Jazz Jackrabbit: Difference between revisions

Developed by [[Epic Megagames]], who would eventually rise to further fame as just [[Epic Games]] and go on to develop games like the ''[[Unreal]]'' series and ''[[Gears of War]]'', these games starred the titular rabbit hero with quick feet and a big gun, crossing galaxies to butt heads with the evil Devan Shell and to free the captured princess of his home planet. Once considered PC gamers' response to the likes of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', the ''Jazz Jackrabbit'' games sold on fast-paced run-and-gun action (with bonus levels surprisingly similar to Sonic's) and the titular [[Mascot with Attitude]]. The first two games in the series received many expansion sets, including Christmas-themed ones, [[Vaporware|and the franchise ground to a halt when the third game failed to ship]]. Surprisingly, the games still maintain an active online community, and ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'' is still actively played online by the proud and the few to this day.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'''s plot was only explained in the comics in the manuals, so if you didn't read them, you'd have no idea what was going on.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: Lori Jackrabbit, the nameless yellow rabbit Spaz fell in love with at the end of ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', was made a playable character in ''The Secret Files''. She was originally going to be Spaz's girlfriend, but the game's publisher goofed and dubbed her Jazz and Spaz's long lost sister, thus [[Ship Sinking|killing all romantic intentions]]. ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'''s ending was never fixed to reflect the change.

* [[Attack Drone]]: If you free a caged bird, it will follow you around and shoot whenever an enemy is near, but you lose it if you take damage. {{spoiler|In the first secret level, you play as one of these birds.}}.

* [[Bag of Spilling]]: You lose all your weapons (aside from the default pistol) and ammo between episodes in JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1''. You keep them in JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'' though, unless you start a new game from a later episode.

* [[BFG]]: Jazz's LFG-2000.

* [[Big Red Devil]]: [[That One Boss|One of the bosses in the second game is a really fast, nasty devil who can spit fire all over the place.]].

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: If the player didn't press any buttons a few seconds, Jazz looked at the screen and called to them. In the first game, he said, "What are you doing?". In ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', he was more direct: "Hey! Hey, c'mon! Wake up!"

* [[The Cameo]]: In the secret level in Diamondus, there are several Katana robots from ''[[One Must Fall 2097]]'' which act as platforms / walls.

* [[Defeat Equals Explosion]]: Some bosses go boom when killed, [[Critical Existence Failure|as do Spaz and Lori when one loses a life]].

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]/[[Completely Missing the Point]]: Devan Shell. He engaged in his campaign of terrorism because he was so incensed about the attitude of the lagomorphic antagonist of ''[[The Tortoise and the Hare]]'', [[Hoist by His Own Petard|but he didn't notice that the attitude that got him so fired up is the same thing that cost the hare the race, thus teaching said mammal a valuable lesson about hubris.]].

* [[Double Jump]]: Spaz can in ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2''.

* [[Dummied Out]]: Tons in ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', due to rushed production. Everything from secret levels (at least three, including two complete levels) to bosses (one complete and only used in a later bonus pack, another with no attacks and a third that's invisible despite having sprites) to minor enemies (some functional, others not) and powerups ([[Frickin' Laser Beams|Frickin' Laser Shield]]!). There's a bunch of unused sprites in the animation file, too, including '3D' views a-la the 3D Bonus Stages in JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1''.

** That's just in ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'' though. The first game could actually be quite difficult in the later episodes, and goes right up to [[Nintendo Hard]] on the higher difficulty settings.

* [[Eternal Engine]]: The planets Tubelectric, Letni, Orbitus, Technoir, Dreempipes, Industrius, Deckstar, and the Megairbase and the Twin Battleships. Also the abandoned lab levels in ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit]] 2''.

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Princess Eva Earlong, although she's not your typical [[Damsel in Distress]].

* [[Evil Twin]]: {{spoiler|The final boss of the last episode in the first game.}}.

* [[Expy]]:* Jazz is a green anthropomorphic rabbit with a gun who travels around space. [[Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars|Now where have I seen that before?]]

* [[God Save Us From the Queen]]: In the [[All There in the Manual|comic in JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'''s manual]], the Queen strips Jazz of his newly gained title of Prince and throws him in the dungeon when it turns out that Devan Shell wasn't quite as defeated as everyone thought. She then serves as the game's first boss fight.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: A level in ''JJ2'' is called "A Cold Day in Heck."

** Averted with the names of the Hell level files, however: "Hell", "Hell2", "Damn", and "Damn2" respectively. Interestingly, the Cold Day level is merely called "Freeze". However, it's unlikely that normal / non-modding players of the game (in an age range where this would matter as well) would be closely browsing the data files anyway.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: A lot of the ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'' level names: "Knight Cap,", "Victorian Secret,", "Fourteen Carrot,", "[[Brad Pitt|Bad Pitt]]" --... you get the idea.

* [[Killer Rabbit]]: Technically, Jazz, Spaz, and Lori count for this.

* [[Large and In Charge]]: The queen from the second game is the largest rabbit character. Well, aside {{spoiler|the final boss of the last episode in the first game}}.

* [[Mineral MacGuffin]]: The extra-large Diamondus gem from Eva's engagement ring in ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2''. For some reason, Devan needed it to power his time machine so he could erase rabbits from history. (Itit only makes sense if you [[All There in the Manual|read the manual first]].).

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: The final world in the first game's first episode -: Medivo. The track during the level fits well for both the music and overall atmospheric components. Though part of the shareware content, that accessibility actually helped to increase the level set's popularity, rather than leaving players tired of it. Cue remixes still popping up almost 15 years later, and you likely have [[Notable Original Music]] as well.

* [[One-Winged Angel]]: The final boss of JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', {{spoiler|Devil Devan.}}.

* [[Power-Up Food]]: Eating enough food in [[JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2]]'' and its expansions gives you a sugar high; you cannot be defeated for thirty seconds, and every villain dies the instant you touch them.

* [[Recycled in Space]]: "The Tortoise and the Hare"... '''IN SPACE!'''

* [[Rewarding Vandalism]]: You score points for shooting up signs claiming that "rabbits stink!"

** This goes even further in ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit]] 2''. Not only do you get points for shooting stuff, be it blocks or lamps, but sometimes you actually need to do so to progress.

* [[Save the Princess]]: The plot of the first game.

* [[Self-Deprecation]]:* The comic in JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1'''s manual has Sonic appear directly: Jazz is complaining that he wishes life was like video games where all you have to do to beat the bad guy is [[Goomba Stomp|jump on him]], and Sonic is seen in the background saying "Somebody get my lawyers on the phone!".

** Also from the JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1'' comic: Aa turtle acquaintance of Devan's tells Jazz that they studied martial arts together. Jazz says that he's heard rumors that Devan was trained as a ninja, to which the turtle responds that he wanted to, but there were strict copyright laws regarding [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|ninja turtles]].

* [[Shout-Out]]: [[Commander Keen|Spaz ate the Dopefish.]]

** Princess Eva Earlong's dress and design is pretty similar to another [[Super Mario Bros.|famous princess.]].

** InOne one[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1MmxolDVpw levelintro] ofto ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2,1'' hehad goesJazz straightdonning tofamiliar [[Alicesuperhero in Wonderland|Wonderlandcostumes.]]

** Three level cards in ''JJ2Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', [http://www.oldgames.sk/images/oldgames/action/Jazz.2/jazz2-007.png one copying] ''[[Doom]] II'', [http://lparchive.org/Jazz-Jackrabbit-2/Images/39-ep1.png another] ''[[Prince|Purple Rain]]'', and [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8ANZlh0Uyok/TNRR0QB326I/AAAAAAAAANU/HpT5ssC5nIU/s400/Jazz_Jackrabbit2.png another], ''[[Back to The Future]]''.

* [[Single Biome Planet]]: In the''Jazz JJJackrabbit 1'', all of them. In JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'', most of the game (besides episode 3, which revisits the first three planets from JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1'') seems to take place on Carrotus, which would make that game an aversion, though since the game never actually ''says'' what planet Jazz is on, the only levels we know for sure are on Carrotus are the first four.

** ButOne Buckyof Othe Harebosses minusin one episode of ''Jazz Jackrabbit equals1'' looks like a cross between Zool and [[Star FoxSonic (series)|Starthe FOXHedgehog]].

** [[TakeThe That]]:last Oneboss of the bosses in onefinal episode of JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 1'' is {{spoiler|an evil gray huge superpowered version of Jazz}} which you looksfight likeon a crossspaceship. betweenI Zoolwonder andif that [[Sonic the Hedgehog 2|sounds familiar]].

* [[Third Is 3D]]: [[What Could Have Been|Or it would've been if said third game actually released.]] (Therethere's a beta floating around on the Internet, if you're still interested.).

* [[Through a Face Full of Fur]]: Jazz's face completely blushes and turns red {{spoiler|after meeting up with Princess Eva in the first game.}}.

* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: One of the screenshots on JJ''Jazz Jackrabbit 2'''s website before its release showed Jazz fighting {{spoiler|Devan's [[One-Winged Angel|demon form]]}} in the final level.

* [[Two Guys and a Girl]]: Jazz, Spaz, and Lori.

* [[The Ugly GuysGuy's Hot Daughter|The Ugly Girl's Hot Daughter]]: Princess Eva Earlong so very much.

* [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]]: A few planet names like Dreempipes and Raneforus.