Jumping Flash! 2

released on Apr 26, 1996

Need an Action Fix? Get Sky High! Little Muu has been bottled up by the menacing Captain Kabuki. Baron Aloha, once a foe, now turns to friend? Take a flying leap into the wickedly weird world of Robbit and plunge into the wildest 3D gaming experience ever imagined. Single, double and triple-jump your way through a madcap quest-but just when you think it's over, you take to even newer heights and depths like never seen (or felt) before! * First-person, 360º perspective takes you on a free-falling flight, and the all-new Jump Meter lets you know how high you can go! * Barrel through 12 different fantasy worlds with bonus levels and maximize the fun with all-new underwater 3D environments! * Watch out for a slew of new enemies including the killer, kung-fu gripping, galaxy-ripping Captain Kabuki. * A variety of medals are awarded for different achievements. Can you win them all?!


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

(A sequel to Jumping Flash! , which I reviewed here)

I don't know what to be more surprised by: that a 3D game released in early 1995 1996 had such good camera work, or that said camera work didn't go on to define the genre and spawn numerous copycats! Having a traditional FPS-style camera view that then flips downwards to aim at the ground whenever you double or triple jump is absolute genius; it allows for fair precision platforming elements in an early 3D game, and is also a really smooth way of giving the player their bearings in a large 3D space.

I guess what works against Jumping Flash! Jumping Flash 2 is that it feels very much like a proof-of-concept rather than a fully fleshed out game. The camerawork is brilliant, but the poor draw distance and less-than-helpful radar system turn the collectathon levels into a bit of a chore. Very often I would find myself wandering aimlessly around looking for the final jetpack muu to progress to the exit; and while it would eventually reveal itself on my minimap once the timer got too low, the time spent in the interim didn't feel that interesting thanks to the level design.

I feel like Jumping Flash!'s Jumping Flash 2's levels suffer, on a very micro scale, from what people complain about in open-world games nowadays. As sprawling and open-ended as they are, they would obviously lack the kind of carefully-curated thrills that a more linear experience would bring, but there's not enough going on in them to make up for it. In other words, the stages feel large but otherwise empty; not helped by a majority of enemies that simply frolic around and fart in your general direction.

Mind you, I find it impossible to dislike Jumping Flash Jumping Flash 2 - it's a cute, pleasant, comfortable experience with a game engine that perhaps would be better suited to a game with more high-voltage pacing. If anyone knows of other games with a similar engine to this, let me know! But its lack of many new things to say (the final boss is pretty much a reskin of the previous game's final boss!) and the fact that it doubles down on the same weaknesses present in the first game means that it wastes most of its sizable potential.

More Jumping Flash!
It is more or less the same as the first one but with a jump gauge that helped a little and more challenging stages especially in Worlds 5 and 6.
There were a couple of bosses that felt lazy especially the first and third ones, but the other fights were pretty good.
I just hoped the sequel would do something more instead of just being more or less the same game, but I enjoyed my time.
This game really needs another sequel.

Very similar to the first one, but slightly better thanks to better twists for some stages, some very good stages, and better bosses.

More of the same, with more pretty PSX visuals! A better game than the first but not substantially. Still very much worth your time!

With this being a sequel that released only one year after the first one, it makes sense it's basically just more of the same. That's not a bad thing because Jumping Flash! was fun, however the wow factor the first one had with it being one of the first 3D platformers goes away here, especially since Mario 64 came out two months after this and was something completely different. That's not to say everything in the game is the exact same.

There's now a jump meter that let's the player know how high they are into their jump and makes triple jumps easier to perform. There's now voice acting in the levels itself whenever you collect items. It's alright, it kinda makes the levels less atmospheric compared to the first one but it's cheesy fun. The cutscenes are also more abundant and definitely more entertaining so that was cool.

I think I do like the first one a bit more because the OST also wasn't as good in this one and it's just not as impactful since it's basically more of the same besides some additions. Either way though, just like the first one it's a fun time!

Also, this may be the last game I play this year. Probably not as I'd like to fit one more game in, but if this is it, it ended on a good note at least

captain kabuki walked so the king of all cosmos could run