Developer: Pocket Trap
Publisher: Modus Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One, Switch, PS4
Tested on: Switch
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots – Review
What is the typical thing that gets pictured as rabbits their favorite food? If you answered carrots give yourself a pat on the back. Well in Ninjin: Clash of Carrots; Usagi Village, a town full of rabbits, gets robbed of all their carrots, which causes full on panic and fear of starvation. So now it is the job of the two ninjas; Ninjin and Akai to get those carrots back. Ninjin: Clash of Carrots was developed by Pocket Trap and published by Modus Games. We got the chance to give Ninjin: Clash of Carrots a try and see how well we do as a ninja!
Story
All the carrots of Usagi village have been stolen by samurai looking crooks. This was the entire season’s crop and the village relies on that. Now it is up to two ninjas to retrieve the carrots so the little bunnies (and big ones) won’t starve. The two ninjas are a rabbit called Ninjin and a fox called Akai. Along the way, you will find the leader of the group who stole the carrots. You will find out more about him as you progress through the levels. There are also tons of other enemies that give you humoristic story parts before they attack you. The main story is a bit more in the background but not too much that it is easily forgettable.
Graphics
The style of Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a pixelated cartoon style in the game itself. Some of the art on the cover and character selection is a more anime, cartoon mix. In the whole game, you have this typical “Japanese” look as the game plays out in a sort of Feudal Japan. The fox and rabbit main characters are cute and tough at the same time and nicely designed. All the side characters look funky in a good way and some have over the top features which makes them funny to look at. The enemies have a mix between a more robotic and a more samurai design. All of them still fit in with the Japanese look the game is going for. The backgrounds have a simple pixel art design that fits with the rest of the game.
Sound
Music in Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is the typical happy-go-lucky background music used in games. The music sometimes gets a bit overpowered by the sound of fighting. There are a lot of different sound effects that accompany the fighting so it is normal that the music goes more in the background when you’re fighting a lot of enemies. There is no voice acting present in the game, the voices of the characters are represented by different tones and sounds of their words. For example, there is a corgi who sounds a bit like a dog barking when he talks.
Gameplay
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a side-scrolling, action, beat-‘em-up game where you play as either a ninja rabbit or a ninja fox. As you start a new game you see how some sort of samurai guys, under command of a creature on a floating vehicle, attack a village and steal all their carrots. This is where you come in. You pick one of the two ninjas and give chase after the bad guys. The first level is a tutorial that explains how to attack. There are two attacks at your disposal in the beginning: a regular melee attack and a ranged attack. The ranged attack will use some of your stamina so you can’t keep spamming it. You start off with a sword and shuriken that you can use as weapons but you can buy other, better, weapons later on.
Enemies can only be attacked from behind with the melee attack. So when there is a line of enemies you wouldn’t be able to attack, well this is where your dash comes in. You can dash through enemies and then easily attack them from behind. The dash is also useful for avoiding attacks or getting closer to enemies. You can also combine the dash with your melee attack to make a more powerful dash attack. This is quite handy when a couple of enemies are bunched up. However you have to be careful to not end the dash in the middle of enemies or you take damage. The dash and dash attack both use your stamina.
When enemies die they will drop carrots and sometimes a rare turnip. These carrots are the currency in the game. Once you rescue the (cute) corgi from the bad guy, you will be able to buy weapons and upgrades from him. Sometimes you will also find chests that randomly drop. These can contain carrots, weapons or upgrades. You can play Ninjin: Clash of Carrots alone or with a friend, both online and local. Your friend will then take the role of the other ninja and make it easier, or harder, for you to get through levels. There is also a “Live TV Show” which is technically a survival mode. In this mode you can either try to beat your high score or compete with your friend to see who can get the furthest without dying.
Each time a new enemy is introduced or about to appear you get the “new enemy” screen which basically just tells you the name of the new enemy. Once you have encountered one new enemy you will start to see them more often and after a while, they get combined together with other enemies you saw before. The basic enemies are pretty easy to beat but once harder enemies get combined it gets a bit trickier to beat them. Some enemies have special attacks like fire orbs or throwing bombs. The game is very creative in combining enemies together. Once you beat a few, their attack pattern also changes a bit and they get faster. Every level keeps getting trickier and gives the player a challenge.
Conclusion
Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a fun challenging game. There are a lot of levels and there is even a survival mode so you will be good for a while. The game is amusing alone or with a friend. So if you want a cute, challenging and humoristic game, then give Ninjin: Clash of Carrots a try. We really enjoyed ourselves while playing it during the review period.
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