1-bit Ninja (iPhone, $1.99) by kode80 sees its release today. I’ve given it some playtime in the past couple of days, and it’s pretty great if you are into old school platformers with a twist.
If it looks a bit like Super Mario Land to you, you’re right. 1-bit Ninja uses a style of retro graphics inspired by the LCD handheld games of the old days, but the gameplay is way different. For starters, you can’t move backwards which takes a lot of getting used to. The idea behind that is that the old platformers pushed you forwards most of the time, so why not get rid of the option to go back entirely?
Touching the lower left part of the screen makes you run forward and the lower right part makes you jump, but touching and dragging the top of the screen lets you rotate the game world to turn the 2D world into 3D.
This mechanic lets you spot openings in the level that show you semi-hidden paths, although in practice you’ll probably run past a section and spot one of five collectible “Big bits” somewhere where you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get to — especially without the ability to run backwards on command. There are wall-mounted things that actually do make you run in the other direction from time to time, which makes the whole experience pretty wild.
The gameplay revolves around getting to the end of a level without dying (death means you start at the beginning again) while grabbing as many “bits” for points and Big bit collectibles as possible. You will die, and you will die a lot. But it’s really easy to keep replaying a level until you pass it, because you’ll be damned if you let the game beat you. When you do pass it, the game saves your run as a replay that you can watch later. You can’t share or upload it or anything like that, but it’s a cool little added bonus that I didn’t expect at all.
There’s also an mode called OSP (old school mode) that carries over your score and collected bits from level to level, as long as you don’t lose all your lives. Collecting bits gives you a 1up, so it’s doable enough once you get good at it. If you get good at it.
I’m truly terrible at 1-bit Ninja just like I’m terrible at things like Super Meat Boy and Mega Man, so I haven’t even been able to reach the second of four worlds that are made up of five levels each. Not even when ignoring all the collectible elements or the elusive speed run that is encouraged by an ever-present clock. Yeah, I suck. But it does go a long way towards longevity.
It’s a bit of a shame that there is no Game Center or OpenFeint support for the highscores, because that’s pretty much a requirement for iOS games these days. It’s hard to care about highscores when there’s nothing to compare it to except your own score. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least OpenFeint support is on the way though.
You’ll probably have to get used to the way the game wants you to play it, but once you get over yourself it’s a lot of fun. You’ll still shout at your iPhone or iPod Touch repeatedly, but only just before you press restart again to give it another try. Finding the path to access some of the Big bits can be a puzzle in itself as well, so you won’t really “complete” this game any time soon.
The drag-to-3D mechanic did feel a little underused in terms of changing the way you play it in the first World, as you only use it to get a better view of a hidden path. But as there is something to grab at the end of those hidden paths, you’ll be made aware of their existence anyway. However, since I didn’t get that far into the game it’s hard to say how the levels change in later worlds and how the mechanic fits into that. It’s still a cool feature either way, and you end up dragging the screen around just for fun — although the clock does tend to push you forward in favor of stopping and playing around.
If you are into hard retro platformers, 1-bit Ninja a fantastic game and still cheaper than the recent re-release of Super Mario Land. The controls are super tight, or as tight as they can be on a touch interface where brainfarts can easily lead to instant death. A level lasts about two minutes on average (at least in World 1) if you are able to make it to the end of the level, making it ideal for filling some spare time on the go. Give it a shot!
