Platform Racing

Platform Racing (commonly abbreviated PR1) is a 2007 online multiplayer racing Flash game developed by Jacob Grahn.
Its premise was inspired by Mario Kart, with him setting out to create a side-scrolling platformer spin on its formula."Jacob Grahn (Jiggmin) at Flash Gaming Summit 2009" - YouTube (a now private interview)"PR2 Peanutman's Campaign" (3:58)
An immediate success, Platform Racing received acclaim for its addicting gameplay and went on to amass millions of plays."Calculating Play Counts". Jiggmin Wiki. July 10, 2020."SLACKERJACK – Platform Racing". HecklerSpray. February 11, 2008."Platform racing". Libération. February 1, 2008."Link Dump Friday №23". Jayisgames. July 13, 2007. Members of Kongregate voted it best game of the week and among the top 3 of the month."Platform Racing wins weekly contest". Kongregate. July 6, 2007."Contest backlog excitement!". Kongregate. July 20, 2007. It was also featured on the frontpage of Newgrounds, whose community voted it the best of submission of the day, the 3rd best of the week and one of the top 15 games of the month."Top entries from 06/30/2007!" - Newgrounds"Top entries from 07/03/2007!" - Newgrounds"Best of July 2007!" - Newgrounds
TechCult later named it among the 150 best Flash games, while Benchmark featured it on their "30 great flash games" list."The 150 Best Online Flash Games". TechCult. October 6, 2008."Play in your browser - 30 great flash games". Benchmark. March 17, 2010.
It and Kongregate Racing served as launch titles for Meebo's game service."Meebo's Got Game". TechCrunch. November 20, 2007."Meebo's Got Game". Yahoo! Finance. November 20, 2007. "Q&A: Meebo's Sternberg On Integrating Games And Chat". Gamasutra. November 20, 2007. It was also briefly in PBS' 2010 Frontline documentary "Digital Nation", making it Jiggmin's only known game to appear on television."Digital Nation" (32:41). Frontline. PBS. February 2, 2010.
The game's success lead to a sequel a year later.
==Gameplay==
Platform Racing is an online 2D racing game where people compete against each other on-foot in various levels.
Players have 150 stat points to split between their speed, traction and jump height, with 100 being the maximum points allowed for each.
Item blocks are scattered throughout levels that provide a random item to either give players a boost or hinder their opponents. Once a race ends, each person's rank increases depending on their placement.
Once a player picks a username and joins a server, they can choose between 8 levels to race on. Only Newbieland's available at first, and they'll have to race one another to rank up and unlock the others.
The lobby includes a chatroom for racers. They have the ability to "ignore" people by clicking their username, which hides any messages they send.
==Customization==
Players can change the color of their head, body and feet from 11 different options.
They can also change their username at any point since accounts aren't saved to a server like future installments. This forces their rank to reset if their browser's cookies get cleared however.
==Levels==
Unlike Kongregate Racing, most levels are restricted until the player reaches a certain rank.
===Newbieland===
===Buto===
Required Rank: 0.1
===Pyramids===
Required Rank: 3
===Robocity===
Required Rank: 10
===Assembly===
Required Rank: 20
===Infernal Hop===
Required Rank: 50
===Going Down===
Required Rank: 150
===Slip===
Required Rank: 300
==Blocks==
Block	Name 	Description
 	Basic 	Normal blocks you can stand on.
 	Metal 	Normal blocks you can stand on.
 	Brick 	Shatters if bumped from below.
 	Star 	Gives a random item.
 	Finish	Ends the race when bumped.
 	Mine 	Explodes when touched.
 	Right 	Moves the player right.
 	Left 	Pushes players left.
 	Up 	Forces players into the air.
 	Ice 	Slippery.
===Unused===
2 unused blocks are in the SWF that were later reused for the sequel.
Block	Name 	Description
 	Normal	Basic blocks you can stand on.
 	Waffle	Basic blocks you can stand on.
==Items==
Item	Name 	Ability
 	Jet Pack 	Briefly allows players to fly.
 	Laser Gun 	Fire long-ranged lasers.
 	Lightning 	Zaps all opponents on the map.
 	Mine 	Explodes when touched.
 	Speed Burst	Briefly increases speed.
 	Super Jump 	Portable super jump usable anywhere.
 	Teleport 	Teleports the player 5 blocks ahead.
==Music==
Main article: Songs
Unlike future installments, all songs were composed by Jiggmin himself.
Audio	Song 	Length
 	Noodle Town	0:24
 	Song 1 	0:58
 	Song 2 	1:10
 	Song 3 	1:10
==Badges==
Main article: Achievements
As the game's since been removed from Kongregate, these are no longer obtainable."Platform Racing badges are retired". Kongregate. September 25, 2015.
Badge	Name 	Requirements 	Points
 	Newbieland Explorer 	Beat Newbieland in under 1 minute.	5
 	Platformer Performer	
Finish Buto in under 1 minute.
Beat Pyramids in under 70 seconds.
Complete Robocity in under 40 seconds.	15
 	Went Fast and Won 	
Reach rank 300.
Beat Assembly in under 50 seconds.
Finish Infernal Hop in under 90 seconds.
Complete Going Down in under 20 seconds.
Beat Slip in under 1 minute.	30
==1.1 Update==
Version 1.1 was released in July 2007."Comment from Jiggmin on Kongregate: The good news: I updated the game. The bad news: Updating the game deleted everyone's points. :(". July 19, 2007. Changes include:
*Added anti-hacking measures.
*New song, "Going Down" and "Slip" levels and ice blocks.
*Servers now show how many people are on them.
*Chat messages per minute limit decreased from 20 to 15.
*Audio is lower quality to reduce file size.
==Shut Down==
Although the game's servers had already been down for several months at that point, Jiggmin announced in September 2015 that he was dropping support for Platform Racing along with most other multiplayer games besides Platform Racing 2. He said:
"Managing [game] servers is another time drain. They'll need to be streamlined or removed. I plan to keep PR2 running at least until PR4 is out, though.""Platform Racing 4 and the Future!". Freegoose. September 9, 2015.
The announcement coincided with the launch of his new forum Freegoose.
===Revival===
A fan project revived the game in October 2018."W0tley Wednesday: It's finally here!!!". JV Revival. October 3, 2018. Since Jiggmin hasn't released the server code, it was written from scratch.
This version features several changes, such as vastly lowering required ranks for maps and enhancing Jet Pack physics.
==Trivia==
*Not counting the unmade fourth installment, this is the only Platform Racing game to:
**Not be nominated for a Flash Gaming Summit award. (It was an entrant for the 2008 Independent Games Festival however)"Platform Racing: Entrant 2008" - Independent Games Festival
**Lack hats and a level editor.
**Award ranks upon finishing levels instead of experience points.
**Not give players an extra stat point when they rank up.
**Show player avatars on the minimap.
**Not store accounts on a server.
**Let players bounce off each other's heads without the use of a hat.
*The servers are named after characters from Jiggmin's cancelled game Destroyers of Planets.
*Using the name � will cause the player's name to appear invisible in the chat and online list.
*While the game's been removed from Kongregate, its file and comment section are still up.
*It's possible to destroy an existing block by placing a mine inside it. It can be passed through once detonated, although the block's graphics are still present. While this was likely unintentional due to how incomplete it looks, Jiggmin later referred to it as a feature during PR3's development."Brainy mine usage". Jiggmin. April 20, 2010. Despite his stance, it's still partially a bug since it can make levels unfinishable by destroying finish blocks.
==Links==
*Play Platform Racing
*Full Screen Link
==References==
Category:Games
Category:Platform Racing Games
Category:Multiplayer Games
Category:Online Games
Category:2007 Games
Category:Platform Racing 1 Articles