REVIEW | Jump Challenge!

LifeisXbox’s Jump Challenge! review | Sometimes games cross our paths that don’t immediately convince us. When I first saw the Steam page of Jump Challenge!, a game developed and published by Source Byte, I thought it looked okay but nothing more than that. It also didn’t help that I’m not particularly good at these types of games, so you know, I was only mildly excited. But guys and gals, how great is it when a game you have barely any expectations of, turns out to be rather addictive? Well, this is exactly what Jump Challenge! was to me. So allow me to walk you through the ups and downs of this little game.

ℹ️ Reviewed on PC | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion from the writer.

What we Liked!

• Simple and straightforward gameplay | Jump Challenge! definitely has one of the easiest gameplay mechanics out there. Basically all you’re doing it running and jumping from one platform to another in order to get as high as you can. Before the lava reaches you and, well, kills you. The principle is simple, the faster you run, the higher you can jump. The simplicity of this is what makes this game so great, in my opinion. Because of the infinite levels, Jump Challenge! will keep you busy for a long time, but only for shorts periods of time. That is because the nature of this game is repetitive, there is no getting around that. Still, I found myself trying a few times a day, quitting after about 15 minutes, and then getting back to the game the next day. This kept the gameplay from getting repetitive for me. I do believe that die-hard competitive souls will be able to enjoy this game for longer periods of time.

• Leaderboards to keep you challenged | This game is all about being competitive. I found myself getting higher and higher in the rankings, which made me want to beat my own score again and again. After the lava gets you, you are always shown the leaderboard, making sure you don’t forget about it and it really makes you want to try again and again. The fun part about the leaderboard is that there are actually three leaderboards. The first one shows the top highscores (I am currently on spot 25 out of 121). The second one is about the top heights. And then we have the last one: the top deaths. I am currently number 6 with 92 deaths (!) here so that’s pretty cool too!

• Fun alone or with friends | Jump Challenge! has three game modes divided into two categories. The single-player mode is just that: you play by yourself and try to get a better spot on the leaderboards. The multiplayer modes are grouped underneath the Party mode label. In the Free mode, you both try to get as high as possible. As long as one stays alive, the other will resurrect too. And as the name suggests, the Versus mode allows you to race against each other to the top. In the Versus mode, you can choose your own game conditions like the length of the game, what floor or background you want, split-screen or not, and so on. If you do decide to play with friends or family, you can play with up to four players. Besides local multiplayer, Jump Challenge! also offers Steam remote play.

Mixed Feelings

• Largely based on luck and randomness | Of course, you won’t just be jumping from one basic platform to the other and ascend. There need to be obstacles and helpful items along the way as well, otherwise, the gameplay would become boring rather quickly. You’ll be hindered by spikes, acid, large angry flowers, cannonballs, lightning and so on. To make up for these disadvantages, you’ll also gain some advantages. The best one definitely being able to teleport to higher ground by jumping through some kind of teleportation circle! Now, let me get to my point. Every time you start, a random new level is generated, meaning that the gameplay is based on luck. If you’re lucky enough, you will find a teleportation circle quite quickly. If the randomly generated level doesn’t have any teleportation circle in the first 100 meters, you’re not so lucky.

• Graphics and sound | Now, let’s talk about the way this game looks and sounds, two core aspects of games. Well, in the case of Jump Challenge!, I believe these matter less as you’re constantly trying to focus on getting as high as possible. Still, you don’t want to be looking at the same old background and details all the time, so the art style does have some impact on the level of enjoyment. In Jump Challenge!, there are a few scenarios. You start out in what looks like the mines, but will later also encounter backgrounds from castles, jungles, space and the sky. While they all looked okay and had some level of detail, there weren’t mind-blowing. Not that I cared that much. I did, however, care about my character a bit more. You have two characters available at the start and will, later on, be able to buy more skins. I found this to be pretty useless as all characters looked equally ‘bad’. They didn’t really have that much detail and I honestly couldn’t have cared less about my character. Sure, it’s not the game’s focus, but I still enjoy a cute character that I love to play as.

What we Disliked

• Nothing to read here, continue to the verdict 🙂

How long to beat the story | Infinite levels to beat!
How long to achieve 1000G | A very long time… unless you’re REALLY good at the game.

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