Jet Set Willy is a middle eighties release by Software Projects. It was published by the same company, and saw the ZX Spectrum as the lead platform, although it was ported to other systems, such as the home computer running the MS-DOS operating system. It is a single player platform game that uses either the keyboard or a joystick as an input device.
Jet Set Willy was written by Matthew Smith, who at the time of the Spectrum’s peak, was heralded as a video gaming genius.
Jet Set Willy is the sequel to the very popular game, Manic Miner, which was released in 1983. It also stars Miner Willy, who went on to become the protagonist in an entire Manic Miner franchise.
In Jet Set Willy, Willy the miner is very tired and wore out from all of his hard work in the previous titles. Moreover, he has just hosted a party and needs to clean up the mess left behind by his guests. His mansion, and the attached grounds, are all a mess, and his housekeeper Maria refuses to clean up after the shindig. Not only that, but she will not allow Willy access to his own bedroom so that he can rest
until the place is cleaned up. Willy has purchased an elaborate mansion with the riches he amassed in previous titles, and he has not even visited all of the rooms in his enormous mansion. Lots of surprises are in store for him and you as you travel around the property attempting to clean it up.
While Jet Set Willy has a very similar gaming engine to Manic Miner and is very simple to play, it is perhaps more interesting than its mining counterpart because of the variety of environments that Willy will encounter. He will have all sorts of rooms within his mansion that will be filled with some classic platform style enemies, and will also have to attack the roof of his home, the beach, and even the yacht that he owns that is floating in the marina. There are tons of different items to collect in each level. The level design is clever, regardless of the setting, and the interface is super user friendly. Then again, with only three controls, it can’t be too hard!
This is a fun little platformer, and many people (critics and casual gamers alike) feel that this is one of the greatest earlier platformers of all time, and can still stand up to today’s games in terms of game play and replay factor.
