We are going to take a look at a project that embodies the meaning of "Retro". Jumpman Forever takes the player back to the C64 / Atari / Apple era, and does so nicely. Jumpman Forever will be available for multiple platforms such as, Ouya (First, as part of the Free The Games Fund), PC, Mac OS X, iOS (iPhone & iPad), and Android (phone & tablet devices) with possible releases as more platforms become available; taken from the Kickstarter page.
Jumpman Forever is a "sequel" of the original platform game Jumpman, designed by Randy Glover and released by Epyx in 1983 for the Atari 400/800, with versions also released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PC, and Colecovision.
 |
| Screen of the original Jumpman. |
 |
| Screen of Jumpman Forever. |
Jumpman Forever will have 30 levels at the time of the Ouya release, as well as 45 to 60 levels for PC/Mac/iOS/Android launch. The game will also include a level editor with integrated cloud based level sharing so that the levels the player creates can be shared.
The developer plans on putting out updates every 4 to 6 months for the first two years after launch, at a later time we will talking with the developer to see what their plan is after the initial two years and to see the direction they are planning on taking Jumpman Forever.
Gameplay for Jumpman Forever will include complete replication of the original Jumpman and Jumpman, Jr gameplay and controls, updated retro-modern graphics, two playable characters; Jumpman, and the new character, Red, original, and new enemies, and entirely new levels.
 |
| Jumpman Forever level screen. |
The game will be launched with 5 different setting, Easy - Slower, less enemies on some levels, Normal - Regular speed, regular number of enemies, Expert - Faster, normal number of enemies, Advanced - Same speed as Expert, but additional enemies on every level, and Speed Run - Fastest speed, Jumpman also gets to jump higher and farther, as stated each setting will have its own challenge and difficulty. I got the opportunity to try out a preview of the game which I will elaborate on later in the write up, but as you can see in the screen below the Advance, and Speed Run settings are currently unavailable.
 |
| Demo setting selection screen. |
A feature that has been talked about is a multiplayer feature, nothing has been firmly confirmed about this feature yet and is being called "experimental" at the moment. However, I believe it would be interesting to see how it would work, and the fun that could be had with such a feature being implemented.
The demo I was lucky to get a chance to play was very fun yet challenging, I became very, I repeat VERY familiar with death, and the sweet sound that came with it. I was either jumping to my death, getting hit by the orb, completely missing the platform, or over thinking and running off the screen.
In the demo you could move Jumpman with the WASD, or arrow keys which was a plus since I tend to alternate between the two being a long time PC gamer, as well as MMOer. The controls worked very well, however I did have a bit of an issues climbing up, or properly jumping off ladders, yet it was nothing that would turn me off from the game, and I am sure this will be tightened up with the official release.
I really enjoyed the updated graphics, the color pallet played very well with each other, Jumpman's red shirt and hot pink pants really stood out bright and vibrant from the background so there is no way of mistaking the character with something that is in the background.
 |
| Duality level screen. |
All in all, Jumpman Forever is very enjoyable not only to look at, but to play and a nostalgic kick in the rear(in a good way, is that possible? Well they did it!), I will continue to follow the progress and would recommend everyone else to do so, besides Mr. Sickmon being a very pleasant person to talk with, the game is really doing justice to an old gem. There is still a little over 2 days to support the Kickstarter project so if you have the time please stop by and support Jumpman Forever, I will place a link below to make it easy for you.
Thank you for stopping by another week and supporting the blog, remember to keep an eye out for the next Showcase, it could be your project!
Be sure to,
Visit their website [Here].
Follow them on Twitter [Here].
And support the Kickstarter [Here].
0 comments:
Post a Comment