JumpSky

At a glance, the answer to what makes a good platformer is fairly obvious and simple: Challenging levels and rewarding mechanics. If you are a developer, on the other hand, things are not so simple, because many more elements play a crucial role when it comes to how a platformer plays. As such, it’s important not to overlook the controls and the level design, not to mention the collision system.

JumpSky is a basic platformer in which you control a red ball as you try to navigate treacherous environments full of gaps, traps and all sorts of obstacles. Unfortunately, the experience is not as fun as it in other similar games, mainly because of the botched controls and the general lack of variety when it comes to the environments and the puzzles you have to solve along the way.

Although the starting zone features a few statues and some interesting backgrounds, things get a lot more boring once you progress a bit. The platforms are just semi-transparent boxes with no detail whatsoever, while the world around you never seems to change. It’s difficult to stay excited in these conditions, especially when you are faced with a few other problems as well.

One of the most irritating things about the game is the control system, mainly because the ball is very difficult to roll in a straight line over slightly longer distances. Not only that, but once you try to alter its course your input is too exaggerated, making it difficult to perform minor course alterations to stay on track. It’s also impossible to control the ball in mid-air, which is yet another annoyance.

As mentioned before, JumpSky won’t win any awards for its graphics either, but then again that is not an issue when it comes to this type of games. It’s a big deal in this case, however, because there is literally nothing but a skybox and a few empty polygons posing as the platforms. Because of this, you really do not feel like you are making progress as you overcome the obstacles.

All things considered, it’s difficult to be too harsh on a free game developed by a small studio, but then again other developers have done much better under the circumstances. Thus, JumpSky is a bit too barren and unrefined to be fun, at least in its current state.