Leap until you Puke with Jump King – for Switch, PS4, and XBox

If you think you’re good at games, try Jump King. There’s a Smoking Hot Babe at the top!

The promotional email I received for Jump King promised “a comically vicious vertical platformer.” My thought was, “Oh, I love platformers. Watch me eat this little game for breakfast.” But in the end, I was the breakfast.

But Jump King is the kind of game that takes ragged chomps out of your ego, beats you down and laughs in your face. And so you obediently keep playing. If you think you’re good at games… if you love games that hate you back… or if you’re just some kind of sick weirdo, you’ll like Jump King.

The Premise

The premise is just incredibly simple. You play as a knight with mad jumping skills. The goal is to jump up and up and find the smoking hot babe at the top of the game.

…that’s it.

I have not seen the babe personally, and I’m doubtful she even really exists. But alas, my curiosity is so piqued that I have no choice but to jump. I’m a slave to the babe and a slave to the Jump King, who may be the cruelest king of all.

Gameplay

With such a simple premise, gameplay has to be on-point. All the protagonist can do is walk and jump. The longer you hold down the jump button, the further he jumps. After about 1 second, his jump reaches its max charge and he jumps automatically. Tap the button as fast as you can for a quick horizontal leap.

The tap-jump and the max-jump are your measuring sticks for all jumps in the game. There are many jumps that are gimmies where, yes, you just hold down the jump button and magically land in the exact right spot. But there are also patches where careful timing is crucial and a mis-timed jump will have you falling and falling and erasing your hard-earned progress.

In short, this game does not give a flying fish about your progress.

That said, there is a strong element of muscle memory in this game. The more you try, the more you play, the faster you can hop right through the lower levels. And it’s quite satisfying.

Graphics and Sound

Retro-style pixel graphics, all the way to the top. I assume. There’s no way in hell I’m making it to the top to find out, but I’m pretty sure… Although, maybe if I keep trying…

The environments, including the graphics and the ambiance, are perfect for the game. Jump King strikes such an effective balance between being goofy and quirky, and dark and brooding. Skeletal remains dangle in dungeons and drain pipes and lament their own failed quest to find the Smoking Hot Babe. I have lolled many times in my quest.

The Verdict

For a modest price, you can get many hours of jumping out of this game. It’s simple, yes, but it is very well done. And it’s challenging enough to provide many, many hours of:

• Jumping
• Swearing
• Leaping
• Cursing
• Crying
• Hopping
• Dying
• Self-realization
• Stress-eating
• Rage-vomiting

Overall, this is a great game for its price point, and should provide plenty of challenge. And if it all goes well, you might even find yourself face to face with a Smoking Hot Babe.

…but don’t get your hopes up.