Introducing Cubic Ninja, the Nintendo 3DS title that lets you play without ever touching a button. Simply tilt and turn your Nintendo 3DS to solve challenging puzzles, outwit devious enemies, and escape intricate traps. Cubic Ninja places you in the role of CC, a brave little ninja with a distinctly cubic shape. The princess of your beloved kingdom has been abducted. And it's up to you to save them. If you have to tumble till you're dizzy, or survive raging waters just to rescue the princess, then you will. Because you're Cubic Ninja. And that's how you roll.
Features:
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Revolutionary gameplay - Who needs buttons - Tilt and turn your Nintendo 3DS to guide Cubic Ninja through more than 100 challenging levels or simply use the Circle Pad.
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Master Ninjutsu skills - Outwit cunning traps and rescue your fellow Ninjas by earning and unleashing mysterious Ninjutsu skills.
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Challenge Your Friends- Race through a level as quickly as you can, share a ghosted replay of your best run, and dare your friends to beat it.
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Unleash Your Creativity - Create your own pulse-quickening levels and display them as a QR Code that can be shared with players all over the world.
Average Customer Review:
( 6 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
READ THIS BEFORE BUYING A USED COPY! 2 Important things you need to know about Cubic Ninja.Feb 04, 2012
By Sarabellum1976 #1 important thing to know: There's no way (that I could find) to reset or delete your game. So if you're buying this game used, don't be surprised if the game is partially completed already.
This is probably a big part of the reason that this game is usually available comparatively cheap on Amazon used. I rather doubt that Gamestop is willing to buy this one used, so people are probably more apt to dump it cheap on Amazon or eBay when they're done with it.
That being said, this is definitely a worthwhile title for less than $15 or so (if the only available copies cost significantly more than that, you'd better be a big fan of the motion-based puzzle games like those you'll frequently see on the iPhone/iPad etc.) Remember those "Labyrinth" board games with the tilting tables?
It's really not a bad little game! I've enjoyed playing through the first 25 or so levels out of maybe 100 or so. It really reminds me of something that Nintendo might have created to go alongside their AR games / FaceRaiders / etc. to show off the motion abilities of the 3DS. Which brings me to the next major point that you really ought to know before buying this game:
#2 important thing to know: This game is NOT 3D and DOES NOT USE the 3D features of the upper screen on your 3DS. Yes, it's a non-3D 3DS game, something of an oxymoron. The graphics are also nothing special.
That being said, it's fun, it's cute, and it will probably keep you entertained for somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 hours of playtime if you're into motion-based puzzles.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
awesomeJun 19, 2011
By Anthony S. Bonsignore when i first started playing this game i had to get used to the controls instead of using buttons to move your ninja u use your system by tilting it left or right up and down,the game starts off very very easy to the point that i was like this is a waste of money,but since i kept playing and advanced in the levels with each advancedment in levels it is so hard to put this game down.i love it very exciting and different. one thing everyone should no in setting of the game u can set it to control the ninja either button pushing or by tilting if u use tilting it is not in 3d but who cares this game was ment to be played by tilting the system so i say buy this game u will love it.
very funnyMar 10, 2012
By José Higuera I had my doubts about this game, but really this game is fun because it uses the maximum capacity of Nintendo 3ds G sensor, because the whole game (or whatever you have played of it) is based on the movement you make to the console, and not using the controls at all ... everything is moving the console side to side, zoom in and out, tilt it so that the "cubic ninja" do its
It belongs on a phone...or an original DSDec 04, 2011
By Reposiric
"Reposiric"
First off, the game can barely pass as 3D...It pretty much isn't 3D at all. There are a few screens where you think it MIGHT be 3D, and you'll be turning the 3D on and off just to see, and even then it's hard to tell.
The concept is pretty amusing for a while. Moving the little ninja guy around to get him to the goal. It's actually a really great time passer, since you don't really have to pay attention. The levels get harder as you progress, so it's a good challenge.
Overall, it's okay. It'd be better if it utilized the 3D of the 3DS better. Graphics aren't everything, but when on a system with 3D capabilities, how about you utilize those. >:|
7 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Review from a Game DeveloperJul 10, 2011
By Dan Fischbach I picked up Cubic Ninja from Amazon.com recently. I remember hearing it was one of the more unique showings of the 3DS some time ago.
How does it fair? Not that great. Let me explain.
---Link to the Past---
It's been a long time since I've played something like Dizzy Bee so I decided to give this game a fair shake. "The 3DS is more powerful than my old iPhone 3G. (which I played Dizzy Bee on) Technology's improved by now. Stuff's gotta be better."
Oh how wrong I was. Maybe it's because of games like Dizzy Bee that the novelty of gyroscope play has worn thin, but upon further inspection it's more than that.
---Too Simple? Too Hard? Too Frustrating---
I played and completed the first world of Cubic Ninja and played about halfway through the second. (if you beat level 2-14 without powers, let me know) Every level was about the same: get your ninja to the goal. I say "about" because there's a boss "fight" at the end of the first world. (shocker)
Sometimes simple is good but the level design from what I played was very bland. Most of the time you can zip through levels while not really thinking too much about where you have to go or what you must do. Things are too straightforward. There's no real interactivity with your character and other enemies. It's mostly "you vs the world"...which sounds kind of familiar.
The game does actually try and get you to go off the beaten path by having you collect scrolls with can unlock ninja powers, but then the game will actually give you said scrolls or powers so there's no real incentive to go and collect them.
When things do get hard, the game just screws with you. The in-game camera is not zoomed far out enough for you to see danger below you so it's very easy to fall into a spiky block and because this is a gyroscopic game, player reaction time and system weight must be taken into account.
---No Teacher = No Apple---
The designers didn't explain the control scheme or what things do. They assumed the player would look things up in the instruction booklet. Sometimes out of the blue I'll get a useless help message in the form of "Get your ninja to the button."
...Duh.
---What's An "Art Style?"---
The first world is set in a gray area. There's very little variation of color. Everything is made of cubes which is neat at first (you'll even Megaman-explode into tiny cubes when you die) but nothing's textured. It's all just flat colors. When there is a diagonal edge here or there, it's not polished up by anti-aliasing.
Sound exciting to you...? Yeah, me neither.
A silver lining in all of this would be the UI. Everything's simple and focused. Like the ninja. Lines are clean and the interface is easy to navigate.
One other thing I do like is the interface for buttons and their corresponding objects. For example, let's say you have to push a button and then go across a room to pass a wall that's lowered by the button press. A dotted line connects the button visually to the wall, letting you know in advance what a button does. In some levels this is presented much better than others, but it is a neat effect as the dotted line is dim when the button is up but when it's pressed, the dotted line lights up and the segments tick down towards the button. Neat.
---Load Times---
With a simple game like this, you'd think that there wouldn't be any load times. Well unfortunately there are:
* Loading when the game first boots to the (unskippable) publisher/developer logos * Loading after the logos are done to go to the title screen * Loading after choosing a level * Loading after choosing a character * Loading after a death to reset a level
Even though the load times are about 4-5 seconds, it is frustrating when you want to try playing a specific level (like 2-14) over and over again. It's also tough just to get a game going. Think about it: after you've picked a level and a character, it takes about 30 seconds to get in and start playing from a game boot to you rolling around in a level. "30 seconds is nothing!" you may be saying, but it's unacceptable based on the assets loaded.
The only reason I can think of why a level would need to be reloaded every time you die was to reset the 3DS' gyroscopic sensor, but then why do they have a menu item specifically for that?
---Tone Deaf---
Besides artwork varying the world, music, voices and sound effects must also be memorable and fit the situation. Cubic Ninja has forgettable tunes, and the tune you hear on level 1-1 will be the same you hear on level 1-15 until you have a boss fight and then get to level 2-1. Boring.
When your ninja hits a wall he/she makes a sound, but the pool of sound effects and voices per character are both very limited and you'll quickly grow tired of them.
The main beat in the title/menu screen doesn't kick in until about 40 seconds in! 40 seconds! Don't you want to catch your player's attention right off the bat and excite them about this game? No? Who's going to sit and wait for the good part of your song to kick in?
No wonder the default SFX and BGM values were not all the way up.
---Aren't You Forgetting Something?---
Oh yeah! The controls! This is a gyroscopic game after all. How does it feel? Not that great.
I don't believe things are as precise as they should be and as noted above the designers didn't take into account player reaction time in regards to level design.
I talked about the lack of a tutorial above. You're not told how and where to hold the 3DS. Should it be held upright or not? I found out the hard way that you have to hold it as if it's on a table and go from there.
Another wonky thing about the controls is that in order to get your ninja to move "towards" the screen, you have to hold the 3DS above your head. This sounds neat, but an issue comes up when you have to stay in midair while towards the screen. You can't really control your ninja when holding the 3DS above your head, and then if you need to quickly move to a back wall or something, it's not possible without tumbling down since you must bring the 3DS down in the process.
---Silver Lining - Accessibility?---
One silver lining I found with this game is that it's actually easier to control and play when you turn the gyroscopic setting off. For example, you can't really play with the gyroscopic mode on when you're lying on your side in bed. When it's off you control your ninja with the Circle Pad and make him/her hover towards the screen with the Y Button. (not taught to you in-game) This style of control may be a boon to those with limited motion.
---Closing Thoughts---
So is Cubic Ninja worth your money? For the normal retail price? No way. If you can get it for cheaper it may be a nice diversion on a train or subway, but I don't see myself playing this game much longer. I really wonder what happened during development. Did Ubisoft kick AQ Interactive around? I feel this game fits into the "Art Style" series of DSiWare titles as those were hit-or-miss.
based on 6 reviews
( 6 customer reviews )
