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Giant Bomb Review

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Jungler Review

2
  • XBGS

Jungler's mix of shooting, snakes, and mazes gives you just enough variety to make Game Room's challenge system worthwhile.


 Who jungles the jungler?
 Who jungles the jungler?
Konami's Jungler is part maze game and part shooter, like some sort of weird mix of Exidy's Targ, Pac-Man, and Atari's Surround. But I'll stop loading you down with dumb references to other games you've probably never heard of. That's the key thing about Jungler: you've probably never seen it before. In a world where the same 25 arcade "classics" get released every few years, it's nice to have a little fresh blood on the scene. Microsoft's Game Room has set the stage for Jungler to see a fresh, digital release and it's a decent addition.

Jungler has its moments, but it's definitely not terrific. You play as a snake-looking "ship" that moves around a maze. There are up to four other snake/ships in the maze, as well, and you can fire shots at the enemy ships' tails to reduce their size. If a snake is smaller than yours, it turns green and can be eaten. If it's red, a head-to-head collision will kill you. You'll get the most points by shooting down the enemy snakes until there's nothing left, rather than eating them once they're short enough. Fruit occasionally appears in the maze, as well, which adds a segment to your snake when eaten. Once you've cleared enough snakes, the level ends and the game moves forward to the next level. There are multiple mazes.

Jungler fits into the Game Room challenge and leaderboard system pretty well. Like most arcade games of its era, it's a very score-focused game, and it gets tough after a few levels, giving you plenty of opportunities to set up late-game survival challenges that are actually challenging. But the simplistic nature of the game--and I'm talking about its simplicity compared to other Game Room releases here--makes it fall flat a little sooner than some of the other available games.

If you've managed to start a cult of hardcore Jungalos and you know you'll get a lot of hot and heavy challenge action out of them, Jungler's definitely worthwhile. But on its own, the game's appeal can be pretty short-lived.
Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

101 Comments

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AltonBrown

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Edited By AltonBrown

WHAT BLASPHEMY IS THIS?!

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the8bitNacho

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Edited By the8bitNacho

Dude, this is happening.  This actually fucking happening.

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NoXious

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Edited By NoXious

Who is this man, and what did you do to Jeff Gerstmann?
5 star review was expected >.>

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Milkman

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Edited By Milkman

Bias bullshit.
 
This is a AAAA game.

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the8bitNacho

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Edited By the8bitNacho
@NoXious said:

" Who is this man, and what did you do to Jeff Gerstmann?5 star review was expected >.> "

Why's that?  I remember him actually saying on the first Bombcast where he talked about this game that Jungler was bad and not worth playing.
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mattbodega

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Edited By mattbodega

I want to be a Jungalo.

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SammydesinasNL

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Edited By SammydesinasNL

AAAAARRRGGGGHHHHH!
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vaiz

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Edited By vaiz

Those things you shoot in Deadly Premonition are actually Jungalos. You can tell because of the facepaint.

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Yummylee

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Edited By Yummylee

Didn't expect any of this O.O Front page will be filled with game-room reviews.
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turbo_toaster

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Edited By turbo_toaster

Jesus lookit the schnoz on that one on the cover. Nightmares for days.

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PosableActionFigure

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Man! This is a snake eat snake game.

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Dynamitekyle

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Edited By Dynamitekyle

Sounds about right.

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gla55jAw

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Edited By gla55jAw

Jungler fans to boycott Giant Bomb?

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dbz1995

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Edited By dbz1995

OMG YOU GIVE SHIT LIKE MW2 5/5 AND JUNGLER 2/5? UR SUCH A NOOOB ROFLCOPTER OMGOMG SERUSSSLY JNGLER IS SO SIMPLE AND AWSUM THT ONLY FROOBS WLDNT LYK IT

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NoXious

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Edited By NoXious
@Kombat:
True he never said a GOOD word about it, but the duder always brought up Jungler.
First thing we saw when Game Room was out? Jungler...
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Schizoid

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Edited By Schizoid

It's Kane & Lynch all over again.

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Vorbis

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Edited By Vorbis

He only gave it a five because he's a fanb... oh wait.

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Crono

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Edited By Crono

Jungler is 2/5?  What is this shit!?

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thatfrood

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Edited By thatfrood

That is probably the most terrifying boxart I have ever seen.

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JNash

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Edited By JNash

Paid off by The Man to give it a low score tbh.

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sjupp

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Edited By sjupp

That picture is mildly disturbing.

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angryemu

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Edited By angryemu

Jeff, how could you? 
 
I'LL SHOOT OFF YOUR TAIL - THEN I'LL RAM YOU!!

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Jeffsekai

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Edited By Jeffsekai

jerk

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TheHT

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Edited By TheHT

you're really doing it :o

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drowsap

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Edited By drowsap

And 2 down

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Tordah

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Edited By Tordah

Blasphemy! Jungler deserves more than 2 stars. 
 
I even like it more than Pac-Man due to its strategic possibilities.

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carolynp

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Edited By carolynp

Respectfully disagree on this one. I guess it's because I've had some players of similar skill on my friends' list who have engaged in a hard-fought and exciting high score battle with me, but I've actually found Jungler, while simple on the surface, to really reward skillful play and be one of the best games available for Game Room.

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robownz7

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Edited By robownz7

I'm not going to lie, Jungler and Lunar Lander are the only two good games in Game Room right now.

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jacob816

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Edited By jacob816

YO! DON'T BE BIASED YOU JUNGLER HATER!!! US JUNGALOS WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS OUTRAGE!

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CptBedlam

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Edited By CptBedlam

Better than Tony Hawk RIDE. F*ck Yeah!

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beargirl1

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Edited By beargirl1

wtf is this shit 

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Xcessive

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Edited By Xcessive

Giantbombs done. its over!  ITS OVER
you lost me as a reader on this day not to mention countless others with this.

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kraznor

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Edited By kraznor

Having put around four hours into this game, I'm not sure I agree. I think its because I tasted the top of the leaderboards and I want to get back up there. This game gets stupid hard.

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vager

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Edited By vager

I'm  enjoying the community reaction on this one. 

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LeBart

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Edited By LeBart

Jeff, you're fired.

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NickNorman

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Edited By NickNorman

These reviews are great. I was actually considering buying a few games on Game Room, and being informed is half the battle.

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Pkshields

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Edited By Pkshields

See what youv'e down now Gerstmann? Talk about the Call of Duty fanboys, the Jungalos are out to get you now.

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Vinchenzo

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Edited By Vinchenzo

I have an erection.

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bejavi

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Edited By bejavi

You actually did it!  Awesome!

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priorityseven

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Edited By priorityseven
@angryemu said:
" Jeff, how could you?   I'LL SHOOT OFF YOUR TAIL - THEN I'LL RAM YOU!! "
SNAKES ALIVE!
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RedSox8933

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Edited By RedSox8933

I actually think Jungler is one of the better Game Room games so far.

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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews
Gasp!  EIGHT POINT EIGHT
(If it's the first hit on Google that automatically makes it a meme, right?)
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Impossibilium

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Edited By Impossibilium

No video review?
 
Shame.

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renmckormack

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Edited By renmckormack

Don't even worry about it my Jungalos and Jungalettes, everything will be equalized at the dark carnival*

 

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renmckormack

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Edited By renmckormack

Jungalowes
 

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AlwaysAngry

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Edited By AlwaysAngry

This game looks like shit, I have never played it, but wow. I don't even know how long this game has been around, but just a tip to people, you can't review a game off nostalgia.

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Coleslaw893

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Edited By Coleslaw893

Snakes alive! That game picture is more disturbing than Clowns!

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munnyman5

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Edited By munnyman5

I used to be way into HALO 3 but then I discovered Jungler, a 5-star game as far as I'm concerned. I could Jungle all day an all night, and still have more Jungler to Jungle before I'm done Junglin'.
So now I have one thing to say:
 

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Tuffty

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Edited By Tuffty

That moment on the Bombcast last week where Jeff got called out by someone claiming they could beat him at Jungler, and Jeff's response to that, was one of my favourite moments in any Bombcast.

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zaglis

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Edited By zaglis

2 stars? That aint cool.