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jazz jackrabbit typos

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Wouter Groeneveld 2023-09-02 11:29:07 +02:00
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@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ tags:
_Are you ready for this? POW!_ followed by a wonderful amalgamation of a Robert Allen's tracker music mixed with a bright and colorful menu was more than enough to completely blow away nine year old Jefklak in 1994. I remember playing the shareware episode to death on my grandfather's 486, looking forward to each family visit just to get to play the green rabbit again. _Jazz Jackrabbit_ was the August 2023 DOS Game Club game, and after more than 28 years, coming back to _Jazz_ was a bit of a shock to me.
A shock in terms of the sheer speed in which Jazz flies through the levels---or at least, tries to. A shock in terms of how mediocre the gameplay really is, now that I get to take a thorough second look at the game. After playing through most episodes, the abrupt alteration of my happy childhood memories even left me in a bit of a depressed mood. Perhaps some games are better left as memories?
A shock in terms of the sheer speed in which Jazz flies through the levels---or at least, tries to. A shock in terms of how mediocre the gameplay really is, now that I get to take a thorough second look at the game. After playing through most episodes, the abrupt alteration of my happy childhood memories even left me in a bit of a depressed mood. Perhaps some games are better left as happy memories?
![](tubelectric.png "Tubelectric, the second planet, has one of the best tracks ever.")
@ -27,13 +27,13 @@ The problem, however, becomes very apparent as soon as you take control of _Jazz
![](boss.png "One of the later bosses that drops eggs on you.")
The game screams: _go fast!_ but at the same times whispers _take it slow..._ This incompatible feedback loop not only feels odd but often left me frustrated, as endlessly getting killed to a projectile that I didn't even see yet gets old quick. The sprites are big and bright, but because of that and the zoomed in camera, you simply go in blind. A strategy to somewhat mitigate this is to repeatedly jam spacebar---the shoot button---and hope that those bullets will catch the still-invisible enemies and projectiles. This doesn't always work, as I sometimes had the feeling my bullets were slower than the game scrolls into the next enemy.
The game screams: _go fast!_ but at the same times whispers _take it slow..._ This incompatible feedback loop not only feels odd but often left me frustrated, as endlessly getting killed by a projectile that I didn't even see yet gets old quick. The sprites are big and bright, but because of that and the zoomed in camera, you simply go in blind. A strategy to somewhat mitigate this is to repeatedly jam spacebar---the shoot button---and hope that those bullets will catch the still-invisible enemies and projectiles. This doesn't always work, as I sometimes had the feeling my bullets were slower than the game scrolls into the next enemy.
A bit of level inspection will immediately tell you _Jazz_ is trying very hard to imitate SEGA's Sonic, up to the point that they blatantly copy in televisions with speed boosts (that make controlling the rabbit even worse). I wish that the people at Epic then played more Sonic. With Sonic, speed isn't an issue: simply press down and the hedgehog will start spinning, thereby destroying enemies as you touch them, making zooming through levels a breeze instead of a hassle.
![](underwater.png "An underwater planet in Episode C.")
For fast-paced 2D platformers such as this one, level design is very important. It's not bad, but it's not up to Sonic's standards either. There are alternate pathways, plenty of secrets to discover, and even the odd hidden level. The semi-secret bonus stages are another straight rip off Sonic CD's stages, where contrary to Sonic's bonus stages, collecting blue diamonds involves zero challenge.
For fast-paced 2D platformers such as this one, level design is very important. It's not bad, but it's not up to Sonic's standards either. There are alternate pathways, plenty of secrets to discover, and even the odd hidden level. The semi-secret bonus stages are another straight rip off Sonic CD's stages, where contrary to Sonic's bonus stages, collecting blue diamonds involves zero challenge. Speaking of zero challenge: the bosses at the end of each episode are mainly just dumb damage sponges.
I did have the feeling that some of the later episodes---the GOG.com CD-ROM version of Jazz includes three extra episodes A, B, and C---felt less stellar compared to the first few. In Sonic's levels, apart from the odd dead stop, I know I can safely keep on rushing, while in Jazz's levels, I have to employ a run-stop-shoot-run-stop-shoot strategy that's just not a lot of fun.
@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ The visual style of each planet is also a bit inconsistent. There are only so ma
![](episodes.png "The available episodes in the CD-ROM version.")
Luckily, the amazing soundtrack is still fantastic. One of my favorites is of course the [Tubelectric](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2idyeFWdmA) planet that's included in the shareware version, which is permanently burned into my brain, but later tracks are far from inferior. If the GOG.com version came with the official soundtrack, that alone would have been worth the `$10`.
Luckily, the amazing soundtrack is still fantastic. One of my favorites is of course the [Tubelectric](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2idyeFWdmA) planet that's included in the shareware version, which is permanently burned into my brain, but later tracks are far from inferior. If the GOG.com version came with the official soundtrack, that alone would have been worth the `$10`. Jazz's soundtrack is easily one of the best video gaming has to offer.
The CD-ROM version comes with a few additional Christmas holiday-themed levels called _Holiday Hare '94_ and _'95_, where santa-hatted turtles in snowy levels wander around chewing on parts of gingerbread man. They're a fun diversion for the occasion that only take 15 minutes to finish, but their run-of-the-mill level design didn't give me those warm and fuzzy holiday feelings.