New JJ2+ release (5.8) - April 23rd 2021
Source: JCF thread
A new version of community patch Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has been released, this time with a focus on addressing bugs and feature requests from the JJ2+ issue tracker, as well as some multiplayer command stuff and some progress on the endless project of further optimizing tile/sprite drawing. Read more here or simply download it directly.
Besides the usual range of topics in the issue tracker that players are encouraged to reply to, to show their interest in having this or that issue addressed, I’ve posted a few calls looking for people to help with future JJ2+ additions, one general and two specific. The JJ2+ team is not at its most fully staffed right now, so it seems worth discovering whether there are people in the community who would be up for helping with certain development tasks (in ways that don’t require writing C++).
Anniversary Bash 23 approaches! - April 3rd 2021
Source: JCF
JJ2’s biggest annual online get-together, the Anniversary Bash, is returning for its 23rd iteration on Friday 9 April! Come and join in the fun as we celebrate the last 23 years of this glorious game!
Read more about it in the JCF thread. For all of you level designers out there, now is your chance to put your work out there for all to see!
The bash server has now started! It will remain up until Tuesday.
JJ2+ adds new playable character (0.65% chance) - April 1st 2021
The JJ2+ team is proud to announce that following years of effort and spritework, you will now be able to play as a new fourth rabbit character! Xìnggǎn de Tùnǚláng is a hardworking, demure accountant bunny with fiery red hair, a cool laser sword, and no pants. Her double jump move has her rotate briefly in midair then slash forwards with her sword, eliminating all enemies in front of her, and her special crouch attack has her say one of several recorded lines that suggest she is open to pursuing a romantic relationship with you (but only if you make the first move, she’s not pushy).
To unlock Xìnggǎn, you will need to save up new rainbow gems by playing matches in Battle3, Battle4, Capture3, Happy Semiconductor CTF, and… nope, that’s the full list. You can earn up to four rainbow gems a day, but if you miss a day, you lose half your gems. Once you accumulate ten gems, you’re ready to press a button to add Xìnggǎn to your game forever (0.65% chance of success, 99.35% chance of getting some extra TNT ammo instead).
Or you could pay us $30 to press the button ten times, but, you know, the choice is totally up to you!
Xìnggǎn will only be available for two weeks before another new featured character takes her place, Vazz Vaccrabbit, a gnarly cool dude who’s gonna teach kids that it’s totally radical to get vaccinated, followed a couple weeks later by Mario’s Undead Corpse. We expect this new JJ2+ update to be available for download soon, we sent it through the Suez Canal to speed things up.
JCS Awards 2020 - January 2nd 2021
Source: JCF
Now’s your chance to show your appreciation for your favourite new JJ2 releases of the past year – go check out the JCF thread, and cast your votes!
Voting closes on 16th January at 23:59 GMT+1.
Update: The results are now live! Many congratulations to all of the winners!
Happy holidays from Jazz2Online! - December 25th 2020
On behalf of the Jazz2Online team, I wish you a very Jazzy Christmas and a happy new year!
If you feel like bringing a little Jazz to the festivities, you can find a selection of some holiday-themed Single Player levels right here!
More JJ2 concept art discovered - December 4th 2020
Source: JCF post
A new set of concept art images for JJ2 have been discovered! A handful are familiar from appearing as box/CD art, but most had never been seen outside of Epic Games. There are a lot of pictures of Eva and her mother, including a shot of Eva carrying a gun and wearing something similar to Jazz and Spaz’s armbands, suggesting it may have been a design for her as a playable character. There are also several sketches that match images used in the final game, primarily menu character selection sprites and Spaz’s ingame sprites.
Check out the full album here, or join the JCF discussion here.
Thanks to Leo TCK, KarmeleQ, and Love & Thunder for their work unearthing these new glimpses at JJ2’s origins.
In response to questions from players, the List Server team has published a usage policy for players. Check it out here.
Bonus Bunny Poll - September 6th 2020
For today’s poll, let’s consider that underappreciated supporting castmember, the bonus bunny. Or is there more than one bonus bunny? He does come in seven colors! Is he recoloring himself at the speed of light, or is there a whole guild of them which crosses time and space?
And here are the results from the previous poll! If you’re good at rhyming and rhythm, looks like it’s time to get jamming.
| Alternate Reality Game |  2 votes (9%) |
| Live action TV |  4 votes (19%) |
| Musical theater |  5 votes (23%) |
| Black-and-white comic strips published in monthly zine | 4 votes (19%) |
| Folk music | 2 votes (9%) |
| Numbers station | 2 votes (9%) |
| Pachinko machine | 2 votes (9%) |
| Total votes: 21 | |
New JJ2+ update - August 22nd 2020
Source: The JCF
Some time has passed since we last heard from the JJ2+ team, but the new release is finally here!
Amongst many things, version 5.7 brings the following updates:
- Increased memory limit
- Revamped Head Hunters gamemode
- Improvements to anti-cheating measurements (Stijn also wrote an article to provide some context to these changes)
- Lots and lots of bug fixes
Download the new JJ2+ update here!