One special ability allows the player to refill ninjas' health by humming into the mic while they are on screen. Another gives Ol' Master Ninja a magnifying glass that can be directed onto enemies with the stylus. Ninjas aren't helpless on their own, of course: Forest Ninjas shoot barrages of arrows, and Business Ninjas can ... smack dudes in the head with cell phones.
Posts with tag Ninjatown
Ol' Master Ninja's ol' magic
One special ability allows the player to refill ninjas' health by humming into the mic while they are on screen. Another gives Ol' Master Ninja a magnifying glass that can be directed onto enemies with the stylus. Ninjas aren't helpless on their own, of course: Forest Ninjas shoot barrages of arrows, and Business Ninjas can ... smack dudes in the head with cell phones.
Ninjatown: Tower Defense with ninjas
We knew developer Venan Entertainment and Shawnimals creator Shawn Smith were intending to create an "action-strategy" title with Ninjatown, but, for some reason, it never occurred to us that what they meant was a ninja-themed Tower Defense game.
Reviewing IGN's gameplay clips and Joystiq's hands-on preview, it's obvious now how Ninjatown will play: During a brief building phase, you'll build ninja huts along a path which will produce varied ninja units. Enemies will start to charge down the path, and your newly created ninjas must try to stop them.
Managing and commanding the ninjas from a hot air balloon as Ol' Master Ninja, players can jump into the battle with special attacks, such as smacking enemies with the Ol' Master Ninja's cane and slowing them down by blowing into the DS's microphone.
Publisher SouthPeak expects to include 30+ scenarios total, encompassing five different gameworld areas, for Ninjatown's fall release. Though there's already at least one other Tower Defense commercial title due for the DS -- 5th Cell's Lock's Quest -- the cute character designs, playful approach, and use of the system's features could be enough to turn Ninjatown into something special.
Read - Joystiq hands-on: Ninjatown
Read - IGN's Ninjatown videos
October may be Ninjatime
Gamefly, the online rental service that takes too long to ship things to our apartment, now has a release date for the adorable Ninjatown: October 16th of this year. This is the first we've heard of even a ballpark release date for the action/strategy/awwwww game based on Shawn Smith's characters. Gamefly tends to know their stuff, too, so if this release date turns out to be inaccurate, it's probably because the publisher changed it.Now that we know when the game is coming out, we can start budgeting our expenditures of hundreds of Pocket Staches and plush ninjas versus the actual game.
[Pocket Stache available here]
What's going down in Ninjatown

We're confident in our belief that Ninjatown is the only ninja game in history to feature cartoon hearts on its box. It's all due to the super-cute style created by Shawn Smith that the bizarre dichotomy between cute and cold-heartedly murderous can be maintained. For example: the game is a strategy game, which means war. The black-suited ninja is less than one second away from committing an act of violence on the boxart, and yet the ninjas' Smurf-Village-like dwellings overpower that and elicit an "awwww."
We've got the first direct-feed screens of the game in our new gallery, and the same feeling applies: yes, these are people who primarily identify as ruthless assassins, but ... we want to huggle them.
[Via press release]
EGM visits Ninjatown

According to Shawn, battles will be split into two phases, building and combat, the first of which allows you to drop in structures and create/upgrade the different ninjas at your disposal. While combat hasn't been finalized, it's expected to include a "puzzle element." We're not sure how that would work with the two screens shown so far, but it certainly sounds interesting!
Ninjatown: Real ultimate cuteness
Publisher SouthPeak Games announced today that it will be showing off Ninjatown, a previously unannounced DS title, at Germany's Leipzig Games Convention. The awesomely-named project transforms the shinobi Shawnimals license into a "quirky but intensely addictive strategy title."We're not sure what sort of hijinks the plushie assassins will be getting into, but they're bound to be adorable! What else would you expect from a clan of ninjas whose primary attacks consist of "stealth hugs, sneak snuggles, and fists of tickle fury?" Check past the post break for a trailer introducing Ninjatown and the black-pajama-clad characters.






