Jetpack Joyride escapes from the Xbox lab onto Windows Phone 8 at long last

By Paul Acevedo
last updated

The last two weeks have been full of great news for Xbox Windows Phone gamers. Last week we got the stunning Rayman Jungle Run, yesterday Microsoft announced Halo: Spartan Assault, and today doesn’t disappoint either. No, Gameloft didn’t suddenly release N.O.V.A. 3. But an equally requested title has just popped up…

Halfbrick Studio’s Jetpack Joyride is finally – FINALLY available on Windows Phone 8. It runs on devices with 512 MB of RAM. And it’s free! Are you ready for an endless runner that involves a lot more flying than running? Of course you are.

To infinity and beyond

The game’s protagonist Barry Steakfries has recently started working as a jetpack tester. He soon discovers that his bosses plan to take over the world. He steals the jetpack and begins a desperate escape from the testing laboratory… But this is an endless runner, so don’t expect to actually escape from the lab.

Jetpack Joyride’s controls couldn’t be simpler. Since Barry runs forward automatically, all you need to do is tap the screen to activate his jetpack. The longer you touch the screen, the higher he’ll fly. Sometimes he’ll gain vehicles like a dragon and chicken that mix the controls up a bit and keep things exciting.

Coinage

The ever-present goal is to collect as many coins as possible before you run into one of the lab’s many death traps. Coins can then be spent in the shop to unlock new clothes (including an outfit based on fellow publisher Miniclip’s Fragger!), jetpacks, and various items and upgrades. Utilities are single use items while Gadgets and Vehicle Upgrades offer permanent benefits.

Being a free-to-play game, coins can also be purchased with real money. The IAP prices are actually reasonable, so you know Gameloft didn’t make this one. One purchase you’ll definitely want to make as soon as possible is the Counterfeit Machine. It permanently doubles the amount of coins you pick up during gameplay. Wish Gravity Guy 2 had offered that option!

Mission to Mars

Just like Gravity Guy 2 (which basically copied this game), Jetpack Joyride gives players three optional missions to work on at any given time. These include things you’d do anyway like playing X number of games or collecting Y number of vehicles. Other goals require a change in routine, such as reaching a specific distance without collecting precious coins. I know it hurts, but sometimes you’ve gotta leave money on the table.

Naturally completing missions will unlock several Xbox Achievements. Jetpack Joyride has a total of 20 Achievements, all of which are identical to the Windows 8 version’s. All told, it should be a fairly easy completion.

Strap on and get flying

So far Jetpack Joyride looks every bit as enjoyable and addictive as the Windows 8 version we’ve been enjoying for months. Yes, this version took far too long to pass Xbox Live certification, but it’s here now and that’s what matters. Let’s hope Halfbrick brings us their latest game Fish out of Water much sooner!

Jetpack Joyride – Windows Phone 8 – 36 MB – FREE – Store Link

Thanks to everyone who tipped us. We love you all! Even Mark Tepper.

Paul Acevedo
Paul Acevedo

Paul Acevedo is the Games Editor at Windows Central. A lifelong gamer, he has written about videogames for over 15 years and reviewed over 350 games for our site. Follow him on Twitter @PaulRAcevedo. Don’t hate. Appreciate!

139 Comments
  • The fact that they kept it free is amazing... Most other devs would charge for ports on windows phone 8... 
  •  
    The fact that I can't continue playing where I left off on WIndows 8 makes this as useless as XBL title can ever be. Should have released without draconian XBL certificate months ago
  • Some people will never be happy...
  • some people have higher standards
  • some people have all the luck
  • Some people are pathetic troll
  • some people only comment negatively about the platform
  • Jesus, just kill yourself now to end the perpetual misery surely coming your way
  • Oh  noes you must buy all your upgrades again, whatever will you do.
  • I'm more than happy to play through the game again. It was a fun game, and now, double achivements!!
  • FavBrowser, you should abstain from hyperbole. It's a great poetic device but terrible in normal conversation and criticism.
  • I was shocked!
  • Pretty awesome that it's free! I've been waiting for this game for a while! And now one less reason to use my Tab 2. Now I only use it for Subway Surfers, Vine, and Keek.
  • Vine app by Rudy is coming soon
  • Free with Xbl. GET ON MY PHONE NOW!!!!
  • +1
  • Finallyyy.. Thnk you MSFT...
  • I command the game to be on my phone NOWWWW!!!!!!!! LOL
  • Sweeeeet
  • Hurray for a free Xbox game! I enjoy this on my Surface and I'm sure I'll enjoy it on WP too.
  • This news made my day!! YAYYYYY :D :D
  • I love our platform.. Its makers.. And its associates.. I love whoever cares..
  • I care, thanks! :)
  • Sure! <3
  • Love ya too!
  • Ok it's getting uncomfortable
  • Embrace the love! /hug
  • My brother from another mother
  • I love lamp.
  • Just put the trident down.
  • Now I just need to get Pinball FX with all of my Marvel and Star Wars Tables and I will be very happy!
  • I don't you but I experienced some FPS drop on my Lumia 920...
  • I had some wierd lags with my Ativ S :o Just some random sh!t, but..
    Although it could be because I have like 100mb free space :D
  • Works fine on my Lumia 920
  • I had the top scores a while ago hahah
  • AWESOME!!! Love it on Windows 8!
  • great game, just REALLY wish the w8 and wp8 versions synced progress and shared achievements...
  • Biggest complaint next to not being able to back up my saved games
  • Shared achievements... No no no
    I got 100% in Windows 8 .. Doing it on WP8 now B-)
  • Why shared achievements? not many games have that (if any at all), and I think most people like the chance to double dip the gamerscore
  • Yup, I'm happy to earn double chiveos for this game!
  • Install now before it becomes paid!! Just saying ;)
  • It's free on android unlike iOS
  • It's free on all 3 of OSes.
  • it's not free on PSP/PS Vita ;P
  • It exists on psp ? Plus I think I saw it for a dollar on iOS
  • http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2012/11/21/jetpack-joyride-rockets-onto-p...
     
    The game is in the Minis categories when you look for it in Playstation Store.
  • I am wondering if this is the big app that Daniel alluded to yesterday.
     
    Either way I am all over this like a fat kid (so me) on a Twinkie.
  • Wondering why it doesnt sync with my windows 8
  • I'm glad it doesn't. That way you'll get twice the achievements ;D
  • Yeah .. Lol
    Double achievements any day
  • Obligatory post whining about no 7.8 port :-P
  • no jokes.. this really makes me sad. I am to use my current wp7.8 until atleast june 2014 and I am deprived of all games and apps. I am still supporting wp full heartedly even when MS screwed us.
  • You didn't get screwed, you bought an out of date phone with an old OS. Do your research in future. That being said, I am sad WP7 users didn't get this =(
  • when i bought windows phone at that time there was no clearity on the release of wp8 or whether wp7 will get upgraded or not. So you mean to say i shouldn't have bought the "latest" wp device then ?
    I am a wp fan.. but accept that MS screwed wp7 users badly, and I blame Nokia in it partly too.
  • you complain on a free game when you guys with WP7.x got Chaos Ring, the Rabbid game from last week, Ms Explosion and many others that was WP7 exclusive?
    Also, some old WP7 games still don't work on WP8 yet because of incompatibility. And don't forget the Nokia exclusives, you also have a few games (both on WP7 and WP8) that was Nokia exclusive before (parking mania, spy mouse, trivia pursuit and many more). Add all those to the collection.
  • I am one Lumia 900 user that simply will not complain about these apps. I purchased my Lumia 900 fully aware, so even if I wanted to complain, I would hope that someone would soundly set me straight on the matter. Really, there are plenty of satisfying games and apps available for WP7.5/7.8 users; couple that with a great user experience - shouldn't be any complaints.
  • You could buy a cheap WP8 mobile outright. You can get them in the $150-450 range depending on the model. Swap out the SIM and keep your old phone for the WP7-only games :)
  • AWESOME.. now all i need is Subway Surfers,Granny Smith,Candy Crush Saga And Temple Run 2 !
  • I really would like Subway Surfers as well!
  • Jetpack Joyride is the tits!
  • Great comment. It is a great game too.
  • Sorry, I though the comment could have been a little better, I'm an ass man!
  • lol, thanks for the mention Paul. :P
  • Runs well and looks as good as Jetpack Joyride on any other platform. A couple of menus are awkward in that they aren't sized to the screen and they just sit on a black background; I don't remember seeing that with any other platform. It also hasn't been able to log in to Xbox Live. But that particular problem seems to affect a lot of games and it is still recording achievements properly.
  • Yep, why did they letter box the menus?
  • What menus are letterboxed (on a black background)? If you are talking about the Stash and Achievements menus then you need to take a closer look at the background, its not letterboxed, its designed that way. The background have a little bit of steel like color in the middle of the sides (as if a low light is coming from the sides)
  • "copied this game" this game has existed on other devices much before gravity guy 2
  • Yes, that is how GG2 was able to copy it. You misunderstood the wording there.
  • Oh now I understand what you meant
  • Yey yey yey!
  • Praise Jeebus!
  • Finally, such a fun game...good times for us :-)
  • Remember that whole game drought thing we were all mad about?  HAHA!  Oh thank you MS for proving us wrong!!!
  • That is totally behind us now man.
  • Exactly!  If only we could get Subway Surfers!  I just sent Kiloo a "Pretty Please" email!!  :p
  • nah ah .. we need more games.. !! Temple Run 2 ,Subway Surfers,Granny Smith,Bejeweled Blitz,Clash Of The Clans,Fish Out Of Water,Virtua Tennis,Ski Safari,Vector And Mini Motor Racing ... XD ! :D
  • Cool
  • to bad the counterfeit machine isn't synched in this version when I bought it on Win8 last year. That would be a great extra between WP8 and Win8.
  • After you buy the Counterfeit machine, are you able to download it again free in case you delete the game? That's my big question about DLC.
  • i am not gonna buy the CM again on WP8, i am gonna complete the game without it like i did with monster burner. I was just saying that is sad that people who bought it on Win8 cannot use it on WP8 and vice versa. A fusion between the two platforms would be great.
  • Finall. YES
  • Awesome game. Thanks for bringing this good news WPCentral
  • When will windows phone 8 games and windows 8 games sync together?if ever?
    It's really annoying that this isn't yet possible.
  • There are already a few that do (at least game progress wise), Such as Skulls of the Shogun and Galactic Reign. I'm sure there are a couple more but I don't know about em
  • Halo: Spartan Assault will as well! But for games to sync across platforms, they really need to be designed to do so from the start. Jetpack Joyride technically could've been, but the WP8 version came out so much later and it doesn't seem like Halfbrick considered syncing way back whenever they started the two versions.
  • this is one of best days for wp users,two very good games and both for free.....tower defense game Royal Revolt! and the endless runner jetpack joyride......amazing...
  • OMFG finally yes!!!
  • amazing. pretty much sums up this news :)
  • Don't know why you guys are soo crazy about this game. For Christ's sake, this game sucks.
  • Personally I love this game. Great time waster and addictive too, kind of like Temple Run
  • Way to make a mature argument, Kenz. :P
  • Finally! I've been waiting for this game to come out. Playing it on Win 8 is nice but glad to finally have it on the phone.
  • HELLZ YES!! OMG! I always check google for apps and games for windows phone.
  • Gravity guy, now Jetpack joyride still not even compatible with WP7. What the f**k? Why everything only for WP8?
  • because WP7 is dead, muerte, morte.
    Not the same OS and hardware as WP8, that's why.
  • Jetpack Joyride can run on Windows Phone 7 devices without a doubt if it runs on older iOS handsets.
  • tell that to the developper of the games. Microsoft, WP8 or even Nokia has nothing to do about what game is released to the WP7/8 or phone brand/device.
    If Halfbrick decided to release this game to WP8 only, that's their choice. MS is only doing the certification and XBL for the games (develops them too if they are the developper, like for the new Halo game)
  • Most of Android and iOS games/apps are written in C++
    WP 8 supports C++ so it's very easy to port a game and then just optimize it to run perfect.
    The biggest mistake on WP 7.x is tha it only supports games/apps written in C# so to port a game from iOS and Android to WP 7.5 developers need to rewritte the whole app/game from the beginning something very annoying and lengthy.(That's the main reason that almost every 0.99$ iOS/Android app/game on WP 7.x costs 2.99$
    MS made a big mistake with C#,C++ on WP7.x.
    I owned HTC radar an amazing phone and sadly i had to upgrade to HTC 8x very fast because of the reason i explained to you!
    Let's hope people on MS will learn from their noobish mistakes like this on WP 7.x and improve
     
  • Gravity Guy 1 is available on WP7...
  • I meant those games like Gravity guy 2, temple run, where's my water/perry, etc. No doubt they can absolutely play on Wp7.
  • They could, but developers would need to completely recode their games to make them run on WP7. With WP8, they can port their existing code much more easily, and the improved hardware specs give them more room to work with as well. The divide between WP7 and WP8 is unfortunate, but the best thing you can do is get used to it and plan to upgrade, because it's not going to change in the future.
  • I'll wait until it's discounted.
  • I'll wait until price drops to 99 cents
  • Hopefuly halfbrick will bring most of their titles to WP like Rovio did.
    Please HALFBRICK re-port fruit ninja to WP and make WP 8 only so we can receive every update!
  • huh??  I have Fruit Ninja on my WP8 (that I bought last year on my old WP7 and already finished it too)
  • I mean to port Fruit Ninja as a WP8 only game like Rovio did last month with Angry Birds Classic/Original.
     
  • and why it would be a good choice, to port it only to WP8? FN doesn't have any extra levels or bonuses like AB. Porting to WP8 only will not bring any new to me, it's gonna be the same game as before, probably the same achievements too, unless they add the DLCs the X360 version has now with those extra achievements.
    Also Fruit Ninja came out way before WP8 was even released so they had no choice to release it to WP7 back in that time, Jetpack Joyride came out today when both WP7 and WP8 are still available, so they had to make a choice: release it to both phone or only to WP8.
  • They need to make it WP 8 only
    1)To support new devices HD display resolution
    2)Run on 60 FPS in WP8 devices
    3)It's much more easier to optimize/update/fix the game/app when it's written on C++ directly ported for iOS or Android (instead of C# that supports WP 7.x and every time everything is needed to be rewritten)
     
  • The WP7 version of Fruit Ninja is way, way behind the iOS version. Halfbrick released it and then abandoned it.
  • I would love it if Halfbrick followed Rovio's ways and ported another version for WP7 handsets.
  • Crashes every 5-10 seconds on my HTC 8x :(
  • So happy to be hearing this, it's pretty awesome that they kept if free. Will download right away!
  • is that the cc-1043 case in the picture? if so how does his buttons show out like that. that is the only thing i hate about the case.
  • I just wish Square would release Chaos Rings to WP8, since I bought it last week on my old phone and didn't think it wouldn't work on my new 928.
  • We hear that it will be patched for WP8 eventually. Fingers crossed!
  • Nice app
  • No cloud sync (/w w8 version) though
  • finally a Super Nice Game, it is even better than andoroid version!!!!!!
  • I know this sounds like whining... but I play this game EVERY DAY with my 3 yr old (who is really kickass at it), and his big attraction to the game is trying to earn all the jetpacks and outfits.  We've been doing it without buying coin packs.  I'd love to be able to hand him the phone and tell him to go nuts, but the first thing he's goign to ask is, "where are all my jetpacks"?  Not having this game sync to your Win8 profile just sucks... only a very small percentage of people care about being able to "double dip" achievements...
  • All of my items and coins seamlessly synced ... surprised the hell out of me, but it's all there. Of course, the cheevos didn't share, but whatevs.
  • How did you manage to do that?
  • Dunno, really. I have it on my Surface RT and played the bejeesus out of it ...
  • Rayman Jungle Run, now this. Happy day
  • Keep em coming devs!! I fall in love with my device more each day
  • Gravity Guy 2 (iOS 0.99$) a jetpack joyride clone 2.99$
    Jetpack Joyride FREE!!
    It's obvious what to choose and support!!  
  • +9999999999999
  • Awesome game.  Will probably be the first game I download on my WP8.
  • Shut up and take my.....wait, its free?
  • I love this game on Windows 8 and I'll love it even more on my Windows Phone 8!!!!
  • works awesome on my 520!
  • Wow finally!! Now they just have to update their fruit ninja app... Its quite crappy
  • WPcentral, pls ask Halfbrick to update their Fruit Ninja for WP8!
  • Didn't sync my progress from Win8... Do I have to start all over again?
  • I have so much fun playing this game!
  • Horray!!
  • WP fanboys have created this page to make people aware of jetpack joyride on windows http://www.facebook.com/JetpackJoyrideNowOnWP
  • Boy, that Facebook page's main image is hideous.
  • how do u sign into xbox on jetpackjoyride cos i want to sign into it on my laptop so it will sync with my windows phone...will it sync?