NinJump

Here’s another endless climber that’s super fast paced, and forces you to leap, slice, and dice your way to new heights and high scores.  In NinJump you’re a pint sized yet stealthy ninja that must climb high above the dojos, higher than ever before, and along the way must defend one’s self against all kinds of enemies like evil squirrels, pesky rival ninjas, angry birds, throwing stars with bad intentions, and bombs.  One little mistake and you’re toast!

Calling NinJump by Backflip Studios fast paced would be an understatement.  The ninja pretty much sprints up walls.  Enemies in the game are plentiful and leave little room for error.  Enemy squirrels sprint across clothes lines, throwing stars come soaring across the screen, and rival ninjas cling to walls waiting for your slightest mistake.  You must kill and avoid these enemies at all costs.  They come and go quickly, and never leave you room to breathe.

There are two essential skills you must master to dominate the leaderboard.  First, you must master the sword.   Tapping the screen sends the ninja leaping laterally to the opposite wall.  While in the air the ninja flails his samurai sword.  Use must use this sword to slice and dice your airborne enemies.  Failing to do so will send you falling to you doom.  Secondly you must master leaping.  Enemies fixed to walls cause instant death if you touch them.  Not even your samurai sword can save you from these guys.  So each time you leap you must be cognisant of where you’ll land.  If you’re timing stinks, then you better learn how to grow some wings.

Climbing high is really tough in this game, so you’ll want to make sure you take advantage of every bonus that comes your way.  If you see a blue bubble, grab it!  It gives you a film of protectiveness that lets you soar ahead with little regard for what awaits.  It’s only temporary protection, but it’s so worth it.  Secondly, if you slice up three enemies in a row, your ninja hits hyper-drive and somersaults his way through entire sections without worry of taking damage.  So, like I said before, mastering the sword is essential to dominance!

Overall NinJump is a game you should definitely check out.  The best way I can describe it is a more fast paced, poor mans version of Ninjatown.  The only real differences being that the graphics and game aren’t as involved and NinJump is completely FREE!  NinJump falls into the category of ultimate time wasters.  Even if you only have one minute to spare you can probably crank out 2-3 games.  It’s got decent replayability and has all the sharing extras that we’ve come to love like Open Feint, Facebook, Twitter, and email.  As you’d expect with a free game, NinJump serves ads while you play, but they’re displayed across the top, and aren’t that noticeable.  If you haven’t already downloaded NinJump while reading this review, then stop waisting time and go get it now!

Pros:

• Fast Paced, fun, and addictive
• Great time waster
• Really tough, decent replayability
• It’s FREE!

Cons:

• Not particularly unique, slight twist on other endless climbers

Version Reviewed: 1.01

Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Posted by Ryan Johnson
on Aug 23, 2010
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