N+

Ninja [nin-juh] - A member of a class of 14th-century Japanese mercenary agents who were trained in the martial arts and hired for covert operations such as assassination and sabotage.

Platform [plat-fawrm] - a horizontal surface or structure with a horizontal surface raised above the level of the surrounding area.

Ninjas and platforms goes together like peas and carrots. Whether they're running at top speed on a sloped roof top in 14th century Japan or just bouncing around, collecting gold, opening doors and avoiding booby traps it's simple; Ninjas Kick Ass

Ninjas are supposed to be noble and silent assassin/mercenary types, but I like to think of them as blood thirsty, back flipping, drop kicking, ass stomping O.G's of the night. With that being said, here's my completely unbiased review of N+ for the PSPizzle. The last 'P' stands for Pizzle right?

N+ was spawned from a simple flash game that included rag doll physics and a stick figure Ninja inspired by Lode Runner, Soldat, and other platform games of that nature. It was released on the XBLA and did rather well for the 360. Now Metanet Software is giving you the opportunity to take your Ninja on the road with the latest hand held version. The premise, well that's simple. Bounce your Ninja self all over the place, watch out for booby traps, landmines, and heights while keeping a constant eye on your time limit. There's a switch that opens the door to the next level that always needs to be activated. While making your way to the switch, try to collect as much gold as possible to allocate more time to your limit along with unlocking other goodies along the way. Sounds easy enough right? Think again. I SAID THINK AGAIN!!!!

N+ works well for what it's trying to accomplish and delivers from the very beginning. Here's the level, try it out, and die a bunch of times and give'r again. It is the only true path to learning the ways of the Ninja. The levels are masterfully crafted and increase in complexity as you delve deeper into this quest for booty. Each and every stage becomes more elaborate and difficult as you muscle your way up high platforms and slanted walls while avoiding bombs and all sorts of traps. Think you finally got the hang of things? Just wait and see what's coming up next.

The animations are simple but very fluid and nice to looks at. The developers are clearly more focused on trying to provide a clean, fun and challenging game without all the bells and whistles. It's even satisfying when you die. This probably has something to do with that fact that you blow up into little pieces or you get bashed around a hundred times by different kinds of traps. The developers allow you to watch your mangled Ninja corps get tossed around before pressing the X button to give it another go. By default blood is turned off but changing this option to display blood animations is a no brainer.

There are hundreds of levels to sink your Ninja stars into. Well, 350 to be exact. 200 single player levels, 100 co-op and 50 VS levels that will keep you occupied. If you're feeling creative, why not design your own? Included in this potent portable is a built in level editor to play around with. This feature is nice because it will ensure new levels and content will always be available whether you are creating them on your own time, or downloading newly designed and upload levels from your Ninja friends via the PSP infrastructure mode. You can also download new maps and replays from the N server.

Co-op mode is what you'd expect for the most part. You and a buddy can link up and play together collecting your gold and achieving your goals. Versus includes game types such as Domination and Tag. Domination mode is set up so that when you collect gold your opponent’s time decreases. Run out of time ya dead kid....NEXT! Tag does not involve any body spray but rather a 'you're it' type premise that starts a timer. Get tagged by your ninja nemesis and time starts counting down. First one to run out of time is the pathetic loser. Once this happens you might as well go kill yourself for dishonouring your family and Ninja clan. Seppuku city suckah.

This game play is thoroughly addictive and extremely challenging. You'll find yourself cursing and shouting out loud once you miss that last edge or when that laser drone pops out of nowhere at the end. You will always want to finish a level no matter how hard it seems, just to prove to yourself you're not a total loser. I was stuck on a level within the 14 stage for well over 300 deaths. That's a lot of trial and error and a testament to any Ninjas patience. Some levels are a breeze while other will have you pulling your hair out. It's this type of contrast that makes you itch for what's coming up next.

The music in N+ is pretty cool. It's has a funky techno style to it producing 8 bit beats that bring you back to a time when games were simpler. The music speeds up to bring a sense of urgency to the game when your time limit is about to expire which adds a nice dynamic to the game play. There truly is nothing like stressing over your time limit while avoiding a crap load of bad guys that won’t stop until you're smashed up and bloody.

To wrap things up, I'll close by saying this is a must have game if you find yourself traveling often. It's perfect to just pick up and start rolling. Hundreds of levels pose different variants of difficulty making it a challenge every time. Being able to revisit one stage after you've completed it definitely helps out with its replay value. It's perfect for long bus rides and mandatory social events that suck. If your more into addictive game play then flashy graphics and long story lines this will stay put in your PSP for a while. It's the perfect addition to your portable library and is highly recommended for that kind of quick fun on the go you've been waiting for.

Enjoy!