Jazz: Trump’s Journey review

We don’t come across many platformers set in 1920s New Orleans that are based upon the life of Louis Armstrong, so we were intrigued to give this one a go. You play the protagonist, Trump – named for his instrument of choice rather than a blustery bowel – in his quest to form a band for the carnival. Along the way he picks up other band members and runs into plenty of trouble.

All the action is accompanied by an upbeat and, unsurprisingly given the title, jazzy soundtrack. Meanwhile story progression is by way of silent film style cut-scenes and text narration at the beginning of levels.

Gameplay starts off extremely easy, and Trump’s ability to freeze time with a toot on his trumpet removes nearly all challenge. But when you’re about ready to put it down the difficulty ramps up just in time with trumpet-resistant obstacles and pitfalls that increase the difficulty.

There is plenty of variation with moving platforms, boxes, rope swings, fiery-note-horn-things and more to get your teeth into and the game’s warm old-timey visual style adds to its appeal and brings real enjoyment as you help Trump on his way to success in music and even love.

Checkpoints are fairly frequent within levels, but game saves are only at the beginning of each level so you’ll have to get through a whole one to avoid repeating the task if you close the game.

There is some replayability value as there are plenty of musical notes to collect along the way, and a full haul of photographs opens up extra storyline scenes to enjoy. There are 13 levels in all, which kept us involved without dragging it out too much.

The game is free to download, but you’ll have to pay £2.79 to play past the first two levels. It’s different enough to other games to make it worthwhile,  and for some reason we have a sudden urge to book some trumpet lessons.