Go Bananas with Monko Jumpo

Monko Jumpo (The Melon Monkeys) is an indie platformer game created by Weiwen Ting. It’s compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Objective:

Monko Jumpo has two game modes. The main mode is Monko Quest which features over 130+ levels. The gameplay is similar to Super Mario but it is more refined. Each level is relatively short and has various challenges. You play a monkey that has to break bricks, collect rings, discover golden melons, fight bosses and rescue princesses.

Bricks are broken by jumping up underneath them. While most bricks just give you more coins, some bricks will give you special power ups. The power ups can give you speed or extra jump height which is required to finish certain levels.

While doing all of this you have to watch out for the sneaky mice! If you get hit by a mouse you will lose a life, but if you jump on the mouse’s head it will fall down and out of the level. Enemies have various colors and equipment/behaviors so it gets interesting as the levels progress.

After collecting the necessary melons and rings the level is completed by jumped on a totem pole located at the right hand side of the level. Sometimes this totem pole will be up on a platform and you will have to use your skills to get to it.

While you’re playing the Monko Quest levels you’ll realize that there’s another objective during the levels. If you collect enough Red Rings you get to unlock free expansion levels with Easter or Halloween themes. Collecting enough Crystal Rings will unlock challenge levels where you can save the princess!

The second mode of Monko Jumpo is called Get Fruits Back. It’s a relaxing game mode that creates never ending random levels for you to play. In this game mode, your monkey character rides on a banana slider and hits mice to retrieve stolen fruits from them. You have to gain enough fruits before reaching the milestone to be able to pass the level. If you pass you’ll keep on sliding on your banana but if you fail you’ll have to start again.

Get Fruits Back has over 20 different kinds of equipment that help you gain more fruits; various equipment can be gained by collecting yellow banana rings. The best thing about Get Fruits Back is that it’s fun to play for all ages and the levels are unique every time you come back.

The Good:

Monko Jumpo features a plethora of intricate levels that will keep you entertained. Personally I’m not really into platformers but I found this game very fun and challenging. The soundtrack is well put together as is the rest of the game.

If you’re having difficulty with a certain level you don’t have to give up the entire game as with other apps on the market. Instead you have an option to skip that difficult level and move on to the next. I found this feature very useful because I often quit games when I get frustrated failing a level over and over.

Also I did not spot any in-game advertisements, which is really great. Many apps are starting to adopt intrusive ads and it’s nice to see that this developer cares more about providing quality games to his users rather than making an extra buck.

It’s also great that the game offers free expansion levels. What more could you ask for?

The Bad:

Sometimes your monkey will act a little weird. For example if you jump in the air and then continue to run, you can run over the air between bridges. Normally you would fall down but if you jump and run then you can just kind of glide over the air. Honestly I’m not sure if this is a glitch or it’s meant to do that. To me it makes sense that if you have momentum you can run over the bricks without falling down. It didn’t affect my gameplay at all and it didn’t bother me one bit.

Conclusion:

For $1.99, Monko Jumpo offers an interesting platformer. Not to mention that you also receive all those free expansion packs and the Get Fruits Back mode.

If you enjoy platformers you’ll love this game. If you aren’t really used to platformers then this one will be a good choice to get you started Anyone who’d like to play a fun game should give Monko Jumpo a try. It’s a great family game and the Get Fruits Back mode will keep kids entertained. I really enjoyed this indie platformer and I think it’s a must have for iOS gamers.