What do you get when you cross rag doll physics, puzzles, ninjas, and Pitfall? You get N+ and possibly my favorite XBLA game to date. N is now a freeware PC game that is much like its successor, N+. You must navigate through rooms of obstacles, land mines, killer robots, and whatever else is blocking your path. The game is simple in its goals. Unlock the door by reaching a colored block, then safely get to the door to move on. Seems easy right? N+ will give you a challenge that many gamers will welcome.

I have never had so much fun dying in a game before. In N+, if you fall more than a few feet, your body crumples on the floor. If you are lucky enough to hit a land mine, you body explodes into an orgy of legs, arms, and whatever else is detached. These body parts will hit mines themselves and start a fun chain reaction. The rag doll physics are also a high point of the game. The developers focused on the jumping, sliding, and bouncing off the walls more than anything. This was very beneficial for the sole reason that jumping is the only thing you do. If the collision detection was bad, the game would be a lost cause. Here, this is not the case and it makes for a great experience.

One last caveat to mention is that besides the 50 challenging levels you will go through, there is also a level editor/creator. This is great for the creative types that love to make a challenge for their friends. This immediately reminded me of Excitebike. How cool was it to make like 35 jumps in a row and race on it. N+ lets to toy with the games obstacles and these levels can be shared over Live.

All in all, I played N+ for a good two hours last night and I was really impressed. I am very skeptical of most XBLA games because most of them simply are not good. This is a fun game, plain and simple. You can pick it up and play a few levels and put it down. Its not a bad party game either, because the levels are timed and you die more often than not. If you have some points burning a hole in your Live account, and most of us do, I would say pick this game up or at the very least give the demo a shot. This is one of the most creative and minimalistic titles in a while. We can only hope more games like this come along and make XBLA meaningful again.

Overall: 8.75 out of 10

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