Doodle Jump review

Every so often a game comes along that - while only so-so on paper - proves maddeningly addictive when you actually play it. Doodle Jump is a textbook example of that kind of game

It sounds very unpromising. You play a bouncing doodle who progresses upwards over a landscape made of graph paper. You bounce on little platforms - some of which shatter under your feet. If you hit the bottom of the graph paper without a platform you plummet to your death - accompanied by a high-pitched death whistle.

Every so often you have to avoid 'holes' in the paper or outwit a variety of monsters by shooting or avoiding them. The further upwards you go the more points you get. And, er, that's about it.

Except it isn't of course. A simple description can't convey the sheer pleasure this game brings with it. First and foremost there's the control method: you tilt the iPhone left and right to control your doodle's trajectory and tap the screen to fire. Once again it sounds meh but plays "Whay hey!". The physics model is perfectly judged and you really feel like you have complete control over the little fella's destiny.

The sound effects are simple too: from the 'boing' of your bounce (imaging popping your inner cheek with a finger) to the grumble of the approaching monster to your pathetic squeal as you fall to your doom: all are spot on and suitably lo-fi.

Likewise the graphics - they do actually look like doodles on graph paper but are silky smooth and keep the gameplay fast and furious. They are gloriously flat and 2D - and proud of it.

Other lovely touches include the way your previous high scores are scribbled onto the graph paper as you pass them by. And the way the game keeps track of key stats such as every different way you died and how much time you've spent playing.

The only fault I can point to is that there is no way to pause a game once you have started it - you will need to hand it to a mate to keep bouncing in situ, which isn't the easiest thing to do (he or she probably won't be able to resist playing it for starters).

The developer, Lima Sky, has also rolled out several free updates to keep the interest levels stoked. The latest includes a suitably festive Christmas setting complete with snow, Santa hats and a grumpy Yeti monster.

All in all then, Doodle Jump is possibly the perfect game for the iPhone platform: it's easy to learn, hard to master, works perfectly with the accelerometer and best of all it costs under a dollar. What are you waiting for? Download it now!

Doodle Jump info

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Platform: iPhone/iPod Touch

Category: Action

Price: £0.59

Publisher: Lima Sky

Website/Demo: Lima Sky website

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