Review by: Brandon "Chakra" Cackowski-Schnell

Despite the Mini classification and Mini price, make no mistake, Ninjamurai is neither small in stature nor difficulty. You can trace the roots of this ninja themed platformer back to games like Shinobi and other shiruken flinging games of yore, complete with the trial by fire attitude used in their design. The game may not appeal to those looking for a casual ninja romp, but those looking for a challenge will find plenty to enjoy.

You play as Takezou Nishimura, the titular Ninjamurai, a ninja-samurai hybrid who has been squirreled away in a monastery on account of no one wants anything to do with you due to your mixed heritage. Before long the Black Armor militia attack the monastery and kill your sensei and it’s up to you, your partner Yukiko and your unique blend of killing skills to avenge your sensei’s death and generally kill anything that moves.

As a combination of ninja and samurai you have access to two different combat stances to help you navigate through the levels. The default stance is more ninja-like, allowing you to double jump and stealthily move past enemies, unseen to them at the expense of Chakra, the game’s version of mana. Attack stance removes the ability to double jump but lets you spend Chakra to unleash more powerful attacks. Switching between stances is done by tapping the shoulder buttons and learning when to use the different stances is important lest you spend too much Chakra and find yourself at a disadvantage, or worse, take away your double jump when you need it most.

Similarly, learning the layout of the levels is your best bet for survival as the game revels in throwing bottomless pits and abrupt, mid-jump changes in direction at you as you make your way between the checkpoints. You’ll often be asked to jump without seeing your destination and be forced to rely on your ability to slide down walls and leap to nearby platforms for a safe perch or a powerup before doing it all over again. The platforming, with its reliance on double jumping and blind faith makes the combat stance the less useful of the two stances, but it still has its own, bloody charm. Unfortunately the game’s hit detection leave much to be desired giving you no indication you’re hitting your target until they dissolve in a crimson arc of gore. As you travel through the levels you’ll find various collectibles to entice you to go off of the main path, however you may find nothing but a bottomless pit or a collection of spikes as your reward making the level design, with its balance between risk and reward even more clever.

Once you’ve completed a level you’ll get a level score including time taken to get from point A to point B as well as how well you did ferreting out the level’s hidden nuggets. Completing the game opens up a time attack mode as well as a survival mode, with new areas of previous levels opened up as a result. The game also sports an achievement system to give you even more incentive to put your limited lives at risk exploring the level at hand.

The game has an art style that brings to mind Japanese watercolors with beautifully rendered backgrounds and a handpainted aesthetic that doesn’t quite sit with what you’d expect from a smaller, downloadable title. In fact, that statement pretty much sums up a lot of what’s so enticing about the game, that there’s so much here for the price. The old school platforming and sometimes punishing checkpoint system won’t appeal to everyone, but those that grew up on the platformers of the 16-bit era will be right at home, as will anyone looking to spend a little money to see how downloadable games have matured over the years.