''Ninjabread Man'' is a 2005

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

by developer and publisher Data Design Interactive. The game was released on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

in Europe in July 2005. A port for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

was released in September 2007 in Europe and Australia, and on October 3, 2007 in North America. ''Ninjabread Man'' was published as part of Data Design Interactive's 'Popcorn Arcade' brand of Wii games. Upon release, ''Ninjabread Man'' received universally negative reviews from critics due to its camera system, graphics, lack of story, short length, and controls; the Wii version received even lower reviews for its use of

motion control Motion control is a sub-field of automation, encompassing the systems or sub-systems involved in moving parts of machines in a controlled manner. Motion control systems are extensively used in a variety of fields for automation purposes, includi ...

s and is often considered one of the worst games of all-time.

Gameplay

Ninjabread Man is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

platformer A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

. There are three levels in the game, plus a tutorial level. In order to proceed to the next level, players must collect eight power rods to activate a teleporter. The Ninjabread Man can attack enemies directly with a samurai sword via a shake of the

Wii Remote The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...

, as well as throw shurikens from a distance using the Wii Remote's IR functionality to aim. When the player completes a level and plays it again, a menu appears with a second mode available, ‘Score Pickups’. If the level is completed again in this mode, the player will unlock ‘Time Attack’ mode. Completion of this mode unlocks the ‘Hidden Pickups!’ mode, in which the player must find pickups.

Development

''Ninjabread Man'' reportedly started development as a planned third entry in the ''

Zool ''Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension'' is a platform game written for the Amiga by Gremlin Graphics and published in 1992. It was marketed as a rival to Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. ''Zool'' was ported to other platforms and followed by ''Zoo ...

'' series, a 2D platforming series released for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

. Not much is actually known about the pitch, though it is believed that

Zoo Digital Publishing Zushi Games was a British video game publisher. Based in Sheffield, Zushi is the owner of the multi-million-selling Premier Manager (series), ''Premier Manager'' series and best known for Alien Hominid. Zushi published titles for the Nintendo ...

(''Zool'''s rights owners) weren't impressed by the tech demo and pulled the license. As such, DDI released the game as a standalone original game. Despite this, evidence for the game originally being a ''Zool'' game are still present; such as leftover ''Zool''-themed levels themes and items, and a since leaked intro that shows Zool crashing onto a planet that closely resembles the one used in this game.

Reception

''Ninjabread Man'' received unanimously negative reviews upon release. The

version of the game has a 31% average rating on

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

,Ninjabread Man Reviews
/ref> while the Wii version has an average of 17.5%.
/ref> On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the Wii version of the game has an average score of 20/100, based on 6 reviews.Ninjabread Man (wii: 2007): Reviews
/ref> The PC version of the game was not reviewed by any major publication.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave the Wii version a score of 1.5/10, saying: "It’s buggy, often completely broken, somehow manages to have frame issues in tiny levels, and is completely ruthless if (and when) younger players die." Thunderbolt gave it 1/10, criticizing the game's length and the unimaginative use of the character as key flaws.

Legacy

On 23 January 2008, a sequel titled ''Ninjabread Man – Blades of Fury'' was announced. However, it was never released for unknown reasons and Data Design Interactive later went out of business in 2012.

References

{{reflist 2005 video games 3D platform games Data Design Interactive games Video games about ninja PlayStation 2 games Video games about food and drink Video games developed in the United Kingdom Wii games Windows games RenderWare games Conspiracy Entertainment games Single-player video games Metro3D games Ninja characters in video games

Gameplay

Development

Reception

Legacy

See also

References