The year is 1983 and the video game craze is in full swing. Schoolchildren and businessmen alike are pumping quarters into the hot new arcade games like Mario Bros. and Dragon's Lair. The new ColecoVision is pushing the boundaries of home video game graphics. And new microcomputers from Atari and Commodore are taking America by storm.

In those days, the hard working characters of the video game business were a talented but mostly anonymous lot. The technological limitations of the era generally meant that most game characters looked like little generic pixelated objects that barely resembled a human. Most people didn't even know that there were actual individuals behind the anonymous sprites that inhabited their screens. It was thought that the game characters were just mindless drones that blindly reacted to the joystick movement and button presses. Of course it was true that the characters did have to follow the player's commands, but that wasn't all there was to gaming. Any old schmuck could jump in the air when the player pushed "A", but a real artist would leap with such grace and realism that it made the user believe that they were really in the game.

Every so often, a character like Pac-Man or Q*Bert would come along, take the public by storm, and lap up the limelight. However, that was the exception rather than the rule. Most of the video game character old-timers shunned the spotlight, believing that seeking fame and fortune was shameful and that a job well done is it's own reward.

It was into this world that Jumpman came of age. He first gained fame playing the part of "guy with sword" in the Atari 2600 hit Adventure and "humanoid running away from robots" in Stern's Berzerk. It was quickly obvious that Jumpman had everything it took to become a star. Soon, his phone was ringing off the hook with offers to star in the latest hit games. He became so popular that he had to hire an agent to represent him, which was unheard of at the time.

Jumpman took advantage of his fame, becoming rich and famous and living the life of a star. He partied with celebrities like Frogger and Frisky Tom. He drove fast cars with the Rally-X gang. He even got all the girls, and was often seen hanging out with the Bubble Bath Babes.

Times were changing in the video game world. All of the sudden, it was cool to be a famous character instead of just an anonymous sprite. Game characters were now trying to win big name parts in hot new games that would make them famous. When word got out that Nintendo was shopping around for a hero to star opposite of Donkey Kong in a new arcade game, every character in the world wanted to try out for the part. Everybody knew that Nintendo was going places, and the star of this game might even be more popular than Pac-Man. Jumpman was an obvious favorite for the part, and he was determined to win the audition.

The night before the Donkey Kong tryouts, Jumpman went to a party hosted by his old Berzerk co-star Evil Otto. Unfortunately, he had a little too much to drink that night and overslept. He was late to the audition and, suffering from an awful hangover, gave a horrible performance. He lost the part in Donkey Kong to a fat Brooklyn plumber named Mario.

Jumpman's was devastated by his failure at the Donkey Kong audition. His reputation also took a hit, with game developers starting to believe that he didn't take his job seriously enough. Game companies stopped calling him and his agent quit representing him. It looked as though Jumpman was finished in video games when suddenly he got a call with an offer that he could not refuse.

Jumpman traveled to San Francisco to the headquarters of a large game development company called Epyx. It was there that he met a game designer named Randy Glover who was creating a new action platformer game. Glover had heard of Jumpman's work and was interested in casting him as the hero of the as of yet un-named title. Jumpman was unsure about the offer since he had never appeared in a PC game before. However, Glover convinced him to try out for the role. With no pressure and nothing to lose, Jumpman performed exceptionally well and impressed the Epyx executives enough that he was offered the starring role.

Jumpman agreed to star in the new platformer, but he had one request, he wanted the game named after him. He knew that he had blown his chance to become a big star with the Donkey Kong debacle. Now, with his career clearly on the downswing, he wanted one last chance to become more than just an anonymous sprite. Jumpman wanted, just once, to see his real name in the game marquee.

Epyx agreed to his request and at the end of 1983, the action platformer Jumpman, designed by Randy Glover, was released for Atari 8-bit PCs.

Jumpman (1983: Atari 400/800, Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM-PC) by Epyx

In Jumpman, the player takes the role as a bomb disposal expert who must diffuse the many bombs that threaten to destroy a structure of ladders and platforms. According to the game's backstory, these events are taking place on Jupiter where terrorist aliens have set the bombs in order to destroy humanities headquarters. It's probably best not to think too hard about the backstory, or else you might find yourself asking silly questions like "How can humanity build bases on Jupiter, I though the planet was made out of gas?" or "If that base is so darn important, why did they only send one little dude to diffuse hundreds of bombs".

Jumpman features 30 levels that are increasingly more difficult. Each level takes place in a single screen with no scrolling, much like Donkey Kong. The player cannot just rely on reflexes, as some levels require that the bombs be diffused in a certain order.

Jumpman must run around the various platforms, jump across gaps, and climb ladders while collecting the bombs that are scattered throughout the level. While he's navigating the area, he must avoid robots, random projectiles, and the crumbling platforms. Jumpman does not carry a weapon of any kind, he is armed only with his mad jumping skillz and a jetpack. Much like Mario in Donkey Kong, he cannot fall very fall or else he will die on impact.
Although this doesn't sound like much today, back in '83, this was a big deal. Compute! magazine raved about Jumpman saying "No true arcade-game fan who takes joystick in hand and begins to manipulate Jumpman around the screen will be able to walk away without adding this product to his Atari, Commodore 64, or Apple collection".

After years in the video game business, Jumpman finally had his breakthrough, a game of his own. Now, game players would know who he was. Unfortunately, at the time, the PC game market was much smaller than it's console and arcade counterparts. Although Jumpman's game was a success, it was nowhere near as popular as games that appeared on other platforms. Jumpman realized that his dreams of superstardom would never happen.
However, while working on the PC game, Jumpman had an epiphany. He realized that appearing in video games wasn't about being popular and adored, it was about doing your best and feeling good about the finished product. Jumpman had more fun working on this game then he ever had before in his career.

Armed with a new outlook on life, Jumpman went back to being just another cog in the machinery of the video game industry. He worked with Epyx to release a sequel to his first game called Jumpman Jr. He then appeared in a handful of other PC and console games, reprising his old role as an anonymous character with no name or back story. Jumpman drifted from odd job to odd job, barely making enough to make ends meet but truly enjoying himself in the process.

The good times ended with the crash of the home video game industry in 1984. The Crash brought chaos to video game characters everywhere, putting many of them out of work. Soon, Nintendo came to save the day, promising a New Deal for down on their luck game characters. Jumpman took a number of jobs with Nintendo, but did not aspire to take one the starring roles that the Big N was just giving away like candy.

Eventually, the 8-bit era gave way to the 16-bit era, and the 16-bit era gave way to a new 3D world. This would finally be the end for Jumpman, as his 2D body was not able to stand up to the graphically intense modern gaming world. Jumpman left the games industry for good, riding off into the sunset and disappearing forever....

...Of course, this was not the end of Jumpman's story. He would later meet Pixel, who would lead him into a blood feud with Mario. Eventually, he would end up on faraway Blok-jima, where he would run into his new pal Pink Godzilla.

Today, Jumpman spends his days playing video games instead of starring in them. Sometimes he looks back at his career and wonders what could have been. But he also looks back at the days of Epyx, Randy Glover, and the Jumpman game, and is happy with what has been.