Jazz Jackrabbit 2 The Secret Files 1.24

[Assassin]

Version 1.24, or The Secret Files, is not part of the regular Jazz Jackrabbit 2 versions any more, since it relates to the expansion pack. This pack was released only in Europe. It is a bright orange big box with Jazz on his airboard on the cover grabbing a gem. Inside the box you will find a dual jewel case with both the original version of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 and a copy of The Secret Files. The version of Jazz 2 included in this box, as well as the two manuals, are the exact same as the 1.20 European retail release, meaning they probably repurposed what they already had available. It also has a small black and white manual for The Secret Files included, with just a single page per language on the expansion.

Version 1.24 can be installed in two ways, as part of the original Jazz Jackrabbit 2 setup, upgrading your copy to 1.24 and adding the new episode to the episode list of the full game, or as a stand alone installation. Many people would pick the latter option in the past, because a lot of players did not own the expansion, and with a seperate 1.23 installation set up, you were still able to play online with those players.

The expansion adds 9 new single player levels, using 3 new tilesets, and a new playable character, Lori. It also adds two new enemies, one of which, called Addon Sparks in JCS, which is the dog enemy reskinned as a cat, is used in the expansion levels. The other one, which is the sparks enemy reskinned as a ghost, isn't used and isn't working by default. You would have to edit the JCS.ini file and add the enemy as event number 253 yourself to be able to use this enemy in game.

At the end of the episode, the player would get a password, "BUNNYLOVER", that could be entered into the Project Two website. The way this was set up is a bit weird. If you look at the box, you can see it says "Win prizes" and a contest mentions on the back as well. A contest was held alongside the expansion, to create the best easter level. This contest was won by a nine year old girl named Emily Williams from Swindon, UK, who created a level named Carrotiz. A download for this level was the reward for beating the expansion and entering the "BUNNYLOVER" password. This is interesting, because that means that for a while, when the expansion released, there was no reward, because the contest wasn't over. Since Project Two went out of business shortly after, there was really only a small window in which you were able to download this level. Fortunately, the level was also available on Jazz2City, the main hub for level downloads at the time, and it was added as an extra home cooked level with the Christmas Chronicles expansion, along with a number of other contesting levels. All this unfortunately made the password rather meaningless.

Source for the website where you could enter the password:

https://web.archive.org/web/19991001154545/http://www.project2.com/conjazz1.html

This expansion also came with a number of fan made levels, accessible through the home cooked levels menu. The most notable of these is "Queen of Board", a notorious level pack which had its own menu and a large and difficult maze to solve in its first level. This level pack also came with a custom tileset, Mez01, which would be picked up by a lot of level creators who owned The Secret Files to make their own levels.

A shareware version of 1.24 exists, named 1.24s. In this shareware version, you get to play 2 of the later levels of the expansion. There also exists a patch for the expansion, but this is just to fix installation problems.

Full Game:

You can download and play the shareware version by downloading it here. Get the full final game by purchasing Jazz Jackrabbit 2 from GoG - you will be supporting game preservation done correctly.

Scans for the original Jazz Jackrabbit 2 disc and manuals included with the expansion are not provided here, since they are the exact same as the ones for the European Jazz Jackrabbit 2 1.20 big box release.