Jazz Jackrabbit

The Good
This Mario and Sonic-inspired platform game was created by a demoscener and a few artists not long out of college, and despite its humble origins became a minor classic on the PC. You're a hyperactive rabbit who must save the love of his life, Eva Earlong, from the evil tortoise Devan Shell. The floppy version of the game contains six episodes with three level each, and the CD-ROM release contains a further three Christmas themed episodes.

The game is like Jill of the Jungle, except with far better graphics. This is probably the game's most notable aspect; the colorful and zany world Jazz inhabits leaves most other DOS platformers of the time for dead and is comparable to console games. From the green forests to the psychedelic neon bases, Jazz Jackrabbit is a riot of color and animation.

The gameplay is similar to most other platformers of the time. You run around avoiding enemies and other dangers, collecting jewels for some unknown reason. You can jump on springs to propel yourself up into the air, or fly around on a hoverboard in some levels. Like in Sonic, you can collect powerups that allow you to rocket around the level at a million miles per hour if you want to. Despite the speed, there are few to no "instant-death" puzzles, making the game quite laid-back and relaxing.

Probably the coolest parts of Jazz Jackrabbit are the bonus stages, where you play in a pseudo-3D landscape similar to Mario Kart and must collect as many blue gems as possible before the timer runs out. A really cool spin on the tired "bonus stage" idea.

The gameplay is fast and addictive, the controls are tight, and the graphics are fun and colorful. The game doesn't break new ground anywhere, but it's a lot of fun and succeeds in bringing the console experience to the PC.

The Bad
Well...it is a Sonic the Hedgehog rip-off. I don't just mean the gameplay is the same, but the whole concept is ripped off. Replace the blue hedgehog with a green rabbit and Dr Robotnik with Devan Shell and there you have it. Unfortunately, Jazz doesn't have any of Sonic's moves. It would have been cool if you could barrel roll or butt-stomp enemies like in Jazz Jackrabbit 2, but no luck.

The low resolution and large character sprites make the game feel kind of cramped and confined. What's the point of being able to run really fast if you can't see what's in front of you?

The Bottom Line
Console-style graphics + speedy gameplay = fun. Jazz Jackrabbit is a cool time-waster. And so what if it's a kids game?

The Good
Remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog back in the days when the Sega Genesis just hit the shelves? How about its sequels? Well, if you’re really into platform games like me, you probably heard of Epic MegaGames’ classic that was deemed as the PC’s answer to Sonic.

This game is similar to Sonic in terms of gameplay, but there are quite a number of differences. Because this game is called Jazz Jackrabbit, your character is a hare, not a hedgehog. Furthermore, your character shoots and does not jump around a lot like Sonic does.

Jazz was just a normal rabbit. That was until his girlfriend, Princess Eva Earlong, is abducted by Devan Shell, a turtle who hates rabbits so much that he plans to destroy Carrotus, the planet that rabbits dream of living on. Jazz now wears a red headband and is always ready for action.

There are six episodes to conquer, and has Jazz navigating from planet to planet, with names such as Medivo, Orbitus, Sluggion, and Pezrock. On each planet, Jazz must get used to shooting enemies like turtles, birds, and bees; and avoid hazards like turret guns, moving spikes, and fireballs. He starts off with a lousy pellet gun, but he can pick up a variety of weapons like the launcher, RF missiles, toaster, plus if he’s lucky, he could collect TNT. If he touches an enemy, he loses energy. If his energy reaches 0, he loses a life. However, if he finds a carrot he can munch on, his energy will be restored.

The further Jazz gets, the harder it will be to complete his mission, so he must get to a couple of checkpoints fast and shoot at it to claim rabbit territory, and if he does lose a life to the hands of an enemy, shooting at a checkpoint allows Jazz to restart at that checkpoint. The last checkpoint in a level is the exit sign, and has Devan’s face on it instead of an orange tick.

Jazz can also get items that would score him points such as floppy disks and gamepads. If he manages to get a big red gem found on every second level of each episode, he gets warped to a bonus stage, where collecting enough gems would gain him a new life, but in the process, Jazz must also avoid colliding with exit signs, that will cause him to exit the bonus level and head for the next planet. Either he gets that big red gem, or he finds a face of a rabbit floating in mid air that also gain him an extra life.

Jazz can collect powerups, including stars that make him invincible for a short time, or shoes that help him run faster. If he ever finds a bird trapped in a cage, he can shoot it and the bird helps him kill off enemies. Somewhere near the end of the level, he can shoot a sign labelled ? that takes him to a secret level, where the object is to collect as many items as he can until he reaches the exit. In a few levels, collecting an air board helps him to find areas he previously missed, and this gives him the chance to collect more ammo or find red gems.

The graphics are highly detailed like Sonic the Hedgehog, and Epic MegaGames used the PSM format to compose the game’s music, which causes it to sound much better than any game they produced so far.

The Bad
When you battle the guardian at the end of each episode, what a waste of time it was just to add “Level One” at the game’s loading screen, since you have to beat one guardian per episode.

The Bottom Line
Jazz Jackrabbit is heaps better than Sonic. For one thing, as I mentioned, Jazz can shoot at enemies and doesn’t have to jump to kill them. If you happen to come across Jazz in bargain bins or at swap meets, then buy this game. You won’t be disappointed. *

The Good
A cute shareware which was proof of Epic Megagames's clear interest in demo scene talents, Jazz Jackrabbit is a cute and fun platform game which wasn't really competing with Sonic the Hedgehog, but merely showed that the PC is a capable arcade platform.

This game has really good graphics, excellent music and sound effects and great replayability value (it's easy to just play it again and again as you never tire of it). The programming is amongst the best ever witnessed on the PC (demo power to the masses) and truly showed the capability of a mere 386.

And it was damn fun too!

The Bad
A bit repetitive, but then it's a platform game so no biggie.

The Bottom Line
A great platform game for the PC. Way to go!