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Ninja Tower Defence

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Ninja Tower Defence

Back in the '80s and early '90s, it was a truth universally acknowledged that adding 'ninja' to the title of a video game instantly made it 120 times more popular than it would otherwise have been.

Of course, times have changed, and ninjas have lost some of their cache - just look at the sales figures for Ninja Gaiden 3.

Apparently, GTWmarket didn't get the memo. Its martial arts-infused tower defence title feels like a dated blast from the past, with low rent presentation, an incomprehensible storyline, and poorly explained mechanics.

Rewriting history

From the same mould as Koei's Dynasty Warriors series, the game retells the story of an historic Japanese conflict - but it gives you the chance to change the outcome.

While it's hard to keep track of the broken English, talking-head heavy narrative in the game, the Google Play description explains that you are defending Oda Nnobunga - who fought for a united Japan against the mutinous sneaky tactics of Akechi Mitsuhide.

Fortunately, you can skip over the befuddled dialogue and just press on with the rote tower defending.

Enemies stroll, or occasionally float, from set points towards your temple. They normally follow a very straight path, so it's easy to deploy defensive units to pick them off as they make their merry, murderous way.

Basic warriors come in melee (katana and pike) or ranged (arrows and bullets) flavours, and can all be upgraded with cash earned in battle. Unfortunately, this is painfully slow to trickle in - so there's a lot of dead time during which you just have to watch the barely animated automatic combat play out.

Advanced tactics

In a relatively fresh Advance Wars-like twist to the game you can buy and assign Generals to support your troops with special weapons and powers. You can also buy extra equipment - like rifles, and war horses that buff your troops - using a sizeable bag of cash doled out as a bonus for buying the premium version.

Unfortunately, these perk systems are barely explained, and knowing which ones to deploy involves a lot trialling and a serious amount of error.

There are 30 stages and five unlockable difficulty levels to get to grips with, but Ninja Tower Defence's lacklustre visuals and user unfriendliness make it a tougher and more tiresome battle than it needs to be.

Ninja Tower Defence

There's a decent amount of ninja-themed strategy for your money, yet the stock gameplay, bland presentation, and wonky translation make it tough to recommend
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Paul Devlin
Paul Devlin
A newspaper reporter turned games journo, Paul's first ever console was an original white Game Boy (still in working order, albeit with a yellowing tinge and 30 second battery life). Now he writes about Android with a style positively dripping in Honeycomb, stuffed with Gingerbread and coated with Froyo