Get Good: Jetpack Joyride gadgets and gear Part 2

Jetpack Joyride, Half Brick Studio

Strategy Part 2

Vehicles

While you can’t actually select your vehicles (they’re assigned randomly), certain options are better than others. I’m not advising you actively avoid or destroy lesser vehicle packs (since every vehicle provides a single use extra life), but it’s important to know the benefits and limitations of every rig you jump into. Keep in mind that all vehicles can be permanently upgraded with large-radius coin magnets for 5,000 bucks each.

The Hog: Easily the fastest of all the vehicles, it’s also the hardest to control. Within seconds of jumping into the seat of this motorbike, your screen will be scrolling well beyond most humans’ reaction speed. As you barrel along, you’ll automatically kill scientists (Terminator style), and you have the option to launch the Hog into the air with your action key. If you get a few lucky jumps, you could score hundreds of meters out of the Hog, but don’t be surprised if you ram it directly into an impossibly fast-approaching rocket.

The (Crazy Freakin’) Teleporter: Awkward at first, the Teleporter is actually among the most powerful vehicles in Jetpack Joyride. Every time you activate its teleporting ability, your craft will magically apparate to the position indicated by the oscillating cursor. Your coordinates can’t be changed, but your vehicle will be invincible for about a quarter second every time you make a quantum leap. So, with perfect timing, you’ll actually be able to beam directly through deadly obstacles, staying alive for 1,000 or more meters.

The Stomper: What the Stomper lacks in speed it makes up in mass and vertical acceleration. This gigantic mech-style suit can leap and land the entire height of the screen in about a second, making it much more nimble than it looks. If you hold the action key after jumping, you’ll fire retrorockets that will slow (but not stop) your descent. This means you can correct mistimed leaps or more precisely collect long strings of coins. And while the huge size of the Stomper may seem like a downside, it means you’ll collect large amounts of gold with each jump.

The Profit Bird: No, this money-happy vehicle won’t actually generate or grab more coins than other craft; it will just laugh (to the bank, presumably) whenever your wallet gets fatter. Tap rapidly to ascend (as each tap is a wing flap), keeping in mind you don’t have a means to fall quickly when needed. Jetpack Joyride tends to generate particularly devious obstacle patterns for the Profit Bird, so try to stay mid-screen. This strategy will give you more time to correct for floor or ceiling positioned traps.

The Gravity Suit: Easily the worst vehicle in the game, the Gravity Suit is just too slow and unresponsive to be reliable. By hitting the action key, you’ll invert gravity (or revert it to normal) and Barry will “fall” up or down as desired. The problem is that the gravity-switch takes about half a second to go into effect, often far too late to save your life from upcoming perils. If you get stuck with the suit, do your best to survive, but just assume you’ll be losing this vehicle quickly.

Mr. Cuddles: This hilariously named mecha-dragon is extremely powerful for boosting your Jetpack Joyride high scores. Contrary to normal game mechanics, Mr. Cuddles will float at the top of the screen, only descending to burninate scientists when you press and hold the action key. While that may not seem particularly beneficial, the game tends to generate simple patterns whenever you get Mr. Cuddles. These patterns tend to include very few ceiling traps, meaning you’ll live a long time if you hover at the top, only hitting the action key when you see an upcoming burner, blaster, or missile at the ceiling. Ignore coins and upgrades further south; stick to the roof and you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this beast of a vehicle.

Jetpacks

All of the jetpacks in Jetpack Joyride function exactly the same: you press the action key (or tap the screen) to fire their thrusters. However, each jetpack’s propulsion system changes the way it impacts the game world.

The default Machine Gun Jetpack works by firing a deadly blast of bullets at anything under you. Indeed, it’s quite entertaining to watch your seemingly harmless flying adventure mow down civilians in a hail of cartoon gunfire. But if you’re trying to earn certain achievements/challenges that require you to progress without killing anyone, you’ll need to pick something else.

For instance, the Steam Powered Jetpack and the Bubble Gun Jetpack will launch you with a stream of harmless water vapor/bubbles. They’ll still knock down scientists, but won’t actually murder them, so you can complete pacifist challenges more easily and ethically. Other options, like the Laser Jetpack, can still kill civilians, so watch out!

Clothing

Clothing is completely aesthetic, only providing fun and humorous visuals for you the player. Some outfits are required to unlocks various achievements, but none are strictly needed to earn gold or get higher scores.