In the video below, Kreshenne takes on Jazz Jackrabbit, a somewhat difficult platformer developed and published by Epic MegaGames. Originally released in 1994 for PC on the DOS operating system, this game saw a fairly decent player base in it’s heyday. Nowadays, Speed runners return to the game, showcasing impressive speeds, glitches, and more.

Sadly, there’s no such impressive feats of skill here. Just Kresh getting annoyed and Kern laughing at all havoc.

---

More About The Game

Hey everyone, Kernook here. I just want to give a little bit more information about the game for those who haven’t played it or heard of it before. Hopefully you enjoy the gameplay video above, but let’s talk about the game a bit.

Notable titles in the series include: Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (1998), Jazz Jackrabbit 3 (1999), and a few others.

The game is set in a fantasy world, akin to “The Tortoise and the Hare“. The old children’s story providing the perfect set dressing to this awesome platformer. Though it pulls inspiration from a classic, this game is distinctly futuristic. Space travel and planetary conquest gives the game a unique spin.

The basic story is that the ongoing animosity between tortoises and hares lingers for about three thousand years. The tortoise in the telling of the story is named named Devan Shell, a rather evil tortoise and a mastermind to boot. Jazz Jackrabbit is not only the titular character, but the protagonist of the game as well. Jazz aims to defeat Devan and make his home planet a happy place one more. To do this, he must also rescue his planet’s princess, a common trope of platforming titles.

Jazz is depicted as a bright green jackrabbit with attitude. He’s a rough and tumble sort of rabbit. He’s often shown wearing a red bandanna and matching bracers. He toes a blue “blaster” style gun, which the player uses in combat against enemies.

Gameplay

This is your standard platformer in many ways. The player controls Jazz. He will gain momentum and run faster the longer he moves forward. He also jumps higher too. The player will need to avoid the traps. Lost players will occasionally see an arrow or two to guide their way, but navigation isn’t too difficult.

There’s a lives system, and a health system.

You can collect up to ten lives total. When you lose a life, Jazz starts from the beginning of the level. If you managed yo reach a checkpoint before you lost a life, you begin at that checkpoint sign.

Jazz can get hurt, and that’s why he has a life bar.  It will change in color depending on how much health he has left. Jazz can only take a few hits, and the number changes based on the difficulty. Easy mode provides five, the most you can get. Medium offers four. Hard and Turbo modes offer only three. When Jazz gets hurt you can try to find a carrot to heal him.

There’s also a system of “buffs”, items that can help you on your way. As mentioned above, you can pick up carrots as healing items, and occasionally find an extra life. There’s also a shield that protects Jazz from getting hurt. You can also find upgrades that give Jazz the ability of rapid fire and super jumps. There are collectibles too, and that’s important for each stage.

While Jazz begins with his basic blue blaster, you can upgrade that too. Some of the weapons include bouncing launcher grenades, flame bullets, and TNT. Jazz can also get a sidekick in the form of a bird as well.

Like most platformers the game has a timer. You need to complete the level in the time you have. If time counts down to zero, Jazz loses a life. To complete each stage, the player must reach the finish and shoot the sign before time runs out. The player is then provided with additional points awarded for the remaining time. If a player receives a perfect score by collecting all of the items, they will get to play a bonus stage.

Bonus Stages and Secret Levels

If the player finishes the stage with a big red diamond, they’ll enter a bonus stage. The objective is to collect as many blue diamonds as possible before the timer runs out. If you can beat the bonus stage, you’ll get an extra life as a reward.

Bonus games aren’t the only thing you’ll find. Jazz Jackrabbit also has secret levels. I hope you’ll play the game yourself, so I won’t discuss them at length here.

For more information rearguard this game, you could check out this review written by Cory D. Lewis, or this review over on PC gamer.

All in all though, I really just suggest that you play the game for yourself. If you like retro platforming titles, Jazz Jackrabbit is a solid addition to your gaming library.