Jack Frost

Jack Frost is a multiplayer action-platformer Nitrome released for MTV Arcade in 2007. Players control the Jack Frost characters who must freeze all blocks on the entire screen by walking over all the platforms and climbing all the ladders in each level in order to freeze them, this, in turn, will complete a level.

Controls
This game can also be played by two players, where they compete to see who can freeze more of the level. If a player walks on ice that is already frozen by another player, the ice will become that player's colour.

Player 1
 * left right Left and right arrow keys - Move
 * up Up - Jump/Climb ladders

Player 2
 * A D A and D keys - Move
 * W W key - Jump/Climb ladders

Levels
Each of the forty levels start with a series of red blocks as well as ladders that players must walk on to freeze. As soon as the last square has been walked on, the Jack Frost characters will jump for joy and advance to the next level.

Level 1
There are many signs in the first level introducing the basic concept of the game, as well as some basic components such as snowflakes and ladders. To start, there are two red enemies located on the highest platforms. The player is told to simply avoid them.

Level 2
The player is introduced to the concept of using frozen enemies as platforms. The platforms are neatly organized into two columns, with two columns of snowflakes running down between them. Seven red enemies are distributed throughout these platforms and a ladder connects a couple of them together.

Level 3
Level three introduces purple enemies, who are placed amongst ladders on an elevated area of the level. On the ground, two red enemies walk back and forth.

Level 4
All platforms in this level are connected by ladders, with seven purple enemies wandering around on them. At the very bottom, a line of spikes are seen. The player is warned not to land on them since they are fatal to Jack Frost's health.

Level 5
This level has red blocks in pairs. It introduces Moving Platforms that are between the blocks.

Level 6
This level has three purple enemies and moving platforms.

Level 7
This level introduces six green tongue enemies that unfreeze the blocks.

Level 8
In this level there are eight red enemies. There are no ladders so the player has to freeze the enemies and jump on them to get higher.

Level 9
This level introduces metal blocks along with six red enemies. Three of the red enemies are stuck in an area of metal blocks.

Level 10
This level introduces two green fire enemies and there is only one layer of red blocks. There are metal blocks underneath the red blocks.

Level 11
This level has three red enemies and one purple enemy.

Level 12
This level introduces five living gaps. There are two red enemies at the bottom of the level.

Level 13
This level has two green tongue enemies and red blocks in groups of four and one with moving platforms in pairs of two moving up and down between the blocks.

Level 14
This level has four green tongue enemies.

Level 15
This level has one layer of red blocks with metal underneath, six red enemies, and four purple enemies walking all over the level. There are ladders and small spaces.

Level 16
The bottom floor of the level is made of bounce blocks. There are nine red enemies, and each red enemy is walking on red blocks in groups of four, so the Jack Frost characters has to freeze them, then jump on them to get higher.

Level 17
This level gets repetitive. There are nine purple enemies, ten platforms with two ladders, four red blocks at the bottom, two at the top, and at there are spikes at the bottom of the level.There is one purple enemy on each platform except the one where the Jack Frost character starts.

Level 18
This level introduces four black birds. There are four living gaps, five platforms of red blocks, each bigger then the other, and on four of those platforms are living gaps, and the black birds fly through, and the bottom platform being the smallest, and being where the Jack Frost character starts. This level also introduces conveyor blocks, which are at the bottom of the level, moving the Jack Frost character toward spikes when they land on it.

Level 19
This level has five living gaps, red enemies, and one purple enemy.

Level 20
This level has two green fire enemies, red enemies, and three purple enemies. The left side of this level seems to be the same as the right.

Level 21
This level introduces eight Blue Skating Enemies,and they are on six platforms of Red Blocks.

Level 22
This level has five Red Enemies,four Blue Skating Enemies,and two Black Birds.There are ten Platforms with some Metal Blocks on the bottom and near the edges,and on the platform there is three to two Red Blocks on it.

Level 23
This level has one Purple Enemy,and more Conveyor Blocks then usual. And the left side of the level is the same as the right.

Level 24
This level introduces three Yellow Tongue Enemy's. This level also introduces the players first horned enemy.

Level 25
This level has one Yellow Tongue Enemy, and two Purple Enemies. The Yellow Tongue Enemy is in the middle of the level, while the two Purple Enemies are near the far left and right of the level, beside a wall. The left side of the level is the same as the right.

Level 26
This level has four Blue Skating Enemies, and six Purple Enemies.

Level 27
This level has seven Green Fire Enemies,walking on platforms of four and five Red Blocks,with Moving Platforms moving down between the Red Block platforms.

Level 28
This level has seven Red Enemies.

Level 29
This level has two Black Birds, one is in the middle of the level, walking back and fourth. There are more Conveyor Blocks than usual.

Level 30
This level gets hard,there are fourteen Black Birds,flying in small spaces,from Red Block to Red Block.

Level 31
This level introduces the Dark Red Fire Enemies. There are four of them on this level.

Level 32
This level has five Purple Enemies and two Dark Red Fire Enemies. Two Purple Enemies are on the ground, while the other three are on three different platforms. Both Dark Red Fire Enemies are in the middle of the level.

Level 33
This level has, four Purple Enemies,and three Black birds. There is a lot of Ladders,and the four Purple enemies are climbing up them,and the Black Birds are flying through the ladders.

Level 34
This level has two Yellow Tongue Enemies.

Level 35
This level has seven Green Fire Enemies walking around the level,and climbing up ladders.

Level 36
This level has four Black birds,and five Living Gaps. The Living Gaps are on Red Block platforms of two or three Red Blocks, and the bottom of the level is all spikes, while there are some Bounce Blocks a little higher up.

Level 37
This level introduces three Purple Fire Enemies, and there are three Dark Red Enemies.

Level 38
This level has twelve Green Tongue Enemies, and it has a lot of Ladders, the most in all levels.

Level 39
This level has nine Green Tongue Enemies.

Level 40
This is the last level of the game. There's three Dark Red Fire Enemies, and two Purple Fire Enemies.

Hazards

 * Spikes - Cover certain platforms and will hurt Jack Frost on contact.

Enemies
Indestructible enemies appear on almost every level of Jack Frost. If the player makes contact with an enemy, they will lose one heart. As a general rule, enemies can be temporarily frozen if the player jumps on the enemy. Players can use this frozen enemy as a platform to reach higher platforms that would otherwise be unreachable.

All enemies except the Red Enemies have hands and are able to climb ladders. While some enemies move around the level without attacking in anyway, there are some enemies that have the power to melt the player's ice, especially if the player gets too close to them. Players may find this a nuisance as they will have to go back to the platform unfrozen by the enemy in order to refreeze it.

On later levels, enemies with horns are introduced into the game. These enemies cannot be jumped on and must be avoided at all times. If the player gets too close to these enemies, it may melt some of the players' ice.


 * Orange nose enemies - Walks back and forth on platforms, stopping periodically to blow water from their nose when on ice.
 * Purple nose enemies - A variation of the red enemies, purple nose enemies also have arms that allow them to climb ladders.
 * Green lizards - Have tongues that allow them to attack the player. Occasionally when on ice, the revert an ice block two its non-ice form
 * Yellow lizards - Aside from the features of the lizard, they cannot be jumped on and have a slightly longer tongue.
 * Ice skaters - Walk normally without ice but skate (move much faster) when on ice. Can only be frozen when skating on ice.
 * Green dragons - When they are close to the player, they will sneeze out fire that allows them to melt large areas of frozen ice.
 * Red dragons - Similar to green dragons, they breathe out fire. They have horns, however, and only shoot out fire upwards when Jack Frost is above them.
 * Purple dragons - They are like the red dragons, only, they shoot fire downwards when the character is below them.
 * Living gaps - Harmless to the player, Jack Frost will simply fall through them if he stays over one for too long.
 * Black birds - Flies across horizontally but walks when on platforms. Can only be frozen when walking on a platform.

Interactive Objects

 * Metal Blocks - Cannot be frozen or jumped through.
 * Conveyor Blocks - Moves underneath Jack Frost even when he is still.
 * Snowflakes - Can be obtained for extra points.
 * Trampolines - Helps the characters reach higher, out of reach platforms.
 * Blocks - Any exposed block must be covered in ice in order for the player to succeed to the next level.
 * Ladders - Jack Frost can also climb these to reach higher areas. They count towards the ice freezing quota.
 * Moving platforms - These do not need to be frozen and can be used to reach other platforms within the game. They, however, will move beneath the character's feet when he is still.

Awards

 * Jay is Games
 * 2008
 * Best of Casual Gameplay 2007
 * Best Platform game of 2007
 * Nominated
 * }

Influence
Mat Annal told the game review site Jay is Games that the block changing method of the game and the orange and purple nose enemies are a direct reference to the arcade game Q*bert.

Unused content
Jack Frost contains unused images that consist solely of an image of text. The first unused image is an image of the word "HEATHER", which refers to Heather Stancliffe. This image is also present in Frost Bite's files (also unused), however, unlike Frost Bite, this unused "HEATHER" image is not of the same font of Jack Frost's text font.

The next three images - music1, music2, and music3 - refer to what seems to be places in a level editor of some sort where music files would be placed. Although it may seem as though the names refer to the menu music in-game music, and an unused track, these three images actually refer to just the in-game music, as the in-game music consists of additional music being played as the player freezes more of the level. .

The image that contains the word "music menu" on it refers to the game's menu music. Finally, the last two images read "ADD TEXT HERE...", the first image having the aforementioned text in purple, while the next image has the text in pink. This was likely a test for buttons that change colour when hovered over.

Birds have unused sprites of climbing ladders, despite birds never climbing ladders at all in the final game. Also existing is what seems to be an unused animation of snow that moves (snow in the final game is a still sprite which does not have any animation, and thus, does not move) or of a star in the background.

Walking in the air
Freezing an enemy, pausing the game, then resuming the game will cause the player to remain in the air even when the ice melts away. Furthermore, the actual area where the ice cube was, even when the ice has melted away, the player will still be able to stand where they were able to stand when on top of the ice, and this standing area will not disappear.

Trivia

 * This was the last game to be released in Nitrome's 2007 Winter Trilogy.
 * The music for Jack Frost is designed to change and get more complex as the player progress through the level. Other tracks are added when the player freeze more of the level. It sometimes just remixes the original music.
 * Prior to the release of Twin Shot 2, Mat Annal revealed that Jack Frost got the most plays of any Nitrome game.
 * The name of the game is based off of Jack Frost, a personification of frost and cold weather who appears in many pieces of literature.
 * Jack Frost is the first Nitrome game whose music changes depending on the progression of the level, without completely changing to another another music track (the second game being Colour Blind). Lee Nicklen states that this is done by mixing layered tracks together depending on the player's progression in the level.