Jet Kave Adventure Preview
The Flintstones never appealed to me, so when I saw Jet Kave Adventure, from 7 Levels, I, of course, dived in. Why? Because it was a free demo and I was feeling adventurous – nothing to do with the title.
In all honesty, I didn’t even pay attention to the title and just took it on face value that it was a caveman platform game.
Been there, done that. Nothing has come close to Chuck Rock since the 90s – if anything, Joe and Mac: Caveman Ninja on the SNES Online is a close alternative.
Nevermind that, let’s go with my first impressions of Jet Kave Adventure.
By now, even the most casual gamer knows how to find their way about a game in a few minutes – nobody has read a game manual since they were invented.
Still, we often have to sit through tutorial after tutorial.
Jet Kave Adventure is no different, and all the moves are displayed in succession as your knuckle dragger fumbles through a cave, spelt with a ‘C’.
I was just about to switch it off when something strange happened.
Apart from being mildly fun, a sci-fi element was introduced and low and behold, the ‘jet’ in the title has some significance.
What’s my current pick for a decent platform game? Valfaris.
So it’s not in the same camp as Jet Kave Adventure, it’s a fab platform game with awesome weapons.
He doesn’t need a jetpack as he has a bastard sword and gorgeous blue hair.
There’s also a tutorial at the beginning of the game but it’s over pretty quick as the controls are intuitive.
Your cave dweller, actually the Kave of the title, comes across a jetpack (naturally) and upon strapping it on (aaay!), boasts the power of flight.
It’s a nice little gimmick and the controls work quite well.
It’s more of a harrier jet than a tornado as you sort of hover with it and can keep the momentum going for a while.
Even though there was the introduction of the jet pack, it soon wore thin for me, and I was glad this was just a demo.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the game.
The 2.5D graphics, as is touted, are indeed very nice, and the game plays well.
It even features a Super Meat Boy run-away-from-a-mammoth-type-section (ok, no mammoths in the Super Meat Boy, but I think you get the point. Run like hell from a big bugger of a baddie).
I quite like that, pending that the challenge is there, but I didn’t have it with the demo.
I’m sure the full title has a few more of these set pieces and I welcome them in modern platformers.
Thing is, I’ve played these types of games in the 90s, and they were a lot of fun, but it’s not really something whetting my appetite.
The jet pack is an interesting addition.
Still, from what I experienced in the demo, the combat was a little lacklustre.
The boss I encountered was dull and easy to beat, but everything was pretty while I did it.
That’s not enough to keep me playing at the moment, but raise your clubs to the graphic artists as the backgrounds, in particular, are quite special.
Should the game land on my desk, on my lap or Santa decides to surprise me, I’ll review it and write up my thoughts here.
As far as I can see, it’s a robust platform game, I’m just not in the mood for another one right now.
Jet Kave Adventure is available now on the Nintendo eShop.
