Can this clumsy robot find his true purpose?
Jettomero is the name of our protagonist robot who wakes up with no idea where he is, who he is or what his purpose is. He comes to the quick conclusion that he’s a hero, saving worlds from enemies his size, but he’s so clumsy that he causes destruction around him as he walks around. He’s a giant robot and the small planets that he walks on are populated by small people and buildings, which he destroys by walking through them…but at least he’s apologetic about it.
The aim of the game is to gather fuel cells so you can launch to the next planet, while some will hold hostile enemies that are defeated by a quick-time event. There are collectables to be found on the planets that Jettomero can find by stomping the ground, other than that…there’s not a whole lot else to do here. Ultimately the basic gameplay can be understood in a few minutes and while there’s a nice story here, the rest of the game is the same rinse and repeat for a few more hours.
It’s a shame really since there’s a lot of charm to be found here. Jettomero is adorable and his story is intriguing, I just wish there were more depth and variety to the gameplay. There’s little reason to return once you’ve finished the game, which adds to the missed opportunities this game has.
Visually, Jettomero is a charming cel-shaded game that looks like a comic-book and the art style works really well. Jettomero himself is nicely animated and the worlds and enemies are imaginative and detailed well, it runs smoothly too. The soundtrack isn’t too bad either.
The Verdict
Jettomero: Hero of the Universe is a quirky and interesting game, but one that runs out of ideas incredibly quickly and you spend the rest of the game just repeating the same pattern. It’s a shame since there’s a lot of potential here, both visually and in terms of a story that hit the mark…but alas the gameplay is limited, which lets the whole thing down.