The Jump 2016 is the official game of The Jump TV show which returns to Channel 4 this week for a third series. The TV show is set in the Austrian Alps where a group of celebrities are put through a series of winter sports inspired events.
The free-to-play game is loosely based on the show and doesn’t feature celebrities. Instead players take the role of a downhill skier who must tackle progressively more difficult mountain slopes. The idea is to get as far as you can on each run.
The game uses a simple control system of two on-screen buttons, one in each bottom corner. Holding these down together causes your skier to crouch to build up speed. Letting them go together makes them jump while holding just one makes them rotate forwards or back.
Timing is key to doing well in the game. You need to crouch and jump at the right times in order to build speed or get air. Doing these at the wrong time usually causes you to slow down. If you come to a halt or crash then that’s the end of your run.
The other essential thing which leads to bigger scores is rotating. Each full rotation grants a score multiplier. Again timing is key as you need to land on your skis if you don’t want to crash. If you land correctly then you are granted a small speed boost which enables you to keep going for longer.
Along the way you can collect bells which can be traded for upgrades to your character. Upgrades enable you to perform better on the slopes. If you really want to compete with your friends or climb the leaderboards then upgrading your skills is essential. There are seven skills to upgrade each with ten levels. These start out fairly cheap and become more expensive at each level. Skills include bigger jumps, less friction, longer bell magnet duration and faster speeds.
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As is common for free-to-play games The Jump 2016 features optional microtransactions. These allow players to purchase packs of bells with real money to progress faster. These start at £1.49 for 10,000 bells up to £8.99 for 175,000 bells. There is also a one time fee of £0.79 if you would like to buy a bell doubler boost.
The game takes some practice to do well and is a lot of fun when you have a good run. It’s let down though by the long time between attempts. Some kind of instant retry like the Trials series, to get you back in the game faster, would have made it a lot more addictive.
The Jump 2016 is a decent game that looks fantastic. It will appeal to all kinds of gamers and not just fans of the show. It’s great fun in short bursts and even more so when you’re competing against friends. Being free-to-play it’s well worth checking out if it sounds like your kind of game.
Watch The Jump this Sunday 31st January at 7:30pm on Channel 4 which features a new star studded line-up. Check out the trailer of the The Jump 2016 official game below:
Publisher: All 4 Games Developer: All 4 Games Age Rating: 4+ Release Date: January 28, 2016 Reviewed On: iOS Also available on: Android
