The Legend of Fat Ninja is one of the latest character tossing games to hit the app market. Is it a recipe for success?
Take a dash of Angry Birds, a hefty helping of pinball then add quick reflexes honed from your years of chef knife skills; bake at 420 degrees and you have yourself a fun little iOS game called The Legend of Fat Ninja. Developed by Zephr Games and Wesley Gun Creative NY, LoFN is a labor of love from it’s humble beginnings on Kickstarter.
Like most Kickstarter endeavours, project backers were enticed with a variety of “perks” for chipping in financially toward the goal. In this case to raise $14,500 to finish and publish their game app. They met this goal by offering free downloads, ringtones, t shirts and even a mention in the credits. As a backer myself, it was a little exciting to watch the clock run out as they surpassed their goal in the last hour or so.
Can you smell what the chef is cooking?
The asian-influenced story of the Fat Ninja is a satire about master chiefs. “Our hero” is on a quest to become the greatest chef Japan has ever known. During each of the six levels in LoFN there will be an enemy chef to defeat. Once defeated, you can steal their secret ingredient helping you to achieve your goal of becoming the greatest chef.
Legend of Fat Ninja is a strategy and physics puzzle in the same vein of Angry Birds, Siege Hero, Worms and Worms 2. Start the game by launching the fat ninja from the sling shot and he will soar over the enemy chef’s territory, be it a populated village, a multi-tiered pirate ship or a cave with lots of ledges. What breaks this app apart from the strategy/physics pack is the arcade quality LoFN brings into the mix. After launching your fat ninja you can keep him “afloat” with up to three boosts. Tap the screen to continue to project him upwards. You can ricochet off of obstacles, people, even birds to maintain your altitude. This action is a lot like a pinball game: quick, dizzying and requiring a little bit luck. While also helping to keep you airborne, colliding with objects will also restore your boost and rack up points.
Eventually the enemy ninja will make his appearance. While banging around the sky you will have to aim yourself to pounce onto the enemy. He won’t go down easy it will take a number of hits to put him down. Once down, you will collect his secret ingredient and you're off to the next level.
The graphics are very sharp and colorful with a heavy outline. A popular drawing style among app games but the hint of an anime influence sets it apart once again. One of my only complaints is wanting to be able to see more of the detailed game levels at a time. This is especially noticeable while doing some high flying acrobatics, the level below will be completely out of sight.
At $1.99 you know you have room on your iPad for another game. Legend of Fat Ninja is a fun little arcade game. It will keep you busy for hours. The developers mention future DLC in the game description and there are leaderboards to see how your scores are comparing. It’s a universal app, so if you buy it for iPad it will also work on your iPhone. Surprisingly, LoFN is non-violent for a game with “ninja” in the title so it is safe to share with your kids. also, as a paid app you don’t have to worry about advertising or in-game purchases mucking up your play time.
Pick it up in the App Store or comment below and our managing editor will pick her favorite comment to receive a free download code from 2Old2Play. Let’s shake it up by cooking up some creative comments maybe even a secret recipe or two.
