Ranking the LEGO Ninjago Games

A while ago I took a look at some Bionicle games, and admitted that I knew nothing about the franchise on the whole. LEGO’s Ninjago franchise, however, I’m at least familiar with. I’ve seen about 20 assorted episodes from a variety of seasons, thanks to it occasionally being on while my kids got ready for school.

Ninjago follows the adventures of some ninja and their master as they fight off various threats to the world. They each have an elemental power, and graduate to golden weapons, new characters, one becomes a cyborg, etc, etc… It started in 2011 and is still getting new episodes in 2021, though that’s technically debated by fans.

For the purposes of finding the best LEGO Ninjago game, I’ll ignore the mobile titles; mainly because most of them are no longer available or supported. However, that does mean there are four games available if you’re happy to look for one of them second-hand.

4. LEGO Battles: Ninjago

(2011, Nintendo DS)

The Skeleton Army is trying to find the Golden Weapons, and it’s up to Master Wu and his ninjas to stop them!

Based on the very first pilot season of LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, it sees you gathering the team, then chasing down the Skeleton Army to stop them. However, it’s like a pared down Command & Conquer; you have a “fog of war” that clears as you explore (only to cover things again as you move away), you have to pick which units to move and where, you have to build structures…

It’s not my kind of genre, I’ll readily admit that, but it’s also not a genre you really think of when you think “ninja”. Especially ninjas whose main fighting technique involves spinning around.

3. LEGO Ninjago: Nindroids

(2014, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita)

Overlord is attacking New Ninjago City, and it’s up to the Spinjitzu Masters to stop him with their Techno Blades!

Based on the third season of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, it adapts over half of the episodes in an interesting way. It clearly started life as a DS game, with a focus on touch-screen elements and an isometric viewpoint, and it was even released mere months after LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Universe in Peril. The levels are fine, but without the story you’d be hard pressed to tell it’s a Ninjago game.

While the gameplay itself is okay, and it adapts the show well enough, this one also doesn’t really say “ninja”, and to be honest barely says “LEGO”. There’s not a lot of building, and most of the ninjas’ weapons are exactly the same.

2. The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game

(2017, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC)

Garmadon is attacking Ninjago City, so the Secret Ninja Force climb into their mechs to stop him!

Based on the movie of the same name, it sees the world and ninjas as basically a spin-off of The LEGO Movie. Whether that’s better than the TV show or not is for others to decide. The game is a fully 3D LEGO game with absolutely huge levels and some hilarious writing. Out of all of the games on this list, it’s the most “ninja”, with wall running and multiple fighting moves.

TT Games actually gave this away at the start of the COVID pandemic on multiple platforms, which was a really nice move. The game world is huge, with each level acting as its own hub full of activities. However, it’s not the best game on this list.

1. LEGO Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin

(2015, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita, Android, iOS)

Ronin has stolen the Spinjitzu Masters’ memories, so they have to fight to get them back!

Set between the fourth and fifth seasons of Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, it’s an all-new (non-canon) story. This is a fully 3D LEGO game, and you travel the world map on a dragon to get to new levels — it’s pretty sweet. The best feature is being able to use your Spinjitzu move to gather enemies and studs, and unlike Nindroids you don’t have to wait for the meter to fill up.

The story is great, the levels are nice and big, the world map is fantastic… As far as LEGO games go, it’s one of the best. It was actually tough for me to decide on this as the top entry, because the Movie game is just as big and funny. However, it is a new story rather than an adaptation, which edged it out.

So there you go, the best LEGO Ninjago game. Your mileage may vary, but none of them are bad games; I’d just prefer to never play one of them ever again. Others, I still have Trophies to get, so I’ll probably revisit at some point.