Hey I 100% this game in like 35 hours/3 days straight, and Cleod9 (One of the fine gentlemen who created this) asked nicely for a review, so here I am, even though I don't really type much :sandbag:
Let's see here, Yeah Jam Fury: UME is a super fun and really heckin' challenging Puzzle-Platformer (And sometimes just Puzzle or Platformer, and once or twice a Truck Driving Simulator) game staring three mango-lovin' Genies (Called "Grins,") on their quest to figure out how to get rid of their paradoxical crisis of the fact that none of them can exist at the same time, and they really wanna hang out.
You got Yeah, who places blocks n' jumps high but isn't really fast at all, he's great for traversing and is pretty heckin' cute but that's about all he's got, he's the basic fellow
Jam is the speedyman who packs the speed and can run up walls/use his mallet to Boost which can be used for more speed/height or Walljump, but his traction is pretty terrible meaning if you're on ice or just generally aren't careful you're gonna fall down, a lot
Fury is the big man who's taller than the other two (That's important) and can destroy blocks just by falling down/punching/existing for Yeah to place again, but his movement's a little funny (But don't tell him that, he's trying to become a dancer, believe in his goals) and he can't even Jump, so getting used to the big guy will take some time
Together they strive to collect the Mango (and sometimes also Orange, Potato and Fresh Milk, but not always) at the end of every level (There's just over 200 of 'em, that's a big ol' bowl of tropical fruits I'll tell ya what)
Basic jist; levels are divided into two halves, A-Side and B-Side
A-Side is probably what you came here for, it's good ol' puzzle platforming fun using all 3 dudes through a story that kinda-sorta-exists (The story gets told as you obtain Trochievals, not necessarily just going through the game, but it's a real cute story, you get to see Yeah, Jam and Fury have nice banter to eachother by writing in Yeah's Memory Book) but is mostly just "Mangoes are everywhere, I'm hungry." But I'm honestly fine with that since the original YJF didn't have any story at all aside from "Mangoes are everywhere, I'm hungry," so reading some cute conversations between the trio is neat.
B-Side, is where you wanna go if you want the really-challenging-Challenge Mode. You unlock it (All 100 levels of it) after beating A-Side's challenges, and B-Side is a "Remix/Challenge Mode" which can range from something as simple as just tweaking the layout a tiny bit/making you have less blocks to work with or something as infuriating as a puzzle you can't figure out for the life of you due to limited resources/Fury not being very helpful but the game urges you to use him and depending on how well you can think/act it can either be just mildly upsetting/stump you for a moment while you experience or you can just sortof ask why the Game Developers would ever do that to you since you thought that the devs were your friend. Expect Play Time to do a bit more than Double if you're planning on taking down the B-Side and getting the "True Ending" and all the Achievements.
Also, there's Steam Workshop support! Which is really neat. You can make all sorts of stuff (More stuff for the editor is unlocked as you progress through the game, some of which can be added to your levels for more challenge whilst others is just neat stuff like the ability to place Fresh Milk everywhere) and then either save it to just keep to yourself or Upload it to the Steam Workshop for all to see (There are some Trochievals tied to the Steam Workshop and also the Stage Editor, I'll tell you that, so be aware of them if you're going for 100%) so basically the game can last as long as the community wants it too (And whilst it isn't quite that vast, there's still a ton of options especially if you complete the game fully to unlock everything so I'm sure you'll come up with something great) which is always something nice to have in a game.
As for exploring levels, you're absolutely free to come back to any levels you've either already completed or skipped (You're completely allowed to skip levels you find too tough or just don't wanna do and come back to them later) VIA the Level Select, you can also watch Replays to remind yourself how you went about completing the challenge or try and score the fastest time to rank on the Leaderboards which is also fun, going fast is fun in YJF, ya gotta be good to go fast
Let's see what else
Ah yes, Difficulty. Let's have like 1-to-5 scale, 1 being like real easy and 5 making me want to slam my face into a pillow to calm down,
A-Side, I would say is a nice steady 3. Sometimes it throws a bit more precise stuff your direction (Mostly involving Fury) it's all good fun times that keeps the challenge at a nice little standard that you'll get used to as you go along.
B-Side..B-Side is around the 3-5 range whenever it feels like. I HIGHLY, super highly recommending practicing up before tackling B-Side (If you can help it, if you plan on 100%-ing the game, please play the original YeahJamFury first, you can find it on Newgrounds and/or McLeodGaming's website, playing it in the middle/after UME will take a bit to get used to because of how much UME improves on the little things, but it's always nice to practice up) and also watching the Quick Trick videos you can find on YeahJamFury's youtube to learn some super useful stuff that'll definitely help you get the Mangoes on B-Side. They can and will test both your puzzle-solving skills, platforming abilities, and also sometimes your sanity questioning with stuff like precise timing/placement, super limited resources or also just forcing you into a pit as the guy who can't jump. Sometimes it's just a nice little tougher-than-usual, but still relatively comfy experience that would fit in A-Side nicely (Which is the parts ranked 3 on my difficulty scale) but other times it's definitely a 5 and will test you, so take caution in that.
Fun scale? I'll say a 5 for all of A-Side and like half of B-Side, probably a 3-4 on the rest of B-Side since sometimes it makes me a little unhappy, but trust me, this game is SUPER fun. Once you get the grasp of what's going on (I guess I kindof already did going into this, I played the original YJF a ton and was waiting for this game since they teased the Remake that was gonna be on the Wii U/Steam but never came out years ago) going fast is really fun and just messing around is pretty enjoyable. Especially with the tunes, holy bananas some of the tunes in this game are AMAZING foot-tappers that'll just make you feel happy, believe you me. Especially the Overworld/Rainbow/Sky (Day Time)/whatever theme, I love that song. Can we get a soundtrack soon? I want a soundtrack.
Opinions/TL;DR
+Really fun and enjoyable
+Going fast is fun and the game rewards you for using stuff you learned in places not exactly intended, opening new routes to go fast
+Everyone is cute in their own ways and acts incredibly silly, the art style fits really nicely too
+Soundtrack is amazing
+Level editors are always something I enjoy
+Trochievals are fun/sometimes challenging (but a good challenging) to obtain and there's lots of 'em
+You can be a truck
+Honestly more fun than Shovel Knight imo
+Thank you TSON for getting me this game <3 <3
-Sometimes the game likes being really hard/precise and you just gotta put up with it, angry face
-They force you to go Fury at the end of one level in B-Side and if you don't plan ahead you'll get flung into a pit right beside the Mango and can't get it which forces you to restart the level (and it's pretty long), it was a bit mean and I didn't exactly like that, but it's the only time the game does that
-Can't turn into a truck and slam a snowman into the pavement
Overall rating? 5/5. Sometimes the game is a bit of a meanie but I'm more than willing to set that aside for this wonderful game. Is real good.
