Ninjin: Clash of Carrots

Genre: Arcade Brawler

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local and Online)

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Review:

Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is an arcade brawler with a cutesy presentation under which hides an interesting spin on the brawler genre. The game has you controlling a cartoon samurai bunny or fox avenging their town’s carrot crop being stolen by the evil brat son of the also evil shogun (hey, I said it was cutesy), but despite the kid-friendly exterior, this game manages to do some amusing and innovative things with the old genre.

Each level takes place at a sprint – everyone and everything is in constant motion, and since you’re running forward, your primary attacks are all on one side, since you can’t very well attack behind while you’re running forward. This makes positioning a key part of battles, trying to get yourself back behind enemies after slicing your way through them.

That’s not to say you’re completely powerless when you’re to the right of enemies, though – players have a projectile attack and a dash attack that can go in any direction, at the cost of stamina that takes a moment to recharge. As such, battles often become a matter of carefully spacing out these sorts of attacks so you don’t find yourself drained of stamina when you need it.

The game throws a good variety of enemies at you – enemies that use standard melee attacks, enemies that shoot various projectiles at you, enemies that go into a berzerker rage when they take a hit, and much of the fun and challenge comes from anticipating the attack patterns of the various groups of enemies as you encounter them.

The game also does that thing where you can spend cash (er, sorry, carrots) to upgrade your character’s loadout in-between stages, which is a nice touch that gives players some flexibility in how they approach the game.

The game’s presentation is… okay. It’s cute, but nothing to write home about. However, the game’s story is quite funny, written with a good sense of humor and memorable characters.

All told, if you’re looking for a good brawler on the Switch, Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a delightful surprise well worth checking out. And while the cute exterior may be a bit off-putting, if you can give it a chance, you’ll find a lot to love here.

tl;dr – Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a refreshingly unique arcade brawler hidden under a cutesy exterior. While the presentation leaves something to be desired, the gameplay is original and the sense of humor here is amusing. Fans of the genre, don’t let yourself be fooled by the game’s fluffy visuals, it’s well worth your time.

Grade: B

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