Jetpack Joyride is an endless runner game developed by Halfbrick Studios and was first released on September 1, 2011 for iOS. It is the third game in the Barry Steakfries series, following Age of Zombies and Monster Dash.
PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions were released in 2012. A more up to date version, known as Jetpack Joyride Deluxe was released for the same consoles on December 3, 2014, and was ported to PlayStation 4 on April 26, 2016. An alternative version of the game named Jetpack Joyride+ was released July 23, 2021 on Apple Arcade.
Currently supported versions are available on iOS and Android.
Plot[]
Summary of the story, from the board game adaptation, itself taken from The Story of Barry Steakfries trailer
Barry Steakfries is a struggling salesman, working for a gramophone-making company. One day, he comes across Legitimate Research, a secret laboratory with evil intentions, and finds out about their newest invention: The Machine Gun Jetpack. Seeing it as a way to start a new life, Barry breaks into the laboratory and liberates the jetpack by flying it through the endless laboratory.
According to The Story of Barry Steakfries trailer, the game takes place before the events of Monster Dash and Age of Zombies.
Gameplay[]
Jetpack Joyride is played by tapping, holding the screen, clicking or pressing the Space Bar (in Windows 8 version), to make Barry jump and slowly descend using the jetpack. The point of the game is to dodge zappers, missiles and lasers and run as far as possible. After Barry is hit by an obstacle, he is KO'd and can use Quick Revives (9 per run in current versions), Strong Arm Machine (1 per run, acts as one Quick Revive) or a Big Blast to gain more distance. If the player has any amount of spin tokens by the end, they are sent to the Final Spin, where they can win beneficial prizes, such as coins, Head Starts or continuing the run with a free revive.
Along the way Barry can get various vehicles from vehicle pickups, that use their own control schemes and last until Barry gets hit. One of the collectables in the game are coins, which can be used to purchase clothing, jetpacks, Power-Ups, gadgets, Quick Revives and Head Starts (if the player has none) and skip missions.
Development[]
Gameplay from the very first prototype. created by Luke Muscat in one day in Flash
The development of Jetpack Joyride started shortly after Luke Muscat's internal team at Halfbrick finished developing Monster Dash, with the idea to create a spin-off to it starring the Machine Gun Jetpack weapon. One of the goals the developers had was to make it a simple 1 button game that would be both easy to access and have some depth for more advanced players. Halfbrick originally envisioned the game to be developed in 4 weeks as a small project based on some of the elements from Barry's previous games, but delayed it after realizing that the time given was not enough to finish it and that releasing an unfinished game didn't feel like the right move after Fruit Ninja became a major success.[1]
According to Muscat, the game was mainly play tested by presenting the project to their co-workers in the company, who would have the it installed on their phones and give feedback. The team was updating the game every 2 weeks based on the responses collected.
Reception and Legacy[]
The game has become a critical success and is considered to be one of the best mobile games of all time. It was downloaded over 14 million times as of 2012 [2] and over 750 million by 2021 [3], and won several game awards.
Jetpack Joyride became one of Halfbrick's flagship games alongside Fruit Ninja. When Monster Dash received an overhaul update in 2014, it borrowed several elements from its successor, such as high-five missions and levels dedicated to dodging obstacles with a jetpack for as long as possible.
Game Awards[]
Jetpack Joyride is the winner of:
- Gamasutra Mobile Game of 2011
- TUAW Best iPhone Game of 2011
- UGO iOS Game of the Year
- Game Revolution Best Mobile Game 2011
- App Store Rewind
- iPhone Game of the Year Runner Up
Trivia[]
- This is one of the few Halfbrick games to be ported to consoles, besides Age of Zombies on the PSP.
- This is one of the few games to have a re-release on Apple Arcade.
References[]
| Barry Steakfries series | |
|---|---|
| Main Series |
Age of Zombies · Monster Dash · Jetpack Joyride (releases) · Jetpack Joyride 2 (Demo Version) · Age of Zombies 2 |
| Spin-offs |
Jetpack Joyride India Exclusive · Jetpack Joyride Test Labs |
| Web Series |
Barry Steakfries Rock Operas · Barry Vlog · Jetpack Joyride Shorts · The Ballad of Barry Steakfries |
| Printed Media |
Dynamite Fruit Ninja · Barry Steakfries: From The Files Of Jetpack Joyride · The Art of Halfbrick |
| Other Media |
Jetpack Joyride Stickers · Jetpack Joyride (Board game) · Halfbrick Beyond · Halfbrick+ |
| Crossovers |
Fragger · Fruit Ninja · Raskulls · Minecraft · Star Skater · Dan The Man · Magic Brick Wars · Battle Racing Stars · Fruit Ninja 2 |