Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy

Jill of the Jungle : one of the weirdest experience I found in this site. As a platform from the 90', it shares all the funkiness typical of that area with some unique twist of its own. So much so that I wanted to give the game a full 4 stars, but the technical issues can be rather vexing in both platforming and combat. But this is unfair : although game at the time did have more precise controls, Jill of the Jungle was programmed by few people not even expert at making video games. On top of that, it's free! So, to sum it up, download it and enjoy : as Jill goes through its crazy adventure filled with humour and some really fun puzzle you'll find solid ideas with some less solid execution, but not for this less fun.

I will go easy on it because it is currently free. Comparing this to its contemporaries, other platformers from the early 90s, this is passable, but not that impressive. The entire experience was made frustrating(not in a fun, challenging way) by bad design: the platforming is slightly stilted, the way your attacks work, enemies popping in from off screen, etc. The near complete lack of context and lore means that it's difficult to get all that invested; this is literally the only platformer of the over two dozen I've played where I got two-thirds of the way through before getting any information on the context. It's the least challenging platformer I've ever played, which I will say does make it perfectly fine for someone who is considering getting into the genre, or if you're kind of out of practice. I enjoyed playing all the way through all three episodes, but wouldn’t return to it.

Jill of the Jungle is great for a bit of downtime and switching off after an emotionally or psychologically demanding day. I have never played the original, but I thought I'd give this a chance since it was staying in my games library on GOG since forever. Some of the weapons/special abilities in the game feel, naturally, dated. The level design is questionable at parts too with whole sections of levels having no obstacles, enemies or otherwise being meaningful in any shape or form. The game is also more or less consistently easy, with the only difficult sections of the game being so for no other reason but, alas, poor level design. Jill Goes Underground offers more of the same. Nothing has changed, really, apart from a couple of new enemies being introduced and some minor changes in the level design - more visual than anything. The whole series definitely feels dated throughout and it is probably not a game that one would ordinarily play unless one has nostalgic feelings towards the game. I myself being the exception. I disliked the final installment in the series (Jill Saves the Prince) more than the first two chapters because of the dreadful design of the world map, i.e. the level selection process. It is completely pointless in serving no gameplay purpose whatsoever, it is slow and it also takes away the mystique-ish feeling of the original with wondering where every new door will lead to. Having said that, the minor humour at the end of the game is what balances it a bit. Thankfully each games only last for an hour or so, therefore by the time it starts to get boring and repetitive, it ends. Overall a decent 4 hours of gameplay for the series.

A bizarre collection of levels and enemies with an over world level / map and quirky references scattered throughout. The jumping is very awkward and stiff, especially to and from vines, but it’s not too challenging thanks to the health bar, infinite lives per level and it saving your key progress (most of the time). The graphics are very basic, the story is minimal and it’s short by today’s standards, but the music is catchy and the game still plays relatively well. Good old fashioned platforming and rather fun with some innovative ideas and enjoyable puzzle rooms, although some of the levels in Jill 2 are very annoying.

...but at the time of writing they are free, so it is hard to compete with the cost-benefit ratio. I did not play this back at the day but I have played a lot of platformers and this trilogy is not particularly good even by the standards of the early nineties. The sound and graphics are passable and it has some interesting ideas but the controls and the level design are terrible. However, there are unlimited lives and a save option so it can be completed in an afternoon, just before it becomes really frustrating.