There is one Christmas I will always remember. It was the year my parents caved after plenty of persistent pleading and finally bought me the full version of Epic Games’ Jazz Jackrabbit – complete with the Christmas levels. In the subsequent months I spent countless hours immersed in this game, which at the time was the best platformer I had ever seen. And not least because of the catchy music, some of which is still in my MP3 collection today.
Now it’s been a while since I played Jazz Jackrabbit but all the nostalgia came flooding back when Good Game recently interviewed the game’s creator Cliff Bleszinski for their History of Epic Games segment. I had always read the names in the opening credits with a sense of wonder, like “Hmm, I wonder who those Arjan Brussee and Cliff Bleszinski guys really are. They sure do make a swell game.” So I always had a great deal of respect for these faceless names. When I watched the interview I was gobsmacked to discover that Bleszinski was only 18 when Jazz was released! I can safely say that he now sits along side Peter Molyneux in my “Heroes of the Games Industry” category. Speaking of which, I should really play Fable 2 now that I have it.
Oh and here’s a video of Jazz Jackrabbit.
