So then, the overall plot behind the game sees you take
control of Barry Steakfries, the hero, who takes a prototype jet pack for a
joyride. In order to escape the laboratory with the purloined pack, you
will have to first navigate 30,000 meters of deadly zappers and missiles, which
is way, way easier said than done. I’ve put quite a bit of time into the
game and furthest I’ve managed to get is about the 4,500 meter mark. This
game is firmly in the “endless runner” category, except in theory it’s not
actually endless. From your point of view when you first start out, it
may as well be though. The layout of the lab changes each time, and
before long you are careening along at a breakneck pace. Eventually
it will become unmanageable and you will make a mistake, bringing your run to
an end. While you’ve been dodging the many dangers though,
you’ve been picking up coins, which can be spent in the Stash on a variety of
things. Probably the most useful are the Gadgets, which change up
certain aspects of the game – but you can only equip two of these at a
time. They include stuff like a device that causes the missiles to
misfire more often than not, and another that randomly turns certain coins into
precious gems. As you purchase gadgets from the earlier tiers, you
will gradually unlock later ones with more useful stuff. Then there are
Utilities, which are one time use items such as hearts that can be used to
resurrect you one time, and other items that will let you instantly pass a
particularly tricky mission (more on these in a minute).
Awww, it's Mr Cuddles!!! |
The Stash is also home a variety of clothing, different
types of jet pack, and vehicle upgrades. The clothing is purely
cosmetic, but the other things may change up the gameplay a little bit.
Because you start with the machine gun jet pack, as you boost you will be
inadvertently filling poor unsuspecting scientists full of lead as you
go. Most of the time that’s perfectly fine, but sometimes you may have a
mission to not harm any scientists on a run. By changing the jet
pack you’ve got equipped – to a steam powered one for example, you can make it
much easier to avoid scientist slaughter. You still need to avoid
crushing into them, of course, but that’s pretty straight forward if you have
decent throttle control. During a typical run through the lab you
will find randomly place vehicle icons, which let you go on a rampage in a
robot suit called Lil Stomper, or a mechanical dragon called Mr Cuddles, for
example. The upgrades mostly give you different skins to equip, but you
can also buy magnet upgrades which will then attract precious coins. Very
useful indeed. The items in the stash will go on sale
periodically, and new items may appear from time to time. Some of them,
like the sleigh and the Santa outfit, are seasonal and available for a limited
time only. Others cost real money if you want them straight away, or if
you are patient you can get them for free if you wait about 15 days.
The missions are part of what playing the game so
addictive. Usually you will have three assigned to you at the
same time, and they include things like high-fiving a certain amount of
scientists, having a near miss with a certain number of missiles, or gathering
a certain number of coins. Sometimes your target will be fairly high but
can be spread over as many runs as you need in order to complete it – for
example 5000 coins. Other targets may be good for just one run, and so
are a bit trickier to get. Each mission has a star value of one to
three, and these stars contribute to your level. Every time you level up, you
get a bonus in coins. Once you get to level 15, you will have
finished that set of missions, but that’s not the end. You are then
awarded a medal and the whole process starts again. There are many
different mission types and they are randomised, so the chances of you getting
the exact same ones are pretty remote. There are 175 medals, so if you
want to get all of them, it will take you a long long time indeed!
So in addition to just managing to get all the way to 30,000 meters, you also
have the additional objective of earning all those medals. For such a
cheap game, Jetpack Joyride has a ton of content! There is also a reward
for coming back every day. Every 24 hours, three tokens will appear
that spell out S.A.M, which is short for Strong Arm Machine. Once you get
all three, you will be encased in a giant robot suit until you get hit by five
missiles. The amount of coins that appear increase dramatically during this
mode, so you can really bolster your coffers if you’re reaction times are
good! Once the S.A.M. has been destroyed and that run ends, you are then
given a daily bonus. If you do this every day for five days, you
will be given a random outfit for free.
Make good use of the S.A.M. to earn a ton of extra coins. |
Overall: 9 out of 10
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