JACK 'N' HAT Reviews

Great game, bit like mario

like the game so far, playing for my youtube channel, going to leave a full review when i beat it, but can someone tell me how to make this full screen on steam? i cant even figure it out with borderless gaming. its showing up basically as a 1080p screen size, when i have a 1440p monitor

Yeah this game is way too clunky for me to play. Alex Kidd was clunky too but they manage to make it work by balancing the boss fights. This one also has some sort of difficulty spike, which I dont mind but I dont think its casual friendly either. I hate how the bosses are able to move perfectly well when your own character can barely move properly. I would suggest just skipping this, I gave up on the 2nd boss fight and never really like how I have to be lucky to get what I need in order to damage the boss, along with attacks thats really difficult to dodge due to clunky controls. Not worth it imo.

I'm always weary about getting an "unknown" game with very few to no reviews so I took a chance on this one. So far, it has paid off. XD

I really wanted to like this game. After all, there are *so* few linear platformers on the market these days. That being said, it's just too poorly made despite leaving a good first impression. It borrows from the best of the genre (Mario and Crash specifically) but feels like somebody's first ever project once you get past the first few stages. Insta-kill spikes everywhere and the "Rock and Roll" stage at the end of world two requires more trial and error than what it was worth. I stopped playing at the second boss as it's by far cheaper than anything you'll find in an NES game. To elaborate on that, you have to know that the very edge of the arena is a safe spot. Even when you do know this, the bombs you have to slide into him require frame perfect timing to actually do any damage (which, by the way, the first two bosses have 8-10 hits) and since explosions are an insta-kill in this game you basically have to do this several times perfectly. Between this and the "Rock and Roll" stage, I began to wonder if the game was even play tested past the first boss. Feel free to tell me I'm just trash at platformers...but if you actually buy and play this thing...you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Another interesting thing to note is that you'll get all the achievements by the end of the first world- even if you don't get all of the collectibles. Maybe the devs didn't really expect anyone to play past the first world...unless this is just some kind of fluke and there's supposed to be more. Maybe with some updates and proper play testing, this can be a worthwhile game. Until then, it's not even worth the $6.79.

Been looking forward for this game to release as it seems to combine all my favorite platforming franchises: Mario, Megaman and Crash. Overall I’m glad I picked it up. Some thoughts: STORY/CHARACTERS Not much to say here, the plot gets the job done and sets the stage for the platforming action. The characters are well designed with a familiar retro 80s/90s cartoony look. The dialogue moves the story along, giving the bosses some personality before you take them down. GRAPHICS The graphics are cute and colorful, reminiscent of the 16-bit era. It even has the old 4:3 aspect ratio, which might not be for everyone. It does give the retro look more authenticity though. The boss characters are nicely animated. The default scan line effect was a bit too much for me though, thankfully it can be disabled. CONTROLS The character feels intuitive to control. He has a little bit of a weight to him but he goes exactly where you want him too. As you unlock more abilities, it is quite fun to combine them and move through the stage. I can imagine speedrunners doing some cool runs with this game. LEVELS The levels are quite large and vary in design both gameplay-wise and graphics-wise. The devs really tried to make each level feel unique. Many levels have special mechanics (slippery hills, riding in a boat,etc.) or enemies (zombies in the graveyard level, Sting shooting bees in another,etc.). Difficulty has some rough spikes in places and some of the later levels (and the secret ones) do require you to master the character’s moves and mechanics. When you do though, and can combine them to get through the levels as fast as you can, it feels very satisfying. Perhaps less instakill spikes would have been a good idea though. If you get frustrated, there is a “modern mode” which has infinite lives, but you can’t change between modes, you have to select it when starting a New Game. BOSSES The bosses will take some tries to beat. You have to get their patterns down and learn how to avoid each of their attacks, which are quite a lot for each boss, especially the later ones. The lower their health the more attacks they do. Overall, they are well designed and fun to fight and figure out, especially bosses 3, 5 and 6. Boss 2, while a cool idea, perhaps needed some more polish.(More time to plant the bomb near it?) MUSIC I do love some catchy old-school chiptune and this game really delivers in this regard. Some tracks are better than others and perhaps some are a bit too short for the length of the level, but they are all catchy as hell. I can’t seem to get the hub world and rain level themes off my head. They are quite varied too, with each level having its own theme. VERDICT I’d say this is a 7/10 little indie for me and worth the price. If you like tough, but fun to control retro platformers I believe you’ll enjoy your time with it. If you are looking for a more relaxing experience, this might not be it. (At the time of writing at least)

Game seems a bit generic, but overall not bad. However, the game is currently completely unplayable because the 5th stage is impossible to pass. If it ever gets patched I'll give it another chance. This is the spot that is impossible to pass at the moment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxc-_3LWPFs I've tried over 50 times, it is impossible to slide through there. Also for some reason you unlock all achievement in the game within the first hour, even though it isn't even 20% through the game. Which is odd to say the least. My other biggest complaint is that the movement is overall really slow and clunky, though based on the trailer video it seems that is solved later on in the game once you get more powerups. Unfortunately It's impossible to make it to that point.

I'm still going for the 100% secret levels but I feel that the other negative review at the time of writing this is a little unfair. There are definitely things that bother me about the level design (the rolling ball level and the 'bee' something or other level are really cheap), and there are quite a few instances of "gotcha!" level design where enemies/spikes/bullets are just offscreen in infuriating spots. I encountered some bugs too, leading to rage moments when double jump decided not to work (seems to happen when pressed up against walls?) Overall though, these issues aren't enough to prevent me from liking it and it's one of those games where deaths feel like your fault (for the most part) and leave you wanting to make it a bit further on your next try. Level themes are really varied and you get bonus items for collecting the 4 JACK letters and breaking a certain number of boxes in the level, and these bonus items unlock the bonus levels for what I assume is the true final boss and ending. The other reviewer that gave up on the second boss clearly didn't understand some core mechanic, the pattern is clear and straightforward if you've played classic platformers tbh. Playtime at the time of writing reflects clearing the game and about 1/2 of the levels again for the 100% bonus levels.