Jim Power in "Mutant Planet" (0)

Overview

A action Platform game where you take on the role of Jim Power. Completely joystick driven. The action consists of walking across a horizontally-scrolling backdrop, and shooting of the enemy as they appear. Point, Time and Life bonuses can be found along the way, and Jim's considerable armaments (mostly guns) can be enhanced, too. These bonuses are held in small pods which float in the air. When shot, they drop both bonus points and a useful add-on, which include extra lives, smart bombs or a shield – however, the latter is relatively useless and lasts mere seconds before evaporating.

There are five levels to be explored, each of which is nearly fifty screens long, and involve leaping across moving platforms and ramps and overcoming other similar obstacles. Simple as this sounds, though, the sheer number of enemy sprites thrown at you make it a frustrating and thankless task. The jump 'n' shoot action is nicely paced and unrelenting, with lots of stuff to kill, collect and negotiate. Jimbo himself is very controllable and the only bugbear is that he doesn't fire when he's running.