'Oops' is a word you’ll often see in N++, but it never quite epitomises the correct feeling of watching your tiny ninja avatar splatter into a thousand pieces from a landmine. Nor will it truly capture the frustration of watching them mulch into a pile of limbs because you missed landing a jump by a fraction. It does, however, give you a sense of the game you’re playing; one where you’re taxed by nimble movement, often unfair circumstances and rooms of death. Seeing the word 'Oops' on the death screen feels like the developer is giving you a mocking nudge in the ribs as it goads you into trying one more time, because after all, the concept of the game is very simple: run and jump.
There is no plot for N++ and there doesn’t need to be. The game spells this out clearly in the ‘story’ section of the main menu – you’re a ninja, you like gold, you’re incredibly fast, but this means your natural lifetime is only 1.5 minutes. You like exploring rooms and they come in sets of five. It’s obvious that the developer made a great game based around precision platforming, then stuck its tongue firmly in its cheek to add on a story. N++ doesn’t need a narrative, it needs good mechanics and interesting level design. And it has these in spades.
The aim of each episode is to reach a button which opens the exit to the level, thus ending the episode before your lifespan of 90 seconds runs out. This can be topped up by collecting gold pick-ups strewn around the room, each adding a small increment of time and giving you a little longer to reach the end. Not that there’s really an end in sight as the game features hundreds of levels and the ability to download more from creators across the world.
This is pure bitesize gaming. A level can take just a few seconds to complete, even with numerous deaths a room will be reset repeatedly until you finally land the movement you need, but it will take mere minutes. Rarely does a set of rooms require a marathon session, unless you want to play the ‘hardcore’ mode, which changes up the rules and puts more emphasis on balance. In ‘hardcore’, time restraints become stricter and deaths don’t reset the clock, it keeps ticking away piling on pressure and forcing you to decide between taking a chance to score more gold or just dash for the exit.
Of course, our tiny ninja has many obstacles in their way. There are turrets that blast lasers, others that launch homing missiles. Robots dash towards you intent on killing if you step into their line of sight, there are landmines everywhere and lots of glowing orbs that cause you to explode upon touching them. And all you’re armed with is a jump button.
Admittedly, that jump button is pretty special. A brief tap and you’ll effectively hop over gaps; hold it longer and the ninja will soar through the air. Get a bit of a run-up and momentum will launch you across the rooms with carefree abandon. Momentum is key to N++, without it your ninja will fall to their death or simply miss jumps resulting in a loss of time. Sprinting up ramps and hitting jump at just the right point is all there is to it, but it’s not that easy. If only it were.
Our ninja is a floaty little swine. He can be hard to control at points and often feels like a helium balloon on the loose. It’s easy for him to drift off course, especially if you prefer the stick to the D-pad and this isn’t ideal when running through tight corridors of bombs or landing on minuscule platforms. Considering this, N++ is still precision platforming at its best and its unforgiving angle is part of the charm.
Some rooms feel structured to drive you insane, leaving gold pieces in places that seem impossible to reach and you’ll want to try getting them all if your goal is to hit that lofty 100% mark in the stats screen. This screen, it must be said, is incredibly detailed. So if you like analysing where you go wrong or which levels you can better, the devs have you covered.
More gold and more levels means customisation. Change the colour of the ninja, give them a jaunty scarf that flutters through the air and you can even change up the music or colour palettes of the levels. These are purely cosmetic changes, the base controls never change, but it is nice to put your own spin on how things look. And while the game is very minimalist, it achieves a beauty in its simplicity. The animation of the ninja is just lovely and everything feels butter smooth. Some may find it hard to constantly watch such a small sprite move around, however. It can be a strain on the eyes.
That’s a small quibble because N++ is a joy to play. The difficulty ramps up slowly and steadily and even when the rooms become harder, you know that you just have to adapt your skillset. You can always rope in a friend or three for some co-op play or race through the obstacles. This spices up the playstyle greatly and brings a competitive edge to proceedings. As mentioned previously, there’s a lot of content here and while the servers weren’t online for community creations, there’s bound to be a wealth of new levels vetted by the developer itself every day.
Conclusion
Bags of levels and increasing difficulty will keep N++ refreshing for hours and days on end. The mechanics are simple and yet incredibly deep, which opens up a wonderful game brimming with customisation options and new modes to try out. Floaty controls sometimes hamper progress, but the deaths are always spectacular.
Comments 32
Day 1!
Day 1
This is a game where you breath after you complete the level
Give me a Demo, then maybe
I'll be getting this for sure! Always enjoyed playing my brother's copy of N+ on DS.
I remember playing N+ on my DS many years ago, and from what I remember I had fun with it. I might pick this one up, eventually.
You had me going for a second, headline.
Got too many other games to pick up. Someday.
I've heard good things about this game. I'll get it at some point.
This game is fantastic. It was the first game I bought on PS4. The controls are awesome. I love the tangible feeling of gravity and inertia.
And in terms of content, I've never seen a game surpass it in terms of how much there is to do.
The headline made me think the game ended up being a buggy mess. Glad to see that's not the case.
Need ++
Gggrrrrrrr..... play this co op with my 8 yr old on PS4. Great game. Frustrating, difficult, nauseating but also rewarding .... when u finally clear a level after 30 fails the sense of relief is amazing!! 9/10
N++ is one of my favorite games of this generation, just like N+ was one of my favorites of last generation.
This will be the third time I buy N++, and I’ll be very happy to do so on Thursday. Can’t wait to see the custom levels that the community creates this time around!
Cant wait to dig into this. Again. Lol. Both this, and Runner3 in the same week. My poor Switch battery.
I’ve been waiting for this since the day the Switch came out. Always hoped for a Vita one (or the psp original to be on the PSN). Now at last I finally have my portable N++!
Had this on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. No major desire to go back to it but would definitely recommend for anyone who hasn't tried it.
No mention of now well executed multiplayer is? I'd love to know!
Had the 360 version way back and was proud to complete it.
I loved this game on the DS. The increasing difficulty made me feel a real sense of accomplishment when I beat levels. Unfortunately, the difficulty also resulted in me losing interest after a while.
Played N+ back on the 360. Is this functionally the same game still?
Another super simple looking "avoid the spikes" pixel indie platformer with some gimmick? No thanks.
I loved N+, I actually had some top leaderboard scores on the Xbox 360 version.
That said, I'm not really digging the new art style, particularly for the ninja. Also, I almost broke a few 360 controllers back when playing N+ so I'm not so sure I'd pick this up on Switch since I've never used the dock/tv mode more than once.
Oh, and those homing missles can rot in h3ll where they belong. 😡
Oh man! I didn't know this was coming out on Switch.
The original N+ was the first of those tough-as-nails platformers I ever played.
Definitely getting this.
@Bunkerneath You can play the original N on their website for free.
http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/n.html
It has 100 levels and you can play user created levels as well. Gameplay seems to be exactly the same. The biggest difference to N++ is that there is no music.
Might get it, not sure really. Will put it on my wishlist I guess.
@countzero Well I guess like that makes the Switch version kinda pointless, thanks for the link!
@Bunkerneath gameplay hasn't changed all that much from previous iterations, the first of which is free
http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/n.html
"Floaty controls" bugs me, because a precision platformer should never have floaty controls.
Still play N+ on my PSP. Will pick this up for sure at some point. Not good at N+, but it's still awfully fun to play.
@Captain_Gonru There is a level creator. It just wasn't available at the time of review.
1st time I’ve played these games and it’s pretty addictive so far.
So happy this is finally on Switch. Still one of my favorite games. IMO this deserves nothing less than than a 9.
@lillith It's not really that the controls are floaty, they are very responisve; it's more like the way the character moves is floaty.
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