Review #191: Jumping Flash! 2

 Hope y'ain't got vertigo!

 Jumping Flash! 2 is truly one of a kind. Well, 'three of', since it's kind of a sequel and it had a sequel itself. But I digress, Jumping Flash! 2 is a first-person platforming game... and it's so good.

 There's two main modes: Adventure and Time Attack, both are pretty much self explanatory. The game is made up of 6 worlds, with 3 stages each, 2 platforming stages and 1 boss stage each(except the sixth world that trades a platforming stage for a second boss). The objective of each level is to find 4 MuuMuus, squid-like aliens, and reach the exit. The game is a bit on the short side, you could probably beat the game in under 2 hours, but finishing the game unlocks "Extra" mode, which rearranges every stage. This mode is completely worth it, new cinematics and harder bosses, it almost feels like an entirely new set of stages. Furthermore, there's 12 performance medals to earn(Think of them as achievements), getting all 12 of them unlocks Hyper Mode, which buffs Robbit and re-rearranges the levels. The main game might be a bit short and easy, but the extra modes more than makes up for it.

 As stated before, this is a first-person platforming game. Robbit is a robot rabbit(Hence, Robbit) that can triple jump(increased to six in Hyper mode), shoot lasers, shoot fireworks, dash(Hyper Mode only, with L1) and do a ground pound(With triangle, Hyper Mode only). The first person perspective is pretty easy to get used to, as soon as you do a second jump in the air, Robbit's view will automatically turn down to his feet, allowing you to see where you are gonna land, with aid of your shadow. To be honest, sometimes I would've preferred if the camera panned down as soon as you jumped for the first time, but it isn't too bad. Defeating enemies can be done by jumping on top of them, shooting them with your weak lasers or using Fireworks. Fireworks can be found throughout each level or are sometimes dropped behind by killed enemies, you can carry up to three of the them at the same time and they work as alternate weapons, they are best saved up for the bosses, at least in Extra Mode.

 One thing that can take a while to get used to is that Robbit can't just double and triple jump just whenever you want, there's a gauge at the right of the screen that rises to the top and then goes back down, as long as the yellow bar is still in the gauge, you can perform another jump. It takes a while to get used to it, I actually got over 4 game overs in stage 1-2(That's more than 8 lives) due to it, but after you get the hang of the controls, the game becomes very breezy. Levels have a time limit, but it never cost me a life, which means that it's pretty lenient. One small issue I had was that sometimes Robbit would be obstructed by corners of buildings just outside the field of view, strafing would've been a nice addition, but it isn't too cumbersome.

 This isn't one of Playstation's best looking games, but it's pretty colorful, and happy. Seriously, the enemies are very cute-ish, as is Robbit itself. The levels are pretty well designed, and they were fun to explore as you jumped around as well. After getting the hang of the controls, and being able to gracefully go from place to place, I was marveled at how the game looked and felt, this worlds are places you want to explore. At least the open areas. There's a couple of  closed-corridor levels that aren't as fun as the rest. As for the music, very upbeat and cheery. Hardly classics, but they feel straight out of the SNES platforming games, and that's a good thing.

 Jumping Flash! 2 is a first person platforming game. With no analog support. Conceived during the PS1 era. And it works. It's original and it's fun to play, it may be a bit too easy, but it's a great platforming game.
 8.0 out of 10