Developer: Nexile, Ukiyo Publishing Limited
Publisher: Nexile, Ukiyo Publishing Limited
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Jump King – Review
Sometimes games with a certain odd idea tend to be very popular. When looking back at Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy, we were treated to a very strange and nerve-wracking experience, where you had to control a half-sized man, in a giant kettle, with a sledgehammer, all while having to climb over obstacles. If you messed up, it was more than possible you had to start over from scratch, and deal with the rage that certainly brewed inside your body. Two years later, a seemingly pixilated game came up with a nearly identical idea, albeit with different mechanics. This game was Jump King, in which you control a cute-looking knight, with big jumping boots, having to jump his way up through many different sceneries to reach ‘a babe’ at the top of the presented obstacle course. This game also received a lot of praise, and now it has made its way onto our current generation of consoles.
Story
The game does not feature an elaborate story, as all you need to know is that there is the prospect of meeting a possible babe at the top of an elaborate obstacle course, which only you can overcome. You’ll be going on your journey with only this in mind, and that’s all this valiant knight needs to know before possibly leaping towards his own death.
Graphics
Graphically Jump King has a nice style going on. The game is done in a very retro-inspired style, and it works quite well. You’ll have to make do with very limited content though. Each new area has its own backdrop, sometimes with a static background, and sometimes with little moving parts. Other than that, there isn’t much life to be seen, safe for a handful of NPC characters that throw a single line of text your way. Nonetheless, the game looks quite good, but it becomes clear that there is actually very limited content, as professional speedrunners can clear the game in a total of 5-7 minutes, if they know the platforms you have to jump onto by heart.
Sound
The game’s sound design is kept really simple. We reckon this is because the game could really get on your nerves with music that stands out too much. You’ll just have to make do with environmental sounds, and some sound effects that spawn from your knight taking his many leaps of faith.
Gameplay
Jump King is a tough as nails platformer with unique jumping mechanics. From start to finish, your goal is to simply climb higher and higher until you reach the pinnacle of the castle and you possibly get to use your moves on the babe on top of the world.
The game is quite simple in its mechanics, but actually putting them into practice proves to be really hard. You’ll have to jump upwards on different platforms, and you do so by choosing which direction you wish to jump to, and pressing the jump button. The reach and height of your jump depend on how long you press the jump button. If you overshoot, or press it too short, you might miss the platform and tumble down. Not only this proves to be very tricky, but you can also only see the platforms of the next screen by first jumping upwards, and thus remembering where you have to jump to. Overall this game only needs one button and a directional push of the left stick. Other than that, there is nothing significant in terms of the game’s mechanics. Only when climbing higher, you will encounter snow and changing wind directions, which also influence your actual jump.
Conclusion
Jump King is a fairly fun indie game, albeit an unnerving one-trick pony. The game proves to be interesting in its offset and also provides some entertainment for gamers that like tough-as-nails experiences, or those who like to memorize patterns and levels. Those with little patience will not find any joy in this game, lovely as it may look.
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