{"id":11414,"date":"2022-04-08T13:04:31","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T10:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/?p=11414"},"modified":"2022-04-08T13:04:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T10:04:31","slug":"simplicity-at-its-finest-jazz-jackrabbit-2-the-secret-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/simplicity-at-its-finest-jazz-jackrabbit-2-the-secret-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Simplicity at its finest \u2013 Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Secret Files"},"content":{"rendered":"

A blast from the past, Jazz Jackrabbit 2: The Secret Files (JJ2: TSF) is a hare-powered action-platformer that revels in its simplicity. The base game is one of my favourite games from my childhood, but I had never previously played The Secret Files expansion. But since it\u2019s more of the same packaged alongside JJ2, so in essence sort of a complete edition, the review is on JJ2 as a whole.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>
You can choose between three characters, each with slightly different movement capabilities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a quote from Gameslice on the physical box of JJ2 that says: Jazz Jackrabbit is back in business for a sequel that one-ups every other platformer in existence. That, of course, might be a slight<\/em> exaggeration on their part, considering Mario 64 came out two years prior. Indeed, the platforming is, most of the time, simplistic jumps over obstacles. But, added to that, there\u2019s a dedicated run button, not quite Sonic the Hedgehog speed but still there, and several guns to blast your enemies with. It\u2019s simple and it works, so that\u2019s all that matters to keep it playable two decades after release.<\/p>\n

There are eight weapons you can unlock throughout your playthrough, plus your trusty basic infinite ammo blaster. And honestly, the blaster is the best. Initially, it shoots slowly, but as you collect Fastfire upgrades dropped by enemies, it will turn into a formidable machine gun type of weapon, which is why I\u2019ve always loved using it. As a child, and even now, the blaster feels so good to use. I mean, missile launcher and flamethrower are cool too, but they\u2019re not nearly as fun.<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/a>
Lava? Surprisingly safe to stand in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The graphics are lovely to this day. The enemy movement animations, backgrounds, collectable food, etc., look great and are fun to observe in motion. On the worse side of graphics, you have the breakable squares that stick out like a sore thumb within the environment since they\u2019re not visually consistent with other elements. On one hand, you see them clearly to know where you can break them, while on the other, you see them\u00a0too<\/strong>\u00a0clearly. The contrast between the two is just barely bearable to look at.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s one thing that rises above the rest in JJ2, it\u2019s the fantastic soundtrack composed by Alexander Brandon. Seriously, go check out tracks like\u00a0Medieval Jam<\/em>,\u00a0Hell Freezes Over, Jazz Belmont<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Labrat.\u00a0<\/em>The soundtrack is pure electric goodness and adds a lot to the game experience.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
The medieval level is still my favourite one. Hate those stupid smiling ghosts, though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JJ2 features a split-screen co-op for up to four players. I often played this game as a two-player split-screen using\u00a0one<\/em>\u00a0keyboard as a child. It was, at times, awkward to work with, but hey, it still worked! You can also utilise any gamepad you own with the joystick controller configuration. Although, if possible, go for the one keyboard for two players just for the experience of shared\u00a0pain<\/span>\u00a0enjoyment.<\/p>\n

There’s also the online multiplayer with Player-versus-Player-modes and custom levels. JJ2, surprisingly enough, still has a small but dedicated player base. I’ve never played the online, but I think it’s a testament to JJ2’s status as a cult classic.<\/p>\n

It matters not if you play solo or co-op: JJ2 is a blast to play through. The game isn\u2019t that long either, lasting only a few hours if you hold a decent pace and do some exploration. The short length helps keep the game fresh and not bore you with its simplicity. It\u2019s also very cheap on GOG whenever it\u2019s on sale, and it comes with the separate JJ2: The Christmas Chronicles, which features three additional levels for the single-player. Easy purchase if you’re into playing a piece of history!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Developer: Epic MegaGames
\nPublisher: Gathering of Developers
\nPlayers: 1-4 (local \u2013 including co-op), 1-32 (online)
\nRelease date: 7.5.1998 (original), 15.3.1999 (The Secret Files)
\nPlatform: PC (GOG.com)
\nESRB: Everyone
\nPictures: Screenshots taken by the author<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take a moment to relax and blast some turtle shell in this laid-back classic action-platformer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":11423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1102,1658,388,292],"class_list":["post-11414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","tag-classic","tag-jj2","tag-pc","tag-platformer","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}