Water Spirit (WATRSP.WAD)

burabojunior's levels formed much of the backbone of the Japanese Community Project, featuring thrilling action on an aesthetically pleasing canvas. I loved the hidden temple aesthetic of "Riminishi Valley", the orbital platform journey culminating in "Escape From UAC Space Base" backed by Stuart Rynn's "Jailbreak", and the puzzle-driven lethal neon of "Resplendent Emerald Green". Water Spirit, a three-level Doom II minisode for Boom-compatible source ports, was his 2017 follow-up and in fact first solo release to the archives. I kind of knew what to expect from its look since I'd seen  few screenshots in its thread but I could not have guessed where the gameplay would head.

Japanese Community Project (JPCP_V1*.WAD)

The Doom community has a distinctly international flair. It isn't immediately obvious since many of them are pretty good English typists but a considerable number have their own personal forums like the massive Russian website and the smaller but no less treasured French message board. Enter the Japanese Doom community, a group of individuals who I assume must be tightly knit. I'm no games historian but I understand that PC gaming is a relatively niche activity in Japan. While Doom has been ported to what seems like anything and everything the tools used for content creation - specifically, levels - are an entirely different matter. The JDC is no less passionate for it, though, and from them comes one of 2016's biggest surprises: the Japanese Community Project, a full-fledged megaWAD for limit-removing ports.