Delicious FruitJingle Jam
Creators: Patrickgh3, Pieceofcheese87, AlejoFangamer, Aolan, Artimax, Asza, Chrisay, Desticler, dono, EchoMask, Haegoe, KittyGame, Kiyoshi, Lovey, Lss, Mastermaxify, MegaKid, Mr.Butterfingers, RandomErik, shign, WetWookie, Zebbe, Gwiz609
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Creator's Comments:
Bob [Creator]
This is a collab game made by 20 people over the course of several months.
Keep in mind that any ratings made before Dec. 24th will not reflect the entire game.
[9] Likes
Keep in mind that any ratings made before Dec. 24th will not reflect the entire game.
Rating: N/A
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 5, 2019
63 Reviews:
sunbla
great game with a variety of stages. nice christmas/winter feeling throughout the game and the last stage is the probably the best finish this game can get. gg to all creators
[3] Likes
Rating: 9.4
Difficulty: 63
Dec 25, 2019
shign
Time to make my review of this game. I'm very happy to be a part of it and I really hope people will enjoy it. As a maker, I tested all the stages before the release so I will maybe do comparisons. But before all, I just wanna say that the hub is insane, the calendar concept is really fun.
-Mr. Butterfingers & Aolan : short needle stage with a boss. I enjoyed the needle part more than during testing phase, which is weird because I believe nothing was changed. However, the boss is still not very interesting imo (and the meme just before it is a big ??? for me).
5/10
-Patrickgh3 : I'm not an avoidance fan but I really enjoyed this one. Concept is simple but neat and well executed, with interesting phase. I still think an indication that you need to touch the item could have been good but nobody complained about it so it's probably ok.
8/10
-EchoMask : Really good adventure area, many people say that it has some 8bit vibes but I still don't have played this game so I can't really compare. I however think the boss was too much nerfed compared to testing. Yeah it was hard and probably needed a nerf I believe it's too much because some attacks are really free now. It's still really good but a nice music but it doesn't have any challenge anymore.
8.5/10
-KittyGame : Fine area with some neat visuals. Gonna repeat what I said during testing but I hate ice physics and this area has plenty. Not a fan of curve trajectory for the boss but it was ok. I really liked the outside of the mountain tho, with the flying spikes and the fog, it has a very good atmosphere.
6/10
-AlejoFangamer : an area with a lot of different gimmicks. Most are well used, like the block changer but the ice gun is for me the weakest. I really hope ppl will one day understand that gimmicks including the mouse have 99% change to be really annoying. Here, it's bearable because you never need to use it and the keyboard at the same time, but it's still annoying to repace it each time you die, or to stop yourself, move it then continue. Also, I don't know if it was designed this way but stars ennemies are basically instagibs because you don't have the time to move the mouse before they kill you. Despite everything I said, it's a nice and pleasant area with some flows but nothing that made me dislike it.
7/10
-Lovey : easily one of my favorites. It's a really well made neddl-ish gimmick oriented area, a bit more challenging than the previous ones. Imo, everything is done right and even if the last room is kinda long and could had have another save, I really enjoyed it. There is also a sort of minigame at the end, a very funny one. I just think the target score is a bit too low compared to testing.
9/10
-Haegoe : interesting area with a very unusual wagon gimmick. It's however not really pushed and the area is really short. There is also a few traps but they don't add anything to the game imo. The boss is decent, but like everone already said, it lacks of sound effect. Decent area but nothing special for me.
6/10
-Pieceofcheese87 : this area wasn't there during testing so it was new for me too. Excellent area with a cool gimmick. I honestly had to rebind some keys to do it because of my setting and my brain not being able to handle the four arrow keys but otherwise I really liked it. There were some very clever room and the infinite present segment was well-thought. I'm not a fan of memes (and I can even say that I don't like meme games) but gameplay of the boss was cool so it was ok.
9/10
-Desticler : basically gonna repeat exactly what I said during testing : cool concept but mediocre execution. A few buttons were nice but plateforming was mostly decent at best and exploration side was ok too but could have been a lot better. Didn't really disliked it but it's clearly not one of my fav.
5.5/10
-Chrisay : Top tier area with a lot of content. Cool well-executed concept, beautiful visuals and nice gimmicks, there is even a little story. Chrisay said he wasn't 100% happy with the nerfs and it's totally understandable because no one like his stuff being changed without knowing what is gonna get nerfed (and my area will certainly be nerfed a lot too so I kinda understand you), but I honestly think it's more enjoyable now. I didn't played all the area during testing but it was really harder and for exemple, I dropped it in the red portal, not because it was bad but because it had some really precise segments and I wasn't in a grind mood at the moment (and I basically forgot about it afterward). I have to admit that I'm not a very good player, but since this game was made to be accessible by everyone, it's probably for the better now. it would easily have been my favorite area if there wasn't a certain god tier other one.
9.5/10
Mega Kid : probably my least favorite area. I feel that I'm dumb because everyone seems to like it but I can't really like it. It's better than during testing but it still has imo some problems. The intro is an ok needle part with some moving spikes and the thing I hate the most in fangames : ice physics. I don’t know if it’s a matter of tastes or if it”s because I never saw a game with a nice use of it but I personally think it just make the needle more tedious (and make one particular jump horrible). Background also is weird, there is a gradient blue but some places have a blue brick wall that doesn't match with the rest at all. Same for the tiles, they are not bad but they don’t really match with the background and the rest. Spike sprite is also a bit weird but i guess this one is ok. Then come the minigames. The first minigame is decent, I don’t think it’s especially bad nor excellent. The second minigame is... well, very unfun I’d say. It’s a 5 questions game where you have to answer in a limited time but first problem: if you make the answer screen pop-up, it will stop the timer to decrease so you have basically illimited time. Then the questions are either not interesting nor fun or stupidly complicated (I’m thinking about the second question, there are thousands of logic that could work, and it doesn't work with everyone considering that there are many types of keyboards). The third minigame is a memory and that one raised many questions in my head. A memory isn’t bad (and tbh it’s quite well-made so gj if you made it by yourself) and it could be a fun breakout from more complicated areas but I think it can be really improved, I mean : your put some efforts to make a memory and that’s quite something but the cards are only colors, you could have made some cards related to christmas or fangames for example. Of course it would have demand you additional efforts but it would have looked a lot better. I truly think this minigame could have been a lot improved because if I wanna play some basic memory, I can just open a flash game. Finally the save sprite and sound effect are really neat but your character sprite is honestly ugly and make your hitbox difficult to see. Final note: the area starts with a cutscene, but the stage itself isn’t related at all with it so it’s kinda weird.
I just kinda copy-pasted what I wrote during testing (excepting for what was solved), I guess it's only me and I'm dumb, idk.
4/10
-Mastermaxify : cool barrage, even if I'm not a fan of the genre (it's even probably the genre I like the least) I had some fun playing it. I can't really tell if the nerf are good or not but it at least let me finish it because it was way too hard for me during testing.
not my taste/10
-RandomErik : really cool area with some humor and (as always) hand drawn cute characters. I really liked the hockey, it was really funny. The boss is also well-made with many interesting attacks. All of my complains toward it during testing was solved so I don't have anything negative to say, it was a really cool area.
8/10
-Zebbe : I said that Mega Kid area was my least favorite but I actually lied, it's Zebbe's one. It's not that it's bad or that it has several problems, and it's actually hard to explain but I didn't had fun at all. I found the plateforiming part not interesting and the atmospheric part being very random. I don't want to be mean or anything but for me it looks like random mess sticked together. Everybody else liked it during the testing so it's probably just me but I don't understand this area. Make your own opinion of course but if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be this one.
not my taste/10
-Artimax : cool needle followed by a boss. The needle part uses a nice candy grab gimmick which makes path p fun. I also believe there is more rooms than during testing because there is a very fun room that i don't remember but I'm not totally sure about that. The boss isn't very balanced because the box attack last too long on the screen, which allow you to kill the boss in basically 2 attacks if he does it twice in a row, and the snowflake attack can really wall you but otherwise it's a fine boss.
6.5/10
-shign and dono : our area, I hope you will like it.
-Asza : very funny autorun stage, good use of gimmicks. I didn't find the end joke very fun but ok.
9/10
-Kiyoshi : probably one of the best trap game I have played, every trap is unique and creative. I'm just not a fan of the punishment room. The boss is a destination one and god it was excellent, either in visuals or gameplay. I'm gonna look forward your stuff and hope you will make more.
9/10
-WetWookie : Fun needle with timed blocks, a nice boss and an insane plottwist, probably my third favorite area.
9.5/10
-Lss : the best area by far, everything is perfect even if I feel that the reindeer has maybe been a bit overnerfed. I will pray for Lss to make some other magic tower stuff.
God/10
Overall, the game is really good, and even if there is a few areas that I don't really like, you will necesseraly find something you are gonna like.
55 is the peak of difficulty, most areas are way easier.
[3] Likes
-Mr. Butterfingers & Aolan : short needle stage with a boss. I enjoyed the needle part more than during testing phase, which is weird because I believe nothing was changed. However, the boss is still not very interesting imo (and the meme just before it is a big ??? for me).
5/10
-Patrickgh3 : I'm not an avoidance fan but I really enjoyed this one. Concept is simple but neat and well executed, with interesting phase. I still think an indication that you need to touch the item could have been good but nobody complained about it so it's probably ok.
8/10
-EchoMask : Really good adventure area, many people say that it has some 8bit vibes but I still don't have played this game so I can't really compare. I however think the boss was too much nerfed compared to testing. Yeah it was hard and probably needed a nerf I believe it's too much because some attacks are really free now. It's still really good but a nice music but it doesn't have any challenge anymore.
8.5/10
-KittyGame : Fine area with some neat visuals. Gonna repeat what I said during testing but I hate ice physics and this area has plenty. Not a fan of curve trajectory for the boss but it was ok. I really liked the outside of the mountain tho, with the flying spikes and the fog, it has a very good atmosphere.
6/10
-AlejoFangamer : an area with a lot of different gimmicks. Most are well used, like the block changer but the ice gun is for me the weakest. I really hope ppl will one day understand that gimmicks including the mouse have 99% change to be really annoying. Here, it's bearable because you never need to use it and the keyboard at the same time, but it's still annoying to repace it each time you die, or to stop yourself, move it then continue. Also, I don't know if it was designed this way but stars ennemies are basically instagibs because you don't have the time to move the mouse before they kill you. Despite everything I said, it's a nice and pleasant area with some flows but nothing that made me dislike it.
7/10
-Lovey : easily one of my favorites. It's a really well made neddl-ish gimmick oriented area, a bit more challenging than the previous ones. Imo, everything is done right and even if the last room is kinda long and could had have another save, I really enjoyed it. There is also a sort of minigame at the end, a very funny one. I just think the target score is a bit too low compared to testing.
9/10
-Haegoe : interesting area with a very unusual wagon gimmick. It's however not really pushed and the area is really short. There is also a few traps but they don't add anything to the game imo. The boss is decent, but like everone already said, it lacks of sound effect. Decent area but nothing special for me.
6/10
-Pieceofcheese87 : this area wasn't there during testing so it was new for me too. Excellent area with a cool gimmick. I honestly had to rebind some keys to do it because of my setting and my brain not being able to handle the four arrow keys but otherwise I really liked it. There were some very clever room and the infinite present segment was well-thought. I'm not a fan of memes (and I can even say that I don't like meme games) but gameplay of the boss was cool so it was ok.
9/10
-Desticler : basically gonna repeat exactly what I said during testing : cool concept but mediocre execution. A few buttons were nice but plateforming was mostly decent at best and exploration side was ok too but could have been a lot better. Didn't really disliked it but it's clearly not one of my fav.
5.5/10
-Chrisay : Top tier area with a lot of content. Cool well-executed concept, beautiful visuals and nice gimmicks, there is even a little story. Chrisay said he wasn't 100% happy with the nerfs and it's totally understandable because no one like his stuff being changed without knowing what is gonna get nerfed (and my area will certainly be nerfed a lot too so I kinda understand you), but I honestly think it's more enjoyable now. I didn't played all the area during testing but it was really harder and for exemple, I dropped it in the red portal, not because it was bad but because it had some really precise segments and I wasn't in a grind mood at the moment (and I basically forgot about it afterward). I have to admit that I'm not a very good player, but since this game was made to be accessible by everyone, it's probably for the better now. it would easily have been my favorite area if there wasn't a certain god tier other one.
9.5/10
Mega Kid : probably my least favorite area. I feel that I'm dumb because everyone seems to like it but I can't really like it. It's better than during testing but it still has imo some problems. The intro is an ok needle part with some moving spikes and the thing I hate the most in fangames : ice physics. I don’t know if it’s a matter of tastes or if it”s because I never saw a game with a nice use of it but I personally think it just make the needle more tedious (and make one particular jump horrible). Background also is weird, there is a gradient blue but some places have a blue brick wall that doesn't match with the rest at all. Same for the tiles, they are not bad but they don’t really match with the background and the rest. Spike sprite is also a bit weird but i guess this one is ok. Then come the minigames. The first minigame is decent, I don’t think it’s especially bad nor excellent. The second minigame is... well, very unfun I’d say. It’s a 5 questions game where you have to answer in a limited time but first problem: if you make the answer screen pop-up, it will stop the timer to decrease so you have basically illimited time. Then the questions are either not interesting nor fun or stupidly complicated (I’m thinking about the second question, there are thousands of logic that could work, and it doesn't work with everyone considering that there are many types of keyboards). The third minigame is a memory and that one raised many questions in my head. A memory isn’t bad (and tbh it’s quite well-made so gj if you made it by yourself) and it could be a fun breakout from more complicated areas but I think it can be really improved, I mean : your put some efforts to make a memory and that’s quite something but the cards are only colors, you could have made some cards related to christmas or fangames for example. Of course it would have demand you additional efforts but it would have looked a lot better. I truly think this minigame could have been a lot improved because if I wanna play some basic memory, I can just open a flash game. Finally the save sprite and sound effect are really neat but your character sprite is honestly ugly and make your hitbox difficult to see. Final note: the area starts with a cutscene, but the stage itself isn’t related at all with it so it’s kinda weird.
I just kinda copy-pasted what I wrote during testing (excepting for what was solved), I guess it's only me and I'm dumb, idk.
4/10
-Mastermaxify : cool barrage, even if I'm not a fan of the genre (it's even probably the genre I like the least) I had some fun playing it. I can't really tell if the nerf are good or not but it at least let me finish it because it was way too hard for me during testing.
not my taste/10
-RandomErik : really cool area with some humor and (as always) hand drawn cute characters. I really liked the hockey, it was really funny. The boss is also well-made with many interesting attacks. All of my complains toward it during testing was solved so I don't have anything negative to say, it was a really cool area.
8/10
-Zebbe : I said that Mega Kid area was my least favorite but I actually lied, it's Zebbe's one. It's not that it's bad or that it has several problems, and it's actually hard to explain but I didn't had fun at all. I found the plateforiming part not interesting and the atmospheric part being very random. I don't want to be mean or anything but for me it looks like random mess sticked together. Everybody else liked it during the testing so it's probably just me but I don't understand this area. Make your own opinion of course but if I had to choose my least favorite, it would be this one.
not my taste/10
-Artimax : cool needle followed by a boss. The needle part uses a nice candy grab gimmick which makes path p fun. I also believe there is more rooms than during testing because there is a very fun room that i don't remember but I'm not totally sure about that. The boss isn't very balanced because the box attack last too long on the screen, which allow you to kill the boss in basically 2 attacks if he does it twice in a row, and the snowflake attack can really wall you but otherwise it's a fine boss.
6.5/10
-shign and dono : our area, I hope you will like it.
-Asza : very funny autorun stage, good use of gimmicks. I didn't find the end joke very fun but ok.
9/10
-Kiyoshi : probably one of the best trap game I have played, every trap is unique and creative. I'm just not a fan of the punishment room. The boss is a destination one and god it was excellent, either in visuals or gameplay. I'm gonna look forward your stuff and hope you will make more.
9/10
-WetWookie : Fun needle with timed blocks, a nice boss and an insane plottwist, probably my third favorite area.
9.5/10
-Lss : the best area by far, everything is perfect even if I feel that the reindeer has maybe been a bit overnerfed. I will pray for Lss to make some other magic tower stuff.
God/10
Overall, the game is really good, and even if there is a few areas that I don't really like, you will necesseraly find something you are gonna like.
55 is the peak of difficulty, most areas are way easier.
Rating: 8.8
Difficulty: 55
Dec 16, 2019
KittyGame
So grateful to participate in this collaborative project. Can't wait until all of the stages come out!
[3] Likes
Rating: N/A
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 6, 2019
MegaKid
Although i'm one of makers in here but me still vote 10/10 xD
This is the first collab game i joined ( although i didn't make any fangame before xD )
Thanks for everyone who made this beautiful contest and hope all player in here will like this collab game .
[2] Likes
This is the first collab game i joined ( although i didn't make any fangame before xD )
Thanks for everyone who made this beautiful contest and hope all player in here will like this collab game .
Rating: 10.0
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 9, 2019
superPP
Mr.Butterfingers & Aolan's stage used a gimmick of CN3 and have a easy snowman boss. there are some common design and nothing amazing but easy.
Patrickgh3's stage is a special avoidance in a crystal sphere, Which I think is very nice and cool. It's give 2 mode(normal and advanced) to select, normal mode is easy and advanced mode is a bit difficult but exciting. I have a funny experience here.
EchoMask's stage is about some design of timing and have a really easy avoidance. compared to another adventure fangame, it is relaxing.
I'm waiting for updating other password...
[2] Likes
Patrickgh3's stage is a special avoidance in a crystal sphere, Which I think is very nice and cool. It's give 2 mode(normal and advanced) to select, normal mode is easy and advanced mode is a bit difficult but exciting. I have a funny experience here.
EchoMask's stage is about some design of timing and have a really easy avoidance. compared to another adventure fangame, it is relaxing.
I'm waiting for updating other password...
Rating: 9.4
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 7, 2019
Chrisay
This was a fun collab, hope you'll all have fun with the different stages we made. There are a lot of really creative ones.
Tagged as: Collab
[2] Likes
Rating: N/A
Difficulty: N/A
Dec 7, 2019
ElCochran90
Merry Christmas and many thanks to the Delicious Fruit Community!
Delicious Christmas Spheres!
This fangame is a special occurrence since I remember this coming out when I was only one year active in Del Fruit and logging reviews for all clears. It was exactly in October 31st, 2018, when I beat Spook Jam and the final boss costed me my life (after retrying him this year, it's still hard; I still don't know how that game is below 50 of difficulty). This one is rated properly, but it also brought me back to 5 years ago and made me reflect on how quickly time has gone by. Also, the timing couldn't have been better as I can finally play a Taisa spoof having beaten the original Black and it feels so different, especially when it was hype to make Taisa spoofs without anyone getting tired of it around 2015-2017.
This is a Collab that works exactly as efficiently as Spook Jam, but with a greater variance considering individual stages (sorry for the past Statistics teacher barging in). If you don't know the terms of mean or variance, it's simple; this is important for me to get my views across. Mean is simply the arithmetic average of a quantitative variable (e.g. ratings). Variance is the average of the squared differences between each individual rating and the mean of the data; variance is used to analyze how dispersed the data is with respect to the average. So, a hypothetical fangame with all individual stages being equally good has zero variance, because the ratings are all the same and therefore equal to the variance. A fangame that has the worst (Try a Collab 1) and the best individual stages of all times has a big variance (Try a Collab 2), as the values are too extreme between each other. This was a huge problem with the Try a Collab games.
This game has the same mean than Spook Jam, but a much smaller variance. For the record, Spook Jam is still much more organized than Try a Collab 1 & 2.
As it is proper, it is time to address each stage:
-Aolan and Mr. Butterfingers: Uneventful stage, annoying boss. It is a cool introduction difficulty-wise, but not theme-wise. The gimmick is simple and fine, but a particular screen demands quite the precision for being an intro.
-Patrickgh3: Cute and that's it. That's all I got. It's a nod to the Sunspike sphere attack. I appreciate the consideration of being able to try two difficulties; I recommend both considering anyone that is willing to conquer the whole game (no pun intended). It has very nice visuals, for the matter.
-EchoMask: Good stage with decent Celeste-like platforming and an interesting concept of an avoidance. One of the highlights of the game.
-KittyGame: Average stage. Spotlight platforming with nothing special except for some puzzle routing required to clear certain screens; the spotlight shenanigan is just there for dramatic effect, thank God, as the whole screen is still visible. Boss is funny but gets tiresome really soon; the coding of the last attack is very uncomfortable.
-AlejoFangamer: Another highlight that you can totally say it was made by a Latin American due to the atrocious grammar, lol. You can aim your shots, the humor is good, the stage is well built, the sprite is adorable and the gun is based. It can get confusing where to go sometimes and the bombs have to be too close to the walls to make an effect (also, the fact you have to do this is never explained in the game), but the quality of the gimmicks makes up for most of it. I wish this stage also had a boss.
-Lovey: Visual design reminds me of 3200min, but more polished. It's very difficult to identify the "vines" in the stage, and the vines that change your speed are not intuitive, but hey, it's a colorful stage. Not that sure how much Christmas-y except for the candy canes throughout. It has often fun platfoming. Boss, however, is creative and has sufficient margin for success.
-Haegoe: Standard background, generic traps, delicious fruits here and there, and red blocks can be mistaken with death blocks. The cart coding is whatever and its weird use is intended: you have to discover this by yourself. Boss is whatever. Didn't like this stage.
-Pieceofcheese87: The gimmick is questionable; it takes time to get used to it: you throw gifts on the ground to be able to stand on them. This is used in a variety of ways: getting over spikes, getting an extra jump, or infinite jumping. I didn't like the last two: the height you get with an "extra jump" by throwing a present is something you understand by trial and error. Also, you may think your presents will run out with every screen you enter, but no, you discover each new screen gives you two by default. Not cool not saying this since the beginning. Ok visuals and pretty much a mandatory song choice which fits very well. Platforming is ok, but the third screen (second one after the mini-tutorial) has a first jump that is too exaggerated. The jump refresher screens are quite bad. However, breakfast boss is back! Best moment of the stage.
-Desticler: A very large Metroid-like stage that will most probably have you going in circles as items are required. "Metroidvania" normally refers to a stage that uses the Super Metroid gimmick onwards, but this one has no map. Last item can get really confusing and requires full exploration of the stage. Also, the design is whatever. There are vines underwater that serve no purpose. It's a deliberately confusing stage, but it's an absorbing one atmosphere-wise.
-Chrisay: My second favorite stage in the entire game. Funny introduction of a dumb story that doesn't really matter; it's just for the jokes. What matters is that Kid goes wheeeeeeee, platforming is terrific, the total amount of items to collect for progress is 75% of the ones available, and it's totally worth the hunt of getting them all. There are differentiated stages that will remind you of the design ideas of the original VVVVVV. You might encounter gimmicks before you're explained how to use them, so this caused confusions here and there (such as shooting targets for teleporting, or the white snowflakes that change the jumps gravity). However, it's a great ride worth it's length. Also, no need for a final boss; the nature of the stage leaves it clear the focus is 100% adventure platforming. I do wish there was a special event or prize for getting 100% of the presents. Still, good job.
-MegaKid: As far as I'm concerned, the only thing the author ever did. The sprite is funny: you ARE Santa Claus. The stage consists of minigames after a section of mediocre platforming, and the icy floor gimmick is plain annoying, but the visual design is rich. Also, CN save sound! Always pretty. After that, the true meat are last four minigames: a race against the clock with a particular surprise, a section of very smart puzzles also against the clock (although one question completely depends on having a QWERTY keyboard, which is quite exclusive), and a vertical-shooter boss which is mediocre. The stage is fun in average.
-Mastermaxify: A Taisa avoidance spoof. It's whatever. Easily forgettable. If you could, I'd recommend you to let it pass, but you can't choose the stages. Bottom 3.
-RandomErik: The artist that draws his own art. The style is there and the humor is the expected one. When one is on the green metalic tilsets, it's difficult to see if you can go through some: they are just of a darker color, but can be easily missed by the eye. The climbing part is fun but has some precise parts with the wind gimmick. Thankfully, this stage did demand a boss and it's right there; for the note, the last attack is terrific. Fun times. I'm glad this stage is here.
-Zebbe: Ye, Stonk allowed to play as a chair and that is a landmark, but why is no one else talking about the ability to play as a walking snowball with a Santa Claus hat?? It's atmospheric and changes mood, from the intro to the cavern. It then descends into a succesful exploration of an unnamed demon. The CN3 reference is meh; only players of the original fangame will know what to do, and it's overtly precise. There is no boss and no lore given about your creepy encounter. Overall, very disappointing.
-Artimax: Uninteresting visual design, forgettable platforming, and the candy cane gimmick is quite inconsistent: it wouldn't work like 1 out of 10 times (and you have to do it a lot). Boss is bad. Overall, I disliked it.
-shign and dono: Third favorite stage, and it's mostly due to the final sunlaoqq-like final screen, often adopted by Arzztt. It's a stage of two parts: a stage of decent platforming that requires you to collect items, and the second one with a great design that expands the adventure feeling to another level out of nowhere. There are a couple of skips here, but who cares? What I would change from this one is the design of the spikes: their thick, dark brown outline and the color of the background often merged together, so the spike had to be calculated by other visual parameters or muscle memory. It was frustrating.
-Asza: Yeiiii, winter sleigh with the Reach Heaven gimmick of deactivating and reactivating rainbow-colored blocks by shooting. No special analysis here, except: it's bloody fun. The corner jokes had me laughing.
-Kiyoshi: Ok, first thing's first: Beach Boys appreciation. That's based anywhere in the world. Also, adorable visual design, but then again, not that Christmas-y. About the other stuff, for the love of God, how many traps can you fit in a single save? It's quite overdone and this is the heaviest trap-infested stage. I won't deny some are funny, but the palm tree save that shot lasers at you is absolutely maddening. The punishment room is funny once, but not twice. Some traps that expand the horizons are terrific, which are the ones worthy of contemplating. The first save of the second screen requires you to do some illogical nonsense; got stuck there for minutes without doing a thing because it wasn't obvious at all. Mixed fellings about this one; it's one of those stages which is funner to see someone else suffer through.
-WetWookie: This is a controversial one. Not everyone faces happiness during Christmas times, and this sadness can be exacerbated during festivities, where everyone seeks to have companionship or gather with their families if they are lucky to have one, incomplete or not, and I know about this. My family has no father, and my mother has been in several hospital to count for 5 years; that has drained 65% of my yearly income for said five years, since I'm the one that receives an income for supporting my mother and younger brother. I mentioned this because I don't want to sound like a soulless brute. WetWookie's incorporation of drama and story elements into his games is a special trademark that almost no one does. However, do we really need to experience this, especially as the penultimate stage? Why must it be so disheartening and depressing? Why does the ending gives you the feeling of "you did this for nothing; life sucks; face it"? And why on Earth do this during Christmas Eve? This is a horrible idea, and to make matters worse, leaving the story aside, the stage is absolutely ordinary, boring, stale-looking, with a very bad song choice, there is no Christmas sprite (I pressume due to the story), the Kid looks worried as hell the entire time... It's something you want to end soon. Appalling stage that I wish didn't exist, especially in a Christmas-themed game.
-Lss: Best stage of the game. Deliberately leaving the best for last, a Christmas miracle happens: we have a Magic Tower stage where it is impossible to softlock! What is this wizardry?! Anyway, terrific design, cool bosses, great power-up strats that will make subsequent fights easier, and a terrific hub system. Also, final boss is present here. It mostly follows the final boss of Collab 2, as there are avoidance sections as well as shooting sections. Still, it is quite fun to do, except for one transition where it is not clear how to avoid dagame, resulting in a very weird timing. Still, a proper closure for the game.
Thanks to all for making, and blessings to all!
[1] Like
Delicious Christmas Spheres!
This fangame is a special occurrence since I remember this coming out when I was only one year active in Del Fruit and logging reviews for all clears. It was exactly in October 31st, 2018, when I beat Spook Jam and the final boss costed me my life (after retrying him this year, it's still hard; I still don't know how that game is below 50 of difficulty). This one is rated properly, but it also brought me back to 5 years ago and made me reflect on how quickly time has gone by. Also, the timing couldn't have been better as I can finally play a Taisa spoof having beaten the original Black and it feels so different, especially when it was hype to make Taisa spoofs without anyone getting tired of it around 2015-2017.
This is a Collab that works exactly as efficiently as Spook Jam, but with a greater variance considering individual stages (sorry for the past Statistics teacher barging in). If you don't know the terms of mean or variance, it's simple; this is important for me to get my views across. Mean is simply the arithmetic average of a quantitative variable (e.g. ratings). Variance is the average of the squared differences between each individual rating and the mean of the data; variance is used to analyze how dispersed the data is with respect to the average. So, a hypothetical fangame with all individual stages being equally good has zero variance, because the ratings are all the same and therefore equal to the variance. A fangame that has the worst (Try a Collab 1) and the best individual stages of all times has a big variance (Try a Collab 2), as the values are too extreme between each other. This was a huge problem with the Try a Collab games.
This game has the same mean than Spook Jam, but a much smaller variance. For the record, Spook Jam is still much more organized than Try a Collab 1 & 2.
As it is proper, it is time to address each stage:
-Aolan and Mr. Butterfingers: Uneventful stage, annoying boss. It is a cool introduction difficulty-wise, but not theme-wise. The gimmick is simple and fine, but a particular screen demands quite the precision for being an intro.
-Patrickgh3: Cute and that's it. That's all I got. It's a nod to the Sunspike sphere attack. I appreciate the consideration of being able to try two difficulties; I recommend both considering anyone that is willing to conquer the whole game (no pun intended). It has very nice visuals, for the matter.
-EchoMask: Good stage with decent Celeste-like platforming and an interesting concept of an avoidance. One of the highlights of the game.
-KittyGame: Average stage. Spotlight platforming with nothing special except for some puzzle routing required to clear certain screens; the spotlight shenanigan is just there for dramatic effect, thank God, as the whole screen is still visible. Boss is funny but gets tiresome really soon; the coding of the last attack is very uncomfortable.
-AlejoFangamer: Another highlight that you can totally say it was made by a Latin American due to the atrocious grammar, lol. You can aim your shots, the humor is good, the stage is well built, the sprite is adorable and the gun is based. It can get confusing where to go sometimes and the bombs have to be too close to the walls to make an effect (also, the fact you have to do this is never explained in the game), but the quality of the gimmicks makes up for most of it. I wish this stage also had a boss.
-Lovey: Visual design reminds me of 3200min, but more polished. It's very difficult to identify the "vines" in the stage, and the vines that change your speed are not intuitive, but hey, it's a colorful stage. Not that sure how much Christmas-y except for the candy canes throughout. It has often fun platfoming. Boss, however, is creative and has sufficient margin for success.
-Haegoe: Standard background, generic traps, delicious fruits here and there, and red blocks can be mistaken with death blocks. The cart coding is whatever and its weird use is intended: you have to discover this by yourself. Boss is whatever. Didn't like this stage.
-Pieceofcheese87: The gimmick is questionable; it takes time to get used to it: you throw gifts on the ground to be able to stand on them. This is used in a variety of ways: getting over spikes, getting an extra jump, or infinite jumping. I didn't like the last two: the height you get with an "extra jump" by throwing a present is something you understand by trial and error. Also, you may think your presents will run out with every screen you enter, but no, you discover each new screen gives you two by default. Not cool not saying this since the beginning. Ok visuals and pretty much a mandatory song choice which fits very well. Platforming is ok, but the third screen (second one after the mini-tutorial) has a first jump that is too exaggerated. The jump refresher screens are quite bad. However, breakfast boss is back! Best moment of the stage.
-Desticler: A very large Metroid-like stage that will most probably have you going in circles as items are required. "Metroidvania" normally refers to a stage that uses the Super Metroid gimmick onwards, but this one has no map. Last item can get really confusing and requires full exploration of the stage. Also, the design is whatever. There are vines underwater that serve no purpose. It's a deliberately confusing stage, but it's an absorbing one atmosphere-wise.
-Chrisay: My second favorite stage in the entire game. Funny introduction of a dumb story that doesn't really matter; it's just for the jokes. What matters is that Kid goes wheeeeeeee, platforming is terrific, the total amount of items to collect for progress is 75% of the ones available, and it's totally worth the hunt of getting them all. There are differentiated stages that will remind you of the design ideas of the original VVVVVV. You might encounter gimmicks before you're explained how to use them, so this caused confusions here and there (such as shooting targets for teleporting, or the white snowflakes that change the jumps gravity). However, it's a great ride worth it's length. Also, no need for a final boss; the nature of the stage leaves it clear the focus is 100% adventure platforming. I do wish there was a special event or prize for getting 100% of the presents. Still, good job.
-MegaKid: As far as I'm concerned, the only thing the author ever did. The sprite is funny: you ARE Santa Claus. The stage consists of minigames after a section of mediocre platforming, and the icy floor gimmick is plain annoying, but the visual design is rich. Also, CN save sound! Always pretty. After that, the true meat are last four minigames: a race against the clock with a particular surprise, a section of very smart puzzles also against the clock (although one question completely depends on having a QWERTY keyboard, which is quite exclusive), and a vertical-shooter boss which is mediocre. The stage is fun in average.
-Mastermaxify: A Taisa avoidance spoof. It's whatever. Easily forgettable. If you could, I'd recommend you to let it pass, but you can't choose the stages. Bottom 3.
-RandomErik: The artist that draws his own art. The style is there and the humor is the expected one. When one is on the green metalic tilsets, it's difficult to see if you can go through some: they are just of a darker color, but can be easily missed by the eye. The climbing part is fun but has some precise parts with the wind gimmick. Thankfully, this stage did demand a boss and it's right there; for the note, the last attack is terrific. Fun times. I'm glad this stage is here.
-Zebbe: Ye, Stonk allowed to play as a chair and that is a landmark, but why is no one else talking about the ability to play as a walking snowball with a Santa Claus hat?? It's atmospheric and changes mood, from the intro to the cavern. It then descends into a succesful exploration of an unnamed demon. The CN3 reference is meh; only players of the original fangame will know what to do, and it's overtly precise. There is no boss and no lore given about your creepy encounter. Overall, very disappointing.
-Artimax: Uninteresting visual design, forgettable platforming, and the candy cane gimmick is quite inconsistent: it wouldn't work like 1 out of 10 times (and you have to do it a lot). Boss is bad. Overall, I disliked it.
-shign and dono: Third favorite stage, and it's mostly due to the final sunlaoqq-like final screen, often adopted by Arzztt. It's a stage of two parts: a stage of decent platforming that requires you to collect items, and the second one with a great design that expands the adventure feeling to another level out of nowhere. There are a couple of skips here, but who cares? What I would change from this one is the design of the spikes: their thick, dark brown outline and the color of the background often merged together, so the spike had to be calculated by other visual parameters or muscle memory. It was frustrating.
-Asza: Yeiiii, winter sleigh with the Reach Heaven gimmick of deactivating and reactivating rainbow-colored blocks by shooting. No special analysis here, except: it's bloody fun. The corner jokes had me laughing.
-Kiyoshi: Ok, first thing's first: Beach Boys appreciation. That's based anywhere in the world. Also, adorable visual design, but then again, not that Christmas-y. About the other stuff, for the love of God, how many traps can you fit in a single save? It's quite overdone and this is the heaviest trap-infested stage. I won't deny some are funny, but the palm tree save that shot lasers at you is absolutely maddening. The punishment room is funny once, but not twice. Some traps that expand the horizons are terrific, which are the ones worthy of contemplating. The first save of the second screen requires you to do some illogical nonsense; got stuck there for minutes without doing a thing because it wasn't obvious at all. Mixed fellings about this one; it's one of those stages which is funner to see someone else suffer through.
-WetWookie: This is a controversial one. Not everyone faces happiness during Christmas times, and this sadness can be exacerbated during festivities, where everyone seeks to have companionship or gather with their families if they are lucky to have one, incomplete or not, and I know about this. My family has no father, and my mother has been in several hospital to count for 5 years; that has drained 65% of my yearly income for said five years, since I'm the one that receives an income for supporting my mother and younger brother. I mentioned this because I don't want to sound like a soulless brute. WetWookie's incorporation of drama and story elements into his games is a special trademark that almost no one does. However, do we really need to experience this, especially as the penultimate stage? Why must it be so disheartening and depressing? Why does the ending gives you the feeling of "you did this for nothing; life sucks; face it"? And why on Earth do this during Christmas Eve? This is a horrible idea, and to make matters worse, leaving the story aside, the stage is absolutely ordinary, boring, stale-looking, with a very bad song choice, there is no Christmas sprite (I pressume due to the story), the Kid looks worried as hell the entire time... It's something you want to end soon. Appalling stage that I wish didn't exist, especially in a Christmas-themed game.
-Lss: Best stage of the game. Deliberately leaving the best for last, a Christmas miracle happens: we have a Magic Tower stage where it is impossible to softlock! What is this wizardry?! Anyway, terrific design, cool bosses, great power-up strats that will make subsequent fights easier, and a terrific hub system. Also, final boss is present here. It mostly follows the final boss of Collab 2, as there are avoidance sections as well as shooting sections. Still, it is quite fun to do, except for one transition where it is not clear how to avoid dagame, resulting in a very weird timing. Still, a proper closure for the game.
Thanks to all for making, and blessings to all!
Rating: 6.2
Difficulty: 55
Dec 26, 2023
PlutoTheThing
To me this game as a sequel to spook jam feels like how warp the worlds feels compared to run the marathon. (I even gave them the same ratings!) There's a lot more wild ideas but there's also less consistency, there's nothing bad but there are definitely things I would say are less fun, especially in the first half which had some solid stages but I liked a lot less than the second half. The main stages that stand out as amazing to me are Piece, Erik, and Lss, but there's definitely more I really enjoyed, to mention a few more would be Patrick, Chrisray, and Kiyoshi. I really like the highs and the lows are just kinda okay to me, which is fine. While I have a preference for sure, this is still a great game and I really enjoyed it. It's also even longer than Spook Jam despite having less stages, which is always nice. Overall a great collaboration!
[1] Like
Rating: 8.5
Difficulty: 50
Mar 9, 2023
CanusAntonius
Jingle Jam is a fantastic collaboration that follows its predecessor Spook Jam in delivering great creative ambitions with lovely holiday cheer. It's truly one of the best highlights of what the community is capable of, and is of course the quintessential fangame to play during the Christmas season.
With such a large roster of makers, it's truly incredible that all of the stages in this have something to like about them. There's so much variety in the ideas they implemented as well; one minute you're riding a sleigh in an auto scroller that has gravity flippers in it, while the next you're sliding down hills in a small open area searching for presents. There's a lot of interesting gimmick platforming, a couple of really cool bosses, and of course, the legendary Magic Tower that rests on the final day.
This was an absolute blast to finally play during the Holidays, I'd recommend playing this whenever you can since it's just a really fun game worth your time.
[1] Like
With such a large roster of makers, it's truly incredible that all of the stages in this have something to like about them. There's so much variety in the ideas they implemented as well; one minute you're riding a sleigh in an auto scroller that has gravity flippers in it, while the next you're sliding down hills in a small open area searching for presents. There's a lot of interesting gimmick platforming, a couple of really cool bosses, and of course, the legendary Magic Tower that rests on the final day.
This was an absolute blast to finally play during the Holidays, I'd recommend playing this whenever you can since it's just a really fun game worth your time.
Rating: 9.5
Difficulty: 56
Dec 13, 2022