Auto-run structure, NES in every other way
It wasn’t that long ago that auto-run platformers were novel, even quaint. Bit.Trip RUNNER, Canabalt, Vib-Ribbon, and even Anthony Burch’s Runner all managed to get out to the market before Endless Runner stigma became a part of gamer culture. If you tell people these days that you’re putting out an auto-scrolling platformer on iOS/Android, they’ll roll their eyes at best, and do awful internet things to you at worst. If you are one of those eye-rolling people, this game was made for you.
Jump’N’Shoot Attack! has more in common with a shmup like Gradius than something like Temple Run. Prior FreakZone Games releases like Manos: The Hands of Fate and Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures were unabashed tributes to the NES era of gaming, and Jump’N’Shoot Attack! is no different. It wears its love of Contra, Metroid, and Mega Man prominently on its sleeve.
The game also isn’t shy about thumbing its nose at modern conventions of mobile gaming. The creator of Jump’N’Shoot Attack! feels “…many gamers don’t have much interest in mobile gaming due to ‘virtual buttons’ not being responsive enough, and the ‘free to play’ model offering ‘endless’ games with no goal other than to pay more money for more unnecessary features. Jump’N’Shoot Attack has been designed and built with these people in mind, the two-touch control scheme is perfect for a touch-screen, the game has a beginning, middle and end, the challenge is high with no loss of responsiveness, and the game is to be sold at an upfront price with no IAP or ads.”
If more games like this prove to be successful, maybe “pay-to-win” gaming will start to loosen its stranglehold on the mobile market. We’ll know soon enough, as Jump’N’Shoot Attack! is set for release any day now.
