Cave's 'Nin2-Jump' makes a play for XBLA

Cave has announced Nin2-Jump (as in "Nin Nin Jump"), a distinctly styled action game coming to Xbox Live Arcade later this year. The developer, known for creating eccentric shooters like Deathsmiles and Guwange, unveiled the new game at an event in Akihabara, Japan.

Nin2-Jump sees an agile little ninja jumping and swinging through a seemingly hand-illustrated shadow play, viewed by a young audience (depicted as silhouettes in the foreground) that visibly delights in his actions. The two-dimensional hero, dubbed "Nin Ja," can hook his chain onto objects to propel himself through the air or damage enemies, and can gather scrolls throughout the game's 50 stages to empower a destructive dash.

According to Andriasang's preview, the game will offer leaderboard support for both the arcade mode (which values level completion times) and a separate score attack mode. As with N+, it's nice to be reminded that ninjas are never above asynchronous competition.

Update: Siliconera reports that Cave does plan to release Nin2-Jump internationally.