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Friday Flashback: Jazz Jackrabbit 2

In the 90's, all the game companies wanted to make their own Mario or Sonic. Usually this manifested in a handful of crappy cash-in side-scrollers featuring some generic fuzzy animal with attitude. That flood of forgettable critters, combined with the waning PC gaming market near the end of the last millennium, is probably why Epic Megagames' Jazz Jackrabbit 2 fell through the cracks and never got the attention it deserved. Which is a shame, because Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is awesome.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a surprisingly entertaining shooter/platformer that combines both high-speed adventuring and tons of gunslinging into one of the best side-scrolling experiences on the PC. The game plays like a cross between Sonic the Hedgehog and Earthworm Jim. You play the titular green alien hare, whose purpose in life is to fight the oppressive hordes of the space tortoises. To do this, you get to use tons of different guns like flamethrowers, freeze guns, and laser beams to blast enemies, all while running at near-hedgehog level speeds through conveniently curving and sloping levels.

Like the name implies, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a sequel to the original Jazz Jackrabbit, which Epic released 4 years earlier. Those 4 years made a huge difference, as the first game's chunky, pixelated graphics evolved into smooth and incredibly well-animated high-rez sprites. The second game also featured an included level editor, the Jazz Creation Station, which let players make their own levels. The first Jazz Jackrabbit had a few level editors, but they were all developed after the fact by fans, not by Epic.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is the swansong of shareware gaming. It was one of the last great games where you could play the first episode for free, then decide if you wanted to shell out the cash for the other 4 episodes. Sadly, it's not available for purchase from any of the usual online sources or from Epic, but the game is available at Abandonia. Of course, the legal status of "abandonware" is dubious, but it's your call. As long as Epic doesn't care.