N+ puts you in a ninja's shoes, running and jumping your way through level after level full of small explosives, electrified floating orbs, lasers, and homing missiles. The game presents itself in a very simplistic fashion from every approach, and in the end it doesn't really keep your attention for long. N+ throws some unique challenges at you, though, which makes it a decent game for what it is.
Your objective in every level is to hit the green switch and get out the door. Easy enough, right? But what happens when there are other switches that open other doors blocking the level exit, or there are tons of dangers and obstacles in your way? That, in a nutshell, is N+. You play as a ninja who can jump long, high, and off walls, and your goal is to open the door and then go through it. Your quest to the door isn't as easy as it sounds, though, because even though none of the game's levels take more than about 45 seconds, there are plenty of challenges presented to you. You will have to do some precise jumping and many carefully timed wall jumps to get to your goal.
N+ is very often challenging, but rarely frustrating. The levels are designed in such a way that you can figure out what you need to do quickly, but actually doing it is where the challenge lies. All those precise jumps mentioned earlier come into play to make the game very challenging on the later levels, especially when there is so much danger within the level.
N+ does pretty well in its gameplay, but it does little to keep itself fresh throughout the 39 episodes. You see the same obstacles all the time, they're just presented a little differently each time. The graphical design also does not differ one bit from level to level, and everything looks ultra simplistic, with no changes through the whole game. It doesn't look bad, necessarily, but there was obviously an extraordinary effort to make the game as simplistic as possible, and they succeeded. The result is a game whose visuals will never catch your interest, except when you die, when the ninja is sometimes cut into pieces that keep getting thrashed and thrown around. That's where a lot of the game's entertainment comes into play, actually, it is quite funny to watch.
A great feature of N+ is its level editor. Since the game is so simplistic, you can make levels exactly like those in the game, so for those who want to take the time, this probably the game's best feature. Unfortunately, the community appeared to be down when I tried to connect a few times, which kills a little of the level editor's appeal because I think you can share your levels online (that is, if the community is up and running…). But even though the level editor is so great, I doubt the game will hold your interest long enough for you to want to take time to make some quality levels.
N+ has a soundtrack filled with the same short tunes repeated over and over, which gets a little repetitious within each level. The default setting for music, though, is strangely 'Off.' Could they have guessed how annoyed people might get with the music tracks? You never know. The rest of the sound design is, like the rest of the game, ultra simplistic. There's a sound for every type of death, and that's about it. The sound effects themselves are average, not too annoying but not great either.
N+ offers little to talk about because it's just so simplistic. There is barely anything to the game with ultra simplistic presentation and somewhat repetitious gameplay. The gameplay, though, is where the game works well, because it offers some good, enjoyable challenges in short spurts. The game is over pretty quickly, even with 39 episodes of 5 or so levels each, and even then you will probably lose interest before you're done. The level editor is good for anyone looking to keep going with the game, though. Overall N+ is a hard game to recommend, but a hard game to hate. If you can find it for about $10 you might want to give it a try, but otherwise just leave this one on the shelf and pick up something else.
Positive:
+ lots of levels
+ challenging, but rarely frustrating
+ level editor allows you to make levels exactly like those in the game
+watching the ninja get thrashed is strangely entertaining
Negative:
- ultra simplistic in every perspective
- doesn't keep your attention for long
- single player is pretty short
Your objective in every level is to hit the green switch and get out the door. Easy enough, right? But what happens when there are other switches that open other doors blocking the level exit, or there are tons of dangers and obstacles in your way? That, in a nutshell, is N+. You play as a ninja who can jump long, high, and off walls, and your goal is to open the door and then go through it. Your quest to the door isn't as easy as it sounds, though, because even though none of the game's levels take more than about 45 seconds, there are plenty of challenges presented to you. You will have to do some precise jumping and many carefully timed wall jumps to get to your goal.
N+ is very often challenging, but rarely frustrating. The levels are designed in such a way that you can figure out what you need to do quickly, but actually doing it is where the challenge lies. All those precise jumps mentioned earlier come into play to make the game very challenging on the later levels, especially when there is so much danger within the level.
N+ does pretty well in its gameplay, but it does little to keep itself fresh throughout the 39 episodes. You see the same obstacles all the time, they're just presented a little differently each time. The graphical design also does not differ one bit from level to level, and everything looks ultra simplistic, with no changes through the whole game. It doesn't look bad, necessarily, but there was obviously an extraordinary effort to make the game as simplistic as possible, and they succeeded. The result is a game whose visuals will never catch your interest, except when you die, when the ninja is sometimes cut into pieces that keep getting thrashed and thrown around. That's where a lot of the game's entertainment comes into play, actually, it is quite funny to watch.
A great feature of N+ is its level editor. Since the game is so simplistic, you can make levels exactly like those in the game, so for those who want to take the time, this probably the game's best feature. Unfortunately, the community appeared to be down when I tried to connect a few times, which kills a little of the level editor's appeal because I think you can share your levels online (that is, if the community is up and running…). But even though the level editor is so great, I doubt the game will hold your interest long enough for you to want to take time to make some quality levels.
N+ has a soundtrack filled with the same short tunes repeated over and over, which gets a little repetitious within each level. The default setting for music, though, is strangely 'Off.' Could they have guessed how annoyed people might get with the music tracks? You never know. The rest of the sound design is, like the rest of the game, ultra simplistic. There's a sound for every type of death, and that's about it. The sound effects themselves are average, not too annoying but not great either.
N+ offers little to talk about because it's just so simplistic. There is barely anything to the game with ultra simplistic presentation and somewhat repetitious gameplay. The gameplay, though, is where the game works well, because it offers some good, enjoyable challenges in short spurts. The game is over pretty quickly, even with 39 episodes of 5 or so levels each, and even then you will probably lose interest before you're done. The level editor is good for anyone looking to keep going with the game, though. Overall N+ is a hard game to recommend, but a hard game to hate. If you can find it for about $10 you might want to give it a try, but otherwise just leave this one on the shelf and pick up something else.
Positive:
+ lots of levels
+ challenging, but rarely frustrating
+ level editor allows you to make levels exactly like those in the game
+watching the ninja get thrashed is strangely entertaining
Negative:
- ultra simplistic in every perspective
- doesn't keep your attention for long
- single player is pretty short