The achievements were a bit underwhelming too. For example, the “Wake Up” achievement is hardly noteworthy. You get an achievement for doing nothing. I don’t understand why game developers do this. They’re called “achievements”. Why reward failure? Basically, most of the achievements can be gained by playing normally. You might want to go for the “Are you kidding me?!” achievement first. (Fail with the same score as the personal best.) Otherwise, you might find it difficult to tie a really high score.
That ninja’s blade must be really sharp. If you ever tried to split a real coconut, you probably realized that it can be a difficult thing to do. I hit one with a sledgehammer and was still a bit of a challenge. That would not be the last of my coconut trouble. The “Lovely Bunch” achievement requires a big combo of coconuts in Zen mode. I basically had to wait until the game randomly set up an opportunity to strike.
There are four different modes of play.
Classic – Fruits and bombs will be tossed into play. Hit the fruits before they drop. If you hit one bomb, the game is over. If you miss a fruit, you get a strike. If you get three strikes, the game is over. For every 100 points, one strike is removed.
Zen Mode – There are no bombs or strikes in this mode, but you only have 90 seconds to play. You can improve your score by going for combos.
Arcade Mode – This mode has a lot of action. It’s only 60 seconds long, it has power ups and bombs are less of a threat. Big points can be scored by hitting consecutive combos – a combo blitz. With the “Frenzy” bonus, a bunch of fruits are chucked into the scene. It can lead to crazy combos.
Multiplayer – This mode is online competition. You’re randomly pitted against another Fruit Ninja. The objective is to slash your fruits (blue) and not their fruits (red). Neutral fruits will appear, that both ninjas can claim. After 60 seconds, the winner is the ninja with the most points.
If you’re into challenging other players, with your quick slicing skills, multiplayer mode can be a lot of fun. It’s like Street Fighter with fruit. Losing is not punished either, as the players are ranked by the number of wins. That skews the ladder. The players with the most time to compete are more likely to take the top spots. Since I didn’t feel like fighting with people, a cooperative mode would have been more appreciated. Yet, those multiplayer battles can be quick and aggressive.
Overall, Fruit Ninja is a well-built app. The graphics are smooth and colorful, theme is professionally presented and the blade control is epic. Halfbrick Studios has taken an almost primal concept and turned into an entertaining game.