Game Review: Super One More Jump (Switch)

During my review introductions, I usually give a history of the genre that the game falls within, and then I leave the audience with a cliffhanger: is it good? Well, I’m not going to do that now. Because this is a smaller, indie title, you might not read the whole thing, so I’ll tell you straight up: Super One More Jump is one of the most creative, and definitely one of the best, coop platformers I’ve played in the last few years.

There’s no story, you are just little things moving from platform to platform. The gameplay is where it’s at, and such is the case with most great platforming games (though some exceptions exist within the genre, of course). It’s a one-button affair that’s easy to learn and hard to master. Once you press the button it is an autorun mechanic that’ll see you using a single input to simply jump, avoiding obstacles. I know it sounds like you’ve played this before, from Canabalt to my own game, Kuatia. And maybe in single player that’d be the case. Though there is plenty of variety to be had within it, it’s not (at least in my opinion) the selling point of the game.

As you can see, there’s no shortage of variety or content here.

Where Super One More Jump shines is in the coop mode. There are a ton of levels for you to play with a friend (single joy-con is supported, of course, as every Switch game should), and the gist of it is this: when the platform is colored the same as yours, you control the character. When it changes color, your friend does. It may seem simple (or difficult to explain in text), but as the levels progress it quickly becomes a game of skill, muscle memory and quick reflexes that will have you scream at your most beloved wife or family member as if they were evil incarnate because they didn’t jump at the right time. It’s fun, it’s quick to pick-up-and-play, and the execution is spot-on.

There’s also an endless versus mode, in which you compete, split-screen-a-la-Mario-Kart-style, to survive the longest against a friend who’s running the same course. We found this to be fun as well, but it could not compete with the super-fun complexity of the coop mode.

Single player is perhaps the weakest point of the game, but considering how much value there is in the coop and endless versus mode, the developers can be forgiven for giving one game mode priority over the other.

Better. Jump. Just. Right.

While the presentation is really good visually and the game plays great, however, the music is extremely monotonous. We ended up tuning out of it after a few coop levels, and it is such a shame, because we’ve seen coop games absolutely enhanced beyond their paychecks thanks to thumping great tunes. Sadly that is not the case with Super One More Jump.

This isn’t a perfect game, then: the single player is a bit weak, the music is absolutely forgettable, and some of the coop levels are too short and easy. But when the game is good, when it is at its best… the joy of going from level to level with a friend, millisecond-timing in hand, swapping controllers a thousand times each time you blink… there really is quite a good game at the core of Super One More Jump, and the foundation for a fantastic franchise. One can only hope the developers further enhance the weak single player and music departments.

About Marcos Codas 279 Articles
Lover of portable gaming and horror cinema. Indie filmmaker and game developer. Multimedia producer. Born in Paraguay, raised in Canada. Huge fan of "The Blair Witch Project", and "Sonic 3D Blast". Deputy head at Vita Player and its parent organization, Infinite Frontiers. Like what I do? Donate a coffee: https://www.paypal.me/marcoscodas

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*