fruit-ninja posts

iSlash is a nice puzzle-type title that reminds me of Fruit Ninja, but is probably the old arcade game Qix. You're presented with a shape on screen with a few samurai stars bouncing around inside it, and your task is to slash, with your finger, parts of the shape off, while keeping all of the stars inside a certain area. You've got to slash off up to a certain percentage of the shape to move through the levels, and while the first few are easy, the shapes get tougher later on. It's good fun.

You don't have to trust us -- since the app was released, it's seen over 500,000 downloads from all over the world. Additionally, the developers are already updating it. They've added Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements already, and while there are over 70 levels now, they promise even more to come. The game's available for US$0.99, or there's a lite version to try out if you're not willing to shell out the buck.

Halfbrick Studios really made a splash with their iPhone debut, Fruit Ninja, and now they've followed it up with a little game called Monster Dash. It's a running game in the vein of Canabalt, but rather than dodging skyscraper jumps and bombs, you're fighting through pixelated monsters while sprinting along. The main addition to the game is a "shoot" button, so in addition to jumping obstacles and gaps as they come up, you can mow down enemies with various weapons, such as the (default) flameburster, uzis, and even a machine gun jetpack (that comes in handy when jumping).

It's a lot of fun (as you'd probably expect if you've played either Canabalt or Fruit Ninja), and the game comes with Halfbrick's requisite polish, including excellent lush graphics and full OpenFeint compatibility. If there's a downside, it's too bad that Halfbrick decided to just stick with the usual arcade formula. It'd be cool if they tried for something a little less shallow and a little more engrossing. This is just a bunch of levels and a chance to rush for the high score; nothing else carries over from one game to the next.

That's just nitpicking, though. Halfbrick has done another great job on this one and pushed the newborn genre forward with their own twist. It's well worth the 99 cents. And if you do buy it, try tapping on the title screen monsters just for fun.

We posted about Fruit Ninja way back when it was first released on the App Store, and since then it's become a qualified hit on the iPhone, with over a million downloads and lots and lots of kiwis and bananas slashed in half. The folks over at Halfbrick have now announced that they're bringing the game to the iPad with Fruit Ninja HD, and you can see the trailer above.

The game has updated graphics, of course, and it will also include multiplayer modes -- both Classic mode, and something called Zen Duel. Additionally, you'll be able to multitouch with up to eight fingers at a time, there will be multiple blades and backgrounds to play with, and Halfbrick says that the iPad version will enjoy updates right alongside the iPhone version, with more modes, items, and surprises coming in the future.

Sounds good. The game is due out this Wednesday on the App Store and will sell for $4.99.

I wrote about Fruit Ninja last week, and since then it's been very popular on the App Store. Creators Halfbrick Studios tell us it's sold quite well so far. The game's simple, but well-polished and a lot of pick-up-and-play fun. It's only $1, so there's no reason not to go over and get it yourself. Just in case you haven't, though, Halfbrick has sent us a few promo codes for the game to give away to five lucky TUAW commenters.

Want to win a copy of Fruit Ninja?

Here are the rules:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us what kind of fruit you like slashing most.
• The comment must be left before midnight EST on Thursday, May 6th, 2010.
• You may enter only once.
• 5 winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: A promo code redeemable for a copy of Fruit Ninja (Value: US$0.99 )
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Halfbrick Studios is an Australian game developer that's done a few licensed games on other platforms before along with the App Store title Blast Off, and they're back on the iPhone today with Fruit Ninja, a simple-but-fun arcade game that has you hacking fruit in half on the iPhone's touchscreen. The game just went live on the App Store moments ago.

We at TUAW got a chance to play the game early, and our exclusive hands-on review is after the break. Fruit Ninja is simple but polished -- while the game mechanic is well done and well-supported with excellent graphics and sound, the gameplay itself is almost too shallow to support the rest of the design. The game's only 99 cents, and there's definitely 99 cents of entertainment here, but I wish there was even more.