Disc Jam

Genre: Sports (Frisbee)

Players: 1-4 Team Competitive (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

Disc Jam is a team competitive Frisbee game roughly comparable to the classic game Windjammers. Or for those unfamiliar with that game, think… Tennis, with Frisbees. Teams of one or two players each try to get their disc past the opponent to score points. This game was released on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2017 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2018.

The visuals here are pretty good, featuring 3D players and courts with a decidedly sci-fi theme. It’s a bit silly and over-the-top, with explosions and lasers and force fields, but it works pretty well for the game and makes it interesting to watch. This is backed by energetic synthesized music that sounds… honestly, a bit generic? It fits the game’s themes well enough, but doesn’t really add to the experience.

As for the gameplay, I know this may sound like sacrilege to some, but I like this game a lot more than Windjammers. The mechanics are fluid, offer a lot of variety and strategy, and are fast-paced without being difficult to follow. They’re also very accessible once you get the idea of how everything works.

One important thing to note – this game highly encourages players to be quick about releasing the disc once they have it, but kinda’ punish players for pressing the button too early – this is because the buttons for moves when you don’t have the disc, shield and dash, are also the buttons you use to throw and lob the disc, meaning you could mis-time your input and completely mess yourself up. Until you get the timing of the game down, this will lead to a fair amount of frustration.

There is one other point of frustration here, and that is that the game’s online lobbies are completely empty at this point, despite the game supporting cross-play. You can play with “ghosts” that imitate the play style of other real-life players, but if you want actual human competition, you’re going to have to bring it yourself.

However, if you can get together a decent group of people, Disc Jam makes for a delightfully fun multiplayer experience, and as fictional Sports games go, this one is phenomenal. It may take a little getting used to the controls and timing, and the online play may be null and void at this point, but it’s still a blast to play with your own group.

tl;dr – Disc Jam is a team-based competitive Frisbee game where players try to score goals with a similar structure to Tennis. There’s a bit of a learning curve to getting the hang of the controls and timing, and the online lobbies are empty, but once you adjust for those issues, this game is an absolute blast.

Grade: B+

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