Origin of the double-jump

An email sent in this morning asked what the first game to feature a double-jump was. I realized I honestly didn’t know, and neither did anyone else in the office. There was some debate about whether Yie Ar Kung Fu featured double-jumps or if you could just jump really high.

What’s the first game you can remember with a double-jump in it? I figured Qt3 would be a good source of folks who might remember obscure '80s computer games that may have come up with the move before mainstream console or arcade games.

Metroid maybe?

Didn’t Pitfall have a double jump? And I know both Mega Man and Double Dragon did at some point, but I have no idea if they were near first.

Yie Ar did not have double jumps. Just really high. Nor did the original Pitfall. There’s gotta be some NES game that did but I can’t think of any right now.

Ghosts’n’Goblins?

When was Bomb Jack? It counts, becuase it’s the same mechanism, even if you’re technically only gliding.

Checkers.

Looks like this Xain’d Sleena/Solar Warrior from Techno or Taito (US) 1986 is the winnar. So far at least.

I vaguely remember there was a bug in Super Mario Brothers (1985) that let you double-jump if you grabbed a mushroom in mid-air.

  • Alan

No, the winner was already DennyA three posts ago.

Depends on how you define double jump. I’m talking about the second jump while still in the air.

Another vote for Metroid. At least it was the first major game to use the concept. There is something very pleasing in double-jumps. Maybe because they break the laws of physic ?

What the god damned motherfucking hell are you shitheads talking about? Half the games you guys are naming didn’t have double jumps (the original Metroid? Uh… no.) or games that are really pretty recent.

So I’ll throw in. I think the first game that had a double jump was Donkey Kong. Oh shit no wait I guess it was Aria of Sorrow.