Dustforce brings the best of old-school gaming and seamless animation to the platformer genre. Players control an overall-clad janitorial ninja of choice with supernatural cleaning and combative skills. The goal is to clean off the dust, grime, leaves, or sludge - depending on the environ of choice - that is spread on various parts of the levels' platforms, and to tame any unruly or aggressive creatures along the way. Completing a level more smoothly and completely grants access to new levels; to gain access to the most difficult set of levels, a player must finish all of the preceding ones with perfect spotlessness, no deaths, and no more than a few seconds between any cleaning activity. This is easier than it sounds on some levels, and even harder than it sounds on others. With user-generated levels and a worldwide high score list built in, those looking for a jump 'n' run challenge need seek no further.
Although the introductory animation seems to promise a boss fight or four, the would-be villains appear only as characters in the multiplayer mode. Indeed, there is no constructed storyline to speak beyond the progressive unlocking of more difficult levels. However, the cohesive art style, mellifluous soundtrack, and flawless character control more than make up for what the game lacks in narrative.
