THE STORY

Evildoers, secret experiments, mad scientists, bullets, bubbles, teleporters, coins, jetpacks and a man with the most implausible name in apping history: Barry Steakfries – I think it’s fair to say that when it comes to something for the weekend, Jetpack Joyride has got the lot…

THE EXPERIENCE

For a lot of people, ever since seeing James Bond sporting one in the opening sequence of Thunderball, owning a jetpack has been a wonderful, if improbably stupid, dream. Joyriding, meanwhile, whilst heavily frowned upon by the police and popular press during the car theft craze of the 90s, seems to have been pardoned, a peace made with the motorised mayhem, and now a marriage between that and the jetpack dream formed. And the result? Utterly uplifting.

Proving once more that the simplest concepts are often the best, Jetpack Joyride is a basic side scrolling platform affair that merely requires you to time the literal rise and fall of Mr Steakfries to collect coins, upgrades and power-ups, use your jets to take out evil minions and dodge all the oncoming burny, shooty stuff designed to ground you hard.

However, it’s how all this plays out that makes Jetpack Joyride simple but superior – stylishly designed and offering unrelenting action, this app is the ultimate test of your razor-sharp reactions, your transcendental sense of timing and, moreover, your eye-watering ability to go without blinking for levels at a time.

Unlocking jetpack upgrades as you go, not to mention motorbikes and the always welcome Crazy Freaking Teleporter, the whole game is controlled via the app’s ingenious one touch control system, making for hours of uncomplicated, high speed fun where you don’t have to spend ages getting the thrust. Thrust, see? Ahem.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Basic blasting brilliance that offers more in its simplicity that many overly involved apps can match, Jetpack Joyrider is truly, as alluded to in the title, an absolute joy.

Mmm, steakfries…

Additional information

Current version: 1.3.5
Requires Android 2.2 and up

Download the Jetpack Joyride app from Google Play

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