If there were an award for fastest growing new game genre in the last couple of years, I’m sure that the tower defence genre would be one of the contenders. Just in case you have been living under a rock for the last five years, a tower defence game requires you to build turrets to defend a base from incoming waves of enemies. All current generation consoles have at least one title that represents the genre. From the top of my head I can mention Lock’s Quest (which is in my pile of shame waiting to be played) and Ninjatown, both for the Nintendo DS. The story follows the Ninjas as they protect Ninjatown from Mr. Demon and the Wee Devils.

Instead of building turrets or other defense mechanisms, you build Ninja Huts. Each one will make two Ninjas available to fend off enemies. They can have different abilities depending on which hut you build: Wee Ninjas are weaker but immune to status modifiers (poison, slow, stun or zombiefication), White Ninjas can slow down enemies with snowballs, Lava Ninjas can set enemies on fire, and more. Defeating enemies earns you Ninja Star Cookies that can be used to build more huts or upgrade the ones already on the map to produce stronger and faster Ninjas. Besides Ninja Huts, you can also build Modifier Buildings which enhance the huts that are placed immediately next to them.

Ninjatown mixes the traditional tower defence gameplay of building and waiting for the next wave of enemies with special powers and tokens as you progress through the game. As you defeat enemies, the Ol’ Master Ninja Power Cane fills and when you have enough happiness (yes, I know it sounds crazy), you can use one of his powers (one of them involves blowing in the DS’s microphone to push enemies away). Tokens can be used anytime during a level as long as you have stock available. These are given to you randomly by a slot machine as a reward for finishing a map. My personal favourite is the Ninja Dropping, that damages the enemies with its stink! The game is divided into nine districts and each one of them has four maps. All of them feature waves of enemies, but some of them have special goals like protecting a building from the devils or beating a specific devil that can only be attacked by one of the Ol’ Master Ninja powers. My favourite levels were the ones where there are paths that can’t be reached by Ninjas and forces you to active some cannons to defeat enemies.

This adds an extra level of strategy that other games of the same genre don’t have. The last level of each district also features a boss-type creature. Once you finish a map, your performance will be graded depending on how long it took you to complete the level or how much damage you received. All completed maps are accessible at any time, allowing you to replay them and improve your grade. The game also features single and multi-cart multiplayer. The controls are simple, you can move around the map with the d-pad and you navigate the menus with the touchscreen. The top screen is used to display a mini-map, your stats and information about the upcoming waves of enemies. The game is fairly easy compared to other games of the genre, but even if you get stuck on one of the maps, the game will give you the chance to re-try it on easy mode.

Tower defense games are very addictive but can get repetitive very easily. Ninjatown avoids falling into this pitfall with the varied range of powers, tokens, maps and enemies. But where the game shines is at adding its own style. The silly story, the characters, the cut-scenes, the weird humour all blend together perfectly making it stand above other games in the genre (can you name any other game that comes with a Ninja Dropping vinyl decal?). Ninjatown is one of those little games that just delivers on every level. Venan and the team at Shawnimals did an excellent job of adding the Ninja flavour to the genre. If you enjoy tower defense games, check this one out because you won’t be disappointed.