Fruit Ninja sets the bar for a fluid, natural control scheme that just works on the iPhone. Such a game would not trigger that same joy, the feeling of simply flicking your finger across the device for a deadly accurate mid-air slash, without the direct feedback that comes from the touch screen; something that buttons would fail to replicate, every time. It makes absolute mincemeat of play-it-once casual games that are made in Flash, delivering superb production values and captivating gameplay.

The pacing of the game is spot on. Fruit and bombs fly upwards from below with differing trajectories and you must dice the fruit and leave the bombs alone; miss three fruit and you’ll end the game but if you hit a single bomb the game is ended immediately. Luckily, you can regain your lives back if you score well, with one of the red crosses wiped at 100 point intervals. Each wave has a moment of hesitation before the next one, breaking up the game and making sure that your fingers aren’t constantly swiping the screen.

Generally, the tactic is to utilise small, sharp swipes lest you accidentally run your digits over a bomb, but a continuous swipe is the best bet for large clusters of fruit. You can slice the fruit any way you prefer and it will react as if you were wielding a real katana; slice diagonally down and the chopped pieces will fall in the direction you swiped. This even extends into the juice splatters that permeate the wooden backdrop and then gradually fade away. Although the game isn’t fully true to life (you can slice something in half and not multiple times) the premise is so ridiculous that you just have to let that go and enjoy the fun. Ninjas really do hate fruit, who knew?

As you can see from our video, a lot of effort has gone into presenting the game. Fruit Ninja makes use of OpenFeint but the developers have designed some custom graphics that fit with the game instead of using the standard interface, making for a more consistent experience. Menu options are selected using the swipe control, and of course the graphics look sweet with fruit (and especially watermelons) looking even more tempting when they’ve been sliced. Similarly, the audio is superb with some rather satisfying knife swooshing, fruit splattering and bomb detonating. You can play your own music in the background, too.

In all, Fruit Ninja is a deliciously presented game that has enough nuance to appease both experienced and novice gamers alike. It takes what is generally regarded as mundane and completely changes it into something challenging and addictive; colour us surprised! For 59p you should pick up this superb little game.

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