THE HUB

OMG!!!

FEATURED GAME

FEATURED MEMBER

DoctorIrish

DoctorIrish

The Doctor is in.

QUICK POLL

Grand Theft Auto IV: does it live up to the hype?

ASK THE PROS

THE GAMEPROS

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Sign up now to receive weekly or daily updates on your favorite games, stories, and more!



GBA | Action | Jazz Jackrabbit

Boxart for Jazz Jackrabbit
Jazz Jackrabbit 15 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 3.5
  • SOUND: 3.5
  • CONTROL: 3.5
  • FUN FACTOR 3.5
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.1

Review: Jazz Jackrabbit

Review by STARDINGO | 01/15/2003 | 12:18:33 PM PST

Jaleco hopes to start a Jazz revival with their remake of a classic 2D PC platform-shooter. Hop hop. Hop hop.

If the gameplay in this 2D platform shooter seems like its almost 10 years old, that?s probably because it is almost 10 years old?Jazz Jackrabbit (1994) was one the very first PC ?shareware? games to gain popularity. This GBA update from Jaleco doesn?t stray much from the original except in its graphical style?good if you like nostalgia, bad if you like innovation.

The game?s mechanics are as ?tried and true? (or ?utterly generic,? if you?re feeling more cynical) as you?d expect. Jazz travels through a series of 2D levels looking for the goal, dispatching enemies and collecting money to get better weapons. Levels are laden with platform-hopping, and capped off with bosses with predictable patterns. Straightforward, yes, but the experience is embiggened by large character sprites, cool music, tried-and-true weapon controls, and a cool deathmatch mode that requires only one cartridge.

Unfortunately for the poor green bunny, there?s a lot of young ?uns who don?t recall the days of Jazz Jackrabbit, or even know what ?shareware? means?they?ll wonder where he came from, and why he?s copying so many other games. All those little new touches don?t quite help Jazz stand out in the modern marketplace he had a hand in creating.