User:Stone Spiral/sandbox

Jack the Reaper
Jack the Reaper is an independent video game for PC developed by Dream's Bell. In the creator's own words, "Jack the Reaper is a 2D platforming game revolving around the titular Jack, a custodian of the dead who must investigate a strange occurrence: the moon has fallen from the sky onto Earth, and all the souls that dwell there have returned to the world of the living! Jack must restore the natural order, fighting through countless levels and bosses to put the dead back to rest. The game will be presented as if it's been made for the SNES- graphics, music, and presentation-wise. The gameplay, on the other hand, was inspired by the Kirby games of the old days (Kirby 64, in particular)."

The graphics have received a significant upgrade since the project originally started in 2011, and are now on par with 2D games from the PlayStation1 era. While Jack the Reaper started as a free demo of about 10 levels, the current itteration contains 50 levels and and number of cutscenes. Some cutscenes and items are currently unavailable due to the game being a demo. The game is available to download for free at TigSource. Jack the Reaper is the second game developed by Dream's Bell, the first game being a top down shooter called 'Rotating Agent KoKo'.

Gameplay
Jack the Reaper is a 2D action-platformer in which some defeated enemies will provide special power-ups in the form of various 'souls'. There additional player abilities Jack gains after defeating 4 main bosses, the first of which allows the player to combine different power-ups to create varying powers. Some enemies can only be defeated by having specific power-up combinations. Defeated enemies drop a variety of silver and golden crosses along with gem shards. The gems slowly fill up a meter that, once filled, will restore your health to full. The various crosses are used in the game's shop areas. The further you progress in the game, the more power-ups are available to purchase in the shops. Additional tools such as healing items and upgrades for your default weapon can also be purchased in the shop.

Pressing 'up' or 'down' while attacking will change the direction of the attack. Usually this will make the attack happen at a 45 degree angle, but some power-ups will go straight up or straight down. Pressing 'down' while jumping will allow the player to attack directly beneath them with some power-ups that usually only fire at an angle while standing on a platform.

Most of the game's levels are action-platformer levels, but there are currently 8 levels containing different elements to change things up a little. for example there are 4 levels that add a side-scrolling element, one of which is also a vehicle segment. As the game's start up screens warn, there are increasingly difficult jumps to make in Jack the Reaper, some some precision platforming skills are required in some levels. Additional abilities gained after defeating bosses (such as the 'hover' and 'double jump' abilities) make earlier challenges easier, but more difficult jumps are added as new player abilities are gained.