Jumpman Junior

Atari 8-bit version of Jumpman Junior

Jumpman Junior is a platform/action game first released by Epyx in 1983 for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 computers and later for the ColecoVision. The game is a follow up to Jumpman and features the same style of gameplay. It includes 12 levels (instead of the originals 30) and is essentially a "lite" version of the game intended to fit on a cartridge for players who didn't have a disk drive or cassette player for their computer. The same game engine is used, although some of the code used to support a few of the original, more complex levels was removed.

The goal of Jumpman Junior is the same as that of the original Jumpman; players need to diffuse all of the bombs on each level before time runs out. The bombs, however, are not all easy to reach and are scattered around the multiple platforms that make up each level. Players need to guide Jumpman to each bomb and simply touch it in order to diffuse it. The layout for each of the 12 levels is different and in addition to the platforms also consists of a series of ladders ropes. Jumpman can climb up or down the ladders, however ropes come in two varieties; some ropes only allow Jumpman to climb up while others can only be climbed down. There are also additional challenges on some levels as well; these include appearing and disappearing platforms, moving walls and ladders, falling stones, fires, and more. If Jumpman is hit by or touches any of the dangerous obstacles or falls off of the platforms, a life is lost. Also found on each level are a number of "smart darts"; these appear as white blocks and will slowly move across the screen (horizontally or vertically) from time to time. When one is lined up with Jumpman, it may suddenly fire rapidly towards Jumpman. These need to be avoided, or a life is lost. Players begin the game with a limited number of lives, and the game ends when all are gone. Several difficulty levels are available which affect the overall game speed including how fast Jumpman moves as well as the speed of other moving objects.