Jazz Jackrabbit (OpenJazz)

Game: Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS, 1994)

OpenJazz: a free, open-source version of Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic MegaGames’ 1994 platformer, that uses the original game’s files. AJ Thomson started it on August 23, 2005, and released the first playable version on January 15, 2006, and networked multiplayer followed in 2009. It has been on GitHub since 2014, where Carsten Teibes maintains it and has merged the ports to other platforms. According to the project, it’s compatible with every released version of Jazz Jackrabbit, from the shareware ones to the CD edition with The Lost Episodes, though its FAQ warns that the physics aren’t exactly the original’s and that fan-made levels can’t always be finished. Version 20260218 (February 18) added SDL3, brought back the scaling options, fixed networking on Windows, and added builds for Switch, Android, and Mac (by Mac Source Ports); the latest, 20260301 (March 1), centered the menus, added a HUD like the ones in first-person shooters, and made Jazz’s and the enemies’ health depend on the difficulty. Since then it has gained the ability to save games and debug and cheat menus. There are builds for 64-bit Windows and Linux, plus the browser and several consoles and handhelds; it also builds on macOS and BSD. The browser version linked from its README (openjazz.github.io) includes the shareware versions of Jazz Jackrabbit 1.1, Holiday Hare, and Holiday Hare ’95, which Epic MegaGames released as shareware, along with their distribution license.

You needThe files from your own copy of Jazz Jackrabbit, not Jazz Jackrabbit 2: the free shareware version, the Christmas Edition, Holiday Hare ’95, Jazz Jackrabbit CD with The Lost Episodes, the Complete edition, or GOG’s Jazz Jackrabbit Collection, which the author says is fully compatible, all work. They go next to the executable or in a folder passed as a command-line argument. Plus Windows, Linux, macOS, or BSD.

How it gets to PC

Fan reimplementation

Console

MS-DOS

Original studio

Epic MegaGames

Year

1994

Author

AJ Thomson / Carsten Teibes

Stars

418

Last activity

2026-09-01 · 2 months ago

Latest version

20260301 · 2026-03-01

License

GPL-2.0

Language

C