Mr. Run And Jump Review | TheXboxHub - Plato Data Intelligence

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Okay, okay. Let’s get the big news out of the way from the off.

Mr. Run and Jump is brutal. A game that requires near pixel perfect precision and reflexes from the gods, this is most certainly a game that will hand your ass to you on a plate.

But equally, Mr. Run and Jump wants you to experience everything it has to hold, helping you along at every opportunity. Honestly, that’s hugely appreciated. In fact, we’re not sure how we would have been able to write this review without the help it provides.

Mr. Run and Jump is the latest from an Atari team who have been owning it for the last couple of years. A name which was synonymous with the early stages of the gaming landscape, if you’d asked us a few years back if we thought there was a place for Atari in the most modern era, we’d have walked away in disgust.

But Atari have proven themselves multiple times over. There’s the brilliant Recharged series of games for instance. There’s the rather neat ideas like those found in the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration and Kombinera. And then there’s Mr. Run and Jump – a blooming great, neon splashed, brutal platformer that could well turn into a speedrunning dream.

Just as long as the hardcore difficulty doesn’t put you off.

mr run and jump review 1 — Mr Run and Jump will have you collecting shards

Initially created by the Graphite Labs team, Mr. Run and Jump was originally conceived with an Atari 2600 vibe in mind. That was until Atari saw the game in action, revamping it as a multiformat game, complete with a stunning visual look, modern gameplay features and more.

They’ve done a tremendous job too. This is as addictive a game as you are likely to find, happily testing your gaming skills multiple times until you either find total success, or utter failure. Although really, no-one should be failing with Mr. Run and Jump. Thanks to some ingenious accessibility options that can be switched on or off at will, Mr. Run and Jump can easily be for everyone.

It all focuses on a world that is being overrun by the Void. The name alone hints at that being a bad thing, and so it is here where Mr. Run and Jump – as well as his trusty little dog, Leap – look to save the world. They’ll need your help though and by collecting Power Gems, Shards and Orbs you’ll eventually find the opportunity to take back control of the Realms of Color.

As you would suspect, navigating the Realms of Color is not easy. In fact, these lands are full of trouble, obstacles at every turn, foes looking to put an end to your task, patrolling their own space. But Mr. Run and Jump is a dab hand at running and jumping – he really does live up to his name with aplomb. Running around, leaping, jumping, rolling and diving, the precision needed is absolutely on point here. In fact, the controls are nigh perfect, with Mr. Run and Jump ready with every press of a button, every combination that you input.

mr run and jump review 2 — And dodging enemies

It all starts off fairly simply too, as you begin to wander the realms of an old-school tutorial and then head into the Violet World. It’s here where you’ll fast learn what is required in Mr. Run and Jump, with helpful tutorial moments ensuring you become a dab hand with requirements before newer, more complex tasks are thrown your way.

However, in a nice touch, everything in Mr. Run and Jump is open from the get-go. That said, we have found it best to allow the game to guide the way, pushing new moves – a double jump, dive, roll and bounce for instance – as it deems fit. Following this route should ensure you start to become one with the titular character through the additional Blue, Green, Yellow and Red worlds. There’s even a Dark land waiting for those with the finest Orb collecting skills. And no, we don’t have those skills.

That’s not to say you can’t make the most of everything included from the off though. In fact, should you wish to really rinse Mr. Run and Jump for everything it has, use of the full array of moves will be essential.

As with any precision based platformer, Mr. Run and Jump really does live or die on the inputs you give it. And we’ve not found a missed beat here, with our little running and jumping mate found navigating the various stages, levels and worlds easily. That’s not to say that death won’t come your way. We’ve lost count of the amount of times we’ve found ourselves failing to the brutality of the Void (a chase scene is that of nightmares) and the Colors of the Realm, but those deaths have – nearly – always been of our own doing, as we’ve tried to work out the best route through a screen.

mr run and jump review 3 — Getting involved in some well timed wall slides

It’s here where Mr. Run and Jump really excels. See, whilst it may feel like this is a game that wants you to fail, in reality, it doesn’t. Instead there are always moments to help you through, whether that be with a ghost route showing the moveset you need to action, or a collectible star providing immunity as you battle through a particularly tough part of the stage. Of course, take the easy route and the shards you are looking to collect for full completion will be off the table, but at least there is no reason for anyone to not find a conclusion in Mr. Run and Jump’s tale.

The world you are working through is a brilliantly designed one too, full of secrets, hidden challenge rooms, great audio and more. There are colour and neon flashes galore, so much so that you’ll rarely tire of the opportunities to navigate these lands, pushed on by the tease of checkpoints and that built-in in-game Dynamic Assistance help. Yes you’ll occasionally need to stop and consider how to best tackle what is in front of you – and occasionally you’ll want to consider life itself too – but you should always be in the knowledge that you’ll be able to find progress. Somehow. Some when.

Multiple runs through levels are the only way you’ll truly be able to save the Realms of Color and to ultimately put a stop to the Void. But with speedrunning opportunities opening up and Orbs that need collecting, there are tons of hours of gameplay to be found here. Honestly, we’d be amazed if anyone is done with this one without throwing in a good couple of tens of hours of play.

mr run and jump review 4 — A neon delight

It all comes together to ensure that Mr. Run and Jump once again proves that Atari are a force to be reckoned with in the modern gaming scene. A tough precision platformer, this is a game that urges you forward; a game that provides the tools you need in order to discover success. And aside from the occasional bit of finicky wall jumping, rarely do those tools ever let you down either. Your skills on the other hand…

A neon delight, we knew we’d love the visual style, but thought we’d hate the hardcore nature of Mr. Run and Jump. As it turns out, for as tricky as it is, this is one of those rare games that gives you all the tools you will ever need, leaving you to pick and choose what you wish to use and when, taking the help as you require it.

Hugely accessible, Mr. Run and Jump is once again proof that Atari know exactly what is needed to deliver a new addiction to the modern gaming scene. This is a vibrant platforming delight.