What was the first game system you owned? If you said Playstation or Nintendo 64, you may want to just move along. Arkedo Series –01 JUMP! (from here on I’ll just refer to it as Jump) is a straight up old school platformer straight from the 80s 8-bit NES/Sega Master System days. While this may turn a lot of people off, to me I thought it was a great experience.
Arkedo are the developers on this game and they obviously intend to have a series (The 2nd game is already out and is a puzzle game). Right away you are greeted by a great MIDI-style theme song at the title screen that is complete with blocky 8bit graphics (but way more colorful like something more 16-bit style). There are two modes: Adventure and Challenges. The adventure mode is a style of game we grew up playing in the 8 bit era where you are given the minimal story of “A giant iron Crab appeared, dropping bombs everywhere it goes. What is this all about? Do something, Jumpboy!” and then go from level to level. The Challenge mode is unlocked after completing the game and finding all the coins, diamonds, and treasures to have one shot levels for extra challenge to try and complete. As I mentioned Jump! is a platform game, but you are also collecting the bombs to disarm them. Each bomb has a countdown on it so there is essentially a time limit to each level, but each bomb can have a different timer leading to you having to get the “right order” of bombs. You will also have to deal with the usual pits, spikes, and crab enemies, but you cannot jump on their head to kill them – you have to avoid them until later levels where you get a knife that can be thrown, but only once. You will also see coins placed throughout the levels that are money used to open up piggy banks that are holding the bombs. Once you collect a certain amount that bomb will be revealed so you can collect/disarm it. Once all the bombs are collected the exit will open and you can move onto the next stage. It is all very simple in design but extremely well made and a ton of fun. The levels are designed well and can give quite a challenge. As with many of the games made in that era Jump! only gives you a limited number of lives and there are NO continues. As a matter of fact the Game Over screen even states “Game Over – Wish There were Continues in Retro Games.”
This leads me to Jump!’s humor. Besides the Game Over screen you also are presented with “PLZ WASH YOUR HANDS” at the pause screen and death brings messages like “Oh No! here have a cookie” “maybe next time” “and bam you died” and my personal favorite “PROTIP: press A to jump.” The level names are not without their own personal flair as well with “This Looks Like a Tutorial,” “Army of Crabness,” and “Ghouls Without Ghosts.” The game did not need this humor to be great, but it is a nice added touch.
The graphics have that block retro style as I mentioned about the main title screen, but it has enough color and style that it doesn’t feel “old.” While some games look like they are 8 bit games made with low-res sprites, this is a game that has a style that feels retro yet you know was made today with current technology. The animation is also a bit smoother at times than games of yesteryear, although not overly so to still fit with the art style. The music is also that MIDI retro sound, but of a much higher quality. Everything just works together well.
All of this would not mean a thing if the control was not handled well: A platformer is broken by bad controls. This game is nice and simple with the option to use the d-pad or analog stick to control the character, A is jump, and X is to throw the knife. Most importantly the control is nice and tight so that it is easy to navigate jumps and your deaths are due to the challenge of the game and not bad controls that are loose or have bad hit detection.
In all this is a great deal at 240 MS points ($3) that will provide with plenty of challenge for those that play. While some people may not like the lack of a save function, I understand why it was done that way and it helps keep me playing it more and more. Unfortunately due to the challenge of the game I have yet to beat it so I am unsure of how many levels there are, but even if I beat it I know I will play again and again just as I do the old Super Mario Brothers and Alex Kidd games. Click here to see the official Xbox.com listing and add it to your download queue.
4.5/5 Stars – What made games good back in the day rings true still and this is proof. A great platform game that will have you playing again and again at a great price.
