Jill of the Jungle is a trilogy of platform computer games released in 1992 by Epic MegaGames. It was intended to rival computer games from other shareware companies such as id Software and Apogee Software, Ltd.. The three games in the series were:
- Jill of the Jungle
- Jill Goes Underground
- Jill Saves the Prince
Though each game was initially released separately, the three were combined into Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy a year later[1].
Gameplay
Jill of the Jungle is a platform sidescroller which was released during the same time as the Commander Keen and Duke Nukem series of games. Players play as an Amazon woman who can use various types of weapons and enhancements as you progress through levels slaying monsters and finding keys. The first game in the series contains 16 levels, each of which can be entered from an overworld resembling another level. The second game uses sequential levels without an overworld. The third game's overworld is a top-down perspective, similar to The Legend of Zelda, changing back to the traditional platformer style when entering a level.
Various puzzles include keys, transforming into different creatures, and proper jump height among others. The other games in the series use the same graphics, except that Jill's costume is recolored in each game (green in the first game, red in the second, and blue in the last). Each episode has several unique music tracks and sound effects but some songs and sounds are used either in two or three different episodes. For instance, the apple pickup sound remains the same through the game. Jill of the Jungle also offered a "noisemaker", acting as a sound test, in which each sound effect in the game was mapped to each key of the keyboard. This was carried on by Epic's later game Kiloblaster, which is advertised repeatedly during the Jill of the Jungle trilogy.
Between levels in the shareware version, the player encountered humorous messages that took a swipe at various popular game characters, such as Mario, Commander Keen and Duke Nukem. The messages usually described that they were retiring, supposedly due to being unable to compete with Jill.
The game does not contain any boss fights.
Jill of the Jungle provided market recognition and allowed Epic Megagames to produce future titles, such as Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall: 2097, and the very successful Unreal series of games. The game Xargon, a later creation of Epic, was very similar in terms of gameplay.
Derivatives
The engine of Jill Saves the Prince was licensed to a company called ArK Multimedia Publishing and used for a Christian-themed game called Onesimus: A Quest for Freedom. Most of the graphics and many level designs from the original game were recycled into Onesimus, which is also known as Escape From Rome, though some text and enemies such as the Demon creatures were replaced. The plot follows the story of Paul the Apostle's Epistle to Philemon from the Bible with Onesimus as the protagonist. Interestingly, while it seems to be that Jill Saves the Prince (along with the rest of the trilogy) was developed first, references to Onesimus can be found in the string section and level code of the Jill games. However, the credits for Onesimus include a "thanks" to the Epic MegaGames staff, which suggests that Onesimus was developed either simultaneously with Jill of the Jungle 3 or developed immediately after it.
See also Christian video games.
References
External links
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