Jumpman

Jumpman is an early platform game with 30 levels, written by Randy Glover and released by Epyx in 1983. Originally developed for the Atari 400/800, versions were also released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC.

Apogee introduced the backronym "Jet-controlled Upward Motion Propulsion".

The object of the game is to defuse all bombs in a platform-filled screen. According to the story, these are placed on Jupiter by terrorists. Jumpman can climb up and down ladders, and of course jump, and there are two kinds of rope each allowing one direction of climbing. Jumpman will die if he falls a distance greater than his own height. As an additional hazard, most levels have 'smart darts' - small bullets that fly slowly from sides of the screen, but when orthogonality lined up with Jumpman they speed up and shoot straight in his direction. Collecting a bomb can cause other board elements to appear or disappear, which is scripted by level and creates some devious puzzles.

What makes the Jumpman games special is that (nearly) all levels contain an enemy, hazard or trick unique to that level. See the level list below for examples. Also, unusual for its age, the levels are not a matrix of elements, but rather consist of lines and blocks of platforms etc.