Spark the Electric Jester
A 2017 indie platformer inspired by Sonic and Kirby.
Spark the Electric Jester is a 2017 platform game developed by Brazilian indie developer Felipe Daneluz. The player controls Spark, an anthropomorphic jester-like character, as he attempts to stop a robot army from taking over the world. The game combines fast-paced platforming with melee combat and a variety of power-ups, drawing on influences from the Sonic the Hedgehog and Kirby series.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Feperd Games
- Designer
- Felipe Daneluz
- Composer
- Andy Tunstall
- Falk Au Yeong
- Funk Fiction
- Michael Staple
- Paul Bethers
- James Landino
- Engine
- Clickteam Fusion
- Platforms
- Windows
- Released
- April 10, 2017
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Spark the Electric Jester is a side-scrolling platform game where the player guides Spark through themed levels filled with obstacles, robot enemies, and boss fights. Spark can run at high speeds, traverse inclines, walls, ceilings, and vertical loops, and perform wall jumps and dashes for acceleration and parrying. Melee attacks can be chained into three-hit combos, and charged shots are also available. A blue "Static Bar" fills when dealing attacks and can be expended for an enhanced charged shot. Power-ups distributed throughout levels grant unique move sets and cosmetic changes, sometimes altering special attacks when the Static Bar is full. Completing the game unlocks Fark, a doppelgänger with less health, altered level design, new bosses, and a distinct move set.
Plot
Spark, an anthropomorphic Formie, works as a circus performer but is replaced by a robot resembling him. Overlooking his city, he laments the growing robot presence. When robots attack the populace, Spark intervenes and encounters his look-alike, who taunts him and flees, sparking a rivalry. Spark dubs the look-alike "Fark" (a portmanteau of "Spark" and "fake"). Traveling the planet to fight the robot army, Spark learns of their world domination plans. He meets friendly robots and engineer Doctor Armstrong, who reveals he created an autonomous robot named Freom to guard Megaraph, a robot production facility. Freom developed a dogmatic personality and amassed an army via a computer virus. Armstrong explains Fark was meant to betray Freom but failed. Spark infiltrates Freom's airships and Megaraph, defeats Fark in a duel, and confronts Freom atop a machinery throne. Freom plans to launch Megaraph into the orbital ring for mass extinction. As the facility lifts off, Fark thrusts his staff skyward; Spark grabs it, transforms into a more powerful form, pursues Freom to Megaraph's peak, and defeats him with a massive laser attack.
Development and release
Felipe Daneluz, a Brazilian indie developer, created Spark the Electric Jester after making Sonic fangames using the Sonic Worlds engine in Multimedia Fusion 2. He released three 2D Sonic fangames—Sonic Before the Sequel, Sonic After the Sequel, and Sonic Chrono Adventure—between 2011 and 2013, which were downloaded over 120,000 times. The concept for Spark originated from a Kirby-inspired Beam power-up in After the Sequel that gave Sonic a jester appearance. Daneluz wondered what the design would look like as its own character, also drawing inspiration from Ristar. Initial reactions to Spark's design were poor, but Daneluz concluded it needed refinement by a different artist. Development began by the time of Chrono Adventure's release. Daneluz intended the game to differ from Sonic titles, initially making gameplay slow like Mega Man and mechanically simpler, but found it boring and added Sonic elements such as speed and vertical loops. After a successful 2015 Kickstarter campaign, the game was released for Windows on April 10, 2017, as his first commercial title.
Reception
Al-Aaser praised the variety in power-ups and level mechanics, saying it "remix[ed] and refresh[ed] old ideas with its own. Whitaker described the power-ups as more in-depth than those in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, elevating the game to the quality of 16-bit Sonic titles. While he called the first stage "ugly" and "disjointed," Whitaker found the level design improved and summarized it as "great. Al-Aaser enjoyed Fark's mechanics and thought the two characters' styles complemented each other. Whitaker found Fark's campaign more difficult than Spark's, which he felt lacked challenge, and appreciated the game's content. Both publications positively received the soundtrack, with Al-Aaser calling it "feel-good" and "an absolute jam," and Whitaker deeming it equal to 16-bit Sonic game music.
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