Jazz Jackrabbit 3

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 title screen

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 (alternatively called Jazz Jackrabbit 3D or simply Jazz3D, subtitled Adventures of a Mean Green Hare) is the unreleased third installment of the popular PC game series, Jazz Jackrabbit. Spearheaded by Dean "Noogy" Dodrill (an animator for Jazz Jackrabbit 2) and coded by World Tree Games, it was developed for the original Unreal Engine technology in 1999. Like many other mascot characters of the late 90s, Jazz would venture into the realm of 3D for the first time.

Despite interest to develop the game, it never was released after Epic MegaGames failed to find a publisher, and it was canceled sometime in May 2000. Since then, the original proof-of-concept alpha has been leaked on to the internet.

Storyline

Following the events of Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Jazz and his wife, Eva Earlong, settle down in Carrotus Castle to rule the planet and have children. The game ties in with Jazz 2, starting with a battle between Jazz and Devan in a 2D environment, either in cutscene form or actual gameplay. (A story board for one such cutscene was drawn, but never animated.) The premise has Jazz and his wife with kids, which Devan comes to kidnap. Devan is successful in snatching the kids away, taking them into an alternate universe using the Jazz 2 Time Machine. (converted to a Dimensional Machine) This alternate universe turns out to be the 3rd Dimension, and of course, Jazz must venture into the 360-degree world to rescue his children. During the search, Devan uses the kid's dreams against Jazz.

Gameplay

Singleplayer

Jazz Jackrabbit 3 is a third-person shooter with platforming and adventure game elements. The mouse is used to aim and shoot, while the keyboard moves Jazz around the world. Jazz can fire his weapon, or charge up a more powerful shot similar to games like Mega Man X. Jazz's arsenal can be expanded using coins collected to purchase new weapons and combine them with Elemental "Dream Cells" to create various weapon effects. In the alpha, only Fire and Ice Dream Cells can be acquired, and usable with two guns (the standard Blaster and the Gizmo Gun.)

Unlike previous games in the series, Jazz Jackrabbit 3 has no levels to speak of. Instead, it is played section-by-section, similar to Super Metroid. At specific points in a map, the player can travel back and forth between "sections" of the game world. Each new area Jazz visits is prefaced by its name.

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