E308: A sneaky visit to Ninjatown
by JC Fletcher 
{ Jul 16th 2008 at 2:30AM }
I don't know a thing about Tower Defense, so Ninjatown was scary and alien to me. But, unlike most strategy things, the world is so super-cute and appealing that it motivated me to try to play it. The game begins with an adorable cutscene in which the mayor, on his way to a good cower, entrusts Ol' Master Ninja to defeat the incoming minions of Mr. Demon.Playing Ninjatown is like a sort of strategy Actraiser. You pick a square parcel of land and place the ninja group of your choice there; the building gets built, then ninjas of whatever kind come out and start working. Wee Ninjas beat up on enemies, Sniper Ninjas shoot peas, and Snow Ninjas freeze enemies with snowballs. You can also build training centers and other enrichment buildings nearby. The ninja fortifications can also be leveled up for more stamina and attack power. All of these use cookies, the official currency of Ninjatown, which are replenished by defeating enemies.
Gallery: Ninjatown
The goal is to defeat Mr. Demon's forces, who walk into town through one or more entry points, before they reach a certain goal area. For me, this meant frontloading the spawn points with ninjas. As soon as the demons appear, your ninjas set to work. You can direct them to certain locations by setting flags via a touchscreen menu.
The same menu used for flags (and for building) also houses items. I used a Ninja Baby on some monsters, which slows them down (they are caught up in the cuteness), thus letting my ninjas kill them before they damaged my base. The menu is a bit cumbersome in that you have to click a 'check' button after doing anything. You can't just select a Consultant Ninja and build a Consultant Ninja house. You have to select the location, select the ninjas, and then click the check. It's just slightly unintuitive.
Other than that minor issue, and the fact that I died a bunch, I really wanted to keep playing Ninjatown. Every single thing that happens is cute and hilarious, and I really wanted to survive through the next cutscene.
