A Rousing Game Of Snakes And Ladders - A Heat6andking Review

Review by heat6andking on Monday, September 5th 2016
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Click to play Jump

Jump is a game created by thrash56

Hello, ladies and gents, it's heat6andking here with my first review. We will be reviewing Jump by thrash56, an iconic yet strange EGL game that has stood the test of time as one of the best games in Sploder history.



Gameplay:

From the point of view of a spectator, looking at the game from a distance, one could easily dismiss this game as something extremely simple and ridiculously easy. If one had never seen Sploder games before, and this was the first game they played, at first glance they probably wouldn�t think too highly of it. Even I must admit that the game seemed incredibly simpleminded, and this was me even knowing that the game was in the EGL. The concept is almost brain dead simple. You just have to jump from platform to platform, taking care not to fall to your death via the hotblocks that reside at the floor of the level. Simple enough, right? You would be direly mistaken. This game is truly one of the best examples of craftsmanship in the field of obstacles I have ever seen. Each block, each ramp, each section of stone was placed in the perfect place to make it possible, yet fairly difficult.

Scratch that, to finish the whole thing was quite hard, as a matter of fact, which is absolutely baffling, seeing as the only enemy is the level itself. There are no enemies to face, nothing to fight but the frightening force of gravity that can end your expedition up the game in one haphazard error. It�s almost like a virtual mountain climbing expedition (with the obvious exception that mountains don�t have floating ramps and inclines, but I digress): it�s extremely satisfying when you eventually finish it, but one mistake could utterly kill you.



Scenery, Story:

This is where the game somewhat suffers, but it�s barely noticeable when a game like this comes along. The game really doesn�t have a story, and the scenery is passable at best, but it doesn�t need either of those things. As a matter of fact, it�s of my personal opinion that too much scenery and a story would have really subtracted from the raw beauty that is this game experience. I�m actually glad that thrash56 didn�t put effort into the aesthetics of the game, because the whole point of this game was the game itself, and nothing else. Even if the aesthetics did matter in this game, this game was made in the era where game creators, especially platformers, really didn�t think of that, so we can�t knock off points for lack of aesthetics.



The Fun Factor and Difficulty:

I did explain a little bit of this up in the gameplay section of this review, but I would like to expand on those notions here. This game, while seemingly simple, is ridiculously, almost inexcusably addictive. I spent a good 30 minutes of my life trying to beat this game, and when I finally did after an ungodly amount of attempts, I felt extremely happy. I felt like it was worth spending way too much time any one man should spend trying to beat a game. The difficulty and the simplicity of this game together make for a really fun experience. It�s a difficult game, I�ll admit it. But it�s a party of a game when you get past the rather unfinished aesthetic look of it all. It�s so well made, it�s just a real party. Props on thrash for somehow making a game with nothing but a bunch of floating blocks and inclines one of the best games I�ve ever had the privilege of playing.



THE FINAL RATINGS:

Welcome to what you most likely were waiting for: my final opinions on this game.



PROS:

Perfect difficulty

Intuitive and ingenious design

A real sense of achievement upon completing the game

Extremely skillful placement of obstacles



CONS:

Doesn�t look very complete

Looks rather simpleminded



GAMEPLAY: __________/__________
 


(this is why thrash is one of Sploder�s best game makers, he can make a game with no enemies one of the best in this site�s history)



PUZZLES: _________/__________
 


(very few of the jumps in this game can be considered �easy� by any stretch of the imagination)



DIFFICULTY: ________/__________
 


(if you don�t know what the heck you�re doing, you will admittedly find yourself struggling)



AESTHETICS: ____/__________
 


(thrash apparently doesn�t know what a story or a background block is, but frankly I think the omission of such factors was intentional)



ORIGINALITY: __________/__________
 


(I�m rather certain that every single platformer climbing game has taken inspiration from this game, this is a revolutionary game, first and best of its kind)



TOTAL RANKING: _________/__________
 


Out of all the complicated physics games I�ve played, out of all the complex multi-stage platformers I�ve ever played, I will still point anyone to this game as one of the best of all time. This game deserved its spot in the EGL, and anybody who says otherwise is most likely wrong. It�s an original platformer game, from the proto-Sploder times of simple shooters and seemingly boring platformers. It paved the way for platformer obstacle courses, in my opinion, and it really is like an extremely rousing game of Snakes and Ladders. Great game, and I credit thrash for making such a gem.