You may be thinking N+ is a very strange name for a game, well if you had never played the original N on PC before, I can see why you may think that. For the people who find N+ a strange name, what this game is about is a mini 2D ninja which runs and jumps around flicking switches to open doors. It doesn’t sound like the most sophisticated of games does it? But the point is… it is. N+ does have a little bit more depth to it than that, there’s a timer to each level, this is your life bar, and the timer can increase by collecting coins through out each level. The game gets increasingly harder as you progress,as you’ll start to face random enemies and obstacles which you must avoid to reach your goal.

Gameplay:

I like to think of this game of a 2D portal in the sense of puzzle strategy. You’ll rely on either trial and error or clever thinking to go about each level, and most of the time, you’re forced to do the latter.

As you already know, there isn’t much gameplay here in terms of what you can do, but it terms of what there is, there’s loads. N+ is split into episodes, which are then split into levels, each episode has five levels and these episodes act as one. What I mean by that is that your timer is shared with the other four levels of that episode, so those coins are more important than you think. Although this is a little strange, this adds a whole new layer of strategy, you may find yourself going through every level as a practice run just to find out which the easiest level is for you to collect all the coins in. Not only does the timer indicate how long you have left, but the time can be added to an Xbox live leader board for you to spar for the number one spot.

N was originally for the PC and it was entirely free, this time N+ is on the Xbox 360 and it costs you 800 points. There is justification for this, whether it’s still worth the 800 points is a different matter, but N+ is the better game. It’s the better game because there’s more to it, hence the name N+; this version allows you to create your own levels using an in built level editor, quite a rarity for any game never mind a side scrolling Xbox arcade one. This feature alone gives you an infinite amount of levels, you can make this game as challenging or as crazy as you like, which is another point of accessibility. The only problem with this addition is you can’t share the user created levels online, but you can only ask for so much.
The game also supports Xbox live downloads, meaning there’s going to be additional content to the single-player mode and multiplayer modes of the game. There’s also a variety of multiplayer options to play, including race; where up to four players race through a sequence of levels to reach the exit first, survival; where you collect as much gold as possible within a certain time limit, and co-op mode; here, three other players can join you at attempting the unique coop levels. These levels are different to the single-player ones as they’re designed for you to work as a group. For example, you may all start in different places and you all have to reach a different switch, which only that person can get to, to open a door. This multiplayer mode is probably the better one of the three as it introduces a new type of strategy, and acts as a break from the sometimes repetitive single-player levels.

Graphics:

Side-scrolling usually relies much on an art directive role if anything when trying to look visually impressive; unfortunately this game hasn’t really concentrated on a theme, only upon its puzzles.

It’s a very simple looking game, your character is essentially a stick man and the levels you play in are mainly open spaces with different platforms, almost everything is grey except the various enemies and obviously the yellow coins. This isn’t a major problem, until you get about half way through the game as there are about 400 levels to play here, the dull designed missions will begin the grate on you.

The game does rely heavily on a physics engine though, so when you fall too far or hit an enemy mine then you will explode and see what the effects of physics can do in a virtual world. This can be very interesting and amusing to watch, but I suppose it has to be as this is a game of trial and error as well as puzzle, you’ll die a lot.

Sound:

There are very basic sound effects, the most you can expect from a side-scroller. There are explosions, enemy fire and your character hitting the ground. Your character dying is probably the best sound effect in the game, without sounding too disturbed, because he does hit the ground with the most satisfying ‘splat’.

There’s also a background soundtrack to the game, you don’t really care to notice it, but you will notice it repeating once you’ve made some considerable progress into the game. It's nothing major, but it may cause you to hit the ‘mute’ after a while.

Longevity:

There's well over 300 levels to complete, three different multiplayer modes, all with their own set of levels, a level editor providing a never ending flow of levels, and the support of downloadable content where you’ll be seeing all the classic N levels from the PC version. This game is huge, and the developer is expanding the game even more. The only factor stopping you from playing this game until the end of time is your attention span and interest level, which will eventually die out, as there is only so much fun you can have with a game which only supports left, right and jump.

Overall:

As far as side-scrollers go, and puzzles in general go, on Xbox live arcade this is arguably one of the most valuable. At 800 points it’s still probably not worth the price, but in comparison to the majority of Xbox arcade games, this one is probably the most worthy of the price tag.

If you’re into puzzles and you’ve never played the PC version of N, this one is a must buy. If you can at least download the demo or try out the flash version on the PC then do that first, because this game is a well designed, quick thinking, highly addictive, open, and enjoyable puzzle experience which no one should be left out on.