With an eye catching title, and both colourful writing and visuals, Mexican Ninja is an interesting option for fans of beat ‘em-ups. What, exactly, is it though?
Set in a version of Mexico that has been overtaken by the Japanese and renamed Nuevo Tokyo, this comic book inspired game is as raunchy as it is violent. It’s got a very basic set-up that doesn’t provide enough information, and then you’re just dropped into your first run. Why do I say run? Well, this is (unexpectedly, for me) a roguelike game, which mixes that structure with side-scrolling beat ‘em-up gameplay. It’s more than a little jarring at first, and this set-up makes it feel like something is missing. I didn’t really know what was going on, or what to do next, but eventually figured it out.
We play as a Mexican Ninja who has taken up his sword in order to defeat the new feudal regime, that was created when the Narcos and Yakuza combined. They’re called the Narkuzas, and they’re a very colourful cast of characters who include some very interesting bosses. The whole thing is kind of basic, in terms of depth and explanation, but it works as the basis of the plot, and a reason to kill gang members and more advanced baddies.
This is a 2.5D brawler, which presents players with light and heavy attacks, as well as basic combos, from the start. You can dodge and parry attacks, but the latter is not required and wasn’t something I really knew how to do to be honest. I think I did it by accident at least once, but never knew exactly what to do or why it was important. Then again, I don’t like having to parry in games.
The combat is pretty fast and fluid, and it doesn’t take very long to get the hang of. There are exploding barrels aplenty, too, but they don’t always seem to work or damage enemies as they’re expected to. Sometimes they’ll work as intended, but I often avoided them in order to make sure I wouldn’t be damaged by them. They’re often placed by other breakable things, like fences and barriers, or traps. You can break these fences or jump over them, and can also break other things in the environment in order to find money or health. The latter is called Sakila, which is a mixture of sake and tequila.
Being that this is a beat ‘em-up, one can expect a combo system. Although you cannot increase your combo by hitting barrels or environmental items, the counter does not disappear until you’re hit, meaning that it’s player friendly and doesn’t have a timer.
Since this is also a roguelike, one can expect things that attempt to make each run feel different. To start, enemy dialogue (which can sometimes be quite crass, immature and kind of cringeworthy) changes from run to run. The same is true of certain background imagery. For the most part, though, things change based on the different abilities and buffs that you’re presented with and choose, both from the onset and as your runs continue. These are presented at the main hub or starting area, and also during or at the end of the game’s different locations. It’s possible to buff one’s health or defence, upgrade different special abilities called Mexican Jutsus (which are mapped to single buttons and have cooldown periods), and things like that.
Examples of the aforementioned Mexican Jutsus include a rancid fart that damages enemies, the ability to turn into a tornado, piñatas that drop from the sky and knives that do the same.
As you play, you’ll pick up lots of money, which can be used to unlock permanent upgrades for things like health and healing efficiency. Of course, there are other options, but that’s what I focused on and always tend to. I believe I’ve unlocked all of that type.
Over time, one also earns experience points that can be used to purchase new combos and things like that. However, unlike the money, this takes a long time to accrue. The difference feels unfair, and isn’t player friendly.
The general idea is that you play through two different sections of each environment (streets and alleys, a futuristic lab type location, and more) before fighting its boss. The bosses aren’t randomized, and while the stage order can be user decided, they do get repetitive. That’s a drawback with this type of game, though, and why I don’t normally play them. Well, that’s one reason. The other is that I don’t really enjoy getting far, then dying and ending up back at the start, with the idea being that I’m to do it all over again, and again, and again.
To be honest, I’ve done a number of runs and gotten to where I get the impression is quite far in Mexican Ninja. However, despite having all of the health related upgrades unlocked and fully levelled up, I cannot beat one boss. I believe it’s the third of four. Anyways, I’ve faced her multiple times and she takes a lot of my health off easily. If there were more health related upgrades to unlock, I would feel optimistic, but at this point I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I haven’t completed the game, but don’t know if I’ll be able to get further. I’ll keep trying though, and will hope for a patch too.
I was having fun, but when I kept hitting that wall I got slightly annoyed and sick of completing the same stages over and over again. I also felt like laziness was setting in, because I had fought the same enemies and early bosses so many times that I expected I should be able to just steamroll through them. Instead, it made me develop bad habits, and get damaged more than before, at which point I decided I needed to put the game down. When I was more engaged and having more fun with it, before I hit that third boss wall, I had almost defeated the second boss without even taking any damage.
Before I move on with this review, it’s important to mention that Mexican Ninja has side quests. These are given out by NPCs you can speak to, who are most often found inside the starting hub area, and include your sensei, a computer expert, a trainer and more. The quests are usually pretty basic, and involve killing a certain amount of one enemy or finding things, like ‘hidden’ condoms found in breakable objects. The most memorable one, though, involved a drunken gambler (who is seemingly unhoused), who kept asking for money and swearing that he’d pay me back. Repeatedly giving him a bit of money ended up being a smart decision, on more than one occasion.
Completing those side objectives unlocks multiple different skins (or costumes) for the main character. These not only change his appearance, but also provide different perks or buffs.
When it comes to presentation, Mexican Ninja is quite a lot. It features very colourful, violent and over-the-top artwork and designs that were obviously inspired by comic books. The writing is also gratuitous, and is sometimes too juvenile for its own good. It’s nice that it changes for different runs, but I’m not one who has ever enjoyed dumb jokes, or ever found stupid ‘Yo mama’ jokes to be funny, and some of the writing here is similar. Those parts didn’t land with me, and I didn’t enjoy the subplot about the main character’s mom being a whore or something to that extent. Then again, this is an over-the-top and out there kind of game, which features a butt plug as a weapon.
Although the environments do get repetitive and kind of tedious, as roguelike stages can, they are well drawn and animated. There are hidden paths, discoverable golden statues offering buffs and sometimes lots of NPCs watching on, as is the case with the levels that take place during some sort of street fair or festival. There, it’s possible to hit food carts and make them run over enemies. Be careful, though, because they’re just as likely to hurt you.
There are some issues, though, like traps being hard to spot and enemy types not always being clear. It doesn’t help that the character models are quite small.
The sound is solid, and fitting, with decent music and effects. Certain explosion effects sound a bit muffled though. It also would have been nice if there was full voice acting, but there’s a bit in Spanish. Most of the light story is told through dialogue bubbles, which is fine and to be expected. Those or moving comic panels, which are sometimes muddied and confusing.
Overall, Mexican Ninja is a solid game that surprised me, although it frustrated me too. Going in, I didn’t know that it was a roguelike, and those are games I often pass on because I don’t like having to go back to the start and repeat the same levels over and over again. However, I enjoyed some of that here, until I kept hitting the same wall. This game is challenging, and it doesn’t reward the player enough, forcing one to play for too long in order to get better. It also has some issues with cheap attack loops and unfair deaths. Still, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives, resulting in a surprisingly deep, competent and fun experience.
This review is based on the XBOX Series X version of the game, which we were provided with. Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from KeyMailer.