Fruit Ninja Satisfies Your Inner Sensei [iPhone Game Review]

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Fruit Ninja is a super fun game from Australian developers Halfbrick Studios that is impossible to put down!

Fruit Ninja incorporates the speed and simplicity of games like Doodle Jump with an innovative control method that makes the game addictive. I love this game. The graphics look like crap but the game proves the old adage — gameplay is king!

Available for $0.99 from the App Store, Fruit Ninja is currently leading the way in many countries, appearing in the top five in USA, Cananda, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and UK.

The iPhone is a new platform for seasoned console developers Halfbrick, launching both Fruit Ninja and Blast Off in the same month.

Gameplay

The premise of Fruit Ninja is a simple one; slash your way through increasing amounts of fruit in decreasing amounts of time, all the while avoiding the spinning bombs.

When I first downloaded version one of the app back in April, I have to admit that there were many issues with the swipe/slash mechanism, with swipes not registering and consequently points being lost. This was infuriating and my opinions were mirrored by App Store reviewers all over the world. I won’t nag them too much about it though because as of v1.01 they have sorted any previous issues. Swipes now register perfectly every time and the problem is now a distant memory.

The game keeps increasing in speed and fruit quantity as the rounds go on. You have three chances to miss fruit before it’s game over. This combination of engaging competition and infuriating annoyance at losing, had me coming back again and again, Just to try and beat my best score.

Graphics

Let’s be honest here; if you are looking for an app that will blow you away with ground breaking 3D renders and photo realistic environments, Fruit Ninja is not the game for you. The fruit itself is great, brightly colored and nicely detailed, with pips and all appearing when you slice it open. It’s a similar story with the bombs.

Where the game is really let down is in the simple details. The wooden ‘dojo’ background is blocky and pixelated and the ‘Game Over’ text is such a low resolution – it had me wondering if I had something wrong with my iPhone! It may be a style choice, but in my mind it is a wrong one. Maybe it’s inexperience on the platform, I don’t know but hopefully a future update will address the problem.

All that said, I still love the game. Platforms such as the iPhone and Wii have brought true gameplay back to an industry that for years was obsessed with graphics only. Playing Fruit Ninja reminded me that gameplay is still king. Games like Sonic 2 look appalling by today’s standards but they still demanding a high position in the App Store charts.

OpenFeint

The game plugs into the Openfeint network allowing you to compare scores with millions of people all over the world. You can also connect with Facebook and Twitter to share your experiences and compete with friends.

This integration is a nice added touch, that opens up the game on a level that comparable games miss out on.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the games that have done best in the app store are the quick ‘pick up and play’ games such as Doodle Jump and Angry Birds. Fruit Ninja places itself smack bang in the middle of this already well covered genre. HalfBrick have succeeded in the app store where many have failed.

How come? Because they have innovated. If the game had just had a tap instead of a swipe, I personally don’t think it would have done half as well, but this new method of control reminds you of all the cool features that made you buy an iPhone in the first place.

Even with the aforementioned graphics sloppiness, Fruit Ninja still gets 4 out of 5 from me.

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