Astro Joust

Astro Joust is an unabashed ripoff of the 1980's arcade game, Joust (copyright Atari Interactive/Warner Brothers Interactive, 1982). The only appreciable difference is the emus were re-skinned to be astronauts, which makes even less sense than the emus, and it's not enough differentiation to put the "developers" of this garbage out of risk of legal trouble should Warner Brothers decide to enforce their intellectual property rights. It goes without saying, but the unwritten rule of stealing someone else's game concept is to try to at least do slightly better than the intellectual property these "developers" are ripping off for profit. Gameplay itself is just Joust. You bounce around a 2D retro pixel single screen arena and try to hit other [strike]emus[/strike] astronauts on the head. You can "fly" by mashing the jump button, possibly the inspiration for the crap mobile app, Flappy Bird. Whoever is higher altitude when two [strike]emus[/strike] astronauts run into each other wins. From a technical perspective, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard. A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel "art" as a substi…

Astro Joust is simple and delightful. If you have an opportunity just to play some local multiplayer games, you really can't go wrong with this. It's not the most exciting or has super refined systems, but it's a charming game and all elements of it are polished.

Astro Joust, developed and published by Mutant Entertainment Studios, is a compact arcade-style arena brawler built around jetpack mobility and chaotic multiplayer clashes. Designed primarily for quick sessions and local competitive play, the game embraces simplicity in both concept and execution. Its core idea—players hovering in 2D arenas while attempting to knock each other out of bounds—feels like a direct homage to classic arcade jousting titles, updated with a space-themed aesthetic and a few modern twists. The primary gameplay revolves around maneuvering a small jetpack-equipped character within confined arenas. Movement is floaty and momentum-based, requiring players to carefully manage thrust and positioning. Victory depends less on complex combos and more on spatial awareness and timing. Players must angle themselves to collide with opponents in advantageous ways, pushing them into hazards or off the arena entirely. The arenas themselves feature varied layouts with obstacles and environmental elements that influence strategy, though the fundamental goal remains straightforward: outmaneuver and outlast your opponents. One of the more distinctive mechanics appears after e…

Nah

I suspect that if one were to dig deep enough, they might discover a good game here. The question is, how deep should one have to dig? A good game should feel like a good game from the very first time you play. The first 10 times or so I played this game, the main thought I had was, what am I missing? What key thing about this game am I not getting? I can't help thinking that a good tutorial would make a world of difference here. The expectation, at least for me, was that this game was going to be similar to the Williams classic arcade game "Joust" and that's how I tried to play it, but it's not Joust.

The controls don't work. I attempted a single game where I found that I could only move in one direction and not jump. Not worth it at 40 pence right now.