The original I-Ninja is a platform / action game developed by Argonaut Games and released in 2003 for the GameCube, Playstation 2 and Xbox. Argonaut also announced a Gameboy Advance version of the game, to be developed by Destination Software (?), but this port was soon canned. I-Ninja for the GBA would have been a pseudo-3D action game, taking some of the features from the home-consoles I-Ninja (as the “running ramps” and the “slide rails”) to recreate the feeling of the game on the portable console.
As we can read in the original press release:
Following the successful GameCube, PS2, PC and XBOX versions, I-Ninja comes to Game Boy Advance! This version is a mixture of fast paced ‘Inertia Run’levels, combat arena’s, ‘Ball Rolling’ levels requiring pin point accuracy and cool showdowns in the ‘Final Boss’ levels.
Despite his size, I-Ninja is the consummate warrior and has spent years mastering his weapons and honing his fighting skills. Challenged by the world’s most wicked villain, Master O-Dor, and his menacing army of Ranx, I-Ninja is fierce in his attacks and deadly in combat. With extreme agility he navigates environments and conquers all that is evil!
We dont know why I-Ninja GBA was cancelled, but we can speculate that they did not find a publisher interested in the project or that Destination Software had some problems to port this “3D game” to the low-tech portable.
I-Ninja 2 for the PS2, Xbox and GameCube, was also cancelled when Argonaut Games had to close down in 2004 for economic issues.
Thanks to RustSh1ne for the contribution!
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