D. Jump

About

D. Jump was a third-person action game from Ubisoft Paris that planned to send its wooden protagonist back in time to an Egypt-like setting. The hero, known for skating and chasing skirts while talking nonsense, would have navigated fast levels involving water skiing and other stunts. Announced at E3 1998, the project promised irreverent humor and high-speed thrills similar to other late 90s titles. Instead of a release, the game vanished before players could ever touch it. No one knows for sure why Ubisoft pulled the plug on this title while Rayman 2 was taking shape at the same time. Some think the scope simply got too big for the team to handle alone. Others guess they needed every resource available for another project that actually launched. The game remains a curious piece of gaming history rather than a finished product you can play today. It stands as an example of how ambitious ideas sometimes disappear before hitting store shelves.

Storyline

Announced at E3 1998 in Atlanta, D. Jump was to be a 3D, third-person, action/adventure game for the PC. Similar to many of its late 90's contemporaries, the press materials promised "irreverent humor" and extreme-with-a-capital-X action with lots of fast moving stages and water skiing. Despite the overplayed set up D. Jump may have been crushed by the weight of its own lofty goals and feature set. Or Ubisoft may have simply needed the money and resources to put behind Rayman 2 which was in the works at the same time as D. Jump. An official explanation has never been given.