Ninjas are fantastic. This has been universally true throughout history. Regardless of context, every ninja in reality or fiction has dripped with pure, sugary, crystalising cool, before flipping off in the burst of a smoke bomb to flip around and be cool elsewhere.

In particular, the relationship between video games and ninjas has traditionally spawned vast teeming hordes of cool, flipping, stabbing, stealth-killing offspring, and that looks to continue with Atari's upcoming N+ for the DS and PSP.

Like Linerider, which is now on the way for the Wii and DS, the game is a conversion of an existing online Flash game, and another damn fine one at that. Essentially a high-speed platform puzzler based around exploiting your character's velocity and inertia through some fiendishly designed levels, it plays like a sugar-rush 2D version of the modern Prince Of Persia series spliced with a dash of the aforementioned Linerider and a big blubbery lump of classic Sonic. I strongly suspect it's also programmed with the ability to inject crack cocaine directly into your eyeballs via your monitor, such is my current addiction to it.

The handheld versions will have a healthy 500 levels when they hit this Winter, including some of the downright satanic fan-created stages, which currently have me sobbing like a lost child and struggling to cope with some serious new self-esteem issues. 

In the meantime, check out the original version and this ear-rapingly soundtracked video to get a feel for what the finished version will bring.  

[Via Pocketgamer]