Jill of the Jungle

The Good
A simple and neat shareware platform game, I got Jill of the Jungle when I was about 9 or 10 as a gift in a chocolate package. It didn't work on my computer (XT) of course, so I had to go to the neighbours to play it on their 386. But it was worth it: cool (if not amazing) graphics, good music, great (or so I thought) PC-speaker sound effects and fun, fun gameplay made it an instant favorite of mine (and my brother's too). It's just plain cool, and I still play it from time to time to this day (pathetic, I know).

The Bad
The controls are programmed slightly on the bad side and tend to occasionally function erratically; the sound effects/music routines aren't very well programmed either and do not work on newer computers (mine at least). Also, the premise is really stupid - but that's part of the charm :-)

The Bottom Line
A really cool shareware game. Play it, you'll like it.

The Good
Jill of the Jungle has good graphics (because they require 256 colors, but you can run this game with 16 or even 4 colors). It supports joystick and Sound Blaster (any other sound cards aren't welcome). During the gameplay you will face many different enemies, such as snails, frogs and enormous ants, even bigger than you! But you aren't unarmed, you've got a spinning blade and a knife. You may ask, "What? Only two weapons?". And I answer: it's enough. Both weapons are powerful, you can throw a spinning blade to one of these enormous ants and they are dead! And you can morph into frog, bird and fish! Each animal has its own abilities. For example, when you are bird, you can throw fire, but you are very vulnerable to water. You will visit many different places, such as castle and plateau. Some levels also contain puzzles. Sounds are sometimes a little bit bizarre, but they're very funny and they sound pretty good. Music is just wonderful. It's various - some tracks are spooky, other are dynamic or just great. I wish I could have some of these tracks on my cell phone...

The Bad
Unfortunately, this game may look excellent, but there are some things, which decreased my rate. First, Jill has very ugly blue sky background. All puzzles can be very easily beaten (except this castle one, where you have to collect keys and jump to the right platforms. It requires some thinking and reflex). And the worst thing about Jill is length of gameplay. You can finish this game in one afternoon.

The Bottom Line
It's a very good game, if you want to play for 15 minutes or you just love 2D platform games (like me!). Unfortunately there aren't any level editors to keep this game alive longer. What a pity!

The Good
Jill is a beautiful 2D blonde who defies the "helpless" stereotype as she leaps, climbs, soars and swims her way through various dungeons. I was lucky enough to play this when I was just getting interested in computer games - it wasn't easy back then to find games with a strong female lead. There is no deep intellectual involvement here - a little puzzle-solving and weapon-throwing, but still fun after all these years. The graphics are appealing despite the blockiness; they are colorful and bright and the reds and yellows stand out like gems against the dungeon backgrounds.

Jill marked my first experience of "flying" in a game and playing as a character other than human. Being a phoenix, frog and fish were all unique adventures, and unlike some games I played later, you have to work to stay aloft or to swim. This has the benefit of involving you just that little bit more in the experience.

Jill starts the game with a dagger and later acquires a throwing-star. The dagger returns to you boomerang style, but if you're not careful you can lose it in a lava pit. The throwing-star is a particularly satisfying weapon for demolishing boulders, which make a nice shattering sound.

The background music is low-key and unobtrusive. Sound effects are just wonderful throughout the game, from the oddly frightening "ah" sound the evil frogs make (Yes, scary frogs!)to Jill's "got the apple powerup" noise. You can play back all the special effects sounds to your hearts content on the clever little noisemaker feature outside the game.

The Bad
I find it really unfortunate that Epic abandoned Jill after the trilogy; just think what adventures she might be having now!

The Bottom Line
I love this game! It's mildly challenging, graphically beautiful, and it has a quality of innocence that makes me return to it again and again.