Ninjin: Clash of Carrots

I've said it before and I'll say it again; you don't mess with rabbits. Sure, they look adorable when they're just hopping around, but they'll straight up rip your throat out if you look at them the wrong way. Perhaps the villains in the new game Ninjin: Clash of Carrots should have heeded that advice, because the cute little bunny rabbit they messed with turns out to be a blood-thirsty killing machine with ninja moves and an unflinching desire for revenge. These guys don't stand a chance.

This is the story of what happens when Shogun Moe decides to steal all the carrots from the rabbit villages. With fear and despair setting in, a charismatic bunny named Ninjin and Akai the ninja fox decide to fight their way across feudal Japan in order to thwart the evil plans and save the day. This leads to an exciting little beat 'em up with a pair of likable heroes and an almost dizzying array of creative bad guys.

The action here is a little different from your typical old school brawler. You don't just walk from left to right beating up thugs, but rather run in a full sprint as wave after wave of enemies try to slow you down. You'll do this through mellow meadows, snowy mountains, creepy caves, large cities, and all the way to the shogun temple, all in an effort to kill every last bad guy and save the valuable carrots.

Ninjin and Akai come with a couple fairly standard attacks. The standard move is to hack the enemies with your sword, which can also be combined with the dash for a deathly effective move that is good at taking out big groups of baddies. When that doesn't work, we have a throwing star you can aim with the right analog stick. And as you work to defeat the hordes of enemies, you'll build up a fury gauge that will unleash a dragon, ice chickens and a super-powered shadowy version of our heroes.

Where this game succeeds is in the customization. There are more than 150 different items to buy and find in the levels, including an insane variety of swords, things to throw, masks and perks. And it's not just the normal stuff, but fun melee weapons like an anchor, fishing pole and even a blowfish. These different weapons have different attributes, too, such as some are long-range, some are short and quick and others are heavy and slow but pack a big wallop. The game gives you a lot of incentive to mix and match and find what combination works best for you.

The best thing I can say about the combat is that it's fast and almost always fun. I had a good time zipping around the playfield while juggling the many types of bad guys, and there's often an energy to the action you don't see in a lot of brawlers. I especially love its sense of humor, which finds ways of skewering both old school beat 'em ups and samurais in the process. This is a game that is teaming with personality, especially when it comes to the dozens of types of crazy bad guys. There are almost too many to get into here, but I love how the game feels the need to introduce each of them individually.

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Unfortunately, Ninjin: Clash of Carrots does suffer from some of the same problems that often plague the genre. Despite all the silly weapons and customization, the combat itself is pretty simple and straight-forward. You don't have a lot of attacks in your arsenal and the levels aren't all that different from one another, which can result in the second half of the game feeling a little repetitive. This is the kind of game that would have benefitted from introducing new mechanics in each new world, that way the action constantly feels fresh. The only thing we get from beating the bosses is a different variation of the super-powered fury attack, which is honestly a little disappointing.

My other concern is that the game is often way too easy and over too soon. Granted, there were a few levels where the waves of enemies beat me down, but I found that I finished most of the stages on the first try, usually with a solid rating. It's the kind of game I easily beat in a single sitting, though I would recommend splitting up the action into shorter sessions. On the other hand, I did find a lot of value in the inventive "Oni TV Show," a crazy survival mode with story elements and rare loot. I'm telling you, there's no part of this game that isn't oozing with personality.

Ninjin: Clash of Carrots is a fast and exciting new beat 'em up with a great sense of humor and an incredible selection of bad guys to hack and slash. I love the look of the game and all of the crazy weapons you can collect, even though the action gets a bit repetitive at times and is a little too easy. I'm not sure it's an essential purchase, but I can see Ninjin attracting a devoted audience that can't wait to see what the developers do next. There's a lot to like here.