We’ve been spoilt for choice with quality retro titles lately – what with the likes of League of Evil, Kami Retro and Mos Speedrun – and 1-bit Ninja looks to continue this tradition with a promising looking platformer.
Creator Ben Hopkins has wanted to create a game for a while that captures the magic of the glory days of Game and Watch and Gameboy, and 1-bit Ninja is his ode to just that. The game features a minimal monochrome 8bit style, similar in look and feel to the Super Mario Land on Gameboy. However to give it a 21st Century twist, Ben has added a perspective mode allowing you to drag the screen at anytime to reveal the levels in 3D, allowing you to see further ahead, as well as seek out hidden paths.
Only 2 buttons are needed, minimising, in Ben’s words, “inaccurate on-screen controls”, with your left thumb as button A and your right as button B. Your ninja can only move forward by direct control, as well as jumping. And so you must utilise obstacles such as walls and moving platforms to change direction.
We chatted with Ben today and he revealed that the game features a perspective unlock, allowing you to play the whole game in 2.5D. This gives a subtle change to the gameplay as you have to take the added depth into account when traversing the platforms. According to Ben the perspective-mode is best viewed in replays, as it allows you to freely position the camera. To unlock the mode you will need to collect five ‘megabits’ hidden within each level.
1-bit Ninja is nearing completion and is set to launch towards the end of May, 2011. Check out the game in action, including the 3D effect, below.
