I'll never understand the English. Like how they call French fries "chips." Or the fact that they like Jetpac. As the first game developed by Rare, Jetpac wowed owners of the ZX Spectrum computer by letting them strap on a Rocketeer-style jet thruster and zoom about a low-gravity planet. As an Xbox Live Arcade release, it is merely average.
The concept is simple but unique -- stranded on an alien planet, you have to assemble the pieces of your rocket ship, then collect enough fuel to blast off to the next level. Picking up and dropping off parts is as easy as floating over to the platforms where the fuel has landed. Of course, since the screen is also filled with umpteen evil aliens, you've also got to blast them out of the sky.
The original eight-color computer game and a hi-def updated version are both included. While the core gameplay remains largely identical in the new game, it features much larger playfields and a rich graphic presentation. Unfortunately, the screen can quickly become so cluttered with the various graphical effects that it gets hard to see important objects.
Eventually you just assume that everything is an enemy, and you're probably right. You master the game mechanics very quickly, and so the only way for the designers to stretch out the action is to cram the screen with literally dozens of enemies. I seriously had to hold down the fire button constantly, which hurts. Before too long, I was sick of playing.
—Chris Kohler
WIRED Unique jet-thrust gameplay mechanic, pretty graphics
TIRED Pretty graphics commit cardinal sin of mucking up gameplay, gets repetitive quickly
$5, Microsoft
Rating:
