2010's Jett Rocket went under the radar when it released on the WiiWare service from Shin'en, but it did receive positive reviews. It was a 3D platformer that sparked comparisons to Super Mario Galaxy, despite it not including any gravity-based gimmickry. I never got to play this game even though it always interested me, so when I saw its sequel, dawning the quirky subtitle The Wrath of Taikai, while randomly deciding to browsing the 3DS's eShop, I decided to give the 3D trailer a watch. The trailer very much impressed me, so I went ahead and bought the game that day and was overall pleased with what I played. Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai is a good little game.
There is some kind of ludicrous story to Jett Rocket II; it's something about a bunch of evil robot monsters led by one especially evil robot monster who threatens the galaxy, or whatever, blah, blah, and blah. It's stupid, and not a particularly fun kind of stupidity, but it takes up little of one's time, putting an emphasis on gameplay. The game has three worlds, comprised of three sidescrolling levels and two levels in a 3D space, which alternate back and forth. After those five levels, there is a boss fight.
Jett Rocket II is a fun game. The controls feel reasonably tight. I always had a sense that I was in control of the game's goofy, derp-faced protagonist, which meant that cheap death from controls never really felt applicable. There are some platforms in this game that are designed intentionally thin for challenge, and it's actually remarkable how capably one can maneuver itself on them. It can feel a bit stiff, especially when wall-jumping, but never imprecise.
As stated previously, there is a 3:2 ratio of 2D levels to 3D levels, which actually pans out as unfortunate, as the 3D levels are clearly better. 3D levels offer a lot of space and neat mechanics that should make players of Super Mario Galaxy feel at home. There are spinning cubes to jump all over, platforms that move when you double-jump, etc. Something enjoyable that feels unique to this game is its emphasis on dodging bullets that enemies and obstructions spit out in patterns, which makes sense considering all of the shoot-em-ups this developer creates. The 2D levels offer their own versions of all of these things and it's still pleasant, despite a more cramped and dull feeling. A nice touch in between levels is the inclusion of vendors, which allows one to exchange coins collected in levels in order to play minigames for extra hit points and lives.
The boss fights are expected three-hit, pattern-based affairs, but they're cool. They're quite challenging and took me more than a few tries. Frustration creeps in, but doesn't overtake the satisfaction. There are bonus levels that are presented after completing a boss fight, which are all great. The first, for example, is a jet-skiing obstacle course, which is fast and excellently takes advantage of stereoscopic 3D graphics.
The art style and general visual design of enemies and environments and the like are all mostly underwhelming, but it's all totally solid from a technical standpoint. None of the little baddies or locales struck me as particularly interesting, but it all runs fluidly, without a fault. Now, the game's use of stereo 3D is actually amazing as a whole. 3D-based levels have an impressive depth of field, with floating objects like coins looking especially awesome. The game's stereo 3D is generally unimpressive when on a 2D plane, with backgrounds and foregrounds that only barely contrast, but things still look interesting when one's character dies and gets flicked towards one's face. The collection of tunes is chipper and entertaining enough to be only marginally memorable, but memorable indeed.
That accurately describes the game as a whole, actually. It's marginally memorable, but memorable indeed. It can be bland and there isn't much specialness to the experience, but it's fun. It took around 4-5 hours to complete, but there are some well-placed secrets sprinkled throughout levels and a harder, mirrored mode which requires one to collect doodads in order to gain entrance to the exits of levels. It doesn't feel too short, nor does it feel bloated; it feels complete. Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai is simply a good little game.
***
~~ Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai was played for roughly six and a half hours on a Nintendo 3DS XL. It retails for $8.99 on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. ~~
No comments:
Post a Comment