Developer: Chillingo
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Device Reviewed On: iPod touch 4, iPad 1
Let’s Jump! Put on your red shoes and dance the blues! Wait…that’s “Let’s Dance.” Sorry. Let’s Jump is not a David Bowie song, instead, it is an endless ascension platformer, akin to Doodle Jump, where the player controls what could be best described as a constantly jumping amorphous blob with eyes. There are standard platforms, single-use platforms, platforms that cause the blob to jump higher, platforms that cause the blob to jump higher depending on how close to the center it lands, ghost platforms that only show up when the blob is over them, and even more.
The game does the core elements of the genre well; it features solid tilt controls, with options for touch controls as well. The game is a universal app as well. The single player mode features themes that are unlocked as coins are collected while playing the game. The multiplayer Race mode is great fun, pitting 2 players against each other in a race to the top. This mode improves on Doodle Jump’s multiplayer, in that messing up one jump even while having a huge lead doesn’t mean death; it’s possible to fall all the way to the bottom of the level in Race mode. This mode can be played over Game Center, as well as over local Bluetooth and in a Pass and Play mode where players take turns trying to set higher times.
The problem with Let’s Jump is that it’s not really all that original; it doesn’t really add anything new to the genre at all. It’s fun, but there’s a real sense of deja vu here. Pretty much the only original elements are the different platforms, but other than that, there isn’t really anything that other entries in the genre haven’t yet done. The online multiplayer is also difficult to find players to play against in at this moment; this may be due to the smaller player population relative to a long-standing hit like Doodle Jump, though. This is less a knock against the game itself, and more a knock against how Game Center doesn’t make it easier for games with smaller populations to discover potential players who just may not be playing the game at that moment. jk
Let’s Jump may lack in originality, but it is still quite fun, and its universal app support is quite welcome. It does everything right, just don’t expect the freshest experience. Now let’s jump, under the moonlight, the serious moonlight…