Nakama, pixelated Ninja master
Crescent Moon Games, the developers that gave us Ravensword: Shadowlands – a visually stunning open-world RPG game, decided to prove their skill yet again by releasing something completely different. This is Nakama, a free 2D pixel art / beat-em-up game featuring Ninjas, friends and boss fights.
Nakama (Japanese for friend / ally) puts you in the shoes of Ninja apprentice sent by his master to free his captivated friends across the world while kicking as much arse as possible. There are two game modes, the story driven campaign where you move your hero from left to right, defeat enemies screen after screen until you reach the level boss holding your friend and the endless mode that unlocks after you defeat the second boss. Rescued friends will join your party and fight the baddies side-by-side. There are no plot twists or unnecessary distraction, just plain old beat-em-up fun.
Nakama is fast, extremely fast. Luckily, the controls are spot-on and easy to get used to. The 2 buttons on the left will move your character, while the other 2 on the right will make him jump and attack. Moga Pro controllers are fully supported, but the game lacks basic Bluetooth HID implementation, rendering most other generic gamepads useless. Then again, you only have to push two buttons and both special attacks (dash and charge) are extremely easy to perform on your touchscreen.
On the bright side, Nakama is completely free to download and play. There are no ads and the only IAP is the “Magic Cloud” upgrade ($0.99) that allows you to continue playing right after you die. Since Nakama is a bit on the hard side, the “Magic Cloud” upgrade is something you will probably need if you decide to play the game through.
