Jill of the Jungle

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Jill of the Jungle
Trilogy cover art
Developer(s)Epic MegaGames
Publisher(s)Epic MegaGames
Designer(s)Tim Sweeney
Artist(s)
  • Joe Hitchens
  • John Pallett‑Plowright
Composer(s)Dan Froelich
Platform(s)MS-DOS
ReleaseJune 1992
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Jill of the Jungle is a trilogy of scrolling platform games released in 1992 by Epic MegaGames. It followed the method of distribution used by Apogee Software, where the first game is freely available and promotes the purchase of the additional episodes. The three episodes are Jill of the Jungle, Jill Goes Underground, and Jill Saves the Prince. They were combined into Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy a year later.

Gameplay[edit]

Jill of the Jungle gameplay

Jill of the Jungle is a platform game. The player controls the eponymous Jill and is able to run, jump, and fire various weapons collected within each level such as a dagger or spiral blade. Each level is populated with monsters and puzzles to challenge the player. Several levels include special features that allow the player to transform Jill into other forms with special types of movement such as the flying phoenix bird, jumping frog, and swimming fish. Other levels involve switches, keys and other challenges the player must overcome to finish the level. Upon finishing a level, the player is returned to the map level. The map level itself is organized in a way that requires the player to complete certain levels before they can proceed to the next area.

The first episode features 14 levels (including an ending level), two bonus levels all linked together by a map level, and two finish levels where the player is passive. The second episode does not have a map level, and instead features 19 consecutive levels and an ending level. The third and final episode has a different style of map level, an overhead view, that is a significant departure from the first two episodes.

Development[edit]

Tim Sweeney was inspired to create a Nintendo-style game featuring a female protagonist as a distinguishing feature. The game started as a platforming level editor.[1] Lacking the skills to do the art and music, he hired four people.[2] He said it is the "last game [he] designed".[3]

Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy was released for free at GOG.com in November 2018.[4]

Reception[edit]

Shortly after its release, 20 to 30 copies were sold daily.[2]

Legacy[edit]

Jill of the Jungle II was in development, but was changed into an original property, titled Vinyl Goddess from Mars, which was published by Union Logic in 1995.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Edwards, Benj (2009-05-25). "From The Past To The Future: Tim Sweeney Talks". Gamasutra. UBM. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  2. ^ a b Totilo, Stephen (2011-07-12). "The Quiet Tinkerer Who Makes Games Beautiful Finally Gets His Due". Kotaku. UBM. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  3. ^ Tim Sweeney. "Tim Sweeney on Twitter: "@TheRatKing21 Well of course! The last game I designed is"". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  4. ^ "Release: Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy". GOG.com. CD Projekt. November 2, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  5. ^ Monitor Volume 2 issue 11 interview, mentions Jill of the Jungle II being released as Vinyl Goddess From Mars Archived November 3, 2005, at the Wayback Machine

External links[edit]

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