Dojo Danger

It's almost expected that casual games on the App Store will feature either zombies or ninjas at some point in their life cycle.

When a game features both zombies and ninjas, like Dojo Danger does, the developer is going to have a hard time convincing anyone that the game is anything but a derivative attempt to cash in on pop culture trends.

Despite this rocky start, however, there's enough in Dojo Danger to merit a deeper look.

Dojo Danger bills itself as a strategy title, but it's closer to pinball or Ninjago Spinjitzu than anything else.

To attack a zombie, you tap a ninja, pull him back, and then let go to send him careening about the board. Colliding into a zombie will damage it, but the real pain comes from bouncing zombies off walls and into obstacles.

Each dojo level is laid out differently, with some offering spike panels, stone blocks, and spring-loaded panels that you have to factor into your shots.

While these obstacles are certainly factors to consider, they fall well-short of the strategy mark as most of the time you'll just pull, release, and hope for the best.

Looking at the gameplay itself, Dojo Danger should stand out as a satisfying casual action game.

There are over 30 characters for you to collect and deploy on stages, each with its own unique abilities and quirks. With all of these characters at your disposal, levels rarely feel stale.

Sadly, even with this cavalcade of characters, Dojo Danger collapses under the weight of its load times and its push toward in-app purchases.

Each level of Dojo Danger takes a staggering amount of time to load, and at the early stages you'll frequently spend more time waiting than you will playing.

After enduring the load screens, you'll be dumped at a power-up screen where you can purchase boosters to enhance the performance of your ninjas.

These boosters run the gamut from a devastating Earthquake to a useful Mass Heal, and while they're great ways to get a leg up on gameplay they're by no means required if you hope to win a level.

If you can endure the load screens and temptation to drop coins (and hard currency) on optional boosters, Dojo Danger delivers short, sweet bursts of gameplay well-suited to low-investment mobile play sessions.

It's a game that could have been great but instead slumps into the doldrums - which is a rather impressive feat, considering that it has you flinging ninjas at zombies every time you play.