Game review: Ninja Captains - Nintendo Wii

The plot of Ninja Captains is an incoherent mess, featuring ninja cats (yes, you read that correctly) who find themselves shunted across the planet just as their city is attacked by a giant robotic mouse (once again, yes, you read that bit correctly).

Needless to say these feline ninja have to get back to their city and stop the giant robot mouse.

Along the way they have to take part in a collection of bizarre games, ranging from catching vomit in a bag from air-sick passengers to outrunning a raging bull whilst jumping over televisions.

That’s right, televisions that have been left in the street, where there is a raging bull. I am not making this up, I swear.

The game offers two modes of play, story mode and party mode. Rather tragically you have to complete all the games in story mode to unlock them in party mode.

The trouble with Ninja Captains is that for the most part it is repetitive, boring and relies on a simple control mechanic of ‘wave your wii-mote up’ and ‘wave your nunchuck down’.

While the controls are responsive to your actions, it is still too simple to play, and there are Wii games out which offer far much more than this.

It also fails to advise the gamer clearly on what to do on each level. It then has the cheek to say “it looks like you can’t do it on this setting, would you like to play the game in ‘baby mode’” – a mode in which the score required to pass the level is reduced from 500 points to 250 points.

There are, however, a few games which are entertaining. The ‘Railroad Ride’ requires you to tilt the Wii-mote to avoid obstacles on the rails, and while it is very simple it can be a lot of fun for the younger player. The same goes for the ‘Ninja Skydive’ – a level where the cats skydive through hoops to score points.

For most part though the games range from OK to ‘oh my god, can this be anymore irritating’ – giving the impression that a good percentage of them are just there to fill up the numbers.

Which is a shame because graphically the game is alright. The graphics do their job and, whilst most the level design is basic and uninspiring, the presentation is suitable for this genre.

Possibly the most interesting visual aspect of the game are the cutscenes in story mode. Presented in a quirky 2D style, not too dissimilar to South Park, they offer the gamer a bit of respite from the lacklustre mini games during story mode.

One of the most frustrating things about this game is the audio however, partly due to the grating, repetitive nature of the out-of-time music, which just repeats itself again and again, making you want to cut your own ears off.

Overall, the Ninja Captains is a short party game which will fall to the wayside in exchange for something else like Wii Sports.

Sure, some of the games are mildly entertaining, but the bad levels far out weigh the good and the lack of any decent theme to tie any of it together will fail to appeal the casual gamer.

Verdict: 4 out of 10

The good:

“Railroad ride” and “Ninja Skydive” levels are mildly entertaining

The Bad:

Bizarre story
Short and repetitive games