GAME CLEAR No. 162 -- Jumping Flash!

Jumping Flash! (1995, PlayStation)

Developer: Exact, Ultra, Japan Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Clear Platform: PS5
Clear Date: 3/22/24

Bunny, it’s a gas.

Finally got around to playing another one of the small selection of original PlayStation titles Sony has deigned to release on PS5. This one interested me because it’s one of the very earliest 3D platformers ever made and arguably the earliest on consoles. Cooler still, it’s in first person!

The setting is quite contrived. You control a Robbit, a robotic rabbit, and you’ve got to stop the evil Baron Aloha, who has extracted desirable chunks of various planets to turn them into space resorts (???). To put and end to his plans, you must run around each of these planetary chunks gathering their jet pods for some reason. I don’t know, man. This stuff is barely explored in-game, so suffice it to say the plot basically just exists to give you an excuse to run around little themed locales.

The Robbit, naturally, is an adept jumper. It can double jump quite high into the air, and when it reaches its apex, it conveniently looks down so you can plan your landing with the shadow it casts on the ground. It’s kinda weird and silly, but it’s also quite functional for a first go at the genre. Hell, it’s less frustrating to move around in than many early 3D platformers that would follow it. The Robbit can also shoot little lasers at his enemies, but aiming can be a bit tricky with the non-analog aiming afforded by a pre-DualShock PS1 game. Still, it’s fine, and this is not a game in which combat features heavily or should be a source of great frustration.

The only real downside is that just when you’re getting the hang of piloting the little Robbit, the game ends! It took me maybe 2 hours to get through, and that was while making sure to collect every last jet pod. I understand this was a launch-window tech demo kind of game, but I wouldn’t have minded a little more time with it, which I suppose speaks well of its fun factor.

For now, I guess I’ll just have to hope Sony eventually gets around to dropping Jumping Flash! 2 on the PlayStation Store one of these days. They’ve been awfully slow about it, but they have continued to add PS1 games here and there since they put up the initial batch, so there’s hope yet!