Jubilee

Genuinely the most fun I've had with a game in a long time, and I'm unsure why it is not spoken with in the same breath as games like Celeste. Celeste has more mechanics and a more robust narrative, but Jubilee reminds me of that game most in its precision platforming and approach to difficulty. This game has an interconnected map full of platforming challenges, but it is not a Metroidvania. You never get an upgrade, which seems like it could be limiting at first, but the core moveset is extremely versatile and sufficient to generate a ton of very fun platforming puzzles. In addition, there is no exploration. You simply move from challenge to challenge, using the map to guide where to go next. There are 999 gems to be found, and they occur in groups but very much resemble the strawberries from Celeste. You need 666 to progress the game, but beyond that they are optional challenges. I only started intentionally ignoring gems in the final area, and I apparently missed a couple in my playthrough of the map. There is only one part of the map that was too hard/frustrating for me to reach. My final count was 921 (and 7/8 animals). The game has very generous checkpoints and fast travel, such that you never feel too punished for death or stuck doing something too hard for you. There were a few times I cleared a very difficult challenge and felt obliged to continue with something difficult, because getting back there would be too much, but in the event with only one exception nothing was ever so difficult or fiddly as to be unenjoyable. There were a few occasions with what I think of as "waiting puzzles," where an environmental hazard is moving on a timer and you have to wait for the right time to move past it. This is probably my least favorite thing that appears in platformers (and a main reason I don't care for Mario games, which sometimes rely heavily on this mechanic), but only once did I feel punished by having to go through a waiting puzzle to get to the part that was actually giving me a challenge. After completing the "real ending" I am satisfied. I am not a completionist and don't feel a need to go back and clear everything. As I said one area of the map just seemed tedious and almost luck based as to whether I would make it through, and some of the gems in the final area were quite difficult and I decided to focus on completion. That kind of modular difficulty without being an explicit choice you make in a menu somewhere is an excellent thing about this game.

I found this game due to the tag Metroidvania, however that is incorrect. Just because the game world is non-linear and features backtracking does not mean it is a metroidvania. On its' own merit it seems to be a perfectly serviceable precision platformer, however that is really not enough to stand out when there are so many better alternatives out. So while seemingly not a bad game, it isn't what I wanted.

jump

I like it a lot! It's a short, sweet little exploration platformer with tight controls and good level design. There was one particular jump in the final level that felt like dumb luck getting through, but other than that one moment, I can't think of any time that I got stuck and was like "man, what does the creator want me to do here?" It is quite short, it took me 40 minutes to get the bad ending and a little over two hours to get the good one, but what it's trying to do, it does very well. Also, for what it's worth, it's not nearly as difficult as the "precision platforming" moniker might lead you to believe. It's not even close to the difficulty of something like...say, Celeste (although that's probably in large part due to the fact that it doesn't have the kind of mechanics that allow for that kind of absurd difficulty).

Got the game for half price, but it's worth the full price. It's a short, medium-difficulty precision platformer. Smooth and very responsive controls, great art, silly humor that doesn't try too hard and doesn't outstay its welcome, and good tunes. I feel like there was meant to be a story in the game since there are a fair number of NPCs and interesting environments, but I guess it just didn't pan out. Everything else more than makes up for it, though.

"Jubilee" is a nice little 2D-precision platformer with charming visuals and sound (albeit a tad generic, no offense). The moveset is very basic (jump, double-jump glide, walljump), but executed quite well. The map is intertwined and has a feel of metroidvanias and the overall level design is solid throughout. It is far more forgiving than other entries in this genre, and although there are some tight passages, there are also plenty of checkpoints. Traversal is quick and rewarding. The camera can be a little bit annoying (has a weird momentum while moving with the character), but nothing infuriating. Took me around 2,5 hours to casually 100% it and I had my fair share of fun with it. Definetly worth checking out and a neat fix for fans of the genre!

A movie ticket these days is around $18. That gets you into a movie that usually is about an hour and 1/2 to 2 hours. I picked this up for $5, and the first time I tried it, it felt generic. Now, I have already gotten almost an hour and 1/2 out of it. Not bad....and I still have more to go. it took me about 10 mins to realize what makes this game so much fun. It is tough as nails, but manages to balance out the challenge with lots of good save points right where the difficulty spikes. So be prepared to die over and over while you learn the patterns of what you need to do to get through each section. But the good news is you don't have to go more than a couple steps to get back to where you died. It is also not even really a stressful, bash your controller against the wall, game either. Half the time I was dying, I knew i could do better. And the other half I was laughing. The controls are spot on too..so if you die, you know it is your screw up. So if you don't mind run, die, repeat...this might just be a nice retro style game for you. I didn't expect much, and ended up getting my money's worth already.

Great game if you really like platformers. If you don't, this game probably isn't for you. Even if you do love platformers this game will make you want to pull your hair out in some sections. I raged quit a few times but still give it a 10/10 for what it's trying to be.