10 Second Ninja X Aims Shuriken At July Release
Cast no shadow
The original 10 Second Ninja is a strange beast in that it will kill you time and time and time again, yet can be completed in one single sitting. Well, assuming you're not fussed about hitting its elusive three-star reward on each level. If you are, then you'd better put the kettle on.
Its follow-up, 10 Second Ninja X [official site], was revealed earlier this year and looks to offer more of the same. Today publisher Curve Digital set July 19th as its launch day and marked the occasion with a new trailer:
Across 60 different levels housed within six different worlds, 10 Second Ninja X looks to build on the familiar formula introduced by its forerunner; where you lay waste to all foes in any given stage inside a 10 second time frame. If you've got the stomach, you'll later return to best your previous stints and aim for that tricky tri-star prize.
New mini-games, unlockable costumes, a ghost mode, and a new hub world await players in the latest bout, and, while it looks pretty similar to its predecessor, will improve "literally everything about the game’s formula", besides the ten second mechanic, according to Curve.
While I struggled to net any three-star ratings in 10 Second Ninja at first, realising that every level had a weakness - that each one wasn't solely out to kill me - helped me succeed. It was almost like climbing inside the designer's head and figuring out which way I thought they wanted me to think, and then going with the opposite. In the end, working out this process inside ten seconds made for some interesting/infuriating/euphoric puzzling, which I do hope carries over to the next offering.
Graham hit the nail on the head with regards to this very point in his Wot I Think of the original a couple of years back:
"As you advance through the levels, they don't necessarily become harder to complete, but their increasing complexity makes it harder to work out what the fastest solution is. You begin by asking, yourself which enemies to take out first, and which of the motionless, weaponless robots you should shuriken from range and which you should slash from up close.
"Later, you’re wondering when to take out an enemy with an environment obstacle like a collapsing platform or fragile icicle, or to use a layout of portals for a triple-takedown."
10 Second Ninja X is due to release for Windows on July 19 and will cost £7.99/9,99€/$9.99.