Some readers may wonder what a review of the video game Jumanji: Wild Adventures has to do with Dice Daniel’s website: a blog about (mostly) board games. That Dice Daniel is a blog about only board games has been outdated for x number of years, as we review everything that is playful. Besides, Jumanji actually has quite a lot to do with board games….
Background
Jumanji is a movie based on the book of the same name. In the original 1995 Jumanji movie, children Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game called Jumanji. The game announces itself with heavy African drums and hides something sinister. The game turns out to be a dangerous version of Candy Land. Players roll the dice and play pieces move around the board. Some throws are more dangerous than others, as jungles (such as beastly animals) come to life with each move. Judy and Peter meet Alan Parrish, played by Robin Williams, who has been stuck in the game since childhood. The children join forces with Alan to complete the adventure safely. The original Jumanji is a classic children’s film and nostalgic trip to my own childhood.
Following the success of Jumanji, the film Zathura: A Space Adventure was released in 2005: a spiritual sequel to Jumanji by the same writer. The story of Zarutha centers on two brothers who discover a mysterious board game called Zathura. Unlike the jungles of Jumanji, Zathura moves players into space. Zarutha is a reimplementation of the same concept: a bit of the Space Marines of Catan versus the base game of Catan.
In 2017, the soft reboot of Jumanji was released with the subtitle Welcome to the Jungle. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is set 20 years after the original film. In this modern reinterpretation of Jumanji, where the game is no longer a board game but a video game, four high school students discover an old computer game during detention. Board games, of course, were out of date… When they want to play the game and have chosen their playable characters, they literally crawl into the bodies of their chosen characters and are sucked into the world of Jumanji. Not such a big deal for some teens when they crawl into the body of The Rock or Karen Gillan, but as a teenage girl, you might prefer not to turn into Jack Black.
With their new identities and skills, the teens must complete the game to return to the real world. In addition to the world of Jumanji, they also learn about themselves. As with the original film, there is a player in the game who has disappeared since childhood. The film also contains some sporadic references to the original film, but otherwise it is a standalone sequel. In 2019, The Next Level was released as a sequel to Welcome to the Jungle. The twist is that players play with different characters and new players appear on the scene.
Of course, board games inspired by Jumanji appeared, but after Welcome to the Jungle, tie-in video games stayed out for a while. Only when The Next Level appeared did Outright Games release a video game, and this November Jumanji: Wild Adventures was released. Dr. Bravestone, Ruby Roundhouse, Mouse Finbar and Professor Oberon once again return to Jumanji to face the dangers.
Wild Adventures
In this cooperative adventure, players take on the roles of the aforementioned characters from the more recent Jumanji films. In a top down perspective, players run and whack their way through various levels based on different areas of Jumanji. Graphically, the game is not impressive and is somewhat reminiscent of games such as Temple Run: simple environments inspired by temples from exotic places.
Game play is simple. Players drive in Nigel’s signature jeep on an overworld from level to level. Each level has a similar structure, and the game is somewhat reminiscent of family games from the PlayStation 2 era. Players can slap, jump, roll and must jump from platform to platform, dodge obstacles, defeat beasts that pounce on players and solve simple puzzles. Sometimes a final boss appears where players must discover patterns momde enemy to defeat. Players sometimes unlock (temporary) upgrades and, in addition, each character has special properties, which does make playing with 3 friends a necessity. Jumanji is primarily a simple family game that even the smallest fans of Jumanji can play.
