Game Review: Jet Set Willy – The Final Frontier! (ZX Spectrum, Ricochet)

Flippy Side

This game is a Flippy release meaning that both the Spectrum and Amstrad versions are on the same cassette.  One side for the Spectrum and the other the Amstrad computers.  Obviously, an even bigger bargain if you owned both machines.

Just for clarity, this review is purely written for the ZX Spectrum version only.

The Game

Jet Set Willy – The Final Frontier! is a re-release of Jet Set Willy II from Software Projects.  Its prequel the original Jet Set Willy and prior to that, the infamous, Manic Miner that were both written by Matthew Smith.

After a wild party, Willy must collect items scattered in both his mansion and space.  His housekeeper, Maria, isn’t at all happy with the excessive mess and won’t allow him to go to bed to get some well needed sleep before tidying up the mess himself!

Expansions to the original Jet Set Willy

The most obvious and alluring feature is the expanded number of screens in this game.  The original Jet Set Willy having 60+ screens and this sequel, having over 130 of them.  The original screens are there (for example, both start in The Bathroom) but you will see a couple of new screens when leaving there compared to the original one.  This occurs throughout the game.

So, are more screens better?  In some ways, yes but also no.  Yes, on paper, it sounds great to have over double the amount of these, but some can be a little monotonous where you tend to just walk through them.  The space section, however, is new entirely and is a great addition to the game.

Obviously, with more rooms to explore, more challenges lie ahead because of the extra items that need to also be collected and room names enhancing the game further.

Playability

The game is just as fast as the original, but it still suffers from places where you can lose all your lives if you are hit by an enemy, An example being in the screen called East Wall Base.  Here the enemy on the right moving down can trap you on the lower right ledge.  As you will respawn straight on top of it, all lives will rapidly be lost with no chance of escaping or doing anything to stop it.  Imagine being a long way into the game and then making that one error!  Yes, you’ll probably throw a wobbly and your joystick straight at the wall in frustration.

Saying that though, the falling from one screen down from a height into another one is fixed by returning Willy to where he was last on solid ground ending the vicious cycle of repeatedly falling to your death and losing all remaining lives.

Graphics

So much imagination and detail went into the sprites for this game with so many so well neatly drawn and animated.  Most of the screens tend to have their own themes and enemies with plenty of colour used throughout too.  Colour clash only appears briefly when jumping through platforms or ledges that aren’t white.

The Nightmare room turns Willy into a flapping bird and the space screens have Willy wearing an astronaut’s spacesuit and the kitchens with the wild animated chefs!

Music and Sound Effects

Once the game has loaded and before you begin playing the game, you will hear Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata playing.  If you leave this long enough, you will hear a repeating squealing noise as the scrolling message zips across the screen explaining the instructions and controls.

In Jet Set Willy II, you will hear the same tune that was in Manic Miner, namely “In Hall of The Mountain King” throughout the game (rather than “If I were a Rich Man” in the original Jet Set Willy.)  Trust me as a kid, I heard those repeated thousands of times over (and that truthfully is no exaggeration.)  The music can be switched off and if you do that, the gameplay moves that will bit faster.  Sound effects are heard when you collect any of the items, collide with an enemy, fall too far and lose a life or lose all of you lives with an impending dropping type noise before being squashed onto a barrel!

Bearing in mind that this all happens whilst playing the game at the same time, you really can’t fault the use of the beeper with music and sound effects.

Humour

The sense of British humour is still here.  When its Game Over, a large foot squashes Willy onto a barrel and completion of the game results in you returning to the Central Cavern (from Manic Miner) but in different colours, jumping up and down constantly.

Interesting Fact

Jet Set Willy – The Final Frontier! was written on the Amstrad and then ported over to the ZX Spectrum.  The games author therefore being different.

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