N
A ninja with momentum, ninety seconds on the clock, and rooms full of mines and homing drones. Death is constant and cheap.
Metanet Software released N in 2004 and it remains one of the best-feeling platformers ever put in a browser. The ninja has real momentum and almost no air control, so a jump is committed the moment it leaves the ground and slopes fling you much further than flat ground does.
Each room has a countdown, gold that adds seconds to it, a switch that opens the exit, and a lot of things that kill instantly. The ninja is extremely fragile and dies in an elaborate ragdoll, but restarts are instant, so the game expects dozens of attempts per room. Learning to use slopes as launchers rather than obstacles is the moment it clicks.
Controls
Arrow keys to run, Z or Space to jump. Hold the key for a higher jump
Tips
- Use slopes to build speed. Running down one and jumping at the bottom carries you far further than a flat jump.
- Gold is time, not score. On a long room you need it, and on a short one it is a detour that can kill you.
- You cannot steer much in the air, so set your speed before you leave the ground rather than trying to fix it after.