Game Info
GAME NAME: Yasai Ninja
DEVELOPER(S): Reco Technology
PUBLISHER(S): Reco Technology
PLATFORM(S): PS4
GENRE(S): Action
RELEASE DATE(S): July 21st, 2015
There is something about ninja vegetables that seems to peak my interest. Maybe it goes back to my Parappa the Rapper days with the Onion Sensei in the first stage, but either way ninja vegetables alone was reason enough for me to play Yasai Ninja. This title is from Reco Technology, who are also the creators of Toro, which wasn’t too great in my opinion. You will be taking control of Samurai Onion and Broccoli Joe traveling across ancient Japan defeating all the evil minions that roam about.
The game starts out with Samurai Onion losing his honor and finding himself near a jail cell with Broccoli Joe inside. After much talk Joe convinces Onion to let him out and pursue a mission to gain back his honor. You can switch between both characters when you like to use either one while defeating the evil cucumber hordes. There isn’t much to talk about when controls are involved, mainly because they are very basic and actually seem unresponsive at times. Obviously, that alone makes it difficult to enjoy the game first hand with the controls not being as responsive as they should.
There are two styles of levels throughout the game and those are some being 3D hack and slash style, while the other being a side-scrolling platformer. The 3D levels are very generic and the camera seems to have a few issues as well with not moving when you press the right analog stick to change your view. I also noticed that when I would run towards enemies and try to attack them, occasionally the game would glitch and make me fly across the screen and attack an area opposite of the enemies. This was overly frustrating as I couldn’t attack certain enemies or save my ally due to being moved to the other side of the area. The side-scrolling levels are typical jump to this platform and time that jump so you don’t fall. The jump button could’ve been more responsive, but this again goes back to the controls being a bit unresponsive at times.
Yasai Ninja also has a local co-op feature that is alright to use, but doesn’t make the game any better. The sound is basically revolved around a typical Japanese style theme with no voice acting whatsoever. The visuals are definitely better than Toro, but still aren’t something to write home about. All in all I believe the platforming part of the levels excelled in all aspects of this game.
The Recommendation
I know we are supposed to give reasons why you should play these games and well, Yasai Ninja isn’t the best game to recommend to everyone due to it being underdeveloped. It isn’t the worst game I have ever played, but it definitely isn’t the best. I feel that Reco Technology could’ve made a better successful game out of this being a typical side-scrolling platformer with enemies throughout instead of having the 3D levels that seem to handicap this title.