Do it, Sony
Everyone has at least one classic series that they hold water for, even if there’s no chance of getting another entry. For some, that’s Metroid (ha! Kidding. Or am I?), for me, it’s Jumping Flash. Years before Mirror’s Edge would come out of my dreams and into my car game console, Jumping Flash was one of those things that just blew me away from minute one. It did better than a lot of other obscure franchises in that it actually had two iterations released worldwide (three in Japan), but the series has actually been defunct for nearly 20 years this month.
So why was it so great? Well, in addition to some amazing level design, it was a silly, Saturday morning cartoon-esque romp that was focused on first-person exploration. Players took on the role of a mechanical hopping bunny, and donned an FPS view to roam about huge open environments. It was breathtaking, to say the least, given how little console games at the time generally provided sandboxes to play in. It also had a really cool central gimmick — jumping in the air would shift the camera to a downward perspective, so you could actually see where you’re leaping, hundreds of feet in the sky.
It was disorienting for some, but for me, wholly unique and incredible. And having replayed the series recently in honor of its anniversary, I got to thinking — how amazing would it be on PlayStation VR? Given that the game is published by Sony, it not completely out of the question, especially if we’re talking spiritual successor here.
Given that Sony doesn’t have a whole lot of first-party games on the horizon, it would be a great way to capitalize on nostalgia (the same goes for Ape Escape, for any Sony execs reading this), and I’d even settle for a $10 arcade game at this point. Sure my chances are slim, but a man can dream.
