Jumanji: The Video Game (2019)

Remember that time the great Michael Bluth said, “I don’t know what I expected” on Arrested Development? That’s me with this PlayStation 5 version of Jumanji: The Game. That game was beyond salvageable back when it first came out; brute forcing it with improved hardware specs in order to look, sound and play like a mediocre last-gen game wasn’t going to be a solution.

Jumanji: The Video Game is really a disaster. The gameplay is extremely repetitive and boring, the visuals and AI are outdated and there's no stroy-line to stitck these all together. The price is too high and the reasons to buy this game are very few. Jumanji is one of the worst examples of movies turned into games.

Some games are so good that can set the bar and serve as a benchmark for other games, and some games are so bad that can do the same but in the other direction. Jumanji falls into the second category though, as it is so bad in everything that can be considered a benchmark for bad games. Maybe the only positive thing about Jumanji is that it is so short that whoever is playing it will not suffer for a long time!

Jumanji The Videogame is a huge disappointment. What could have been a fun, fantastic action adventure co-op game with comedy is instead turned into something terribly mundane. There is little challenge, little variation, and little reason to actually play through it. Even for a game aimed at a younger audience, there is little reason or depth to want to continue playing this. The price range being $39.99 makes it even more puzzling and makes me wonder if the funds went toward mostly licensing the likeness of characters then making a decent game. The mechanics work alright, the core idea is solid, but this is the most basic, short, and lacking game I’ve played in a long time.

Jumanji: The Video Game is, unfortunately, yet another mindless tie-in game that is mostly repetitive with dull dialogue and uninspired gameplay.