N: The Way of the Ninja is a somewhat popular platformer game that was first released in 2004. Its last sequel, N++, was released years later. Its predecessor, Nv2.0, required a review before committing to what is considered the best and most flushed-out version of N for $15 on Steam.
Nv2.0 is a free Flash Game that can still be downloaded to computers today. Able to be played as either a single or two-player game. Nv2.0 offers 100 levels with 5 stages each and an entertaining story. You are a ninja with incredible speed, rabbit-like jumping power, and the ability to climb on walls as you dash for the doors at the end of every stage. Tragically, your ninja powers come with the drawback of only being able to live for 90 seconds unless you consume the gold that is spread throughout each level. To make matters worse, each room is crawling with enemies from explosive mines to the deadly and electric equivalent of a Roomba to even missile launchers that can only be evaded using jump pads, one-way platforms, and of course, dying and trying again. Nv2.0 grants the player an endless number of lives, though each stage of a level is reset when all the players die, or time runs out.
As someone who has completed 99 of the 100 levels, or more accurately 499 of the 500 stages, along with several other levels that the community has made, I have a lot of experience with the game, and I can confirm the replay-ability of it as well as the length it can take to complete the whole game. I have played Nv2.0 off and on for the past four years, usually taking a break due to missing the door to finish a level one too many times. However, I always find myself coming back to finish the main game to complete the rainbow of possible avatar colors (awarded after completing each group of 10 levels), or to have the satisfaction of completing the level, or even just to play a game with my brother.
One truly enticing quality of the game is that the controls can be set to anything. For inexperienced players, this can be helpful as they learn which keys they want to use to move their character around. For more experienced players, it brings rise to very interesting strategies. For example, sometimes I play by myself with two players and use the second player’s automatic kill button, a control that makes your character explode, to blow up some particularly annoying mines. I also can set the controls for both characters to be equivalent, so one is a shield for the other and I get two lives per round. This is my current strategy for level 99-4, and it has allowed me to get closer than ever to beating the game. It is also a fun way to mess with the other player if you set their controls backward, or you set their automatic kill button to one of their movement controls, so they keep dying as soon as the level starts.
Overall, Nv2.0 is one of my favorite games and I cannot wait to try N++ when I finish Nv2.0. N++ seems to bring even more to the table like better graphics, more color schemes, more enemies, a co-op game mode, and 4340 more stages. Hopefully, you’ll look forward to my review 35 years in the future when I finish N++ assuming I keep going at this rate.
