I never enjoy giving a well-regarded game a lukewarm review, and I promise I'm not doing it to be contrarian, but... have you ever experienced that "oh, crap" moment playing a strategy game like Civilization when you move your club-wielding cavemen to attack another player only to find yourself faced with tanks and fighter jets? That's kind of like how Jazz Jackrabbit 2 feels like.

It's a much more competently-made game than the original, free of its most egregious flaws (less slippery momentum, less screen crunch, enemy placement that is tricky but has less instances of "gotcha!"). It has plenty of the same virtues - nice visual design with a good variety of level aesthetics, nonlinear-ish level layouts with a good amount of secrets to discover, and a great soundtrack. The selection of guns are probably the gameplay's strongest suit - from the pitifully short-range flamethrower which is effective against erratically-flying enemies because the flames linger in the air slightly longer, to the motion-controlled bombs which are great against bosses because they allow you to damage a boss while you're safely on the other side of the screen, every weapon has at least a fringe use.

...it was also released in 1998. (for reference Klonoa came out in '97!)

I'm not saying that every game needs to break new ground, but if a game is treading familiar territory then I'd at least hope for it to be polished. Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has plenty of rough edges - its visual design is confusing, and it's hard to tell which platforms can be landed on and which are part of the background. The final level has the most egregious example of this - a floor that appears to be made of flowing lava but can be walked on like a normal floor! The controls are inconsistent, particularly in the execution of Jazz's ear propeller and Spaz's double jump. There's a pretty sizable catalogue of bugs - I softlocked myself multiple times, mostly by clipping into walls, but I also (twice) used the motion-sensor bomb and blew a boss clear out of the screen, with no choice but to reload an earlier save!

I do see that this game filled a very specific niche when it came out; in an era where developers were throwing out plenty of bathwater (and some babies) in their rush to cash in on the 3D craze, a functional old-school mascot platformer from a niche franchise scratches a very specific itch. But as someone without an emotional connection to this game, it comes across as an anachronism - archaic by 1998 standards, but not refined enough to count as homage.