Jack the Uni-Psychle | Second Edition - Review by JongJungBu

INTRODUCTION

What is Jack the Uni-Psychle exactly? Well, to put it simply, it is your typical action platform game with an atypical protagonist--a unicycle with a head for a seat. Weird eh? Well the premise to this odd hero is that he was a psych major whose psychic powers were noticed by an evil alien known as Dr. Apocalypse. This alien scientist then proceeded to abduct Jack and place his brain in a unicycle. And that's where the game begins. Your goal is to reach Dr. Apocalypse and save the galaxy!

The graphics in the game follow a rather cartoonish theme, but it works well. From menu screens to action levels, the graphics are drawn well and maintain this cartoon theme. The scrolling backgrounds are also of good quality and do not distract from the gameplay. Now there is one little caveat that should be mentioned. Although Jack himself animates quite well and smooth, many of the enemies and collectables you will encounter do not. They are all drawn well, mind you, but they move rather "choppy" like a Tiger LCD handheld game. It is not a major drawback, but seeing as Jack is jumping around so smoothly and the monster he is hopping on is almost teleporting itself around leaves something to be desired. As for collectables, their ambient animations are just fine. But when you slay that strange squid-looking man, these golden unicycle wheels just instantly appear in the air. It would improve the quality of the game if these wheels animated outward from the slain or had some magical appearance. Again, this is not a major drawback, but it was something I rather expected to see.

SOUND

The sounds in the game are adequate. There's an appropriate one for every action you take. What more can you say? As for the music, it is all done well enough. I do like the heavy metal sound of the second set of stages. Rock Rock Rock! But I wouldn't necessarily say the music is appropriate. I found it odd to hear this music with an asian accent while a carnival ran across the background. But then, maybe it was the Chinese New Year! And as well, we are talking about aliens, so perhaps it is an alien carnival freak show. Either way, the music is not bad. It is actually pretty good.

CONTROLS

Wow, the controls are superb. In fact, before you can even play you must configure the controls. So no complaints about pressing the wrong button here! Our protagonist, Jack, is quite easy to manipulate and performs exactly like you would expect him to. One example that comes to mind is in the Chemical Factory. In this stage, you have to leap from a series of small platforms, or perish. I, with my meager skills, managed to get through without any loss of life. It was quite easy to do in fact.

GAMEPLAY

Jack the Uni-Psychle is a very simple game in design. It is a platform game in which you must leap on some enemies or use your medium-range unlimited use psychic attack to kill other enemies. Some stages have a time limit, others you may take your time, but they usually average around a minute or two per level. Nothing ground-breaking here, but there is no problem with jumping right in and playing. Instant satisfaction! However, with the controls being done so well, the game does not prove to be too difficult. So it is doubtful you will become frustrated playing this game.

EXTRAS

Just mentioning a few things here that I found to be a plus, but were not essential to the design of the game. The first being the pause feature. With a push of a button, the game can be paused and also minimized. Can we say "Boss" button? The second feature worth mentioning is saved game progression (or profiles as they call them). It is not really essential that an action/platform game have the ability to save your game. I would also have to say it is not really needed in Jack the Uni-Psychle at all, but it sure is nice to have.

CONCLUSION

I could best describe this game as Unicycles meets Sonic. It is neat how Jack rides slower up hill and faster down hill. And the collection of golden wheels to gain an extra life sounds familiar. This game is not innovate, but the hero is certainly unique. If you prefer action games that do not make you angry at your PDA, then this game is for you. Because it is not that challenging though and lacks variable gameplaying options, you may not find yourself playing it again once you've won in an hour or two.

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