One screen platformer with a strategic side to it
Jetpack packs every level in the confines of a single screen. However, within each one you are tasked with collecting the many different items scattered around, the keys and whatever else the game throws at you. This could be easier to do, however, if the levels were not inhabited by enemies, enemies which cannot be gunned down, since your protagonist does not have any weapons at all. And so, the levels have to be tackled strategically, by waiting for the enemies to be in positions that allow you to evade them. This makes each level more interesting to consider, as you will learn the courses of each enemy, try to anticipate their behavior and to pick the collectibles in a manner which is in tune with your evasion strategy. However, thankfully, you can use your jetpack, which, to be honest seems to be a sort of manner of making the vertical climb physics seem less sketchy. Indeed you go upwards for a very short period of time, but using the jetpack doesn't feel like it was programmed per se, it seems as if it's a way to mask a lack of polish in the game engine. At any rate, with or without a jetpack you still have to climb stairs, so it doesn't really impact your vertical ascent that much. Alternatively, if you like the tactical/strategic portion of the game you might also enjoy The Lost Vikings which put forth their own type of strategic recipe, this type based on a collaborative design.
