In case you haven’t heard, the folks over at Metanet Software are making headlines with their “frank” assessment of XBLA. I had played and respected their hit game N but never got into it. Given the buzz, I decided to give it another go. Of course, despite knowing full well the game prides itself on being difficult, I started on the hardest mode.

Once I figured out how to jump (Shift key) I was on my way. After dying many times I finally made it to the box at the end and I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized that the switch, rather than leading to the next level, only opens the door back on the other side.

The game reminds me a lot of Mega Man. (I never played Lode Runner, which is supposedly even more similar.) The style is very different, but that die then try again gameplay has an old school platformer feel. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to spend being killed, altering my plan, and then being killed again. Still I like both the style and the gameplay.

Basically everything about the game is based around simplicity. Some would say that this is “the easy way out.” They didn’t have to make complex art assets and the gameplay consists of only a timer, gold, platforms, and various ninja killing devices. I’ll grant that constructing N was probably not a great undertaking. However, coming up with something so simple that is fun and unique is quite a task.

I still haven’t remedied my not getting into the game though. Hopefully I’ll find the time to die thousands more times.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 3:22 am and is filed under Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.