A&B Computing


Jet Boot Jack

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Peter Rochford
Publisher: English
Machine: BBC/Electron

 
Published in A&B Computing 2.02

Jet Boot Jack

Not to be confused with Jet Pac and Jet Power Jack, this is an entirely different type of game altogether. Jet Boot Jack is already a popular game for the Atari and Commodore machines and this version for the Beeb is every bit as good.

Your task is to guide Jack the jet-booted jogger, through the vaults of a record pressing plant collecting the music notes as he goes. Along the way he meets the inevitable bugs and gremlins who are out to thwart his efforts. These nasties hang from the ceilings and must be dislodged by Jack jumping up and down on the floor above to kill them off. A further hazard to our hero's progress is the varying heights of the ceilings at certain points but Jack can shrink momentarily to negotiate these.

Access to the different floor levels is provided by lifts and sliders, but the lifts behave in a somewhat erratic fashion and have a habit of sometimes going up instead of down, giving Jack a nasty headache if he happens to be on the top floor.

Jet Boot Jack

Power for the jet boots must be replenished from time to time and this is obtained from the pods that hang from the ceilings on each level.

There are ten screens to work your way through and six different skill levels you may choose. The skill level determines the number of gremlins on each screen and the amount of fuel available to complete your task. A nice feature is that, once you have reached a certain screen and are then killed off, you have the option of jumping back to it when you start a new game.

Points scoring depends on the skill level, the screen you are on and the time taken to finish the screen. Keys are the usual Z, X, *, ? plus the RETURN key, but there is no joystick option. This is hardly surprising though as I reckon the game would be almost impossible to play using a joystick. Options provided are escape game and freeze game but there is no sound on/off provided or a high score table.

Graphics are really excellent with smooth, totally flicker-free animation. Sound is good too throughout the game, but I could have one without having to listen to a tune before starting every new game, even if it was rather pleasant.

Overall, this is a really classy game that, despite being a lifts and girders romp with a daft storyline, does provide plenty of new features to make it worth adding to your collection. I enjoyed playing Jet Boot Jack very much indeed and will be surprised if it doesn't achieve the success on the Beeb it has with other machines. Very highly recommended.

Peter Rochford

Other Reviews Of Jet Boot Jack For The BBC/Electron


Jet Boot Jack (English)
A review by Phil Tayler (Electron User)

Jet Boot Jack (English)
A review by M.P. (Home Computing Weekly)

Jet Boot Jack (English)
A review by Clive Grace (Computer Gamer)

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