N+

What do you get when you mix the acrobatics and puzzle solving of a platformer with the pacing and coordination of an action game? You get the sequel to a popular flash game by Metanet, N+, now available on Xbox Live Arcade. Is the successor to a freely available PC game good enough to warrant a purchase?  Read on to find out.

 

For those not in the know or those who have not played the original N, the game puts you in control of a modern ninja with a passion for gold which causes him to navigate the most bizarre of two-dimensional locales to collect it within a given time. While these maps range from simple to geometric to artistic, they all share common enemies. A simple task of stepping on a switch to open a door for the player to exit through is made difficult with a variety of missile or laser turrets, drones which either follow, electrocute, or fire machine guns, and even mines, electric bumpers and more.

N+ is certainly not a graphically-focused game. Nearly all of the visuals look simple enough to be recreated with MS Paint given enough time. While nicer textures or models would be nice, it's simply not needed for a game as simple as this. After all, you wouldn't want a game like Pong to use a shiny 3D engine, would you? The same can be said about the sound effects you'll encounter in the game – nothing noteworthy, but they get the job done. Controlling the nimble protagonist is a simple task given analog movement. Newcomers to the game may find a bit of a learning curve when it comes to precise jumps or wall climbing, but the control scheme is simple enough that nearly anyone can play the game. Even those that have trouble with the game will likely enjoy the gratuitous use of ragdoll physics in the stick-figure characters. Each death not only looks convincing, but can also be hilarious watching your body bounce off of jump pads and mines in an explosive manner.

 

 

Every time you look at a screenshot for the game, you're essentially looking at one stage. Five of these stages form an episode, of which there are 50 in the game. Anyone who might be thinking the single-player of N+ lacks any length would be very wrong. It could be longer actually than several shooters or action games (I'm looking at you, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, and Devil May Cry 4), depending on one's skill level. Being that it's a sequel, there is not a single map in N+ that you'll find in the original N, which adds considerably to the game's difficulty and length for those who are familiar with the game already. Add a level designer to create your own maps for both single-player and multi-player and you have an experience that keeps on giving long after it ends.

Multi-player is where this game truly shines. The entirety of the single-player campaign can be played with a friend over Xbox Live, but Slick Entertainment has gone the extra mile and created a coop campaign that can be played with 2-4 people. It contains only ten episodes, but completing each of them requires every player to be at the top of their game and overcome the most incredible of obstacles, often times working in tandem as players are sealed in different maps from each other and must open doors on the other player's map to proceed. It's cooperative gameplay in it's truest sense. On the flipside, there are also race and survival modes for up to four people to see who is truly better at navigating the game's obstacles. Once again, the game's map editor adds to the replayability by giving the option to make maps for race, survival, and even coop.

 

Quite simply, if you enjoy platforming in any way, you owe it to yourself to purchase N+. Fans of Live Arcade looking for a different experience will find it here, and those who enjoy creating content for their games can have a field day with it. Many will make the argument that they've already played this game in a flash player on the PC, but they couldn't be more wrong. The volume of content to be had here easily dwarfs it. That having been said, many people didn't enjoy N, and thus will find nothing here to sway their opinion. At the very least, download the demo and decide for yourself.