Reference Guide

This guide covers all of the references in Jazzpunk, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Quake III. If you don't know if something in the game is a reference to something else, this guide will tell you what that reference is!

References

* = indicates an additional note in another section of the guide

1. In the Kai Tak resort level, there are binoculars on the resort/hotel building floors. If you look through one that is not on the fourth floor of the building, the screen will become a gun barrel and a man in a suit will walk by and face the barrel, followed by a gunshot. This is a reference to James Bond in GoldenEye.

2. In the Soviet Consolate level, there is a frog with a laptop. If you talk to him to help him, you will play a minigame referencing the original Atari game, Frogger.

3. When you enter the window of the Soviet Consolate building, you will roll in and stand up with a comical cartoon sound. This is a possible reference to the old Batman TV show's use of sound effects.

4. Most newspapers in the Soviet Consolate level play a tune that references Batman when clicked on.

5. In the Soviet Consolate Building, there's a microscope that makes the game change to a Space Invaders-like game.

6. In the Soviet Consolate Building, there is an ice alarm. When pressed, you appear to be hurt by it. This is a reference to James Bond again.

7. In the SCB (Soviet Consolate Building) level, there's a pizza box that launches you into a game that references Pizza Hut and mushroom clouds (look into the sky when playing it). *

8. In the SCB level, there's a movie that plays an actual TV commercial for a toy called the "Swing Wing". Keep in mind that this was an actual toy.

9. In the SCB level, there is a guy on a bridge who you can push. After pushing him, you will hear the Wilhelm scream. *

10. In the Cowboy mission, there is a point in the game where you can knock down people and they make sounds as if you knocked down bowling pins. It's even more noticable when one of the characters near the end of the level is an actual bowling pin.

11. At the Kai Tak resort, there is a car that can be battled in a Street Fighter-like minigame, complete with sounds from the actual games.

12. On the beach in the Kai Tak resort level, there is a man in carbonite found when you use a metal detector. This is a Star Wars reference.

13. In multiple levels, there is a Blockbuster-like video tape that needs to be put into a tape return. These tapes reference the movies labeled on them.

14. In the WetWorks level, there's a Windows/Mac crash screen reference.

15. In the WetWorks level, there's a Solitaire reference.

16. On the Bachelor Pad level, there's a reference to Catlateral Damage, another game in which you hit items with a cat paw.

17. On the Bachelor Pad, there is a reference to gravy boats being boats in a Gravy Race against the Editor. *

18. On the Kai Tak Resort beach, there's a turtle that can be given a sai, a ninja headband, and a pizza. This is the reference to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

19. There's a pie wth a beret, cigarette, and black circular shades that references French pies. *

20. There's a Capp'n Crunch reference in the Soviet Consolate Building in the building of the same name.

21. In the Bachelor Pad level, there's a bathroom witth a shower. If you go near it, a song from the movie, Psycho and a basketball on top of a box on top of a trash can is behind the shower curtain.

22. On the map level before the Kai Tak Resort level, the countries are renamed and reference other things. One country was renamed "Hadoukenya", referencing a Street Fighter game.

23. On the map level, there is a country called "Siri Lanka", referencing Apple's personal assistant AI, Siri.

24. On the map level, there is a country named "Text-to-Spain", referencing Text-to-Speech.

25. On the map level, there is a country called "Panarama", referencing panoramas.

26. On the map level (ML from now on), there is a country named Parabola, referencing a mathematical term with the same name.

27. On the ML, Australia is divided into two parts (as well as having a bite taken out of it): Thunderdome and Beyond Thunderdome. This is a reference to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

28. At the Kai Tak resort, there is a sheep that can be poked until it blows up. There is a green orc hand poking it, talking. This is a reference to Warcraft.

29. In many levels, there is a "Blankmaster Vidicon" tape that references Blockbuster Videos.

30. In the Kai Tak resort, that same tape is called "Ghost in the Taco Shell", referring to "Ghost in the Shell".

31. In the Kai Tak resort, there is a Panasonic Game Console, referring to the actual video game system, the 3DO. *

32.In various levels, there is a wedding cake that can be clicked on or pressed "E" on, and the game turns into a parody of Quake III: Arena, but called Wedding Qake (Wedding Cake) instead. *

33. In two levels, there is a Fruit Ninja reference, where you cut fruit with a sword. *

34. There is some reference to Alien, but I'm not sure what it is.

35. There's a reference to Blade Runner in the Cowboy mission when one chef says "I design your eyes" and the blimp of money's announcer statements. Also included is the 3 shells in the bathroom.

36. There is a reference to Evil Dead II in the pizza minigame.

37. The dedication in the SCB park to Xerox is a reference to Xerox machines.

38. There is a reference to the Google Nexus 6 when one chef in the Cowboy mission says "You Nexus 6, huh?"

39. There's a Star Trek reference in the Bachelor Pad level when one lady says "One to beam up" and disappears. (Also the sound of the doors opening is the sound from Star Trek)

40. Cowboy level: "Don't feed them after midnight", from the movie Gremlins, when the owner of the Chinatown shop explains mogwai care.

40.5. "We don't serve your kind", from the original Star Wars, when the cantina barman refuses to serve the droids, in turn creating an allusion to Bladerunner, where the protagonist may be a replicant.

41. The cowboy with the augmented kidney is an allusion to the novel Neuromancer, where the protagonist, a cyberspace "cowboy", is fitted with a kidney modification to prevent him using drugs.

42. Consulate level: calling the Kremlin gets "Kremlins 2, the New Batch", alluding to the second Gremlins movie, and perhaps a perestroika joke (the government reform campaign in the USSR in the '80s).

43. The pigeon-obsessed spies could be an allusion to the...eccentric...history of the CIA use of animals in the '50s and '60s.

44. The Parallax movie titles are parodies - Double Indemnity (1944 film noir), Johnny Mnemonic (wretched 1995 movie of a classic cyberpunk story with Keanu Reeves as a guy with chunks of his brain missing - one of his more natural roles), A Colt is My Passport (1967 Japanese gangster film), and The Big Sleep (1946 film noir).

45-ish. Some amendments: #37 - Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), legendary technology development center, where many of the basic technologies of today's PCs were invented. #38 - the line is from Bladerunner, where the eye technician recognizes the replicant. Whether the Google phone is also a reference to Bladerunner is open for debate.

46. Many, many, many computer jokes. Almost every conversation, especially with the various robots, involves puns on bits (get it?) of computer jargon.

47. The Director is a combination of M, James Bond's boss, with notorious gonzo journalist and recreation drug enthusiast Hunter S. Thompson.

48. Missionoyl may be an allusion to the CIA-funded experiments with hallucinogens in the '60s and '70s.

49. Raytheon Pharmacy, Raytheon Hotel: Raytheon is a major U.S. defense contractor - missiles and electronics mostly.

(next section continues)

References Part 2

This part of the guide covers the newly-updated Director's Cut edition of Jazzpunk and some old ones I missed.

50. At the Kai Tak Resort, the bunny slippers you use to jump between different realities/timelines are a reference to Donnie Darko; the portal is almost identical to the ones seen in Donnie Darko and one of the bunny slippers is missing an eye, like Frank is underneath the bunny costume. (Thanks, Gravedigger Fagus!)

51. In the credits for the game, it actually mentions the Wilhelm scream by name, but then say the scream was by "Wilhelm Dafoe", a reference to the actor, Willem Dafoe. (William Dafoe? Thanks KelpTheGreat!)

52. At the bachelor pad, the "Emperor's Brain" in the water cooler may be a reference to Warhammer 40k. (Thanks again, KelpTheGreat!)

53. The Gravy Race 64 is a reference to the Nintendo game "WaveRace64". (Thanks LE5LO!)

54. Some names of things in the game that referenced real-life things were changed to avoid copyright infringement; for example, the Panasonic video game console name was changed to Whatever F.A.K.E.

55. The plant that says it's a political prisoner now says "Leaf me alone", a pun. (It's a pun, but it could be a reference maybe?)

56. In the Soviet Consolate level, in a trashbin, there's a Jazzpunk cartridge that references the old NES cartridges. (Thanks Mario!)

57. The pie with a beret that smokes is a "beret pie" (berry pie). It's a BLACK BERET pie. Or a FRENCH BLACK BERET PIE! Or a SMOKING HOT BLACK BERET PIE! :D (Thanks Siribuster!)

58. The typewriter in the Pizza Minigame has a paper with "All work and no play makes Jack a dull pizza", referencing the Shining movie or the book by Stephen King.

59. In the cowboy level, there's a WWE wrestler who jumps out of a wall and you can fight him...WWE style. Complete with a ring, boxing gloves, breakable tables, and an announcer! The wrestler is a reference to Macho Man! (Thanks to the commenter who addressed this!)

60. Wedding Qake's name was changed to Wedding Cake, effectively making it a better reference. There's also multiplayer for 4 people on Steam now with options to change the location and the character!

61. On the Bachelor Pad, you can see new logos on the other buildings, some of which reference Nintendo, Atari, and Sega's logos.

62. In the Kai Tak Resort level, if you go through the plants on the edges of the building, you can find a cat jumping out at you , a snake eating a parrot, a fly telling you to "buzz off", and a mantis and a spider fighting. The mantis and spider fighting have music, which references Godzilla movies as the two creatures round each other.

63. The Pirate Treasure on the beach references the act of pirating on the Internet.

64. Reference to Power Rangers is at the Kai Tak Resort with the fruit bowl where the fruit bowl pops up and says in a Power Rangers villain-like fashion: "...I'm free!" and says a bunch of fruit puns.

65. In the Soviet Consolate level, a goon on a bench says he'll "have a MacGuffin and a coffee" referencing McDonald's.

Screenshots of References

more soon

[thatdumbmoth]

Rabbit slippers is also a reference to the late 90's sci-fi show, Sliders. Sliders is about using a handheld device to travel through alternate dimensions and the two men accompanying Polyblank share a resemblance to the Sliders characters Rembrandt Brown and Professor Arturo. I'm also pretty sure the use of rabbit slippers is also a pun based on the show's name.

[mysfiring]

Somewhere between 19 and 20: the 2600Hz whistle was found in boxes of Capt'n Crunch - and was famously used to freely dial international calls by fooling the switching hardware at the exchange. (As an aside the creation of the Blue Box by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak was their first meeting/collaboration - without the Blue Box, there wouldn't have been an Apple.)

[quartzite]

Also, the "Democratic Republic of Doctor Moreau" is a reference to the H. G. Wells book "The Island of Doctor Moreau."

[quartzite]

I see you've put the picture of the reference but I don't think you've written about it: On the map level, Iran is labelled as "iRack." It is a reference to MadTv Season 12 Episode 16, where Micheal McDonald plays Steve Jobs in a skit where he presents the new apple product called the "iRack" (as well as the "iRan" later in the clip). He starts putting products into the iRack and it eventually falls apart as it is unstable. It's basically joking about the involvement of U.S. military in the Second Iraq War. Even if the topic is controversial, the clip is pretty funny so if you haven't seen it I recommend you check it out!

[Jibb]

#17 is also seemingly a reference to Wave Race 64

[󰀞James Martindale]

38 is wrong. Nexus 6 refers to a line of replicants (parodied in Jazzpunk as "realplicants") in Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, not a smartphone. One of the realplicant lines also references the Voight-Kampff test from the same film/book.

[Yoshi]

It's an old guide, but still... Recently I discovered that special knock used in side quest at the fist level is a knock sound from Lego Indiana Jones. I remember this sound too well

[nightrainpanda]

50 is not a reference to Donnie Darko, it is a reference to the TV show Sliders! The two men are professor Arturo and Rembrant Brown. The show is about traveling through wormholes to alternate earths. Seriously, if you've seen the show you can't miss it.

[geeg]

(possible) correction for reference no. 3
The roll through the window with a comic sound is more likely a reference to the old Batman TV show, which is known for goofy transition noises and unnecessary combat rolling.

[Massive Legend]

In the Soviet Consulate level when you get the whistle from the Komrade Krunch it makes a 2600hz tone and that is a reference to Phone Phreaking