Mini Ninjas Review

Suzume's flute can be used to paralyse attackers.

Having to swap these spells in and out of your secondary ability/item slot (by holding right bumper) every time you switch from Hiro to another character (by holding left bumper) is perhaps the game’s most aggravating quirk: it would have made sense, given the differences between characters, to allot magic a separate menu. This aside, the controls and interface are a breeze, and any gamer worth his salt will soon be bouncing all over the difficulty curve, laying down effortless guard-breaks, hold-the-button super moves and three hit combos.

Get ready to mash a button...

As in Blood Money, then, the path of least resistance is never far away, but also as in Blood Money there are more complex and stylish alternatives if you push for them. Copious swathes of long grass give you stealthy access to the enemy’s rearguard, while boss castles make much play of the vertical axis, with their tightropes of Oriental lanterns and scalable walls. Among Hiro’s unique gifts is that of animal possession, which has an array of uses: beasts can smell out collectables (many of which can be combined to make items), and some (bears and wild boars) pack a devastating punch.

Those arrow-proof hats have other uses.

The more you progress, the more organic and flexible Mini Ninjas becomes. Round about the four hour mark, I bumped into a band of patrolling guards near a castle gateway. Rather than doubling back or tackling them head on, I quietly slipped over the adjacent wall and possessed a conveniently situated boar, then charged the enemy detachment in the rear.

Shun the bowman is probably my fave ninja. He's a bit like Yoda, but madder.

At such intervals, it feels less like IO is introducing stealth action to new audiences as repackaging it for the core crowd, teasing out our knowledge of the genre without making a grand point of it. Casuals will find more to chew on, ultimately, but Tenchu veterans may be pleasantly surprised by the possibilities.

The story’s sub-10 hour run time leaves something to be desired, but it’s the missing co-op mode that tells against IO most: those roomy environments and skillsets are crying out for it. Given this and a stab at serious inventiveness, Mini Ninjas might have drawn abreast with LEGO Star Wars, rather than sidling warily around the perimeter of essential purchase.