JAZZ JACKRABBIT by Epic Megagames

Reviewed by Dean O'Donnell

Also Reviewed by Nathan Cochrane
          Computer        Graphics        Memory          Disk Space
Minimum   386SX           VGA             4M            5M shareware
                                                       25M registered
Max/Rec.  486             VGA             4M

Control:  Keyboard, Joystick, Gamepad (recommended)
  Sound:  SB, SB Pro, SB-16, PAS-16, and Gravis Ultrasound
  Notes:  Runs best without memory managers, TSR's and other gunk. I
          played it on a 386SX-16 and it's still quite playable, but you 
          don't get the sense of speed.

Reviewed version 1.0 on:  486DX2/66 with 4M RAM, Gamepad, GUS
    Reviewer recommends:  486 with 4M RAM, Gamepad

It's an old story, the tortoise and the hare have a race and the tortoise wins, right? In Jazz Jackrabbit you're the hare, the tortoise leader, Devan Shell has stolen the princess Eva Earlong, and you've got to get her back. Don't be fooled, this game isn't just for kids; Devan controls an array of planets with massive firepower, and Jazz packs a punch with his nasty gun, the LFG2000.

This game is basically a side scroller. You guide the little green (green?!-- he's from the planet Carrotus) rabbit past nasty monsters, collect various objects, and get to the end of the level. Jazz has a number of things going for it, including fabulous VGA graphics, tons of secret nooks and crannies to explore, great cartoon-style animated cut scenes, bonus levels with 3D-first rabbit perspective, and, most of all, SPEED.

THE FASTEST RABBIT IN THE WEST

This is the fastest PC-based side scroller I've ever seen. While Jazz has been compared to a certain hedgehog because of this speed, all comparisons end there. When you have your rabbit speeding across the screen you still have to shoot at the bad guys, and the major hurdle becomes keeping enough shots in front of you to run interference and get those monsters out of the way. When you find the Fast Feet powerup, Jazz becomes a blur on the screen. Luckily the designers usually place these Fast Feet just before areas that are pretty clear of monsters, allowing you to enjoy speeding along for awhile.

You can save anywhere, but wherever you save you'll start at the beginning of the level with only a Blaster to your name. The designers say this is a compromise to save space (not saving midway through a level and recording what you've taken, what you've shot, and where you've been) and to avoid someone getting infinite ammo by saving their character with their current ammo then going through the same level and getting more over and over again. This doesn't really annoy me because the levels are easy enough that you aren't constantly dying, and there's a spot midway through each level that once you've been there, if you die you will start there instead of having to replay the whole level.

A timer runs for each level, and on the harder difficulty settings when the time is up, Jazz crumbles to dust. The pressure can get to you, and it's not always welcome. I found myself playing first for speed, going back on an easier setting to search for all the secret areas, then playing the level AGAIN to try to hit all the secret areas at high speed. Needless to say, replay value is high.

JUMP HIGH AND CARRY A BIG GUN

Actually there are five different weapons to choose from. You start with the basic Blaster with unlimited ammo. The small bullets sometimes pass over or under various monsters, making other weapons necessary. The Toaster fires fat balls of flame, and the RF missile gun fires two missiles that angle slightly up and down. The Launcher puts out bouncing bombs, allowing you to eliminate enemies below you and open secret passageways in the floor. Finally, the all-powerful TNT bomb quickly eliminates everything on the screen.

While the various weapons are fun to use, they're somewhat interchangeable. Many levels have monsters that are just as vulnerable to the Blaster as to the RF Missiles. The best way to cover ground fast is to lay down a suppressing fire in front of you, and since ammo is limited, sometimes the best way to get the most shots on the screen is to use the Blaster (the bullets also make a very satisfying "thud" when they hit a wall). There's not really a major tactical advantage to using one weapon over another, and I usually avoid using the Launcher altogether, preferring to jump into pits and kill all the bad guys.

TURTLE SOUP (THE VILLAINS)

The monsters all look beautiful (kudos to Nick Stadler for the art), and vary greatly in size and shape. I've heard criticism that they're all pretty much the same-- they come at you, you shoot them, they die-- but I found different monsters with different properties on every level. The giant slugs with multiple parts are particularly hard to dispatch because each shot just takes off one section of slug. Add to that the fact that they move quickly and fly, and you've got a heck of a monster. On the Nippius level you've got to watch yourself on the ice because you'll slide right into a pack of bloodthirsty penguins if you're not careful.

I admit that the bosses aren't all that hard to kill. The boss levels usually consist of a hiding place and a flat plain for the boss to move on. By hiding while the boss is coming at you, then running after him and shooting him in the butt, you can generally kill him without taking much damage at all.

TWO GAMES IN ONE

The best thing about Jazz is the Bonus Levels. If you find a large gem on one of the planets, when you finish the level you go to a whole 'nother game. You see Jazz on a road and by running, rolling (to go faster) and jumping, you run through a maze to collect gems. Avoid the sides of the road or you'll rebound and land on you tail, costing you precious seconds. Scattered over the road are obstacles that make you spin around, jump over gems, and shoot you right back to the regular game. Get all the gems before your time runs out and you get another life. My one complaint about the bonus levels is the darn time limit can't be turned off. I'd like to stay there awhile and play that game, exploring the roads and running around, but you've only got about a minute there before they kick you out.

LOOKING AND SOUNDING GOOD

Recently I bought a Gravis Gamepad, and the utility disk that came with it included the shareware version of Commander Keen 4. I smiled, remembering hours and hours of fun with that game, and installed it to take a trip down memory lane. When I fired it up, I was shocked. I remember Keen as one of the best looking games of its time, but after playing Jazz for the past couple of weeks everything looked so... well, washed out. VGA graphics are truly a quantum leap over EGA. Jazz just plain looks great, with detailed backgrounds and monsters that don't slow down gameplay one bit. The animated cuts scenes initially drew me in (Jazz runs across your screen at start up), and they really make me feel I'm getting my money's and my time's worth when I finish an episode.

Jazz's music and sound effects are truly infectious. I never turned the music off (and that's a BIG complement from me), and found myself going back to certain levels just to hear the music. Native GUS support is still the best sound out there for the price, and on behalf of all GUSsers I'd like to thank Epic for supporting my favorite card.

THE FINAL WORD

The shareware version of Jazz comes with the first episode, consisting of six main levels, three bonus levels and one secret level. You can speed through the six levels pretty quickly, but don't be fooled when you get to the end, there are a ton of secrets, and those other levels left to explore. The registered version has five more episodes and over 10 Meg of cut scenes. I don't usually play this type of game, preferring RPG's and Flight-sims, but Jazz took over my life for about a month. This is the current king of the scrollers, so don't miss out. A CD-ROM version is currently in the works that will include more episodes and more animation, but it will be offered to registered users at a discount, so why wait?


This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Dean O'Donnell for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.