5/27/2020 Jett Rocket Review
When his nemesis Kaiser Taikai returns to settle an old score, planetary inspector Jett Rocket finds himself and his friends suddenly captured and fighting for survival on the home planet of the Power Plant Posse. Continuing the successes achieved with the game’s WiiWare predecessor, looks toward achieving dizzy heights but not even a jetpack can save this Nintendo eShop release from sadly being largely forgettable.In spite of the game’s graphical flair, ultimately finds itself regularly fumbling toward mediocrity at every turn.
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Jett Rocket (Wii) – looks aren’t everythingThe very worst mistake you can make when creating a WiiWare game is focusing on graphics over gameplay. If people thought graphics were the most important aspect in gaming they probably wouldn’t own a Wii, let alone bother about downloading any WiiWare games.Of course it’s always a nice bonus when a game looks pretty, whether it’s Super Mario Galaxy or fellow downloads such a LostWinds, but with the best games it is just that – the icing on the cake that supports an already strong gameplay concept.Jett Rocket is from the decidedly non-German sounding German developer Shin’en Multimedia, perhaps best known for portables shooters Iridion and Nanostray. They clearly have a love for Japanese gaming and this is their attempt to create a 3D platformer in the Super Mario mould.Make no mistake – the graphics here are astonishingly good for a downloadable title and much better than 90 per cent of retail Wii titles. At least in a technical sense; the artwork is bland and derivative and main character Jett is a creepy little dead-eyed drone. Even so it proves once again how little effort most other developers make when creating games for Nintendo’s home console.As you might imagine from the name Jett is keeping up with modern gaming fashions by owing a jetpack, although his actual mission is a Captain Planet style quest to rid the galaxy of pollution – and beat up robots. There are three different environments (swamp, snow and beach) and each is filled with a Mario-esque range of platforms and only faintly dangerous enemies.As a result the combat is extremely basic but there are attempts to add some proper puzzles to the experience, including magnets you can hold to carry you across areas and Bob-omb style cannons.
Jett Rocket Wii Front Cover. Let Jett Rocket explore the beautiful planet of Yoroppa and find out why it. There are no reviews for this game.
You can also make use of a range of vehicles including a paraglider parachute and a hoverboard.Shin’en seem to have misinterpreted Mario’s pitch though, mistaking the universal appeal of family friendly gaming for the much more limited child audience. As a result the game is pathetically easy for much of its fairly short running time. Although this approach may be simply because Shin’en are worried that older gamers will have seen it all before anyway.Whatever your demographic you’ll find the controls and camera frustratingly unhelpful, with stiff, imprecise movement that makes simply exploring the game worlds far less enjoyable than it should be.
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Especially given the recalcitrant camera, which seems to point anywhere but directly behind you – where it would be the most useful.The game even manages to resurrect some all but extinct schoolboy errors, with frequent leaps of faith onto the presumed position of platforms, which seems to be the main reason for the inclusion of the jetpack. There’s also a curious lack of checkpoints, which makes the few times you do actually die particularly frustrating.This isn’t a terrible game by any means but it does illustrate the clear difference between technical competence and inspired gameplay design. It looks great and despite its brevity represents good value for money, but there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done better before – in many cases over a decade ago. In Short:Probably the best-looking WiiWare game ever, but a fairly mediocre platforming experience that comes nowhere close to the greats it apes. Pros:Superb graphics, with a few good (if repetitive) puzzle ideas and boss battles. Vehicles and special abilities are interesting extras. Cons:Stiff controls and unhelpful camera.
Largely uninspired level design and patronising difficulty level (and yet too few save points). Score: 6/10 WiiWare, 1,000 Points/£7 (cert 7).
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