The reception we’ve gotten for Jazzy Beats has been fantastic, and it’s been fun to reply to them and to check out your games as well. But there’s some things that are still yet to be said about the game, so we decided to make a list of some interesting tidbits about the game’s development, references and so on. Here we go!
1. Lava Lamps saved the Game
After 4 hours of brainstorming, we still had no idea of what to make for the Jam. For some reason, we got stuck with Idols as our theme. Eventually, Jorge suggested Lavachan, and it all started to take form after that. I made some sketches, and eventually, she became the first finished sprite, which then we ended up calling Lavasama instead. However, we opted from using her as a protagonist, and she was too cool to be an antagonist, so now she’s just a cameo on the background. Still, if it weren’t for her, who knows what we would have done instead.
We originally wanted a comic/noir feeling to the game. To contrast with a darker world, I made Jazzchan because she’d be yellow, and instruments like trumpets and saxophones are common in noir media. For her rival, we made Bluessom, since her colors would contrast, and Blues seemed like the perfect enemy of Jazz. While her name’s not as catchy, Bluessom is also a play on words on Blues and Blossom, because of her outstanding flower.
2. The World Ends With Skullgirls
We’ve been told that our game resembles TWEWY and Skullgirls. It’s not by accident, as both games were visual and mechanic inspirations for the game (and so was Dynasty Warriors). Because we had girl idols fighting, and we wanted to put it on a Shibuya-like street, we kinda merged them both. Since originally the gameplay wasn’t as spectacular, we eventually made it so there were a lot of enemies on the screen at once, like in Warriors games.
I already mentioned that I made Jazzchan yellow to contrast with the world (which, in my mind, was far more red and dark than the final product). The color came first, and then the theme, which was a result of playing too much Skullgirls. So, she is heavily inspired on that game’s Big Band.
3. Do you like Anime?
We love anime, manga and japanese games, so we put some references here and there. Specifically, Jorge wanted to make a pun about that Dragon Maid one. The 140 is both a reference to the Shibuya 109 building and TWEWY’s 104 homage. It’s a 140 now because Jorge wanted to make it a reference to Ludum Dare 40. Boom! 3 references in one! And finally, because Steins;Gate is a recurring joke of us since I promised to watch it 2 years ago, I just put the satellite crashed into a building.
While not anime and not necessarily a reference, I made the lamp posts while thinking about The Beginner’s Guide. Just a nod, unless you want to give it a deeper meaning.
4. Whales and Games’ References and Inside Jokes
I also drew a bunch of things to reference other projects from Whales and Games, including released and unreleased ones. Let’s be honest: There’s pretty much no way that anyone playing on the LDJam would have gotten them. You should still go play the rest of our games though.
I also drew a bunch of things to reference other projects from Whales and Games, including released and unreleased ones. Let’s be honest: There’s pretty much no way that anyone playing on the LD Jam would have gotten them. You should still go play the rest of our games though.
A quick round up of them:
- Dapper Sushi’s fish is a reference to an aquarium game we never actually made, but the character is just so funny to me I reference it on every opportunity.
- Gladiator balloon and Petty Puny Pizza signs are references of older LD games. Blatant pitch for you to check them out
- Shockwave Cereal, seagull, missing poster and everything on Empire’s Springs are references to projects currently in development
or missing in action. You can find more of them by following us on Twitter.
5. It’s about artistic liberties
Jorge showcased some gameplay to friends who said that the street looked weird. I’m never been good at perspective or buildings, and it was too late to fix anything, as we were approaching the end of the game. So, pretty much just for kicks, I added a nod to the whole situation. It’s about integrity, okay?
Wrapping Up
I hope that you liked having a bit more of insight about how Jazzy Beats came to be. We’re just some guys trying to make games while having stupid fun while we’re at it. Here’s a link to check it out again, in case you haven’t tried it already. We’ve had a blast reading your comments and playing your games. It’s been fantastic! If you also want to chat and hangout, you’re more than invited to our Discord Server.
That’s pretty much it for now. Have a whale of a weekend! ?
