Jack Bros. Review by: Zelfore - 7.5/10
Frog Coin Presents: A Jack Bros. ReviewAn overhead, action maze game. Your basic goal is to quickly collect the keys on every floor until the ledge to descend further unlocks, keep going until you reach and defeat the guardian of the stage, then proceed to the next stage and repeat.
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Story: 7/10 - On the day of October 31st, the gate way between the Fairy and Human world opens, allowing all the ghouls and ghosties to cross over and have fun with the children for the day. But if a creature from the Fairy world remains in the Human world after midnight, they will lose their powers and disappear, forever! You are Jack, a little monster that's not too particularly good at keeping track of time, so you can guess what happens next. Yep, it's an hour till midnight. Luckily for you, a native human world Pixie has come to your aid!
So basically, make it to the Fairy world gate before time's up. Not a bad plot, I never really expect much from old school games in terms of story, so the fact that it has one is simply a plus.
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Depth: 7/10 - You have three characters to choose from, Jack Frost, Jack Lantern, and Jack Skelton (no second 'e').
They each have their own perk, Jack Frost's main attack is a limitless supply of snowballs... in October... yeah. His special, or "plasma" attack is freezing the enemies on screen, which isn't particularly helpful most of the time.
Lantern shoots stronger projectiles, but has the limit of only four at a time, so don't shoot off carelessly in long corridors. Lantern's plasma attack is destroying all damageable on-screen foes.
Finally, there's Skelton with his small but powerful knife, beware, close and personable isn't exactly something most opponents like, so you'll have to be quick. Skelton's special is the same as Lantern's, only difference being flying swords instead of orbs.
This game has 5 stages (6 if you include the 3 floor tutorial). Each stage has an increasing amount of floors to survive, multiple discoverable secrets to help your time/score, and plenty of new monsters and challenges to face.
Sadly, you'll still probably end up wishing the game was longer. Even multiple play-throughs with each character (which you'll want to do because of multiple endings), you'll be left wanting more; but that's the sign of a good game, I guess!
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Graphics: 7/10 - Cute, funny, and even a little scary sometimes, the sprite work for this game is top notch. Every enemy is easily discernible from one another, the guardians are all beautifully crafted, and the heroes are adorable to put it simply.
The counter to this comes in the actual level design. Even if the borders and flooring change each level, the overall pattern never changes from a dungeon feel, which is fitting, but isn't earning it any points. The backgrounds is another problem, being that there are none. These combined leave you feeling like your traveling down an endless void. Once again, fitting, but not particularly as enjoyable as the monsters.
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Sound: 7/10 - The sound effects are average or expected of a Virtual Boy game, but at least they're not unusual or painful to listen to.
The music for this game is surprisingly wide, each screen, cut scene, and level has its own tune to accompany the atmosphere. Some are catchier than others, and none of them will really get stuck in your head, but it's all around decent to listen to.
The one problem is the lack of song diversity for boss battles, excluding the master's dual original track.
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Difficulty: 6/10 - The difficulty is fair. You're likely to lose the first time going through the harder areas, but you'll also know what to expect from then on, leveling the playing field. The difficulty is also dependent on what character you choose to play as, Frost being the easiest to adapt with.
My personal recommended control scheme for easier play:
Up (Left D-Pad) = 'W', Down (Left D-Pad) = 'S',
Left (Left D-Pad) = 'A', Right (Left D-Pad) = 'D',
Select = 'backspace', Start = 'enter', B = 'X', A = 'Z',
Up (Right D-Pad) = '^ Up Arrow Key', Down (Right D-Pad) = 'v Down Arrow Key',
Left (Right D-Pad) = '< Left Arrow Key', Right (Right D-Pad) = '> Right Arrow Key',
Left-Back = 'Q', Right-Back = 'E'
Also, there is a hard mode which would bump difficulty to 8/10, but considering that it's not the default, it's not concluded in the final score. (Check the "Cheats and Codes" section for how to unlock the 'Super Players Mode'.)
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Addictiveness: 9/10 - This is the games strong point, even if the stages layout and floors are unchanging, playing through this game with each individual character adds a whole new form of planning and strategy. The 'Super Players Mode' will also add more challenge and monsters to the stages, practically doubling the game play potential.
Obviously, if you don't enjoy the first few areas, this game may not be for you. But if you do so happen to enjoy this game in the slightest, you won't be overly disappointed playing through it again.
So, would I play this again? Yes. Should you give it a shot? Definitely.
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Overall: 7.5/10 - It's a good game, really good, sadly the system kind of robbed it of any potential honors, or a sequel for that matter. For a quick time killer, it's job is well served, but it could be longer or even better fleshed out. This game is well deserving of at least a 3DS re-mastered edition, simple as that.
~ That's all from me, Zelfore hopping off!
Graphics
7 Sound
7 Addictive
9 Depth
7 Story
7 Difficulty
6