10 Second Ninja X Brings More Levels, Fewer Swastikas
Yarrr!
It's just not historically accurate to have a ninja fight robot Hitler. Japan and Germany were allies during World War II, everybody knows that. So I'm glad that silliness is over with. I'm really precise about historical accuracy in my games. I'm talking about 10 Second Ninja, of course. Robot Hitler was also the reason why many levels were covered in swastikas, and the game had to be censored for German release.
But the sequel seems to fix this major issue: the antagonist in 10 Second Ninja X [official website] is a pirate. We can settle the arduous question that has occupied historians for centuries. (Silly historians - it's obvious ninjas are cooler than pirates.)
Aside from this major thematic switch, which will surely push the series to the vanguard of interactive storytelling, 10 Second Ninja X seems to offer more of the same: kill all the enemies in any given level in 10 seconds or less; then try again, master your movements and get 3 stars. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you enjoyed the original. Graham didn't hate it, but he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it either:
"It's really a game about the levels, about solving them as puzzles. They were good enough that I enjoyed the night I spent completing it, but I don't think they're good enough – in variety, in opportunity for personal expression – for me to want to go back and perfect all of them. That makes the game a little thin."
The game will offer 60 new levels, alongside an HD remaster of the 40 levels from the original, various secrets, collectibles, and an optional mini-game that will unlock hint ghosts. The new marathon mode will string together all the levels from an area and challenge you to complete them all in one sitting.
Here's an appropriately silly trailer which unfortunately doesn't mention how much cooler ninjas are compared to pirates. I guess when you have to please the pirate crowd as well, you're forced to censor yourself. Let me fix that.
10 Second Ninja X is headed for a summer release on Windows.