I laughed, I screamed! N+ is the game you'll love just as much as you hate it.
The gameplay of N+ is deceptively simple: you guide an acrobatic ninja through obstacle courses, trying to find the key to the door, and then reaching said door. However, every level has a 90-second timer, and collecting gold pieces will add time to your counter. The timer is very rarely an issue.
The real danger lies in the various tricks and traps set up all across the field. Among these are mines, tracking missiles, patrolling drones, and laser beams, just to name a few. On their own, these obstacles are not nearly dangerous as they are when coupled with the fiendish level design.
The N series has always had excellent level design, and the DS iteration is no exception; these levels will kick your butt. Thankfully, the difficulty progresses fairly uniformly. Every episode will have at least one level that you have to retry over and over again, but it rarely discourages you from playing. Every time you mess up, you can see exactly what went wrong, and how you can fix it.
N+ also features a level editor and a few multiplayer modes. The level editor has a lot of options, but can be annoying to use. It would have worked a lot better as a grid-based function rather than free-form. The touch screen controls here are unresponsive and a little clunky. However, people who get used to the editor will be able to make some very impressive stages, and you can share/download stages through Nintendo WFC. The multiplayer offers a variety of modes in both co-op and competitive styIes.
Closing words: If you can get around the high difficulty and empty presentation, N+ is an excellent game that can be enjoyed by all hardcore gamers.
Presentation: 6/10- Very basic, but that's what N is all about. Having to change your settings every time you start up is not a nice thing. Level editor is clunky, but has potential.
Graphics: 7/10- Again, very basic. You've got two options: Pure and Plus. Plus is the default, but is considerably uglier than Pure. Pure makes the game look identical to it's origin as a flash game, which is awesome.
Sound: 4/10- Mostly obnoxious, "punk" techno. There are a handful of fitting songs, but they're all just 5-second loops. The styIe is annoying, and it could have been better with a spy-theme or something. Sound effects are bland.
Gameplay: 9/10- Perfectly preserved N. N+ has a retro feel to it, and has some of the best level design in gaming. Be cautious of the ridiculously high difficulty.
Value: 7/10- There are over 40 episodes, with 5 levels each. Levels are short, but you'll be retrying many of them over and over again. The multiplayer and level editor could keep you busy for a long time.
Recommendation: Consider buying it if you're a hardcore gamer who loves platformers.