Jumpster for iPhone and iPad Review

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Type of app: Action-Platformer game
Platform/where to buy: iPhone/iPad (Universal); available in the App Store

Developer: Vogat / G5 Entertainment
Description:

Jump ship! As Jumpster, a cute little alien, is cruising through the galaxy, his ship is hit by a meteorite and springs a fuel leak! Poor Jumpster crash-lands on the planet Okadia and now needs to recover the lost fuel if he wants to continue his trek. To do so, he must tackle traitorous traps and ravenous monsters in his path.

Features:

80 Challenging levels to overcome
4 Hostile planets to escape
42 Fancy costumes for Jumpster
10 Powerful objects to boost your energy
20 Achievements to earn
Game Center Support

Major features: Jumpster is the first physics platformer released by G5, the publisher much more familiar with hidden object adventures. For a first entry – this is great! The overall feel is sort of like Angry Birds mixed with Doodle Jump and World of Goo and a bunch of other games. Yet rather than feeling like a tired rip-off (there are too many of THOSE in the app store) it brings the best elements of all of those games to bear in producing a game that is fun and challenging.

The graphics are rich and saturated and highly detailed on the Retina iPad, with fun characters and monsters and worlds to explore. You play by pulling back slingshot-style (similar to Angry Birds) on Jumpster to launch him towards his destination. You don’t have a fixed location, but instead launch from inside of bubbles, puddles and other locations in order to collect all of your lost fuel and get to your ship. There are tons of monsters looking to destroy you, making even some of the early levels challenging! And that is where the ‘addictive’ feel comes in – on about the tenth level I hit a point where I could see how to proceed yet was struggling to time it all correctly!

While I struggled the game reminded me that I should buy one of several useful powerups. With each level you earn coins, but at a slow enough rate that you will always need more to grab outfits, power-ups, and so on for your Jumpster. And that is where the in-app system pops up – you buy coins using real money to buy stuff in-game. The values all seem reasonable and you won’t run up a huge bill compared to buying a full game even if you buy everything.

Ease of use/Overall performance: If you have played any of the infamous ‘mobile time wasters’ of the past few years you will immediately feel at home with Jumpster – it is familiar yet fresh. The graphics and physics all

Would use again/recommend?: Absolutely! Most of all – Jumpster is fun. I played on my iPad, but I feel in many ways this is a game more suited to an iPhone or iPod Touch on-the-go gaming. But either way – the download is free, and you REALLY should check it out!

Suggested changes/wish list for updates: I always worry about in-app currency systems for a family game, and wish they all had a simple ‘buy the full game’ option that for under $10 would unlock everything.

Price: Free (Power-ups bought with coin from in-app purchase)

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!