Jet Boot Jack

Copyright : English Software | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

Jet-Boot Jack space-age jogger, zips his way through the Record Pressing Plant, collecting musical notes as he goes. Unfortunately, bugs and gremlins are trying to prevent him from achieving his aim â?? that is, amassing the greatest music collection in the world! He must eliminate the nasty creatures by travelling above their heads and bouncing on top of them until they fall to their deaths. In his search for musical satisfaction, Jack needs fuel to power his unique Jet-Boots, which he can collect by colliding with the overhanging vinyl pods â?? the energy is quickly transformed into fact action Jet-Boot Jack propellant! So the scene is set, now commence play and see just what Jet-Boot Jack must contend with in the first ten screen adventure undertaken by our intrepid hero of the future.

Graphics

Blocky and colourful graphics give the game an old school platform feel that is serviceable but makes the game appear very dated as although plenty of colours are used â?? they are generally used in isolation â?? one or two colours and a plethora of grey.

The main character, on the other hand, looks very good indeed and is very well animated for such an old game. The way he shoots up and down the caverns is done very well and helps give the game a real sense of character.

Unfortunately, this principle is not applied to the gremlins and other baddies thwarting your progress. Their appearance is very bland and is an area that could have been improved upon significantly.

Sound

A pretty jolly tune that seems to be some random keys pressed as up-tempo as possible cuts out fairly suddenly on the title page. Nice and simple but too short to live long in the memory.

Sound effects in the game are horrible for the most part. The noise used to indicate each loss of life is horrendous along with the warning siren that punctuates the game at routine intervals.

Gameplay

Deceptively simple, Jet-Boot Jack quickly becomes extremely frustrating as you find yourself dying over and over again through the most miniscule of mistakes. After a few plays though the game does begin to open itself up to you and it is easy to become addicted to cracking the screen you are on. In that sense the game is very hard to put down.

A nice inclusion is the system that allows you to â??jumpâ?? to any level that youâ??ve already unlocked â?? this does help quell the inner rage that often threatens to engulf you when you lose your last life because youâ??re a fration out of line with an elevatorâ?¦

The biggest drawback to the game besides the frustration factor is the lack of variety. With only ten levels, itâ??ll only take a few days of solid play to whiz through a game which does not provide any change in task or real difficulty â?? the caverns are all pretty much the same with only the layout changing, no additional hazards or features introduced.

One word of warning though. Upon loading, start the game as quickly as possible or else youâ??ll be stuck in a demo cycle that shows you each cavern the game has. Stupidly, you cannot escape this and have to wait until the game returns to the start menu of its own accord.