Overall 9.1 Graphics 10 Sound 5 Addictive 10 Story 5 Depth 10 Difficulty 10
10
A game for nerds Crawldragon
This is going to sound weird, but Knight Jumper 2600 might turn out to be my favorite game in the Retro Game Room. That's really saying something, because Missile Command, Pitfall!, The Empire Strikes Back... there are some classic games in there, and Adventure is my waifu.
"Well, Crawl, why is it so weird to have a favorite game?"
I'll tell you why: Because this entire game is based on the knight's tour puzzle. For those of you that don't know, a [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight's_tour]knight's tour[/url] is when you put a knight down on a chess board and try to get it to touch every square on the board using only legal moves. The knight can only touch each square once, and for bonus points the knight should end on the same square where he began.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Knights-Tour-Animation.gif[/img]
Pictured: a knight performing a knight's tour on a 5x5 board (Source: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight's_tour]Wikipedia[/url])
This is not a game where you shoot at space ships. It's not a game where you rescue princesses or slay dragons. It's not a game where you bang Native Americans. This is just a board for you to attempt a knight's tour on.
So how does it work? Well, you start with a board and a knight. Move the knight to where you want to start and press the button. From there, you're simply moving the knight around on the board. Every time you make a legal move, the square will change color. You keep playing until you either fill in the entire board or come to a point where you can't move the knight anymore without moving onto a space where you've already been. You're also not allowed to backtrack; every move you make must start from the last space you filled in.
The gameplay couldn't be simpler. I have nothing else to talk about. The graphics are okay, the sounds are simple enough, there's no story... but the game is rewarding in and of itself because these kinds of puzzles are inherently difficult to solve. Whoever made this game only wanted gamers to be able to have a platform on which to attempt this puzzle.
It kind of sucks that the RGR has no information on this game. There's no description, no developer, not even any screen shots. I don't know whether or not it's a ROM hack, and I don't know whether you can get a cartridge anywhere. This game is just kind of there. It's an enigma, like a tall stranger just wandered into my village, shot up all of the bad guys, and walked away.
Often, in gaming, the best ideas are the simplest. This is a very simple idea, and a very simple puzzle. If you like puzzles and you want a cerebral challenge, add this game to your Atari library. For puzzlers and Chess buffs, 10 out of 10.
Summary
Graphics: 10/10
I won't lie to you, there's not much to look at in this game. However, what is there is rendered well.
Sounds: 5/10
The sounds aren't amazing. You only ever hear noises if you **** up, win, or make a legal move. It's pretty much just bips and beeps, without any music to speak of.
Addictiveness: 10/10
If you like puzzles, you'll find yourself playing this game a
lot.
Depth: 10/10
You're allowed to start from anywhere on the board, which means that this game has an uncountable number of combinations and solutions. You can find yourself messing with this game for a long time.
Difficulty: 10/10
How difficult Knight Jumper really is depends on how good you are at solving these kinds of puzzles, but getting a perfect score is very difficult indeed. For an additional challenge, I recommend closing your eyes and picking a random starting position on the board. Good luck.
Story: 5/10
It's freaking Chess.
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-08-14
Updated: 07-08-14
Review Replies: 2
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