WannaFest 22

Creators: Cherry_Treehouse, Natsu, renex, Floogle, Kousaku-P, Renko, Samiboule

Average Rating
9.4 / 10
Brilliant
Average Difficulty
56.7 / 100
Novice Challenge
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Tags:

Adventure (26) Gimmick (11) Boss (14) Story (8) Masterpiece (2) 3D (2) Art (4) minigames (1) Action (1) 2.5D (2) FM_2022 (15) Variety (1) Achievements (2)

Screenshots

1/7
by Natsu

Creator's Comments:

Natsu [Creator]
Update: Version 1.2 is now available, with several balance changes, notably to the final boss. Be sure to update!

After the events of I Wanna Be The Guy, The Kid is invited to a game show hosted by an imposing figure! Fight your way through several game challenges to compete for a high score. Do you have what it takes to master these games and win the grand prize?

Developed by Cherry Treehouse for Fangame Marathon 2022's Blind Adventure event, WannaFest 22 is a fast-paced rollercoaster through hidden gaming gems of the past!

Features:

-> Several stages faithfully based on cult classic games
-> Fast-paced gameplay focused on variety and scoring
-> Unique and exciting boss encounters
-> Crisp, colorful graphics and catchy music
-> Reprising voice actors from the original I Wanna Be The Guy
-> Plenty of achievements and extras
-> Full controller support
-> English and Japanese (subtitles) support

This was a heavy collaborative effort, no single stage was developed by only one person.

We worked really hard on this, we hope you enjoy it!

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Tagged as: Adventure Boss FM_2022
[21] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Sep 24, 2022

87 Reviews:

egg
If you are unspoiled on this game, stop looking at this page, go download the game and play it right now, then come back. I will not be touching on any specific content of the game in my review, but knowing absolutely nothing about this game is (what I believe to be) the best way to experience it. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Over the last couple of years, I have felt very little desire to play fangames. In my mind, I am done until *the* game comes along and proves itself to be worthy of attention. Once or twice per year, our community is blessed with one of *the* games. This year, WannaFest 22 is *the* game. To be clear: I was a playtester for this game, but I fell in love with this game the second I started watching its premiere during Fangame Marathon. When I was asked to playtest, I was entirely elated. Despite my obvious biases, I genuinely believe this is one of the best fangames ever made.

Every stage is an homage to classic games, most of which were sadly forgotten by the majority of people. The positive of this is that the people who grew up with these games or otherwise have a soft spot for them will be extremely pleased to see them receive attention from Cherry Treehouse. The games referenced and their relative obscurity notwithstanding, the game has extremely impressive attention to detail across the board. Where most fangames that reference older games arguably fumbles is inconsistency and/or inaccuracy. One of WannaFest's biggest strengths is more subtle than the average player would consider: every single stage's assets were manually ripped by members of Cherry Treehouse. When you are approaching your homage game from a more intimate angle like this, you will find a lot of little quirks and nuance with things ranging from graphical oddities to exact values for unique mechanics. While it seems like a small touch, it adds up and makes the game feel a lot more like a cohesive passion project than a game which simply mismatches graphics from Spriters Resource and calls it a day. Obviously this isn't the only good quality of the game; it has massive replay value, the music picks are bonafide jammers, the original graphics are beautiful, there's not a single segment in the game that is even remotely unfun... this particular quality is just one that is unique and was worthy of praise and deserving of explication.

WannaFest 22 is the pure embodiment of love. It is a love letter to video games the creators grew up with, and it is a love letter to the very game that started it all: I Wanna Be The Guy. Even Kayin said they don't need to make "I Wanna Be The Guy 2" because Cherry Treehouse already did it for them. Despite a large portion of it superficially coming across as "just" other games, WannaFest 22 is an extremely special and important game to me. It doesn't possess qualities that a lot of modern community members would probably consider key to a special game, but the qualities it does possess are inspiring and impressive to say the very least. This game is one of the few that has genuinely made me emotional, and I am so proud of Cherry Treehouse for seeing this project through, and not slacking where others likely would. Thank you for making this and reminding me that this community isn't just about stupid drama and insanely difficult grinds.

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[32] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 60
Sep 24, 2022
KittyGame
I really did not like this game...

Please take this review with a healthy teaspoon of salt. I'm old and cynical and sound quite harsh in this review. This is genuinely a really high quality fangame made by some of the community's greatest minds and I respect it. It's just personally not for me. No hate intended towards any of the developers

To me, fangames are about making something new. The original IWBTG was a brand new and unique adventure built on classic video game sprites and references. It was a novelty, but it was really interesting and captivated me when I first discovered it in middle school (along with Boshy and Kill The Guy). I feel that, for the most part, games have continued to follow this trend. This game, however, does not feel like that, and instead feels like a reference-fest with little to no originality par the final stage.

I understand that the past blind adventure games for Fangame Marathon were always like this. However, as time went on, people began to get sick of this trend of rehashing retro games and reprogramming them into fangame stages. So why is it different for this one? Why is this game so praised when it has some of the most uninventive stages in the entire blind game series?

I guess I can start with the few pros this game has: the 3D work on this game is phenomenal. It's a feat of programming excellence to get fully 3D environments working in GameMaker and looking beautiful as well, so props for that. I will also say that even though stages are rather uninventive, they do a decent job of looking visually accurate to their source material. The choice of games was also very creative (thank you for not picking another Mario stage!).

My biggest issue is that this game has very little to no originality. Every single stage except for the final stage is as close to the source material as possible, with the only changes being the level design and the Kid replacing whatever protagonist is present in the original. This is just so baffling to me; why would I play this when I can just play the original. This is especially true for stages like Reveal Spoiler This game, out of all of the blind adventure games, has the lowest level of creativity. And it's not like the bar has always been like this: there are some standout stages in previous games (Kirby Golf, Contra, Castlevania IV) that go further than the source material and add something uniquely "fangame-y". This game does not reach that level at all, and it's disappointing to see.

In conclusion, I fear this game represents a bad omen for the future of fangames. Fangames are the GB Collab, or the Farewell Medley, or Freezemind, or any other unique experience. And if fangames are starting to become overproduced, rehashed nostalgia fests, I don't want to be in this community anymore.

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[26] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Nov 15, 2022
Wolfiexe
WannaFest 22 is a wonderfully made adventure, filled with a lot of charm that for me encapsulates a lot of the joys of fangames, and the wide spread of variety that they can offer the player. I had the privilege of racing this blind during Fangame Marathon, and there wasn't a single part that I wasn't smiling at. And now, playing the fully polished and released version a few months later, it's cemented itself as one of my favourite adventure fangames that I've played.

As it was the blind adventure fangame for FM2022, it followed a similar trend to past games, with a tight focus on re-creating and rebuilding well known existing games in the world of I Wanna be the Guy. WannaFest does it at a very high level with the design, with no segment ever feeling like it verges towards frustration.

What I feel it particularly excels at though is the variety. Every stage feels distinctly memorable, and a lot of the time not something you'd be familiar with seeing in fangames. I think this can always run the risk of one or two stages not vibing too well with some players, depending on personal preference. But I believe the general design and pacing of the game is so tight that just about everyone can enjoy the content the game has to offer.

The production value is also just on another level to 99% of fangames. Visually it's a treat, and a few stages I feel are up there as some of the most impressively produced fangame stages that exist. The work that must have gone into the production I feel is probably very irregular when looking at general fangame production, and a behind-the-scenes look would be very interesting to see.

There's also a ton of replay value, with a full achievements menu, statistics which can alter a thing or too depending on how you did, and some other neat bonuses to check out! There's lots of polish which never felt totally necessary, but all just added up to make the experience that much cleaner, and ultimately is very much appreciated.

One last thing I have to praise I'll leave in a spoiler tag due to the nature of it. Reveal Spoiler

Overall I can't really fault the game. If you like variety, adventures or even just fangames at all, you owe it to yourself to give WannaFest a shot.

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Tagged as: Adventure Gimmick Boss Story FM_2022
[22] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 60
Sep 24, 2022
Chatran
This game is incredible, not a moment was unfun along the way. Definitely one of the greatest games I've ever played and there are now at least 3 more games I want to play in the future just from their representation in this.
[16] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 58
Sep 25, 2022
Duncan
I was about to rate this 5 out of 10 because Reveal Spoiler
Tagged as: Adventure FM_2022
[16] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 61
Sep 24, 2022
Cosmoing
As a tester and FM organizer, I've played this game a few times before release and already replayed it a few times on the final version since yesterday, which should tell you enough about how much fun I'm having with this game. Others have already talked at length about it, so instead I'll offer my thanks to:

- The fantastic team behind this game, you're all good friends and I'm glad you're around now and in the future!

- Skulldude, for being the one who initially approached the team about making this game. This would've never happened without you. We've known each other for god knows how many years now and it's always a blast. Thanks for being you!

- The Fangame Marathon Tech Crew, sometimes I wish I could run the event all on my own but it would never work without the team hard at work leading up to and during the event (sometimes after, thanks Nal and Nader). It's stressful sometimes but I love putting on the show and thanks for helping out!

And finally, the classic cheesy but necessary, thanks to all the viewers and the players, everyone who's interested in this game in any way. It's your interest and support that makes us try to get a new fresh adventure game every year for the marathon. Thank you and I hope you have fun!

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Tagged as: Adventure FM_2022
[12] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 55
Sep 26, 2022
Bob
Uhhh, yeah. This kinda pwns. Definitely the best marathon game ever made, probably one of the best adventure games in general ever made. Just an absolute treat to play through. Very seldom does a game come out that rejuvenates my love for fangames, and this is one of them. And it's also officially sanctioned by Kayin of all people, so it's almost like an official sequel to the original game. The team behind this is extremely dedicated to their craft, to the extent that we may have never seen before from fangame creators. Congratulations to them on finishing the game and I hope all your effort pays off from seeing all the great responses of people playing it!
Tagged as: Adventure
[11] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 60
Sep 25, 2022
YaBoiMarcAntony
As if you needed anyone else to tell you, WannaFest 22 is an excellent, inspiring game, worthy of all the time and love put into it from start to finish - and from playing it, I can tell you that's more than most can possibly fathom. Mentioning words such as "heart" and "personality," "character" or other phrases like that is essentially not worth the time it takes for me to write them out on their own, these are the words that come to you upon opening the game, not to mention the words which float about your mind as you play through it. This game, in every way, is a love letter to both fangames and just games altogether, a love letter that I would be more than stunned to receive myself.

While I find that my enjoyment across the game is not equal, it's just so damn easy to forget the moments of annoyance or dis-interest when considering the whole. Having finished the game, I'm not thinking about those few frustrating moments in Gunstar Heroes or Super Monkey Ball, I'm thinking of the pure shock of experiencing the Klonoa stage or diving deep into my own nostalgia for Sonic the Hedgehog. And of course, each stage is touched by excellency, there is no filler, no wasted space - even Parappa, the shortest of the bunch, I found to be just charismatic enough to not mind how quickly it ended. If there's anything to commend WannaFest 22 for, which there really is so much to commend it for, then it is the incredible quality maintained throughout even despite the level of insane variety inherent to its design.

Each stage really is completely different from the last, so much so that it's insane to even think of these stages as being within the same game. Of course, variety would be worth nothing if the quality of the gameplay were not also up to par, and thus is the truly difficult part of designing games in such a fashion. Luckily, and almost expectedly, WannaFest is not a game which lives and dies merely on its variety, it lives and flies thanks to the fact that each stage is made with such care and attention to detail that it is as if they were each made by the original creators behind the games which inspired every stage.

Admittedly, I have not personally played much of what is referenced here, but I think that is not a unique factor for me, nor many in this community. For the most part, many are too young to have played these games in the flesh, and not everyone developed an interest for these classics - but of course, if you've played any one game referenced here, you're in for an absolute treat, as was the case for me and Sonic. Even so, it's not as if that is therefore my favorite stage, as that would in fact belong quite neatly to Klonoa, the absolute height of gameplay for WannaFest 22 and the moment where I realized just how special this game is, so it's not as if you need to have done the required reading in order to get anything out of this course.

Truthfully, though I don't quite love this game as much as others do, it matters not a bit because it just makes me so happy to see all the love and admiration come out in full force for a game that completely deserves it. Furthermore, the boundaries pushed here make this such a commendable project that it essentially doesn't matter what I or anyone else feels about this game. Instead, what matters is we now see just how far the realm of fangames can be pushed, we can see just what any one of us are capable of if we put in the time and effort, the dedication that Cherry Treehouse has in spades. Certainly, it's not as if any given game NEEDS to push these "boundaries," but to see it done at such a level as it is here, well it's just a sight to behold, is all.

Though this game may not be for everyone, I think it is a game that everyone should at least give a try, if not to enjoy it then to see what creators in this community are capable of and because this game is a gift to our community. It is a gift that inspires me and will certainly inspire many others, it is just aching with love for these games we've dedicated so much of our collective time to and it's a pleasure just to bask in that, a pleasure unlike few others that have been released in all the years since the original I Wanna be the Guy came out. A spiritual successor unlike no other, WannaFest 22 is a game worthy of a thousand clears, it is worthy of everyone's love and admiration, and I think it is worthy of that assumed title: I Wanna be the Guy 2.

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Tagged as: Adventure Gimmick FM_2022
[11] Likes
Rating: 9.0       Difficulty: 60
Sep 25, 2022
KingSlendy
Truly one of, if not, the best fangame I've played
Tagged as: Adventure Gimmick Boss FM_2022
[10] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 60
Sep 24, 2022
CanusAntonius
Wannafest22 is what I believe is the most important release of 2022, even aside from the actual quality of the game it is by far the most technologically advanced production that pushes Gamemaker to a limit other fangames rarely try. I would not view this as a game that sets a higher standard and expect others to follow suit, an incredibly upper level of coding knowledge was necessary to make this that many others will never obtain, but I do think this stands as an artifact showing the furthest potential this community has to offer. This also stands as another strong example of how traditional Fangame gameplay is not required to make one good, instead only passion, creativity, and a focus on player enjoyment.

Wannafest at its core is a spectacle, in fact, I equate experiencing this game for the first time to something like Outer Wilds or The Beginner's Guide. The entire act of playing was an immense attack on the sensations of the player, always bringing about surprises and making you question what else could happen next. Just when you think the game has played its biggest playing card, you'll sit there and watch as Cherry Treehouse reveals it has an entirely new deck to use. Every instance of the game is prepared with special care, from the title screen to the pause button, music to visuals, cutscenes and credits, this is very much a passion project that could rival the intensity of any professional game. And while walking out I realize that I will never be able to experience it blind again, the gameplay is still made to encourage consecutive replays should you wish through the usage of achievements and additional modes.

Each stage brings about a new game for the player to discover, I would wager at least half of them you have probably never played. This creates an interesting situation in which not only did I appreciate the stages for what they are, they actually convinced me to play the games they reference. Now here's an important aspect as well, these are some of the most faithful "video game" stages in a Fangame you can find. They will absolutely woo the player with how specifically in tune they are with the original source, once again due to how this game barely has any traditional fangame gameplay at all. It is understandable that this fact may turn off fangame purists who play these specifically for the standard physics and style, but for those who enjoy these purely because they just want an enjoyable game, this is the Casterly Rock of Delfruit.

After playing this, I think the final truth that I can say about this game is that it's probably the easiest 10 rating I have ever given on the site. There is no hesitation in my mind when writing this that it was one of the most enjoyable times I have ever had in the community, and I hope others have the same feelings as I do in the future about this. This is truly a masterpiece that excels beyond what anyone expected and holds the highest recommendation I could possibly give.

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Tagged as: Adventure Gimmick Boss Story Art Action FM_2022 Achievements
[9] Likes
Rating: 10.0       Difficulty: 55
Sep 24, 2022