(PS1) Jumping Flash! 2 review

A by-the-numbers sequel that is still a lot of crazy free-form fun, but isn’t as progressive as it could have been.

Developer	Exact; SCE Japan Studio
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment
Franchise	Jumping Flash!
Genre	3D Platformer
PSTV	Yes
PSN	NA only

 

World-building & Story

Building on what little plot there was in the first game, Jumping Flash! 2 starts with a stranded Baron Aloha – the antagonist from the prequel – telephoning Universal City Hall for help after a gigantic being named Captain Kabuki steals his home planet of Little Muu to add to his collection of worlds in glass bottles. Robbit – a law-enforcing mech rabbit and hero from the first game – is once again dispatched to deal with this threat and put a stop to Kabuki’s plan.

Like before, plot takes a back seat in favour of letting you jump straight into the action. You’re treated to a minor cutscene of one of the villains saying something menacing between each set of levels but other than that there’s very little to grasp onto here – it’s merely a framing device to push things forward. Jumping Flash! 2 does at least have a major plot development once you ‘complete’ the game (leading to a tedious epilogue) but in general, the story is nothing to write home about.

At least the characterisation is on point – Captain Kabuki is an androgynous celestial being reminiscent of the King of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy (but years prior) while Baron Ahola is a suitably cartoony villain humbled by his defeat in the prequel (but can he be trusted?). The game suffers from Robbit being fairly bland at a time where Crash Bandicoot was bursting with personality on the PS1, but this is a minor issue.

World-building is as good as its predecessor – due to the fact that these are worlds plucked from all corners of the galaxy, you can find yourself in a tranquil Japanese dojo one minute and a noisy oil rig the next. They’re always fun to explore, although feel slightly less inventive than they could have been.

 

Presentation & Sound

While it takes some visual steps forward over its predecessor, Jumping Flash! 2 is still a product of its time – a blocky platformer that isn’t among the best looking the PS1 has to offer.

As before, you’ll view the world through a first-person perspective as Robbit. His arrows and especially special weapons have received a nice new lick of paint, with things like power orbs exploding in colour over the screen when used. Enemy models haven’t received much of an upgrade, still looking chunky although pixelation effects when they’re defeated have definitely been reduced.

Environments in general are okay, mixing in various themes to achieve unique looks – a particular highlight is a circus level where you’ll weave in and out of tents and get fired through cannons to reach new areas. With that said, everything feels less impressive if you’ve played the previous game – the use of colour is less prominent and a lot of areas feel similar in design to things you’ll have seen before. At least draw distance is improved although I have to wonder whether it came at the expense of performance as the game chugs when time freeze is used.

Sound is as you’d expect – voice acting is cheesy and campy but fits the tone of the game well, as do the sound effects whether it be the whirr of a sonar bird of the magical explosion of enemies. The soundtrack is typical 90’s platformer, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t got some excellent tunes in all the same.

Soundtrack highlight – World 2-1

 

Gameplay & Content

I’ve been referring a lot to the previous game in this review and that’s because Jumping Flash! 2 is largely the same as its predecessor – including in the gameplay department. I’d recommend reading my review of Jumping Flash! for more info on how the series plays.

So you control Robbit, a robot rabbit capable of leaping high in the air multiple times to cover a lot of ground. This is used to jump between platforms and dispatch foes, although Robbit is also equipped with arrows and can pick up power-ups to help out in a pinch. He’s an easy character to control, particularly so thanks to the level of freedom the game affords you.

Jumping Flash! 2‘s biggest strength is how open its levels are – at any one time you’ll have multiple choices about where to go and look for collectables next. It’s often a viable strategy merely to triple jump straight upwards and land on whatever platforms appear in range, then use this momentum to reach a new area. I often felt like I was making my own path through a level against what the developers intended, which brings with it a nice sense of accomplishment.

Returning from its predecessor are the arena boss battles, which still require thinking rather than mindless jumping and shooting, but feel recycled this time around and less inventive. Sadly also returning are the corridor levels which are still rubbish and don’t fit with the game’s mechanics at all, while new underwater sections are similarly frustrating to figure out.

And really this sums up what my problems with Jumping Flash! 2 are – it feels more like an expansion pack than a fully-fledged sequel, which diminishes enjoyment if you’ve played the prequel. Some of the levels feel like reject versions that didn’t make it into the first title and in general just aren’t as strong as I’d have hoped. You might finish a set of levels on an oil rig which are pretty decent; only to head to a theme park next that’s merely a rehash of the third world from Jumping Flash! and nowhere near as strong. Then you’ll go to a circus level that’s one of the game’s best before the final world which is yet another recycled idea – it’s inconsistent.

The length isn’t any better either – it’s still six sets of three levels and then you have to redo them with collectables moved (which is woven into the story this time, a fairly nice touch). I’m not against expansion pack-style sequels and Jumping Flash! 2 is still a good game that for $5.99 is worth checking out if you liked the first, but it doesn’t take any large steps forward like some of its contemporaries were doing on PS1 aside from adding a layer of polish.

 

Conclusion

Serving up more of the same first-person platforming gameplay, Jumping Flash! 2 is still unique in the current gaming climate but suffers from a severe case of deja vu. It’s a good game (if a little dated by modern standards) and is fun for the price it’s going for, but as a sequel it should have tried to incorporate a few new ideas instead of simply adding a new set of levels to the template laid by its predecessor.

6.5/10