Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Okay. This is extremely overrated so I guess I’ll balance out the rating.

Summer Dreams – A level by Odin

The first thing I noticed is that the level is very open in the top, and there’s no layer 5 eyecandy or whatsoever to make it at least a bit interesting. All there is is open space and backround.

I don’t really like the platforms in the level, they look really thin and again have nothing interesting about them, such as having at least some layer 5 cave tiles around them.

The eyecandy, in general, is alright. The bottom areas are ok, but the top is kinda lacking in the area. I also found a slight eyecandy bug at 49, 58, if it matters.

The placement of stuff is kinda weird. And 100 coins is O.o. I wouldn’t think you’d also be using ice ammo to look for secrets in the middle of a game, too, which makes me thing that this level would be used more for random hosting than serious games. Also, the reward for the 100 coins is rather =|. Too many ammo crates in one place will leave a big mess.

The flow of the level has a few bugs. Firstly, the pole sometimes throws me into a wall. A few horizontal springs (namely the one around 182, 45) juts me into a solid tile. 251, 53 also could’ve used a spring because its just an empty corner.

The layout of this level is huge. 256 horizontal wise is O.o. I’m not sure if the layout has much strategy at all, and isn’t just randomly put in to fill up the area. The 100 coin reward also allows for camping (when there’s a full energy and a blaster powerup, who needs to go out and run around?).

Overall, this level isn’t bad, but is far far far from a 9.2. I think I’d give it a 7.2. The music also has a looping problem, btw.

Edit: Fix the next level setting plz.
Edit 2: Defost deleted his review (he rated this a 9.2) so thats what I meant by this being overrated.

I might as well review this, since Mike wants more reviews. I’ve been putting this off for a while now (every time I was about to play it, something/someone interrupted me and I ended up doing something else).

Basically, one of the first things that made me like this pack was that it had a storyline. Thankfully, it didnt have to do with Devan or saving Carrotus, and it was written well enough for a jj2 pack.

The levels were all either extremely huge or extremely short. Some were extremely hard to beat, some were relatively easy providing you were a bit careful. Lots of them had some original stuff in them.

The structure of the levels was nice. They weren’t extremely linear, but often times I had no idea what to do in certain parts (like what to bomb with my TNT, in the castle level). The difficulty was kinda insane though. Some things seemed almost unavoidable, and I lost over 15 lives trying to beat this pack.

The eyecandy of the levels ranged from average to beautiful. I loved the eyecandy in the level using Dark Reign, and the level based around a really old part of the temple. The only thing that brought down the rating a bit was the repetetiveness. Because the storyline was based around Deserto, most levels were forced to use the Deserto set, and seeing Deserto almost everywhere kinda got dull. Otherwise, Mike did a great job on eyecandy throughout the pack.

The originality of the pack was one of the things that I found shined to me the most. Where else could you find a level where you had to chase down a Rocket Turtle, or jump through a part that looked like it had no gravity in it (in terms of the secret level)? To sum it up, this is one of the most original packs I’ve seen (Along with Blur’s Unleashed Demo).

The placement of stuff was alright. I didn’t really mind the lack of things like non-purple gems (in fact, I didn’t even notice it really). Carrots were a bit sparce when I played in medium mode, but they were still there when I needed them in areas. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten 20 purple gems in any of the levels yet, but I came pretty close a few times.

To sum up my review, The Invasion of Deserto is a must download pack. It has a lot of great ideas implemented in it, that guaranteed you probably won’t see anywhere else, and it was (at least for me) an enjoyment to play. I’ll give this pack a 9.2, and definately a download reccomendation. Hopefully Mike will release more stuff like this in the future.

Ugh. I had to restart this review 3 times now because of stupid computer self restarts and internet crashes, so I’m rather frustrated right now. Anyways, here goes:

Since this level has only one review (although its a great review) I decided to review it.

Introduction

“What is this?” is a solid, enjoyable level by Newspaz of J2LC. It’s no wonder it made it into the bash, since this level excels in several categories.

Layout/Gameplay
The layout of this level is interesting. In fact, its a mix of several different types of layouts. There is an open, platformy terrain in the top right, narrow corridors in the temple area, and corridors linking to “rooms” (open areas) in the cavern area. Yes, this level even has a dead end with a carrot in it. This bizarre mix of ideas can only add to the creativity of the level, and through my experience with this level, works alright (although people tend to stick to one area frequently). The gameplay of this level is also nice. There are even springs on the sides of masked objects to bounce you around, which could become very chaotic with several people playing. Although the gameplay is generally good, there are a few
annoyances that could be improved in it. Some springs are rather unneeded (like the one in the very topmost platform on the top right; what is it doing there?) and some could be of a different type of spring (the two red springs in the bottom right room, a blue spring there would suffice). 6, 22 – the area there should be revised. The floatup is too noticable and annoying – it causes a noticable delay before you hit the red spring. The slope should be smoothed out so the floatup wouldn’t be needed and there would be no delay. 57, 30 – Spaz can run and double jump up to the blue springs, while jazz has to go underneath the one ways to get up there. Otherwise, I rarely found myself bumping into stuff or getting stuck, although I think the room in the bottom right could use another exit since its a big dead end (at least have the sucker be lower so you wouldn’t have to climb up to get out.)
Rating: 8.5 (Generally good, and an interesting combination of different things, but it does not come without small bugs/annoyances which horde up together).

Eyecandy
Probably the section this level excels at the most, the eyecandy is probably even more bizarre than the layout, and probably gives the level its name, “What is this?”. Although strange, it’s creative and adds to the already-strange mood of the level.
There is a good amount of eyecandy in the level, and thankfully none of it really gets in the way or blocks view. The eyecandy could be confusing at first, but personally I got used to it quickly. The trees in the backround layer could be moved up more though, since they are barely noticable and the top right of the level is more empty than the rest. There’s not much to point out about eyecandy, though some of it looks particularly random (ferns growing out of the center of stone boulders and rocks growing on tree branches?). To sum it up, the eyecandy has a lot of creativity in it, and is pulled off nicely. The level doesn’t really have much of an atmosphere (except some screwed up jungle perhaps?) but it still looks good.
Rating: 9

Placement of Stuff
Let’s start out with the ammo, since it is battle. Personally, I didn’t find the ammo as creative as the previous two categories. Most of it is seemed to be placed in bunches, forming random shapes, usually rectangles, lines, or stairway like things. The majority of the +3 ammo is in the top section of the level; underneath in the caverns you’d find more powerups and +15 crates (while on the topic, I don’t think having two +15 crates of seeker ammo next to each other is a good idea). I think the top right could’ve used more ammo, since it’s quite empty in terms of events. Powerups (3 of them) were placed alright, I didn’t have any problems with them. Maybe the seeker was a bit easier to get than the rest, and more of a target since it even has a carrot next to it, and a Toaster powerup might’ve been good here (replace the RF with the toaster, perhaps?). Otherwise, nothing noteworthy. With the carrots, I think the one in the top could’ve been further away from the seeker. With the one in the bottom, I found that either it was ignored for most the game because of the inconvenient area it was in, or many people camped at it because it was a good place to regain health in without being noticed. Strategy wise, that could be a positive or a negative thing. Suckertubes were well placed. There also appears to only be 1 start pos, which could explain why people pile up in one area.
Rating: 8.3 (not as creative as the previous categories, and there is room for improvement)

Originality/Fun Factor:
The area where this level excels at the most. One of the most bizarre quality levels I’ve played (even the name indicates it’s strangeness), this level has seemingly random, but yet nicely pulled off eyecandy, and a combination of different layout types. The music choice is even original (although really weird..). As for Fun Factor, this level was fun enough to play in, although after the random level selection in the anniversarry bash forced people to play this level dozens of times it started to get boring.
Rating: 9.2

Overall (not an average):
I like this level, and so do many other people (its average is 8.8 and it made it into the bash). There is a lot of things in this level that make it stand out from other levels of the same set, and there is a lot of things in this level that make it enjoyable. (While I was typing this my computer crashed a 3rd time (4th if you count the internet crash), good thing I was typing this in notepad this time ;D). You should definately download and play this level if you haven’t had a chance to through the numerous times it was hosted. Among all the positive things in this paragraph about the level, there is still always room for improvement.
Rating: 8.5

Final Rating: 8.7 on the dot. This is a great piece of work that definately earns the rating and the download reccomendation I’m giving it, and I hope I will have a chance to review & play more of Newspaz’s works in the future

~Blackraptor.

Edit: wow. It took me an hour and 7 minutes to complete this review. Darn computer crashes..

Yay, the full thing is out. I didn’t notice really any significant change in the first 5 or so levels that were in Part I, although over time standards change and imo the rating of a few of the levels dropped a bit. I’m not going to review the first 5 (and maybe Tropicana Bay, depending if I notice any difference in it) since I already did previously, although the ratings would be mentioned here because they are needed in the overall rating calculation.

Save the Sheep 7.2
Santa’s Stolen Hats 7.7
Head Hunter 8.3
Snowdust: Reloaded 7.5 (the poem for the F-dimension dissapearing too fast wasnt even fixed)
Grand Casino 7

Jungle of Mabaroshi
Wow. There are actually enemies in here =P. Don’t think they’ll appear online though. I didn’t particularly enjoy their placement much either, since a lot of them were either sparcely placed ,or in the case of the insects, attacked you in huge swarms.
The eyecandy here was better than in the previous levels, though.
Rating: 7.7

Tropicana Bay
Already reviewed this.
Rating: 7

The Tale of Moo: An Epic Story

Lots of text signs are too close to each other. Lots of narrow mazes with 0 lighting which I bet most people playing online would just turn off ambient lighting in..Eyecandy needs improvement again.
Rating: 6.5

Alberto’s Chili Peppers
The 5 things you need to get (chili peppers) were hidden more evily this time (i.e instead of being out in the open or needing to beat some puzzle/maze to get to, they were hidden behind layer 3/5 passages or in warps placed in barely landmarked places). I even had to look in JCS to find two of the peppers because the passage was that much hidden. I think this level would be extremely difficult to finish in multiplayer unless you already know where everything is. Also, the text behind one of the signs doesnt appear \o/. Overall, I like this level, but it’s just too hard to complete unless you know where everything is (via JCS) or are just really lucky.
Rating: 7

Mechanics and Astronauts

This level was rather easy to find all the things in. Nothing really unique and special about it; the levels are getting rather repetetive. Eyecandy was tolerable in some places, but needed a lot of improvement in others.
Rating: 6.7

Route 77
I liked this level, dunno why. The cars were moderately easy to find and the music was fun. Eyecandy was alright.
Rating: 7.7

Camping is for Noobs
The last level. I didn’t like the set too much, and I got most the items before I found out what I had to get them for. A rather simple level.
Rating: 7.

Overall: It’s an alright pack I guess. I would’ve given it higher if the concept of it was new to me (rather, if part 1 wasn’t released as a spoiler to the concept). I would have probably had more fun playing these online with more people so there would be competetiveness. It would’ve added greately to the rating if the author of the levels focused more on having them look less empty in several places.

Final Rating: 7.275 ~ 7.3. Bumped up to a 7.5 because these would be funner online. It’s a nice pack with a lot of levels, but some levels need to be fixed up a bit and stuff. Otherwise, download reccomendation.

Chateau – Toxic Bunny

Firstly, looking in JCS, this tileset looks really un-userfriendly. I see random tiles placed in garbled piles and can’t tell what is what. Otherwise, there is a large tile variety, and the textures are great. The theme is semi-original (the way it is pulled off was more original then the actual theme, rather). Masking is alright, although I don’t think the trees should’ve been fully masked (maybe only the tips?). Unfortunately, there is no warpable backround (just a single light blue tile) and not much you can do with the set if you want part of your level using it to be outdoors. There is some nice chandeliers and barrels/bottles, but otherwise not a huge amount of layer 5 placeable things (knights in armor, desks with papers under candlelight could’ve been included or something along those lines). Thus, this set excels in some areas, but (even greately?) lacks in others.

I think I would give this set an 8. It’s still a good set and people should definately download it and give it a try.

For lack of better things to do, I’m going to review this.

Boring Surprise:
The main thing I liked about this level was how the robot boss battle was made harder. I couldn’t actually just keep stomping the robot without getting harmed like in most battles with it because of the schwarzenguard, so that’s definately a plus. Otherwise, it is a rather boring surprise ;d.

Puzzled Breakfast:
I like this level. Most of the challenges come from relatively easy but still fun puzzles and platform/vine hopping over hurt events. The music gave this level a good atmosphere imho. I hope you fixed the bug with the triggers and the save point in this level (I didn’t test if you did) because that could’ve screwed up the level if it was still there. Otherwise, the placement of stuff was good and the puzzles were fun (the “Good Job” or “Excellent Work” text after you complete a puzzle is also good since it congratulates the person and makes them want to keep playing). The level wasn’t too long, but was still fun.

Forbidden Move
The water rising part in the very beginning of the level is cool. The eyecandy in this level was pretty similar to the last level’s except this just uses the night version of carrotus. A lot of the enemies were placed in difficult areas where you usually get hurt, so the level was more difficult and a bit more annoying then last level. 122,25 in jj2 – spaz can just double jump onto the cliff while jazz cant reach it with his uppercut. Otherwise, this was just a normal level.

Trouble Underneath
Aahh carrotus AGAIN. Thankfully, this is only a boss level, and the arena for the boss is creatively made. So yay.

TDI2_04 or something crashes me because I dont have it, probably because moonblaze didnt make it and this is only a demo.

Ratings: (Only doing it for the two non-boss levels)
Puzzled Breakfast:
Layout/Gameplay: 8.7 (fun puzzles)
Eyecandy: 8 (just basic eyecandy)
Placement of Stuff: 8.2
Originality/Fun Factor: 8.7
Overall (not average): 8.5
Rating: 8.42 ~ 8.4

Forbidden Move:
Layout/Gameplay: 7.7
Eyecandy: 7.5
Placement of Stuff: 7.3
Originality/Fun Factor: 7.9
Overall (not an average): 7.7
Final Rating: 7.62 ~ 7.6

+0.2 for the boss levels, which makes the rating (7.6 + 8.4 /2) 8 + 0.2 = 8.2. Too bad the pack is unfinished.

Ok, basically you have to stay up on the hill and collect 100 coins so you could warp and get all the gems and win. The arena is very small, but not really threatening at all. I would be more worried about people taking my coins and having to wait longer than falling off. The eyecandy is also very boring and has some minor tilebugs. The second version of this has springs in the side pits instead of stuff that makes you lose all your coins. I’d find this version less challenging, but probably better since I would find getting 100 coins to take a long while if you have 7+ people. Thankfully the coins spawn every 2 seconds so that wont take long at all with only a few people. The ammo here is really sparce though, and in the version with the springs, kinda useless. The concept isn’t really anything too special either, but at least it works.
Layout/Gameplay/Concept: 6 (the concept brings it up quite a bit here)
Eyecandy: 5
Placement of Stuff: 5.2
Overall (not an average): 5.7
Final Rating: 5.475, boosted up to a 5.5. The idea has a bit of potential (its not anything new but its still the first time I think someone tried something like this) but the levels are just really small and bland. No download reccomendation for this one (although comes kinda close to one, mainly for the idea).

I felt bored so I decided to use random level to review this!

First thing I notice is the backround. Looks pretty cool in 16bit actually, and I have never seen a level with the labrat bg warped before (or dont remember at least). The bg looks horrid in 8bit though, but I dont play in 8bit so ;d.
The author of this level must’ve had an obsession with hooks and spikes or something, cause there are a lot of them in this level. Tile placement is rather bad, reminds me of some of my early levels. At least some parts look alright, and it couldve been a lot worse.
One more thing, why did you include hurt events in battle? =P. Only the server will actually get hurt by them, otherwise they’re just a good way to get your character flashing so you wont get shot by anyone else. And plus there’s like hurt events throughout the entire level, not just one spot.
Ammo placement needs work, and I’m not going to bother going through all the extensive detail and bringing up things like the +15 freezer boxes and the sparcity in the ammo and stuff. Carrot placement also needs work, since you even have a full energy in here. All this is also sealed with a nice, great fact that nothing respawns :D.
Layout is really strange. You’ve got some annoying warps, dead ends, places that are too open, places with random platforms, and places that need one ways. The level also seems to be divided into two halfs. The warp that brings you to the 2nd warp and back is fine, but why do you have that warp that just warps you a few tiles down and left, as well as that tile that I think should’ve had a warp on it or something (17, 20 in JCS, although it has a warp target on it which makes things confusing because not all the blue warp stuff in the level have warps over it cause of that etc blahblah). Music doesn’t really fit the level either. Dunno why I mentioned this now, but it just came up.
As expected, level uses only layers 4 and 8. The gameplay is also very horizontal too. (Farthest down level goes is only 36 tiles, but it stretches up to 180 tiles horizontally. Meaning the bottommost occupied space by a tile is xx,36, and the right-most is 180, xx.
Anyways, this review is pretty much done.I can’t really imagine this taking 12 hours but if you say so alright.
Eyecandy: 4.2
Layout: 4.4
Placement of Stuff: 3
Gameplay: 3.5 (no springs at all too)
Overall (not avrg) 3.7
Final Rating: 3.76 ~ 3.8.
It seems like you are still a beginner at levelmaking, so these levels are acceptable right now. Eventually, if you practise, you’ll get better and will be able to make better stuff. Right now this gets a 3.8 and no download reccomendation, but keep trying!

K. Another remix by danyjel.

I like how this one sounds for the most part, but there’s a few things about it I don’t like too much.

Firstly, the lead (or the beep things, don’t really know how to describe them) sound a bit too loud, they take the attention away from the backround stuff and prevent me from turning up the volume. Once again I like the climax of the song. The melody is interesting, kinda upbeat; I can’t really imagine this being used in any jj level though. Otherwise, it’s a good listen. Still not my favorite by you, but sounds good. A lot of parts in this music bring up nostalgia since they remind me from old games, which makes me like the song more. Yay for replacing a bass sample ;p.

Anyways, I don’t really know what to rate this, but I like it enough to give it an 8.5. And a download reccomendation

~Blackraptor (my reviews for music are really short =/)

China Turtle Temple, another turtemple mix by Danyjel.

I like what you did to the beginning, it sounds different from the original turtemple and also gives that china feel.
I really like the song at its climax (patterns 12 – 14), it sounded great there. Too bad it was only a few patterns (12 – 14 and 27 – 29).
The ending is a nice fadeout, but if you want to use the music in a jj2 level, you won’t hear the fadeout and instead the music would just keep going full volume until the last pattern and then abruptly stop and loop.

Otherwise, I like this better than Templorary Turtle. It has more of an atmosphere and I like the main beat more. A good listen, and a good download =D.

Overgrown

Firstly, let me comment on how the music for this level wasn’t in the zip =D.
Otherwise, I dislike the crate system. It blocks off the wallclimb spot so nobody else could get in after someone gets into controller room. Why did you make that? Anyways, I played this with a lot of people and it got annoying. The actual level is pretty small, and you need TNT to blow up stuff, so its not that fun and chaotic like other ground force levels. eyecandy is alright.
Rating: 7

A Lone Island
Yay music =D. And again that crate system >.>. I don’t like the main arena here much. Eyecandy needs a lot of work and the backround is pretty boring. The delay between the bomb falling is nice, if only you couldn’t reach the bombs and blow them up manually without even hitting the crate.
Rating: 6.5

A Water surprise
Nice atmosphere, and imo this level looks a lot better for me in 16bit =D. I actually kinda like this level. Eyecandy is nice for the most part. I think you put too many carrots in the crates that fall though, it might get laggy. I would’ve given this a 7.5, but I managed to jump out of the gem area the controller gets to when out and back into the arena. You really need to fix that. -0.5

Rating: 7

Blazing Speed:
The turtle shell thing is fun (although not completely original since Blur’s Scatter used it), but some times the turtle shell fell without breaking anything. Yay for LRK’s song. The eyecandy is alright here, and this is a decent level.

Rating: 7.2

Palace of Punishment:
++Music. The concept is interesting, but this level is kinda hard =\. I’d prefer the coin amount you need before you get out to be higher. The eyecandy is alright, but because of color repetetiveness within the tiles it gets confusing.
Rating: 6.5

Windy Carrots
Lol @ tileset. This level was actually kinda fun, and the wind thing was original, but the wind might’ve been too strong. Still, one of the better ones in the pack imo.

Rating: 7.4

10 is a magical number
Dont get the name but k. Destruct blocks took some effort to destroy, and the empty areas in the arena were =\. Don’t really have much to comment on the level.
Rating: 7

Elixir of Distort:
Woah. Pretty big level. Also kinda lacking in music =P. might’ve been funner if the crates didnt drop the bombs on you and in a distant area where other players might be instead. Tileset use was ok. I like the backround
Rating: 7.2

Marbles of Magic:
Hm. Lots of eyecandy bugs in the start area, but I liked what you did in the walls in the arena. I dont like the layout of the level, since its really hard to get up especially if you fall down all the way. Music is nice.
Rating: 6.7

Thunderstorm of the Ancients:
I see rain but I dont see lightning anywhere ;(. More like a huge rainstorm. Level is pretty big too, and the turtle thing is interesting (the shells). One thing I noticed is that people were able to get back into the arena if they rejoined the level (-0.5), and that kinda sucks. I also got killed by the turtles too. Whee. Music is nostalgic though, reminds me of donkey kong 3 (probably cause I think it is from donkey kong 3).
Rating: 7.4 – 0.5 = 6.9.

Rating of the pack: 6.94 rounded down to a 6.9.

Lots of these levels are really buggy and need some fixes, but otherwise some of them are ok and kinda fun to play. I’d give this a download reccomendation, since it has some fairly original stuff in it.

~Blacky

Edit: Since apparently a lot of bugs are fixed, I’ll upgrade the rating of this to a 7.6. GG.

Edit: Some bugs are still there. I can get into the arena after the server and everyone else got in (i.e by rejoining if I get out) and stuff. Back down to a 7.3 until this gets fixed..

Another great song by Danyjel.

Crysilis is an overremixed song. I see so many remixes of it and tubelectric. But this one is a good remix.

It starts off catchy and I like the rhythm of it. The lead does remind me a bit of NWCryst, although I don’t like it too much. Some channels like 20 and 21 are kinda boring, but its partially the original song’s fault because those parts in it where boring too.

I like the samples (especially the ones introduced in the few beginning patterns), and the song lenght is about average (3min50sec).

Even though my review sounded a big negative I still really like this song, and will keep listening to it in my mod playlist =D.

Good Job and keep making remixes!

Dance In Temple – By Danyjel

Firstly, the 2nd pause in the beginning, after you get the techno-sounding sample into the beat doesn’t really fit in. Even though the original turtemple had the break in the beginning, I don’t think you should’ve put it in that far into the beat, its just like expecting the song to reach its starting point peak but instead just stop.

Other than that, I like how the beat goes from there on. It sounds catchy and good. Some parts sounded a bit bland maybe though (Ch. 12 for example, could’ve used something in the backround).

Anyways, looks like you did quite a bit with the song, including making the speed faster. Good Job!

Some final comments to make, although the song sounds good, I don’t like it as much as some other works of yours like ChrisiLiz or Electronique Army. Maybe its because I don’t like the original turtemple song as much as the Chrysilis or Tubelectric one?

Final Rating is a 7.5. This is good remix and I definately reccomend people to download it. Again a good job done by Danyjel.

Blade’s 11th set. Here goes.

First impression of this was great. The tileset and the atmosphere are outstanding here. I wanted to make a level with the set right after I finished the example level!

Personally, I like the Cartoonish style of the set, because different tileset styles are always welcome. This set has lots of potential for eyecandy, because there are many cool pirate stuff you can place everywhere.

Palette events need some work (The snow doesnt look too bad though, and I don’t play in 8bit anyways so I dont care much about the water =P). The sand could also use some shading or texturing too since its just one color, but at least it doesn’t look bad.

Like Blade mentioned, this tileset is hard to use, but you can make some great things with it (like the example level shows). I have no problem with the masking.

Personally I think a textured backround would ruin the atmosphere of the tileset, so I’m not going to dock any marks off for the lack of one (I like the normal cartoon-like backround anyways).

Tiles Included: 9.2
Masking: 9.5
Color: 8.3
Userfriendliness: 7.7
Overall (Not an average): 9.5 (I really like this set)
Final Rating: 8.84, bumped up to an 8.9. I really like this set and I would definately make levels with it in the future, good work!

Fragile Existance – By Fawriel
Time Started to play level: 3:14 pm (15:14) – Time Finished Level: 3:50pm (15:50).

Over half an hour it took me to beat it O.o.

To start the review:

Firstly, I’ve enjoyed this level from the point where I betatested and gave suggestions upon it during the active times of Project Alpha, and I still enjoy it now. This is undoubtedly one of the hardest levels I’ve played – not only in the fact that I’ve died/been near death so many times I’ve lost count, but also the mind-boggling puzzles. This level not only testes your quick reactions and awareness, but also your ability to solve puzzles and think.

The eyecandy in this level is for the most part, beautiful. The atmosphere is good (it does look like a deep cave). There is eyecandy everywhere. There are a bunch of eyecandy bugs, but they’re barely noticable unless you go hunting for them. The level is fairly long and difficult, but also fun. Lots of pickups and secrets nearly everywhere. The only annoyances where that bees and dragons got too annoying and hard to kill with the bumpy terrain, as with the bats hidden behind or near layer 3 that you can barely spot. Music choice was great. Overall, this is a really awesome single player level. You’ll definately have to spend effort and time beating it. It’s too bad that Faw doesn’t make many other levels, though =\. Lots of original and fun effects in this level too, so its definately worth a check!

Rating:
Layout/Gameplay: 8.2 (long and challenging, but often confusing and prone to get you stuck in the ceiling sometimes)
Eyecandy: 8.5 (some places could’ve used more, but it was generally good).
Placement: 8 (enemies got annoying when they were placed in unavoidable areas)
Originality: 8.5 (lots of cool stuff, despite the level being several years old)
Overall (not average): 8.5 (Imho this is a really good and challenging level. Needs some things to get fixed though).

Final Rating: 8.34 ~ 8.3 (would be 8.2 if it weren’t for textbox ratings).

This is a great level Faw, too bad you don’t make much more levels anymore. This gets a download reccomendation and a pat on the back from me =P.

bahbah I had a long review for half this pack posted but I pressed the wrong button and it died.

Blizzard Catastrophy

To summarize the long paragraph I had about this level – The eyecandy needs a lot of work. The snow is unrealistic and falls like boulders out of the sky, and much of the level is empty or tiles poorly. Layout – the top part of the level is extremely empty – barely anything is there. The carrots at the top left are also too close. Pickup placement is sparce in some parts, and lacks creativity a lot.

Gold Rush Mountains
The eyecandy here is great – the only setback for it is that it is sometimes confusing and you cant tell what’s what (like bottom left) – try to avoid that in the future. Layout is alright, except for many parts being crowded. I like the coin idea and the destruct blocks in the level, adds more originality to it. Placement of stuff is alright.

Hyperborean Atmosphere

LRK shows us what can be done with a keen set. The layout of this level – except for the unneedingly long top right passage that ends with strong wind – is well done. The eyecandy here is very atmospheric and nicely done – considering the set used. I also like the use of the glass domes. Pickup placement is good.

Superslick Santa Showdown

Interesting tubelectric edit, but I don’t like what’s been done with the palette. It looks like some poorly colored set from an old game, and is dull for the eyes. The eyecandy here is extremely confusing, solid tiles are used in backround and foreground layers and it gives headaches telling what’s what. Layout uses a few interesting tricks, but I don’t like it all that much. Much of it is just….random. Placement of stuff was ok but could use work. Way too many fastfires in one place in this level. Music choice could also be better. Next level setting is nonexistant.

WORST CHRISTMAS LEVEL EVER

nah I wouldnt say so. This level uses the HH98 set (diff. version then gold rush mountains). Eyecandy here was good, but not as good as in Gold Rush Mountains imo. Layout was decent. The left side of the level was unmasked in some parts (not going to spend time explaining what that leads to), I think there were too many poles on the right, and I didn’t like how the area behind the huge house was a dead end. (Also not all of it was fully covered by layer 3).

CTF

Winter Melody

Firstly, the filename of this level in the text was misleading >(. Otherwise, this is my favorite level in the pack. The backround looks great (except maybe in 8bit), and the layout is superb. Placement of stuff was nice and creative. The music choice along with the eyecandy gives this level a great atmosphere.

Snowman’s Land

Using the day version of HH98, another level by White Rabbit. Eyecandy is not as good as in the other level but decent. Layout is alright, but much of it is either too narrow or too open. The bridge was also rather unnecessary. Placement of stuff was good.

Algid Jollification:

I remember LRK showing this level to me a long while ago and asking me to do some part of the eyecandy (dunno if he kept it in or not). Otherwise, the music is quiet but nice. I like the atmosphere and eyecandy of the level. Layout is also a relatively strong point. Basically another good level in the pack (I like this better than Hyperborean Atmosphere).

Merry Hypothermia

Ahahaha the level name, and the beginning of the music gave me a good laugh (even my spaz played the laughing animation). I like the snow (even though it might be falling a bit too slow). Eyecandy is about average, (lots of parts look plain). Layout was generally fine, and so was placement of stuff.

And so, my review ends. I think this pack is good, but a bit overrated.
Average of this pack comes down to a 7.566666666666666667 or something, but I’ll round up to a 7.7. Many of the levels are really good, but some need a bit of work. A (rather) late merry christmas!

I guess I’ll review this since LRK asked me.

Firstly, I also really like this song. Two good remixes released so near each other (This and Elektronique army by Danyjel).

Although other than diff. samples no new patterns seem to be added in the song (I didnt check thoroughly so correct me if Im wrong) but LRK did manage to make the song sound great (at least imo) and this even inspired me to make a JCS level ;p. He did a great job combining medivo and labrat.

There’s no real specific parts for the song which stand out that much to me; all of the song (except maybe the beginning, which isnt too great) sounds good.

I’d reccomend downloading this song, since it’s a worthwhile listen. Great work on this one LRK.

Well, anyways. Im going to rate this since most people here posted one sentence reviews.

Let me start off with the fact that I really love this song. It’s one of the ONLY 6+ minute songs that I listen all the way through each time over. I generally enjoy the entire melody of it, especially parts like patterns 0, 12, 13, 14 etc. The way those instruments are blended in together in one beat, they sound cool. Also the song is very nostalgic; I’ve heard something like this before (and enjoyed it) but I cant remember where.

Although the song sounds VERY different from tubelectric at parts, I can still hear a lot of familiar rhythms and sounds that remind me of tubelectric in it – which is great. I know I’m not all that great at reviewing musics, but you wanted a rating so here you go =P. 8.7, keep making tunes ‘cause most of them are really good.

Deserted Paradise CTF

Bleh….no music. Anyways, the eyecandy here is good. Lots of things to look at while running. Flow was alright except a few times a spring jutted me into a ceiling corner while running. Layout is alright, although it sorta looks…puzzling. Like one of those level layouts you have to play over and over many times to understand. Ammo was creative, but I think you used too much different types of it, and the ice is sorta useless..Powerups are ok. The level in general is decent, but I think its one of those levels like Battle1 and Garden Brawl that you have to play over and over to really enjoy.
Rating: 7.5

Carrotus Square
K. Firstly, the blue base faces the wrong way =P. So is the red base, depending where you come from. Several places in the level I though could’ve used some floatups or springs, since I had to slow down to avoid crashing into things/jump a lot. There were a few tile bugs, and the eyecandy was dull in a lot of places, and could’ve used more originality. The coinwarp imo gives too much stuff, and people could easily just camp there (with a seeker powerup, another blaster powerup, and a full energy within grasp, who needs to run around? =P). I might like the layout (except for a lot of things that could’ve been fixed with the flow, and the coinwarp) a bit better than in the last level, at least on first impression. I also appear to be missing my vital earcandy for this (\o/ new word).
Rating: 7 (almost a 6.9).

Average: 7.25 ~ 7.3. I might’ve expected a bit more from J2LC, but at least they released something, and the levels aren’t bad. I’d suggest downloading this Especially if you want some hardcore gameboy-eating action

Ok. Since about 6 other people posted really long extensive reviews about this level I’ll just post a quick summary.

The layout of the level is for the most part, nicely done. I played several games in this and found them quite enjoyable. The level is fairly big, but I noticed much of the activity occured in one place of the level (the center, where the seeker pu and carrot are). Some routes are particularly evil like 68,43, but thankfully there’s another route to get down there. To get around you have to do a lot of jumping, but that made things more interesting in the level. Eyecandy is nicely done, but not overdone. I like the use of the green “bushes” and the cave tiles. Overall it was pleasing to look at. With the eyecandy, tileset choice and music, the atmosphere was very pleasant too. Looking at the level there looks like there would be enough ammo, but a lot of times the ammo is placed in big chunks and spread far apart from other ammo, which makes some areas have more of it and some be empty (although I found the empty ones to be within the main battle area, so thats fine). Powerups are also nicely placed. They seem close to each other but thats because the level isnt all that big. Carrots are also placed nicely, and thankfully for that vine, or the 3rd one would have been almost impossible to find unless you knew where it was. The level played smoothly enough, interesting how there were pinball bumps used.

This level is fun to play and is a solid good level, but I think it’s really overrated (I blame spoy for hosting it so often before its release). 8.2 should do, and I would expect to see this level being hosted fairly often in the future (And congratulations on winning the featured download of the month award, because LRK got lazy ;|).