Review - Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin

By Jon Evans
Developers; TT Fusion
Publisher; Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Formats; PS Vita (format reviewed), 3DS
Release Date; Out now 
Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin is the latest Lego game backflipping and spinning onto the PS Vita and 3DS. It is exclusive to the handhelds and, because of this focus on the more mobile aspect of the game, is one of the highest quality hand held games I have played in a long time. 

Lego Ninjago is a major thing in my household. My daughter has gone through many obsessions in her 5 years, but this has scaled even dizzier heights than her many other whims. She loves the TV series, and draws Ninjas on every conceivable flat surface in the house. Needless to say, I am fairly clued up about the world of Ninjago and the mythos surrounding it. You can check out my review of Volume #1 of the Ninjago comics to get an idea of what is involved, however think Lego Ninjas and Cyberpunk vehicles with a 'Journey to the West’ vibe and you’ll sort of get it. 

The Lego games are a very popular series. They are pretty much gateway drugs into gaming for children, with their safe and friendly content, vibrant colour schemes and accessible gameplay. Shadow of Ronin is a shining example of this, but actually raises the bar in terms of quality. Knowledge of the TV series is a bonus here, but not necessary in terms of enjoyment, however it is worth noting how excellent the fan service is in this game. All the main characters are here, as well as cameos from others too, and the locations are shown off to great effect, with the Ice Temple, the Toxic Bogs, Chen’s Island and the mountain village of Spinjago being some of the high points. Also worth noting is how well suited the TV series is to the Lego Video game franchise. Where before quite serious films like Lord of the Rings have been recreated, but with all the great humour and in-jokes added for comedy effect, Ninjago the TV series is already madcap and self-referential, so the transition to video game is seamless and probably the most suited to TT Games' series. 
Also adding to the suitability are the Ninjas themselves. The clear cut roles each character has are perfect for the game. Each Ninja has an elemental ability which is matched to the colour of their outfit - Kai is Red and has flame based powers, Jay is Blue and is in control of electricity, Cole is black and can call forth the power of the Earth and finally Zane is white and is the ice man. All the Ninjas can also spin at high speed and form mini-tornadoes, which is essentially their special move and is why their martial art is called ’Spinjitzu’. It’s a lovely and satisfying theme which makes these characters so attractive to children.  These abilities make for some pretty cool puzzle solving and strategising. As in previous games, certain puzzles can only be solved by certain characters and so a lot of 'solo-co-op’ gameplay is involved. Lego game veterans will know this as quick-swapping characters to allow you to control more than one of the team at any time. Console Lego games allow a dynamic split screen to accommodate more than one player in this situation, but on the handheld this swapping is the way forward.
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As for the puzzles themselves, TT Fusion have taken gameplay to a level above previous Lego games. Shadow of Ronin is approaching almost Nintendo-esque levels of quality in terms of variety of gameplay and fun. Despite teaching you at the offset about certain themes you have to adhere to, there’s just so much to do and play around with, each level and puzzle seems brand new, fresh and exciting and also brilliantly well devised to show off the best of the Ninjago universe. It is worth noting that there’s nothing here that will challenge the more advanced puzzle solver, with plenty of hints (in the form of gongs you have to hit for info) and colour coding to help you along, however the challenge is pitched very well at the target age group.
Also satisfying are the less puzzle-based set pieces in the game, which act as pleasing palette cleansers layered between the levels. One of these involves a rather cool world map, reminiscent of early Final Fantasy games, where you fly a Lego dragon over the Island of Ninjago collecting floating coins and blowing up collectible statues on mountain tops. This also allows you to fly to previously played locations and replay them again. Add to this some faster paced vehicular levels, where you fly into the screen shooting enemy craft and avoid obstacles, and some fun mech-based stomping and destruction, TT Fusion have worked hard at maintaining interest throughout the game. 




Very occasionally, there is a lack of consistency with the signposting of some of the more elaborate set ups and some younger players may struggle to solve a couple of the puzzles and will require a lot of trial and error and plenty of the trademark exploring. I also found some of the platforming a little bit hard to judge, in terms of depth in and out of the screen, despite a targeting ring appearing below my character’s feet like a shadow. At times too, trying to catch hanging vines to swing across gaps was very difficult, until I discovered I could touch the screen and lead my character onto them. This did involve some Heavy Rain style contortions of my fingers on the Vita, without any sort of prompting from the game, so it did seem strange when so much else is shown to you. These were very minor gripes compared to the overall quality of the game, and it is good to have an element of challenge to ensure you do not guzzle the game up immediately. 
In terms of story, Lego Ninjago has always been bonkers, but the story still hangs together very well and keeps the player interested all the way to the end. A new character is introduced, Ronin, who has stolen the Ninja’s memories and powers at the beginning of the game. He and his Dark Samurai army are out to gain military superiority by removing the threat of the protective ninjas and obtaining some mystical weapons. The search for mystical weapons is a running theme in many of the episodes of the TV series and even the history of Ninjago is based on this. This ongoing search and chase works well with the Lego game, with plenty of searching and unlocking going on, it makes for pleasant target-setting each time you play.

As always certain areas of the game are hidden away until you can unlock further characters who can access them. This means replaying the game is a must. Collectibility is also King in the Lego games, with the obsessive compulsive searching and breaking of objects down to find more gold coins as well as the eponymous secret hidden objects. Collect over a certain number in each level to earn yourself the ‘True Ninja’ awards. With literally dozens of different costumes to unlock for the different characters from all four seasons of the TV series there are lots of reasons to dip back into the game and feed your addiction. 
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Finally it must be said that this is a very good looking game on the handheld. It is approaching PS3 levels of quality on the Vita, with very little clipping or visual artefacts. The sheen of the graphics has a certain bloom to it that adds a dreamy ethereal air to the game, however it looks fantastic because of it. Another little nice detail is that smoke and dust in the game is not rendered as a slightly iffy smudge of brown cloud, but is actually shown as traditional Japanese hand drawn curls of smoke, which look beautiful and is a nice homage to the traditional 17th and 18th Century Japanese art. The Lilting Zither and Bamboo Flute sounds with the more modern speed metal and techno counterpoint in the soundtrack too is very fitting with the overall style of the game and it is all the attention to detail that adds to the quality. It is worth noting that I have also played Shadow of Ronin on the Playstation TV and it holds up really well on the bigger screen. 
As a game for fans of the TV series (and the soon to be coming film in 2016) this is a must buy, but even for Ninjago newcomers there is plenty here to please. For children, the immersion you get while playing and the crowd-pleasing elements of the game are spot-on. Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin is the culmination of Traveller Tales’ skills and hard work in this genre. Genuinely good quality game play, beautiful presentation and design make this the a very high benchmark for other games in the handheld market. 
Review copy of game provided by Warner Bros. Interactive
Images provided by Warner Bros. Interactive and screen grabbed from reviewer's Vita