Developer/publisher GungHo Online Entertainment

Format Switch

Release Out now

We’ve heard of disrespect in fighting games, but this is ridiculous. Not only are we winning matches in this free-to-play multiplayer melee brawler by ambushing, stunlocking and even dunking our enemies through magical basketball hoops, we’re doing it all while popping bubblegum in their faces. Our mothers would be scandalised. But such is the way of Ninjala - an irresistibly packaged, quietly technical fighter that shows just how far sheer panache can take you.

It’s something of which GungHo has never been in short supply; the studio has built a reputation for making stylish, compulsive, left-field titles, Ninjala’s premise is characteristically absurd: the World Ninja Association has developed a bubblegum that grants those with ninja DNA who chew it the power of ninjutsu (and transforms them into children, for some reason), the result being the eponymous tournament we are fighting in. If you think that’s confusing, wait until you encounter what Ninjala classes as a tutorial. First, you’re treated to an embedded YouTube video rundown of the basic controls - destroy drones to gain S-energy, which you use to blow gum bubbles that can be used to attack opponents or enhance your weapon. Next, a succession of pop-ups repeats much of what you’ve just read, while adding incidental tips: how to use gum for a powered-up dash or as a shield, and the fact that you can wall-run.