For Halloween, I had the pleasure to play and subsequently review Pumpkin Jack for PS5. Some of you might remember Timmy did a review last year of the same game for Nintendo Switch. Pumpkin Jack received an upgrade to next-gen this year and therefore I got to write a sort of a second opinion. It took me a while to write this piece, and part of the reason for that was that I actually fully completed this game and collected everything there was to collect.
Pumpkin Jack is a simple old-school 3D platformer with just very straightforward controls and a simple battling system, proving that more complex is not always the better choice. The story revolves around a character named Stingy Jack, who got sent back to earth in a pumpkin body by the devil to fight the good guys and plunge the world into evil. Jack is accompanied by a haughty owl and a crow (or is it an emo canary?) throughout the story, leading to some fun conversations and jokes.
The game consists of six large and different levels you play through. All of the levels consist of nearly the same structure with parts on foot, a few rollercoaster-like parts that test your reflexes, some puzzling where you literally and figuratively need to use your head, and a boss battle that grants you a new weapon. In every level there’s a vastly different landscape, loads of different mobs to fight, and different mechanics to overcome, making every level a new challenge and keeping the game interesting. Some parts could get borderline annoying to master (I lack the patience for wobbly bars), but it never got too difficult to get through. The visuals really fit the game well, help build the atmosphere, and feel somewhat cartoonish. Due to the visuals every level, although often quite similarly structured, feels different and it definitely is a strong point of the game.
Battling is simple, but not too simple. There were quite a few times I got Jack to the brink of death due to me not chaining combos or dodging at the right time. Boss-battles often take one or two deaths to figure out, but after you figure out the pattern, they shouldn’t be too difficult to get through. The abundance of kettles to replenish your health and act as checkpoints are definitely welcome, and a good touch.
To me what really stood out was the music and how it was weaved into the levels. I am a person that often mutes the in-game music because it becomes too dominant or blatantly annoying. However, I did not do so during the entire playthrough of Pumpkin Jack. I loved the in-game music and how it mixed in with the levels and the visuals. I loved how Yohan Jager used and remixed famous classical pieces to fit the game and create exactly the atmosphere he wants with it, at exactly the right point. Absolutely brilliantly done!
In conclusion, it was a great game. Pumpkin Jack was challenging, yet fun. The visuals and music were fantastic, and the story was witty and enjoyable. It’s a perfectly simple, but refreshing platformer. Incredibly, this game has been mostly developed by just one developer: Nicolas Meyssonnier. The only exceptions to this are the OST and the porting to consoles. With a game this great being his first release, I am curious what Nicolas’ next project will be.
9/10
Tested on PlayStation 5
