Super Meat Boy, Celeste and Super Mario Maker in their most sadistic and perverse declensions. These are some of the 2D platformers that over the last few years have required the sacrifice of some finger tendons and, above all, some pads, launched with violence to release the frustration accumulated one game after another.
Sr. runs and jumps belongs to the same group of ruthless titles that undermine the serenity and self-esteem of the players who decide to accept the challenge, although with two quite interesting peculiarities.
The first is of a purely productive nature. In fact, we are talking about a game that can be defined in all respects as a strange remake. The original, if we can define it that way, was also published in these hot summer days in physical version on Atari 2600. A highly effective advertising trick, which will delight those who still have a copy of the glorious console that appeared on the market more than forty-five years ago; an idea very much an end in itself, but at the same time effectively outlines the contours of a two-dimensional platformer dedicated to essentiality.
The other peculiarity of Mr. Run and Jump, which we will analyze in detail throughout this article. review, is a game clearly aimed at an audience willing to challenge themselves, but with some ideas that make it absolutely accessible to beginners and the simply curious. A bit like Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze did by including the unbeatable Funky Kong.
An essential platform
According to the tradition of the genre, Mr. Run and Jump does it without a real plot This justifies the series of ravines and traps that the game's protagonist will have to overcome to allow the user to access the long-awaited final credits. However, the brief interactive sequence that introduces the adventure has a double merit. First of all, it briefly shows us the aesthetic aspect of the Atari 2600 edition of the game, replacing it a second later with its opportunely updated version which, however, with its neon colors and minimalist interface makes a nod to the unforgettable 80s. Secondly, it puts the task of fighting in the hands of Mr. Run and Jump himself. empty, terrible entity that swallows everything in its path. The only way to deactivate the threat that keeps everything under control kingdom of colors It consists of recovering six artifacts stored in six regions fraught with danger.
There are no more jokes, except for a few lines of dialogue, to separate you from your first and almost inevitable ending of the game. The creature born from the collaboration between Graphite Lab and Heavy Horse Games does not give discounts to anyone, at least at the beginning, and has no qualms about making you collide head-on with a level design potentially capable of driving you to madness.
Sharp spikes, enemies positioned with sadistic precision, millimeter jumps, collectibles placed in the most unthinkable places. The path forward is always very clear and many times the strategy to reach each individual platform is also clear. This does not mean that success in business often translates into long and difficult button presses that pressure be put on it promptly and, above all, with knowledge of the facts.
The control scheme, in itself, is quite limited and basic, exactly like the aesthetic sector vaguely reminiscent of the vector graphics of some old games. There's the double jump, Mr. Run and Jump can curl up into a ball to gain speed and overcome even wider chasms, you can rely on momentum in the air as well as the inevitable bounces off walls. No particular power, there are no techniques that can be activated at specific moments or after filling a few bars.
Even more essential than Super Mario, which allows some variations on the theme between flowers and leaves that grant power-ups, Atari's production bases its fortune entirely and solely on level design.
Each six zones (plus a bonus), divided into four levels, offer challenges that revolve around more or less specific elements. Sharp spikes abound in the purple zone, even growing luxuriantly on the walls of some platforms. In the red, however, you will have to deal with flows of magma and flames that increase in intensity almost in time with the music.
Obviously, some elements tend to be repeated in later areas, in a crescendo of difficulty that ends in Dark World, an exclusive stage only for those who manage to obtain not only all the artifacts, but for those who are determined enough to make each sphere and triangle of energy scattered throughout the levels their own.
Two other elements provide a minimum of variety and add greater difficulty to the whole. On the one hand, each scenario has a specific level in which you will not only have to face a thousand obstacles and dangers along the way, but you will have to do so constantly pursued by the Void itself, which will force you to face everything. without delaying too much, exactly as if it were a plan automatic side scrolling.
Secondly, you can replay any completed level with the Trial, where to get the platinum medal you will basically have to become an automaton, have perfect timing and know every corner of the stage by heart.
Difficult, but also for everyone.
Although it may be a relatively subjective judgment, Mr. Run and Jump is an extremely difficult game even for those who grew up on bread and platforms. Although it never reaches the originality, freshness and complexity of the levels of Celeste and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, partly to pursue the ideal of essentiality, partly due to the developers' lack of pure creativity, it perfectly achieves the task of entertaining and entertaining while also offering an above average level of challenge.
Only by trying again and again will you be able to overcome some passages, even taking more than a dozen minutes before you succeed. Experience with two-dimensional platforms helps, obviously, but even the most experienced will have a lot of work ahead of them in the thirty levels that make up the experience. Even without considering Time Trial and the desire to grab all the collectibles in question, stop thinking about defeating the Void before six, seven hours of play.
Mr. Run and Jump, however, is not a title reserved exclusively for the most skilled players. It is never unfair, avoids being frustrating and offers users who want it different types of help to pass the current level. First aid is a kind of be incorporeal which shows the user the jumps, as well as the safest path to follow to reach the goal safely. Secondly, the software, after numerous finished games in a row, may activate some intermediate checkpoint making the series of attempts less demanding and time-consuming. Ultimately, it can be activated. the immortality of the avatar, so that everything is a walk of health.
Mr. Run and Jump also does something else. Especially in the later stages of the adventure, you will often find placed at a crossroads. In these cases, there will always be an easier path, but without collectibles, and another much more challenging one, but essential to completely complete the current level.
Thanks to these aids (all optional, let's be clear), Atari's production manages to entertain, without ever being frustrating; to target an audience of gamers looking for a substantial challenge, but not to be inaccessible to those who want to test themselves or those looking for a two-dimensional platformer to take on under the umbrella.
Conclusions
Tested version Nintendo Switch digital delivery Steam, epic games store, playstation store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 24.99 € Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (2) 5.6 your voteMr. Run and Jump lacks a touch of class, originality, something that makes it shine within a genre, that of 2D platforms, which in recent years has seen a succession of champions with crystalline qualities. However, this is an absolutely fun and challenging game, adorned with a level design that is not very daring, of course, but effective and well-constructed. Every enemy, every ravine, every obstacle is positioned with ingenious and cynical precision. Each level will bring out the best in you and at the same time the worst, considering the curses that will accompany each game. As if that were not enough, the long series of optional aids that can be activated make Mr. Run and Jump suitable even for the less experienced, for beginners and for those who do not want to get stuck, at least not immediately. with the collection of each collectible. Although it lacks originality and substance, Mr. Run and Jump is, therefore, a 2D platform game recommended for fans of the genre and for those who want to look for a balanced and never unfair challenge with which to test themselves.
PRO
- Inspired aesthetics
- Essential, but not to be taken for granted
- Challenging, but not inaccessible
AGAINST
- It lacks originality and courage.
- Minimalist art style won't appeal to everyone
