iTuesday Review: Bloodshed Ninja

A collaboration between Catnip Games and Aruba Studios comes Bloodshed Ninja,an automatic side scrolling slasher set in the early years of Japan. Two game modes are available, Default; where you fight through the levels, and endless slaughter; where the backgrounds cycle until you die a warrior’s death. I feel that the four levels and the two game modes are substantial for the mere price of 99 cents, but the replay-ability of the game has no hold. It’s one of those games that “yeah, you get your dollar out of it, but it doesn’t keep its novelty well.” Lets start with the good things about Bloodshed Ninja. The first thing that comes to mind is the amazing background art, and icons to go with the game. Each individual level has the look that it was painted by the most disciplined samurai to date. The Sound effects of the game are also impressive for the iPhone, sounding as if it was set in a ‘60s-‘70s Kung Fu movie- most noticeably the slashes of the katana and the cries of fallen foes.

Actual Screen Capture from my iPhone

Then there is the bad, and I hate that a game with such a great premise has such crippling downfalls. The first and foremost being the area of attack for our ninja hero. From what I can tell, its about half the size of his body- and if you look at the screens, there is not much room for error. There will be periods where you white-knuckle-grip your phone in anger because you swore that as you passed that red bushido, that his appendages should be separated from his body. Timing seems to be the upmost importance, so if you’re like me and get frustrated quickly with video games, I don’t suggest purchasing this title. The “two tap” system (where the jump is on the right, and the sword attack is on the left) where all you do is jump and slash. Fun, but gets old fast. Mixed with the problem with the strike area of the sword, 3 out of the five times your character dies you will be doing the screen thumb mash coupled with a prompt swear word reaction to whatever happens in the game. One final note,  I had to update my phone and restore from my hack program, which made me already quite upest. You need at least OS4.0to play this game.

Final Rating 7/10

CBR Breakdown: Played on: iphone 3GS, or iPad. Must have OS4.0 Time played/completed: 3.5 Hours Price Bought at: Code given for review Price Currently: $.99 on the app store Recommended price of $.99