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When I was much younger, before my reflexes began to wane, I relished the crushing challenge of platformers that put to work my twitch reactions and sticktoitiveness. One such game was N+, which I discovered through the Xbox Live Arcade program among many other indie gems, and fell in love with the hundreds of escalating challenge rooms and the small, furtive stick-ninja that met them head-on.
I was more than eager to put my old fingers and wrists to the ultimate test once I learned that the team was back with a new game, N Plus Infinity Times Two, which we all know, from being kids, is the biggest number there is.
Those wanting another dose of the chaotic, physics-based platforming that N has always been known for can rejoice. The point of difference this time around is the team’s laser focus on multiplayer and co-op, transforming it from yet another punishing platform game into what could be one of the must-play party games of next year. Although I am sure the title will ship with plenty more, the two modes I got to go hands-on with really play to the game’s strengths of precise, confident, and accessible movement skills that welcome in new players while leaving an enormous amount of room to improve. It’s a game where experience, understanding, and mastery of high-level moves can create a gulf between the best and worst.
And yet it remains a blast.
Racing is pretty much the traditional N play you’re used to. In an every man for themselves battle, up to four players race for a level’s exit while evading the level’s hazards and collecting gold along the way. As you’d expect, posting a quick time might win you the battle, but the war is often won by collecting as much gold as possible to stack on bonus points. There’s a neat balance of risk and reward in that, as players who finish ahead of others can fire off a rocket that can be used to target those left fighting over whatever gold is left.
I think the real main event is Team Tag which is a best of three cat and mouse mode where players pair off, taking turns as either the ninjas or the hunters. The ninjas aim to collect gold and last as long as possible to post a score, all while the hunters, who are identified by a golden aura, attempt to run interference and, by simply touching the ninjas, cut their run short.
Staying agile and elusive is obviously key to success if you’re a ninja; in fact, the mode reminds me of World Chase Tag. On the flip side, hunters are forced to make a snap decision to either split up or push in together to pinch a ninja in the corner. As I said, it’s a genuine game of wits, and it’s unbelievably fun.
What’s especially cool is that, in this mode, hunters can transform into rockets, boosting themselves around the arena to close the gap on their prey. While it sounds like the ultimate gambit, it’s all excitement and no risk for hunters who do this. Contact with either an unfortunate ninja or a platform or wall returns the hunter to their stickish form. And just like nailing the perfect shot from the safety of the level’s exit, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as seeing a ninja explode into bits and pieces, scuttling their run in the process.
N has always exuded an energy that calls to mind the earliest days of the internet; it could easily have been an offshoot of Stick Fights. For how frenetic the game can be, its basic aesthetic is a gift to its readability. This game stays true to its original vision, and I love how many colour palettes you can pick between—my favourite uses the key colours of the Super Nintendo face buttons.
Like previous entries, the level design can range between simple kill boxes, where the only threat is gravity, and bigger-scoped levels that throw the kitchen sink at you. Lasers, rockets, and mines are among the familiar hazards you’ll meet your end in N, but I love the addition of what I’m calling danger boxes, which, once touched, fly off haphazardly in the opposite direction.
As a lapsed N+ sicko, I feel like Metanet’s new title evolves on the formula perfectly. Not that it ever needed a shot in the arm, this game’s renewed focus on offering a suite of relentlessly fun multiplayer modes should hold it in good stead when it hits storefronts next year.