App Army Assemble: Ninja Chowdown - Should you devour this endless runner?

Ninja Chowdown is a brightly coloured auto-runner that follows chubby ninja Donatsu on his adventure to retrieve the all-powerful Doughnut of Ultimate Knowledge. Clearly, it's not a task for the faint of heart or stomach, so we sent in our sweet-toothed App Army to see what they thought.

Here's what they said:

Oksana Ryan

This is a great time waster of a game - perfect for those 10 minutes you have to fill. The controls were easy to master, the sound was actually good enough to leave on, the retro graphics were colourful and there were more than enough challenges thrown at me to keep me busy. Like most games of this genre, it was easy to pick up and play, and I enjoyed it in short bursts. All in all a good game that I’d be happy to recommend.

Torbjörn Kämblad

To get to play as a character I sometimes feel like is awesome. A fat ninja with cool moves out to get his hands on some sugary delights feels totally like my alter ego, minus the cool moves. Ninja Chowdown is a level-based runner where you run collecting donuts while avoiding traps/barrels and shuriken the heck out of bad guys/birds. Controls are easy to get into with the screen divided into jump-moves on the left and aim on the right. I am quite bad at endless runners and am thankful that Ninja Chowdown is divided into quite fast levels.

Between levels, you can buy different outfits and other nifty items. I found the treadmill-running ninja to be hilarious while browsing the few menus to be found. Everything about Ninja Chowdown is brimming with personality, both it's own and borrowed from ninja-tropes. And having Simpsons-inspired donuts kind of seals the deal.

Chad Jones

So it's been a while since I played an endless runner so I was curious about playing this one. It's not so much of an "endless" runner but you do autorun, there are 7 bosses with 8 worlds to unlock (6 levels each world). The levels definitely get challenging as you move forward and it really is all about perfect timing on your jumps and punches. There are times I wonder how I got through that level. The beautiful pixel art style and great music. Overall I really liked the game and will definitely try to battle my way through the rest of this game.

Mark Abukoff

I’m usually not a big fan of endless runners mostly for the simple reason that I’m not very good at them. Or they fail to hold my interest. Or they tend to last so long per level that I never live long enough to progress. Ninja Chowdown is a pleasant surprise. It’s a fun, retro graphic endless runner that is not too difficult for people like me. Levels are short and quick, and if you don’t make it to the end you can watch a short video to continue. It has a cute character and plenty of unlockables.

The tutorial wasn’t complicated and explained things well, but for a while, I was seeing so many different things on the screen at the same time that I kind of lost track to be honest. But once I started playing I got it easily. So while the controls (jumping and shooting at things) took me a few minutes to get, once I did I was fine. They’re very responsive. The music and sound effects are cute and for a change didn’t make me want to turn the sound off. Really nothing in the ‘con’ column for this fun game. Happily recommend.

Jason Rosner

Ninja Chowdown proved to me I’m not quite done with the runner genre just yet. This has to be one of the most fun and polished platformers I’ve played on mobile. This game has an abundance of charm thanks to its gorgeous 16-bit style graphics on top of its humour. You play as a chubby ninja who must get back his stolen donuts. To do this you not only run but also have an unlimited supply of shuriken like any good ninja would.

You hurl these projectiles at your enemies along with a meter which once maxed can bust out an awesome powerful bowling ball move that adds some acrobatic flair. The controls are very precise thanks to the super-smooth gameplay. The levels are designed for mobile made up of short and sweet rounds between worlds with some cool boss fights too. Unlockables such as clothes, weapons, and even pets keep it all rewarding. I feel like I’ve become a master of my own dojo thanks to Ninja Chowdown.

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