Once in a while games land in our mailbox that surprises us, Jet Jumper is definitely one of them. In the game you are a pilot of a ”Jet Jumper” –craft, which is a jumping machine that goes forward and jumps on your command (as a car commuter I’m already drooling over this concept).

The main idea in the game is to jump between platforms and gather gems (which boosts your score). As you make your way forward you will be presented with different threats such as bombs, lava, gates requiring keys and so on. Each of the threats has to be avoided by split-second decisions. Jet Jumper is quite similar to the old Super Nintendo classic, F-Zero with a hint of 3D plat formers.

There are a number of worlds for you to explore, the difference between them are the tiles and the difficulty. In the beginning of Jet Jumper you might get bored since it seems so easy, the first world serves more like an introduction than a real challenge. Things starts to heat up once you hit the 2nd and 3rd world with more obstacles and clever level design. Sometimes you will get power ups, such as a magnet that attracts all the gems near your ship. You can also gain extra lives and a bunch of other things.

Jet Jumper features a great 3D engine that manages to produce decent graphics and a smooth experience. I really like the backgrounds, which looks like a beautiful Bryce landscape. The ships themselves resembles F-Zero as well, they work great for this type of game but could have been a bit more dynamic.

Even though Jet Jumper is a blast to play it often feels like something is missing. There are no enemies, no competitors just your ship, some gems and some obstacles. I believe that the game could gain on larger levels with opposing ships either controlled by AI or by another player. Maybe computer controlled enemy ships also could be something for the developers to add.

Jet Jumper lacks a solid background story, unfortunately. It would have added a lot to the game if you actually knew why you were jumping platforms. Despite the lack of story Jet Jumper is a good and worthwhile game. I have not seen anything quite like it before.

Related: Pow Pow’s Great Adventure, Stunts
Developer: Warlock Studio
Website for Game: http://www.warlockstudio.com/jetjumper.html
Publisher: N/A
O/S: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
Where to Get: Download Here
Cost of Full Game: $19.95
Year of Release: 2006

Requirements:
Pentium II 700 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 32 MB VRAM (Direct 3D compatible graphics card)
Tested on:
Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 512 MB RAM, ATI Radeon Graphics Card