The first thing you'll immediately notice about Lightweight Ninja is that the graphics harken back to the 'good ol days' of gaming, resembling a high-res 16-bit platformer. The colours are bright and cheerful, even if you're in a dank place such as an underground laboratory. Even your nasty little enemies (which range from tomato throwing squirrels to waddling robots) give off that 'cute, but deadly' persona. While many of your enemies have limited animations, Ty the Lightweight Ninja is truly an animated superhero, possessing some very smooth animation which compliments the lighthearted feel of the game perfectly. The worlds that Ty traverses don't have it as easy however, with most of them being very plain and static, with not much going on while you navigate your way through the game.

The music is typical of what you might find in an old Chinese kung-fu action flick, but for some reason it actually does seem to fit the whole theme of the game, which mocks and parodies every said Chinese kung-fu action flick known to man. The sound effects aren't too hot though, with a real lame 'HUH' whenever Ty throws a projectile at an enemy, and an equally lame sound effect when he jumps into the air.

As far as the gameplay goes, it's definitely a mixed bag. Sure, it has some classic platforming aspects that old school gamers will definitely enjoy, but unless you have a joystick or a gamepad, be prepared for some cursing and yelling at the monitor while you die again and again due to the ultra-sensitivity of the controls. Usually people complain about controls being laggy or unresponsive, but the problem in Lightweight Ninja is that with a keyboard, it's too responsive and ultimately opens up windows for mistimed jumps and attacking because of it. With a gamepad (I used a Sidewinder) though, the game is some real fun with some clever level design and puzzles to solve throughout the game. The difficulty of the game isn't too hard either; most seasoned gamers will have no trouble blowing through the game, but one of the features of Lightweight Ninja is to upload your times to Stardock's online community (Dregin.net) and compare your times with other players. However, if there's one problem with the game that really brings it down a notch, it's that there's really only one method of attack, and that's by collecting items to throw at your enemies. You do have other methods of attacks, such as executing a dive kick onto your opponent, but the problem with that is that you actually receive damage when you come in contact with an enemy... even if you attacked him. An honest mistake during the design process? Yup. Forgivable? Not really.

When it's all said and done, Lightweight Ninja is a solid effort by Stardock, one of the premier indie developers of the industry. The online functionality with Lightweight Ninja allows you to upload your times and scores to Dregin.net to compete with other players, and the gameplay is smooth as silk, with the exception of one fault. Overall, is the game fun? You bet. For the price that Stardock is asking for ($49.95 for all of their current and future games), you really can't find a better deal anywhere else.

· · · Reno