Universal City Hall is obviously not delighted with Aloha's plans especially since many of his eerie mutant friends have taken over the villages. After many meetings they have decided to dispatch a young pest control operative to free the six different worlds. You will be the one in charge of destroying Baron Aloha using your Robbit, a robotic rabbit that is used throughout the universe for extermination purposes. It is equipped with a sparkly beam gun and has enormous power legs for leaping tall buildings.
Each of the six worlds are attached in three ways to the giant robots. In order to free a world you will have to complete the three stages that are held by the robot. Two of the stages are completed by collecting four Jet Pods shaped as giant carrots and then reaching the exit launch-pad to move on to the next stage. The third stage is a boss character which once defeated, will free the world of the robot and you will move onto the next world.
The worlds are built in completely rendered 3D graphics and provide a first person perspective view. There are homes, yards with fences, platforms that hover high up in the sky, trees and pillars. Each stage is different from the next as one stage will contain volcanoes, frying pans and lava streams, and another will have air balloons with just lots of funny objects. There is even a level located in tunnels giving you a "Doom" effect, and another located in Antarctic. Special power-ups can be found in this level by shooting at specific walls that will open up.
The first two stages of each world contain bonus rings that will take you into a bonus round. There you must destroy all the balloons in order to pick up an extra life. When you pop the balloons, power-ups will be released. There are six types of power-ups available. A carrot will replenish your energy, hourglass will give some extra time to finish the level, mini robbit will give you an extra life, clapper board will freeze your enemies, power capsule will make you invincible allowing you to simply run into your enemies to destroy them, and the coins will give you extra points. These power-ups are also available on the worlds themselves, usually located in high hard to reach areas, and will be released every time you kill a creepy pest. These pests will range from frogs, dragonflies, beetles, crabs that throw bombs, spiders that fire at you or spin their webs, dragons and many others.
You will be able to look up and down, jump very high, fire your weapons and collect up to three of the four special weapons which include grenades and laser guns. Jumping is a major part of this game as there are many platforms to jump around on and many of them cannot be reached with just a simple leap. In order to gain some height you can press jump when you reach the summit of your first jump. This can be repeated twice allowing you to bounce up to three times your regular leaping abilities.
The screen consists of your view as if you were inside the Robbit. On the bottom of the screen, the number of lives remaining will be indicated inside a small rabbit located in the middle of your health bar. The upper right accommodates your radar that shows the location of power-ups, missiles, Jet Pods, your enemies, and the exit. The top of the screen has your score on the right and the total time remaining to complete the level on the left. If you run out of time, fall off the world, or your energy drops to nothing, then you will lose a life. A small onboard computer located in the middle of the upper screen shows the number of Jet Pods you have collected and indicates the compression condition of the springs in your legs. On the left you'll see the special weapons that are accessible to you.
The music soundtrack in Jumping Flash is impressive, exciting and creates an adventurous mood for the game. You can hear your Robbit jumping, the wind blowing, bombs exploding, laser shots when you fire, and various noises and sound effects arising from your countless enemies.
If you want something to compete against your friends besides high scores, an option called Time Attack is available. This option will record the three fastest times someone has finished any of the eighteen different levels available.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America,
919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., 2nd Floor,
Foster City, CA 94404
Web Site: www.scea.sony.com/scea
In Europe
In UK:
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Waverley House
7-12 Noel Street
London W1V 4BA
In France:
Sony Computer Entertainment
131, avenue de Wagram
75838 Paris Cedex 17
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