Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy

I remember playing the "Shareware" version of Jill of the Jungle back in the day--the first game in this trilogy, like the first "episode" of Wolfenstein 3D or DOOM, was distributed for free and people were free to share it around--and I have some fun memories of it, old-school DOS jank or not. So I'm really happy to see the games available on GOG as a freebie title. They've been "available" for a long time, in the sense that you could still find the games on the original dev's website, the first chapter for free and the other two available for purchase, but good luck actually finding out about the game if you didn't grow up with an old Windows 3.11 computer like I did. The game is a standard sidescrolling platformer. Control-wise, it's quite jank, as all DOS sidescrollers were at the time (the PC was not always the glorious gaming platform of the master race, you know). But it makes up for that with a ton of tongue-in-cheek charm and personality, as well as some pretty solid level design. All three games are quite short, easy to complete in one quick sitting, which makes these a good way to unwind without committing to a long gaming experience. That said, the games do allow you to save your game literally anywhere in any level, so you don't have to worry about getting it done in one swoop, either.

Jill of the Jungle is one of first games published by Epic MegaGames. It is fondly remembered for a reason, but it's not without issues. You should not get bored: apart from classic run-and-jump levels, Jill can transform into fish, frog or flaming bird. This adds some variety to the gameplay: for example, after morphing into bird, you can visit places otherwise unavailable for Jill. You will also come across some puzzles, and despite most of them relying on switching levers in correct order, they are usually presented in a unique manner. Levels are usually filled with enemies, which can be taken out with either knife or spinning blade. To be honest, enemies are more of nuance than actual threat (with a few exceptions). Game is more focused on platforming and puzzles than fight. Unfortunately, whole trilogy is very short. You can finish all three games in about 3-4 hours, depending on your skill. But even inexperienced players should not have much trouble with beating this game. Technically, Jill tried to surpass Apogee games at the time - and it shows. Game uses VGA 256 color graphics, and while sprites are not as detailed as in, let's say, Goodbye Galaxy, they have their charm. You can save the game at any point. Gamepad is also supported. Music is really catchy, it's easily one of the strongest points of Jill. Instead of using PC Speaker for sound effects, it plays prerecorded samples. Some of them sound a little bit bizarre - for example, during last episode, when Jill throws a knife a lion roar can be heard! Overall, it's a fun little game with some flaws. Try it if you like platform or DOS games. There's nothing to lose, since it's free :) If you enjoy Jill of the Jungle, then go and download Xargon. It's another Epic platformer using modified Jill engine, and which had been released as freeware a couple years ago. It has everything what made Jill good and adds something extra (better graphics, inventory, etc.)

Jill of the Jungle is one of many entrants into the ersatz (derogatory) PC Platformer Wars. Between Keen, Cosmo, Skunny, and more, there were people trying to outdo Mario at every level, and not succeeding. And Jill, based on boasts within the game itself, DOES NOT. However, it is mechanically sound and competent, which is a rather tall bar to clear for the PC. So many mechanically failed platformers on that front I could name, such as being asked to platform in a (graphical) text parser game. Jill's story is originally as scant as her clothes, then it takes a turn for the silly in the third, where there's suddenly a prince to save. Graphically, the jungle is gradient heavy and full of heavy primary colors. One of the famous claims of the time is that since it had more colors, it was more impressive than any ole' console, right? But there is value in limiting oneself. And this is 1992. The home consoles smoked Jill graphically. Sprites were bigger, more expressive, felt more cohesive within their worlds, and the comparison gets more unfair the longer I think about it. By 1991 there were already four Valis games. This also extends into play control. Jill has a stiff jump arc. Hard to explain, but easy to see in motion; where you can only adjust in tile increments instead of having smooth control. And by the means of not having a lives system, the jungle is more open to traps, trickery, and just mean "Gotcha" traps. Blind jumps, offscreen secrets, switch mazes, and more. By the way, how do you feel about a game with questionable checkpointing? Merciful enough that it has it, sure. The game does tend to have some strange ideas about what a checkpoint state is, though, and you cannot activate checkpoints manually to soft save progress in a level. As for sound and music? There's only one track I ever think about regarding Jill, and it is Zeppelin. Most of the other tracks are aural annoyance. (The title theme is okay.) Now sounds, that is an audioscopic nightmare to digest. Everything makes a loud sound. Jumping has both a takeoff and land. Throwing a weapon, impact, pickups...it all makes some kind of noise, as a feature. And it is all heavily compressed samples, that change between each game, so you can't get used to a single nightmare. Now it may seem that I have spent my time shaming the game, but I wanted to bear out what I felt it did wrong by saying that the game part of it is fine, just that it falls into the classic shareware trap. The one where the first part has a fine enough curve, and then the rest falls into impossible challenges, and not enough meaningfully changes between episodes to be worth the cost. Except for some reason Jill III has a level map, which would be great if it actually meant anything.

loved this game for decades still do. Easy to play fun challenges.

Great story, full of cameos of Mario, Duke Nukem, Pac man. A true classic.