| Jazz Jackrabbit - Retro Review; Sonic Clones FTW | |
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| Topic Started: Oct 21 2015, 04:19 PM (153 Views) | |
| Greymon57 | Oct 21 2015, 04:19 PM Post #1 |
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Year: 1994 Platform: MS-DOS (Disk version) Jazz Jackrabbit When I was a child I was young and impressionable. Quick to judge a book by it's cover. And I remember walking to my local Walgreens and spotting a game I had never heard of, Jazz Jackrabbit, and immediately wanting this game. Of course I didn't have a PC back then, so my want was in vain. Then I forgot about this game, as I never heard of it again. That is until about a week ago. Not to let the opportunity pass up, I decided to play the game and see what it was all about. Gameplay: 8/10 Okay so let's get this out of the way first, it's a Sonic Clone. A graphically inferior clone. Yet that doesn't mean it's bad. Jazz doesn't have any spin dash moves, but he does have Megabuster like weapon. Everything about this game seems to be about trying to be like Sonic. From it's backgrounds, to it's attitude, even the special stages. And while that may seem shameless, this game actually did many things different. Thus giving it an overall different flavor. The main issue I had with this game was the Aspect Ratio. They need to seriously zoom out the camera. What's the point of going fast if I can't see what's ahead of me. I guess it was a technical limitation of the time so I won't be too harsh about it. However the game is very glitchy. Not gamebreaking or anything. Just many small glitches here and there. Story: 4/10 The story in this game is told thru some cutscenes and the in game manual. Essentially the Turtles have kidnapped the rabbit princess in order to take over the carrot planet. The rabbit king hires the Mercenary 'Jazz Jackrabbit' in order to retrieve the princess and take down the bad guys. Not very original, but meh. Level Design 7.5/10 The level design is great. Just another way that this game is different from Sonic. This games levels are kinda Labyrinth-ish. There are many passages to explore and secret to explore. Also tons of collectibles if you want to get that 100% score. The levels feel a bit Metroid-ish and yet you still have a 10 minute time limit, so don't take too long. Characters: 3/10 Well Jazz does have a lot of attitude, i'll give them that. Devon Shell is a generic bad guy, Eva Earlong is your generic damsel in distress. Music: 9.5/10 Epic soundtrack is epic. Almost every soundtrack was pure gold. there were like 2 tracks that were just okay, but the rest are amazing. Chiptunes at it's finest. Bosses: 4/10The bosses just felt a bit... disconnected to me. I didn't feel like I was fighting a boss. It kinda felt like I was running away from the boss. There was no real pattern to memorize. Just hide and shoot, and hope you don't die. Abilities: 8/10 Jazz does not have spin dash, but he never needed one. The megabuster type shooting works great and the game even encourages a turbo controller. But he can also collect various ammo types to use in battle: such as twin missiles, and bouncing jelly beans. While not terrible unique, they help give Jazz his distinct personality and gameplay. Replay value: 7/10 With 4 difficulty levels, tons of collectibles, and various passages to explore I can totally see myself coming back for more. Overall: 9/10 While this game may not be perfect, it is very fun to play. And at the end of the day that is all that matters: fun. Not the graphics or processing speeds but how much the game was enjoyed. While this game may have been forgotten by time, it more than earned it's spot as a Classic Platformer from the 90's. Did it age well? This game is aged to perfection. As fun today as it must have been back then. Where can I play this today? Edit: Normally I'm against piracy unless it involves Abandonware. However it seems Jazz_Jackrabbit is up on GOG for $9.99. For that reason I recommend you support this official version. https://www.gog.com/game/jazz_jackrabbit_collection Edited by Greymon57, Feb 9 2018, 09:45 AM.
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| CcJj09 | Oct 21 2015, 06:06 PM Post #2 |
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GET IN THE BAG NEBBY
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I remember seeing this game before. Never played it though. Still, nice review .
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| Greymon57 | Oct 22 2015, 12:55 PM Post #3 |
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Thanks CJ. And yeah I also remember seeing it years ago, then completely forgot about. It's a shame this game hasn't been ported to any consoles, I'd buy it. |
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12:53 PM Jul 11