10 Second Ninja X

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

10 Second Ninja X isa challenging Action-Platformer released in 2016 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One, and then ported to Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game is the follow-up to 2014’s 10 Second Ninja on PC. Much as that previous game did, this game’s premise is spelled out in the title – the game’s levels must all be completed within ten seconds or less.

The presentation in this game is simple, yet manages to have some decent personality thanks mostly to some amusing writing with great characters along with a pretty catchy fast-paced guitar-heavy soundtrack. The game’s 2D visuals, meanwhile, are merely okay – they’re cute and colorful, but they’re fairly simple in a way that’s not impressive in any way. Altogether, it makes for a game that feels like its middling visuals are being somewhat carried by better elements elsewhere in the game.

Speaking of those better elements, the gameplay here is surprisingly catchy. Players have ten seconds within each level to destroy all enemies, meaning that this is not just an obstacle course where you need to try to speed to the end, it actually requires some thinking through to find the best way to complete every level. Making things more interesting, players have three shurikens in each level that they can use at any point, but will want to make the most of to shave seconds off of their time.

My one biggest complaint here is that while this game does a good job of pushing players to do their best and improve, it also absolutely requires players to play their best, and simply beating each level isn’t enough to progress – completing levels earns you from one to three stars, and players must earn at least two-thirds of the stars in each set of levels before being allowed to continue to the next set. This means that more novice players will feel left in the dust by the demands the gameplay places on them.

However, if you’re a more skilled player of Action-Platformers, 10 Second Ninja X is definitely a game you’ll want to give a try. It takes a simple premise and combines that with good level design that does a great job of making players really plan out how to attack each level. It’s just a shame that those who can’t manage to shave enough time off of their attack on the game’s levels won’t be able to enjoy much of this game. However, if you think you could use a good, thoughtful action challenge, this game is absolutely worth a look.

tl;dr – 10 Second Ninja X is a challenging Action-Platformer with the premise that players must take out all enemies in each level within 10 seconds. The game gives players just enough options to really encourage them to think through making effective use of time and shaving seconds off their time in a way that’s fantastic… if you’re skilled enough to be able to do that. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in the earlier parts of this game, unable to progress. In other words, novice players need not apply here. But so long as that isn’t you, this game is well worth playing.

Grade: B

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