Jumping Joe & Friends

- Reviewed on Switch -

Jumping Joe & Friends released on May 25th, 2018.

I feel like, in my opinion, that everyone these days either should, or already do, have a casual, small, minigame like title, on one or multiple platforms.

Back when I first got my Nintendo Switch, and started buying games on the eShop, Jumping Joe & Friends was one of my first casual games that I downloaded.

Extremely cheap, small download size, yet so much, endless fun!

Loading times are essentially non-existent, and Jumping Joe & Friends is the perfect example of a game to pick up if your just in the casual gaming mindset (mood) or environment.

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Developed by Vixa Games, Jumping Joe & Friends is a 2D platformer, where the main goal in its gameplay, is to go as high as possible, achieving the highest score, before getting hit too many times.

Jumping Joe & Friends has a cartoony like theme in its graphics. 

Upbeat, friendly music plays throughout this endless title, and you'll start with the default, first character, Joe.

There are plenty of characters in Jumping Joe & Friends to unlock, and in order to unlock them all, you'll need to collect (and save up) plenty of gems.

This leads me into the actual gameplay. And the funny thing is, there's only two buttons to play with!

At least on Switch, you can play Jumping Joe & Friends with the left and right bumpers and / or the Y and A buttons.

Since this is considered a casual game in its respective genre, these controls are perfect for any and all ages.

When playing this game, you'll see platforms always above you. 

The goal is to jump on these platforms and continue upwards for as long as possible. 

The left bumper (or Y button) makes you jump left and vice versa.  

The hat icons below your current score (which is below your gem count in the top left of the HUD) is the hit chances you have. 

When you get hit, you lose a hat. And when / if you get hit with only one hat left, you then die.

You can also die if you jump in the wrong direction where there's no platform.

There are crates on specific platforms though, that do contain lives and / or powers.

These powers include bombs, that destroy nearby hazards, or even rockets, that fly you further up, increasing your score quickly.

You'll have to plan ahead in quick fashion in order to choose the right path that'll take you in that direction of the crates.

There are also bags of gems, that if / when collected, spawns gems on all platforms around you.

As you get higher and higher, the difficulty gets tougher and tougher. A respectable gameplay mechanic used in most games. 

The enemies are pleasantly designed, as is everything else, in this title. 

The enemies specifically though, have a flying theme based around them. 

Whether that's with the bats, the spinning saws, or even the fireballs!

There are four game modes to choose from in Jumping Joe & Friends.

These are Arcade, Multiplayer, Race, and Hero mode.

Arcade is your traditional, single player mode.

Multiplayer is where you and either one, two, or three other people can play against each other in real time.

Race mode is where you try to reach the height intervals in the quickest times possible. 

These intervals go by 50.

And finally, there's Hero mode, where the gameplay is the same as Arcade, but the difficulty is skyrocketed from the very start!

Short, simple, yet effective! This casual game was and is a blast each and every time I play it, and the longevity is as long as you want it to be!

Pros: 

    - Great Longevity
    - Multiplayer
    - Plethora of Characters
    - Relatively Cheap (as of writing this blog post)
    - Great for all Ages
    - Pleasant, Cartoony Graphics

Cons:

    - Unlocking All the Characters Takes a Long Time
    - Extremely Limited Soundtrack

My Rating for Jumping Joe & Friends (on Switch):

4 / 5


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Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.



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