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irrelevantnostalgia · 2 years

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4. Cake Mania: Main St (2010)

I remember describing Cake Mania’s games’ progress as exponential once, but I think that the perfect graph to describe the progression of Cake Mania’s games with regards to quality is a sigmoidal curve.

The first three games can be represented by the bottom of the curve. They’re a steady rise in terms of overall quality and then bam, the graph shoots up and levels off near the top. What is it about Cake Mania: Main St that I’m really loving?

The plot is similar to the original Cake Mania. Evil MegaCorp, worse than the one before, is coming to Bakersfield. This time they are introducing a soulless new shopping mall which will push out the vibrant mom and pop shops. In response to this, Jill is going to get out her magic equipment and use cake to save Bakersfield, again. Only this time, she is going to be fighting the good fight alongside her friends and players are going to be able to play 4 different games. We get to play in Jill’s bakery, but also Jack’s burger joint, Risha’s plant nursery, and Tiny’s sushi restaurant. No need for Jill to defeat the evil by herself, she will now fight alongside her comrades.

𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝓝𝓮𝔀

No More Animation: No more uncanny and incomplete animation. The cutscenes have returned to the normal comic format, but kept the voice-acting. Thank fuck.

Tiny as a part of the main gang: As the number of Cake Mania games increase, Jill’s inner circle does as well. In Cake Mania 2, we were introduced to Jack and Risha as people of importance in Jill’s life while Tiny was just another customer. He didn’t even have a name, he was just the sumo wrestler customer. In Cake Mania 3, he was a member of Jill’s entourage that got transported back in time. There was somewhat of an indication that Tiny has a bigger role in the game than some of the other members that got transported back, such as her grandpa and “Agent Bundt”/Deliveryman from Cake Mania, but not enough so I did not bother pointing it out. However, in this game Tiny is featured as one of the main characters in this game with his own stage so it is safe to say he has officially joined Jill’s inner circle.

This Entire Game: After 3 games of basically the Same Thing (except maybe some game-equivalent facelifts, haircuts, and manicures to give the game a new look), the game had to try something new. It would be foolish to radically change up the classic formula of Jill + Baking, because it works well. It is just getting old at this point. Instead of changing up Jill + Baking, why not just add more to do?

Unlock It (Charli XCX ft. Kim Petras & Jay Park): We have the four businesses that we are going to operate and various flags around town that represent attractions. We can unlock these attractions through through gameplay. Once an attraction is unlocked the flag turns blue and we have the option to buy it, and we can even earn a small amount of money from the attraction for each level/”day” we complete.

Split the Bill: Since this game has the new objective of buying attractions around town, the money that you earn from the levels gets split--half of it goes to the fund to upgrade the equipment in the stage you are working in, like how it was for the rest of the games. The other half goes to the town fund (pictured above with the cash amount in the green sign).

Upgrade U (Beyonce ft. Jay-Z): You can upgrade each location which makes it bigger and more elaborate on the town map, while changing the decoration a bit when you play the levels. This set up allows for each location to be a speed-run version of the previous games since you can experiences various “stages” across 25 levels.

This aspect is the “fluff that I was okay with doing but ultimately don’t give a shit about” that was present all throughout Cake Mania 3. I understand why we are purchasing attractions and making the town pretty, but I didn’t feel anything while doing it. Not excitement, not irritation. I suppose this trying to be a more “interactive” way of saving the town compared to Cake Mania where you just played levels and got the happy ending. However, this is not something that needs fixing. The entire game is just clicking buttons, but clicking buttons in a level provides you with some kind of excitement. Buying the attractions felt like opening up a new word document, it just didn’t add anything.

𝓛𝓸𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼

Evans’ Bakery

The old formula we all know and love is back with some minor tweaks. A lot of the stuff I thought was useless fluff in Cake Mania 3, such as the mini-games and stage-specific power ups, did not make a return in this game. However, the sugar rush power-up, drink station, and overnight fridge stayed!

Since these different locations have compressed an entire game’s experience into 25 levels, equipment and upgrades are cheaper again. You also have the option to sell your equipment if you are in a bind to get some money back.

Risha’s Flower Shop

This is legit the only location where I found it to be difficult to play at times, which is a good thing because every other location is fairly easy to play in my opinion.

Risha’s flower shop has the same set-up as Jill’s bakery. You have the flower “oven” with the wrapping “froster.” I’m not sure what it is, but they feel slower or the location goals are much more difficult to achieve. Literally the first time I played this game I rage-quit (lmao) this location because I was struggling to get the super goals, which eventually turned into struggling to get the bare minimum goal. Sometimes getting the super goals required replaying a level and hoping that the random amount of money each customer gave to you was a little higher because I would be $5 off. I would attempt to get either of the two “topping” machines to get some extra money tacked on to each order, but this would be during the snail-speed machine stages which ended up biting me in the ass since each order just took longer and you couldn’t get as many customers in.

Eventually, I decided to just change the location of the “oven” and “froster” to be closer to each other and voila. Now, I wasn’t making Risha slow-walk across the stage constantly which saved time. It is odd because while adjusting the location of the oven+froster to be closer in any of the Cake Mania games helped a lot, but was not necessary for me to achieve the superstar goal. For Risha’s location it is practically necessary for me after the first few stages.

Also, Risha’s flower shop has two “decorators.” You can add the bouquet equivalent of a topping, ribbon, or both. I honestly recommend fully upgrading one before purchasing the other. By the time you fully upgrade one, you will have the funds to purchase all the upgrades for the other.

Jack’s Burger Barn and Tiny’s Sumo Sushi

These games have the same formula, similar to the relationship that Jill and Risha’s locations have. Jill and Risha’s locations are based around upgrading equipment. The orders are important, but the main objective is how you are going to invest the money you earn into making your establishment run more efficiently and churn out more money. Jack and Tiny’s locations have a set up where you have various ingredients spread out and have to make the orders yourself instead of only clicking buttons on an oven, kind of like the Burger Island games. The way to progress through their locations is to unlock and buy more recipes, and the only equipment you can buy is the distraction cookie machine and the TV. The recipes are also unlocked in order, so you can’t skip around with which recipes you purchase.

Another interesting aspect to note about these games is that the rules for making the food are lenient. Throwing away a cake or a flower comes with a penalty, but with Jack and Tiny’s locations you can prepare as many burger patties or fried salmon as you want to make preparing orders more convenient. I found them to be much easier to play than Jill and Risha’s locations due to this reason.

Here is the completed town, with all of the attractions unlocked and all the locations fully upgraded!

Here are all the trophies you can earn as well. For each location, (minus Evans’ Bakery) you can earn a trophy for unlocking it, fully upgrading it finishing all the levels, and finishing all the levels with the superstar baking goal. The balloons are for unlocking and purchasing all the local attractions, and of course the ribbon for completing the entire game. This is a much better approach to achievements than Cake Mania 3, which gave you a trophy for breathing.

Now it is time to introduce the stars of this game

𝓒𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓼

*Deep Sigh*

Favorite TV Station: Penguin Documentary

They look like the result of several generations of Nekogirl inbreeding for the worst traits. The pugs of Nekogirls.

Me in the Future

Favorite TV Station: Penguin documentary

Throwback from Cake Mania 2! Love to see her and her cat still thriving

Happy Lady

Favorite TV Station: Cartoons

Sad Sack: Hotdog Edition

Favorite TV Station: X-Files

A Cake Mania staple character

Chef Gordon

Favorite TV Station: News

One of many Blue Bubble customers

Marquis

Favorite TV Show: X-Files

Throwback from Cake Mania 3! He provides you with a sugar rush when he arrives

Super Matt

Favorite TV Show: News

Another beloved Blue Bubble customer. What’s great about this guy is that, unlike Napoleon and the Emperor from Cake Mania 3, this guy only immobilizes one customer adjacent to him. He does this by freezing them, so they are immobilized for a while. Gotta love it.

Ninja

Favorite TV Show: Cartoons

There can never be too many Blue Bubble customers. He’s like Super Matt, except he uses a smoke attack against customers instead of freezing them. Residents of Bakersfield get to truly pick their poison while waiting for cake or a burger.

1 Adult Customer

Favorite TV Show: Penguin documentary

This customer is just a SINGLE ADULT in a cute little coat. One individual in a coat. Only one. And they are grown, and definitely don’t need to be in school instead of waiting in line for flowers or sushi.

Alien

Favorite TV Show: X-Files

Throwback from Cake Mania 2! And yes, they still change the channel to their favorite one.

Pirate

Favorite TV Show: Penguin Documentary

Yep, this is customer goes from 0 to Blue Bubble if you anger him. He’s kinda like the Dinosaur from Cake Mania 3 in that regard.

Tiny

Favorite TV Show: Penguin Documentary

Throwback to Cake Mania 2!

Don Carlos

Favorite TV Show: X-Files

ANOTHER Blue Bubble customer, this time he is pulling a Robin Hood and trying to take your profits from you

Mr. Jack Jill-Evans

Favorite TV Show: News

Our favorite Himbo actually gets to be a customer

Dracula

Favorite TV Show: News

Throwback to Cake Mania! And also the Blue Bubble-customerification of Dracula.

420 Blaze It

Favorite TV Show: You know what? Throughout the entire game I never learned his TV preference, because I didn’t have to. Because, yes, he will take literally ANYTHING. Also yeah he is high.

♥This Guy♥

Favorite TV Show: X-files

I don’t know why he would make anyone happy. He’s just a guy. But he is the people’s guy because he lifts their spirits.

Risha

What’s great about her is you don’t even have to hand her a menu, she is ready to order the moment she walks in.

...and finally

♥La Reina, Queen of Cakes, the Malika of Marzipan....Jill Evans♥

Favorite TV Show: Cartoons

The division of customers either being neutral or affecting other customers with their mere presence has been reduced heavily in this game in favor of Blue Bubble customers. I don’t like this decision because I did like the chaos that customers like the mummy or witch provided. At the same time, it is not like having your customers frozen or changed to hot dogs makes for smooth gameplay, and it was still fun navigating the nonsense that came with this batch of Blue Bubble customers. Still, I prefer Cake Mania 3′s approach more since it allowed for both kinds of customers.

𝓜𝔂 𝓞𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷

You can gauge what I think of this game from the entirety of this blogpost. I really, really like this as a next step for the Cake Mania series. It keeps the recipe that we all know and love and adds on to it instead of creating a completely unrecognizable game. The changes this game provided weren’t as fluffy as Cake Mania 3. There is maybe one aspect that was changed that I didn’t like, and even that was not an issue that made the game unplayable. I really think this is the furthest this series can go before the game gets too ridiculous and deviates from the main draw of the game.

I give this game a 4/4. As in, all 4 locations are fun!

Anyways, here are the choice screenshots

Self aware game is self aware

Comrade Jill?

Throwback to Cake Mania 2!

The series portrays Jack to be a massive Himbo who has some interesting business ideas, which he basically is, but the dude is highkey very clever. This is hilarious.

I think this would be really a nice really poster at a dispensary.

Risha’s “thing” in this game is that she is a city slicker who is a fish out of water in this small town. This aspect about her gets contradicted in a later game when we find out that [spoiler].

Oh yeah, Jill is pregnant btw.

Comrade Don

Nightmare fuel. Also can you tell this is from the late 2000s/early 2010s?

Grimes and Elon Musk is that you?

I’d imagine this is a normal day working in food service during the Bush-era

#cake mania main st #cake mania #pc games #time management game #old web #time management #childhood game #nostaligiacore #nostalgia #childhood nostalgia #faced the same problem w the text editor smhhh #also this took wayyyy longer than usual like i finished this game in july #its cause i was filling out med school secondary apps T-T #but i left that flop era and will be entering a new one soon #i wont stop cakeblogging tho

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horang-07 · 6 months

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FNAF SPOILERS! SCROLL! TALKING ABOUT THE SPRINGLOCK SCENE!

i’ve seen so many people discussing the springlock scene in both negative and positive ways and i think it brings up really cool points about how matthew played that scene and balanced fan expectations with his own characterisation.

i think the discussions around this movie have rlly exposed the disconnect between fanon and canon in fnaf, especially talking abt the core games in isolation, bc frankly in the game universe (ignoring the books) we get Very Little characterisation for William other than the obvious, but Matthew managed to add so much in the way he talks and his body language.

in the reveal scene, we see afton at arguably his peak. in his first scene, he comes off as somewhat demeaning and judgemental until he recognises mike’s name, at which point he seems to have this nervous energy, rushing to cover it up but stumbling slightly, his reaction to the tables being turned even slightly is massive.

this is a man who committed multiple mrdrs in essentially broad daylight, hid the bodies in the most obvious place, and still got away with it, and then kept the crime scene as a trophy of his actions, and an ongoing prison sentence for his victims. he has been in complete control for decades, and is confident that he can deal with any kind of threat quickly. his confidence in his reveal is palpable

it changes when vanessa shoots him. the whole parallel with vanessa and the animatronics is hugely interesting too- how william refers to the animatronics almost endearingly as “kids” when he wants them to obey, how both vanny and the animatronics have an unearned loyalty to him, almost a pseudo-adoption through what he did to them, taking them from their parents and keeping them under his thumb, forever stuck as naive, forgiving, obedient children. vanessa breaking from that control shakes him, but the mask slips back into place almost immediately.

then, he’s outsmarted by the brother of one of his victims, and the child he planned to end next. his pseudo-children turn on him and he can no longer manipulate his appearance or shed his skin to escape. he explodes on them, and his language is incredibly telling that he is being dishonest.

he calls them small, trying to belittle them into submission, even though they are ten feet tall metal animatronics powered by rage. he is grasping at straws to regain control, and failing miserably.

finally, the springlocks go off. the locks in the movie look more like a ribcage, so the first two likely puncture his lungs. they’re slow, and painful, but he doesn’t scream or beg or sob. he grunts and groans, gritting his teeth and only letting out sounds of pain that sound almost involuntary. there is no way in hell he would visibly let himself show weakness or pain in front of these creatures that he believes he has control over. he isn’t brought to his knees until there are eight metal spikes embedded in his abdomen. he doesn’t let the mask fall for even a second, until he literally PUTS THE ACTUAL MASK ON and finally collapses. even then, he’s fighting for consciousness, twitching and writhing with no control over his body. william afton thrives on control, and his soul will not rest until he gets it back.

it’s why he keeps the pizzeria- he always comes back. he can’t help but return to the scene of the crime, putting on his old costume, continuing his killings. he revels in being a constant threat on the horizon. and now, he knows he is going to die, and he knows the suit will bring him back, and noone will be able to get rid of him then. so he puts the mask back on, and waits.

in terms of the sfx- they’re pretty accurate. with stab wounds, you need to leave the knife in the wound as long as possible for best chance of survival, as it stops the blood from escaping. in terms of the springlocks, there wouldn’t be copious amounts of blood as the locks are keeping the wounds filled- which is good because it means a slower, more painful death.