Jill of the Jungle: Episodes 1-3 (PC, 1992)
Graphics-6 Sound-6 Control-6.5 Challenge-7* Story-5
Level Design-6.5* Frustration-7.5* Fun-6* Originality-4.5
Overall Score-6
*Episode 1
+
Hub area (some non-linearity after the first couple of levels), news bulletin pop-ups in the hub area about the protagonist and other stuff (some decent humour here, a jab at Mario, etc.), save and load anywhere (multiple nameable slots), basic game speed option (can slow it down to 50% speed - not that useful), can transform into certain enemies in some levels (touch the icon placed in a level to transform into one and back; bird/fish/frog), basic switch puzzles
+/-
Collectathon element (need to find a couple of gems to unlock certain levels in the hub area plus one or more keys in most levels), unlimited lives (no checkpoints though but levels are short), female protagonist (wears a bathing suit though), odd theming (protagonist is from the present, parts of the environment and the music is like a fantasy/tribal setting, sfx are kinda random 90s cheese), can't move while crouching, enemies tend to die when moving into them, particle effects from killed enemies (looks kinda weird though), select episode before beginning in DOS, small sprites,
-
Some control issues (no jump height control, some delay before your avatar jumps after you press a button and some movement delay after landing from a jump, weapons take too long to return to Jill after throwing them and there's no melee attack, can't attack while crouching and can't jump on shorter enemies, loose scrolling when climbing upwards), the game feels a bit choppy like it's running at 20 FPS or so, no item persistency besides the gems (lose upgrades and weapons between levels - kills the sense of progression and the hub area feels designed like you're supposed to gain moves to explore more of it), too many tight jumps and you die at once from water and spikes, no control config besides picking keyboard or joystick (and an XB360 controller won't work without joytokey - GOG ver.), overly maze-like level design in some levels, too much forced collecting in some levels (4+ keys), basic backgrounds for 1992, no bosses, some blind jumps, so-so use of the OPL2 chip for the time (decent sampled sfx though), can't replay beaten levels
Level Design-6.5* Frustration-7.5* Fun-6* Originality-4.5
Overall Score-6
*Episode 1
+
Hub area (some non-linearity after the first couple of levels), news bulletin pop-ups in the hub area about the protagonist and other stuff (some decent humour here, a jab at Mario, etc.), save and load anywhere (multiple nameable slots), basic game speed option (can slow it down to 50% speed - not that useful), can transform into certain enemies in some levels (touch the icon placed in a level to transform into one and back; bird/fish/frog), basic switch puzzles
+/-
Collectathon element (need to find a couple of gems to unlock certain levels in the hub area plus one or more keys in most levels), unlimited lives (no checkpoints though but levels are short), female protagonist (wears a bathing suit though), odd theming (protagonist is from the present, parts of the environment and the music is like a fantasy/tribal setting, sfx are kinda random 90s cheese), can't move while crouching, enemies tend to die when moving into them, particle effects from killed enemies (looks kinda weird though), select episode before beginning in DOS, small sprites,
-
Some control issues (no jump height control, some delay before your avatar jumps after you press a button and some movement delay after landing from a jump, weapons take too long to return to Jill after throwing them and there's no melee attack, can't attack while crouching and can't jump on shorter enemies, loose scrolling when climbing upwards), the game feels a bit choppy like it's running at 20 FPS or so, no item persistency besides the gems (lose upgrades and weapons between levels - kills the sense of progression and the hub area feels designed like you're supposed to gain moves to explore more of it), too many tight jumps and you die at once from water and spikes, no control config besides picking keyboard or joystick (and an XB360 controller won't work without joytokey - GOG ver.), overly maze-like level design in some levels, too much forced collecting in some levels (4+ keys), basic backgrounds for 1992, no bosses, some blind jumps, so-so use of the OPL2 chip for the time (decent sampled sfx though), can't replay beaten levels