Overview
Bubble Jump is a Doodle Jump clone with a few differences. More items and a different style of game make it stand out despite its obvious roots.
Features
Bubble Jump features Doodle Jump style gameplay, but noticeably easier. It also adds more items and Game Center support, including achievements which is something Doodle Jump still doesn't have.
The Good
Bubble Jump is an enjoyable Doodle Jump clone with some extra features that make it different enough to be worth a look.
The basic gameplay is familiar. You bounce your way up a never ending screen of bubbles, which disappear when you have bounced on them, forcing you to keep moving, avoiding enemies and collecting powerups and coins. The coins add to your score and getting them also unlocks some achievements. You are unable to shoot and instead you can hop on rockets to charge into and destroy enemies, mostly however you just have to avoid them.
If you miss a bubble you can actually fall for about a screen length before your game is over. If you land on a lower bubble you have a chance to save yourself by bouncing back up. This is a huge departure from Doodle Jump's "miss a platform and die" mentality.
You can pick up items, which include stars that send you flying up a few screens, chests that add to your score and the rocket power up that sends you hurtling up half a dozen screens and lets you bust though enemies.
The game features Game Center support though Openfeint. With plenty of achievements to shoot for and the ability to get into GC high score wars with your friends and enemies, the game takes on a new amount of reply.
The Bad
Bubble Jump's control seems slightly off. Sometimes when you tilt the idevice you'll barely move and if you tilt it a little further you'll suddenly move a long way in that direction. This sometimes make the game feel slightly awkward, but its not bad enough to make you lose games or anything.
Bubble Jump's graphics could easily be better. The game only features one theme, unlike Doodle Jump and the girl you play as could use some personalty, while cute on the title screen her in game sprite is drab and poorly animated. enemies also aren't animated or drawn nearly as well as a certain other game. The game doesn't look bad per say, just unremarkable.
Soundwise the game is pretty blah as well. The sounds for hopping on bubbles and collecting powerups are fine, but there's no sound for picking up coins, the sound for chests is the same for landing on a bubble and the music is absolutely terrible! It loops constantly and feels out of place.
The Verdict
Bubble Jump is a good jumping game and its Game Center trappings give it a longevity that the allegedly insanely addictive Doodle Jump lacks. It doesn't look or sound like anything special, but for 99 cents you should be pleasantly surprised.
