Travel Through Awesome Dream Worlds In Sleepy Jack
Sleepy Jack ($0.99) by SilverTree Media is quite the experience on your iPhone.
Have you ever had dreams where you find yourself in a magical world, able to fly (maybe with a jetpack), and shoot down enemies that come across your way? I’m sure we’ve all had such dreaming experiences, especially as a child, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in Sleepy Jack. This is the type of game that will just fill you up with joy.
In this game, you take the role of Jack, a young boy that dreams of his favorite toys every night. These toys include the laser equipped Galaxianoids, gunpowder carrying desert dwellers, shocking sea creatures, and other crazy bosses. While Jack dreams, you will take control of him and fly and shoot your way through more than 40 dream worlds.
The graphics of the game are pretty amazing – everything is smooth and fluid, and the bright colors definitely add another layer of appeal to the game. All of the visuals in the game just seem to pop out at you, and I love that. The music in the game is also fun and helps it stand out.
There are three control schemes to play the game with: Classic, Slider, and Accelerometer. Classic features two buttons to move Jack left and right with, and a button to shoot. Slider allows you to move Jack left and right by swiping on the screen in the corresponding direction, and just tap on the screen to shoot. The Accelerometer control scheme has you moving Jack by tilting your device and tapping on the screen to shoot. When you shoot, you will continuously shoot. However, Jack can also charge up a more powerful multi-shot when you tap and hold, and release it by removing your finger from the screen. It’s a good way to attack multiple enemies at once.
As you go through the levels, you will have to collect the Zs in bubbles. These allow Jack to keep sleeping and dreaming. This is also linked to his health meter, which you will find at the top left corner. Having Jack run into obstacles or being shot at by enemies will deplete your health meter, but you can refill it by collecting Zs. Collecting a bunch of them in a row will earn you a combo, which nets your more points in your overall score.
In addition to the Zs, Jack can also shoot at some obstacles, which will reveal power-ups such as different guns (Pinwheel Gun, for example) and even a Z Magnet (automatically have all nearby Zs come to Jack). You will also come across loops that will give you a speed boost, ramps that will make you jump and increase speed slightly, and more.
While most of the levels will have enemies fighting you and epic boss fights, some levels will feature a different objective. I had a level where Jack is equipped with a musical jetpack that can only move when you collect musical notes in bubbles (there were no Zs in that level). Regardless, once you reach the end of a level, there will be a clock that you must shoot at (or just reach) that will mark that level as complete.
At the end of each level, you will have three potential stars to earn, based on your performance. When you play, there are two objectives underneath your health meter – a minimum number of Zs and a time goal. If you meet these two requirements, then you will get a star. Completing a level will also earn you a star.
In addition to all 40 of these unique dreamworlds, and even 10 bonus levels, there is Game Center and OpenFeint integration for leaderboards and achievements. Trying to beat your own score, gaining stars, and trying to earn achievements – there is a lot of replay value found in Sleepy Jack.
I found Sleepy Jack to be a blast to play, and I definitely recommend checking this one out. It is currently on sale for $0.99 for a limited time, so grab it before the price goes up! There is also an iPad version available for $2.99.
