Jump World Demo

Jump ‘n’ runs can be quite addictive if they are done right, because gamers love a challenge. There are many platformers out there that enjoyed massive success, even if they punished players without mercy. However, it is also relatively easy to mess up the gameplay mechanics, because there is a fine line between challenging and badly designed.

Jump World is about as basic as it can get in the genre, but it packs quite the punch. All you need to do is make sure that you don’t fall into the lava, collect as many gold coins as you can and make it to the end of the level. It sounds fairly easy in theory, but then you have to live with the fact that each mistake is punished with a total reset of the current stage.

There isn’t any kind of story to keep you company along the way, which is a shame. The game feels a bit rushed and sketchy in many regards, although it is an indie production after all. Thankfully, thick plots were never necessary in the genre, which is why it’s something you can get over with ease, as long as you can stomach the gameplay mechanics and the daunting difficulty level.

On the other hand, there must be at least some kind of satisfaction in the formula for it to work, because no one gets excited at jumping over gaps with no other purpose. It’s fun in the beginning, but not so much after you start being unable to pass a certain section. The lack of checkpoints becomes maddening after a while as well, and it would probably be a good idea to let players decide whether save points are available or not.

The controls are a bit imprecise as well, and that’s not what you want from a platformer like this. Your character slips a bit too much in most situations, which is why you’ll find yourself falling without even trying to leap. The graphics are rugged too, with very basic textures and not much care for the level design in general. While this can be overlooked if the rest of the game is top notch, it’s hardly the case with the game at hand.

In the end, Jump World is not a bad game, but it needs fixing in many regards. As of right now, it’s difficult just for the sake of it, and it’s not much fun to keep trying when everything works against you. Hardcore gamers might put up with a lot of things, but everyone has a limit.