eShop Splurge: Jett Rocket 2: The Wrath of Takai

When I visited eShop yesterday in the hopes of finding something entertaining I didn't know I was embarking on a voyage of procrastination and general life destruction. Having not heard of the Jett Rocket series before I was curious to download Jett Rocket 2 after watching some videos and reading a promising description. Nintendo eShop definitely delivered on this one though, and despite some minor gameplay glitches it's easily one of my best purchases.

The game itself is comfortably light-hearted, though I have a feeling the storyline would be more emersive with the knowledge of the previous title. The player completes stages up towers of many levels to collect little robotic orbs which I assume have something to do with saving the world in this addictive, sometimes tense little platformer. Though the minigames on every other level leave a lot to be desired, they are a great little incentive for the obsessive hoarding of collectables in the main story mode.
Visually the game is surprisingly tactile - the look and feel of the game suggests a more developed Crash Bandicoot in terms of style and immature brightness. However what really gets me about this game is the simplicity of facing the many challenges that different elements of the gameplay combine to achieve. There is a very real sense of accomplishment at finally working out how to proceed in a level without being mercilessly destroyed by small balls of red or a gang of robots and it's a perfect time killer with the length of each level sitting in a perfect medium between being full of content and yet being completable.

A couple of glitches - for example I have had one experience of the game crashing at a Game Over screen which didn't incur any significant damage to my life as it was, unfortunately, game over. Some minor playback issues like the character seeming to stay fixed in mid air to grab onto an item when he shouldn't really make the jump but apart from these little infractions from perfection, the game is a must-download.

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eShop Splurge: Heavy Fire Special Operations 3D

Despite the gut-wrenchingly corny opening audio (a deep American testosterone junkie telling you to 'lock and load') this game was a bit of a risk paid off well for me. I was nervous about downloading the game partly because it looked too fast paced to not be incredibly frustrating and partly because the graphics didn't look top notch. The graphics look better in game but still aren't all that promising. Other aspects of the game shine through though - the feel of the action is incredibly exhilarating. What looked from the trailers to be a  fast paced, adrenaline pumping game play is delivered in real life but with controls that make the intensity enjoyable. Admittedly it took me a few hits to realise that the touch screen is used for aiming and the R and L shoulder buttons for shooting, but once you get the hang of it it's unforgettably addictive. This game-play is handily designed for both right and left hand users, with the choice of either the R or L buttons for shooting and the B or 'downwards' action on the analogue-type-contraction for reloading. Different levels and upgrades and repairs of weapons make the game more versatile and dynamic in its development through the many hours of jaw clenching as you begin to fear the red exclamation point. Yes, certain points of the game are harder than others and these have put me off for a while but practice and patience have never been more necessary to fulfil a level's requirements and I kind of like that - it makes me feel productive in my procrastination.

I say all this when really the game is a marked up version of its uglier, less developed predecessors and most of its praise lies in the welcome relief from these heavy, unwieldy games. The concept is still fairly arbitrary and the fact that its only foundation is 'shoot everyone you see (apart from your own American men)' needs to be taken with a large dose of salt.

Simple things like being able to return to your game where you actually left off seem to have come to the minds of Teyon rather late in the day but nevertheless it's definitely a game worth its merit.

After a brief discount in eShop, Heavy Fire Special Operations 3D is back up to £5.49 in the UK and though I perhaps think it would have been better to grab it on the discount, if you really have some time to kill and a spare fiver it's worth a download.

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