Ninjas? Bows? Hot Asian girls and sportscars? Sign me up!!!

In this week's edition fo Hot Piece of Flash, I wanted to profile a little game I stumbled upon a while back, being bored out of my mind. And, thankfully, at the time, this is the exact medicine I needed to cure my horrible boredom. Mixing point-and-click adventuring, a ninja with arrows, and some of the best art I've ever seen in a Flash game, Bowja the Ninja is a great way of purging the evil disease of boredom and apathy from your system.



See that little guy in the middle of the screen? Yeah, that's Bowja, the bow-and-arrow wielding ninja. That's him at the start of his second adventure, Bowja The Ninja in Bigman's Compound. His first self-titled game is as good as this one, but this was my introduction to the series. As Bowja, you must infiltrate the compound of Abura, a.k.a Bigman, defeat him and his minions, and neutralize the threat of a missile under his control. To aid you, Bowja has, of course, his trusty bow, a motorcycle, and stealth.

The game plays like your average point-and-click adventure: point at something, click it, and watch the results. Nothing special. The big draw is the art style. Each level you go through is beautifully drawn. The enemies you encounter, either small or massive, look simply gorgeous. And, of course, Bowja's quite a handsome little fella. What I love about his design is that he always looks worried, with his eyebrows furrowed in fear of whatever lies around the next corner. But, you'd never notice it in his actions: he deftly fires his bow with eagle-like precision, performs acrobatic feats as easily as most of us walk, and generally acts like a badass.


OH SHI-

The puzzles on each screen are something to behold as well. There's a rather gently difficulty curve; easy enough at the beginning to appease newcomers, and hard enough towards the end to keep point-and-click enthusiasts entertained. The humor contained in the game is pretty neat, too. Even though Bowja uses arrows, no one is ever killed in the game; arrows either knock people off ledges, or piss off enemies. Plus, enemies never fully attack you, but, rather, get annoyed with your whole ninja routine. The music in the game is rather minimal, but fits perfectly. You'll probably get a little annoyed with Bowja's constant grunts. But, even the blackest of hearts have to smile whenever Bowja cheers over his accomplishments.

If you have a few minutes of free time open, it'll do ya good to play a nice little game like this. As I said before, the first game in the series is also exceptional. So, why not try them both out right now?

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Previous Hot Pieces:
Rock Paper Scissors: Extreme Deathmatch
Amateur Surgeron
Grid16