Jupiter & Mars is an Environmental Narrative Game with Metroidvania elements and in-built VR features, developed by Tigertron and released for PlayStation 4 on April 22nd, 2019.
It is set in a world where runaway global warming had occurred, and the humans, or "earthwalkers" as the ocean's denizens know them, no longer seem to exist, as the cities were flooded a long time ago. However, much of the humanity's abandoned technology persists, and is still disruptive due to the noise it makes. The player controls a dolphin named Jupiter, who is tasked by the Elders to shut them down, with the help of her mate Mars.
Tropes present in this game:
- After the End: The game is set in a post-human world where the cities were drowned by the rising tides a long time ago.
- Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Pretty much every undersea creature in the game has bright neon markings on them in addition to their normal colors.
- Attack Drones: Abandoned underwater drones still travel on their sentry routes, killing anything that gets too close. They are especially disturbed by (dolphin) sonar, which they will retaliate against immediately.
- Aura Vision: Jupiter's echolocation functions in this manner.
- Beautiful Void: Many of the environments are styled in this manner.
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Broken Aesop: Limit pollution, ye thoughtless humans, for the future oceans poisoned by it are...gorgeous? In some ways they're better than the oceans of today, what with the brightly tattooed wildlife. Of course, said oceans are still choked with trash, and it's noted that the ocean has only recovered at all because of massive amounts of time and effort, but it's easy to ignore that and conclude that the ocean is strong enough to bear any amount of pollution. - Cutscene Power to the Max: In a cutscene, the protagonists jump out of the water, which they cannot do in actual gameplay.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: The big conch, knowing it will soon die, uses the last of its energy to empower Mars.
- Dramatic Irony: Jupiter can swim past a defunct sign advertising whale fin soup, which she obviously cannot read. Uh...
- A Father to His Men: The big conch demands that you rescue all the smaller conches in the level before him(?)self.
- Green Aesop: Besides the game showing the consequences of runaway global warming, it also portrays plastic pollution and the damage being done by the leftover machines.
- Injured Player Character Stage: In Plastic Beach, Mars is badly injured by collapsing rocks, and decides to...abandon Jupiter, for some reason. She's on her own for the next part of the level, unable to do anything but run and hide from the machines blocking her path.
- Monumental Damage Resistance: The Statue of Liberty is still standing, even though it is submerged to the point you get to swim right up to the Statue's face, with only the torch still sticking out above the water.
- Notice This: Key items and structures glow when highlighted with echolocation. Shells are orange, spikes are pink, and tunnel walls are green-spotted.
- Now, Where Was I Going Again?: The levels are big, with multiple branching paths in all directions...and no map. Combined with how dark some of them are, it can be very difficult to figure out where to go next.
- One Hitpoint Wonder: Getting hit instantly resets Jupiter to the previous checkpoint.
- Red Filter of Doom: The Plastic Beach level has entirely clay-red water, implying that all the building vehicles lying around churned up the soil. It is a shocking contrast to the sapphire reefs that all previous levels have been, and fitting that it belongs to a level where Mars is severely injured and the heroes fail to save someone for the first time.
- Shockwave Stomp: Your Vortex Ring is essentially an undersea equivalent of one.
- Shout-Out: "When the moon is in the seventh house / And Jupiter aligns with Mars / Then peace will guide the planets/ And love will steer the stars..."
- Spiritual Successor: The game is especially popular with Ecco the Dolphin fans, for obvious reasons.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: The narrator describes the "cold reality" of Jupiter and Mars' destiny, although this destiny seems to mostly entail exploring the ocean they love and getting cool powerups.
- Suspiciously Cracked Wall: There are cracked rocks and other such objects that you can order Mars to shatter by ramming, either to advance or find collectables.
- Take Cover!: There are rocks that'll protect Jupiter from the damaging sonar pulses sent out by the leftover machines, allowing her to sneak up to their power sources and disable them.
- Tomboyish Name: You are playing as a female dolphin, who is nevertheless named after the key male god of the Greco-Roman pantheon.
- Video Game Caring Potential: You can use your Vortex Ring not only to drive off hostile creatures like jellyfish, but also to free sea turtles and crabs that got stuck in piles of accumulated plastic.
