Spark the Electric Jester 2

Spark the Electric Jester 2, previously known as Fark the Electric Jester, is a sequel to Spark the Electric Jester. It is a 3D action game built on the Unity engine on Lake's 3D Framework "Hedgephysics".

Plot
The story of Spark the Electric Jester 2 begins with Fark recollecting on the events of the first game, noting Spark's battle with Freom and how he failed his mission despite being a copy of the aforementioned jester. He soon wakes up and realizes he was put under maintenance by Dr. Armstrong. The doctor notes the lack of damage found and his special, one of a kind body. Fark then corrects the doctor, telling him that "Fark" is not really his name, but was in fact given to him by Spark. Fark then asks the doctor if he had found an actual name for him while he was under maintenance. The doctor de-confirms this, but claims he could dig through Fark's code and find it for him, riling up the jester. This leads to Armstrong questioning his spite for his current given name. Fark explains the reason for his current name, that being his similar appearance to Spark himself. While the doctor assures him that there's no shame in that name, he nonetheless agrees to look through his code. Right as Dr. Armstrong orders Fark to lie down on a table to begin the searching process, a new and unknown jester robot appears and kidnaps the doctor, leaving Fark with the goal of finding him to reveal his true identity.

After traveling through F.M City and F.M Downtown, Fark encounters the jester robot, called E.J. E.J tells Fark he won’t be able to find Dr. Armstrong, and that he has orders from ‘Lord’ Freom to kill him. E.J then mocks Fark more before sending a robot called Ryno Dyno after him.

After defeating Ryno Dyno, Fark moves on to look for the doctor, before Romalo interrupts him. Fark doesn’t know who he is at first, but Romalo explains that he helped Spark defeat Freom the first time and wants to help Dr. Armstrong. Fark demands Romalo tell him his intel, and Romalo reveals that E.J is Freom’s ‘little lap dog’, and that he saw the jester robot heading towards Technoria City. Fark thanks him and apologizes for being rude. Fark then jumps off towards Floria Highway in his quest to find Dr. Armstrong.

When Fark disappears, Romalo flies over to a Formie known as Astra. Romalo expresses his distaste for Fark and asks if Fark is really a problem after Astra says they have to keep an eye on him. Astra says that according to Clarity, Fark could be worse than Freom, and that they can trust Clarity. Romalo hesitates before he agrees but then begs to see the tech expo at Technoria City. The both of them then leave.

While Fark runs through Floria Highway and fights the many robots there, a group of three robots stare at a screen full of information about Fark. Double, Flint, and Float have been hired by Freom to kill Fark. Flint says there is no way that Fark’s small body can hold much power and that he won’t be a threat. Double agrees, but says they're just following out their orders from Freom. Float becomes bored, asking if they can leave. Double agrees, before reminding them all to remember who the client for their job is and that they have to do it right. Double pauses to reminisce about fighting for the liberation of robots, before remarking that it’s ‘really sad to see it come to an end now’. Flint is silent, and Double tells him not to get too emotional.

Before they can leave, E.J interrupts them and tells them that Freom has millions of robots rushing to kill Fark at this very moment, while they just stand there and do nothing. He then demands they get moving, or there will be consequences.

Double doesn’t respond to E.J’s threats and sarcastically asks if he’s going to be the one to ‘dish out the pain’. As he grabs his sword, he says that he and his group don’t take orders from anyone. E.J is shocked by this before he quickly regains his composure and says that he should know his place and go after Fark right now.

Double kicks E.J hard in the head and launches him into a nearby tree. Double says that E.J can call them traitors if he wants, but Freom made a simple request and they’re going to fulfill it. Before he leaves, Double tells him to be a ‘good boy’, and E.J punches the ground in frustration.

Fark journeys through Floria Plant, reaching its highest tower to encounter E.J and Turbo Bird. E.J begins another spiel, sarcastically complimenting Fark on his ability to make it this far. However, Fark is already irritated, as he gives a shake of his head towards the camera. He begins to leave, alarming E.J. E.J has to threaten Fark with the doctor's life to reign him back in. With that, E.J sics Turbo Bird on Fark, and jumps away. Fark easily dispatches it, and moves onto Floresta Blanca.

At Castela Blanca, Float and Flint are seen admiring the view of one of its highest towers.

Gameplay
Spark the Electric Jester 2 is LakeFeperd's first commercial 3D game made on the Unity engine, running on an updated version of his previous HedgePhysics project.

The player has a choice of multiple difficulties, Casual, for people interested in an incredibly easy playthrough, Easy, a still easy though slightly more challenging take, Normal, the most accessible difficulty, Hard, where enemies deal more damage, Very Hard where enemies deal even more damage, and Challenge Mode, where Fark can only take two hits and his parry mechanics change while he deals more damage to enemies. The difficulty can be later changed while playing, though it is only permanent and must be changed every time the player wants it altered in a single life, as it resets whenever loading a stage or dying.

The game has you take control of Fark, retaining a lot of his abilities from the first game, while also giving him some new toys to play with. His new Jester Dash ability allows him to home in onto weaker enemies and damages them, though tougher enemies cannot be damaged using this move. Charged up attacks now have their own dedicated button (R1), and pressing the L2 button gives him access to two new abilities, the Jester Charge, which allows Fark to charge up and gain an incredible boost of speed, and the Down Dash, a downward dash that can be used to reduce falling time and make precise landing options. His Parry is now slightly more forgiving, allowing the player to hold the shield up rather than activate it for a split second. This comes at the price of having the shield overheat if held for a long duration. A parry done early will be a dark blue and will give Fark some energy, a perfect parry is a bright turquoise which gives him even more energy, and a parry done too late will knock the Jester down and will deplete a large amount of energy, though no damage will be taken. Keep in mind that this new shield can be reverted back into the first game's parry mechanic by picking the Challenge difficulty. Fark previously could not use any special Jester Powers, but in this sequel, he has the option of using seven. He can store up to three Powers at once, mapped to the directional buttons, while the up arrow reverts him back to his base form.

Fark sees himself take fold into 14 levels and multiple bosses. The levels are large and allow full freedom of movement, with many pathways left and right. In the level, there are enemies of varying strength, Bits which can be used in the shop and can slowly heal Fark, larger health packs, and capsules containing Jester Powers. Levels are completed in a straightforward manner, with the only goal being to reach the end Goal ring. There is actually an early Goal ring for a player's first playthrough of the stage. These stages are picked via a map, allowing the player to view the world of the Moon from above.

Stages

 * TUTORIAL: Fark School
 * 1- F.M City
 * 2- F.M Downtown
 * BOSS 1- Ryno Dyno
 * 3- Floria Highway
 * 4- Floria Plant
 * BOSS 2- Turbo Bird
 * 5- Floresta Blanca
 * 6- Castela Blanca
 * BOSS 3- Float
 * 7- Shantoria Town
 * 8- Technoria City
 * BOSS 4- E.J
 * BOSS 5- Double
 * 9- Terminal Dragon
 * 10- Scaria Stropolis
 * 11- Titanic Tower
 * BOSS 6- Flint
 * 12- Planetary Stripe
 * 13- Hyperath Fleet
 * BOSS 7- Astra & Romalo
 * 14- Apocalypse Thruster
 * BOSS 8- Freom
 * Final Boss

Achievements

 * Game Complete!: " You finished the main story"

Complete the main campaign on normal mode.


 *  Game Complete On Hard Mode! 

Complete the main campaign on hard mode.


 *  Game Complete On Very Hard Mode! 

Complete the main campaign on very hard mode.


 *  Game Complete On Challange Mode! 

Complete the main campaign on Challenge mode.


 * Stage Rush Complete!

Complete stage rush.

Characters

 * Fark
 * Doctor Armstrong
 * E.J
 * Romalo
 * Astra
 * Float
 * Double
 * Flint
 * Freom
 * Clarity

Trivia

 * The original demo build was slightly slower, with Fark's acceleration being increased in the final version.
 * The save select screen is structured similarly to Sonic Adventure 2's own main menu screen, with character artwork sliding vertically in the background.
 * The main menu screen is structured similarly to the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance main menu screen, with both Fark and Raiden having the camera pan around them as they flash with electricity.
 * The main menu screen was not the only inspiration from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, as both game share many similarities. Both Raiden and Fark are robots starring in their own game after the main characters, Double, Flint and Float are all expies of bosses in Revengeance, and the Static Bar is based on Revengeance's own FC Bar.
 * The ingame HUD is similar to another LakeFeperd game, that being XF Drive, which also runs on Unity. Feperd also notes that XF Racing Institute (the second iteration which was more like F-Zero) was the base for Spark 2's artstyle, supporting the connection.
 * The original script contained a lot more swearing and cursing, which was all reverted after backlash following a trailer showcasing said vulgarity. The only two characters affected by this were E.J and Double.
 * If the player beats the game in a difficulty setting higher than the other difficulty modes (ex. Challenge Mode), the achievement for beating any easier mode is unlocked.
 * Spark 2 is basically a retelling of Fark's story from the first game with the new plot, locations and characters.

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