J.J. & Jeff (TG16)

J.J. & Jeff

Platform: TurboGrafx-16 Year: 1987 Developer: Hudson Soft

J.J. & Jeff is an action-platformer developed and published by Hudson Soft. It was originally released in Japan in 1987, and released three years later in 1990 in North America.

The player takes the role of either J.J. or Jeff, who have their own business, J.J. & Jeff Detective Agency, who receive a call saying a rich man has been kidnapped. J.J. and Jeff must travel through six worlds to save the unnamed man.

The game is broken up into six worlds (called "Fields") and four stages (called "Areas"). The game plays similar to Hudson Soft's popular Adventure Island series in terms of the game engine. In fact, the game's Japanese cover art was drawn by Susumu Matsushita, who also worked on the cover art for Adventure Island. At the end of the fourth Area of each Field is a boss that must be defeated. However, a hidden key must be obtained on the previous stage (Field 3) or else the boss is inaccessible, and the player must jump on a green spring in the level to return to the previous stage to retrieve the key. Along the way, the player can play minigames to increase their score and lives. If the player loses all their lives, they are granted infinite continues via a button code mentioned in the game's instruction manual.

While some enemies die by jumping on them (a la Super Mario Bros.), but some enemies must be either avoided completely, kicked, or attacked with the aerosol spray (which can used by crouching). Some enemies can even kill you in one hit such as Mack and Jack, which is simply a campfire, or Nessy, a giant dinosaur-like creature. Even your sidekick will attack you with soda cans throughout the game! In most levels, the player will come to a chasm which cannot be accessed by normal means. In these areas, the player must kick something before the chasm to create platforms to jump across.

In Japan, the game was originally released as a game based on the comedy duo Kato-chan and Ken-chan and titled as such. In particular, it was based on the Detective Story segments of Kato-chan Ken-chan Gokigen TV. The Japanese version featured a lot of toilet humor, which was removed when localized for North America. For example, the side character can be seen relieving himself on a light pole and in the bushes. Also, the aerosol spray attack was originally a farting attack in the Japanese original.

The game received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, criticizing the slippery controls and difficult gameplay. The final level in particular is brutally difficult, and requires a great amount of skill and patience to beat.

Screenshots

The title screen. Playing the first level. In the bonus area. Fighting the first boss. A sea-based level. Game Over.

Music

J.J. & Jeff has a really nice score for its time. It was one of Takeaki Kunimoto's earliest games that he worked on. In fact, it was his first TurboGrafx-16 game. There are some jazzy tunes, as well as rock tracks, but even in those, you can still hear Kunimoto's jazzy elements with the chord progressions. Most of the music is fast paced, which fits with the fast paced action exhibited in the game.

Takeaki wrote his music on his Yamaha CX-7 MSX2 computer, which was sent to Hudson Soft, and implemented into the game by Toshiyuki Sasagawa, who implemented the music using a PC-98 computer and Music Macro Language with Takayuki Iwabuchi's sound driver. For unknown reasons, the sound driver plays the music a microtone (¼ step) sharp, resulting in approximately A = 450Hz.

The song titles on this site were originally named after the VGM rip, but retitled and re-ordered after the Takeaki Kinoko Kunimoto History Vol.5: Katoken CD, in which the official names are given. This CD contains recordings of the original demo tapes sent to Hudson Soft.

An interesting note, Kunimoto has formed a band with famed Japanese pianist Matsuken called Take-chan Ken-chan, named after the game's Japanese title.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
01	Title	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:22		Download
02	Above Ground	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:55		Download
03	Sea	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:07		Download
04	Sky	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:30		Download
05	Underground 1	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:14		Download
06	Underground 2	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:55		Download
07	Boss	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	1:19		Download
08	Area Clear	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:05		Download
09	Stage Clear	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:05		Download
10	Bonus Stage	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:39		Download
11	Miss	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:03		Download
12	Game Over	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:10		Download
13	Ending	Takeaki Kunimoto	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	0:39		Download
14	Staff Roll	Tamao	Toshiyuki Sasagawa	2:55		Download

Credits

• Ripper: Sonic of 8! (VGZ)
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Sound Effect: Toshiyuki Sasagawa credited as T.Sasagawa
  • Sound Effect: Toshiaki Takimoto credited as T.Takimoto
  • Music Program: Toshiyuki Sasagawa credited as T.Sasagawa
  • Music: Takeaki Kunimoto credited as Kinoko Kunimoto
  • Uncredited Sound Driver: Takayuki Iwabuchi
  • Uncredited Composer: Tamao

(Sources: Credits, Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.5: Katoken liner notes.)

The game's credits are seen after beating the game. Both the Japanese and US version of the game have the same exact credits.

We have received verification from Keita Hoshi that Takayuki Iwabuchi programmed the game's sound driver, but he is not listed in the game's credits. As a result, the person credited for Music Program, Toshiyuki Sasagawa, is probably credited for programming Kunimoto's compositions into code, rather than programming the sound driver.

In addition, the album Takeaki Kinoko Kunimoto History Vol.5: Katoken credits a certain "Tamao" for composing the game's Staff Roll music, the identity of whom is not currently clear.

Albums

Takeaki Kinoko Kunimoto History Vol.5: Katoken 2020-11-29

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

Ripping TurboGrafx-16 music is an arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site. The music was recorded using in_vgm for Winamp.

Audio Devices

The game uses the TurboGrafx-16's HuC6280. It uses Takayuki Iwabuchi's sound driver.

Releases

Japan Title: カトちゃんケンちゃん (Kato-chan Ken-chan) Platform: PC Engine Released: 1987-11-30 Publisher: Hudson Soft     USA Title: J.J. & Jeff Platform: TurboGrafx-16 Released: 1990-??-?? Publisher: NEC

Links

• mobygames.com/game/turbo-grafx/jj-jeff - MobyGames.
• gamefaqs.gamespot.com/tg16/588999-jj-and-jeff - GameFAQs.
• youtube.com/watch?v=cLvDDZfoGLk - Takeaki Kunimoto and Matsuken perform music from the game live.
• youtube.com/watch?v=_INbbm8x_DI - Takeaki Kunimoto and Matsuken perform music from the game live.
• youtube.com/watch?v=DBTASn8U4yg - Kinoko Kunimoto Band performs various songs from the game.
• youtu.be/lDnNnbXjJww - J.J. & Jeff soundtrack arranged for DOS (YMF262) by Nick Kalata.