N+

Yaaaaay! Everyone loves ninjas don't they? Those funny little guys moving silently, defending honour and kicking the crap out of wrong do-ers. In N+ you actually do none of that and it still manages to be an awesome ninja-action title. You may or may not have played a little-known game called Line-Rider on the net. It boasted simple as hell graphics but an addictive hook and some stunning physics for a 2D game, where the aim was to draw courses (simple black lines) and get a little toboggan guy to the end in one piece without getting stuck or flipping off the course.

While not from the same developer, N+ is similar in that your main enemy in the game is the physics engine. Misplaced jumps and movement will kill you all kinds of dead if you aren't careful. It's a platform game, old skool to it's very core and the aim is to simply reach the level exit before the time runs out. Coins are scattered around each stage and add valuable seconds to your time bar so getting as many of these as possible is crucial.

That isn't necessarily easy as explosive mines, machine gun turrets, security drones and homing missiles litter each stage, cunningly placed as if the developer can predict which way you will go through the stage, and they are usually right. Homing missiles in particular add a thick, creamy layer of tension as they bear down on you with threatening speed and hound you to the ends of the earth, or until you force them to slam into a wall. You have to move fast and without pausing for thought and in no time you will be speed-running levels through memory and at this point the sense of speed becomes thrilling.

Going back to the physics engine for a second, once you master the basics of jumping accurately and double-jumping up walls you start to notice other neat moves. Running up a slope then jumping in the opposite direction gives you massive air and if you are cunning enough, you can spot short cuts, trimming stage times down to mere seconds. The responsiveness of the jumping mechanic make this simple-looking game all the more tactical.

There are 50 chapters of 5 levels so it's long but it never grows tired. It's like a highly polished flash game (funnily enough it started life as a flash game) that you play in your spare time, instantly addictive but simple. Graphically it has a cool VR mission style, almost like a computer simulated obstacle course that almost smacks of an 8-bit conversion of Rez. Still, the levels are crisp and the funky dance tunes that overlap each stage are catchy. It is to be expected that some players will turn up their noses at the simple presentation and go for something else and who can blame them? In an age of HD graphics and 3D engines some find it hard to revert to the old skool but then that is to deny the aim of N+ in the first place. It's a celebration of retro and pulls it off brilliantly.

100 levels of ninja-athletics for about seven notes? I'll take it young grasshopper!