Super Ninja Ball Dash Demo

Tough platformers are still quite popular within the gaming community, especially those that encourage replayability and feature some kind of reward for getting better times throughout the levels. However, the gameplay mechanics have to be expertly tuned in order to provide the players with an enjoyable experience, otherwise frustration takes over and people just give up.

Super Ninja Ball Dash is a puzzle-platformer in which you play the role of a ninja trying to get a magic ball back to his friend. The gameplay mechanics are not that complicated at first, given the fact that all you have to do is push things around and jump, but everything gets much tougher along the way, especially since there’s also a time limit you have to keep an eye on.

In short, your goal is to push a magic ball throughout the levels and make it to the flag. The ball mustn’t touch any spikes or enemies, otherwise you die and have to restart the level. However, there’s a timer that keeps draining as you play along, and you have to collect shurikens in order to add more seconds and get enough time to achieve your purpose. There’s a lot going on, and it can get nauseating in the later stages.

Speaking of which, each level has some sort of gimmick you have to figure out before you start moving the ball, because that’s not always indicated without scouting ahead first. Hence, there are gaps filled with spikes that need to be covered up, and it’s also important that you apply the right amount of force when you are pushing the ball, otherwise it might not go as planned. You can also double jump and deal with some enemies by landing on their heads.

As for the graphics, the game looks about as good as a 2D platformer can, although the artwork is pretty nice in most cases. There’s nothing too artsy about it, but you’ll barely have time to admire the scenery anyway. Thankfully, the controls are very responsive and accurate, which is much more important in a platformer such as this one.

In the end, Super Ninja Ball Dash is definitely worth a try from every platformer fan out there, especially if you consider yourself a hardcore gamer. Not only that, but you can also support the developer by voting for the game on Steam Greenlight.