Jump is a classic puzzle platformer with a pleasingly vintage visual aesthetic. It is the first of a series of back-to-basics gameplay concepts. As an eight-bit Indiana Jones parody, you have to navigate 30 artificial platform areas while collecting treasure and disabling bombs. Bombs on each level must be neutralized before moving on to the next. You won’t constantly be alone in a video game, of course.
You’ll need to use the floaty hop mechanism skillfully to get yourself to safety as nasty crabs, hand-jiving skeletons, and sleeping snakes will all be out to ruin your laid-back tropical treasure search.
Even though the gameplay is straightforward, Arkedo has done a good job designing a tempting range of stages that are continuously difficult from beginning to end. The game maintains a novel approach throughout thanks to the addition of new mechanisms like transparent blocks and Bunsen burners.
It is also brimming with personality. Although the game’s overarching throwback joke falls flat when it haplessly says, “If only retro games had continued,” before sending you back to level one, level names and death announcements are buzzing with the kind of self-referential humor that frequent Internet users will enjoy. Yes, Jump, the joke is on you.
With the game being playable from beginning to end in under an hour, it’s not the most jaw-clenching of issues, but the game is generally upbeat enough to endure such a little annoyance.
