I-Ninja

We throw new boy Ben Parfitt in at the deep end with this perplexing PS2 exclusive.

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If there is one thing wrong with I-Ninja, however, it’s the pace. I was blown away with the variety on offer for the first couple of sittings but as you progress further into the adventure quality is slowly replaced by quantity. Rather than space out the surprises throughout the game, once you’ve played through the opening two worlds you’ve more or less seen all the tricks up I-Ninja’s virtual sleeve. Later levels require the same tasks of you but these are stretched over progressively longer levels that unfortunately become more and more monotonous.

As the same mechanics that worked so well in the first part of the game are drawn out over longer and longer play areas, some of the polish that characterises these sections is somewhat diminished. The camera, so often the disease of 3D platformers, works brilliantly until forced to work in some of the more cramped later levels. Stealth in particular becomes tricky when the camera won’t allow you to see the enemy you’re avoiding because it has become stuck to a wall. Add to this the lack of pitch control with the camera, something that isn’t a problem until you’re faced with the tricky jumps required later on, and what appeared a near-perfect camera system begins to show its limits. When you can get 75% into the game without plummeting needlessly to your death once, it’s disappointing that it will happen to you several times in later levels.

The level structure again is something that works well at first, only to become frustrating later on. Capturing the ‘grades’ found at the end of each level allows you to attain belts. Once a level has been initially completed you can then return to face a tough, though limited, selection of extra challenges for extra grades. These can mean beating the level within a time limit, finding all of the red coins or defeating a set number of enemies. Though you will most likely clear each level on your initial visit without too much trouble, these extra challenges become very tough very quickly requiring dedication to beat.

The belts you have attained govern progress through the game. Initially this means that you don’t have to tackle every single level to progress but the closer you get to the end the more stringent these requirements become. For instance, you cannot face off against the final boss until you are a black belt and to achieve this you not only need to have completed literally every level up to that point but also most of the extra challenges. Whilst this was obviously intended to add longevity the game, it merely serves to guarantee that many gamers will never see the end. In an industry where few gamers regularly finish their games the trickiness and monotony of these additional requirements will be enough to put off all but the most ardent players. Surely a system more like that found in Super Mario World, where the game can be ‘completed’ by playing through less than half of the levels and the remainder left for players to dig out for themselves would have been more appropriate.

If you’re the kind of gamer who buys a title, plays it for a week until you pick up the latest release and then only returns on occasion, then I-Ninja is a quality platformer well worthy of your attention. It’s solid, fun and does just about enough to stand out from the crowd. If however you’re the kind of gamer who can’t put a title down until you’ve conquered every last challenge, then I-Ninja will either be a long and rewarding undertaking or a path to frustration and ultimately lunacy. At least either way you’re guaranteed some great fun, at least for a while.

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By Ben Parfitt