Since the arrival of Miner 2049er last year (1982), it created a new breed of gaming entertainment. It meshed up maze and chase with scaffold and ladders. Also it added ten unique levels to complete and the net result was a huge success. So it showed the gaming world that you don’t have to be a successful arcade star to gain fame. Of course this set up a new trend of gaming. Lode Runner (1983) mixed up the scaffold / ladder formula also and proved to be a mega success for Broderbund. So now it’s EPYX’s turn with Jumpman. Jumpman feels a little similar to Lode Runner with its collecting items to advance to the next level. However it’s still good enough to stand on its own two feet as it has its own eccentricity, but in a good way.
The plot is practically worthless – it almost felt that it was conceived on the 11th hour. It tells a story of ‘The Enemy’ (whoever they are) has infiltrated Jupiter Headquarters (yep, Jupiter is a very popular destination back in the early 80s). The Enemy planted bombs throughout thirty levels and ready to blast the headquarters at any moment. Jupiter #1 is starting to crumble and so on and so on. So it’s up to you, the Jupiter Jumpman (or simply known as the Jumpman) aiming to diffuse all the bombs.
So as I was stating, the backstory is on borderline pathetic. Thankfully, the game itself is addictively scrumptious. To those who played Lode Runner, the gameplay for Jumpman is very similar. If you haven’t played Lode Runner, what are you waiting for? Go play it now and then play this game. In all seriousness though, Jumpman’s gameplay style is simply to jump – jump to grab ledges, across gaps, from one ladder to another and so on. Oh and you must defuse (collect) all the bombs before heading off to the next level.
Before doing all that awesomeness, take a look at the dude in the front of the box – you’re not going to get any better than that. Once done, take a look at the game and prepare for a shock. The beginning opening screen shows Jumpman, less the flowing blonde hair, doing this stuff to demonstrate what to expect in the game. There are thirty levels to complete in three stages called beginner, immediate and advanced. Note that there are eight different levels for both beginner / immediate and a whopping twelve in advanced. Also you can choose to play all of them in one hit (grand loop) and lastly, randomiser. Randomiser never plays level one and always starts with level two. Then it plays the rest in random order. Go figure.
To control Jumpman is simple enough – use your joystick to go left / right, up / down and press the fire button to jump. Also there’s eight speed levels to choose from and you have seven lives to begin with and additional one every ten thousand points. Yet there are some quirkiness with Jumpman – he can perform some spectacular jumps however if he falls down by just a measly one millimetre, Jumpman will die. So there will be some confusion of where he can actually survive after a fall as some platforms have a slope and some he can actually survive after a short fall. In a nutshell, don’t make Jumpman fall at all, no matter how low.
Also there are ropes that make Jumpman go up or down, not both. Sounds a bit odd considering the ones going up – can’t he simply just stop halfway? Maybe Jupiter has some magical powers that’s beyond our comprehension however the fact is green ropes means only up and blue means down. Thankfully he can jump off at any point and that goes the same with ladders. And before you say anything, on ladders Jumpman can go either up or down.
Before the entire structure is collapsing (well according to the storyline), there are times where you collect (defuse) a bomb, parts of the ladder or platform will collapse (disappear). So basically what you see at first instance is certainly not the same once you have completed the level. I really enjoy that feature as it makes me revaluate every time I defuse a bomb. So basically each levels are dynamic in every way. Also there are other obstacles you need to consider like flying bullets, dodging robots and even shoot other enemies in certain levels. I won’t say more otherwise it will spoil the surprise.
Visually the game is not pretty at all. Jumpman looks very odd and certainly not the dude in the front cover. The platforms are all very simple shapes and the enemies are pretty much basic looking blocks that, depends upon the enemy, glow. The colours also are bare bones basic with very little flash. The sound quality is a much improvement as the musical scores are short yet very entertaining to hear. The crashing sounds when Jumpman falls is very dramatic yet entertaining to see him tumble all over the place until he reaches to bottom of the screen.
The length of time to complete the game really depends upon what level you choose to do. The beginners should take around ten to fifteen minutes to finish whilst advance…well that’s a complete nightmare to say the least – maybe thirty minutes and that’s if you manage to survive as some levels are the by-product of the devil himself. Also some levels do require luck as well and that’s a shame. Yet there are some levels that requires a bit of trial and error however most levels can be completed in different ways. Also a countdown timer for which only serves as a bonus, meaning you won’t suddenly die when it counts to zero, like in most games. Thank goodness for that as the vast majority of levels, I rarely receive a bonus.
Whilst there’s plenty of scaffold / ladder games that can easily sink a ship, features added in Jumpman like dynamic platforms, countdown timer that serves as a bonus only and having a whopping thirty levels, it’s a very entertaining yet addictive game as each of the thirty levels are different from one another. Granted games like Lode Runner has one hundred and fifty and Miner 2049er visually looks superior, Jumpman certainly is a worthwhile game to play considering its flaws like reliance on luck on certain levels, visually ugly and the guy can’t even survive a foot fall. The new characteristics included in this game made Jumpman unique enough to stand out in the sea of platform games.
7.5 / 10