Delicious FruitLatest Reviews
Gaborro
For: New Year 2025
For: New Year 2025
When you start the game on any of the difficulties, the initial screen presents you with the purpose of the game, talking about being bored of hard games like CN2.5, Morning Dew and K3, and that easier games are needed; the author writes that the Normal difficulty of this game is around 45, and that the main road of Hard mode will not go above a 70. The author then proceeds to recommend the Hard mode, and this review and the numbers are based on doing 100% in this difficulty.
It claims to be a 50 floor needle game, which is already quite a lot of content given the difficulty of the main game, but the CN2.5 mention is no decoration, as this game hides double the content behind its main screens.
The main 50 floors are pretty fun, but the way they are presented pretty much defines how this game feels; there is quite a lot of simple vanilla needle but with random simple gimmicks that add a lot of flavor to it, but suddenly around the halfway point one of the areas presents quite the insane mechanic and for some it might be a random difficulty spike.
The secrets are the most memorable part of the game, each of them having their own idea, and here the range is way more balanced; while you will find some more vanillaish needle secrets, most of them have at least some simple gimmick and some of them have some of the wackiest ideas I have ever seen in any needle game, to the point where the difficulty rating might not be a good representation for others since there are different skills here that are very subjective.
The game is very rough around the edges; there are many moments in the platforming with jumps that feel particularly mean, and sometimes even whole areas. Sometimes there will be notes claiming things aren't too hard and yet they kind of destroyed me. The author kinda moves like an evil jokester, which I feel aligns with the text at the beginning of the game and some stuff at the very end of the game, almost like parodying what you would think of the hardcore needle making mentality. Even when there is some guidance provided for some of the platforming, it really feels like you are left to figure out what to even do.
This can also be felt with some of the secret entrances, which might be the only point where I actually do have a few negative feelings that I can't ignore. These range from very simple stuff, some really cool ideas, and sadly, some absolutely random arcane stuff, which might as well be an equivalent of hugging every block but even worse. While I did try to do most of them blind, some of them were so confusing that it definitely was needed by the end to team up with others and try to get lots of brainstorming just to figure some of them out. I think this does end up as a fun process for anyone in the community that wants to get involved, but I do think there should be more sense to them in case someone doesn't want to reach that point.
Even with that in mind, I think this might be the most memorable needle game of 2025, which is kinda insane for a game that released around the start of the year.
The lower difficulties do provide the experience that is somewhat promised at the beginning, but it is definitely true that the real high quality content can only be found by putting the effort in for Hard mode.
I would definitely recommend trying this game on Hard if you have what it takes.
[1] Like
It claims to be a 50 floor needle game, which is already quite a lot of content given the difficulty of the main game, but the CN2.5 mention is no decoration, as this game hides double the content behind its main screens.
The main 50 floors are pretty fun, but the way they are presented pretty much defines how this game feels; there is quite a lot of simple vanilla needle but with random simple gimmicks that add a lot of flavor to it, but suddenly around the halfway point one of the areas presents quite the insane mechanic and for some it might be a random difficulty spike.
The secrets are the most memorable part of the game, each of them having their own idea, and here the range is way more balanced; while you will find some more vanillaish needle secrets, most of them have at least some simple gimmick and some of them have some of the wackiest ideas I have ever seen in any needle game, to the point where the difficulty rating might not be a good representation for others since there are different skills here that are very subjective.
The game is very rough around the edges; there are many moments in the platforming with jumps that feel particularly mean, and sometimes even whole areas. Sometimes there will be notes claiming things aren't too hard and yet they kind of destroyed me. The author kinda moves like an evil jokester, which I feel aligns with the text at the beginning of the game and some stuff at the very end of the game, almost like parodying what you would think of the hardcore needle making mentality. Even when there is some guidance provided for some of the platforming, it really feels like you are left to figure out what to even do.
This can also be felt with some of the secret entrances, which might be the only point where I actually do have a few negative feelings that I can't ignore. These range from very simple stuff, some really cool ideas, and sadly, some absolutely random arcane stuff, which might as well be an equivalent of hugging every block but even worse. While I did try to do most of them blind, some of them were so confusing that it definitely was needed by the end to team up with others and try to get lots of brainstorming just to figure some of them out. I think this does end up as a fun process for anyone in the community that wants to get involved, but I do think there should be more sense to them in case someone doesn't want to reach that point.
Even with that in mind, I think this might be the most memorable needle game of 2025, which is kinda insane for a game that released around the start of the year.
The lower difficulties do provide the experience that is somewhat promised at the beginning, but it is definitely true that the real high quality content can only be found by putting the effort in for Hard mode.
I would definitely recommend trying this game on Hard if you have what it takes.
Rating: 9.5 95
Difficulty: 80 80
Jan 1, 2026
ElCochran90
For: I Wanna Defeat The 100 Bubes.
For: I Wanna Defeat The 100 Bubes.
Rating includes extra. Difficulty rating also includes extra, which goes against my usual norm, for the fact that I was chosen as a tester.
First and foremost, I am immensely grateful for being chosen a tester of my first fangame after being in the community for 7 years and no less; I was actively participating in the tests, with two being significant. The first one was platforming testing, visibility issues, collision tests, boxes mechanics, etc. The second one was me playing v1.0 live, resulting in some modifications based on my live Twitch comments for some final tuning on the platforming and the implementation of warps for the secrets, or a more distinctive color design for water 2 and water 3. A tester has no say in the final output, but the maker, and I say this because most of the testers involved, including myself, made comments on the platforming, but the visual aspect was implemented later and Fenix decided to leave it.
Having said this, with the deepest sense of gratitude in my heart for considering me as a tester, something I actually dreamed of once (like people dream of clearing Secret 5 in K3), let's go onto the review.
The game was made for and dedicated to Spanish streamer Bubexel, consistent streamer and content creator in both Twitch and YouTube, and also make of the fangame "Hipathya in I Wanna World". The game features several needle stages in linear succession with an overall sense of what a difficulty curve is, but with notoriously harder saves inbetween compared to the rest of the stage itself. You can also collect secrets in every stage to unlock Extra.
When Fenix gets inspired and influenced by Crimson Needle 3, it shows, and it shows throughout! This is a positive comment. However, it's not the only one, as hints to other classics like I Wanna Kill The Guy will be evident from time to time. Speaking of which, the "sunken city" vibes in the latter is a great idea and was one of the most interesting stages throughout the entire game. At instances, the game can seem repetitive in visual design as it only has variations in the color of the tilesets, but this doesn't apply 100% of the times.
We can all agree that the Nebraska fields opening of Crimson Needle 3 is one of the most memorable openings in fangame history. You'll see several nods to atmosphere creation and environment immersion, and to be frank, it works for being an adventure-esque game. It's not strictly adventure unless you consider CN3 an adventure game, as the conventionalities of it are more accurately categorized as a needle fangame. However, I love the transitions between one stage and the next. It's a nice relaxing moment between every stage that makes you reflect on what you have accomplished while wondering what lies next.
The use of gimmicks is effective and creative, especially the teleport jump gimmick, which was some genuinely great uses.
Now, onto the negative aspects, there are at least three which greatly harmed my gameplay and even the desire for replay value.
1)The most infamous one is the visuals. It's cool if you have filters in your game, but holy moly, adding 100 filters across the entire game to the degree of making it a visual challenge and making the player wonder if customizing the brightness and contrast settings is a viable option for continuing, there is a massive problem. It's kinda funny that the screenshot uploaded to Del Fruit is difficult to look at, and that is the literal representation of the ENTIRE freaking game. The visual challenge tag is not "just because" at all. If it's not one modifying one's own settings, it's one gluing their eyes to the screen to see if they can see better. Just no. Please no. This is my most massive negative remark in the game. I'm pretty much substracting at least 10-12 points for that, because I swear, it's present from beginning to end. You'll only see light when you do any% and not in the way you're thinking.
2) The game has an autosave feature between each stage, but it is not clear when it implements it. For someone that wants to freely explore the map with confidence for secrets, there is an uncertainty whether if the player should continue trying or not. I found myself in this scenario around 4 times. This problem is made greater when the aforementioned atmospheric transitions between one stage and the next has no saves, and the autosave feature is unclear (and never mentioned anywhere). If a secret is thought to be in a transition, no player will want to do the final (and therefore hardest) save of the game again and again, trying every possible exit, only to face a "Game Over" and an "oh, it's not there".
3) In most fangames, there is a certainty of where the save ends: it's either at the next screen, or in the same screen featuring several saves. Of course exceptions exist since fangames exist, and for the sake of fairness, I Wanna Be the Flower has an infamous stage where the central idea has precisely this. Here, however, it's an act of faith. You'll feel that fake safety of going to the next screen to save just to realize it is fake more times than you can count. A save is placed in average around every 1.5-1.8 screens. It sometimes is around 6 because of going through a transition. The greatest example is over 10 screens. This brings me to the previous con: no one will try all possible exits for searching a single secret. This defeats the purpose of having an extra: If you have an extra stage, you should accomodate all circumstances for the player to try to unlock it. Otherwise, it's work in vain.
All in all, it's a game that knows exactly how to make solid level design, where, and how. The scroller sections at the end of some stages are just downright great and very fun to master. Much of this, however, is a waste when everything is so invisible and exaggeratedly foggy and dark that you cannot even see your own sprite (and the sprite is also an original one, so c'mon!).
[2] Likes
First and foremost, I am immensely grateful for being chosen a tester of my first fangame after being in the community for 7 years and no less; I was actively participating in the tests, with two being significant. The first one was platforming testing, visibility issues, collision tests, boxes mechanics, etc. The second one was me playing v1.0 live, resulting in some modifications based on my live Twitch comments for some final tuning on the platforming and the implementation of warps for the secrets, or a more distinctive color design for water 2 and water 3. A tester has no say in the final output, but the maker, and I say this because most of the testers involved, including myself, made comments on the platforming, but the visual aspect was implemented later and Fenix decided to leave it.
Having said this, with the deepest sense of gratitude in my heart for considering me as a tester, something I actually dreamed of once (like people dream of clearing Secret 5 in K3), let's go onto the review.
The game was made for and dedicated to Spanish streamer Bubexel, consistent streamer and content creator in both Twitch and YouTube, and also make of the fangame "Hipathya in I Wanna World". The game features several needle stages in linear succession with an overall sense of what a difficulty curve is, but with notoriously harder saves inbetween compared to the rest of the stage itself. You can also collect secrets in every stage to unlock Extra.
When Fenix gets inspired and influenced by Crimson Needle 3, it shows, and it shows throughout! This is a positive comment. However, it's not the only one, as hints to other classics like I Wanna Kill The Guy will be evident from time to time. Speaking of which, the "sunken city" vibes in the latter is a great idea and was one of the most interesting stages throughout the entire game. At instances, the game can seem repetitive in visual design as it only has variations in the color of the tilesets, but this doesn't apply 100% of the times.
We can all agree that the Nebraska fields opening of Crimson Needle 3 is one of the most memorable openings in fangame history. You'll see several nods to atmosphere creation and environment immersion, and to be frank, it works for being an adventure-esque game. It's not strictly adventure unless you consider CN3 an adventure game, as the conventionalities of it are more accurately categorized as a needle fangame. However, I love the transitions between one stage and the next. It's a nice relaxing moment between every stage that makes you reflect on what you have accomplished while wondering what lies next.
The use of gimmicks is effective and creative, especially the teleport jump gimmick, which was some genuinely great uses.
Now, onto the negative aspects, there are at least three which greatly harmed my gameplay and even the desire for replay value.
1)The most infamous one is the visuals. It's cool if you have filters in your game, but holy moly, adding 100 filters across the entire game to the degree of making it a visual challenge and making the player wonder if customizing the brightness and contrast settings is a viable option for continuing, there is a massive problem. It's kinda funny that the screenshot uploaded to Del Fruit is difficult to look at, and that is the literal representation of the ENTIRE freaking game. The visual challenge tag is not "just because" at all. If it's not one modifying one's own settings, it's one gluing their eyes to the screen to see if they can see better. Just no. Please no. This is my most massive negative remark in the game. I'm pretty much substracting at least 10-12 points for that, because I swear, it's present from beginning to end. You'll only see light when you do any% and not in the way you're thinking.
2) The game has an autosave feature between each stage, but it is not clear when it implements it. For someone that wants to freely explore the map with confidence for secrets, there is an uncertainty whether if the player should continue trying or not. I found myself in this scenario around 4 times. This problem is made greater when the aforementioned atmospheric transitions between one stage and the next has no saves, and the autosave feature is unclear (and never mentioned anywhere). If a secret is thought to be in a transition, no player will want to do the final (and therefore hardest) save of the game again and again, trying every possible exit, only to face a "Game Over" and an "oh, it's not there".
3) In most fangames, there is a certainty of where the save ends: it's either at the next screen, or in the same screen featuring several saves. Of course exceptions exist since fangames exist, and for the sake of fairness, I Wanna Be the Flower has an infamous stage where the central idea has precisely this. Here, however, it's an act of faith. You'll feel that fake safety of going to the next screen to save just to realize it is fake more times than you can count. A save is placed in average around every 1.5-1.8 screens. It sometimes is around 6 because of going through a transition. The greatest example is over 10 screens. This brings me to the previous con: no one will try all possible exits for searching a single secret. This defeats the purpose of having an extra: If you have an extra stage, you should accomodate all circumstances for the player to try to unlock it. Otherwise, it's work in vain.
All in all, it's a game that knows exactly how to make solid level design, where, and how. The scroller sections at the end of some stages are just downright great and very fun to master. Much of this, however, is a waste when everything is so invisible and exaggeratedly foggy and dark that you cannot even see your own sprite (and the sprite is also an original one, so c'mon!).
Rating: 5.9 59
Difficulty: 70 70
Jan 1, 2026
Renko97
For: I wanna to come back
For: I wanna to come back
NANG music Pog
Tagged as: Needle
[0] Likes
Rating: 5.4 54
Difficulty: 60 60
Dec 31, 2025
GaspacoZanis
For: Happy New Year 2023
For: Happy New Year 2023
'Happy New Year 2024!'
Wait, that is the wrong game. I meant Happy New Year 2023!
Yes, this is technically a prequel to 'Happy New Year 2024', although content wise and destination wise this is a completely different product. This game was not made for Secret Santa and in itself is a remake of Wowzone's 'I wanna be the Wow 3'. Remake was made in 24 hours or something like that. And, yes, this is not 'inspiration' game as author tells, and literally is a remake.
I have not played the original game, and I did not know what to expect from this remake, because reviews mentioned that game is unbalanced but without much of other comments. And after playing this game, I can say that from certain aspects this remake is better and from others it is absolutely worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En3wnXWWW_Y ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy44OPUSdz0:
Both avoidances start with a long 15 second intro, that looks better in the remake and most importantly can be skipped. After that riot3121 remake looks similar to the original, except attacks are faster, visually is better and also the RNG-based yellow ring got removed. The 2 hearts look cool but is actually Wowzone's idea.
Red circle has pattern bouncing in remake which is definitely better than in original, but you still can stay in the corner for almost all the time which does not make things much better.
https://youtu.be/1-U6mvFpDjU?t=28:
Awful attack in the remake that is so much worse than in the original. This is not the pattern and I have no clues why would you remake the attack this way.
After that everything until the chorus is kind of similar to the original, but better. Better RNG, better visuals and much easier to react. There are occasional bad RNG moments, but surprisingly I did not struggle as much as I anticipated.
https://youtu.be/1-U6mvFpDjU?t=63:
Chorus is completely different, and I am not sure if it got better. It seems easier but it is extremely inconveniently made. The star patterns give you situations where you need to dodge in extremely unpleasant ways. And also what the hell is that RNG burst at the end??? It is unreactable and you cannot predict where to stay and how to clear yellow star in the most optimal way. Awful.
The black fruits and white pattern does seem kind of better than in original, but it is not the best solution, in my opinion. Black fruits seem like can give weird situations and for the white pattern you have to know that you need to be in the corner.
Last attack is absolutely better in the remake and also has cool ending visually.
So, yeah, you would think that this game is much better than the original, since it has several cool changes, but unfortunately few new additions just completely ruin the experience. Also the intro change is cool but at this point, why would you even leave it? I do not see any reason (unless you want to be authentic), since you would normally just skip intro anyway.
I definitely felt frustrated playing this game and I am not sure if I can call this a good game or a good remake. There are good things so I will not rate this too low, but in order for me to recommend this game, you would need a remake of this game. Quite ironic, right? And also it is worth mentioning that even without bad RNG parts this remake is not necessarily outstanding. I am not sure why riot3121 chose to remake this game and why he made self-imposed (?) challenge for a day. Weird stuff.
Yeah, no. Would not recommend in good faith.
[0] Likes
Wait, that is the wrong game. I meant Happy New Year 2023!
Yes, this is technically a prequel to 'Happy New Year 2024', although content wise and destination wise this is a completely different product. This game was not made for Secret Santa and in itself is a remake of Wowzone's 'I wanna be the Wow 3'. Remake was made in 24 hours or something like that. And, yes, this is not 'inspiration' game as author tells, and literally is a remake.
I have not played the original game, and I did not know what to expect from this remake, because reviews mentioned that game is unbalanced but without much of other comments. And after playing this game, I can say that from certain aspects this remake is better and from others it is absolutely worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En3wnXWWW_Y ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy44OPUSdz0:
Both avoidances start with a long 15 second intro, that looks better in the remake and most importantly can be skipped. After that riot3121 remake looks similar to the original, except attacks are faster, visually is better and also the RNG-based yellow ring got removed. The 2 hearts look cool but is actually Wowzone's idea.
Red circle has pattern bouncing in remake which is definitely better than in original, but you still can stay in the corner for almost all the time which does not make things much better.
https://youtu.be/1-U6mvFpDjU?t=28:
Awful attack in the remake that is so much worse than in the original. This is not the pattern and I have no clues why would you remake the attack this way.
After that everything until the chorus is kind of similar to the original, but better. Better RNG, better visuals and much easier to react. There are occasional bad RNG moments, but surprisingly I did not struggle as much as I anticipated.
https://youtu.be/1-U6mvFpDjU?t=63:
Chorus is completely different, and I am not sure if it got better. It seems easier but it is extremely inconveniently made. The star patterns give you situations where you need to dodge in extremely unpleasant ways. And also what the hell is that RNG burst at the end??? It is unreactable and you cannot predict where to stay and how to clear yellow star in the most optimal way. Awful.
The black fruits and white pattern does seem kind of better than in original, but it is not the best solution, in my opinion. Black fruits seem like can give weird situations and for the white pattern you have to know that you need to be in the corner.
Last attack is absolutely better in the remake and also has cool ending visually.
So, yeah, you would think that this game is much better than the original, since it has several cool changes, but unfortunately few new additions just completely ruin the experience. Also the intro change is cool but at this point, why would you even leave it? I do not see any reason (unless you want to be authentic), since you would normally just skip intro anyway.
I definitely felt frustrated playing this game and I am not sure if I can call this a good game or a good remake. There are good things so I will not rate this too low, but in order for me to recommend this game, you would need a remake of this game. Quite ironic, right? And also it is worth mentioning that even without bad RNG parts this remake is not necessarily outstanding. I am not sure why riot3121 chose to remake this game and why he made self-imposed (?) challenge for a day. Weird stuff.
Yeah, no. Would not recommend in good faith.
Rating: 3.5 35
Difficulty: 44 44
Dec 31, 2025
MooMooArmageddon
For: I wanna be the OW
For: I wanna be the OW
On paper this could've really worked, a combination of SM64 and Katamari Damacy where you're given a limited amount of time to explore various stages and to collect as many coins and stars as possible.
Too bad it completely fucks it up with 2 baffling decisions.
1. When you touch a killer, it takes away 10 coins, which sounds generous compared to the traditional game over until you realize that the coin counter is global, meaning that if you have a bad run you can lose ALL of your coins. Then it gets worse when you then realize that
2. You need to pay to enter stages, barring the first one. So if you do lose all your coins on a later stage, you need to go back to the very beginning to grind out more coins.
I have no idea what the creator was thinking with those decisions, they pretty much ruin everything that this game has going for it.
Also the game requires a password to play for some reason, which is 1374
[0] Likes
Too bad it completely fucks it up with 2 baffling decisions.
1. When you touch a killer, it takes away 10 coins, which sounds generous compared to the traditional game over until you realize that the coin counter is global, meaning that if you have a bad run you can lose ALL of your coins. Then it gets worse when you then realize that
2. You need to pay to enter stages, barring the first one. So if you do lose all your coins on a later stage, you need to go back to the very beginning to grind out more coins.
I have no idea what the creator was thinking with those decisions, they pretty much ruin everything that this game has going for it.
Also the game requires a password to play for some reason, which is 1374
Rating: 2.0 20
Difficulty: 52 52
Dec 31, 2025
Mounter_Watain
For: I Wanna be the RO
For: I Wanna be the RO
Perfect trigger needle game.
But even one of the best author can't change Rukito-like boss into good boss.
I hope Rukito-like games without Rukito-like boss
[0] Likes
But even one of the best author can't change Rukito-like boss into good boss.
I hope Rukito-like games without Rukito-like boss
Rating: 8.5 85
Difficulty: 71 71
Dec 31, 2025
Renko97
For: I wanna Stay Alive
For: I wanna Stay Alive
Short a cute avoidance
[0] Likes
Rating: 6.4 64
Difficulty: 26 26
Dec 31, 2025
DerpyHoovesIWBTG
For: I Wanna The Loop: A
For: I Wanna The Loop: A
Two stages of needle with ~6 screens each, I didn't really count them.
Stage 1 has your typical Jtool needle where you have decent jumps mixed in with corners and skips. Would rate the first stage around 50 difficulty.
Stage 2 is where the game really begins, where its more of the same but jumps become more awkward and saves appear further away than before. Screen 2, 4 and 6 are the worst offenders of this. Screen 2 is a single long save with some jumps you can easily choke on, screen 4 (kdnh's screenshot) is your average needle trial screen reminiscent of reizu's games, and screen 6 has four rows of gates with three traps spread throughout the save. Save 2 of screen 4 is the hardest save in this if you aren't good at precision needle, and the vast majority of my deaths were on that save alone. The only advice I can give you is to get the align from the right wall and not switch to any other align. Screen 6's traps are on row 7(6?) on the left of column 4, the third to last row on the right of column 3 and the second to last row on the right of column 1.
Would recommend it up to stage 2, after that you are all on your own. Kinda wished the hard needle and gate screens weren't there, otherwise I'd have rated this a 5 or a 6.
[0] Likes
Stage 1 has your typical Jtool needle where you have decent jumps mixed in with corners and skips. Would rate the first stage around 50 difficulty.
Stage 2 is where the game really begins, where its more of the same but jumps become more awkward and saves appear further away than before. Screen 2, 4 and 6 are the worst offenders of this. Screen 2 is a single long save with some jumps you can easily choke on, screen 4 (kdnh's screenshot) is your average needle trial screen reminiscent of reizu's games, and screen 6 has four rows of gates with three traps spread throughout the save. Save 2 of screen 4 is the hardest save in this if you aren't good at precision needle, and the vast majority of my deaths were on that save alone. The only advice I can give you is to get the align from the right wall and not switch to any other align. Screen 6's traps are on row 7(6?) on the left of column 4, the third to last row on the right of column 3 and the second to last row on the right of column 1.
Would recommend it up to stage 2, after that you are all on your own. Kinda wished the hard needle and gate screens weren't there, otherwise I'd have rated this a 5 or a 6.
Rating: 3.5 35
Difficulty: 70 70
Dec 31, 2025
261_iw
For: I wanna Reforge
For: I wanna Reforge
Cleared in 7 minutes.
[0] Likes
Rating: 7.0 70
Difficulty: 20 20
Dec 31, 2025