OpenJazz Switch

OpenJazz
General
Author	AlisterT
Type	Platform
Version	20260301
License	GPL-2.0
Last Updated	2026/03/01
Links
Download
Website
Source

Port of OpenJazz to the Nintendo Switch with SDL2 Support.

OpenJazz is a free, open-source version of the classic Jazz Jackrabbit games.

Jazz Jackrabbit is a PC platform game. Produced by Epic Games (then Epic MegaGames), it was first released in 1994. The fast-paced, colourful gameplay proved popular, and the game won PC Format's Arcade Game of the Year award. Many people still fondly recall the shareware versions.

OpenJazz was started on the 23rd of August, 2005, by Alister Thomson. The source code was first released in late December 2005, and the first version with a degree of playability was released on the 15th of January 2006. Since then, a variety of ports have been released by other people. In 2009 a multiplayer version was released.

User guide

To play the game, you will need the files from one of the original Jazz Jackrabbit games. The shareware version is also supported.

Installation

1. Extract the zip file to the root of the SD card.
2. The shareware version is already included in the download.
3. If you have the full game, you can replace the game files by placing them in the same directory as OpenJazzNX.nro.

Controls

Button	Action
A	Confirm / Select menu option
B	Back / Previous menu
Minus	Back / Escape (all screens)
Left Stick / D-Pad	Move Jazz / Navigate menus

Additional controls are configurable via the "setup options" menu in-game. Most game controllers that SDL recognizes can be used; however, not all axes or buttons may be available.

Screenshots

Known issues

• Level Bonus crashes the game when quitting or finishing it. Bonus levels are currently disabled; the game will proceed to the next level without entering the bonus stage.

Changelog

v.20260301

• This is a small bugfix release:
  • Fixes a bug in tilemask loading, which broke some levels, since some tiles were not passable (e.g. in Medivo)
  • Fixes a bug in palette handling when using SDL3 and no scaling, leading to wrong colors
• New features:
  • Most menu screens have now centered output and are better aligned on small displays (original resolution of Jazz is 320x199)
  • The HUD can now be changed to be like in FPS games (e.g. DOOM1, quake...)
  • Jazz' and enemy health is now affected by the difficulty level, which means the game got a lot harder on higher difficulty now

v.20260218

• This release fixes some long-standing graphics bugs and improves the user experience a bit:
  • SDL3 is now supported (though SDL2 is still the default)
  • Scaling options are now available again
  • Network support has been fixed for Windows builds and temporarily disabled for Wii builds
  • Movie playback should not show graphical artifacts anymore
• Misc changes:
  • Some bugfixes in loading code (levels, fonts, etc.)
  • psmplug has some playback fixes for ARM platforms
  • The counters at level end are now calculated like in the original instead of counting the real number of enemies/items
  • The logic when to play a cutscene or bonus level has been changed
• New ports:
  • Nintendo Switch
  • Android (currently only bare-bone, no configuration, needs external gamepad)
  • Mac Source Ports (Apple)

v.20240919

• The audio system has been refactored a bit and should now work again under Windows (#111)
• On Windows ship needed libraries instead of a "fat" executable, do not compress with UPX (#106)
• Implement loading of savegames
• Add WASM port for browsers: https://openjazz.github.io
• minor cleanups and bug fixes

v.20231028

• SDL2 support.
• Bugfixes and small improvements.
• No external dependencies besides SDL.
• CLI arguments, Logger.
• XDG directory support under Linux, *BSD and other Unices.
• Completely rewritten build system.

External links

• Github - https://github.com/AlisterT/openjazz