The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Horse walks into a bar.
Bartender says "So, why the long face?"
Horse reaches into his saddle and shows him his copy of LEGO Ninjago Nindroids for Nintendo 3DS.
Bartender says “Oh, I see.”
There is a harsh truth in this world and it is this: Not All LEGO Video Games Are Good. Some are, it would appear, downright awful. Considering its highly successful pedigree, then, it is hard to see just how everyone has managed to get it so wrong with LEGO Ninjago Nindroids.
I must admit I haven’t ALWAYS loved Lego games. At first I found them to be childish and overly simple. My friends would rave about them but I just didn’t understand the attraction. You break something on a wall by pressing one button, change the broken pieces into a bridge using another button and then move on. What’s so great about that?
It was only when I started to play LEGO Star Wars that I got what all the fuss was about. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan (let’s not talk about Episodes I, II and II here) helped me to see the attraction; that it wasn’t how tricky the puzzles were or how intricate the controls, it was about character, charm, and making those rose-tinted nostalgia goggles just that little bit rosier.
The way this worked was quite simple. The developer would take a much loved franchise (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, etc) and build a virtual Lego world around it. For well known films you would play through an elaborate version of the main storyline. The basic plot would be the same but there would be some extra things to do in terms of puzzles and/or action.
Other franchises like Marvel and DC Comics would have an original story to play through. The assumption with these is that people are already familiar enough with the characters, and I must say from a personal point of view that this worked. I am not overly familiar with the various universes and their lore, but I know just enough about the characters and locations for the games to feel familiar.
Where the Lego games really came into their own was with the characters. They could capture the essence of a character perfectly and then accentuate their traits into some quirky personification. Often this would affect how they moved or behaved or even what skills they possessed. For example what they did with Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was spot on.
Now the main reason all of these worked so well had very little to do with gameplay but a lot to do with said charm. Tt Games would take a well known and much loved franchise and Legoify it. So what happens, then, if you try to do the same thing without the franchise and allure behind it? Well, I’m afraid to say LEGO Ninjago Nindroids is what happens.
I tried to like this game, I really did. I even watched the Ninjago TV series to get into it a bit more, thinking it would help me understand the characters. It didn’t, though, and so when it came to playing the game I found it lacked any of the usual spirit normally found in a Lego game. I played through it without even the faintest of smiles on my face.
This is the main problem with Nindroids. I found myself doing all of the usual Lego stuff but without any sense of purpose. The game became just a series or simple puzzles and fights, to the point where I actually found myself asking “What the hell am I actually playing this for?”
Is it all bad? Well no, I guess not. My eight year old son played through it and said he liked it. When I asked him why he said he didn’t know, he just did. It’s not quite what you would call a ringing endorsement but it would, perhaps, suggest the age level to which this game is most ideally suited. Those born before 2005 might be better off thinking twice before playing this game.
My overall impression of this game, though, is far from positive. Without any of the usual charm LEGO Ninjago Nindroids feels flat and uninspiring. It shows a gaming brand lacking ideas and originality, perhaps even complacent to think that its name alone might carry it through. That my son liked it (albeit for a short period of time) is its only saving grace. That said I would still argue that this is a poor effort from Hellbent Games, and hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Positives:
My son liked it.
The mechanics of the game were fine, as you would expect.
Negatives:
Everything else
3/10
Bartender says "So, why the long face?"
Horse reaches into his saddle and shows him his copy of LEGO Ninjago Nindroids for Nintendo 3DS.
Bartender says “Oh, I see.”
There is a harsh truth in this world and it is this: Not All LEGO Video Games Are Good. Some are, it would appear, downright awful. Considering its highly successful pedigree, then, it is hard to see just how everyone has managed to get it so wrong with LEGO Ninjago Nindroids.
I must admit I haven’t ALWAYS loved Lego games. At first I found them to be childish and overly simple. My friends would rave about them but I just didn’t understand the attraction. You break something on a wall by pressing one button, change the broken pieces into a bridge using another button and then move on. What’s so great about that?
It was only when I started to play LEGO Star Wars that I got what all the fuss was about. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan (let’s not talk about Episodes I, II and II here) helped me to see the attraction; that it wasn’t how tricky the puzzles were or how intricate the controls, it was about character, charm, and making those rose-tinted nostalgia goggles just that little bit rosier.
The way this worked was quite simple. The developer would take a much loved franchise (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, etc) and build a virtual Lego world around it. For well known films you would play through an elaborate version of the main storyline. The basic plot would be the same but there would be some extra things to do in terms of puzzles and/or action.
Other franchises like Marvel and DC Comics would have an original story to play through. The assumption with these is that people are already familiar enough with the characters, and I must say from a personal point of view that this worked. I am not overly familiar with the various universes and their lore, but I know just enough about the characters and locations for the games to feel familiar.
Where the Lego games really came into their own was with the characters. They could capture the essence of a character perfectly and then accentuate their traits into some quirky personification. Often this would affect how they moved or behaved or even what skills they possessed. For example what they did with Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was spot on.
Now the main reason all of these worked so well had very little to do with gameplay but a lot to do with said charm. Tt Games would take a well known and much loved franchise and Legoify it. So what happens, then, if you try to do the same thing without the franchise and allure behind it? Well, I’m afraid to say LEGO Ninjago Nindroids is what happens.
I tried to like this game, I really did. I even watched the Ninjago TV series to get into it a bit more, thinking it would help me understand the characters. It didn’t, though, and so when it came to playing the game I found it lacked any of the usual spirit normally found in a Lego game. I played through it without even the faintest of smiles on my face.
This is the main problem with Nindroids. I found myself doing all of the usual Lego stuff but without any sense of purpose. The game became just a series or simple puzzles and fights, to the point where I actually found myself asking “What the hell am I actually playing this for?”
Is it all bad? Well no, I guess not. My eight year old son played through it and said he liked it. When I asked him why he said he didn’t know, he just did. It’s not quite what you would call a ringing endorsement but it would, perhaps, suggest the age level to which this game is most ideally suited. Those born before 2005 might be better off thinking twice before playing this game.
My overall impression of this game, though, is far from positive. Without any of the usual charm LEGO Ninjago Nindroids feels flat and uninspiring. It shows a gaming brand lacking ideas and originality, perhaps even complacent to think that its name alone might carry it through. That my son liked it (albeit for a short period of time) is its only saving grace. That said I would still argue that this is a poor effort from Hellbent Games, and hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Positives:
My son liked it.
The mechanics of the game were fine, as you would expect.
Negatives:
Everything else
3/10
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Horse walks into a bar.
Bartender says "So, why the long face?"
Horse reaches into his saddle and shows him his copy of LEGO Ninjago Nindroids for Nintendo 3DS.
Bartender says “Oh, I see.”
There is a harsh truth in this world and it is this: Not All LEGO Video Games Are Good. Some are, it would appear, downright awful. Considering its highly successful pedigree, then, it is hard to see just how everyone has managed to get it so wrong with LEGO Ninjago Nindroids.
I must admit I haven’t ALWAYS loved Lego games. At first I found them to be childish and overly simple. My friends would rave about them but I just didn’t understand the attraction. You break something on a wall by pressing one button, change the broken pieces into a bridge using another button and then move on. What’s so great about that?
It was only when I started to play LEGO Star Wars that I got what all the fuss was about. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan (let’s not talk about Episodes I, II and II here) helped me to see the attraction; that it wasn’t how tricky the puzzles were or how intricate the controls, it was about character, charm, and making those rose-tinted nostalgia goggles just that little bit rosier.
The way this worked was quite simple. The developer would take a much loved franchise (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, etc) and build a virtual Lego world around it. For well known films you would play through an elaborate version of the main storyline. The basic plot would be the same but there would be some extra things to do in terms of puzzles and/or action.
Other franchises like Marvel and DC Comics would have an original story to play through. The assumption with these is that people are already familiar enough with the characters, and I must say from a personal point of view that this worked. I am not overly familiar with the various universes and their lore, but I know just enough about the characters and locations for the games to feel familiar.
Where the Lego games really came into their own was with the characters. They could capture the essence of a character perfectly and then accentuate their traits into some quirky personification. Often this would affect how they moved or behaved or even what skills they possessed. For example what they did with Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was spot on.
Now the main reason all of these worked so well had very little to do with gameplay but a lot to do with said charm. Tt Games would take a well known and much loved franchise and Legoify it. So what happens, then, if you try to do the same thing without the franchise and allure behind it? Well, I’m afraid to say LEGO Ninjago Nindroids is what happens.
I tried to like this game, I really did. I even watched the Ninjago TV series to get into it a bit more, thinking it would help me understand the characters. It didn’t, though, and so when it came to playing the game I found it lacked any of the usual spirit normally found in a Lego game. I played through it without even the faintest of smiles on my face.
This is the main problem with Nindroids. I found myself doing all of the usual Lego stuff but without any sense of purpose. The game became just a series or simple puzzles and fights, to the point where I actually found myself asking “What the hell am I actually playing this for?”
Is it all bad? Well no, I guess not. My eight year old son played through it and said he liked it. When I asked him why he said he didn’t know, he just did. It’s not quite what you would call a ringing endorsement but it would, perhaps, suggest the age level to which this game is most ideally suited. Those born before 2005 might be better off thinking twice before playing this game.
My overall impression of this game, though, is far from positive. Without any of the usual charm LEGO Ninjago Nindroids feels flat and uninspiring. It shows a gaming brand lacking ideas and originality, perhaps even complacent to think that its name alone might carry it through. That my son liked it (albeit for a short period of time) is its only saving grace. That said I would still argue that this is a poor effort from Hellbent Games, and hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Positives:
My son liked it.
The mechanics of the game were fine, as you would expect.
Negatives:
Everything else
3/10
Bartender says "So, why the long face?"
Horse reaches into his saddle and shows him his copy of LEGO Ninjago Nindroids for Nintendo 3DS.
Bartender says “Oh, I see.”
There is a harsh truth in this world and it is this: Not All LEGO Video Games Are Good. Some are, it would appear, downright awful. Considering its highly successful pedigree, then, it is hard to see just how everyone has managed to get it so wrong with LEGO Ninjago Nindroids.
I must admit I haven’t ALWAYS loved Lego games. At first I found them to be childish and overly simple. My friends would rave about them but I just didn’t understand the attraction. You break something on a wall by pressing one button, change the broken pieces into a bridge using another button and then move on. What’s so great about that?
It was only when I started to play LEGO Star Wars that I got what all the fuss was about. Being a lifelong Star Wars fan (let’s not talk about Episodes I, II and II here) helped me to see the attraction; that it wasn’t how tricky the puzzles were or how intricate the controls, it was about character, charm, and making those rose-tinted nostalgia goggles just that little bit rosier.
The way this worked was quite simple. The developer would take a much loved franchise (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel, etc) and build a virtual Lego world around it. For well known films you would play through an elaborate version of the main storyline. The basic plot would be the same but there would be some extra things to do in terms of puzzles and/or action.
Other franchises like Marvel and DC Comics would have an original story to play through. The assumption with these is that people are already familiar enough with the characters, and I must say from a personal point of view that this worked. I am not overly familiar with the various universes and their lore, but I know just enough about the characters and locations for the games to feel familiar.
Where the Lego games really came into their own was with the characters. They could capture the essence of a character perfectly and then accentuate their traits into some quirky personification. Often this would affect how they moved or behaved or even what skills they possessed. For example what they did with Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean was spot on.
Now the main reason all of these worked so well had very little to do with gameplay but a lot to do with said charm. Tt Games would take a well known and much loved franchise and Legoify it. So what happens, then, if you try to do the same thing without the franchise and allure behind it? Well, I’m afraid to say LEGO Ninjago Nindroids is what happens.
I tried to like this game, I really did. I even watched the Ninjago TV series to get into it a bit more, thinking it would help me understand the characters. It didn’t, though, and so when it came to playing the game I found it lacked any of the usual spirit normally found in a Lego game. I played through it without even the faintest of smiles on my face.
This is the main problem with Nindroids. I found myself doing all of the usual Lego stuff but without any sense of purpose. The game became just a series or simple puzzles and fights, to the point where I actually found myself asking “What the hell am I actually playing this for?”
Is it all bad? Well no, I guess not. My eight year old son played through it and said he liked it. When I asked him why he said he didn’t know, he just did. It’s not quite what you would call a ringing endorsement but it would, perhaps, suggest the age level to which this game is most ideally suited. Those born before 2005 might be better off thinking twice before playing this game.
My overall impression of this game, though, is far from positive. Without any of the usual charm LEGO Ninjago Nindroids feels flat and uninspiring. It shows a gaming brand lacking ideas and originality, perhaps even complacent to think that its name alone might carry it through. That my son liked it (albeit for a short period of time) is its only saving grace. That said I would still argue that this is a poor effort from Hellbent Games, and hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Positives:
My son liked it.
The mechanics of the game were fine, as you would expect.
Negatives:
Everything else
3/10