CHRIS GIANCAMILLI
MEDIA MANAGER

Young apprentice, the time has come to pick up your blade and hone your skills. Your task? To slice, dice and chop your way through deadly… fruit? Yes, Fruit Ninja puts players into the dojo of a wise old sensei looking to train you by throwing fruit. Players use their fingers to swipe their blade across fruit to cut them. Cut multiple fruit to make combos to acquire bonus points.

Fruit Ninja comes with three modes: Classic mode, Zen mode and Arcade mode. In Classic mode, fruit and bombs fly on the screen as your fingers are put to the test in a race to slash fruit and avoid bombs. Your score depends on how many fruit you slash until you run out of lives. If you fail to cut a fruit, you lose one of three lives. When all three lives are gone, the game is over. If you accidentally slash a bomb instead of a fruit, the game is instantly over even if you have a few lives remaining. Classic mode is both fun and challenging, but Zen mode allows you to just get revenge on those delicious fruits without the threat of bombs. In Zen mode, you are challenged to slash as many fruit as possible and get as many combos as possible before the time runs out. Finally, Arcade mode blends both Classic and Zen mode. A timer starts at sixty seconds and players must slice as many fruit as they can to get points. However, Arcade mode brings back bombs, but they aren’t an instant game over. Instead, bombs subtract points from your overall score. Arcade mode introduces power-up fruit which have special abilities such as slowing down time and doubling the points you acquire.

The game comes loaded with a multiplayer mode which pits players against each other in random online matches. Players can also battle it out with their friends using their OpenFeint or Game Center IDs. In multiplayer mode, two players enter the same dojo to see who can cut the most fruit. Cut your opponent’s fruit and points are subtracted from your score.

Fruit Ninja comes with OpenFeint and Game Center support, which allows users to unlock achievements and view online leaderboards. The app also features a slew of in-game unlockables including colorful blades and new gameplay backgrounds.

The game is available in Apple’s App Store for 99 cents and the Android Market for $1.25.

Beware: Fruit Ninja is as addicting as they come, but it’s sure to keep your mind sharp and your fingers sharper.

Photos courtesy of nbildzy.blogspot.com and appadvice.com