Mobile Game Review of "Jupiter Lander"

Jupiter lander is the old Commodore 64 version of the classic "Lunar Lander", except updated to modern standards. And yes, the fun still holds up... except for its relatively shortness, and slow loading times.

You are treated to a simulation of C64 "load screen" at the beginning, but this title sequence can't be bypassed, so it's boring as heck. Also the animations in the menus are WAY TOO SLOW. Argh! Makes me want to scream even before I played it!

Once you're into the game, you find it still classic... Basically, you have fixed amount of fuel. Land the lander on any of the 3 platforms... x2, x5, or x10. Obviously, landing on the x10 platform will give you a lot higher score and more fuel, but you have to make it down in one piece, and you don't get more fuel between attempts, so basically, if you do go for x10, you better make it in your first try, or else you won't have fuel to try again.

There are 10 levels, each with a bit different challenge, such as going UP instead of down, more diagonal instead of sideways tunnels, narrower tunnels, and so on. The idea is to score the most points in 10 levels.

And how do you control the lander? There are only three buttons... main retrothruster (thrust down, so the lander stays UP), left, and right maneuver thrusters to impart a bit of left/right motion. That's it. When you land, your vertical velocity must remain inside the "green box", which basically means you landed soft enough. The softer you land, the more fuel you get back as well.

When you accomplish landing on an x10 platform, you unlock the classic C64 mode, which basically means you go retro in a limited color and resolution lander and landscape, but the levels are still the same. However, you need to start a new game to see this. It doesn't play any differently, just a novelty issue.

The high-score screen doesn't use the QWERTY keyboard or the text input option at all on modern phones. Instead, they use the regular arcade method: left and right keys to scroll through the alphabet, and they made the alphabet wavy so you weren't quite sure which letter is being highlighted. ARGH! Who designed this **** interface?

Sound is boring, and sound effects aren't much better.

All in all, Jupiter Lander is a retro title that needs more freshening up than what's offered here. The slow load times didn't help either.

Overall rating: 5 out of 10
Pros: classic game play as tense as ever
Cons: is that all you got? Come on...