Oct 26, 2011
When a game does well on one platform, the next logical step for the developer is to bring it to other platforms in hopes of increasing their profits. Spider Jack was originally published for the iPhone by Chillingo’s Clickgamer label, the same folks who published Angry Birds and Cut the Rope.
Spider Jack actually has a lot in common with Cut the Rope. Both games have you manipulating a character dangling from a string in various ways. While Cut the Rope has you doing a lot of, uhh, rope cutting, Spider Jack actually has you doing more rope climbing, and swinging. Spider Jack is out for some delicious flies, and in order to get at them, he’ll have to shoot web to various spots in the level, cut web in order to fall, and deal with obstacles like bubbles and blow dryers.
The core gameplay is actually extremely enjoyable. The gameplay mechanics are somewhat similar to those found in Cut the Rope, but there are enough differences, and additions to make Spider Jack feel like a unique and well-thought-out game.
So, remember that part where I said that Clickgamer shouldn’t have passed this game on to Chillingo? That’s because the Android version of Spider Jack crashes. A lot. When I say “a lot” I mean I had to try starting the game no less than six times before I was actually get all the way to a playable level. After two more levels, the game locked up, and dumped me out to the home screen. This happened time and again over the course of my time with the game, making it extremely difficult to play it for more than one or two levels at a time.
At first I thought that maybe there was a problem with my phone – the choppy gameplay, and constant crashes just seemed excessive. So, I checked out the reviews on the Android Market, and found that I wasn’t alone – there are a lot of negative reviews complaining of the exact same problems I was having.
If the game didn’t crash so often, it would actually be extremely enjoyable. As it stands, the game suffers from far too many issues to recommend it to anyone. If you still feel curious about it, try the demo version – if that runs on your phone, then pick up the full version. Just don’t expect it to run on your phone.
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