One of the games I wasn’t expecting to demo was Gambitious’ RunGunJumpGun. Developed by ThirtyThree, this frantic and neon infused game actually just released on Steam. When I saw it on the big screen at PAX West, I knew I had to try it. So what did I think of this crazy and cruel little gem?
First off, the way RunGunJumpGun plays is like a hybrid of the classics Bit.Trip.Runner and Contra, with some fantastic banter thrown in between sections. Your little astronaut is constantly rushing forwards into the face of danger. You only have two attacks at your disposal to help him – blast down with your gun, launching yourself skyward, or shoot forward. That’s the entire game in a nutshell. It sounds simple, and it is, but it’s also deliciously complex. As you progress through the 3 worlds and hundred plus levels, the game keeps throwing new twists and turns at you, such as one planet where you can touch a glowing aurora and shift to the opposite side of the screen, or the water planet where everything is inverted whilst underwater. It’s really cool how the game is constantly playing with your expectations and then turning them on their heads.
The demo itself only had a handful of stages, which I beat, but there was also the challenge mode. This mode has you run through every single stage in the game armed with only 10 lives. When you factor in that touching any trap is an instant death, those lives all matter a lot. I was able to get pretty far, but not far enough to beat all the levels. Still, I really enjoyed my time with the game, especially honing my skills to catch more and more atomiks in each stage.
RunGunJumpGun is a hell of a lot of fun, and it’s available right now, for cheap, on Steam. Be sure to check out the official page, and see what captivated me so much about this frenetic little indie gem.
