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Ninjala is a free-to-play multiplayer action video game developed and published by GungHo Online Entertainment. Unveiled at E3 2018, it was released on June 24, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.

Ninjala
Developer(s)	GungHo Online Entertainment
Publisher(s)	GungHo Online Entertainment
Director(s)	Motoki Kaneda
Designer(s)	Yoshiumi Hataya
Programmer(s)	Kazuya Honda
Writer(s)	Asuka Konno Kyoko Kitahara
Engine	Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release	WW: June 24, 2020
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

The game received mixed reviews, with many praising the multiplayer, gameplay and art style, but criticizing the story mode. The game was widely compared to Splatoon due to its style and gameplay.

Gameplay

Ninjala centers upon an eponymous tournament being held by the World Ninja Association (WNA), which developed bubblegum that could be used to allow people with the DNA of a ninja to perform ninjutsu.[1] The game focuses primarily on melee combat using various types of weapons.[2] The player can double-jump and run along walls to navigate the map.[3] A match can be played between up to eight players in either teams or a solo "Battle Royale".[1][2][3]

Bubbles can be blown to trigger abilities, such as launching them at opponents as a ranged attack, or activating an air dash move. Their power can be increased by destroying drones that periodically spawn on the map, allowing the player to craft a larger melee weapon when fully-charged.[3] The player can also disguise themselves as a prop on the field.[3] Points are scored primarily by knocking out opponents, and an "Ippon" bonus can be scored as part of a KO if the player does so in combination with their abilities.[3] Each match lasts four minutes and the player or team that scores the most points when the timer runs out wins.

Playable characters

There are eight playable characters in Ninjala, who despite having common stats and abilities, each of them has a unique backstory that was explored in the game's supplementary media, such as the Ninjala 2D Cartoon Anime videos and Ninjala Episode 0 CGI short.

• Van (voiced by: Becky Robinson (English), Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese, animated short)): A young boy with a talent for basketball, Van has been wishing for his father's return from his overseas trips. However, he ended up caught between the battle between his father, who he discovered to be a ninja, and an unknown shinobi who managed to defeat him by trapping him inside a burning shed with Van in it. As the result, Van's father was put into an indefinite coma, but not before he make his son chew a Ninja Gum that awakened his ninjutsu genes and save them both from the burning shed. He was asked by his mother to train for Ninjala under the tutelage of Genryusai, while at the same time working as a night-time vigilante tasked with stopping the plans of the Space Ninjas, gum-like aliens seeking to conquer planets by absorbing the DNA of ninjas to grow stronger.
• Berecca (voiced by: Kailey Snider (English), Akari Kitō (Japanese, animated short)): One of the lead scientists in charge of perfecting Ninja Gums, which is said to have the power to awaken the dormant shinobi genes in humans, Berecca was a no-nonsense woman, who is just continuing the research her late father left behind. Having witnessed the accidental creation of the perfected Ninja Gums, she tried one herself and is shocked to learned of her shinobi heritage, just before Ron, acting as one of the scientists in charge of the project, attacks them. Once Ron was taken care of, she and Burton learned of the Gum's side effect: chewing on a Ninja Gum can turn adults into children. Thus, Berecca, alongside Burton, decides to join Ninjala in hopes of finding a cure to the Gum's side effects and revert to normal.
• Burton (voiced by: Max Mittelman (English), Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese, animated short)): One of the lead scientists in charge of perfecting Ninja Gums, Burton was an Albert Einstein enthusiast, often using his philosophies and scientific mindset in creating inventions that can change the world for the better, not to mention having ninjutsu heritage in his blood, thus explaining his involvement in perfecting Ninja Gums. After accidentally creating a perfected batch of Ninja Gum, he was attacked by Ron, who was sent to eliminate him and Berecca, and handing over his findings to "someone". Eventually, with the help of the Ninja Gum and his own ninja skills, Burton managed to defeat Ron, before he and Berecca discovered that the Gum de-aged them into children, prompting the two to join Ninjala in order to reverse the side-effects and further refine the Ninja Gum.
• Ron (voiced by: Regi Davis (English), Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese, animated short)): An enigmatic ninja with an agenda, Ron is just one of the names he took in order to accomplish his tasks. When his plans to assassinate Burton and Berecca for the intel about the Ninja Gums are foiled, his status has been compromised, forcing him to take up one of the Ninja Gums left behind in Burton's wrecked laboratory to go undercover by partaking in Ninjala as a young ninja in hopes of finding the two scientists and complete his mission.
• Lucy (voiced by: Reba Buhr (English), Aoi Yūki (Japanese, animated short)): A slightly-deranged girl who wears an eyepatch to hide her mysterious powers. Once a sweet kid, Lucy was just a normal kid until a traumatic event awakened her dormant shinobi gene within her, causing anything she sets her eyes on to turn into nightmarish tentacles. This alone has cause Lucy to distance herself from everyone and have to wear an eyepatch over her left eye to prevent this power from leaking out. It wasn't until an invitation from the WNA and some encouragement from her mother does she embraced this power and adopts a "crazy girl" persona as she trains herself for Ninjala.
• Kappei (voiced by: Kath Soucie (English), Ayumu Murase (Japanese, animated short)): A young shinobi from Ega, a small ninja-inspired town in Oedo, Japan, Kappei has since been training to be a full-fledge ninja like all the stage plays he's been seeing. Having accidentally discovered Gumchi, a playful gum-like alien, he and Gumchi has formed a brotherly bond, prompting his grandfather, Gen'unsai, to send Kappei to Komerica to train under Genryusai's tutelage, as well as protecting Gumchi from anyone trying to abuse its powers.
• Jane (voiced by: Ashly Burch (English), Junko Minagawa (Japanese, animated short)): A hacker working for the World Ninja Organization's Intelligence Department, Jane was a serious woman who would hack onto anything within ease, often having a preference for munching on candies while working. When her boss asked her to investigate the wreckage of the laboratory where her colleague, Ron, was last seen, she instinctively (and accidentally) swallowed a Ninja Gum that she mistook for a piece of candy while searching through the leftover data left behind by Burton, just as her boss arrive to kill her and take the data for himself, only to narrowly survive thanks to no small parts in Ron's timely arrival and the Ninja Gum's side-effect kicking in. Now stuck as a small child, she decided to infiltrate Ninjala, alongside Ron, in order to find the reason behind the project's true purpose and to figure out how to revert to normal.
• Emma (voiced by: Kimberly Brooks (English), Megumi Han (Japanese, animated short)): A lively street-performer who masquerades as a vigilante at night. Emma used to be shunned because of her newly-awakened ninjutsu genetics, until she learned how to properly use it for the sake of good, such as taking out conniving criminals in the dead of night. Seeing potential in Emma, she was scouted by the World Ninja Organization to participate in Ninjala to help Emma hone her skills, as both a ninja and a performer.

Development

GungHo CEO Kazuki Morishita explained that Ninjala was inspired by his childhood memories of ninja and sports chanbara, having envisioned Ninjala as being a mixture of both. He stated that the main goal was to develop create a multiplayer action game that both children and adults could enjoy. Takeshi Arakawa, who co-produced Dissidia Final Fantasy while at Square Enix, is part of the development staff of Ninjala. For its unveiling, GungHo elected to primarily target Europe and North America to gauge their reactions before giving it more prominent promotion in Japan.[1][2] Ninjala was built using the Unreal Engine game engine.[4]

Originally announced for release in 2019, GungHo announced on May 31, 2019 that Ninjala had been delayed to early 2020.[5] In December 2019, GungHo president Kazuki Morishita stated that Ninjala was still on track for a Spring 2020 release, and that it would contain content that would be "satisfying" for "seasoned players".[6] Ninjala was originally set to be released on May 27, 2020,[7] but it was delayed four weeks later to June 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promotion

A teaser trailer for Ninjala was released on June 13, 2018, which is set to music by the kawaii metal band Babymetal.[8] Footage from the game was also briefly featured during Nintendo's E3 2018 video presentation the same day.[9] A new trailer was released on December 6, 2018, showcasing the backstory of Ninjala's universe.[10][11]

During the Nintendo Direct Mini on March 26, a new trailer was showcased, along with an announcement that Ninjala would be released on May 27, 2020 as a free-to-play title.[12][13] A CGI animated "episode 0" by Marza, introducing the characters and the lore of the game, was released on March 31, 2020.[14] A series of time-limited multiplayer beta sessions were held on April 28 and 29,[15] which were affected by various server issues.[3]

On August 24, 2020, a collaboration with video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog was announced for season 2.[16]

On April 9, 2020, a collaboration with smartphone game Puzzle & Dragons was announced.[17]

On June 19, 2021, there has been an announcement on the official PlayNinjala YouTube Channel that there will be a collaboration with the popular manga and anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

On March 10, 2022, a collaboration with the popular manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen began.

Media

Anime

Ninjala
Created by	GungHo Online Entertainment
Anime television series
Directed by	Mamoru Kanbe
Written by	Shinzō Fujita
Music by	Takahiro Obata
Studio	OLM
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	January 8, 2022 – present
Episodes	52 (List of episodes)

An anime television series adaptation by OLM premiered on January 8, 2022 on TV Tokyo. The series is directed by Mamoru Kanbe, with Shinzō Fujita handling series composition, Atsushi Suzuki designing the characters and Takahiro Obata composing the music. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu performed the opening theme song "Maybe Baby", while up until episode 19, Wolpis Carter performed the ending theme song "Ninjalaic Ninja". Since episode 20, the new ending theme song "SHINOBI TOP SECRET" is performed by Wienners.[18] The anime began streaming with English subtitles on the game's official YouTube channel on January 13, 2022. Episodes are released every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (PT) and only available for one week.[19]

Episode list

No.	Title [20]	Directed by [lower-alpha 1]	Written by [lower-alpha 1]	Storyboarded by [lower-alpha 1]	Original air date [21]
1	"Ninja-Gum Perfected" Transcription: "Kansei! Ninja Gamu!" (Japanese: 完成！ニンジャガム！)	Ryō Nakano	Yoshifumi Fukushima	Ryō Nakano	January 8, 2022 (2022-01-08)
2	"A Long Day for Burton and Berecca" Transcription: "Bāton to Berekka no Nagai Ichinichi" (Japanese: バートンとベレッカの長い一日)	Michita Shiraishi	Kenjin Sata	Hiroyuki Yano	January 15, 2022 (2022-01-15)
3	"Awaken Young Van!" Transcription: "Mezameyo! Shōnen Bān!" (Japanese: 目覚めよ！少年バーン！)	Yoshihiko Iwata	Yuka Aoki	Masakatsu Iijima	January 22, 2022 (2022-01-22)
4	"Lucy and the Mysterious Eye" Transcription: "Himitsu no Hitomi no Rūshī" (Japanese: 秘密の瞳のルーシー)	Nanako Shimazaki	Shōji Yonemura	Tomoko Iwasaki	January 29, 2022 (2022-01-29)
5	"Ninja Dancer Emma" Transcription: "Ninja Dansā Ema" (Japanese: ニンジャダンサー・エマ)	Shigeki Awai	Shūichi Kōyama	Nanako Shimazaki	February 5, 2022 (2022-02-05)
6	"WNA Academy – Let the Battles Begin" Transcription: "Daburyū Enu Ei Akademī! Batoru Sutāto!" (Japanese: WNAアカデミー！バトルスタート！)	Takeshi Yoshimoto	Shinji Satō	Masakatsu Iijima	February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12)
7	"Kappei of the Shinobi Village" Transcription: "Shinobi no Sato no Kappei" (Japanese: シノビの里のカッペイ)	Sumito Sasaki	Yoshifumi Fukushima	Yamato Tabisawa	February 19, 2022 (2022-02-19)
8	"Infiltrating WNA HQ" Transcription: "Kesshi no Sennyū! Daburyū Enu Ei Honbu!" (Japanese: 決死の潜入！WNA本部！)	Kazuya Fujishiro	Kenjin Sata	Akihiro Enomoto	February 26, 2022 (2022-02-26)
9	"Emma and Lucy's Fun-sized Adventure" Transcription: "Ema to Rūshī - Chīsana Bōken" (Japanese: エマとルーシー 小さな冒険)	Shigeki Awai	Shōji Yonemura	Tomoko Iwasaki	March 5, 2022 (2022-03-05)
10	"New Friends? – Ron & Jane" Transcription: "Arata na Nakama? Ron to Jēn" (Japanese: 新たな仲間？ロンとジェーン)	Yoshihiko Iwata	Yuka Aoki	Nanako Shimazaki	March 12, 2022 (2022-03-12)
11	"Mission: Survival" Transcription: "Jigoku no Sabaibaru Misshon" (Japanese: 地獄のサバイバルミッション)	Michita Shiraishi	Shūichi Kōyama	Masakatsu Iijima	March 19, 2022 (2022-03-19)
12	"Hide and Seek with the Unknown" Transcription: "Kakurenbo de Michi to no Sōgū" (Japanese: かくれんぼで未知との遭遇)	Takeshi Yoshimoto	Kenji Konuta	Shigetaka Ikeda	March 26, 2022 (2022-03-26)
13	"Captured Ninja" Transcription: "Ninja Hokakuchū" (Japanese: ニンジャ捕獲中)	Fukutarō Hattori	Shinji Satō	Akihiro Enomoto	April 2, 2022 (2022-04-02)
14	"Tailing Burton" Transcription: "Bāton o Bikō Seyo" (Japanese: バートンを尾行せよ)	Takeyuki Sadohara	Yoshifumi Fukushima	Tomoko Iwasaki	April 9, 2022 (2022-04-09)
15	"Space Ninjas" Transcription: "Sono Na wa Supēsu Ninja!" (Japanese: その名はスペースニンジャ！)	Chika Genhen	Shōji Yonemura	Masakatsu Iijima	April 16, 2022 (2022-04-16)
16	"Shinobi's Duty" Transcription: "Shinobi no Tsutome" (Japanese: シノビの務め)	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	April 23, 2022 (2022-04-23)
17	"Ron and Jane's Infiltration Mission"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	April 30, 2022 (2022-04-30)
18	"Headed Home into the Sunset"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	May 7, 2022 (2022-05-07)
19	"Oranje Sea Terror"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	May 14, 2022 (2022-05-14)
20	"Leonard the Runaway"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	May 21, 2022 (2022-05-21)
21	"Tales from the Oedo Hot Springs"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	May 28, 2022 (2022-05-28)
22	"Burton & Chocomin"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	June 4, 2022 (2022-06-04)
23	"Summer Siege on Eagle City"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	June 11, 2022 (2022-06-11)
24	"Battling Shadows"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	June 18, 2022 (2022-06-18)
25	"Operation Oedo Ninjas – Part 1"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	June 25, 2022 (2022-06-25)
26	"Operation Oedo Ninjas – Part 2"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	July 2, 2022 (2022-07-02)
27	"The Ninjala Championship"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	July 9, 2022 (2022-07-09)
28	"Burton VS Berecca"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	July 16, 2022 (2022-07-16)
29	"Keith – The Dainty Diner"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	July 23, 2022 (2022-07-23)
30	"Dan & Tyler"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	July 30, 2022 (2022-07-30)
31	"Stealing Back Stolen Treasure"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	August 6, 2022 (2022-08-06)
32	"Van – Burning Ninja Spirit"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	August 13, 2022 (2022-08-13)
33	"Blueprint for a New Lucy"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	August 20, 2022 (2022-08-20)
34	"Survival Battle Finals"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	August 27, 2022 (2022-08-27)
35	"The New Ninjala Master"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	September 3, 2022 (2022-09-03)
36	"Ninja Beach Break"	Unknown	Unknown	TBA	September 10, 2022 (2022-09-10)
37	"Touring Oedo Town"	TBA	TBA	TBA	September 17, 2022 (2022-09-17)
38	"Fright Night at the Academy"	TBA	TBA	TBA	September 24, 2022 (2022-09-24)
39	"Swordmaster Kappei"	TBA	TBA	TBA	October 1, 2022 (2022-10-01)

Reception

Pre-release

The overall visual style of Ninjala has been widely compared to Nintendo's Splatoon franchise.[22][9][23] Jordan Devore of Destructoid felt that Ninjala was hard to judge based on its early multiplayer demo at E3, noting the lack of playable weapons beyond baseball bats (though noticing that yo-yos had appeared as a disabled option in the menus), a need to improve the "flow and feel" of its gameplay, and the lack of "good" lock-on targeting functionality. However, he felt that "there's something to this gum-loving ninja concept for sure", and that Ninjala was "worth following". He argued that alongside Splatoon, there was "plenty of room for more colorful, poppy, kid-friendly multiplayer games".[23] IGN similarly noted that its concept felt like "Splatoon meets Arms", and that "if GungHo makes good on delivering creative weaponry and polishes up the combat, Ninjala might just have what it takes to beat Nintendo at its own game."[22]

Following the 2020 open beta, Connor Sheridan of GamesRadar+ noted that the game's fundamentals had an initial learning curve (especially in comparison to Splatoon), but that "figuring out how to string attacks together for maximum points and minimum chance of reprisal" had a strategic depth similar to fighting games, and that he was "pleasantly surprised" by the number of character customization options.[3] Siliconera described the game as "trying to appeal to the fans of its larger cousin [Splatoon] without replacing it", noting that the drone mechanic added a "MOBA-like" progression that could potentially influence strategy among coordinated teams, but that the tutorial video provided by the beta was "not particularly effective at explaining the uses and advantages of each kind of attack" as opposed to an in-game tutorial, and the server capacity issues from the beta showed that there was "still significant work to do to build a stable environment for launch next month".[24]

Post-release

Nintendo Life gave the game 7 of 10. They praised the art style, the overall gameplay, weapons, customisation options and gyro controls, but were critical of the story mode, tutorial mode, some notable gameplay aspects (such as the parrying system) and single-use items.[30]

Michael Therkelsen from Gayming Magazine stated "While battle game-play is relatively easy, the customization of your avatar and in-game stores are quite difficult to figure out", also criticizing the game for being "ultimately too repetitive".[31]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website

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