Platformer Review Double Feature – Chris Unarmed & Johnny Platform Saves Christmas!

Since they’re both platformers, both cost 240 MS points, and both came out at almost exactly the same time, I thought I’d do a double feature and review Chris Unarmed and Johnny Platform Saves Christmas! together.

First up, let’s take a look at Chris Unarmed. I wasn’t too impressed with Chris Unarmed at first – the graphics & music were merely serviceable and the moveset was barren with wall jumping being the extent of your special abilities, but I kept with it and I’m glad I did. As the game progressed, it started adding all sorts of interesting things like doppelganger enemies that copy your every move, wind current mazes, treadmills that let you defy gravity, and more. One part that I thought was particularly neat was towards the end of the game, where you had to make your through some remade versions of earlier levels but in reverse – it was fun seeing how different the levels felt due to the changes.

Chris Unarmed took me about two hours to complete, but keep in mind that I skipped most of the bonus rooms and didn’t even try to get most of the coins. I daresay that unlocking the best ending (gained from getting all of the coins, most likely) would take a lot longer. The game has many difficult segments, but since you have an unlimited number of lives and respawn points are generous, it never becomes too unfair.

Moving on, let’s talk about Johnny Platform Saves Christmas! or JPSC for short.

The first Johnny Platform game was one of the early XBox Live Indie Game gems, a fun vertical platformer with well designed levels that were often as much puzzle as they were reflex challenges. If you liked the first game, you’re going to love the sequel, because it’s a huge improvement in almost every way. Want more levels? JPSC has 100 of them. Want more modes? JPSC has the main game mode as well as a time trial mode where you play as a different character who has an additional power (wall jumping). The levels are bigger and better designed. The new moves are fun to use and the graphics are noticeably better. In short, it’s fantastic. Really, the only way where the JPSC isn’t an improvement is in the price which is higher than the original game, but I’d say it’s more than worth paying a little extra for a game this good.

Both games are worth playing, but if I had to pick between them, I’d go for Johnny Platform Saves Christmas as it’s the more polished of the two titles (understandable since it’s a sequel). On the other hand, at a mere 240 MS points a piece, it wouldn’t break the bank to pick up both of them which is what I’d recommend if you have any love of 2D platformers. They’re some of the best examples of the genre on the service to date.