J.J. & Jeff
Encyclopedia
J.J. & Jeff, known in Japan
as , is a side scrolling platform game
for the TurboGrafx-16
. The Japanese version is loosely based on the then-popular comedy television show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan which Vin Di Bona Productions
used as its inspiration for the popular television show America's Funniest Home Videos
. The game is best remembered for its off-beat characters and enemies, and toilet humor, including flatulence
and urination
in the Japanese release. The game is often criticized for being too censored or sanitized when translated for America with most reviewers feeling that the Japanese version was superior in humor and gameplay. On May 28, 2007, it was released on the Wii
's Virtual Console
in North America
, and in Europe
on June 15.
. They are out to solve a kidnapping case. In the Japanese version, Kato-chan & Ken-chan, it is based mostly on the "Detective Story" segments of the show.
There are three ways to attack enemies in J.J. and Jeff. One is to jump on top of them in an attack echoing Super Mario Bros. The second way is to spray enemies with a can of spray paint
. The third is to kick enemies.
The game included six levels (fields) split into four parts, even though the manual says there are a total of 8-levels.
A life bar labeled "Vitality" depletes as the character is injured. Eating food hidden in each level will replenish this meter. Money found can be used to play a slot machine
game for items. The slot machine
is one of several hidden rooms found in each level. Kicking random objects can produce money, food, and other items. Extra lives are obtained at 70,000, 150,000, 300,000 and 500,000 points.
. Also, the unplayable character was originally defecating in the bushes and urinating on lampposts, but the urine was removed, and the character was seen wearing a bear mask in the American version.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a side scrolling platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
for the TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
. The Japanese version is loosely based on the then-popular comedy television show Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan which Vin Di Bona Productions
Vin Di Bona Productions
Vin Di Bona Productions is a United States television production company that was established in 1986 by Vin Di Bona. The company's first show was Animal Crack-Ups, which ran from 1987-1990. Its most popular show is America's Funniest Home Videos, which premiered on November 26, 1989 on ABC and its...
used as its inspiration for the popular television show America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
. The game is best remembered for its off-beat characters and enemies, and toilet humor, including flatulence
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
and urination
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
in the Japanese release. The game is often criticized for being too censored or sanitized when translated for America with most reviewers feeling that the Japanese version was superior in humor and gameplay. On May 28, 2007, it was released on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on June 15.
Story
J.J. & Jeff are bungling detectives in the same vein as Inspector ClouseauInspector Clouseau
Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore...
. They are out to solve a kidnapping case. In the Japanese version, Kato-chan & Ken-chan, it is based mostly on the "Detective Story" segments of the show.
Gameplay
At the start, the player chooses either J.J. or Jeff to play. The unchosen character will appear at various moments in the game standing by lampposts and hiding in bushes, but remains unplayable.There are three ways to attack enemies in J.J. and Jeff. One is to jump on top of them in an attack echoing Super Mario Bros. The second way is to spray enemies with a can of spray paint
Spray painting
Spray painting is a painting technique where a device sprays a coating through the air onto a surface. The most common types employ compressed gas—usually air—to atomize and direct the paint particles. Spray guns evolved from airbrushes, and the two are usually distinguished by their size and the...
. The third is to kick enemies.
The game included six levels (fields) split into four parts, even though the manual says there are a total of 8-levels.
A life bar labeled "Vitality" depletes as the character is injured. Eating food hidden in each level will replenish this meter. Money found can be used to play a slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
game for items. The slot machine
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
is one of several hidden rooms found in each level. Kicking random objects can produce money, food, and other items. Extra lives are obtained at 70,000, 150,000, 300,000 and 500,000 points.
Censorship
The original Japanese game has a heavy emphasis on toilet humor, most of which was removed for the American version. For example, in the Japanese version, the spray can was originally Kato and Ken's own flatulenceFlatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...
. Also, the unplayable character was originally defecating in the bushes and urinating on lampposts, but the urine was removed, and the character was seen wearing a bear mask in the American version.