I-Ninja
Encyclopedia
I-Ninja is an action video game developed by Argonaut Games
and published by Namco
. It was released for the PC
, PlayStation 2
, Xbox
and GameCube
(in Europe, the game was available only for the Playstation 2
and PC
). A Game Boy Advance
version of the game was announced, then later cancelled.
Ninja arrives in Robot Beach and is told to rebuild Tekeyama, a giant robot that guarded Robot Beach before Kyza came. Ninja rebuilds Tekeyama and starts to fight Kyza in which he defeats him. Inside Kyza, a Rage Stone is found and Ninja retrieves it. Like before, he is unable to control the stone at first, and dashes around the area before heading for the next level. The guardian of Robot Beach and creator of Tekeyama, Yang, thanks Ninja by opening the gate to Bomb Bay, the location of the next Rage Stone.
Ninja arrives at Bomb Bay and saves it from many of the dangers the Ranx have set up. Ninja then finds a submarine inside a giant bomb and fights the mechanical fish, Ventis for the next Rage Stone. Ninja then meets the guardian of Bomb Bay, Aria. If anybody saves Aria from something, she always rewards the hero with hugs and kisses, with Ninja being no exception. She then tries to hug and kiss him, while he struggles not to harm her with the rage stone's power. Ninja opens the gate and gets away from Aria, not before calling her a "fish lady" and walking off.
The next area Ninja lands in is the Jungle Falls which is being haunted by the underworld demon, Psyamon. Ninja saves the jungle by defeating the Ranx. When Psyamon finds Ninja, Ninja is not ready to fight so he finds a battle suit which destroys the underworld demon. Ninja then meets Twikki, the guardian of the Jungle Falls (and a passive/cowardly one at that.) Ninja also locates O-Dor's Rage Stone which he uses, despite Twikki's warning to save him from an army of Ranx.
Ninja then enters Mountain Gorge where he saves the Mountains from the new, more powerful Ranx. After saving the mountains, Ninja meets O-Dor's right hand man, Malakai, who can control the elements. Ninja wins and takes a moon-shaped Rage Stone. After a confusing moment of Ninja climbing all over the large stone, trying to use it, a female ninja, Zarola, tells Ninja that the stone was a Teleport Stone, not a Rage Stone which will take him to O-Dor's secret moon base. She also tells him about the last rage stone which can resurrect the dead or grant immortality to the living, offering Ninja a chance to resurrect Sensei or live forever. Then, Zarola sends Ninja off.
Ninja arrives at the Moon Base and fights all sorts of Ranx until Ninja finds where O-Dor was hiding out. Ninja and O-Dor then have a battle across space until Ninja makes O-Dor blow up. Ninja then finds the last Rage stone and decides to use it on himself. Sensei feels disappointed by Ninja’s selfishness and floats away. Ninja starts to feel bad and then remembers Sensei saying that "Actions speak louder than words." Ninja throws the shuriken shaped stone at Sensei, and giving Sensei his life back. With everything back to normal, Ninja and Sensei teleport back to Earth. As soon as they leave, O-Dor manages to resurrect himself.
Certain levels also provide Ninja with explosive darts and ricocheting shuriken to use against his foes; both of these can be aimed using a first-person view, but shuriken can also be thrown with an auto-aim feature. Occasionally, Ninja will encounter an enemy that will leap into the air with him (in anime
fashion) to battle, and the two will remain suspended in a sort of flying void until the foe is defeated. While in this void, Ninja flies around and can dash, slash with his sword, perform an unblockable but heavily delayed thrusting attack, and throw shuriken if he has them. As Ninja attacks he will build an attack gauge that, when filled to certain levels, can be spent to temporarily enhance his abilities.
As the player progresses through the game he will gain access to more of these abilities; using them he can increase his strength, heal his life bar, ride a giant shuriken to quickly slay foes, or even become invincible, which allows him to greatly harm enemies in his vicinity without even touching them. (When Ninja becomes invincible, he says "I-Ninja!", which provides the game with its namesake.)
in 2004 and PC World
in 2010.
Argonaut Games
Argonaut Games plc was a British video game developer. Founded as Argonaut Software by teenager Jez San in 1982 the company name is a play on his name and the movie title Jason and the Argonauts. It had its head offices in Edgware, London....
and published by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
. It was released for the PC
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
(in Europe, the game was available only for the Playstation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and PC
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
). A Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
version of the game was announced, then later cancelled.
Plot
The game starts with a Ninja in training (simply named Ninja), who comes to rescue his Sensei (simply named Sensei) from the Ranx sent by Ninja's arch-nemesis, Emperor O-Dor. Ninja saves Sensei by defeating the Ranx. Then, a creature comes to attack Ninja which he deals with easily. The creature then spits out a Rage Stone which Ninja touches and goes into a fit of rage and accidentally kills Sensei. Sensei comes back as a ghost and tells Ninja that there are more Rage Stones and with their power, he can defeat O-Dor. Sensei then sends Ninja to find the second Rage Stone in Robot Beach.Ninja arrives in Robot Beach and is told to rebuild Tekeyama, a giant robot that guarded Robot Beach before Kyza came. Ninja rebuilds Tekeyama and starts to fight Kyza in which he defeats him. Inside Kyza, a Rage Stone is found and Ninja retrieves it. Like before, he is unable to control the stone at first, and dashes around the area before heading for the next level. The guardian of Robot Beach and creator of Tekeyama, Yang, thanks Ninja by opening the gate to Bomb Bay, the location of the next Rage Stone.
Ninja arrives at Bomb Bay and saves it from many of the dangers the Ranx have set up. Ninja then finds a submarine inside a giant bomb and fights the mechanical fish, Ventis for the next Rage Stone. Ninja then meets the guardian of Bomb Bay, Aria. If anybody saves Aria from something, she always rewards the hero with hugs and kisses, with Ninja being no exception. She then tries to hug and kiss him, while he struggles not to harm her with the rage stone's power. Ninja opens the gate and gets away from Aria, not before calling her a "fish lady" and walking off.
The next area Ninja lands in is the Jungle Falls which is being haunted by the underworld demon, Psyamon. Ninja saves the jungle by defeating the Ranx. When Psyamon finds Ninja, Ninja is not ready to fight so he finds a battle suit which destroys the underworld demon. Ninja then meets Twikki, the guardian of the Jungle Falls (and a passive/cowardly one at that.) Ninja also locates O-Dor's Rage Stone which he uses, despite Twikki's warning to save him from an army of Ranx.
Ninja then enters Mountain Gorge where he saves the Mountains from the new, more powerful Ranx. After saving the mountains, Ninja meets O-Dor's right hand man, Malakai, who can control the elements. Ninja wins and takes a moon-shaped Rage Stone. After a confusing moment of Ninja climbing all over the large stone, trying to use it, a female ninja, Zarola, tells Ninja that the stone was a Teleport Stone, not a Rage Stone which will take him to O-Dor's secret moon base. She also tells him about the last rage stone which can resurrect the dead or grant immortality to the living, offering Ninja a chance to resurrect Sensei or live forever. Then, Zarola sends Ninja off.
Ninja arrives at the Moon Base and fights all sorts of Ranx until Ninja finds where O-Dor was hiding out. Ninja and O-Dor then have a battle across space until Ninja makes O-Dor blow up. Ninja then finds the last Rage stone and decides to use it on himself. Sensei feels disappointed by Ninja’s selfishness and floats away. Ninja starts to feel bad and then remembers Sensei saying that "Actions speak louder than words." Ninja throws the shuriken shaped stone at Sensei, and giving Sensei his life back. With everything back to normal, Ninja and Sensei teleport back to Earth. As soon as they leave, O-Dor manages to resurrect himself.
Gameplay
The main character in I-Ninja has a variety of acrobatic abilities that are used throughout the game to defeat the Ranx army led by Master O-Dor. In addition to basic skills such as running and jumping, Ninja can also double jump, spin his sword around while midair for a limited time and use it to fall slower than normal, and use the shape of the environment to his advantage. Throughout the game there are several uniquely designed walls that Ninja can run on, and points where Ninja can use his grappling hook to swing across a gap.Certain levels also provide Ninja with explosive darts and ricocheting shuriken to use against his foes; both of these can be aimed using a first-person view, but shuriken can also be thrown with an auto-aim feature. Occasionally, Ninja will encounter an enemy that will leap into the air with him (in anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
fashion) to battle, and the two will remain suspended in a sort of flying void until the foe is defeated. While in this void, Ninja flies around and can dash, slash with his sword, perform an unblockable but heavily delayed thrusting attack, and throw shuriken if he has them. As Ninja attacks he will build an attack gauge that, when filled to certain levels, can be spent to temporarily enhance his abilities.
As the player progresses through the game he will gain access to more of these abilities; using them he can increase his strength, heal his life bar, ride a giant shuriken to quickly slay foes, or even become invincible, which allows him to greatly harm enemies in his vicinity without even touching them. (When Ninja becomes invincible, he says "I-Ninja!", which provides the game with its namesake.)
Reception
The game's protagonist has been included on the lists of the video gaming's top 10 ninja characters by 1UP.com1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
in 2004 and PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
in 2010.