By James Pivoker
for GameZone.com
When someone asks what a good mobile game is, the best answer is with a question: do you want dumb fun for five minutes or a larger, thought-provoking tale spanning hours? Doodle Jump is a two-minute hero.
From developer Lima Sky, Doodle Jump is a replacement for reading a magazine while waiting at the doctor’s for five minutes. If you’re a hardcore high-score earner, then this may be yet another addicting title for you to obsess over for weeks at a time. Otherwise, it’s great for that wait before your teacher gets to class, while your friend goes to the bathroom, or to get your mind off waterfalls when the door reads “occupied”.
Doodle Jump is all about going up, literally. Playing as Doodle, a four-legged…something, players must jump on ledges and continue to go further and further up. We’ve played for some time, and haven’t reached the end. Considering the $0.99 price-tag, we’d venture the guess that there isn’t one.
Controls are simple: turn the phone to move Doodle right and left, and tap anywhere on the screen to shoot. Jumping is automatic, and hitting the right edge will take you to the left side of the screen. There are currently three levels, a jungle, graveyard and space, though all levels play exactly the same. The graveyard level is slightly different because Doodle glows while everything else is dark, but otherwise they are identical.
As the App Store name suggests, Doodle Jump is very addicting, and can easily make five minutes turn into twenty. This review was expected to go up sooner, but while playing it I got caught up for 35 minutes, and suddenly realized I’d been playing that long instead of enjoying the nice, balmy 75 degree weather outside.
I could point out that yes, for a dollar, this is a great buy. It’s a simple no-BS game where every inch higher gets another few points. But, of course, who knew you could sell your soul for so cheap? If you buy this game, you take the chance of losing any free time you have, so player discretion is advised!
