We previously reported on the announcement of Tiny Pixels Vol. 1 – Ninpo Blast, the latest game to be developed and published by the always reliable indie studio Eastasiasoft, who specialise in retro-style budget indie games. Following our report on the game’s announcement, here’s our review of the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

The game was released on 14th August 2024 on Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, so, if you fancy a bit of Ninpo blasting, there’s sure to be a format to suit you! Despite its “Tiny Pixels Vol.1” subtitle, Eastasiasoft doesn’t appear to have announced any other games in the “Tiny Pixels” series at the time of writing.

Tiny Pixels Vol. 1 – Ninpo Blast is a pure old-school vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em up that doesn’t feel the need to bother with niceties such as a storyline, not even the oft-used perfunctory shmup storyline of a world-threatening invasion in “the year20XX”. Trivialities such as a story would just get in the way of the (Ninpo) blasting.

The game plays well, with tight controls and well-designed levels whose tunnel-like designs create an unnervingly claustrophobic feel, which adds to the panic of being under attack. The gameplay itself is fairly basic, but it’s fun, and the upgrade system and randomly generated enemies add extra layers of depth to what is otherwise an enjoyable but unspectacular vertical shmup.

As one might be able to deduce from the game’s subtitle, the graphics in Tiny Pixels Vol. 1 – Ninpo Blast are firmly in the “pixel art” style, and these are particularly low-resolution examples of the style, with the game’s large, chunky sprites adding to its retro feel.

The chunky sprites are put to good use, depicting well-designed and pleasingly colourful enemies, who are evil insects rather than typical shmup spacecraft baddies. Not only does the game have a pleasingly retro look, but the sound is particularly well-implemented too, with pounding 80s arcade-style music soundtracking the shmup action.

Ninpo Blast might not be the best shoot ‘em up on the Switch, but it plays well, and it’s a lot of fun in an enjoyably retro style. And while there’s not much variety, Ninpo Blast is well worth buying if you’re a fan of vertically-scrolling shoot ‘em ups, especially if you enjoyed Eastasiasoft’s similar earlier title, Z-Warp.

What’s more, the game’s use of “roguelite” elements in the form of its randomly generating enemies means that the game is theoretically infinitely replayable, and the variety of upgrades provides another reason to keep playing so if you like your retro shmups to be heavy on the retro, then you’ll have a blast with Tiny Pixels Vol. 1 – Ninpo Blast. We look forward to seeing the next Tiny Pixels volume!