Ninjatown
Encyclopedia
Ninjatown is a tower defense
strategy video game on the Nintendo DS
that was released on October 28, 2008.
s. But after a volcanic eruption, Ninjatown gets invaded by enemies and their leader, Mr. Demon, who is bent on destruction.
Ninjatown is based on characters created by toy designer, artist and former Electronic Gaming Monthly
editor Shawn Smith. Smith is the artist behind the Shawnimals line of toys. Ninjatown is a spin-off of one of his Shawnimal characters, the Wee Ninja.
strategy game.
When an enemy reaches a certain point on the screen, it disappears, taking 1 life from the player's 10. At the end of the level, the player is graded from A to D depending on how many lives he/she has lost. Completing the level with no lives lost will award an A, while losing 1-2 and 3-4 will result in a B and C, respectively. Losing any more lives will result in a D, and losing all lives forces the player to restart the level. Additionally, if a player has lost several times on a level, they will be given the choice to play the map on Easy Mode. If the map is successfully beaten on Easy Mode, the player will be "awarded" with an E, regardless of how many lives they had lost in the level.
The player can also build six different modifiers, that will endow any adjacent huts with a special ability. These include buildings like the training dojo which can increase the ninjas attack power, or the green tea bistro which makes units move faster.
Ninjatown features several different types of enemies that try to invade or destroy several places throughout the game's world. Most of these enemies are devils, such as the Speedy Devil and Tribal Devil, and other types of enemies, like Forked Toungeys that multiply when defeated, or Zombie Ninjas that can infect the player's own ninjas.
.com in their 2008 video game awards. It was also a nominee for Best Strategy Game for the Nintendo DS by IGN.
In addition, Ninjatown was a nominee for 2008 Best Strategy Game of the Year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
Ninjatown received mainly positive reviews, with a Metacritic
average of 80%.
.
Tower defense
Tower defense is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games.The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and ability costs...
strategy video game on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
that was released on October 28, 2008.
Plot
Ninjatown is a peaceful place populated by ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
s. But after a volcanic eruption, Ninjatown gets invaded by enemies and their leader, Mr. Demon, who is bent on destruction.
Ninjatown is based on characters created by toy designer, artist and former Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
editor Shawn Smith. Smith is the artist behind the Shawnimals line of toys. Ninjatown is a spin-off of one of his Shawnimal characters, the Wee Ninja.
Gameplay
Ninjatown is a tower defenseTower defense
Tower defense is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games.The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and ability costs...
strategy game.
When an enemy reaches a certain point on the screen, it disappears, taking 1 life from the player's 10. At the end of the level, the player is graded from A to D depending on how many lives he/she has lost. Completing the level with no lives lost will award an A, while losing 1-2 and 3-4 will result in a B and C, respectively. Losing any more lives will result in a D, and losing all lives forces the player to restart the level. Additionally, if a player has lost several times on a level, they will be given the choice to play the map on Easy Mode. If the map is successfully beaten on Easy Mode, the player will be "awarded" with an E, regardless of how many lives they had lost in the level.
Ninja huts and modifier buildings
The player steps into the shoes of Ol’ Master Ninja, tasked with defending Ninjatown from waves of enemies trying to make their way through the town. To stop them, the player constructs ninja huts along their path, from which ninjas will emerge to engage the enemy. The ninjas that live in these huts range from orange-clad anti-ninjas to snowball throwing white ninjas. A total of eight ninja types can be built, each being unlocked before certain levels. Building each hut costs ninja star cookies, the currency of Ninjatown, and as enemies are defeated, more cookies are earned. The player can then invest these cookies into building and upgrading huts to deal with the ever increasing waves of enemies.The player can also build six different modifiers, that will endow any adjacent huts with a special ability. These include buildings like the training dojo which can increase the ninjas attack power, or the green tea bistro which makes units move faster.
Ol' Master Ninja and enemies
The player can also make use of Ol' Master Ninja himself. As the game goes on, Ol' Master Ninja remembers more and more of the seven Elder Ninja Powers, powerful moves that can aid the player greatly. These range from blowing into the mic to send enemies back down the path, to stopping time, giving the player more time to build houses and upgrade units. Using these powers takes up Happiness Bars, represented by a Hickory Cane meter. Destroying enemies fills this meter. Every Ol' Master Ninja Power takes up 1-2 bars of Happiness.Ninjatown features several different types of enemies that try to invade or destroy several places throughout the game's world. Most of these enemies are devils, such as the Speedy Devil and Tribal Devil, and other types of enemies, like Forked Toungeys that multiply when defeated, or Zombie Ninjas that can infect the player's own ninjas.
Tokens
The final element is the tokens, which are won at the end of most maps. Tokens allow the player to summon special ninjas who each have a special, time-limited area-of-effect ability. There are a total of four Tokens collectable in the game. Examples of these include baby ninjas who slow down all enemies, or ninja dropping, who emanates malodorous fumes that damage enemies.Reception
Ninjatown was a nominee for Best Nintendo DS Game by GameTrailersGameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
.com in their 2008 video game awards. It was also a nominee for Best Strategy Game for the Nintendo DS by IGN.
In addition, Ninjatown was a nominee for 2008 Best Strategy Game of the Year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
Ninjatown received mainly positive reviews, with a Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
average of 80%.
Sequel
On May 09 2009 the Ninjatown website asked for fans to tweet @southpeakgames on Twitter asking for a sequel to be made. There have been no further developments since.Comic Book
In 2008, Ninjatown was adapted into comic book format. It is available digitally exclusively through Devil's Due DigitalDevil's Due Digital
Devil’s Due Digital Inc. is an American digital publishing company established in 2010 by cofounders Mark Thompson of Checker Book Publishing Group and Josh Blaylock of Devil’s Due Publishing.-History:...
.
External links
- Official website
- Ninjatown at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- Ninjatown at GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
- Interview with Ninjatown creator Shawn Smith
- Ninjatown digital comic book from Devil's Due DigitalDevil's Due DigitalDevil’s Due Digital Inc. is an American digital publishing company established in 2010 by cofounders Mark Thompson of Checker Book Publishing Group and Josh Blaylock of Devil’s Due Publishing.-History:...
.