjatown works on so many levels that not only can children have fun with it, but adults will also find this game an absolute joy.
You wouldn’t be wrong to presume with a name like Ninjatown, the game itself centres around a town of ninjas because… well, it does (I know, awesome right?!). What’s more, it’s under attack! The evil Mr. Demon and his hordes of evil, devil, monster, creature things are attempting to wreak havoc. As the ol’ Master Ninja, you are the only one who can protect the town… with the aid of various different ninja inspired, tower defence units of course.
There are Consultant Ninjas who inform you of your best plan of defence, Anti-Ninjas who aren’t as fast as regular ninja units but are far stronger and Sniper Ninjas, to name but a few of the different unit types at your disposal. Each ninja type is used to combat the many different enemy types. Ninja and Anti-Ninja units are capable of tackling the Wee Devil and slightly stronger Chubby Devil ground units whilst the Sniper Ninjas take out any aerial threat from the Winged Devils. Ninja huts are used to make your units stronger on the battlefield, it’s all pretty standard tower defence stuff.
The range of different unit and enemy types really add personality.
Ninjatown does however bring something a little bit new to the table. By completing levels not only do you unlock new ninja units and enemies but also ninja powers, which can be unleashed once the power meter is full (it builds up with every enemy you kill). My personal favourite is called “Get Off My Lawn!!!” which blows enemies off the screen by blowing into the DS’s mic. You may well look like an absolute idiot whilst doing this but you can only commend the developers for trying to put a few unique gameplay ideas into the formula.
As a platform, the Nintendo DS is absolutely perfect for tower defence games. The touch screen gives you an intuitive way to assemble, organise and strategically plan defence with just a touch of the screen. Thankfully Ninjatown uses the touch controls, so the controls are absolutely spot on and allow deployment and organisation of ninja units very quickly.
Sound is equally as expertly employed. Quirky and fun with an oriental twist is a winning mix. I would liked to have heard some funny sounds in the cut-scenes, such as the random waffling sounds of character dialogue in Henry Hatsworth and The Puzzling Adventure (the subject of T.U.G.Y.P.S.P episode 1, viewable here: http://rt.nu/dfjvc6) but that is only a minor gripe.
So there you have it, finally a good tower defence game… Such things are as rare as gold dust. Now, as your master I command you to go out and buy it! Go forth minions and I’ll see you next time for episode 4 of Thoroughly Underrated Games You Probably Should Play 
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