Jazz Jackrabbit Collection

Awesomesauce, so happy to finally see this incredible game on GoG, been playing it for 23 years, it's time to own it on GoG!

Once upon a time, when I was a fresh-faced 12-year-old, this game was my absolute obsession. Picture Sonic the Hedgehog, but with a snazzy arsenal of weaponry! Naturally, I had to relive my youth and embark on this nostalgic adventure. But about half way through the third map suddenly I was like "What on Earth am I even doing here?" Long story short, to someone in his 40, this game isn't as much fun as it is for a 12 year old. I was both stunned and devastated to realize that this once beloved game had become boring to me. Now, I don't want to rain on everyone's parade, but it appears I've outgrown this pixelated piece of my past. If you're not a die-hard 2D platformer enthusiast, you might find yourself in the same boat, questioning your life choices as you navigate through a world of flashy colors and anthropomorphic rabbits. But if you're the kind of gamer who's rig still contains an NES and a Master System II, then I think you'll still enjoy this one.

This game, while really good for a DOS game, is not as good as the sequel. The level design is a mixed bag, ranging from amazing to unbelievably frustrating. The soundtrack is roughly as good as the sequel, actually possibly a bit better as a whole for what it's worth. The bosses are generally speaking far worse than even the worst bosses from the sequel. Game also controls pretty nicely, with a simple, remappable control scheme and very solid physics. Anyways, on to a pro/con list for those who may want one: Pros: +Some incredibly creative levels (especially Orbitus, Lagunicus, and Dreempipes IMO) +Stellar soundtrack +Game has a decently large amount of content for a '90s platformer +Good play control +Nice graphics Neutral: ~General quality is oddly inconsistent, some songs are way better than others, some stages are way better than others, etc. Cons: -Some levels are kinda pretty bad IMO (especially Stonar 2) -Low viewing space (a.k.a. screen crunch) makes game unintentionally harder. Mind you, this is due to DOS limitations, so I can't blame the devs on this one. However, this almost entirely renders the good play control positive pointless, so it's nonetheless something of a deal-breaker -Horrible bosses All in all, I'd say the game gets about a 4/5. If it didn't have the screen crunch (and Stonar 2 got banished to another dimension which is itself banished to another universe, IMO Stonar 2 is the worst level across both Jazz 1 and 2, including TSF), it'd probably be closer to a 4.4/5 or so, though it's hard to be sure. My recommendation for whether or not the game is for you: If you like video games, play the sequel. The sequel is the easier game anyways, it's a better starting point as a result, especially if you don't play many platformers. If you like the sequel a lot, play this one. If you don't, probably best to skip this one.

I didn't play Jazz Jackrabbit when it was new, but if I imagine myself as a player in 1994 I can see why it took off. High-quality platform games in this style were rare on DOS, and Jazz has a lot going for it. The action is fast and scrolling is smooth, when other shareware publishers were still releasing relatively sedate tile-based platformers. Jazz can use a decent variety of weapons and power-ups. The characters and world have a cartoon-like personality reinforced by the silly little animations that serve as your reward for beating each episode. And there's a truly ludicrous amount of content in this package compared to the average platformer of the time: each of the 6 episodes in the base game has 3 unique 2-level worlds and a boss, and this GOG version includes 3 bonus episodes from the CD-ROM release plus the 2 shareware holiday-themed episodes. Despite all those merits, I say Jazz didn't just age poorly, it was poor on release. Why? Simple playability. Those large, detailed sprites at a low screen resolution result in a cramped field of vision, which is a recipe for trouble when you move as quickly as Jazz does. Worse, Jazz is locked to the horizontal center of the screen while most decent platformers of the time would pan the camera in the direction the player is facing. There's a "slow-motion" mode like Epic's earlier Jill of the Jungle, which still feels sluggish and floaty. Either way you need to take this fast game slowly unless you've memorized every trap and enemy. This is a common criticism of Jazz's obvious ancestor, Sonic the Hedgehog, but that game's ring system was much more forgiving of mistakes than Jazz's traditional health bar. Even if you play carefully, the wretched level design will hurt you with blind jumps that send you right into groups of enemies.

With all of the nostalgia in today's modern 2D indie platformers, it's easy to miss how much they have improved on the old platformers that they are supposedly imitating. Jazz Jackrabbit is one of those old platformers, and while it is far from the worst of the bunch, it is still badly in need of improvement. The big problem with this game is that it feels sloppy. You will take a lot of damage from enemies that are off-screen until it is too late to react to them. Some enemies have oversized hit boxes that deal touch damage without actually touching you. Some enemies "walk" slightly above the ground. One of the levels is actually unwinnable without a patch. The lesser problem is that it's too fast - as in, so fast as to be almost unplayable. Luckily there's a "slow motion" option that fixes this problem. Annoyingly, the slow motion option turns itself off at the end of every level. It's an enjoyable game. It's colorful if not beautiful, varied in aesthetics if not in gameplay, and forgiving enough on the easier difficulty levels that the sloppiness can be tolerated. It's just not good enough to stand out from the crowd - not then, and certainly not now.