I’m Kayla, and I grew up with this game. Picture this: a chunky beige PC, loud fans, and me in my cousin’s basement, eating cold pizza and trying to beat “just one more level.” That was Jetpack for me. It’s a fast puzzle platformer from the early ’90s. You fly, grab gems, dodge robots, and hope your fuel holds out.
(And if you ever find yourself wanting to compare it with the rest of the shareware greats, do yourself a favor and skim through this list of the best MS-DOS games of all time—it’s a nostalgia booster shot.)
And yes, I played it again this week on my laptop with DOSBox. It still feels tight. It still makes my hands sweat.
So, what is Jetpack, really?
It’s simple. You collect all the gems in a level. The exit door opens. You fly there. That’s it. If you’re curious about how the whole design came together, the original Jetpack shareware game set this very template back in 1993 and even shipped with its own level editor.
But the maps get tricky. You have ladders, teleporters, keys and colored doors, fans that shove you, and moving baddies. Fuel runs out fast, so you plan each move. Do you push a block to make a safe step? Or blast a wall with a bomb and risk waking a bot? That little tug-of-war is the fun.
The art is bright but tiny. The sound is all beeps and chirps. It’s honest. No fluff. Just timing, routes, and a little chaos.
How I played it today
I used DOSBox on a Windows laptop. I bumped the speed with Ctrl+F12 until it felt right. Arrow keys to move. One key to drop a bomb. Quick restart after a bad jump. The loop is fast, which makes it easy to say, “Last try,” and then keep going for 30 more minutes. Classic trap. If you need a quick, legal download, grab the shareware build from DOS Games Online and you’ll be blasting around again in under a minute. Alternatively, you can snag a completely free, browser-playable release from dosgames.com and start hopping through levels with zero setup.
I also tried it on my Steam Deck through a DOSBox wrapper. Funny enough, the jetpack feels great on a thumbstick, but the d-pad gave me better lines in tight spots.
(By the way, if stories about dusty floppy disks and creaky desk chairs speak to your soul, you’ll probably get a kick out of this spirited ode to the best DOS games ever told—a perfect complement to Jetpack’s brand of chaos.)
Little moments I still remember (and felt again)
- There’s this one map with four teleporters packed into a corner. If you warp in from the wrong side, a robot tags you the second you land. I learned to bait him, step left, then zip through the top pad. It felt like threading a needle.
- Another map lets you blow a thin wall to reach a key. Sounds easy. But the blast sets a rolling boulder loose, and it bumps a mine. Boom. Chain reaction. I had to count beats and drop the bomb one tile higher. Small change, big win.
- My niece watched me play and only cared about the ladders. She yelled, “Don’t waste fuel, Kayla!” which is fair. Ladders are safe. Ladders are life.
And yes, I still have a soft spot for the Christmas level pack with the little trees and lights. It’s cheesy. I love it.
The feel: floaty, but crisp
The jetpack is light and twitchy. Tap, tap, tap the throttle. If you hold it, you rocket straight into a zapper. Your fuel meter nags you, and you learn to “feather” your path—short bursts, then drift. The ladders save you when you panic. The enemies are simple shapes, but they punish lazy moves. I wouldn’t call it mean. Just strict.
Level editor magic
I made a dumb maze in the built-in editor with fake floors and a teleporter loop. I saved it, hit play, and got lost in my own trap. That checks out. Editing is fast: place a tile, test it, tweak it. It’s the kind of tool that makes you feel clever in minutes. Nothing fancy, but it works.
What holds up
- Short, bite-size levels with instant restarts
- Clean goals: grab gems, find exit, move on
- Easy to learn, but the routes get smart fast
- Great “one more try” pull
What’s rough now
- Tiny sprites and low-res edges make some hits feel a little unfair
- The color clash can hide hazards on busy maps
- Some enemy paths can feel cheap if you don’t know the timing
- No mid-level saves (you fail, you start over)
None of this breaks it, but you’ll notice.
Quick tips from my runs
- Feather the jetpack. Short taps save fuel and lives.
- Use ladders whenever you can. It’s free movement.
- Bombs can trigger chain reactions—watch for boulders and mines.
- Peek a teleporter first. The exit spot might be hot.
- If DOSBox feels too fast, tap Ctrl+F11 to slow it down a bit.
Who will like it
- Puzzle fans who enjoy tight routes
- Retro folks who miss shareware disks and school lab PCs
- Kids who like cause-and-effect games (with a little chaos)
- Streamers or speed fans who want short resets and clean goals
Retro rabbit holes like Jetpack remind me that the internet holds a niche community for just about every interest. If your curiosity sometimes drifts from pixel-perfect platformers to exploring modern grown-up social scenes, you might want to read this thorough Adult Friend Finder review to see how the long-running adult network stacks up today, what features it offers, and whether it’s worth your time before signing up. Or maybe you'd prefer to close the laptop altogether and meet potential matches in real life; the rapid-fire mixers at Speed Dating Noblesville lay out a relaxed, low-pressure way to see if there’s real-world chemistry in just a few minutes per conversation.
My verdict
Jetpack still hits that sweet spot for me. It’s lean and a little spicy. I play it for 10 minutes, then an hour goes by. I grin. I groan. I say words I can’t print here. And then I beat the map and feel calm again.
It’s not pretty by modern standards. But it’s honest. It gives what it promises. If you can handle some beeps, a little pixel fuss, and a lot of “I almost had it,” then yeah—fire it up. You know what? I might go run that teleporter level again.