Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns Review for the Nintendo DS (NDS)

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns box art

System: DS	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Ninja Studio	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Atlus	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Jul. 22, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Teen	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

As far as graphics are concerned, Izuna 2 has a real vintage look. Characters are represented by little chibi-style sprites, and backgrounds have an old-school, pixel look. Colors are very vibrant, and environments look lush despite the lack of background detail. The title actually looks remarkably good despite being technically uninventive. Still, it might have been nice to see this title incorporate some more complex visuals beyond the old-school, SNES look.

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns screenshot

Sound in this title is very good. The voice over is in Japanese, and even though some might be put off by the fact that this title wasn't dubbed, I count that as a good thing. My only disappointment is that the voice over is infrequent, and you never know when a character will voice their scrolling dialogue or stay silent. Level music is pretty cutesy and is generally pleasant to listen to.

Controls use only the face buttons for movement and don't have any touch screen functionality, which is a good thing for this dungeon crawler. As you might imagine, you use the control pad for moving around and the face buttons for scrolling through menus. There are quite a few shortcut triggers as well, but these are pre-determined and I was unable to find a way to customize the shortcuts.

So, after playing all this year's many dungeon crawlers, it only makes sense for Rogue fans to pick up Izuna 2 and get right back into the familiar dungeon grind. But you see, for all its strengths and adherence to traditional dungeon crawling gameplay, Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns fails simply because it is so familiar. It features very basic dungeon style gameplay, which may have worked last year, but now that there is so much variety in this once-obscure genre, it makes this title feel a little too basic for seasoned dungeon vets and probably a little too complex for newcomers. But, if you want a nuts-and-bolts dungeon crawler, Izuna 2 fits the bill nicely.

By Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Freelance Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.4

Graphics
Classic sprite-based graphics look fairly good, even if they're not the most technically pleasing.

3.5

Control
Basic dungeon controls with no touch screen functionality whatsoever work extremely well.

3.8

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Level music is cute, and the Japanese voice over is excellent though infrequent.

3.6

Play Value
As with any dungeon crawler, the first player experience is quite lengthy, but there's really nothing beyond that.

3.6

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Play hardcore with Izuna: Get in the action by combining down-and-dirty, old-school, dungeon RPG play with the cutest girl ninja ever, for a "stimulating" RPG experience.

TAG team system: Take any two party members into a dungeon for a greater range of combat strategy. Combine powers to unleash fierce TAG attacks.

More Izuna than ever before: Get everything that made the original game a fan favorite, plus more! This bigger, better package includes more dungeons, items, enemies, characters, as well as a wacky new story, side quests, and TAG team system.