Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

The concept was a nice thought, but just doesn’t work well in practice. What results is a painfully slow paced level where blaster skirmishes are frequent. The level tries hard be different, and I agree that ammo spamming should be discouraged. It may live up to it’s name, but the point is that this level is just not fun to play at all.

Before reviewing, I’d like to say that I didn’t actually host this level or participate in an actual multiplayer session. I merely observed the layout from the perspective of both bases and the road to back and forth, including ammo etc. Still, my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. :P

First thing I noticed was that the gameplay is very speed-based and there’s little room for camping, except maybe in the middle-down area that is only accessable by tubes. Next there’s the obvious (and intended) lack of serious ammo placement and PU’s. I got to say that it’s an unusual design choice but could be interesting especially for 3v3 games that are normally very hectic.

The upper vertical pathways involve sucker events that pull you up, which took me some time to get used to. It feels rather gimmicky to me, and I’d rather see small platforms there. It does however allow you to carelessly hop up allowing for easy speed and flow of the game.

And lastly, the eyecandy and overall look of the level is plain and simple, but OK for the kind of gameplay it’s intended for. The rain/lightning background is dark but pretty original (though I say it, who shouldn’t :P).. There’s little that reminds you it’s actually a Tubelectric level, and the blocky diagonal platforms are ‘foregrounded’ to (again) allow for more speed.

Overall a simple yet original level ideal for a no-nonsense match as the title of the level suggests, but don’t expect a miracle in CTF land. Download recommended, and I think a 6.7 is a good rating here. Don’t take this the wrong way, you should really give this level a go for the purpose it was made for: No-nonsense skill testing, especially for movement speed and team coordination!

Im not sure what u mean with the foreground.

The level doesn’t have a lot of ammo because normal ammo is regarded the same as a powerup here. If you would have actually played it in a game you would have seen that it respawns way faster than most ammo in other levels.

Meh. This level was all right, I suppose.

After all, it WAS playable. It DID have a few good routes, and enough ammo was present for New Diamondus Bay to be decently enjoyable.

Unfortunately, that’s about all it was in my mind.

NDB was very sparse, in terms of creative or innovative eyecandy. Almost entirely baseline stuff was used, and I’d be hard pressed to point to something that was truly original. The Toaster Tower on the far right served little or no purpose, and it was relatively easy to get the powerup placed in the wall.

Likewise, the music used (JJ1’s Diamondus) didn’t work at all for me. It was far too mild, and significantly detracted from my enjoyment of New Diamondus Bay. The first appropriate song that came to my mind when I played the level was FlyingIndian.s3m. In fact, I almost caught myself muting the in-game music and loading FI in my music player. It would’ve worked quite nicely.

So, what can be said in the end? New Diamondus Bay by master sven was a great opportunity, but I feel like it fell a little short. I don’t like to be the bad guy and downrate an upload, but somebody has to do it.

Neutral DL rec.

Hmm 1st i want say awsome xD
eyecandy:9
i love water with trees soo :P
gameplay:9
i love the way how we run around xD
orignalty:8.0
very cool way to put seeks :P i love it!

so total:8.7 :D

@ Slaz: the warp you are talking about only did that in a previous not uploaded version of this level, I have replaced the warp target.

As promised, I’ll review Master Sven’s new level in pretty detail. I’ve clearly loved levels made with the Diamondus tileset over the past so it won’t be that hard. Atleast we’re seeing the ‘new’ Diamondus conversion in this one..

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very ‘pathway’ like and doesn’t have any serious originality. A first game in this level will clearly show the fastest paths quickly and none of the pickups are requiring any move or action that I’d call special. Overal a nice flow of gameplay, that’s seen in many other similar CTF levels though.

EYECANDY
Eyecandy is kind of ‘Diamondussed’ without any imaginated fill ups that could be done with the tileset. In my opinion, that’s more than good enough because it feels like you’re playing a classic Diamondus level. Including the background and the gradient, which are similar to the one in the shipped levels. The use of water (real event and eyecandy) has been done well and doesn’t interupt with the style.

EVENT PLACEMENT
Not too much to say about this. Ammo is done good enough, I’d have done it a little different though, but that’s based on my personal opinion on ‘weapon balance’ amd such. Carrots are fine, though I’m no fan of them, maybe one of them could have been removed but then again, that’s my own opinion. Also, the warp at the bottom right appears to ‘warp’ to the opposite direction through a base, which enables a flagholder to score through a warp.. :p

RATING
I suppose by hosting this level now and then, you could have some fun. It’s not unlike many other CTF levels, but still a casual, medium to small CTF level that feels kind of classic. Download recommended and a 7.0 for you! ;)

The level screenshot is pretty misleading since when seeing it you might conclude that this level is symmetrical. But it isn’t! Which is good since symmetrical levels are only half as cool (hehe) as those that aren’t.

Anyway, this is a nice level. Nothing special really, but overall it plays nicely (save for a few hijinks here and there). There’s a balancing issue where it is really easy to get from blue to red (take the path at the top of the level and drop down straight onto the base at the right) but less easy and certainly more time-consuming to go the other way around. This of course makes things unfair. Likewise the placement of the seeker/bouncer powerup relative to both bases might be a bit biased towards blue but it’s a small difference only and won’t be much of a problem in casual play.

Apart from that I was bugged by the blue spring at (30,20) which breaks the flow when running up or down that slope. I’d have placed the spring somewhere else so that it doesn’t obstruct the path. I wasn’t quite sure about the water either as it slows you down a lot but it’s only a small part of the level so it’s not much of a problem and can be covered with 2 or 3 jumps. There’s also a warp in the bottom right corner which I think is a very poor way to cover up a dead end.

Eyecandy is pretty scarce, there’s no glaring tilebugs or anything but that’s about it. The background looks nice, but you’ve got to give the tileset palette credit for that, not the level author. There’s a few waterfalls there, which go together nicely with the bit of water at the bottom and the rain, but all in all it’s nothing spectacular and could certainly use some more spicing up. Again, it isn’t exactly bad and there’s a thing to say for minimalism, but I expected a bit more.

Download this? I don’t know, if you like CTF then it really can’t hurt and for public servers this might be fun to play a few times, though there are a lot more spectacular levels out there. For more serious matches however I think it’s not well-balanced enough.

Well, I guess it’s about time this upload got a review…

Intro
Sven’s battle Pack [which should really be renamed to “Forest Pack”] is a 3-level battle pack with some likeable features and some dislikeable ones. The Forest day, Diamondus 2 and Easter tilesets are used.

Setting/quality

The setting is, as I explained above, in a forest. The theme is pretty nice. The quality is pretty nice. It’s far from perfect, but is waay different than the last thing [not by MS] I just reviewed. Some nice eyecandy is used [the mountains being used as up-close eyecandy in the Forest level][The occasional random platform in the Diamondus level][Occasional trees scattered throughout the Easter level—the one level that didn’t hardly seem like a forest. At all…]. Cool music is also used. I didn’t really like the sparse amounts of eyecandy used in the levels, but many levels have this affliction. The pack was relatively bug-free, which was great. The compatability was OK.
The overall pack atmosphere was nice. But I didn’t like really much how the weapons seemed randomnly thrown hastily about in the levels, which were a lot of wide-open spaces. The abundant amounts of powerups can be nice and annoying. Plenty of cool shortcuts through walls exist.
Overall, I would rate this pack with a 7.2, and a DL recommendation. It’s a nice number. But, don’t forget to fix that stuff up. I’ll be waiting for your next level!

…I have chosen to rewrite this review….

Intro

Master Sven’s battle level is okay. I did not think it was too terribly stellar, but this is understandably caused by the tileset.

Setting/quality

Winter Fallz is a wintery battle level, with a few waterfalls, some trees, snowmen, christmas lights and more. The level is admittedly small, but could be fun as a short 2-minute battle. I am happy to report the apparent absence of any huge bugs, plus the nice music. However, I do take a few issues…

The aforementioned issues

The trees I referenced are quite low-quality. The snow and ground lack any endearing beauty. The snowman is a nice breakup in the level. The level is, simply put, small. Instead of cramming tons of useless weapons into it, MS put a couple PU’s and some clusters of ammo in various places. The carrot is hidden in a warp, which sadly is really easy to camp on.

So to finish this up, I would say that WF is okay. Certainly not perfect, but not much on planet Earth is. No dl, I’m afraid, but it’s up to you, the reader.
Instead of a 2.0, MS’s orig rating, I will raise this to a 3.1, because most of the level’s flaws are not his fault.
Meh…4.1 sounds better. =)

The level is pretty much alright yeah. No masterpiece, but alright. Actually, the purpose for this review is to ‘normalize’ the overall rating for this level thanks to reviews involving secretive personal attacks, sorry admins lol..

[what ~cooba]

Just wondering, is this level an entry for my contest?

A harsh rating this might be, but I’ve already explained to you why. I can only hope you work on it more and improve on what I stated before.

This is a short review for “Flag Front”.

I should agree with the review above, the placement of tiles is really repetitive, which makes the lvl blockyness.

Anyway, more important, the level does have three PU’s (bouncy and RF on both sides) and a carrot an a spot where you can easily camp it. Since there is only one passage to get from one side to the other it will be hard to get the carrot, since you can camp just in the center area.

I have to say the ammo choise is nice. RF’s and bouncies are definitely handy in this lvl with long platforms. The seeker PU is at a questionable place and you shouldn’t have put the Full NRG above it, since that area is now too important. Though this lvl lacks ammo, the shapes are just boring and it isn’t well spread either.

About those boxes, maybe you should’ve made them one-way, so seeks could get through them.. Now they seem rather useless.. You should’ve done more with the center area, the areas with the ‘hills’ .. You could climb them and shoot bouncies down, but they are still dead ends, just like the base-areas.

About the eyecandy. I know this tileset isn’t really easy, but you could’ve done much better. Especially layer 5 is way too repetitive, with those grey stones covering the whole level. Open spots would’ve been nice, since then you might have seen some layer 6/7 ;) .. Layer 3 is uhhh, okay, I guess. Size is okay, though you should’ve used your space better.

To end with sth positive: The placement of the springs is nice, the flow is quite good actually..

Final rating: 5

Qz.

Maybe you should try to shoot bounchers or RF’s with some luck at the bases when you warped in the cage next to it…

BTW: there is a carrot above the seek PU.

I played this in your server, I think.

The level, using Blade’s “Wasteland” set, looks rather boring. Most of the level uses only one variety of the platform tiles coming with the set which makes it look rather repetitive and emphasizes the blockyness of the layout. The layout of the symmetrical CTF level basically consists of two large rectangles, connected by a tunnel at the bottom of the level. On both sides some large platforms protrude from the wall at seemingly random places. The flow is acceptable, but this is only because the layout is rather simplistic and barely requires any navigation or strategic skills; the base-to-base route is U-shaped without any obstacles. Moving from platform to platform is mainly done via springs.

On the route itself no ammo, apart from an annoyingly-placed seeker powerup can be found. In fact the ammo distribution in this level is rather limited. Both sides contain exactly 14 ammo events and one powerup, which certainly is not enough. This certainly needs a lot of work.

Both sides have a warp that takes you to a platform above the other team’s base. However, the base is not accessible from here and the only thing you can do is take a warp to the bottom middle of the level, which I found kind of strange and useless.

To sum it up, the layout is kind of boring and too open, the ammo placement is horrible, especially for a multiplayer level, the eyecandy is seriously lacking and the gameplay kind of quirky. Not a download recommendation.

Well, your revieuws aren’t that good either.

@ Booshi: who says i’m not able to make a ‘better background’, I just tried something original. Becouse originality is also worth to be rated, isn’t it?

@ SPAZ18 & Kax: Why is a hotel in the background confusing?

@ SPAZ18: Why is a 50×35 titles level not good for a battle level? Ever heard of duels? There are 2 carrots in the level. And the powerups in many levels, like battle1 are also easy to find.

Ranklist of Reviews:
1:Hitch
2:Booshi
3:SPAZ18
4:Kax

I have to agree with Booshi/P4ul on this. This level is not worth an 8.0.

EYECANDY

Background is a bit dull. Hardly any eyecandy in Layer 4. It looks repetitive. There’s what looks like a Hotel room in the BG but it looks confusing. Good try on being original.
2/10

GAMEPLAY

The level is far too small. 50 × 35 is NOT a good battle level, though it is a good size for duels, I don’t think it would be used that much. It needs to be bigger. This level would be too easy for a battle.
4/10

WEAPON & ITEM PLACEMENT

Weapons were placed OK but there weren’t really enough. Power-ups were not placed in the open which is good but in a level this small, they will be easy to find. There are 2 Carrots in the level which is not enough.
3/10

SUMMARY

GOOD POINTS

*Item placement is OK

BAD POINTS

*Too small. 50 × 35
*Not enough weapons or carrots
*PUs are too easy to find.

TOTAL = 9/30 = 3.0

RANK: F = Bad (Replaced U with F)

DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION

No. I decided to add that it is good for duels but I still don’t think it would be used that much as there are better duel levels available (I think).

I didn’t see the second Carrot.

..what the heck?

Eyecandy

How in the world does this level get an 8 and 4.5 for the eyecandy? I’d say it’s a mirage, not eyecandy. This level doesn’t have anything which could be called that. Layer 4 is entirely bland and boring, and the only thing in the background is a hotel room (???). As for the background itself, it fades to black, and the background itself is very light, which looks bad :/

Gameplay

Also a heavy overrating here. This level is 50×35 tiles big (congrats), and all the paths are straight like a dash: – Too small, not enough ammo, blahblahblah.

• n/c

• once again everything

Overall
This review is directed not only to the author, but also to other reviewers who overrate everything; mainly I mean people such as Kax, and SPAZ18 who gives an 8/10 for a level’s eyecandy just for a “good background” because he’s unable to make a better one.
Thank you ladies, goodbye

Uhm, this level is way overrated so I shall rate it to give it, it’s right position.

Rabbit Settlement

Now the only reason I’m rating this is becasue the level is way overtaed and does NOT deserve an 8.

Gameplay: Well, the gameplay was, uhm, wierd. The quality of the level was not that good at all, and the level wasnt even. It didn’t have a good flow to it, and it gets confusing at parts.
4.5/10

Eyecandy: Uhm, well I found no bugs what to speak of but there was a huge mistake I found. There was absoulty no eyecandy(backround). You could of atleast added a different color texture to layer 8 but noo. And some parts like the backround didnt seem to fit. It looks like a soild wall but it’s really just backround. Horribly used.
4.5/10

Layout: Uhm, I can’t really say anything here except its strange…
N/A

Weapon/Carrot placement: Well the weapon placement was actully ok. Not really. The only good thing about the level was you actully put the Powerups somewhere instead of just randomly placing them on the ground. Carrot placement. Meh. Horrible.
4.5/10

Overall the level was not that good but it was a start if you’ve never made levels before. It was quite small and it was a useless upload.

Score
4.5/10+4.5/10+4.5/10= 4.5

Even though this leve earned a 6.3 it still deserves a 4.5 or lower. I find a 6.5 and higher a good level but meh. The level isn’t that great. I’d play it for laughs. Thats all, nothing more.

~HïTçH

Oho, being harsh don’t you think. Meh, this really doesn’t even deserve a 4.5, just being nice.