Remembering Jetpack
October 7, 2009Josh Brown View Comments
On the family’s Tandy Sensation, decked-out 486DX2/66MHz desktop computer, my brother and I got addicted to a little game called Jetpack. Rarely playing the actual single player levels, we created levels and competed against each other with our creativity and dedication. The power of games like this is the simple editor, which holds the interest of kids a lot longer than just an collection of 100 impossible puzzles.
Ideas for tricks came from playing the levels that came with it, finding new interesting predicaments and traps that the other hasn’t seen yet. And eventually, finding add-on packs online. That and finding loop holes to cheat the levels.
The entire game is fantastically put together. The goal is simple: collect all gems, enter the door. And the levels more so, typically following along a single path. It become difficult when you realize you have no weapons and can only jump one block until you get some jetpack fuel. The enemies are nice and varied, each one has its special path. There are not many games like this being created anymore outside of Flash.
Loading up my DOSbox, I decided to try it out, now that it is free. It is everything that I remember it is. And I followed the same pattern that I always did. I played the levels until I got stuck and a couple of my own.
I’m very tempted to create a tribute to it with an internet-capable, multiplayer Windows game. But I have way too many projects on my plate just now, maybe later.