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The hare from hell is back! Jumping Flash! 2 is out for the PlayStation and seems to be the sleeper hit that its predecessor was. The first Jumping Flash was one of the most unique games of its time. It was a lot like Doom, except you're a mechanized rabbit instead of a person, and most of the levels take place outside. Of course, the happy ethnic tunes have yet to find their way into a Doom game, and the worlds consist of colorful platforms and objects that you jump onto. Also, the pink monsters and the barons of hell are replaced with jumping froggies and other such animals. What was most attractive about the first Jumping Flash was the dizzying sense of height you get from watching the ground as you jump. That is not to say that a game has to make you hurl all over the screen to be called good, but it worked in Jumping Flash and in the sequel. Jumping Flash! 2 consists of levels that are completed when you find all of the Muu Muus in a level. I'm still trying to figure out what these stupid little creatures are supposed to be, they just spin around and yell "muu muu" when you get close to them. The fun is in finding the little suckers, which are sometimes hidden in the oddest places. What would a Muu Muu be doing underwater or sitting on the back of a flying turtle anyway? I guess we're not supposed to wonder how they got there, we're just supposed to find ‘em, which is fine with me as it's difficult to equal the feeling of accomplishment you get when you find a Muu Muu after six minutes of searching. Although the game, like its predecessor, is a blast to play, it would be simply called "add-on levels for Jumping Flash!" if it were a PC game. By that, I mean that this is not the kind of sequel that is innovative in any sense of the word. Jumping Flash! 2 is just more levels, with control that mimics exactly that of the first Jumping Flash. While that fact alone does not necessarily make it a bad game, innovation certainly cannot hurt, especially when you're paying $60 for a game that offers little more than the sequel, on a game play level. Hurting the game even further is the fact that it is short and easy, two things that a good game definitely shouldn't be. The bosses are so easily defeated that it is not even necessary to lose a life to figure out their patterns. And in the inevitable comparison to Mario's 3D quest, Jumping Flash! 2 (on a CD, no less) can be finished in a two hour sitting (something that is simply impossible to do in Super Mario 64) and features levels physically smaller than those of our little plumber friend's. In all, as a game, Jumping Flash! 2 should receive a score of 9.1. As an uninspired sequel, it deserves no more than a 7.5. Which score should you go by? That all depends on whether or not you have the first game. If you do, this game is worth a rent, but definitely not $60 out of your pocket. Being SCEA's first sequel to be released, I hope they don't make Warkawk 2, Twisted Metal 2, and Extreme Games 2 the same way they made the sequel to Jumping Flash. That would be just a waste of time...and money. |
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