One characters will be able to get to some power-ups and hidden areas the other can’t, but there aren’t any places where Jazz’s and Spaz’s route will actually differ. Sadly, however, the level design doesn’t really work with this idea as much as it should. Spaz will do a flying kick with the same input, which destroys enemies and certain blocks horizontal to him. By pressing down and jump, Jazz will jump into the air with his fist upraised, destroying blocks and enemies above him. Jazz can glide through the air with his ears by mashing the jump button, while Spaz gets a double jump. They both have the same weapons and they both go through the same levels, but they each have a couple of unique special moves. The other big major change to the sequel is that you can pick from two characters: Jazz or his demented brother Spaz.

And in platformer tradition, you now have a downward stomp for crushing enemies and certain blocks below you. You can also now actually aim upwards, so that you don’t have to kill enemies above you by jumping up and down and mashing fire. Running has been mapped to a separate button, so you’re not constantly dashing around into everything at full speed. Gameplay-wise, there’s been a lot of changes since the original Jazz Jackrabbit, and pretty much all of them are for the better.

While the original game was definitely inspired by stuff like Bugs Bunny, the sequel has much more of a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, which fits perfectly, considering the character. The game starts off with a nicely animated intro FMV, which is basically what the opening would be if Jazz actually had a cartoon. The only time the story actually shows up at any point is the manual, though, so none of this matters very much.

The queen declares Jazz a fraud and throws him in the dungeon, where his slightly psychotic brother Spaz rescues him. Suddenly, Devan Shell appears and steals Jazz’s giant wedding ring to power a time machine (how very Day of the Tentacle), where he plans to conquer the universe before Jazz is even born. Some time after the original Jazz Jackrabbit, Jazz and the princess are set to be married.

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