Jett Rocket II: The Wrath of Taikai, the sequel to the 2010 Wiiware platforming game by Shin'en Multimedia has found its way to the Nintendo 3DS. How does the handheld fair compared to the original game that was released on a home console? Read our full review and find out!
Jett Rocket II picks up after the events of the first game. Your arch nemesis, Kaiser Taikai, is back for revenge. He kidnapped your friends, and you have to rescue them.
At the start of the game, you will be going inside levels from a circular tower. The next floor becomes accessible when you finish the current one.
The very first level introduces you to a more traditional style of platforming. You can attack enemies with a rolling attack, and you can jump from platform to platform. The jumping feels reminiscent of a game called Contra for the NES. When you jump, you can take on a second jump that would put the hero somersaulting into the air. You can also jump against walls to help you reach higher platforms.
There are items to collect such as Solarcells which you can use to play mini-games later. More importantly, you will need to find power-up items such as a jet pack (surprise!) in order to access certain areas. Aside from a jet pack, there are also other power-ups that allow you to ride on a disk, or putting an oxygen tank on your head to go swimming underwater.
Eventually, you'll be introduced to a different kind of platforming. It's something more similar to Super Mario 3D Land where you can freely move around in the background. In this mode and in certain stages, you'll be able to rotate the camera. The difficulty shifts a little bit higher since you'll have to take into account depth. There are times when you have to move the camera in order to get a better view of the platforms. Certain camera angles will also make you rely on shadows cast by the platforms.
You can end a stage by freeing up a chefo, some sort of electronic flying machine. They are of course found at the end of every level. Once you've finished a level, you'll be shown the time you took to finish as well as the number of Solarcells you got and the number of secrets and photos you discovered.
Talking about difficulty, there are stages that could make you swear. It's the usual thing motivated by greed such as trying to get an extra life or more solarcells, which often ends up in misery. Overall, the game has moderate difficulty, you just have to be conscious on what you're doing. Not every hint is given away to you, you have to be a little smart on figuring things out. For example, there's a platform attached to a spring that you know could get you to another platform. What do you do? Those are the kind of things that will make you think in this game.
The enemies aren't that smart, they are downright dumb. They don't really recognize that you're a threat. They usually just follow a pre-defined path to walk in, spit a few hostile objects and that's it. That's not to say that they are easy, especially when they are put in awkward places. When you take a hit, you bounce off really far that you could just fall off a pit, and we're just mere humans making mistakes. It's the mindless enemies combined with hostile objects and awkward positioning that make up for the challenge.
When you get hit, you enter a temporary state of invulnerability. You also get thrown away a little bit. Once you've depleted all your hearts but have enough lives, you'll die and will have to restart on the nearest save point (usually looks like a flag). If you don't have enough lives on the other hand, you'll have to repeat the stage from the
start.
Remember we talked about a tower with different stages? There are 5 stages in each world and each of the 3 worlds you have to beat has them. The boss rests at the very top, which we can refer to as stage 6.
The bosses in Jett Rocket II are difficult on first try. They all look the same but they're very, very different. You will need to invest some time learning their tricks. They do have a set pattern which is what you'll like about the game if you're really into the platforming genre. Once you figure that out, the boss is a piece of cake to defeat. The bosses usually have 3 attack patterns which changes every time you hit them. You only need to hit them thrice before they realize who's boss.
In terms of graphics, Jett Rocket II is one of the best looking eShop game you'll ever see. The characters and background looks amazing and they look very shiny. I mean shiny in a good way, of course.The game incredibly runs at 60FPS even in 3D mode, although not with a few compromises. For example, the shadow is only round and the levels aren't that busy compared to other full retail games that run on lesser frame rate. Still, the game looks very good.
Turning the stereoscopic 3D on brings a lot more beauty to the game. Sometimes, it really helps by giving you a sense of depth. My 3D tolerance would last for about 2 to 3 stages at full level, and that's usually enough time to be playing anyway.
The music in Jet Rocket II is technologically inspired. It's not so bad, but it's also not that good to remember. The sound effects conforms to an acceptable standard, and the hero, which has the voice if a 10 year old, speaks very few words.
Jett Rocket II provides some very simple control mechanics. The physical buttons are what you'll give attention to most of the time. The bottom screen shows how many lives and solarcell you have. It also shows the stage you're in.
Aside from the traditional platforming, the game has many other gimmicks. You can use solarcells you've collected to play mini-games. The mini-games are distinct, but the premise is that they all involve timing.
There are transition levels between worlds. Depends on how you look at them, they can also be treated as mini-games. They involve riding on a Jet Ski in something called a "Jett Race", and Skydiving. These mini-games are more story-driven though.
So far we've talked about gameplay, graphics, music and controls. What other things can you expect from the game? There's a lot of other stuff to do while trying to finish the game. You can take detours and collect photos of characters and items in the game. The photos have the character or item names in them as well as the in-game time you collected them. This adds for something else to do in the game, but nothing very special.
You can also go back to previously played levels if you want to do speed-runs or collect more stuff. You could go searching for hidden things like hidden bonus stages that temporarily takes you to another place. Think of the jack and the beanstalk or cloud scenes in Super Mario 3.
Right after you beat the game, you'll have the chance to play it over again at a much higher difficulty. The new mode requires extra stuff to be collected, which will require more time and patience.
Verdict
Jett Rocket II: The Wrath Of Taikai delivers a blasting experience. It's an eye candy, but it's not just all about the looks! The game is packed with lot of content. Each stage would take 5 to 10 minutes to finish, making each world taking 30 to 40 minutes long including boss fights. It will surely get you busy.
Ironically, it's not the same "Jet Rocketing" adventure you probably imagined when you read the game's title. Still, it's one of the best games to experience the 3D on the 3DS, and one of the best games you can get on the Nintendo eShop.
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| Game Info: | Platform: Nintendo 3DS Developer: Shin'en Multimedia Publisher: Shin'en Multimedia Release Date: 11/13/2013 Price: $8.99 Rating: E10+ No. of players: 1 Official Site |
The Good
- Smooth and shiny looking characters/environments
- Stereoscopic 3D that runs at a very smooth framerate (60 FPS)
- Challenging bosses (that looks insanely similar)
- Different platforming modes
- Some homage to Super Mario
- Many gameplay variations
- A number of mini games to keep you distracted
- Bosses all look-alike
- Not so powerful power-ups
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