Posted by Ryan Johnson on 03 3, 2010

Doodle Jump

Categories: Games, | 2 comments | |

I must’ve been under a rock for the last few months because there’s no reason I should’ve kept myself from Doodle Jump all this time. This app is crazy fun! The premise of the game is really simple, the look and feel gives you the same impression, but hidden within it’s simplicity is an amazingly creative, lovable, challenging, and addictive game. In this game you’ve got to guide the Doodler on a never ending springy journey up a sheet of graph paper. The further you travel the more points you earn. Springing up is no easy task as you’ve got to do it from platform to platform, and if you miss your mark at any point it’s game over!

The game controls in Doodle Jump are simple, elegant, and couldn’t fit the game any better. The Doodler is always bouncing so to move up all you’ve got to do is tilt your iPhone/iPod to navigate him from platform to platform. If you jump through one side of the screen you come out on the other side which adds an interesting and convenient twist to standard navigation. Jumping through one side of the screen to the other takes a little getting used to, but as you advance to more difficult sections of the game it becomes a must.

There are several wrinkles within the game that make your upward climb a tough one. For one the Doodler is always bouncing, so you’ve got to process information quickly as you move from one platform to the next. Not to mention once you’ve bounced, the likelihood that you can return to the platform that you just bounced from is slim. You see, once a platform moves out of view you can’t fall back to it because it’s gone. If you try to then you’ll fall to your doom. If bouncing from platform to platform wasn’t challenging enough there are various different types of platforms that test your patience. There are false platforms that break apart the second you touch them, moving platforms that move side-to-side and up and down, and exploding platforms that turn red and moments later explode. On top of that there are black holes that suck you in if you jump toward them, and UFOs and monsters that instantly kill you if you jump into them. You can take out UFOs and monsters with nose balls that you shoot upward by touching the screen. You can also kill monsters Super Mario style by jumping on top of them.

Thankfully there are little extras sprinkled into the game that make it even more enjoyable. There are multiple themes that you can choose from if you get tired of the graph paper theme. You can choose from a winter, Halloween, and jungle theme, each with their own unique look, sounds, and effects. There are also gadgets that you can pick up as you play that help you skip past sections of the game in chunks. You’ll come across propeller hats, springs, spring boards, spring shoes, and rocket packs that provide you with a welcome boost. The two best being the propeller hat and the rocket pack. You strap one of those bad boys on and you’re rollin!

Overall there’s nothing I don’t like about this game. Lima Sky, LLC did an excellent job with this game and continue to make it better by adding frequent updates. Doodle Jump is great for kids, great for adults, great for grandmas, great for everybody! It’s without a doubt a must buy app! I completely stink at it and still love it to death. It’s the type of game that you can play for seconds or hours. If you play it for five minutes you’ll be hooked. I’ve only racked up a high score of 19,000 points so far, because I suck, but I’m going to keep playing this bad boy until I’m a pro. Just to put it into perspective, there are people on the global leaderboard that’re well into the millions, which is sick. Look out Doodle Jumpers, here I come!

Version Reviewed: 1.14

Requirements: iPhone or iPod Touch; iPhone OS 2.0 or later