N++ - TorontoGameDevs Review

When you ask someone to name a platformer - any platformer they can think
of - chances are very good their response will be Super Mario Bros., Sonic
the Hedgehog or maybe (if something went woefully, woefully wrong in your
life) Izzy's Quest For the Olympic Rings.

Now that I’ve spent some time with N++ by Metanet Software though, I think
that’s going to have to by my answer to that inquiry from now on.

N++ is the latest (and final) installment in the N series of platformers
which originated long ago as a freeware game in the dark ages of 2004. I
distinctly remember watching my friends play the original N from across the
room in my high school business class every day despite them never managing
to beat the thing. They just kept dying and dying and dying, over and over
and over, advancing ever so slowly as they pressed on through the levels.
Yet for some reason, they never stopped playing. When I asked them what
they were playing, their response was “It’s called 'N', it’s fun!”.

 N++ has the exact same effect.

To call it anything but an platformer would be out of turn; N++ is as pure
a platformer as there ever was. There are only a few basic controls: move
left, move right, and jump, the length you hold these down affecting just
how much force is applied to the action and all of this feels extremely
tight. The game incorporates physics in its platforming too, where factors
such as inertia and forward momentum are integral to completing some
stages. You can pull off some more complicated moves such as wall sliding
and wall jumping but make no mistake, the focus of N++ is the platforming
and it does it masterfully. Every time my character was splattered across
the screen I knew it was only my own wrongdoing that was to blame.

The game has little story to speak of, in fact, the blurb of plot at the
main menu even acts as a roundabout way of telling you to just play the
game. Much of the way N++ presents itself is very simplistic, and that’s
not a bad thing!

While momentum is important to success, so are little itty-bitty,
teeny-weeny steps.

The ‘Solo’ game mode is structured with a series of “Episodes”, each
composed of five levels. To successfully complete each of these episodes
you must to complete all five levels in a row. Not on one life, of course,
but at least without exiting back to the main menu, or you’ll have to start
back at the first level. If you’re having too much trouble on an episode
you can skip it, but you won’t be able to play each of the levels within it
individually until you complete it.

Not being able to complete levels individually is something which I wish I
had the option to disable (or at least work around) since the difficulty
curve for each episode doesn’t always feel consistent. There were instances
of levels where I had died dozens of times only to breeze through the rest
of them and complete the episode which left me wondering how many easy
levels I had lost access to because of one hard one in previous episodes
that I had chosen to skip.

When you complete a level your score and replay are recorded for you to go
back and watch again, encouraging you to try for better times and obtain
that last coin (or ten) you missed. You can also favourite levels and track
them to watch for new high-scores.

Orbital, a prime example of N++'s great level design

The level design of N++ is nothing short of beautiful and usually features
arrangements which are often easy to find a solution to, but more difficult
to execute on. Environmental hazards range from landmines (complete with
beautiful explosions when you touch them), orbs that fire missiles and
bullets at you, and clones that follow your movement path and kill you with
their touch. Levels also offer coins which act as a means to boost your
score. They are, however, usually in difficult to reach or hazardous
locations which leave you with the option of taking your sad little safe
score and finishing the level in one piece or sticking your neck out to
achieve a high score and run the risk of facing your premature end. It’s a
risk/reward balance that I think consistently matches the needs of both
casual players and the hardcore, and I can say with confidence that any fan
of platformers, designer or otherwise, will be thoroughly impressed with
the skill and dedication with which the stages are crafted.

In terms of content, the game feels nearly endless and certainly isn’t
lacking in any capacity. Not only does it feature an extensive solo
campaign with hundreds of new and classic N and N+ levels, it also boasts a
two-player local Co-op mode where players work together (and sometimes
sacrifice themselves) to complete challenges as well as a local co-op
competitive Race mode a-la Speedrunners for 1-4 players, where players
attempt to beat stages faster than their opponents can. What’s more is that
both these modes play as smoothly and are crafted with as much attention as
the campaign, and that’s just the beginning.

After I had completed the campaign I took a delve into the level browser
which is where I had tons of fun playing through user created content. To
my amusement, many of the player submissions range from levels that could
very well be in the core game itself to insane creations which I believe to
be cooked up by a raging lunatic in a decrepit old mansion in the middle of
the night. There’s “Untitled-2” which put me in the most dangerous spot
imaginable, surrounded by hazards and left me alone to find a hidden door
without getting blown to tiny pieces, "Patients” which features one drop
and a hallway but takes roughly 3 minutes to beat thanks to spring boards,
and thanks to "Peek-A-Boo” you can jump through a menacing-looking child’s
mind just like you always wanted to! Crazy levels like these kept me coming
back to check if any insane new stages were created while more...rational
ones such as “Superliminal 0” kept me entertained with new content.

Working title for Untitled-2: "I AM SCARED"

The level editor itself is simple and intuitive as everything else in N++
tends to be and lets you create levels without needing too much know-how.
It’s part of this accessibility that I think lends it to being used in a
way similar to Mario Maker with one apparent drawback - you don’t need to
complete your level to submit it. This lends some problems to playing
user-generated content system as there are some levels that, while seeming
completely beatable, are actually impossible in practice (or outright kill
you from the get-go).

N++'s minimalist appearance is what helps it to stand out as so
aesthetically striking. The game gives you the option to change the colour
palette and style to a number of different formats which enables you to
customize the game to your liking and would be very beneficial for those
with colorblindness. Some of these styles seemed a little muddy to me (I
struggled with distinguishing some negative spaces from positive ones with
certain themes) and generally I played with themes with high-saturation,
because I live my life on the edge. On top of the few that you begin the
game with initially, dozens more are unlocked as you advance through the
campaign which serve as a nice ongoing reward.

My level, aptly named "Devon's Cool Level", is only slightly less
frightening than "Untitled-2". Now in pink.

The game’s music and sounds match up with its minimal aesthetic too. Sounds
are usually unintrusive and unique for individual hazards as they fire,
which is helpful to recognize when you’re walking directly into a row of
automated turrets you may not have noticed (though I should really hope you
would). The music varies from upbeat techno jams to low-frequency trance
music that helps you get into that perfect level of flow as you play, which
in turn helps mediate some of the frustrations you might be having with
certain more difficult levels. I even felt compelled to seek out some of
the tunes to listen to for my own listening pleasure after I finished the
game.

Coming away from the experience most of what I can really say about boils
down to this: N++ is as pure a platformer as you could ever hope for. Its
mechanics are simple and intuitive, its content nearly endless and its
gameplay fun and rewarding.

We live in an age where it’s easy to get bogged down in new features, and
developers often seem to push for complex mechanic after complex mechanic.
N++, however, sends itself off with a warm reminder that the series has
always been created around one sole value: fun.

N++ is available on Playstation 4 and Steam.

9/10