PREVIEW : Neko Ghost, Jump! (PC)
Neko Ghost, Jump! is a 2D/3D Puzzle-Platformer both developed and published by Burgos Games.
Story
The story of Neko Ghost, Jump! is told via an initial cinematic scene. A strange cat-shaped planet seemingly populated only with kitties is holding a wedding. However, this happy day is cut short by a giant wormhole in the sky. But that’s not all, out of the wormhole comes a giant flying ship. Things look bad, but it’s much worse because the ship is loaded with dogs. The dogs then abduct the cats for some reason.
But that’s not even the worst or most mysterious part yet, the old cat manages to push Nekoman into the water before the pups open fire with cannons seemingly killing the old cat. Oh yeah, and then the dogs and cats on the ship turn into ghosts via some giant shimmer bubble like the one in the film Annihilation… Nekoman manages to escape unscathed.
Graphics
The art style of Neko Ghost, Jump! is fairly polished and cutesy, filled with chibi figures whose heads match the size of their bodies. It seems similar to a children’s TV show but worse. The character’s designs are cutesy and enjoyable and the environment is bright and cheerful. But each character’s appearance is sort of just stamped on so it doesn’t move. Which is quite off-putting when the old cat has a big smile on his face as he pushes you into the water to evade you dying. Multiple figures also put their hands through their heads and clip into the territory in the opening scene.
However, the game is played with the camera pulled back and things look a lot more fluid. The customizations of Nekoman are fun, the first boss is pretty generic.
Sound
The music in the game is fun, bright and fits well. You will enjoy a lot of the music it will enhance your experience. The sound effects are less well done but not awful. Mostly the sounds were pretty generic and felt like they were stock sounds.
Gameplay
The main aspect of most Esports and especially a platformer like this is the gameplay. So how does it stack up? Honestly, not well. The core gameplay is pretty easy, run, jump, dash, collect coins, get to the end. Fairly comparable in description to something like Awesome Pea 2. But that’s just at first, the play also contains a perspective-shifting function to switch between 2D and 3D like Super Paper Mario. This opens up the puzzle-solving aspect of the game as you’ll need to swap perspectives regularly to progress through levels and collect coins. Shortly after the game throws another mechanic at you, the Ghost part of the title. At any time you can make your Nekoman’s ghost leave his body which enables you to attack enemies with your…spirit blades?
So why doesn’t the game stack up? Well, for one thing, there are too many mechanics. Sometimes you need to swap perspective, make a jump with a dash, swap perspective back, send your ghost out, hit an enemy, make a jump with a dash, swap perspective, kill different enemy, return to Nekoman’s body and then retrace the jumps you made as to the ghost. If that appears complicated well, it is. Levels are pretty short.
But that’s not the only issue with the gameplay. Much like Renzo Racer messed up the main aspect of a kart racer. Neko Ghost, Jump! Fails at platforming, the jumping is very imprecise, especially in the 3D model.
Overall
All the elements are there, a cute character, an interesting perspective shift, coin collecting, cat dress-ups. But plenty more work would be required to make it a game worth getting excited about.
