Metareview -- Ninjatown (DS)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...jatownmeta.jpg

We have a tendency to miss metareviewing portable games, especially when they're caught up in the mad flood of holiday releases. But Ninjatown has been getting such good scores we figured it deserved its moment in the sun, especially since you'll be able to pick it up for $15 on Friday. ... And yes, OK, it's kind of a slow news day. So sue us.

GameShark (91/100): "Ninjatown has 'sleeper hit' written all over it. It certainly looks innocent enough on the outside – it's cute and goofy, and oozes sugary sweetness, as it's actually based on a stuffed toy line (the Shawnimals, created by ex game journo Shawn Smith). But underneath that fluffy exterior is a seriously addictive tower defense game that is as hardcore as it is adorable."
Game Informer (90/100): "Don't let the cutie-pie exterior fool you - Ninjatown is a gamer's game through and through. The units in this tower-defense title are versatile and useful, enemies are diverse and deadly, and there are enough power-ups and options to keep things fresh. Best of all, levels don't seem to have a preset way to beat them, unlike many tower-defense games on the market."
1UP (B+): "Ninjatown's layered in a coating of sickly sweetness that no amount of scrubbing will ever get out of your DS slot, but this obviously wasn't a game rushed out just to peddle Shawnimals merchandise. If you can get past the saccharine coating of the Ninjatown world, you'll find a surprisingly good tower defense?style filling hidden inside the hard candy shell."
GameDaily (80/100): "Once you're done admiring the charming and colorful artwork that encompasses the Ninjatown box, you'll soon realize there's a deep, addictive and challenging game for your DS inside. Ninjatown takes the fast-thinking, reactionary gameplay of tower defense and combines it with simple real-time strategy elements, creating one of the more compelling and unique games in recent memory."