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If I had to describe this game in a few words they would be: “The most colorful, crazy and weird 2D shooter ever.” Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is the sequel of Jazz Jackrabbit and follows the adventures of Jazz and Spaz, two rabbits who embark on a quest to save their hot princess from an evil turtle scientist.
That being said, this isn’t your usual 2D shooter. I mean it still has the principal mechanics of these kind of games but its weirdness is what makes it unique.
In one of the most well-known 2D shooter, Megaman, you travel in normal environments like mountains, snow plains, buildings and stuff like that. In Jazz Jackrabbit 2 you can find yourself in castles, jungles, labs and ulitimately, inside a pinball! No only that, but the music fits so well to the environment that this game without music would be just a boring game.
But there’s more: our rabbits Jazz and Spaz can do more than just jumping, running and shooting. Even if each of them can be hit up to 5 times before they lose a life, they each have unique abilities that sometimes must be used in order to reach certain bonuses. Jazz, the main character, has the ability do make a power jump higher than normal (Down + Jump) or use his ears on a helicopter-like style (Jump + Jump) to make long glides (sort of like Rayman if you ask me); while his brother Spaz can deliver a side karatè kick (Down + Jump) or simply make a double jump (Jump + Jump).
This difference of moveset is critical, and if you really want to collect every single bit of treasure hidden in the level, then call a friend of yours and play togheter! That’s right, because Jazz Jackrabbit 2 was meant for two players, not one. It’s still possible to play the campaign alone, but with two players it’s way better.
Another nice thing, is that the game wants you to use all the different kinds of ammo that the two rabbits collect around the levels. Their arsenal comprehends: a gun which never runs out of ammo (default weapon), a flamethrower, a freezing gun, rockets, missiles, a spiral gun, bombs and finally the invisible bullets. Each one of these has its unique perks and should be used in a certain situation. If you ever tried to hit a mosquito with the default weapon you know what I mean. Mosquitos tend to mimic your movements to a degree, but since the fire of the flamethrower lingers in the air a little bit, the enemy easily gets hit by the flames. Bombs explode with a big delay, so you can use them to place traps (and they deal tons of damage to the enemies if used correctly). The “invisible bullets” weapon it’s perfect in multiplayer deathmatches since it’s harder to see and dodge.
You should really give a shot to this game, it’s fun, easy to learn, fast paced, and the boss fight are hard as hell (just look at the boss of the castle chapter…)
Let’s Play’s stats:
-First episode aired on: June 11, 2013
-Last episode aired on: July 15, 2013
-Number of episodes: 24
-Total time of Let’s Play: 3 hours