| Platform Racing 2 | |
|---|---|
| Developers | Jiggmin |
| Publishers | Armor Games, BubbleBox,
Kongregate, Newgrounds |
| Rating | T |
| Genres | Racing, platformer |
| Release Dates |
2008-05-02 2008-05-12 (BB) 2008-05-13 (N) 2009-04-22 (AG) |
Platform Racing 2 (commonly abbreviated PR2) is an Adobe Flash online multiplayer racing video game developed by Jacob Grahn that was released on 2008-05-02.[1]
The game went on to become Jiggmin's most successful project, receiving over 32 million plays on Kongregate alone and becoming one of the most popular Flash games of all time when it was released, having over 2 thousand users playing online simultaneously at its peak. Platform Racing 2 's popularity lead to it being nominated for multiple awards and receiving a sequel two years later.
Pre-Release History
Interest in a sequel to Platform Racing was first revealed a few months after its release in a Kongregate forum post by Jiggmin dated 2007-09-27, where he gave a tentative release date of 2008-01-01 for it.[2] While the date passed without word, Jiggmin officially announced on Newgrounds that a sequel was in the works on 2008-01-15.[3]
A preview of the game was later posted on Jiggmin's website in February.[4] To prevent users from impersonating each other, accounts were shared with Volly-Bounce so members could login with the same password from the start on either. This link between the two games continued into the full release, until it was quietly discontinued in late 2011-early 2012. This build only included the level editor, as a contest was also held for players to create their best level to potentially get it on the campaign before the full game was released. The selection process lasted several weeks, with multiplayer servers being set up by the end of the month. The game then remained in open beta for the next two months while updates continued to be added.
Gameplay
Users racing in the campaign level "Mario Bros remix v.1.3(time attack)".
Like its predecessor, Platform Racing 2 is an online side-scrolling racing game where users race and battle against each other on-foot with their own customizable avatar in maps created by other players. Item blocks scattered around provide players with random items when they're bumped, which can give them an advantage over other users depending on the level. As the maximum attainable speed as been drastically increased, gameplay is considerably faster paced than the original overall, allowing for more vigorous matches that require greater skill in order to emerge victorious.
The game features numerous improvements over the first, including players now being able to create an account with a unique username and password that they can access from anywhere, no longer causing them to lose their progress whenever their browser's cookies are cleared. The ranking system has also been overhauled; instead of ranks specifically being awarded to them after every match, an experience point system has been added where racers will receive an amount depending on how well they placed, the ranks of their opponents, and how long they were in the map among other requirements. Once they've collected a set amount that increasingly gets higher, then they will rank up and gain one additional stat point that they can use on their speed, acceleration, or jumping height. As such, ranks are vastly lower overall than in the previous game.
Communicating with users has been expanded; along with being able to create a custom chat room on the lobby, an in-game chat has been added so players can talk while in a level. As the account system from Volly-Bounce has been brought over, users can now send private messages to one another along with permanently add someone to their ignored or new friend lists.
The new level editor.
The most notable new feature in the game is the level editor, which allows any user to create their own maps (though they must have an account to save them) using a variety of premade blocks, some brought over from the original game with minor changes and others that are brand new. Players are able to choose from 7 pre-drawn backgrounds to give their map, as well as draw their own by using one of the 5 art layers. The editor also provides the ability to type text, set the level's song, gravity, minimum rank requirement, time limit, and game mode among others. Pressing the "test" button allows them to play their map, where they can have any stat and hat. Users are able to save their course at any moment, though they must check "publish" for it to show up in the lobby. After completing or forfeiting a level, users can also rate the map via a 1-5 star system. Courses with the highest score by number of ratings are featured on either "All Time Best" or "Today's Best" depending on when they were published.
Customization
See also: Platform Racing 2/Hats
See also: Platform Racing 2/Body Parts
In addition to the first game's set returning, players are now able to choose from multiple different body parts to style their avatar, some being prizes exclusive to campaign levels while others require them to log in on a certain date to automatically receive them. Hats are also introduced, each providing the player with an added ability in matches.
Blocks
All 13 blocks (counting the 2 unused ones) from the original game return and players are also able to make use of 15 new block types for their courses as well.
| Block | Name | Description | Date Added |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Start Block.png | Start | Spawn point for a single player. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Basic 1 | Normal block you can stand on. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Basic 2 | Normal block you can stand on. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Basic 3 | Normal block you can stand on. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Basic 4 | Normal block you can stand on. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Brick | Made of poor material that shatters if bumped. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Finish | Marks the end of a level when bumped. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Ice | Causes players to slide about. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Item | Gives one random item. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Infinite Item | Provides an endless supply of items. | 2008-04-?? |
|
Left | Pushes players to the left. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Right | Pushes players to the right. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Up | Pushes players upwards. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Down | Holds players down. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Mine | Explodes when touched. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Crumble | Breaks if hit too hard. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Vanish | Disappears for 2 seconds when touched. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Move | Moves around randomly. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Water | Swim! | 2008-02-15 |
|
Rotate Right | Rotates the player 90 degrees to the right. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Rotate Left | Rotates the player 90 degrees to the left. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Push | Can be pushed around by touching it. | 2008-02-15 |
|
Happy | Boosts stats by 5. | 2008-04-?? |
|
Sad | Lowers stats by 5. | 2008-04-?? |
|
Safety Net | Teleports the player to their last safe area. | 2008-04-?? |
|
Heart | Awards an extra heart in deathmatches and makes the player invincible for 5 seconds. | 2013-02-12 |
|
Time | Adds 10 seconds to the timer. | 2013-04-30 |
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Egg Minion.png | Egg Minion | Alien egg that attacks when approached. | 2013-09-04 |
Items
As with blocks, all items from the first game return, along with the addition of 2 new ones.
| Item | Name | Ability | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Ice Wave.png | Ice Wave | Briefly freezes nearby blocks and players. | 3 |
| File:Platform Racing - Jetpack.png | Jetpack | Soar into the sky for a brief time. | 6.5 seconds (if used at once). |
| File:Platform Racing - Laser Gun.png | Laser Gun | Shoot long-ranged lasers. | 3 |
| File:Platform Racing - Lightning.png | Lightning | Zaps and stuns other players on the map. | 1 |
|
|
Mine | Places a mine that explodes when touched. | 1 |
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Speed Burst.png | Speed Burst | Makes the user faster for a brief period. | Lasts 6 seconds |
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Super Jump.png | Super Jump | Portable super jump that can be used anywhere. | 1 |
| File:Platform Racing 2 - Sword.png | Sword | Short-range sword that can slash others. | 3 |
| File:Platform Racing - Teleport.png | Teleport | Teleports the user four blocks in front of them. | 1 |
Updates
See also: Motley Monday
See also: Platform Racing 2/Update History
Badges
Main article: List of Achievements
Kongregate badges were added to the game on 2008-07-11 following a week of discussion with users on the website.[5]
| Badge | Name | Requirements | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Newbieland Conqueror | Complete Newbieland 2 in under 90 seconds. | 5 |
|
New York Minute | Finish Its New York! in under 75 seconds. | 15 |
|
Mad Hatter | Complete Hat Factory in under 7 minutes, or 420 seconds. | 30 |
|
Bird Brain | Enter a match wearing the full Giant Bird set. | 30 |
Awards
Platform Racing 2 won the "People's Choice" award at the 2009 Flash Gaming Summit Awards.[6][7][8][9] The game was also runner-up for "Best Multiplayer Game" at the same event.[10][11]
Trivia
- The server names are taken from an abandoned game of Jiggmin's called Destroyers of Planets. While the main characters (Derron, Carina, Grayan, and Fitz) were playable and have known personalities, none of the other characters were seen and their roles in the story remain unknown.
- The happy and sad blocks are the only ones designed by somebody other than Jiggmin, being credited to "Jacob K.".
- The Ice Wave was chosen by players via a Motley Monday poll over the Triple Bow by ten votes.[12] The Triple Bow would've allowed players to fire three arrows at once, with their distance depending on how long they charged their shot by holding down the space bar.[13]
- Egg Minion is the only block not to have a square shape.
- Several blocks had different appearances during the game's beta as seen in the video above, some reminiscent to their Platform Racing designs, including:
- Ice was semi-transparent.
- Vanish lacked the dot and swooshes in the middle.
- Mine was directly ported from PR1.
- Crumble wasn't a perfect square shape.
- Move had its up arrow colored in the level editor.
- Water was always transparent and lacked any sort of depth outside of the level editor.
- Despite the added game modes, most in-game messages were never updated and only reference races, including the "Race Complete!" pop-up seen at the end of every match.
- This is the only game of Jiggmin's to feature advertisements for BubbleBox.
- Attempting to use the "Forgot Password" feature with Jiggmin's account will result in an error reading: "The password to Jiggmin's luggage is 12345.", a reference to the 1987 film Spaceballs where President Skroob states that he has the same combination on his luggage.
References
- ↑ Note: PR2's page on jiggmin.com listed the release date as April 2nd instead of May 2nd from 2009 to 2011 (earlier and later versions of the page gave no date at all). As archived versions of jiggmin.com's homepage from that month indicate the game was still in beta, however, it was likely an error.
- ↑ http://www.kongregate.com/forums/19-platform-racing-2/topics/1915-platform-racing-or-platform-racing-2?page=1#posts-34184
- ↑ http://jiggmin.newgrounds.com/news/post/69401
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080220051545/http://www.jiggmin.com/
- ↑ http://www.kongregate.com/forums/19-platform-racing-2/topics/12777-platform-racing-2-badges
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100314012224/http://mochiland.com/articles/the-flash-gaming-summit-re-cap-and-round-up
- ↑ http://www.newsandtribune.com/news/local_news/local-game-designer-wins-award/article_1bd03f40-d729-52ec-b80b-5e89a3a30fd1.html
- ↑ http://s2.photobucket.com/user/MrJiggmin/media/IMG_1470.jpg.html?sort=3&o=64
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20090314021138/http://jiggmin.com/forum/blog.php?b=214
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20100102121602/http://jiggmin.com/forum/blog.php?tag=redxwings+wuz+here&u=1
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20090308055243/http://www.flashgamingsummit.com/the-mochis.html
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SbT3M9nKkY
- ↑ https://youtu.be/ccPetHlJ7o0?t=1m1s