I wanna be JITTER DOLL

Creator: シュガー

Average Rating
5.1 / 10
Average Difficulty
57.3 / 100
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Tags:

Needle (2) Avoidance (4) Gimmick (1) Backtrack (1)

Screenshots

  • by GaspacoZanis
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6 Reviews:

DestinationMystery
One short needle screen followed by an interesting and fun avoidance, I really enjoyed it, amazing job for the creators' first boss

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Tagged as: Needle Avoidance
[2] Likes
Rating: 7.5 75       Difficulty: 65 65
Apr 26, 2017
GaspacoZanis
Believe me or not, but I really wanted to like this game. Yet this game was a huge disappointment for me.

Although I have been playing fangames for 4 years (actively for 3 years) and I am generally an avoidance player, I avoided Sugar's (シュガー) creations for a long time. And even more weird is the fact that I actually know this author and have seen his games since 2018 or something like that. Originally, I found out about his games because of Avoidance guessing games, which were organised by Ramirus. He mainly picked only popular authors, and Sugar was considered to be popular enough for people to be able to guess. It is very surprising, because on delicious-fruit Sugar usually does not get a lot of attention. At the moment of writing this review (23-06-2020) the most popular his game is I wanna be the 45, which has 10 reviews. All other games less than 10 reviews.

This game in particular is quite unknown and people opinions split up. Just look on ratings and reviews and you are going to understand why. Quality ratings ranging from 3 to 10, and difficulty, which is very inconsequent. I mean if I see that people give this game 20, 45, 55 and 65, and, moreover, on Pyuw's list 69.8, then you understand that something is wrong. I mean, the average rating on delicious-fruit (46.3) is very unreliable. And not that there are many videos on this game either.

I mean there are several videos from different top players, like sunbla or flippy, yet it is whimsical that there are not so many clears from Japanese community (maybe there are a lot on nico?). I found a video by takuya and full playthrough in let's play style by Jung (じゅんG), but no videos from zero81kuro or Pyuw. Besides, it is the only avoidance by Sugar, which zero haven't played yet. I am not sure about reasons, but I guess the game isn't so interesting for many people.

As it looks like, I wanna be JITTER DOLL is the first game made by Sugar, although for some time I thought that I wanna see the future light was Sugar's first game. Now I am pretty sure that I was wrong, right? Taking into consideration the fact that this is a debut game, then it explains why people, like Wahfuu and DestinationMystery have so opposite opinions about the game.

However, I was very curious about this author lately, because I was actually a little bit skeptical that Ramirus liked 4 out of 5 Sugar's games he had played so far. Since I wanna be the JITTER DOLL had a favourite on Ramirus list, I decided to bookmark this game, because out of all Sugar games, I liked at least the music for this game.

And, ironically, very soon I decided to start playing it. It is a little bit funny, because originally I wanted to start playing I wanna Anti Beat, but because of axfc hosting problems, I had to find a substitute. I decided to start playing I wanna be the JITTER DOLL.

When I ran the game, I had good expectations, because I very liked the title screen. My first disappointment was a needle section. I was expecting to see one short needle screen as DestinationMystery suggested. I got to portal in 7 attempts, everything seemed pretty fine, and then I had a surprise. Game has a backtrack. I am not hater of gates and diagonals, but very soon I realised that it is going to take a lot more than I expected at first. I died almost on everything, which was very emberassing and annoying in the same time. I am not a good needle player and I died a lot. The short screen turned out to be not so short. And only after 1 hour and 46 minutes I spent on this screen I realised how generic everything was. If not a good and not restarting music, then I would quit a lot earlier. Moreover, if you get through backtrack, then you have one additional screen, which is sort of glitched screen, which basically has a choke gate before avoidance. I didn't die on it, but still. Why would you put something like this after a long save? To annoy people more? To prevent getting to avoidance? I don't know. Anyway, now it is the time to the main part of the game, and actual reason of this game's title.

Avoidance uses song's Jitter Doll cover, which usage was criticised by Wahfuu. Fortunately, I didn't find any problems with that. I liked this cover very much and more than original Lily voice. However, my opinion about avoidance changed during my playtime. Originally, I thought that I would give this avoidance rating 8, but now I am fluctuating between 4 and 6. Avoidance is a huge mix of good and bad ideas.

I would say that the first minute of the avoidance I liked quite a lot. Long, but pretty fitting introduction, song's name made of fruits, several gimmicks, including water, infinite jump and special fruit shooting about which you are told before getting to the actual avoidance . Everything is so dynamic that I didn't get bored even after 13 hours of playing avoidance. Of course, at first it isn't obvious to shoot the fruit, because you may not notice it. Sure, infinite jump part may seem quite unfair, as well as following random attack. Yet I have to say that it isn't as unfair as it may seem. In contrary, I was extremely consistent, and could pretty easy get to the chorus – [url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=59[/url]. I even liked the idea to change background colour for a moment when kid has infinite jump, since it made everything to feel quite epic. Also zooming in effect before chorus is very cool too.

From chorus the avoidance actually shows its true face. Patterns are based on savespots, yet they are not too hard to learn. I liked that author tried to use corner strats as little as possible, it really made avoidance look more original. And then there are several questionable attacks:

1) Why this red splash of fruits in circle-like form is twitching –[url]https://youtu.be/-PaRSjtWI0g?t=66[/url] ? It looks whimsical and unfitting. Moreover, I think it was implemented in the newer version, because in sunbla's video pattern is 'still' –[url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=67[/url] – and I think it looks better in that way. Also similar situation is in third chorus?
2) The heart attack is not funny at all. Especially, why this thing exists –[url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=74[/url]? It is one of the tightest patterns in the whole avoidance, and I didn't find better strategy than the one, which sunbla used (and even that is very precise and requires quite a small jump). You can get consistent on it, yet it is very difficult and even after 10 hours I died there from time to time.
3) [url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=78[/url] – yeah, we all like jumping off block, don't we? No, seriously, why? Doing ledge time with time pressure is not fun at all. I guess dying just because I couldn't get up really made me mad all the time. Well, at least you have some time to prepare jump, and theoretically you can manage to get up, even if you fail jump once. Yet it is surplus attack, in my opinion.

Then there starts second couplet. It starts with short reminiscence of the beginning of avoidance, where all attacks up to 'JITTER DOLL' title are accelerated. Then there is a short RNG attack, which I guess has some pattern structure. However, I didn't really understand how it really works. I guess depending on colour you can guess where possibly fruit can spawn? Anyway, mostly you can just read attack. And die a lot because of hard or even unreadable random.

And after that avoidance tells you that 'Soon you go to the competition world' . You have to be in the centre and then many gimmick attacks are mixed with casual random attacks.

First 'competition' is to read different fruits which go from right to left, and to shoot 'special' fruit in time. Very unpredictable, yet always fair. But be prepared to die from time to time if you are not ready for very bizarre situations. And before getting to the chorus again, we have a totally RNG attack! I used sunbla's strat and I think it is the best one –[url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=104[/url]. However, if you look closely you can notice that you cannot always get in the corner and then you have to read very unfair RNG. It is completely random, which means that sometimes it can be free and sometimes it can literally wall you.

Yet it isn't the worst. Second chorus starts with floor breaking down and kid getting infinite jump. This is part on which I died quite a lot. It can look quite easy to dodge, however, you have to be ready for the following pattern. Basically, you can stay somewhere on the left side or be down in the centre, like sunbla did and which actually is easier –[url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=120[/url]. The problem is that you can get very unpleasant random in both savespots. And rushing to the savespot is very stressful task.

Then game tells you to 'Shot!!' 4 kids, which are throwing random fruits on you. If you do not kill all of them, then you have a ring of fruit wall, basically, the same result when you do not shoot the 'special' fruit. At this point I started to hate these gimmicks. I am not against shooting in avoidance, yet this time it felt out of place, at least for me. Especially, when you have to do that very quickly.

After shooting part blue fruits spawns from all sides and you have to be in the centre. Kid loses jump and then starts a new gimmick, where you have to remember which colour of big ring was on this attack –[url]https://youtu.be/-PaRSjtWI0g?t=42[/url]. You have 3 choices – blue, purple or green. To choose you have to stay under the fruit, however, you have to dodge the random fruits before you can choose the right option. Dodging after shooting part isn't hard, yet it is not free, it requires quite a lot of concentration. What about gimmick itself? Personally, I usually like this kind of stuff, yet this time it was more annoying than fun to remember. I am not against learning the colour and trying to not forget for almost 2 minutes, however, I really wished that colour choice would be easier to remember. Why you had to choose blue and purple, instead of yellow and blue, or red and blue? It would be easier to remember. Anyway, my strategy to memorise was to remember with associations. I tried to say loudly or silently colour's name and thing, which associates with the colour. For example, for me blue colour associated with water (I liked to memorise by 'H2O') ; green colour with traffic light and purple for some reason with Kamilia (lol) . And it actually helped, because for many times I just forgot the colour but not the associations. Yet I died quite a lot on this part, and for me it was very frustrating.

Next attack is another gimmick –[url]https://youtu.be/Pqd8pKJJB1Y?t=149[/url]. Kid is in small room and above him there are 5 red fruits, which randomly colours to the blue colour. It shows the order how they fall down. And then fruits change colour once again from blue to the red. This time fruits not only go up in the order, but also fall down soon after. Surprisingly, very original and fun stage, which, moreover, is very fair! On the first round I didn't have any special strategy, I just tried to find the path where it is easier to dodge. On second one I recommend to stay close enough to the first fruit, which changes the colour, and get under it, once it is up. It is easier then to end the whole gimmick.

Following attack is another gimmick! The only problem: it is a long corridor and gate jump at the end. You are being followed by a wall of fruits, which means that you cannot prepare jump, you can only jump momentarily. Why this exists? I am not against these kind of ideas, for example, I really found it original (at least from video), when I saw Higanbana area from I wanna break the Series Z 3 EX . However, here it looked like author was lacking ideas after some interesting gimmicks.

The final segment and third chorus is some kind of reminiscence of the first chorus, with similar attacks, yet differently built. Actually, it is better than first chorus. You start at the middle and should not walk, until heart attack appears. This time it isn't precise at all, just requires a little bit of attention. I used Jung's strategy, and I found it excellent – [url]https://youtu.be/p0ZhPB9XJq8?t=1018[/url]. If you are confused, then here is my visual strategy –[url]https://prnt.sc/t5lqt4[/url]. Red arrow shows the place where it is the best to stay. Pay attention to the fruit, which I marked with yellow ring – stay under it, but be careful to dodge it. And then when you see fruit, which I marked with blue ring, then make sure to go quickly, but carefully enough to the right. Hopefully, it is a little bit helpful (I doubt, but still).

Then make sure to dodge blue pattern , and when you see red pattern –[url]https://youtu.be/p0ZhPB9XJq8?t=1022[/url]– then go up, because kid will appear at the top, as well as 'Shot!!' . After that dodge where it is easier for you. I tried to be at the ground, but staying on platforms is also fine. The only problem is that RNG is a little bit unpredictable, so you can get quite hard situations from time to time. Same thing applies to the blue fruits which appear from all sides. Sometimes it can be very difficult and sometimes it is extremely easy.

On the next attack, there is pattern, which is similar to the first chorus, but actually is a lot easier. I used Jung's strat and I never died on it –[url]https://youtu.be/p0ZhPB9XJq8?t=1036[/url]. Just make sure to not be too fast on the next attack. Move slowly to the right, but do not rush to get in the corner. I died few times, and it was frustrating. Also do not forget about blue fruit pattern.

On the following attack I actually used too hard strategy, and thus I had impossible combinations. Basically, when I saw rainbow fruits I went up on the second platform from the top on the right side. Unfortunately, there is a 25% chance to fail in this way, because you have to be in one out of 4 savespots. In other words, when you see a girl spawning on the platform, you have to get to her very quickly, while rainbow ring around it does not kill. More optimal is to stay at the middle of the screen. For some reason I didn't realise that you can stay there. Anyway, pray to get savespot on the top, otherwise you will have to do very unpleasant jumps on the platforms, because you have to follow the girl very soon after getting to the savespot. She and the ring is going to the centre, but the ring can kill you. It is very stressful, I have to say.

And then we have a finale, which is pure RNG. It is very difficult, requires good reads, and I recommend to try to get to the platform short before the end of the attack. It really helped me for the post-finale. Also you can notice big 'special' fruit going down, which shows how much of finale is left, because as soon as it hits the ground, the post-finale takes place. For some reason this fruit we cannot shoot (I guess because it kills (?) the girl, which is in the centre?), which didn't make any sense, anyway. I died like 4 or 5 times, and my last attempt was extremely lucky.

Post-finale is basically a burst of rings, which were in the beginning, but this time with different patterns. Idea is interesting, because it unites the beginning of the avoidance with its end. But realisation is horrible. I tried doing like like Jung –[url]https://youtu.be/p0ZhPB9XJq8?t=1070[/url] – yet I died. Then I tried like takuya –[url]https://youtu.be/-PaRSjtWI0g?t=225[/url] – and I died second time. Third time I did like takuya, but jumped and got earlier on platform. That was successful attempt. Just make sure to not die on the last few patterns accidentally. Then you have to collect the image of the girl and get to the clear screen, which is a little bit of NSFW (well, kind of to be honest).

Everything after the gate jump is a real clown fiesta. It has pretty cool ideas, like repeating attacks, but with different patterns (which are actually fun to dodge), shooting kid, which gives you a lot of time (you can kill it, even when blue burst starts) . And then there is totally horrible finale and post-finale, where you can die very easily. When I got first time to the finale I first tried everything after second heart attack. Yet then I died on almost every attack. Of course, I had SMOrked with one attack, but it wouldn't help very much, let's be honest. You still have to do 2 very hard attacks after almost 4 minute avoidance.

Overall, this avoidance is very questionable, at least for me. I tend to agree with Wahfuu opinion, and I don't understand why others like this avoidance so much. Just because it uses gimmicks does not mean that attacks are well-made or well-executed. Author tried to mix everything he could make on gamemaker, and it resulted in a very experimental avoidance. Every good attacks has its opposite and each of fair random have attack with totally unfair RNG. And I am not even talking about difficulty, which ranges from easy savespot patterns to patterns like in the end of first chorus, where you have to do tight maneuvers. Some attacks look very fitting and beautiful, others look like from low-quality avoidance. And I am not even talking about needle, which is very annoying and unoriginal.

I understand that it is author's first game, however, if he could update game (right?) then why he couldn't update some things for the gameplay or visuals? I just do not understand this at all.

You can disagree with me, but, personally, I wouldn't recommend this game at all. I played this for 15 hours, and I can say that it was unfun for the most part. I would better look for different avoidance game, and I recommend you the same. At least, it is my opinion about the game...

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Tagged as: Needle Avoidance Gimmick Backtrack
[1] Like
Rating: 4.7 47       Difficulty: 64 64
Jun 24, 2020
Wahfuu
Probably the most miserable few hours i've spent.

This avoidance isn't very difficult, but none the less it's terribly tedious to do. No attack is fun to learn or satisfying to execute. It's the avoidance equivalent of doing a bunch of gate jumps in a row. None of the RNG is that hard (except for the absolutely awful 2nd chorus mini apple part, which can have apples randomly turn around and give you a running lariat. They're like Nues dorbs.) not are the patterns that precise (outside of one cherry avoidance (outside of the mini apple heart during the first chorus) but they don't feel great to do. It's all just doing extremely tired and annoying gimmicky attacks like doing a ledge jump in time or running down a hallway and doing a gate without stopping.

The only thing that really saves it is that Jitter Doll is a pretty great song... which is almost entirely ruined by the fact that it doesn't use any good cover or version of it, or give you the option to switch it. Not to mention the sheer tonal disconnect from the avoidance vs the song. I know that's something only weirdos like I care about, but seriously, they aesthetic of the avoidance and the song don't match at all.

I know this was the creators first attempt at a boss, and in fairness there was a clear attempt at timing the song to the beat which I appreciate, and its not completely bereft of ideas, but this was a really painful few hours to get through. I don't recommend at all.

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[1] Like
Rating: 3.0 30       Difficulty: 45 45
Mar 5, 2019
TheChiekurs
Tagged as: Avoidance
[0] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Dec 5, 2021
zinger0808
[0] Likes
Rating: 5.0 50       Difficulty: 55 55
Aug 18, 2017