Ninja Falldown – I Keep On Fallin'...

on 4/1/12 9:44 PM

Tested version: 1.0
Latest version: 1.3
Requires Android: from 2.1

USD 0.99 – Buy app

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Summary

So, in case anyone out there caught the pop song reference in the header, let me tell you that Ninja Falldown has absolutely nothing in common with songs about indecisive love—except that Ninja really does keep on fallin', not in and out of love, but rather down and through bamboo platforms.

In short: today we've tested a fall down game for you. What do we make of Ninja Falldown? Find out after the jump.

Features & Use

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Tested on: Samsung Galaxy Tablet

Ninja Falldown is a classic casual game of the fall down variety.

The gameplay is super simple and straight forward: a little ninja character must be guided down an upwards moving sequence of platforms or levels, each of which has an opening which Ninja can drop through. If you don't manage to move downwards fast enough you will wind up at the very top of the display where Ninja will get crushed and you will have to start all over again.
Whenever a round is ended in this way you are shown your score and your personal best score, as well as given an option to play another round or quit the game.

Avoid the dragons as otherwise you will lose a life, although you can make up for lost lives by collecting the life power ups (slightly odd looking Ninja faces). The amount of lives you have left is displayed on the top left.
Try to collect any springs, bags of money or hourglasses you see along the way. These springs allow you to jump gaps in the platforms and the bags of money boost up your score, which is displayed on the top right. To be honest, I couldn't figure out how to use the hourglasses; they are meant to slow down the rate at which the levels move upwards, but I didn't notice a difference after having collected an hourglass, and there's no option for using one when you're in danger of getting crushed. Readers: if you know how to make use of the hourglass please do enlighten me in the comments section below!

The game is accompanied by a background music. It isn't possible to deactivate the music or sounds, but I didn't find either to be annoying, though I did dial down the volume so as not to disturb others when playing in a public space.

Bottom line:

Whether you love them or hate them, in a way you've got to love casual games. Sure, they're not going to educate you, or really stimulate your brain cells, but what a great way to bridge the gap between appointments or allow your mind to switch off when you simply need a break from your day.

Ninja Falldown is no exception: it's a fun and addictive pass time that's well designed and very easy to play. There's only one game mode and no high score tracker or Open Feint option, but perhaps sometimes keeping it really simple isn't a bad thing.

Screen & Controls

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Ninja Falldown is played using the accelerometer, except for when you wish to use the spring/jump power up, for which you have to press on the screen at the right moment (when you want to jump over a gap to get to another power up, for instance). Controls work really well, the game is responsive and runs smoothly. I would imagine that it would run even better on a smartphone than on a tablet.

The graphics are bright and colourful and true to the Asian theme. They're not the most beautiful or imaginative I've ever seen, but they'll do nicely.