Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

These levels are very what I like to call ‘patchy’. They’re on the whole good, but have distinct ‘areas’ to them – the enemies are al bunched up together, and a lot of stuff is in the same place. This happens when the author thinks up a lot of good ideas one after another, then encorperates them into the level.

Anyway, on to the ratings and stuff. The eyecandy isn’t bad, the backgrounds have (I think) been taken from the single player episodes and so work fine. I couldn’t spot any glitches in the foreground eyecandy, but there’s nothing overly special about it. It works though, so I can’t complain.I can’t really say much about the level design – it’s hard not to notice the patchyness of it. It’s also got some annoyingly hard bits, such as the big spike pit which is almost impossible not to hurt yourself on, and the dragon climbing platform bit.

There wasn’t any weapons as far as I can see, except for some bouncy bullets and a powerup. And they were well hidden. You need to use the Blaster to get through most of this. There’s also hardly any fruit, only apples, and these are all bunched together.

So, overall…not really worth a download. it’s too patchy and samey, and offers nothing new, really. Try to plan your levels out first, then add the extra stuff in afterwards, as then it looks more varied and not so patchy.[This review has been edited by Shen]

“Patchy” is actually an apt description overall for these two levels. The enemies on both are usually very close to eachother, and there are long areas of “droughts” where there are no enemies. This can get a bit annoying after a while. I generally dislike levels that use this method, though it can be used creatively. This was not one of those cases in which it was used well. Parts of the level had way too much action while other parts had absolutely none.

The eyecandy of this level is so-so. There are a few REALLY SMALL tile bugs that get in the way of play, but not enough to completely destroy the rating. Eyecandy is slightly below average in this respect. The backgrounds from these levels were ripped from levels that came with the original Jazz 2 episodes. While this looks and feels fine, I would rather see a unique background for each levels. This is a case where there is very little to complain about eyecandy-wise, but there just is nothing interesting.

Some parts of the level are harder than they needed to be, such as the spike pit which is pretty much impossible to avoid. The dragon pit thing (hard to explain) was also too hard. This is an example of the “patchy” quality of this level.

There were not enough weapons. Only one powerup and some bouncy ammo was in the level, and was hidden. Prepare to rely mainly on your blaster for getting through this level.

Gameplay is far below average. The “patchy” thing really makes the level not fun to play at all. If the enemies were to be more spread out, this level might be even slightly above average. Unfortunately, everything is bunched together. This downgrades the quality of this level by a lot.

+ PROS: Few eyecandy bugs.

- CONS: Bunched together stuff downgrades overall fun. Uninteresting eyecandy. Ripped backgrounds.

VERDICT: My rating for these levels is 3.7 and no download recommendation. Even single player freaks will find this level aggrevating. It simply is not very good. I am sorry, but I can not recommend this at all.