DaRmaZat Releasing on August 20 across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, Mexican Ninja pitches itself as a frantic blend of Streets of Rage style side-scrolling action and Hades inspired roguelike structure. In this 2.5D hack-and-slash title developed by Madbricks and published by Amber Studio, standard fistfights are swapped for sharp katana slashes, wild Mexican Jutsus, and absurd arcade action.
Playing as a masked warrior under a giant sombrero, your main goal is to overthrow the five clan bosses of the ruling Narkuzas and reclaim the neon-soaked streets of Nuevo Tokyo. While early marketing positioned the experience as a cross between Streets of Rage and Hades, what you actually get is a standard roguelike loop that relies heavily on familiar beat ’em up tropes without reaching the heights of either influence.
The narrative relies on over-the-top, irreverent comedy filled with quirky encounters like fighting a Crack Panda miniboss or watching a garbage truck haul away your body whenever you die. However, much of the dialogue leans into specific regional slang, insults, and cultural gags. If you do not understand Spanish, most of the jokes fall flat, leaving the humor feeling alienating rather than amusing. Visually, the colorful comic-book art style gives the game a bright presentation, though it fails to truly stand out.
You brawl your way through 2.5D stages littered with hazards, explosive barrels, and gang members speeding in on motorcycles. Each randomized run offers slight side paths for extra rewards, but the restrictive layout continuously forces you to backtrack onto a single linear path. Fights quickly turn chaotic due to excessive visual clutter–during intense skirmishes, with particle effects often obscuring your ninja so heavily that keeping track of your own position or reading incoming attacks becomes a chore.
Getting closer to taking down the Narkuza syndicate takes time, as training with El Mero Mero Sensei to unlock nodes on the main skill tree – playfully dubbed the Way of the Donkey – requires a lot of grinding. Bosses feature clear attack patterns and deliver a decent challenge, yet the gameplay grows repetitive with the same visual monotony carrying over into the environment design. Because permanent meta-upgrades trickle in slowly, your combat variety depends almost entirely on temporary active perks and passive Mexican Jutsus selected during a run. And while button-mashing through hordes feels responsive out of the box, the core mechanics lack true technical depth.
Final Thoughts
Mexican Ninja is an accessible, fast-paced brawler loop wrapped in an eccentric premise, but it ultimately lacks a distinct soul to hold your interest for long. The serviceable audio design – combined with language-heavy humor that misses the mark if you do not understand Spanish – leave the overall package feeling generic. Rather than building depth around its sombrero-wearing protagonist through a proper story-driven campaign, the title settles into a routine roguelike structure that wears out its welcome.
Additional Information
Release Date: Aug 20, 2026
Reviewed On: PC. Download code provided by the developer and publisher.
Developer: Madbricks
Publisher: Amber Studio
Relevant Links: Available on STEAM
