Jumpin' Jack

The Good
Konami’s popular game Frogger hit the arcades back in 1981, and if you were born in the ‘80s, chances are you heard of it and/or played the game at one stage, either on the original arcade machine or on home systems such as the Atari 2600, VIC-20, Intellivision, TRS-80, and Commodore 64. These systems may have received official ports, but that didn’t stop small companies from releasing their own versions under a different name. One such company is LiveWire who released Jumpin’ Jack.

If you haven’t heard of the game, you are a frog trying to reach one of five safety homes at the top of the screen without being crushed by passing cars or sunk in the river, all the while making sure you reach the homes in the limited time you have. Once all five homes are filled, you proceed to the next level, where things are going to get difficult from now on.

Jumpin’ Jack was also released for the C-64 and MSX, and both these versions use a pseudo-3D perspective. Like every Frogger variant, however, the VIC-20 has to make do with the standard top-down view. This is understandable considering that the system can’t handle 3D-like effects, and I can’t recall a game that uses one. The sprites are huge, and I find it amusing that once you get one of them in a home, they transform into ugly ducklings.

Controlling the game is done by joystick or keyboard. It is good that LiveWire catered for everyone who doesn’t own a joystick, but the keys you have to use are located all on one row. The game requires you to put your left hand on the [Z] and [C] keys and your right on the [,] and [/]. Swap them around and you’ll find it extra difficult, as your hands will cross over each other.

The Bad
The music is rather annoying. It is the same as the Frogger theme song, but way out of tune. Since there was no option that allows you to turn the sound off, I had to turn the volume way down.

The Bottom Line
Jumpin' Jack is a very good game that is faithful to its arcade parent, and it is a joy to play any time during breaks. Graphics are great, and the joystick support makes life easier while controlling the game. A bit of advice: if the sounds are enough to do your head in, I suggest turning the volume all the way down.