Some games are remembered for their notorious difficulty - the Ninja Gaiden, Gradius and Contra series come to mind - and N+ is no different. Actually, that's not entirely true - it's harder. You see, in the other games I just mentioned, you may die a couple of dozen times before beating a five minute level. In N+, it's not unusual to die hundreds of times in the course of a thirty-second stage. This may seem like it'd make the game endlessly frustrating - and make no mistake, it can be - but it still remains addictive thanks to its instant respawning, interesting level design and the great sense of accomplishment tied with finally beating a stage that you've been struggling with for the past half hour.

N+ has about as basic a concept as you can get; you must guide your ninja through relatively small stages in order to reach buttons that will open a door, collecting gold pieces that add to your time bank (and raise your standings on the leaderboard) and then head through said door to complete the stage before time runs out. Obviously there's a bit more to it than that; the layout of each level becomes more and more sadistic the further on you get, making precision platforming skills a must once you pass the first bunch of tutorial stages. If that's not enough then mines often pepper the stage, enemies swarm areas you need to traverse and turrets fire heat-seeking rockets - and many times all of this will be in just one stage! Needless to say, pattern recognition and some twitch gaming skills go a long way here. All of this can easily make the game controller-tossing tough, but the quick respawning combines with the fact that you rarely lose more than fifteen seconds of progress after each death, - making most turns just as short - to give the game such a great 'one more go' factor that it's really hard to put down.

It goes without saying that a game with the brutal difficulty of N+ would be extraordinarily frustrating if the controls weren't up to the task, but fortunately that's anything but the case here. Your ninja controls perfectly, complete with a sense of momentum that's so fluid that it's almost tangible; so while you may not be able to stop and turn on a dime, you'll know that any deaths weren't the fault of the controls. There are times when your ninja will die from a fall that you thought you'd make, and times when you were sure you'd die from a fall and didn't, but this rarely gets in the way of the gameplay and happens less often once you're more accustomed to the rules of the game.

The visual package presented is bare bones, but this complements the gameplay. The ninjas contrast well with the background, as do enemies and mines; when looking at the layout of a level you'll instantly recognize what the developer has planned for you during this stage and you'll be able to formulate your approach relatively quickly. Your ninja is also well animated, ramping up speed nicely when running across the level and pulling up his knees when making a particularly large leap, while the addition of his bandanna really adds to the feeling of momentum in the game; well, that, and it looks pretty cool. Unfortunately, the simple style is also a double-edged sword; while it helps pattern recognition and makes level layouts easy to survey, it also comes off as rather bland. Something as simple as different color schemes for each chapter would have helped to ease the gray fatigue, but as is, it's a stylistic choice that accomplishes what it sets out to do.

The audio in the game is also appropriately simple and does a good job of conveying the essentials; each enemy has a distinct signature sound, so you'll always know exactly what's attacking you. Also of note are the smacks and crunches associated with the punishment of your ninjas; the thud of your body smacking against the ground is particularly brutal, as is the sound of your gibs flying about the level after getting massacred by a rocket or mine. These sounds, along with the often hilarious rag doll effects, make dying a lot less frustrating than it could have been, especially when sharing the experience with a friend. On the other hand, the soundtrack, or should I say, the song that plays during the game, is pretty muted and you'll most likely either forget about it or replace it with your own soundtrack within the first few stages.

Don't let N+'s simplicity fool you into thinking that it doesn't bring a lot to the table; the single player experience alone is spread across fifty chapters, with each chapter split into five stages - that's two hundred and fifty stages for those that don't want to do the math - making the single player quite sizable and, combined with leaderboards based upon how much time you've banked in total between all modes, would constitute enough content for the 800 point asking price. If what's on offer in the single player episodes isn't enough to satiate you though, there is a level editor included to fill all your sadistic level-creating needs. As a bonus, these levels can also be played online with your friends; nothing says "I care" like a grueling, nearly impossible stage that will take them hours to complete!

But wait, there's more! On top of the meaty single player experience, the game also includes a selection of fleshed out multiplayer modes, all of which can be played either locally or over Xbox Live.

First up is the co-op; not only can you play the entirety of the single player episodes co-operatively - think four ninjas in a level at once instead of one - but N+ also includes a separate co-op only campaign; here, you and your aforementioned friends will play through stages that, most of the time, require at least two players working in tandem to complete. For instance, in some levels, one ninja is tasked with hitting a switch that is undoubtedly on the other side of an enemy ridden path while the other ninja has the exit on his side and must survive a gauntlet of enemies in order to live long enough to go through the door once his ally hits the switch. In another instance both players must make it through an excruciatingly tough stage because the exit in surrounded by mines, forcing one player to sacrifice their ninja to allow the other to go through the door. Unfortunately not all of the stages in the co-op campaign are set up this uniquely; some are just dolled up single player levels that can be completed by one person. While still fun to play, the co-op is a lot more interesting when you're co-operating with another player and not, in essence, racing to the end of the stage.

Speaking of racing, that's one of the two adversarial multiplayer modes also available in N+. The concept is simple; beat your opponents to the stage's exit as fast as possible. It's another basic premise but it does have some strategy in it; do you go full out and try to beat your opponent to the punch, risking hitting mines and clearing the path for your opponent if you screw up, or do you play it safe, stay back and hope that your opponent fumbles? The other versus mode is Survival, which plays just like it sounds; you and your rivals are trapped in a level and you must dodge enemies and collect gold in order to increase your slowly decreasing time bank so you can outlive your opponent. Like Race mode, there is also some risk vs. reward strategy involved here; once in the lead, do you chance going for more gold in order to widen the gap or stay in a relatively safe area in order to avoid death, which costs you five seconds of banked time?

While the ability to play all of these modes online is a very nice addition, it does have some hiccups. First and foremost is the unfortunate prevalence of lag; often in N+ you'll find yourself maneuvering eerily close to some enemies and mines and when playing online it's quite common for the game to jump the gun and assume your failure. In turn this cues the obligatory explosion or electrical crackling that usually signals your death, only to have your character miraculously survive, leaving you temporarily dumbstruck, which usually gives the game enough time to kill you - for real this time. This, along with character-warping lag, can cause a great amount of annoyance if it happens continuously during one session, and while it isn't too prevalent and didn't completely mar the online experience for me, it did cause me to die on quite a few occasions. Still, the fact that online play is even included in the game, and to such an extent, is a great bonus; it's just too bad the net code isn't a little bit tighter. Any chance of a patch, Metanet?

The second thing that brings down the online experience, and to an extent the game in general, is the game's strict adherence to the rule that you must complete a chapter (five stages) before your progress saves. While the game would have normally been great to pick up for a couple minutes when you have time for a quick crack at a stage, this rule unfortunately makes it more of a time sink; with later stages in some chapters regularly taking upwards of half an hour to complete, having to beat five before your progress is saved for later can be an unfortunate hassle that may prevent you from dipping in when time is short.

While it may not be for everyone and isn't quite perfect, N+ still manages to be a great title that's fantastic value for any hard-headed platforming fan, thanks to its rock-solid game mechanics and a wealth of content and modes. With so much content available out of the gate, along with a level editor and a large multiplayer component included for good measure, N+ will keep you sending a veritable army of ninjas to their inevitable demise for quite some time to come. Banzai!

Reviewed by Jordan Wasilka for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).