PLAY

JUMP STARS

Cheap and cheerful party platformer

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Entertain your mates for the price of a couple of pizzas? That’s what party games promise. But with plenty already available, any new one needs to be good to persuade you not to splash out on two large with pepperoni instead. While Jump Stars isn’t bad per se, it’s short on things to keep you coming back, and lacks a little polish.

The premise is that the players – up to four – are all prisoners on a game show that has a maniacal host ruling over it. Sadly, The Running Man it isn’t. The reality is that after the opening credits, the only time any of the game show theme matters is in the intervals, when you’ll get a Buzz! Quiz-like announcer telling you what’s going on. 1

With the ‘hilarious banter’ from the host done, a load screen appears that tells you the rules for the next game, but the controls are the same for all of them. Essentiall­y, you spend the entire time running and jumping. Jump over a rotating arm, run around eating pies, run under crushing rollers… The action varies from dull to decent, but always involves jumping – hence the name.

You can grab team points to ensure you get a chance at the gauntlet2 at the end (think Ninja Warrior and you’re in the right ball park, only with less-tight shorts and less enthusiasm), but that’s about it. This does mean there’s an element of co-operation in among the competitio­n, and you have to decide how long you’ll be a team player and when to make your play for the top spot.

As far as party games with mad quiz show hosts go, Jump Stars is servicable, but there’s better out there, and ultimately even the ability to create your own mini-game playlist can’t save it from mediocrity. Adam Cook

 ??  ?? FOOTNOTES1 Within two games I was hearing repeated dialogue from the host. 2 It’s an actual gauntlet, where you run from left to right, jumping and avoiding obstacles.
FOOTNOTES1 Within two games I was hearing repeated dialogue from the host. 2 It’s an actual gauntlet, where you run from left to right, jumping and avoiding obstacles.
 ??  ?? FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB CURVE DIGITAL DEV JAMIT GAMES
FORMAT PS4 ETA OUT NOW PUB CURVE DIGITAL DEV JAMIT GAMES

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