Mini Ninjas, that’s pretty self explanatory right there. Right off the bat, this game reminds me a lot of Kung Fu Panda. That’s not a bad thing to me, because I really liked Kung Fu Panda.

Basically, you are a mini ninja, you run around killing mini-samurai that “poof” into a cloud of smoke, and turn into little forest creatures. It’s really PG guys. If you are looking for bloodshed, this is not the game for you. Anyways, there are little cages of forest creatures that you break and set free, just like Kung Fu Panda. There are crates of stuff you can break to get coins, you pick flowers and roots and stuff that you can get “recipes” to mix into magical potions, just like Kung Fu Panda. These potions give you powers in a range anywhere from lighting bolt power to healing power. You will of course, use these powers to attack more mini-samurai. Then there are the weapons. Lots and lots of ninja weapons. Caltrops, Shuriken, Pepper bombs, smoke bombs, and cherry bombs, just to name a few. Couple those with your ninja kuji magic, and you are a killing machine.

You can play as five different ninjas in the full game, the demo gives you three of those. Hiro (the main character) is the youngest, and is proficient in the Kuji Magic. Tora, who for some reason thinks he’s a tiger. Futo, a big fat ninja-kid that bashes things with a giant mallet. Shun, an uptight ninja with a mastery of the stealth arts. And finally, Suzume, a girl-ninja.  Each of the ninjas have a unique skill set, and fighting style. Where one ninja may fail another will excel, so there is a little strategy worked into the game as well.

The controls are easy to use. Basically you have a few strike buttons, a “focus attack” which lets you put multiple strikes on several enemies at once. You power this up by killing enemies and collecting the red energy orbs after they die. All the potions and extra bombs and weapons are equipped on a separate menu, and added to what I’ll call a “wheel” of items. You can call up this wheel in-game and select potions, magic spells, and other weapons.

Graphically, Mini Ninja’s isn’t over the top at all. Again, very similar to Kung Fu Panda. Once you play the demo, you will know what I mean.

Overall the game is fun. There are a lot of areas to explore, things to collect, and potions to make. Throw in the myriad of diverse characters, and you have a good game with many hours of gameplay. I really took my time on this demo, and I spent a solid 40 minutes looking for every single thing on the level. Working to get 100 percent on each level would take a long time, so I think this game will definitely be a good value. There is a ton of stuff to do, weapons to get, characters to use, and places to go. Heck, you even get to go fishing.

I’m giving this demo 4 stars. The playability and diversity make up some for the graphics and campiness, but they don’t put it over the top.