Super One More Jump Review (Switch eShop)

If you were to ever develop a 2D platformer in this day and age, releasing it hot off the heels of Super Meat Boyprobably isn’t the greatest of ideas. However, that’s exactly what the team at Premo Games has done with Super One More Jump, a former mobile title that has been completely reworked for Nintendo Switch. So after being freed from its smartphone shackles, does this jumpathon do itself justice, or miss the landing completely?

Upon first impressions, it would be easy to mistake Super One More Jump as nothing more than a simple platformer that borrows a little too much from the aforementioned red cube of meat. But if you were to burrow even an inch deep, you would discover that it’s anything but.

You’ll control a number of different sprites as you help to navigate them through a maze of different levels, all while collecting three blue gems contained within every stage, before eventually reaching the end goal. But of course, there’s one or two obstacles you’ll encounter on route that want to put a stop to that. There’s the ever present orange tiling that spell instant death should you touch it, but the complexity quickly picks up the pace as you make progress. Moving platforms end the run if you collide with them; stretches of terrain will disappear; purple goo stops you in your tracks and tests your timing for the upcoming section; animated arrows act as springboards that shoot you high into the air, and spinning poles alter your direction as you retrace your steps.

It’s this mechanic in combination with switches that changes the game, and this is where its design truly starts to shine. Due to their nature, you’re able to skip the end goalpost and carry on exploring the level, which means that many stages can actually be played entirely back to front. This also gives you another shot at picking up all the blue gems, while being incredibly impressive as a mechanic in its own right.

When every one of these mechanics is working in unison with one another, it makes navigation and the eventual success of beating a stage especially satisfying. Super One More Jump’s gameplay is at its peak when you manoeuvre through an amalgamation of obstacles with ease that to an onlooker spells out certain death, and so it’s a good job that this happens in every single level.

At the heart of all this is a very simple control scheme, which only works in favour of the title. You only ever need to focus on the pressing of a single face button, no matter how complex the stage is. Movement is done automatically and so all you need to worry about is jumping through or around whatever is thrown at you, and this in turn also links back to the sheer satisfaction the game offers. No matter how much of a challenge a certain level may look, you know you’ll be able to overcome it with one single button.

But if you were to fail one or two times, it’s not a big deal. The game has a very fast reset time that will have you back at the beginning of the level ready for another run inside a second. This helps to alleviate most of the frustration you may suffer from if you’re stuck at particularly a difficult section thanks to the lack of any waiting around. 

Although, one thing you may want to wait around for is the visual design of the game. The collectable blue gems actually tie in here, as they can be used to unlock different colour palettes and new sprites to be used in-game. Furthermore, these other facelifts were designed by members of the community, which is a nice nod to the audience the title built up in its days on iOS and Android. The only real downside to any of this can be found in the audio department, which is fine in its own right, but with only a meagre hand full of tracks for the game to cycle through, it quickly becomes repetitious when you’re on the 50th attempt at any one level.

Outside of the core level progression, a number of other modes can be found to satisfy your time. Endless mode places you on a never-ending level in an attempt to earn the highest score possible, and a whole host of challenge levels. These can also be played co-operatively with up to three other players. The eight sets of core levels could be completed in around six to seven hours depending on your skill level, but with the likes of the Endless mode, Super One More Jump offers as much content as you desire.