Since the launch of Fruit Ninja on Android in September last year, many fans of the game have been waiting patiently for the release of the arcade mode which has been on the iPhone/iPad versions since November. As of yesterday the 21st of January it has been implemented, and it is a lot of fun.

Arcade Mode gives you 60 seconds to slice up as much fruit as possible to get the highest score. You can boost your score by getting a number of combos in succession causing a Combo Blitz, and also by slicing special bonus bananas giving you Double Points, Freeze, and Frenzy.

Freeze slows down the clock and the movement of the fruit, allowing you to hit combos much easier. Frenzy causes a rush of fruit from both sides giving you a great opportunity to increase your score with massive combos. Combine the two and add in the Double Points bonus and you will be slicing out an impressive score, but don’t forget to watch out for bombs! Every time you hit a bomb it will lower your score by 10 points, as well as instantly end any bonuses you currently have active.

When the 60 seconds is up, you will get even more bonuses to your score based on things like missing all bombs, hitting lots of bombs, slicing a certain number of bananas, and more. You can then post your score online using OpenFeint which will include weekly leaderboards so that you can line up your Ninja skills against your friends.

Fruit Ninja is available for Android on the Google Market for only AU$1.00 which is a bargain! Just search for ‘Fruit Ninja’ in the market or scan the barcode to the left. I definitely recommend picking up and supporting Halfbrick, a great Aussie game developer!

If you want to compare yourselves again my paltry scores, add me on OpenFeint under the Feint name ‘Asmerith’.