"It's a metaphor for the evils of Capitalism, I'm telling you! A fun metaphor, at least."

On the surface of N+, you might believe it to be a quirky little Flash-game turned Xbox Live Arcade title, wherein the objective is to guide your miniscule ninja across a variety of intricate platforming stages, threatening to halt your progress with a bevy of deadly traps.

That's what you “lesser” people may think of it. Beneath the layers of psychological wrapping and philosophy, N+ is really about the folly of capitalism on the individual in his/her struggle to survive life. This will be discussed in laymen's terms later, laymen.

I played the original Flash version of N nearly 2 years ago. Back then, it managed to eat up my time in high school whenever a teacher who actually gave two craps wasn't looking. My impression was that it was a fun little puzzle platformer and rivaled Super Mario Bros. in terms of excellence in simplicity as regards the overall design of the game.

Naturally, I felt some joy in the withered husk that was once my heart when I heard that it was being picked up and made mainstream with multiple console releases. Since the DS version isn't out and I don't want to buy a 160 dollar Playstation Portable, I nabbed the updated version on the Xbox Live Arcade.

First thing that seized my attention were the graphics. Everything is simple, yet the framerate is so fluid and the aesthetic so stylish that it feels like a tight package. Accompany that with the cute little tunes the BGM pumps out and you set the perfect stage for one of the best platformers ever created.

The goal is the same for each of the game's 50 levels: Open the exit door of the level and escape before being killed of time runs out. The difference between the levels is what's blocking your path to said exits. You'll be assaulted and tested with an array of mines, lasers, gauss rockets, seeking missiles, back-crunching falls, and other unpleasant means of death. Oh yeah, and you're a ninja too, so you can jump on walls and have ninja reflexes.

In addition to the game aggressively trying to snip you from your mortal coil, there's also a timer bar above you that limits your ability to just dick around the level. You can extend your time bar by nabbing bits of gold that add one second for each piece of gold acquired. And this is where that deep philosophy I was talking earlier comes into play.

The gold represents wealth, while the ninja represents you, and the traps represent elements of life that want you to risk everything for a precious few more seconds so they can get you. Thus, capitalism is shown to be a horrible tourist trap of life, ending in your death in the vain pursuit of something you think will enrich your life further somehow.

In all seriousness, the game design does tend to lend itself to an element of greed vs. survival. Sure, those globs of gold look pretty and ripe for the taking, right until you realize you walked right into the path of a electric block that smashes you. None of the gold is “impossible” to take, but some of it is mostly designed to get you to stray off path and die. This balance of score vs. progress is interesting and definitely a feature that sets N+ apart from other platformers.

The Live Arcade version also comes with some nifty features that weren't possible in the Flash version. For one, there is now multiplayer, which plays great. The only problem, or just something that bugs me, is that sometimes the action seems to hectic with so many things and people on screen interacting at once. You also seem to always spawn in the same place, so cluster-****s happen quite often.

Another awesome addition to accompany N's rebirth is a level creator. I'm not a particularly creative person, but testing out the editor led me conclude that it's well-implemented and very user-friendly. You can place anything, from starting points to the exits, from the enemy lasers to the immobile mines. It is sure to satisfy you when you somehow grow tired of the actual game in some Bizarro world.

N+ is a perfect addition to anyone's arcade library. For 10 bucks, it seems a steal compared to the more expensive PSP and DS versions. It also adds enough top justify actually paying for it rather than just playing it on Flash forever. If you like puzzles, platformers, or ninjas in nonsensical environments, than N+ is the game for you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/08

Game Release: N+ (US, 02/20/08)