Pumpkin Jack

Pumpkin Jack is overall an alright game. Every aspect added to it wasn’t deepening the depths of the ocean, but rather lengthening the size of the kiddie pool. Many things were added, but it felt like an attempt to hide its lack of depth because of the terrible implementation.

Pumpkin Jack is a superb game, but its flaws come baring teeth once the glass shatters and you start to notice them. The combat is fun and rewarding, the writing and story are fantastic, but there are certain parts of the game that fall short. Plus, for no more than 3 hours of playtime to finish, that $30 price tag is pretty hefty. Putting that aside, every single moment of that short playtime is fantastic. I loved every minute of it, and there’s no doubt that developer Nicolas Meyssonnier made something extra special here.

Pumpkin Jack is a charmingly old-school game that would fit perfectly into the PS1 era. It’s colorful, full of humor, and offers huge, well-designed levels. It tries many different ways to mix up the gameplay, which is great, but all these efforts are too safe to bring any real surprises.