During my Easter vacation, which as far as I'm concerned was too short to be considered a vacation, I found myself unable to find a game to commit to. Typically when I am out of town I will pack my Vita and decide on a game to focus on during my vacation down time. I had every intention of working on Salt and Sanctuary, but I just couldn't get into it with what little time I had to game. Luckily I had also downloaded one of the PS+ free games, 10 Second Ninja X.
10 Second Ninja X is one of the greatest portable games I've played in awhile. You can literally play the game for 10 seconds and achieve something. Basically the game is divided into different game worlds and each world has 10 challenge levels. Each challenge level is beatable in...you guessed it...10 seconds or less. Each level also has a ranking system of one, two, or three stars and you earn those stars based on how quickly you can finish the level.
Each level starts off as a puzzle. You have to look at the layout of the level and the enemy placement in the level to figure out the fastest way to finish. Once you think you have figured that out, then you have to implement your plan through quick platforming style gameplay. In order to take out the enemies, you have a slash attack at close range and a shuriken attack for long range, but the shuriken attack is limited to three uses. There are a number of other things to consider and each world kind of has its own different puzzle element including door opening/closing switches, floors that break when you run across them, and Mario style Thwomps.
To truly beat the game you must achieve three stars on every level, but to beat the main story you simply have to beat the first six worlds with enough stars combined to unlock the ending. The story and characters are goofy and a nice addition to what is a very simple game, but once you finish the main campaign you have the ability to unlock a game within the game.
By finding all the pieces of a broken game disc and putting them back together you can play a mini game called Nunnageddon II: Think of the Children. I had little intention of really putting time into this mini game, but the title did grab my attention and there is a Trophy for achieving a score of 15000 or better. I HAD TO GET THAT TROPHY. Turns out the game is seriously addicting. You only use the directional buttons, square, and X. Square has two functions, pressing it does a punch and holding it does an uppercut. X lets you jump and it also lets you perform a straight down smash attack following a jump or an uppercut. Oh and did I forget to mention you play as a nun killing hordes of zombies. What's not to love about that? Eventually I did manage to get that trophy, but I am still playing the game attempting to best my high score.
This really got me thinking about how amazing some games are that are just a game within a game. Gwent was so addicting to me that my progression in The Witcher 3 stopped simply so I could challenge people to a game of Gwent. When Uncharted 4 introduced Nathan Drake to Crash Bandicoot all I wanted to do was keep playing Crash Bandicoot. And I can't even tell you how much time I put into Anaconda after I unlocked it in TimeSplitters 2. Even something as simple as the card matching game or the pick a treasure chest found in the Mushroom Houses of Super Mario 3 are fun diversion from the main game. I can't believe the gaming console found in your room in Pokemon games has never actually had anything playable on it?!? Serious missed opportunity.
If you get the chance to play 10 Second Ninja X I definitely recommend it, especially as a quick fix game for any platformer fans. And when you unlock Nunnageddon II: Think of the Children I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
So? What game in a game have you enjoyed? Let me know in the comments!