:: RACE
:: BEARZILLANinJump Rooftops, the latest title in the series, is set to hop on over to the App Store next Thursday, October 31. It offers free-to-play side-scrolling gameplay that has players skipping across rooftops in an endless run. It also comes with a match-3 enemy mechanic that rewards players when they slice up three bad guys in a row, and mighty power-ups to use while leaping across rooftops.
Get ready to scream your heart out, rooftop hoppers!
Backflip Studios are going all-out in unleashing their lineup of freemium games onto the App Store. After launching Buganoids on both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad last week, Backflip Studios is now going through their back catalog of games released this summer, with NinJump now getting an iPad version, appropriately called NinJump HD.
Speaking of high scores, the game is similar to Buganoids where high scores are synchronized between the two versions, so you can track your high scores on whatever device you play on, as long as you use the same OpenFeint login. All the OpenFeint leaderboards are the same as the iPhone version, as evidenced by the over one million entries present before the iPad version was publicly available.
Backflip were also kind enough to drop some details on the future of NinJump. First, Android will be getting a free version of NinJump later this year. As well, a new paid version of NinJump will be released, expanding on what the original free version presented, featuring "new levels, enemies and other content, with plans to add frequent updates on a regular basis" according to Backflip Studios CEO Julian Farrior. NinJump fans could have a lot to look forward to in the coming months for their ninja jumping game of choice.
I can see the confused look on your face already, wondering what the heck a "high score obtainer" is. These are the games that have only one goal, and that is for you to obtain a high score. Sure, most games have some sort of score system built in, but there are only a select few that make you click on that darn OpenFeint button every time you lose. Here are my four favorites.
Ninjump
To me, the best high score games are the ones that keep things the most simple. Ninjump really doesn't have a whole lot going on, just a ninja with an insatiable desire to go up. The controls are as simple as possible, with just a tap sending you to the opposite wall, which is hopefully not occupied by a rival ninja, a building overhang, or a swooping bird. Anything in the middle is gravy though (or maybe chop suey would work better), because your ninja instantly kills anything he touches while in mid air. What's great though is that the game provides a simple twist to the genre, giving you a crazy boost up the screen when you destroy three of the same object in a row.
The best part about the game though is that your score is simply based on how high you get. There are no bonuses and no combos, so you know exactly how hard the person at #1 worked for their score.
Solipskier
There's just something very freeing about Solipskier, and it keeps sucking me in for more. I absolutely love seeing how fast I can get going and how far I can get without falling into the dreaded pit of shame and the game over screen. Like any good game in the "high score obtainer" genre, the controls are incredibly simple, but in this particular instance, difficult to master.
Fastar!
Fastar! is a great high score obtainer that gives you so much more than the average game in the genre. Instead of just giving you one thing to control, Fastar! gives you spells and a sword for your mission to dispatch the enemies with as much haste as possible. Most of the 24 game modes have a simple objective, get through them as fast as possible without dying, and nothing more. Once your level is done, and they will be done fast, the game throws your lowly high score in your face, almost taunting you into playing again.
If you haven't put at least an hour into trying to beat some high score in Fastar!, you must not have a competitive bone in your body.
Orbital
It's a tough call, but Orbital is probably in my top 5 favorite iPhone games of all time. It has a fairly simple concept that is extremely difficult to master, and is extremely unforgiving. Make one mistake and you are dead, but at least you know exactly what you did when you made the mistake. Also, unlike the rest of the high score obtainers on the list, time is not an issue in Orbital. Take as much time as you'd like... the game doesn't care one bit. Nothing is moving and nothing is growing, it's all you and your increasing incompetence.
The best part of it all is the frustrating realization that your last move may have doomed your game for good. Instead of rushing you past your mistakes, forcing you to mentally move on, Orbital gives you time to scowl at the screen for as long as you want. Nothing is funnier than seeing someone yell at you iPhone after not beating your high score.
Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Make sure you keep your teenagers locked in tonight, and don't let them talk to anyone named Jason. With that warning out of the way, here's your weekly dose of what's new and interesting in the App Store.
The Incident - A severely polished and classy take on the sky is falling genre. Dodge wave after crazy wave of falling cars and major appliances, only to use those same items to climb ever upward to your destination, the stars.
Ninjump - Jump like a ninja (because that's what you are) up through the levels, between buildings and over laundry. Attack various creatures in match three stealthiness for stupidly awesome score and height boosts. Brag to all your friends.
Ghosts N Goblins Gold Knights II - Capcom brings the sequel to its hardest game ever from the 1980s direct to your iPhone. You think you have what it takes? Well, do ya?
Times for iPad - Takes your RSS feeds and turns them into a lovely newspaper-style layout. If you long for the simpler days of flimsy newsprint paper and fingers stained with ink, this may be the app for you.
Slate Magazine - In a world of iPad apps that continually ask you to pay more for their content (I'm looking at YOU, Wired), Slate asks you to read their magazine, for free, on your iPad. What more can you ask for from their asking of you? Wait, what?
Ninjump is a high score climber with a pseudo match 3 twist that has you, as a ninja, climbing up the walls on the sides of the screen while dodging protruding objects and attacking things in the air. Because your ninja is always climbing upwards, the only thing that you have to control is jumping across to the other side.
As you climb, there are all sorts of obstacles in your path, such as protruding building parts, other ninjas, squirrels running from side to side, and birds. Dodging everything in sight isn't the name of the game though... you are a ninja, and ninjas fight. As you jump through the air, you attack objects that are crossing (squirrels, birds, ninja stars, and dynamite). If you hit three in a row of the same object, you get a hugely animated mega jump that sends you way up the screen.
As with all of Backflip Studios apps, Ninjump has some great graphics that go along with the sweet ninja soundtrack (sweet ninja soundtrack not included in all Backflip games). If you're looking for a simple game to play on the go, check out Ninump, it's extremely fun.
By the way, my high score, as of Aug. 11, is 6515. I'm sitting pretty at #12 on the leader board, but I can't be too happy because the game hasn't been released yet as of this writing.
