It would be hard enough for fifth-graders to search the museum for the names of artists basically everyone has heard of like Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso, but here come crossword clues about Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Winslow Homer, and Paul Klee !
Interface Spoiler: You can see every area on the map - including the obvious dam that you can select, but Jo Hammet will say "I can't go there, I'm on a case".Genre Shift: The is the first JumpStart game to break with the Wide-Open Sandbox format in favor of a more linear structure.X sends them out to keep her from disarming the bombs.
This actually makes sense - the thugs haven't been told to go after Jo yet. From the second level onwards, the thugs will begin to chase her, and during the Mad Libs minigame, they will start talking about what Jo might do to disarm the bomb. During the skateboard stages, the thugs never come after Jo at all so you're virtually in no danger. Gameplay and Story Integration: The first level is essentially a breather level.Of course, the game solves this issue by just never showing or mentioning her parents. Free-Range Children: Seriously, what were Jo Hammet's parents thinking? Would you let your ten-year-old daughter skateboard around the city at night, dodging a madman's goons and breaking into sabotaged industrial plants? And there's no way they couldn't have known about it because it's implied that she became the town hero.Four-Fingered Hands: Jo Hammet and all the other characters.Thankfully, unlike the previous two games, the amount of items have been severely reduced to just 18, since there are only six missions. Fetch Quest: Jo has to collect three items around Hooverville that will help her reach each bomb.There are also funny smartass lines which are fun to select, but which nearly always dead-end the conversation. Dialogue Tree: Generally, the game wants you to select lines which are polite, honest, and get to the point.Alphabet Soup Cans: Isn't it convenient how all the puzzles Jo has to solve just happen to be at her grade level?.Averted with the Spatula Factory technician - you actually have to talk to him and give him the idea to use a giant spatula as a makeshift catapult.Police Are Useless: Did nobody notice a pattern with the intended bomb targets and think to call the police?.("You're not coming?", "I think I'll wait in my car.")
Adults Are Useless: Especially the factory technicians who are all too cowardly to do anything about the bomb, but are totally okay with a ten-year-old girl risking her life to disarm it.Acid Pool: Jo has to walk across one at the chemical plant.Help Bernie mix up some drinks at the Squishy Juice Bar, collect some artifacts in Hooverville's mines for Maggie Mead, and assist Jimmy the Shadow in reorganizing some trash at the city dump, all while trying not to get caught by Dr. In order for Jo to reach the bombs at all, she needs to gather three particular items from certain places around town, provided you do an activity first.