By Vijay Sinha

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1676 Views | 1 Comment

You wouldn’t probably know it from just gawking at screenshots, but N+ for the PSP and DS (both independently developed from each other) is deceptively masochistic. Which is suitably funny when you consider it’s based off the heavily-praised and popular flash game of the same name. What it lacks in the lush sugar-coasting of other widely-popular side-scrollers like Mario and Sonic, N+ cuts through the fluff and gives fans of the genre (be it old or new) a no-frills but serious package of challenges woven in a silk of divine punishment. Is it for everyone? Nah, but for those who consider themselves true believers might want to back up and take notice.

Platformers by nature generally aren’t anything too complex to wrap your head around, and N+ is no different in that regard. You assume the role of a faceless, mini-pixelated ninja (no mystery on this game’s abbreviation, let me tell ya) transversing from platform to platform, getting one side of the screen to the other with a couple of booby-traps thrown in for good measure. Each level (selectable from a batch) consists of five stages. Reaching to the exit door signals the end of the stage and proceeds to the next one. Your score keeper doubles as a timer, letting you know how many digits you have until your agile acrobatic spontaneously combusts on its own. Complete all the stages consecutively and you’ll unlock further levels that’ll ramp up the difficulty by maybe, oh, a few dozen blisters or so. Don’t be deceived by the earlier stages; they may initially look downright prehistoric. A few levels later in and you’ll soon realize that this ain’t no daddy’s Pitfall. N+ hosts some of the most devilishly engineered manifestations known to Zod and by the time you’ll finally finish off a batch of levels, the next batch will break whatever spirit you have left from the last run. Yet oddly enough, you may find yourself playing on. There in lies the charm of developer Metanet Software’s dastardly, dastard hellspawn.

Then there’s the brevity of extra features attached for added value and measure. You can custom create your own torture chambers using the game’s in-built editor and upload them through local Wi-Fi or better yet, to the interweb. Thanks to the integration of a “Community” network, N+ allows you to download new levels straight to your handheld hassle-free, and even lets you rate others’ creations. You may want to consult the manual before actually diving into the level editor, as it took me quite awhile to grasp the most basic of features, until I ultimately gave up and just made a room of nothing but bombs for my ninja to explosively ricochet off from one to the other. Once you’ve got around to sampling the wares, you can hook up with a friend through two multiplayer modes – versus and co-op. Yes, there are maps specifically designed to compliment these modes too. Slap a price tag of $20 USD, and you got yourself a real bargain.

So which version better suits you? Depends, as both portable versions offer something the other clearly doesn’t have, but wouldn’t need in order to call it a deal breaker. Controls differ depending on which platform you’re most comfortable with. The PSP levels use up the entire screen, while the DS levels are zoomed-in much closer on the action but offer a panned-out view of the entire map via its second screen. This makes the DS version somewhat easier to get into over the PSP one, but not by a huge margin. I also had a much simpler time messing around with the DS level editor, thanks again to the addition of the second screen as well touch controls. But there are only 8 slots for you to save replays and custom levels, while the PSP version allows you to download as many as your memory stick can possibly stuff.

It’s a cruel comparison, really. Either purchase both or take a coin and flip for it. Whatever edition you end up with, N+ will still leave a tragic mark of decadence on your moral until you show it whose boss. Just don’t make it a personal vendetta against the kind folk who made it all possible in the first place!

8.0 / 10

Developer: SilverBirch Studios
Publisher: Atari / Metanet Software
Genre: 2D Platformer
Rating: E

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By N2H

• Arachnid Says:
  October 5th, 2008 at 10:37 pm

  No More screenshots?! What sort of asshold editor are you!?

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