Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I felt like reviewing this because I had nothing else to do.

EYECANDY

To start with, there are tilebugs in the ground in Layer 4 and the level looks empty because there are quite a few blank spaces.
Background isn’t that great. There is a BG in Layer 6 but I don’t see it until near the end. This level could use a better background as the Layer 6 one looks weird and confusing. It makes me think there are platforms there when there aren’t. A lot of the level looks repetitive.

4/10

GAMEPLAY

The level is short, I finished it in about 2 minutes. There are no checkpoints which is not good if you die in the level. There was only one Bonus Area which isn’t hard to access. The pole near the warp catapults the player up rather than across. This is because you have used the wrong pole event. You should have used the “H-Pole” event.

3/10

ITEM PLACEMENT

Coin placement is poor as too many of these can be found out in the open. They need to be hidden so that the player cannot access the Bonus Area to easily. The Bonus Area has far too many items. There are TONS of Tacos. There were 5 1UPs in the level in total. Too many of these were found out in the open. There was a Shield right NEAR the end of the level with lots of Extra Time events which do not work. You need to use the “Stopwatch” event in Environment -> Objects for extra time on Shields though there were too many placed here. The Shield was useless as it wasn’t needed near the end of the level. The grouping of the weapons was too big. There were lots of Toaster weapons in the open. I would think a maximum of 6 items per group would be better. Also, don’t place them in square forms as this may look boring to some players. Overall, the item placement is not good and there are too many weapons & 1UPs in the open.

3/10

ENEMY & OBSTACLE PLACEMENT

There were enough enemies to kill me in this level but placement of some of them wasn’t that great as the player could jump over them. Obstacles were OK but I think you could have put in some puzzles like Trigger Crates or Trigger Zones.

5/10

TOTAL SCORE: 15/40 = 3.75 = 3.8

RANK: F = Bad

DOWNLOAD?

The eyecandy is not good in this level. Tilebugs are everywhere and there is only one background which is in Layer 6 and looks confusing.
Items are poorly placed and there are too many of the weapons and 1UPs.
Your other level (The Middle Ages) was better so try making your levels like that. Since the score is lower than 5, my DR is NO.

Now to the review

Eyecandey
Not bad. The background looks a little dull. All there is are a sky and floating platforms. There’s no forground and the ground has tilebugs in it. Basically the level was boring to look at. Also because the author made it look like everything was floating in thin air the level looks bad.
3/10
Gameplay:
Again not bad. There’s little traps but that’s ok. There’s a strange pole that goes up and down instead of side to side which is weird. There’s 1 secret but only an idiot can miss it. The secret warps has tons of things in it but considering how easy the coins are it’s really just overkill. Also the path was to liniere. I wish the level was more explorable. There was also a descent amount of destruct blocks which is good. The level was also to short
4/10
Pickup Placement:
TO MANY GEMS!! There were gems everywhere. The coins were way to easy to get. Plus there wasn’t enough food. I’d have to play that level about 15 times before I’d get a sugar rush. The ammo placement is good but there was to much ammo clumped together in some places. There was shield at the end for some weird reason and there was no save points. Also there were way to many carrots and extra lives.
2/10
Enemy placement:
Good. The enemies were put in good locations. There was enough to kill the player. (If there were less carrots) Some were put in walls so you can’t hit them until they attack. My only complain is that they were all clumped together in bigs groups.
6/10
Total
Score:16/30
Rank D
Final score:5.2
DR:no

Normaly first levels suck, so did mine. but i think you did a good job.

Good things
the level is fun to play, if you improve creating levels, you will be a great levelmaker.

Bad things
I’m a major fan of eyecandy (look at my jungle level) and i think you didn’t take you time for it, you forgot to put tiles in the walls, and most of the time, the level feels ‘empty’. also the amount of extra lifes and carrots is to great for the level.
Use more food (not to much) in your levels, and use more eycandy, and it will be allright. and take you time for a level to create it.

rating
4.7

Download recommendation
No, but i’m looking forward to your next level.

Sorry for the bad English.

Cuz you were a hard-working reviewer in the last time, I think it would be fair if someone rates your level.
So let’s start..
At the first sight I thought this is a good level with nice gameplay… But it’s way too easy in my opinion. At some places it looks like enemies are missing.. (e.g. the shield at the end).
The level is also very linear and there weren’t any spots where I didn’t know the way.
But what I really don’t like about the level, is that you uploaded it unfinished! Did you ever have a look at it or even played it before uploading?
There are many tiles which don’t fit and you forgot some hurt-events on spikes. At some spots it looks as if there was a secret, but there isn’t anything.
The weirdest thing I mentioned was that there was a v-pole on the ground…

These are of course very small things, but it’s a pity that you didn’t fix them before uploading.
For this reason and because the gameplay isn’t too great, I can give you just a 4.5.
If you fix the tile- and eventbugs I will change it to 5.

Download recommendation? Not yet, but when the level is improved.

Oops!

“Deserto/Deserto.j2b 71.66kb 12-18-01
Deserto/desoex.j2l – Jazz 1: Deserto 2.74kb 08-26-02
Deserto/JJ1Deserto.j2t – JJ1 Deserto 76.77kb 08-26-02
Deserto/ “

those files are not neccsessary in the pack!
my mistake!

Myself I’d just recommend to rip the system from this pack. It uses the technique better than SPAZ18 described it, because this one makes the player lose a life, and SPAZ’s doesn’t.

To Spaz18:

In your review you write:
“I still thought that it might have been better to use the CTF Instant Death trick”

How did i do that?

Not a bad level.

EYECANDY

The backgrounds are OK but they do have quite a few tilebugs present. Some bits do not join together properly. The castle in the Layer 7 BG looks a bit weird, as if it’s floating in the air. I think you used a bit too much rain for the foreground, it probably would’ve been better in the BG. I also think the rain moves a bit too slow. Layer 4 is good, though there are a few tilebugs but they are not really noticeable.

6.5/10

GAMEPLAY

The level was quite long, about 10 minutes which is good. There were some secrets that I didn’t find on the first playthrough. The coins were very well placed as I didn’t find them all the first time.

8/10

PICKUP & WEAPON PLACEMENT

Items are placed well, though I did think there was too many Gems placed in one or two areas but that’s not too much of a problem. Weapons were also placed well, though I did think there was too many Toaster +15 Crates in one area. Placement is good, but too many of some items in a few areas. Carrots were also well placed as I didn’t stay on 1 Heart health for too long.

7/10

ENEMY PLACEMENT

Placement of the enemies is great. There was just one area where I thought there was too many. There was about 6 around one Blue Spring, but everywhere else is fine.

8/10

OBSTACLE PLACEMENT

There was a trap near the end of the level which was a bit annoying. I liked the way you used the “Area Fly Off” events to prevent the player from flying out. I still thought that it might have been better to use the CTF Instant Death trick. Aside from the trap there was all the usual important JJ2 obstacles including Destruct & Buttstomp Scenery and Trigger Crates.

7.5/10

TOTAL SCORE: 6.5 + 8 + 7 + 8 + 7.5 = 37/50 = 7.4/10

RANK: C = Good

DOWNLOAD?

YES! Some very good gameplay in this level though the eyecandy needs improving.

@Response to FOX282:

To use the CTF trick. Just place 2 or more CTF Bases next to each other. Find these in “Environment” -> “Objects.” Set the value in the “Team” box to “1” for all bases. Use Layer 3 to cover them up. Also, try placing 2 or 3 sucker tubes above them so that player will hit them slowly, try a “Y Speed” of about 5.
If it comes up with the black screen saying something like “LOSER!” then it’s working.

@Response to Cooba:

Great suggestion. That trick does indeed work better than mine. Unfortunately, the CTF Instant Death trick doesn’t seem to be working in 1.23+
Why is that?

(I’m dutch, don’t complain about my englisch)

allright, you said this is only one level. You can add it to the JJ2 original episodes. pretty confident i think.

GOOD THINGS
it’s an nice good level. good eyecandy, well placed goodies and enemies. it’s never almost impossible pass a piece of the level. a good level

BAD THINGS
You said it was only one level. You can add it to the JJ2 original episodes. I’m sorry but it isn’t. first of all, you didn’t used a original tileset. that’s fine. but i think it necessary that in an original episode an original tileset is used. also the tile set you’ve used doesn’t add anything. you could have make the level also with the original tileset. second, the level doesn’t “play” like an original. i don’t know how to explain this.

RATING
7.5, not a bad level, also not very good

DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION
Yeah for sure, but don’t place it between your other levels.