Remember the good ol' days of Namco? Long before the company got deep into their franchises, like Soul Calibur and Tekken, they were known for basic yet fun-to-play games that really showed the enjoyment of gaming and what it was all about. Hours upon hours have been spent playing the likes of Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Marvel Land, Rolling Thunder 2, Ordyne, and Assault, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I couldn't even count all the hours I spent playing some kind of Namco game, and now I found myself doing it all over again with I-Ninja.

I-Ninja possesses a Teen rating (for violence), but don't let that fool you. What we have here is a platforming adventure that's fun for all ages, a ninja game that doesn't dwell on extreme bloodletting and instead just sticks to the basic of having a good time. There are still plenty of ninja tricks to take advantage of, mind you, but Argonaut presents it in a cartoony style that leaps out at you, like a Power Rangers episode- only not nearly as annoying.

You take control of your ninja hero as you set out on an adventure to collect powerful crystals that send you into a chaotic, furious rage. How furious? You kill your sensei by accident, and then find his ghost coming back to chew you out and guide you through each mission. There's a number of gameplay elements that come into play here, like rolling a huge ball over a number of tracks, taking control of a gigantic robot for a boxing match with a sea serpent, taking part in shooting scenarios where you take down ships and a huge robotic fish, and even dynamite keg rolling, along with the typical third-person sword slicing action.

Each one of these types of stages benefits from a great control set-up that's nicely tightened. The shooting stages are fun in themselves, and I liked the boxing stage, complete with the camera sway when you dodge punches, but the third-person action is where most of the game lies, and it's great. You can do a number of sword maneuvers, including a ground strike and an uppercut move that comes in handy for attacking guarding enemies. You also have darts and throwing stars, which you'll need for some of the tougher enemies, including ground trackers that are ready to zap you earlier into the level. I should also mention your chain, which allows you to swing across large gaps and around corners on some of the game's well-placed running tracks. You also get some wall-walking abilities and power-ups aplenty, like being able to replenish your strength ("NINJA REVIVE!") and build up a kamikaze meter for huge attacks. Finally, there are the occasional airborne battles that Dragon Ball Z fans are likely to eat up.

The presentation can't be beat. It's bright and zippy, like a ridiculous Saturday morning Fox Box show brought to life. The colorful level design is a sight to behold, and the animation's pretty funny, particularly when you can see the ninja's reactions underneath his own, like when he lets out a mighty yell during a revival move. The frame rate remains mostly steady at 60 frames per second, and some of the smaller details are a nice touch. It's not the most blazing graphics presentation, but what's here works. You also have bouncy music (similar in a sense to the Crash Bandicoot series), decent sound effects, and the kind of ridiculous voice dialogue that you'd expect from something like this. Good stuff.

The game does falter in terms of originality, as there really isn't something in the game that you haven't done in the bazillion of other platforming games on the market. Keg rolling? Been done. Boxing? Kind of been done with Mystical Ninja. Even the airborne battles seem to have shades of the recent release of Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2. But it's done right, so there's no major complaint here. It would've been nice to have multiplayer action of some sort, or even some Xbox Live downloads though.

Still, the game has dropped to $20, and it really is a worthwhile investment. I-Ninja has the kind of creativity and zaniness that makes for a good spot in your game library, and its gameplay can't be beat when it all comes together during the duration of the game. Take investment in this Ninja and keep your sword skills sharp.