Games and music aren’t always mediums that complement one another. Although, think about the song “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas. Go ahead and dance for a moment. The song, like the game Mini Ninjas, is funky, fun and a tad goofy. I’ve also decided to put “Kung Fu Fighting” on repeat while I write this since the game and song work well together.

In Mini Ninjas, you play as a ninja (go figure, right?), and you’re given the mission to single-handedly take out the evil samurai warlord that has enslaved all of the animals in the forest, as well as rescue ninjas sent out before you who were captured.

Everybody and their ninja brother got taken, their fox and bear friends were magically changed into samurai with evil intent, and it’s all up to two ninjas who aren’t really top of their ninja class — one of which is you — to save the day.

The two weaker ninjas can still run up walls, flip and be sneaky in bushes to take out enemies. They’re not the best ninjas, but they won’t get pushed around. At first you can only take on the persona of Hiro, a ninja dressed in what I’d call usual ninja attire. Though, I doubt they’ve got a ninja section at The Gap. With a large army of evil samurai after them and the entire empire of feudal Japan, Hiro must use all of his skills to defeat different enemies.

Good thing he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. The powers at your disposal as Hiro are normal physical attacks, use of items like shuriken (ninja stars are to ninjas as axes are to lumberjacks; it’s just a must), and Kuji magic spells that do different things depending on the spell.

I mentioned earlier that there are two ninjas that start the journey of “Save the critters, save the world — oh, and your friends.” It’s true. Although, first you’ll go through the tutorial on how to fight ninja-style, then you’ll go find your fellow ninja Futo, who wields both a humongous hammer and an appetite.

Both characters have their own advantages and disadvantages that you’ll discover throughout play. Futo, for example, is a lot better at taking out the larger samurai than Hiro, whereas Hiro can use his magic to take out enemies. But, really, what sort of magic can a ninja use?

Plenty, it seems. I don’t want to reveal every spell in the game, but being able to possess a bear to start unleashing fuzzy-wuzzy fury then leaping out of bear feet and blasting foes with fireballs, I’ll have to say I enjoyed. If I’m not mistaken, I’d say you will too. Kuji magic is fantastic stuff.

That’s not to say Kuji magic makes Hiro the only useful character. You’ll rescue Suzume, who’s got a magic flute that makes all the samurai dance (quite a sweet little number actually), and other ninjas, each with their own abilities to aid you on your quest to destroy the evil warlord.

However, destruction of enemies doesn’t really happen to the death, which may make you feel at ease if you’re blowing through a large bunch of samurai. Each samurai is a magically transformed animal of some kind with larger enemies being bigger animals. So, when you “kill” a samurai, they just poof and become a harmless animal. This makes defeating a bear or other big samurai especially useful because you can immediately possess him (provided you’ve got enough Kuji magic left — don’t worry, it replenishes over time or with items) and use the enemy’s weapon against them.

What with all the things you can do with different ninjas, the enemies to take out, and such, you’d think that’s enough for a ninja game. Fight, defend, fight, win. Right? Well, you also have a variety of items to search for and collect in each level. You can save caged animals that aren’t changed yet, find coins to purchase different items, such as healing potions and ninja bombs, and find Kuji shrines to gain more spells.

Speaking of exploring the level ... as I ran around the world, I noticed the graphics of Mini Ninjas are incredibly nice. You can feel like you’re really in feudal Japan, albeit as a small ninja with little samurai yelling “Neenja! Neenja!” at you in cute little voices. But, it looks like feudal Japan with beautiful architecture and a great style just the same.

The cute and fun art style was something that I immediately noticed and thought was pretty darn awesome. Everything seemed to flow with the theme. It all had a Japanese folklore sort of feel, which only made it more appealing. I’ve still got that tune on by the way — “Kung Fu Fighting” — how ‘bout you? Instead of having “Kung Fu Fighting” playing in the background as I played, though, I battled evil samurai while listening to the Mini Ninjas music.

If you’re not entirely sure ninjas really need music, what with ninjas needing to be sneaky and deadly, well, that’s sort of the way the music works. It’s not blaring in your ears, and it doesn’t assault your eardrums. The music’s there and fits when you’re speaking with characters, watching a cutscene about magically transformed samurai animals, or in the heat of battle with those same transformed creatures. And some of the sound effects just show off the humor of the game really well.

I talked about the little samurai yelling “Neenja! Neenja!” at you as you battle them, but when a few of them get scared, run away from you, or are smacked in the head, some of the sounds they make are fantastic and funny.

Humor is sometimes tough to do in more serious games, but Mini Ninjas keeps it funny without ruining the immersion of being in the mini-version of feudal Japan. Not every game lets you go fishing then rewards you with sushi, nor can you sit in a large ninja hat and block arrows with it then use it as a boat to get said sushi.

But that’s just it: Mini Ninjas isn’t every game. It’s a third-person action-adventure game, but its humor, art style, and the sheer fun of it while you’re traversing the world sets Mini Ninjas apart. I’m a big fan of these kinds of games, and if you want something that’ll keep you entertained and having fun, Mini Ninjas is for you.

Go out and have a high-kick, back-flipping good time. Meanwhile, I’ll be changing the song to a different one, watching a Bruce Lee film, or getting some Mini Ninjas action going on a bit longer.