Deep in content, bland in presentation
N+ puts you in control of a Ninja that needs to navigate through a heavily guarded diction of platforms filled with mines, robot sentries with different natures and other nice traps to blow your pixilated friend into many different tiny pieces. In motion the main character looks like a strangely animated matchboy, and all you need to press to control him is the jumping button and the D-pad. Despite his rather short list of abilities, the only one being wall-jumping, the game is still able to pull off some very interesting and challenging levels.
The game must be loudly praised for it features over one-hundred levels on the single-player mode, even though some of them – not the majority though – are either repetitive or lack creativity. Level creation is very simple as all of them are carefully placed arrays of mines, differently shaped platforms and other traps within a tiny space as most levels are cleared within a minute or two. The game focuses on the player's ability to perform highly precise jumps, but from time to time it is possible to come across a level that will utilize some reasoning when calculating the best possible angle to approach a ledge or the finest strategy to avoid hordes of sentries.
The game's undeniable high challenge level is powered by the fact that your beloved Ninja will be destroyed instantaneously whenever he lands on a mine or is touched by a drone. The concept of lives is fully ignored in the game as you can restart the levels as soon as your character meets his sad and unstoppable fate. In order to spice things up there is a time limit within each level but it usually doesn't come into play as there is plenty of time for you to reach the exit door even if it is heavily protected by another three iron gates that must be deactivated. However if time does become an issue you can collect golden dots – a nod to Pacman, maybe – in order to slightly increase the timer, or you can simply collect all of them for the sake of full completion.
The art direction on those levels ranges from none to zero as all of them basically offer the same background and theme naturally potentiating the rate on which the game becomes repetitive. For those who manage to get through the game without getting bored by its overly simplistic level layout and art, and focusing on its good aspects such as its old-school platforming vibe and its plain fun gameplay N+ holds long hours of gameplay on its single-player mode that will surely be multiplied due to its good amount of different modes.
Aside from the single-player mode there is a level creation tool that gives the player as much freedom as the game's developers had when coming up with the levels and a fun multiplayer mode. Levels that are created can be shared using Wi-Fi and the multiplayer offers a wide range of modes such as racing and cooperative. Needless to say the replay value, for those who manage to still be interested in the game after playing it for a bunch of hours, is extremely high.
Overall N+ is a decent package. Its fun gameplay could certainly benefit from a better overall presentation and a bigger variety in themes and in songs, still the game will end up being pretty fun and challenging to those who are able to ignore how repetitive the title can becomes. The game is certainly better enjoyed in small samples than in big playing marathons.
Actual Score: 7.2