Dave Sharpless wrote Jumpman Lives almost single-handedly. The game was officially released by his publisher, Apogee, in 1991 but was withdrawn almost immediately due to the threat of a lawsuit from the original publisher of Jumpman in 1983, Epyx.

Bizarrely, Apogee never acquired the rights to Jumpman even though they were aware it was a remake of an existing game. In a quaint touch of the days when computer games were not big business, Apogee's president at the time was a Jumpman fan and contributed a level to the final (illegal) product.

The game's shareware version has since been widely distributed around the internet. Jumpman's original creator, Randy Glover, now holds the rights and is happy to allow the full version of Jumpman Lives to be freely distributed, like it is on the Jumpman Lounge and other websites.

I, like many other people, rediscovered Jumpman through Jumpman Lives thanks to the freedom of the internet. Stumbling across the shareware version of Jumpman Lives on an FTP site in 1995 led to the Jumpman Lounge and eventually led to me getting in contact with Dave Sharpless.

This series of two articles chronicles a rather lengthy email interview with Dave, talking about how Jumpman Lives came into being, how it was withdrawn just as quickly and the effect it has had on Jumpman today.

Part One of My Interview With Jumpman Lives Creator, Dave Sharpless
The Creation of Jumpman Lives

Part Two of My Interview With Jumpman Lives Creator, Dave Sharpless
Jumpman Lives After Release

I hope you enjoy the read. Drop me a line at matty@classicgaming.com if you have any questions or comments - Matty