iPad Games: Fruit Ninja HD Takes a Healthy Swipe at Top Spot

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The chances are that if you own an iPhone you are one of the 1 million people who have already bought and played Fruit Ninja on your cell phone. That’s a pretty serious sales figure, so expectation was high for the iPad release of Fruit Ninja HD that’s now been available since mid-July. Fruit Ninja is one of those games with an extremely simple concept, which nevertheless requires skill to master, and is very addictive along the way. At five times the price of its iPhone cousin, I wonder if it’s a little overpriced. However, with Fruit Ninja HD sharing equal first place at the top of the US top 200 iPad games chart this week, it seems that an increased price hasn’t deterred intrepid fruit squishers.

The premise of this game is simple. Apparently ninjas don’t like fruit, so it’s your sacred duty to demolish as many of them as you can as they are thrown onto the screen. If 3 or more fruits land at the bottom of the screen the game is over, as it is if you accidently hit a bomb instead of a fruit. That’s it: simple. As with many of the simplest games, this game is a joy to play. If you’re not careful Fruit Ninja HD will carry away many precious hours without you realising it.

The controls are fantastic, really making full use of the iPad’s touch screencapabilities. You can use up to 8 fingers to wreak savagery amongst the strawberries and mayhem amongst the mangoes, creating a virtual fruit salad against the game’s background. Combo swipes catching 3 or more fruit at once earn you extra points. Increasing high scores unlock different backgrounds and sexier knives to add further damage to your fruit bowl.

Fruit Ninja HD offers two playing modes: classic or Zen. In Zen mode, there are no bombs just a barrage of fruity goodness thrown at you left and right during time-limited play. A new feature on this iPad version is the introduction of multiplayer. Unfortunately the multiplayer doesn’t utilise the WiFi or 3G connectivity so games are played on a single iPad. You pit yourself against your opponent in the split-screen, where extra fun is enjoyed in classic mode as you can throw bombs across the divide.

I still think that $4.99 is a little steep for this app. However, it’s still a very good game and one to think of if you’ve got a few bucks to spare.

Fruit Ninja HD is available for $4.99 from iTunes

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