Ninja Reflex (Wii) Review

The Wii is fast becoming the most elite personal trainer money can buy. From training your brain to making you fitter, the Wii has a range of software aimed at improving at least one aspect of the person. With Ninja Reflex in the fray, gamers now have the oppurtunity to improve their reflexes in terms of speed and accuracy. With Ninja Reflex, you’ll soon be able to catch those pesky flies with chopsticks. But does the game actually improve your reflexes? And it is any good? Read on to find out.

Ninja Reflex is a compilation of 6 mini-games that aim to improve your reflexes. That wasn’t a typo either, there is only 6 games including in Ninja Reflex, although there are several variations available on each game. As there are only 6 mini-games, I will take some time to explain each one of them.

Shuriken

A rather simple game, here your objective is to destory ninja targets with shruikens as fast as possible. Using the aiming reticule, you simply need to aim at a target, lock on to it, and then flick the Wiimote in order to throw a shuriken. You also need to avoid Geisha’s or else you will lose points. Variations include hitting three targets of the same colour, hitting a really fast target, and hitting a sole target amonst a bunch of Geisha’s.

Hashi

This game involves catching flies with a pair of chopsticks and placing the fly into a bowl. You move the Wiimote to move your onscreen chopsticks and you catch the flies by pressing A and B at the same time. Pretty simple really. Variations include catching a single, really fast fly and catching a specific coloured fly.

Koi

As the name suggest, this game is about catching fish. No rods here, you must catch the fish with your hands. Using the Wiimote, you follow the swimming pattern of the fish for a few seconds which will make it raise to the surface giving you an oppurtunity to grab it. There are three different sizes of fish, with smaller, faster fish scoring more points then larger, slower fish. Variations include achieving a certain amount of points, catching a specific fish and so forth.

Kantana

Here’s your chance to wield the powerful Katana and take down Oni (demon spirits). Unfortunately, this game isn’t as good as one would hope as the Wiimote fails to register properly much of the time. The idea is to to block an attack from the Oni giving you a chance to strike. You block by moving the Wiimote to the left, right, or above your head, depending on how the Oni attacks you. Variations include taking down a huge Oni, taking on an incredibly fast Oni, and surviving for a certain amount of time without being hit.

Hotaru

This is the most simple game of them all. Your objective is catch fireflies by pressing the A button as soon as you see a firefly appear on screen. That is all. Variations include trying to react in a certain time (e.g., 1 second after the firefly appears) to catching a specfic colour of firefly.

Nunchaku

The aim here is to keep your nunchaku spinning by drawing a figure 8 pattern on screen (it’s actually an infinite symbol shape) and flicking the Wiimote to hit various objects the master throws at you. You’re getting the idea with variations, so I won’t go on and on.

Now that the games are explained, you will have a good idea of what the game is about. As mentioned, each game has several variations, although only a few are opened initially. To open up more, you need to obtain higher belt rankings. To do this you must play through each game (including what variations are unlocked) in order to earn a gem. Once you earn 5 gems you can go for a belt test. Here the master will give you three random games. If you pass, you earn the next belt. If you fail, you must collect 5 gems again before going for the belt again. You start at white belt and make your way up to black belt. It only takes about 10 minutes to collect the gems and earn a belt, so you can earn the highest belt pretty quickly if you are skillful enough. The problem is, after playing the games are few times, you probably won’t want to keep earning higher belts. Most of the games are fun, but there are only 6 of them and despite the variations, they do get a little boring after quite a few plays. I should add that they do get increasingly harder as you earn higher belt ranks, so you are constantly having to improve your speed and accuracy in order to make the cut. Regardless, whilst the 6 games are entertaining in their own right, as a full priced piece of software, it’s hard to justify buying a game that offers good fun, but just not enough of it.

Thankfully, there is a multiplayer option which allows two or more players to compete in any of the 6 games. Some are played at the same time whilst others are turn based. It can be fun with a few players, akin to the Mario Party mini-games, but even a little better in terms of quality. However, with only 6 on offer, the game still fails to entertain for long periods of time even with friends. The game does offer you some guided meditation, so taking a mediation break might calm you down once you realise that the money you spent is already…well, spent.

Ninja Reflex sports absolutely basic graphics and sound. Nothing special going on here, but certainly not a disaster either. Content and simple, they do the job. Replay value is limited and it questionable if the game actually improves reflexes at all. Naturally, you’re going to get better at the game as you play it more, although I don’t really think the developers claim that it will improve reflexes anyway, so it’s not an issue.

In all, Ninja Reflex is a good game but at the wrong price. This game would be better suited to Wiiware or at least a budget price. It’s over in a flash and although the mini-games can be fun (bar Katana at times), it just doesn’t stand as a game that needs to be in your collection. By all means hire the game, especially if you have some friends to challenge, but Ninja Reflex is just far too short and limited to warrant a purchase.

Graphics 6.0

Gameplay 7.0

Sound 6.0

Tilt 3.0

Value 8.0