Ninja360°

Fun idea for a game but takes some getting use to. Some of the graphics variations you have to choose from are not that great but others are fine.

It's time to consider upgrading your Xbox 360 to an Xbox Ninja 360. What we have here is a maddeningly addictive, exceptionally polished, and perfectly perfected platformer for your favorite gaming console. Being a ninja is all about finesse, mastery of one's limited abilities, and an understanding that the world does in fact revolve around you. In Ninja 360 you become the Ninja.

Yeah sorry you're not Ryu Hayabusa and making blood fountains out of your adversaries. You're definitely not one of those loser Ninjas that operate under the concept of stealth(eww) and there are no corrupt overlords to assassinate. Instead you're an old ninja...apparently named Gigi. I guess that makes you an old-lady ninja. Would you mess with her? I certainly wouldn't. In the name of Capitalism you must break into the twisted homes of some evil fraud who took money from the innocent. Apparently the only furniture this guy is fond of is SPIKES and PLATFORMS. Your mission is to rush in, jump around, climb some walls, and above all gather all of the coins sprinkled around each stage.

Thankfully unlike some other games that will remain nameless it's less about getting skewered hundreds of millions of times and more about getting through each of the 99 levels in as little time as possible. When I mean little I mean you have literally seconds to get as good a rating as possible. To give you a basic idea levels can last anywhere from 20+ seconds to uh...1 second. I give my wired 360 controller the hammer-throw treatment every time I miss a gold rating by half a tenth of a second.

As far as fancy tricks go Gigi has little to nothing. She can run, she can jump, and she can use some kite-thingie-with-a-Japanese-name to float slowly to wherever she needs to go. Wall-climbing as well as wall-jumping are also necessary abilities. Where things become really interesting however is when Gigi discovers parts of the level that end in a slope. By running or climbing onto these sections the entire level will rotate. It sounds a bit strange but in practice it's fluid and wonderfully handled. This leads to many creative solutions to each stage. While traditional methods will net you a bronze or even a silver rating the gold rating is usually awarded through some exceptionally difficult path that involves all of Gigi's skills. This lends the game a bit of a puzzler-aspect and adds replay-value. Ninja 360 leans heavily on the finesse aspect so consider sometimes that you need to move along the slightest bit of a slope to get that perfect angle. You'll try and retry stages again and again to get that best time and you might just keep trying if you think you can shave another quarter of a quadrillionth of a millisecond. It's danged addictive and will drive perfectionists all sorts of bonkers.

This game also deserves mucho kudos for just how polished everything is. The graphics are great, the controls are immaculate, the music is nice, and while the game is light on the extras it gives you the features you really need. Your best replays are saved and when you achieve a silver rating in a level you can watch a replay of what a gold-rating looks like. As an added incentive to do better your last replay can be used as a ghost so you have a constant frame of reference. The ghost looks like a shuriken so you're not confused by two senior-ninjas running all about). There are also backgrounds that can be toggled, even the platforms can be replaced with images of your gamertag if you're so inclined. It doesn't make a lot of sense I guess but whatever.

Like I said though this game does not mess around and while death isn't usually your punishment for failure it's just as disheartening when you miss the slightest of jumps and that last precious coin does not even graze your sweaty palm. Still the levels are tiny as heck and don't take more than seconds to complete. Eventually you'll get it right and when you do you'll wish this game had 999 more levels. Anyway play this game, love it, then buy it, and maybe I'll get to see a sequel. If you don't like it or even if you hate it, buy it anyway, and the eventual sequel will make you love it.