Doing exactly what it says on the tin, Go Go Jump!!! is a very narrow scoped jumping platformer that sees you play as Dylan the Dog trying to earn jump master badges. The game itself is quite basic in what it asks you to do, but there is clearly a lot of love that’s been put into its aesthetics and design that somewhat makes up for the basic gameplay it brings.
Story mode consists of 9 stages where you’ll travel to a new 3D environment to battle a jump master. In each stage you’ll have three rounds to clear perfectly but jumping over each type of attack and they’ll get progressively more varied as you progress through the stage and the game itself. Where Go Go Jump!!! excels is in its visual cues. Your bosses give little tells for what move they’ll trigger next – sometimes audibly but always visually. This allows you to jump and react to avoid them dashing, firing or otherwise trying to knock you out. The first time you play a level you need to get to grips with the attacks and then afterwards you can push forward for perfection.
Controls are largely just jumping with occasional uses of directional movement to avoid specific attacks like area grenades, flying cars or giant laser penguins. The stages are beautifully rendered in a vivid cartoon style that remind me of hi fidelity examples of stages from Bust A Groove or Parappa the Rapper. Its largely a 2D plain that we play on but the world is 3D around us. Some stages like the laser penguins or the pirate ship blasting cannons make use of the 3D world and I’d have liked more of that over the course of the game. Its clear the graphic style is the big selling point but I’d argue its the games character that won me over most.
Whilst I found the gameplay to be perfectly serviceable, it was the cutscenes and general fourth wall breaking silliness that I enjoyed most. One character laments they have no running animation. Another one cries that they just don’t understand the game set up at all. Dylan often speaks as if he’s including the audience in a knowing wink-wink-nudge-nudge “we know we’re on a budget but roll with it” way. Its honestly quite endearing. I especially liked the hidden bonus of the developer having an entire five minute rant about nothing as they recorded voice overs of the game.
Outside of the main story mode, Boss Rush gives you nine lives to complete the entire game and that is a fair challenge to undertake for the patient gamer. It is what sets it apart from being a totally easy platinum trophy to obtain so I like that there is a bit of skill required to win it. There are also 90 challenge stages which add additional requirements such as get 25 jumps in a row successfully. These are nice but pad out the same mechanics that I’d seen elsewhere, just with new patterns.
Go Go Jump!!! is inoffensive and well put together. It is just also quite basic so if you are looking for a fun, light and self-effacing platformer, this could well scratch an itch. The main game is over in an hour but the challenges will keep you going for another few if you really enjoyed it. Simple, enjoyable, but ultimately quite breezy.
Review copy provided by publisher. PS5 version tested.
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