Mini Ninjas Demo Impressions

I just got done playing through the Mini Ninjas demo for the first time and I must say I am pretty impressed; this is starting to look like it will not only be a rather diverse game, but also succeed at its diversity.
The demo starts off with a little ceinematic where you are given a mission by your master to investigate an abandoned castle nearby. The visuals are very cute. The colors are bright and everything is miniaturised, making it look very soft and cartoony.
There only seems to be dialogue when it is important (e.g. when you are being told to do something) and during the cutscenes the characters interact mostly through sounds and body motion. The humor is very kid-oriented, people tripping and enemies pointing their weapons the wrong way and so forth, and the gameplay is also easily accessible, making this a game someone of any age can enjoy.
During the demo you have three characters to choose from, but being the main fella (Hiro) is what it is definitely geared toward. He can use magic, fish, find magical shrines and possess the creatures of the forest, things all which the other two can't do. You use one of the others near the end to fight a large enemy and the third character doesn't seem to have any specific use at all.
In a couple parts of the demo you come across water. When you get in the water, you can jump into your hat, which doubles at a boat. There are a couple parts in the demo where you are riding down-stream and you hit some rapids and you have to navigate through the rocks. Your hat-boat fills a little bit with water every time you hit a rock, and if the hat fills up you have to swim (the only downside is it's slower) while your hat is drained of water. One thing I like about these sections is the fact they are integrated into the game, they don't feel like a forced in mini game like a lot of games achieve.
The combat is very simple. You have a soft attack and a hard attack and you can occasionally use a power attack from picking up red orbs some enemies drop. There are also a variety of ninja-esque items you can use, from caltrops to shuriken to smoke bombs. You can also make potions in this game. When you find the 'store' you can buy recipes from him, and as you explore you find the ingredients to use in the making of these potions. This brings me to my major issue I have with the demo.
When you pause, you find a menu option that says Progress. You progress through the level is measured by 5 things you find along your way. Basically this is looking like it will be a big ol' collecta-thon, a common trend the heavily plagues kid-friendly games and games that are hard-up for achievement material that I wish would stop.
Overall, this is a fun demo and one I would reccommend for download (especially for those with kids). As for the actual game, I will have to wait and see more.

Game Site: www.minininjas.com/us