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Jazz Jackrabbit

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This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see Jazz Jackrabbit (1994 video game). For the third game in the series, see Jazz Jackrabbit (2002 video game).

Jazz Jackrabbit, the eponymous character of the series

Jazz Jackrabbit is a series of platform video games featuring the eponymous character, Jazz Jackrabbit, a green anthropomorphic hare, who fights with his nemesis, Devan Shell, in a science fiction parody of the fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. Created by Arjan Brussee and Cliff Bleszinski and developed by Epic Games, the series debuted on MS-DOS in 1994 with Jazz Jackrabbit. The series consists of two computer games and a handheld console game.

Games

Jazz Jackrabbit (1994)

Main article: Jazz Jackrabbit (1994 video game)

The first Jazz Jackrabbit game was developed and published by Epic MegaGames and released in 1994 for MS-DOS. Jazz had to rescue Carrotus princess Eva Earlong, who was kidnapped by his nemesis, Devan Shell. The shareware edition was extremely popular and the game was named Arcade Game of the Year by PC Format.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (1998)

Main article: Jazz Jackrabbit 2

A sequel, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 was developed by Orange Games and Epic MegaGames, published worldwide by Gathering of Developers and released in 1998 by Project 2 Interactive in Europe and P&A in Japan.[1] Jazz and his brother, Spaz, team up to get back Eva's stolen wedding ring. Despite moderate success in Europe, it was the first game Gathering of Developers ever lost money on.

Jazz Jackrabbit 3

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 title screen

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 (alternatively called Jazz Jackrabbit 3D: Adventures of a Mean Green Hare) is the cancelled game of the series. Spearheaded by Dean "Noogy" Dodrill (an animator for Jazz Jackrabbit 2) and coded by World Tree Games, it was being developed for the original Unreal Engine technology in 1999. As the game's alternate name implies, Jazz would have ventured into the realm of 3D for the first time. The game was planned for release on PC and PlayStation 2.[2]

Development of the game was ceased part way through in May 2000 as Epic Games was unable to find a publisher. Since then, the alpha has been leaked onto the internet. Spaz and Lori, both of whom were from the preceding game, were also intended to be playable, but only Jazz is playable in the alpha.[2]

Following the events of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Jazz Jackrabbit and his wife, Eva Earlong, settle down in Carrotus Castle and become parents. Devan Shell, the main antagonist of the series, kidnaps their children, taking them into an alternate universe via the time machine from the previous game.

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 is a third-person shooter with platforming and adventure game elements. The mouse is used to aim and shoot, while the keyboard moves Jazz around the world. Jazz can fire his weapon, or charge up a more powerful shot. Jazz's arsenal can be expanded using coins collected to purchase new weapons and combine them with Elemental "Dream Cells" to create various weapon effects. In the alpha, only Fire and Ice Dream Cells can be acquired, and usable with two guns (the standard Blaster and the Gizmo Gun). When Jazz moves around in a level, he leaves a trail of footprints on the ground.

Unlike the previous installments, Jazz Jackrabbit 3 has no levels. Instead, it is divided into sections, similar to Super Metroid. At specific points in a map, the player can travel back and forth between these sections. Each new area that is visited is prefaced by its name.

Jazz Jackrabbit (2002)

Main article: Jazz Jackrabbit (2002 video game)

Jazz Jackrabbit, developed by Game Titan and published by Jaleco under license from Epic Games, was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002. As a reboot to the series, several changes were done in overall design, oriented towards cosmic science fiction inspired by Star Wars.[citation needed] Jazz's appearance was changed, losing his trademark bandana, backpack, and wristbands, and portraying now as similar looking to Han Solo, with his blue large gun also being replaced by conventional weapons. Eva Earlong is missing from the game and Devan Shell, featuring a Darth Vader-esque appearance, is now known as Dark Shell.

Other appearances

Jazz, along with Devan and Eva, made a cameo in One Must Fall: 2097, which was developed by Diversions Entertainment and published by Epic MegaGames, in single-player tournament mode. Each character piloted a fighting mech that was suited to their individual personalities. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 also has one cameo from One Must Fall: 2097.

At one point, Epic MegaGames was considering an animated series based on Jazz Jackrabbit, as evidenced by Epic filing a trademark registration for the name "Jazz Jackrabbit" on March 28, 1997. The application contains a description for goods and services which says "entertainment in the nature of animated TV series".[3][4][5]

In December 2010, Epic Games released development kits for the Unreal Engine for iOS. One of the tutorials for these devkits features Jazz Jackrabbit as a top down twin-stick shooter game.[6][7]

A Jazz Jackrabbit easter egg has appeared in Fortnite, a game released in 2017 by Epic Games.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Box Shot for PC". GameFAQs. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Jazz Jackrabbit 3D". www.jazz2online.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "Trademark Status & Document Retrieval". tsdr.uspto.gov. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "JAZZ JACKRABBIT Trademark of Epic Games, Inc. Serial Number: 75265524 :: Trademarkia Trademarks". trademark.trademarkia.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "JAZZ JACKRABBIT Trademark - Serial Number 75265524 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "Jazz Jackrabbit Returns (Sort of) With iPhone Game Demo". Archived from the original on 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  7. ^ "YouTube - Jazz Jackrabbit UDK iOS Tutorial Video". Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "r/FORTnITE - Found Jazz Jackrabbit in Fortnite!". reddit. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved Jun 26, 2020.
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