Jetsom Sam is an iPhone game developed by Plasmaworks, a company cranking out titles ranging from strategy to combo-based action. In elementary sidescroller with an elementary look, you play as Sam, who’s goal is to rescue Kay from invading Aliens, and sometimes Robots.The cartoon look is unfortunately vacant of exaggeration that the medium would permit. I think this deign choice is merely due to Plasmaworks pushing the game out more quickly and cheaper rather than any IPhone graphical limitation. Jetsom Sam employs the Rocket Knight Adventures mechanic of zipping across the screen via rocket boots and bopping Aliens on the cranium. Environments include a city, a volcano, and the invading enemy’s ship. You control Sam by tapping the screen on the area you wish to fly, and Sam will boost there to the best of his ability. I say this because Jetsom Sam adheres to gravity and a strict physics engine; Sam flies in straight lines only and, thanks to constant momentum, lands more in the general vicinity than the exact bulls-eye. This leads to pounding on the screen more than necessary, grabbing coins scattered around the level. The coins, to my knowledge, are superfluous. Maybe there are certain level requirements of a set number, but I did reach such a level. Viewing the game is not an entirely lost endeavor; the character animation is fluid, with Sam spinning head over heels as he rockets around the map. This adds some characterization that is sorely needed. Even a small scene of Sam, our unlikely hero, donning these rocket boots and blasting off, nervous but determined. This is all set to a pulse of Bucky O Hare space age discovery tunes, and the whirring of carnival laser zaps and blasts. Fortunately the sound effects slow an already choppy game, so that’s more incentive to play on mute.Level design is comprised of a constant background and a foreground of changing obstacles. The first level, City, has buildings that hinder Sam’s progress, billboards with cute advertisements, and speeding cars. Modes of play include Survival, in which the camera pans right with Sam staying ahead of it, and kill X amount of enemies. There is also an endless mode. I’m sure that’s cool. There is no real narrative tying any of this together, only a terse tutorial: “Fight the Aliens” and “Use [your] rocket boots to save Kay.” It’s difficult to be glib about Jetsom Sam. It’s not so much intentionally lazy, boring and tiresome, but this is moot since the result is the same. Jetsom Sam just has minimal personality, and it feels like Plasmaworks is saturating the market with several hairbrained titles. Not that these need to make a profound statement, but the lack of any depth or complexity makes this a soulless effort. I’m not sure who Jetsom Sam’s target demographic is: adults won’t be caught dead playing it, so I guess kids who own IPhone’s will get a kick out of imagining themselves as Sam kicking alien butt. Maybe I’m out of touch, along with this fossil.

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