Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

o.O! This took me by surprise….
a hyper-long review by Trafton!

Level 1: NiP Start (Emerald Isle) (NiP_Start (EM).j2l)
I don’t know if the levels were made in any paticular order, but saying that is about the only introduction I could come up with for this level. I shall review it, and then review the other levels, and then see how Trafton’s review dwarves mine to all get out and beyond.
STORY: Having a “STORY” section for each and every level seems a little pointless. I suppose I shall tack it onto the end as an extra part of the review if I remember to do so. In the meantime, this remains here to be utterly pointless and irritate all who read it.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: N/A

TILESET/TILESET USE: The tileset use is ok, but really nothing amazing. It looks exactly like you’d expect from a Diamondus level, exactly like you’d expect from a Diamondus level. To tell the truth, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Diamondus level which looks different. Unsettling. Regardless, this has normal background eyecandy, no foreground (the author used the foreground trees in the background), and snow. Yes, snow. This level, for reasons unknown (maybe he wanted it to look more interesting) has light blue snow in it. I’m not sure how I feel about this, as it looks kind of weird but is easily ignorable (thank goodness for gradients). Anyway, there is nothing too bad here, but there is nothing really good here, either.
Pros: Everything fits together, the various layers work.
Cons: Nothing too interesting, some bugs with the background trees (check for little black lines), foreground somewhere else.
Rating: 7.5

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: There were hardly any weapons at all, really. There was a little Pepper ammo in a secret, and a Pepper Spray powerup which you could access with a coin warp (I found 0 of the 20 coins! YAY ME!), and that’s really about it. Unless you count the single TNT ammo which you use to blast your way out of the current area. As for enemies, I can’t say I liked the enemy placement too much. It seems the author (Spaztic, I seem to recall) wanted to stick in as many enemies as was humanly possible without giving them too much variety. The sky is filled with bee hives and Float Lizards (paticularly in small passages), the ground is littered with groups of Tuf Turtles, which are made almost harmless by the equally numerous Normal Turtles that accompany them on all their excapades. Fortunately there are lots of slopes, and somehow the enemies (despite feeling way overdone) manage to kind of balance out with Jazz’s durability. The Normal Turtles add a kind of gambling feature to the level, as there’s a possibility you’ll get carrots, but you might not, so who knows? Oh, and items were pretty good, nothing spectacular or anything, but the sugar rush seemed pretty nicely timed. The author placed food not everywhere, but spread around enough that the level doesn’t feel as barren as it could otherwise.
Pros: Everything’s done pretty well.
Cons: To be honest, there aren’t too many cons. There may be too many enemies, but I’m not sure (and don’t feel like digging through Trafton’s review to find out). Let’s just say I would have replaced the TNT with a trigger crate, dropping a crate with TNT in it in front of the tree trunk thing, and leave it at that.
Rating: 8.5

ORIGINALITY: The level is, for the most part, a big solid Diamondus level, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t smidgeons of originality (which are a little less necessary for Single Player then Multiplayer) here and there. The roller coaster which sends you through walls is a nice touch, though it’s a bit underplayed (no special effects at all), and some of the invisibility stuff is pretty cool. There ended up being several things in this level I’m not sure I’ve seen before, but there was also a lot of stuff which I had certainly seen before.
Pros: Some parts are original, and it balances out pretty well.
Cons: The roller coaster (if such it is) comes off pretty boring.
Rating: 8.0

DIFFICULTY: This level is reasonably difficult, but not excessively. I play everything without an episode file (and even them) on Normal mode, so I don’t know what it would be like otherwise, but that’s really beside the point. Yes, there were a lot of enemies, but you can certainly get them to come at you “one at a time” for easy killings. There are also a whole lot of Tuf Turtles, but the normal turtles make up for this. The puzzles (which are MUCH better then the ones in SXR, which consisted mainly of finding the TNT and Trigger Crates behind masses and masses of layer 3) are not too hard, but not too easy, either, and I look foward to seeing more of them in the latter levels, assuming I survive that long. Ok, so I died ONCE.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 8.5

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: This level is pretty entertaining. It has the potential, of course, to have the fun ruined by the enemies, or other things, but the author has managed to avoid this and it ends up making a pretty fun play suitable for all ages who are willing to give it a try. Ashcroft doesn’t count, of course. Basically, what this level is a fun play, nothing spectacular, but pretty good nonetheless.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 8.2

OVERALL (not an average of ANYTHING): One thing that didn’t seem appropiate to mention in the other categories, which is prominent about this level, is that Spaztic uses Wall Secrets. Not just a few, but almost everywhere. It got to the point where I’d expect them in every wall I saw. This could, as could many things in this pack, easily be a rating pitfall, but it ended up working out pretty well, though one or two places were a wee bit too much in my mind. Ach, ah’m not Scottish, laddie. (I have so got to stop writing reviews at late hours) Anyway, hold the rambling, this is a good single player level with no real plot to speak of. There are some interesting parts, and I could almost envision it in the normal JJ2 rotation of levels, but not quite (too many trigger crates). This level, though not quite as good as I was expecting from the ratings (if not the reviews) of FoD and Trafton, was quite well done.
Pros: It’s just a good level.
Cons: One or two eyecandy errors, and it’s all kind of done-before.
Rating: 8.5

Average rating for Level 1: 8.0

Level 2: Fungi Jungle (NiP_fungi.j2l)
I didn’t like this level as much as the last level. Maybe it was because I had just reviewed the last level and thus was growing a little resentful towards the pack (typing!!!), or maybe because it’s just not as good in my mind. It was kind of short, and kind of boring, too.
TILESET/TILESET USE: This level uses, as you might expect, Jungle. Again, tileset use is mostly as you’d expect, JJ2 SP style, with a few exceptions. One exception is, of course, the evil wall-as-layer-5-cave thing. It’s ok if the wall is mostly black, but it’s not, and ends up looking solid instead of background. And there are a few other instances, like the actually cool area where you are jumping from fruit platform to fruit platform with various jungley stuff. One thing I noticed (well, didn’t notice) about this level is that there basically seemed to be no leafs (or I can’t remember any!). There were certainly trees (there were a few masking troubles with said trees, and I’m debating whether or not this is actually Spaztic’s fault), and branches, but I don’t recall any green foliage stuff. Oh well. Other then what I have mentioned, the tileset use was very standard – undergrowth in the background, nothing in the foreground.
Pros: Everything fits together right, the swinging platform area looks cool.
Cons: Still.. kind of…… boring.
Rating: 7.7

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: This didn’t stick in my mind nearly as much as it did last time, so don’t expect such lengthy thoughts on the matter. Weapons were ok, there was some Toaster (including some helpfully placed Toaster in case you can’t shoot down), and a little RF which I could have done without as its sole purpose seemed to be shooting through some blocks right ahead of the ammo itself. Items were also done fairly well, and the enemies were about what you’d expect as well, with a few exceptions (such as the Monkeys in the wall). There was nothing all that notable about this part of a level, but this level was pretty not too notable Anyway (meaning no offense).
Pros: It works.
Cons: Few.
Rating: 8.0

ORIGINALITY: Once again, this is a fairly straight foward level with a few bits of originality. The moving platforms are interesting, and I like the bouncing trigger crate (though it could just as well not be bouncing). This level was probably less original then the first one, but it’s probably less in everything else (including size) as well.
Pros: Some.
Cons: Not much.
Rating: 7.5

DIFFICULTY: This level was pretty easy. It lacked the interesting enemy combinations of the first level, and though the author tried his best with Spikes, Vines, Dragon Flies and Monkeys, it’s still pretty simple and straight foward. There were very few puzzles, too, so overall this comes off (at least to me) as a kind of boring play.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 7.2

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t really enjoy playing most of this level. Some parts were cool, like the area with all the vines, or the swinging platforms, and the windy tunnels were ok (though you weren’t exactly the one playing them), but for the most part this level (to me) is… well… kind of boring. I really have got to stop comparing it to the first level, but the fact is, they might have been a bit better off being switched around. You might play this level if you’re bored and choose it randomly, or if you’re going through the pack, but otherwise there’s not too much incentive to reliving it.
Pros: N/A
Cons: Boring.
Rating: 7.0

OVERALL (not an average): There are, as you might expect, more wall secrets. Also some interesting parts, some decent eyecandy, some decent gameplay. But the fact remains that this is not the best level I’ve ever seen, nor paticularly close, for that matter. It is simply a single player level, ok on its own but not quite deserving (or so I hope, from the above ratings) to be in this pack. Again, I might have liked it more if it were the first level…
Pros: It’s a good level, true.
Cons: But not too entertaining, nor new, and it’s rather short.
Rating: 7.5

Average rating for level 2: 7.5

Level 3: Sticks and Stones (NiP_sticks.j2l)
After some thought, I have decided that the explanation for the name of the level is the number of Skeletons, which send bones flying all over the place when you destroy them (though one stays sometimes, depending on how it is killed). There were a few sticks here and there, as trigger scenery, and a bunch of stones did end up breaking my bones. Thankfully, there was an extra life in the 25 out of 20 coin warp.
TILESET/TILESET USE: This level uses MidN’s School v3 tileset, and I could almost grow to like it this way. The playground stuff continues to look bad, but parts of the level almost look good. The background eyecandy isn’t what it could be – a hovering planet, and nothing else – but layers 3/4/5? were all done fairly well. I’m not sure if I completely approve of isometric walls in layer 3, if nearby they’re not, but alas and alack and alas. Anyway, the level does not end up feeling too much like a school (even the teacher does not act like a teacher), so I presume it’s just some area with buildings and underground stuff (I can’t say I care for the look of the underground too much).
Pros: The author manages to use School v3 so it doesn’t look like the worlds next Blinding Variety of Inane Colors award.
Cons: Some parts, no matter how hard you try, just won’t look good. The underground area, for example. And there are some tile bugs with the bricks.
Rating: 8.2

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: Weapons were ok – not too many, not quite too few. As you might expect, quite a bit of the ammo is for getting through puzzles (Ice, TNT and Electro Blaster), but I seem to recall a little ammo remained for other purposes. I’ll admit it’s not too necessary, but that’s another story and will be told at another time. As for items, they’re pretty good. I managed to mess up the CTF-base-death thing by getting 25 coins out of a possible (or so I assume) 20, but other then that it was all fairly well done. The puzzle ammo was placed in sensible places, there weren’t too many carrots, and there were some nice goodies. As for enemies, this level might have overdosed just a little on them. True, it mostly consisted of a bunch of skeletons on the ground and three ghosts in the air, but I’m saying mostly. As in, most of the level. The ground was practically littered with skeletons (I think some might have generated, not sure), and the air is pretty undead too. Some monkeys made a nice respite near the end, but really, Spaztic should have shown the same attention to enemies as to some other factors. Overall, though whether this will be the conclusion for this section or not, I don’t know yet, everything is placed well except for maybe the enemies, who seemed overdone and kind of pointless. YES let’s get tons of points by ducking and shooting!
Pros: Weapons and Items placed well.
Cons: Enemies could use some work.
Rating: 8.2

ORIGINALITY: This level is significantly more original then either of the previous two, possibly because it uses a custom tileset and thus has less room for been-there-done-thatism. There’s CTF bases in combination with a spring crate (Do not be afraid to die and lose your hard earned fastfire), mazes, rocks, ammo puzzles (I have still yet to see a puzzle where you must shoot Pepper Spray diagonally….. shame), and other fun stuff. I also don’t think I’ve seen this paticular kind of eyecandy used for this tileset, but of course I could be wrong. Really, this is more original then the last two, and I like originality. ;)
Pros: Yes.
Cons: No.
Rating: 8.7

DIFFICULTY: This level is not too difficult as a whole, but there were some parts where you were likely to get hurt. Some things with the rocks were rather dangerous (I liked the place where they were rolling back and forth), and the skeletons were overdone in some places (like the underground trek to the brick place), but overall it was a fairly simple level denoted by some puzzles, none of which were extensively difficult, but most of which were fun. I really don’t have too much to say about the difficulty of this paticular level, but call it a “medium” challenge and move on to the relatively useless Pros and Cons.
Pros: Puzzles strike a good balance with the rest of the level.
Cons: Enemies are overdone in some places.
Rating: 8.5

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: This, at least for me, was the most entertaining level so far. It mixed normal gameplay with brain stuff in such a way to make me give it a high rating, whether this was intentional or not. I read Trafton’s review of this level last night (while writing this one), and he does not seem to have liked it as much, but to each their own. If you’re like me, you will find this to be a very entertaining level which you Will play again (I had to play it again myself, due to stopping last night in the middle of reviewing this level, and didn’t paticularly mind), and maybe even often. While not as good as the Top Secret levels in RHG:TF, this is not saying much, as few things are.
Pros: Quite fun.
Cons: The underground place is a little extreme.
Rating: 8.7

OVERALL (n07 4n 4v3r4g3): Yay. I truly enjoyed this level, and though reviewing it found a few flaws, it was overall a good level. I have not seen the levels following it yet, but I hope they will be the same or better quality, as this is just good. Objectively, of course, this level has problems, but it still makes for a very good play. One fun thing is that I got a sugar rush by the coin warp both times, hit the green tendrils (which turned out to be ceilling spikes), and hung there for the full 20 seconds, spewing tons of bee pieces. Fun to watch.
Pros: Yes.
Cons: A few eyecandy problems, the CTF base puzzle is kind of boring (and allows you to cheat), and some parts didn’t seem quite right.
Rating: 8.5

Average rating for Level 3: 8.5

Level 4: Shock Core (unsure of filename)
TILESET/TILESET USE: As you might have guessed, this level uses Tubelectric Night. We all (I should think) know Tubelectric has a lot of possibilities, but once again, Spaztic ops to use the standard, intended-by-Nick method of using Tubelectric, and it ends up looking just a little bland. The background eyecandy is normal, the foreground eyecandy isn’t, and layer 4 uses everything as you might expect, other then a whole lot of tile bugs. Tubelectric, like Carrotus, is very often prey to tile bugs, and this level makes that mistake. The shading on the background bricks is placed all over the place, randomly, and the normal brick walls look kind of off, too. The yellow stuff seems to fit together, but there wasn’t much of it, adding to the blandness. Once again, originality in Single Player levels’ eyecandy is less common then in Multiplayer’s, but the same old stuff Does get boring.
Pros: No major problems, the level looks presentable.
Cons: Brick tile bugs, the eyecandy’s kind of boring.
Rating: 7.7

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: Once again, there were few weapons. Spaztic does not seem to be much of a fan of giving you weapons to use, but the enemies are so easily dispensable with Blaster, it barely matters. Regardless of the usefulness, weapons Do make a level look better, and weapons are something this level lacked. Items were placed pretty well. There was a largish amount of food (I’ll have to ask Hugela if Tacos are appropiate in Tubelectric), and a few carrots now and then. There’s not too much to say on the items front. As for enemies, they are placed well, much less extreme then in some (if not all) of the other levels, leaving you to be able to play the level instead of shooting constantly. There were, basically, a few sparks flying around, and some Tuf Turtles on the ground, and now and then some float lizards where the oppurtunity presented itself.
Pros: The items and enemies are placed pretty well.
Cons: Few weapons, and by this time this has gotten to be a noticable problem.
Rating: 7.7

ORIGINALITY: In the originality section, this level does not fair incredibly well. Yes, the Copter/Trigger Crate “puzzle” (I want brain stuff) was new, and I think a few other things were as well, but for the most part this was not too new and different – merely a very cramped, standard, into-the-ordinary Tubelectric single player level. As I already said, the eyecandy’s unoriginal as well, so this level (complete with an irrelevant name) does nothing more then give you a few minutes of normal SP gameplay.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 7.0

DIFFICULTY: Despite the lack of weapons, enemies were sparse enough so as they weren’t too difficult, and the main challenge was just playing the level (which comes out sounding bad, but isn’t quite as bad as you may think). It’s not paticularly hard, other then trying to get through those annoying pinball bumpers, so you’re free to wander around and smell the daisies, or in this case, the electricity.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 7.5

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: This level is mildly entertaining, but it is by no means my favorite, and probably wouldn’t get too high of a rating even without being compared to the rest. I’ll admit the place with the Copters and the Trigger Crates was mildly amusing, though I’m not sure why the author chose to place a non-float-lizard copter there, but the rest of it was quite ordinary. Strangely it reminded me of some parts of RHG, though I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
Pros: Mildly entertaining.
Cons: Only mildly.
Rating: 7.2

OVERALL (it is not an average, you can not Make it an average, unless you pay me for some odd reason): I’m not sure if this is the worst level so far or not, or if it’s just in comparison to Sticks and Stones, but this isn’t the best level around. Still, on its own, it is quite good, and sort of enjoyable. The eyecandy, while bland, is sufficient, and the gameplay’s decent as well. So this level is, basically, good but not great.
Pros: Eyecandy mostly works, the level is mildly entertaining, and it’s not nearly as bad as you may get the impression of.
Cons: Some tile bugs, and it’s kind of boring.
Rating: 7.2

Average rating for Level 4: 7.5

Level 5: Toxic Sunsets (unsure of filename)
The author says that this level and another one are the ones he is actually proud of, and this one certainly does stand out from the previous levels.
TILESET/TILESET USE: As with Sticks and Stones, Spaztic seems able to put interesting graphics into levels which do not use default tilesets. There are walls consisting of grey, black and green, transparent backgrounds, or caves with blue things sticking into them. The yellow caution thingies slope around in connection with green or brown walls, and strange looking spikes stick out of diagonal walls. Tileset use is probably this level’s main feature, so you might want to take a look at it while you’re there. Regrettably, despite some of the open spaces, there is nothing at all (absolutely NOTHING) in the way of background eyecandy.
Pros: Some inventiveness, looks pretty good.
Cons: Some things look kind of off, no background eyecandy at all.
Rating: 8.2

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: There are actually a few weapons this time (to deal with the ravens?), and while it is still far below average in terms of quanity, I actually ended up having full RF missiles. Items seemed, in comparison at least, a little low – few carrots, and not too many other goodies, either. As for enemies, there were Skeletons (I think) on the ground, and Ravens in the air, though what they have to do with the theme (apparently in 16-bit the green background fades into bright blue) of the level, I have no idea. There are also a few float lizards. For the most part, and as usual, the enemies seem to be placed just randomly, wherever there aren’t enough enemies nearby, plop some down. Ravens aren’t much problem, of course, as Jazz, but I wouldn’t want to have played this level as Spaz, and I pity anyone who does.
Pros: A few weapons.
Cons: Not many goodies, randomly placed enemies, too many ravens.
Rating: 7.0

ORIGINALITY: There is, of course, originality in the tileset use, but what do you expect from Spacey Universe? However, the level itself is not too negligent either. Horizontal springs, cliff face, normal springs, spike balls, and various other stuff combine to make this an interesting play, though I’m not sure if it’s my favorite Spacey Universe level or not. I’m not sure how all you people do so well without animations. Anyway, this level, unlike the default tileset ones, is pretty much anything but Cliffy style leveling. Avoid the standard JJ2 tilesets from now on, Spaztic.
Pros: Some things are quite interesting.
Cons: I still refuse to like that warp maze.
Rating: 8.5

DIFFICULTY: This level was indeed kind of difficult. Whether you actually have to go up the spike platforms four times or not, or if that was just my being confused, I don’t know, but it got a little tiresome. The random enemies got a bit annoying now and then, and the float lizard’s bombing (you should know the one I mean if you played this level) was irritating, but as a general rule this level’s difficulty toed the line and w as pretty acceptable. There were some puzzles, of course, though it’s hard to tell where to draw the line between puzzle and normal levelness here. Good.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 8.2

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: Once again, Spaztic’s levels just seem much better when they do not use the official JJ2 tilesets. This is easily more enjoyable then the Jungle or Tubelectric levels, and possibly Diamondus as well. I’ll admit anywhere in this level with moving spikes is kind of annoying, but other then that this is a most enjoyable play, though not quite as enjoyable as some levels I’ve seen. I’d play this one again.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 8.5

OVERALL (not an average): I’m getting this horrible feeling of repeating myself. repeating myself. repeating myself. Still, this is a good level, in most every way (most. The background eyecandy and placement need work), and is certainly one of the better levels of the pack. of the pack. of the pack. There is, of course, no story, and I’m not sure the name makes sense either, but this level was built for the graphics and gameplay, afaik. And the cliff face is pretty cool.
Pros: Pros: Pros: Goodish layers4abouts eyecandy, pretty good gameplay.
Cons: Not the best placement, no background eyecandy, some annoying parts.
Rating: 8.5

Average rating for Level 5: 8.2

Level 6: All that Glitters is Cold (NiP_gold.j2l)
This is the other level Spaztic says he is pleased with. I’m not quite sure I share the sentiments.
TILESET/TILESET USE: I have never liked the Sirius tileset a lot, and this level goes nowhere near changing my mind. It is, in fact, possibly the worst good use of Sirius I’ve seen yet. Let’s go over it objectively. There is practically no background eyecandy, half the level is transparent, tile and masking bugs abound, and it’s all rather boring to look at. The blue walls don’t flash at all, the cavey area looks dull, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but I really did not like most of the eyecandy in this level. As a few saving graces, the 64×64 gems actually were done pretty well, and there was a cool pulze lighting (though nothing TOO new) thing at one point.
Pros: One or two good parts.
Cons: Read above.
Rating: 6.7

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: Nothing in this factor stuck in my mind at all, really, but that could be because I was so anxious for this level to be over. Let me see. There were weapons (Toaster, I think… a few in a secret, and some boxes before Bolly), and a little TNT to blast stuff away, and thus not counted as being a weapon. I think the items were placed ok. As for enemies, they were probably (and I have no wish to go through it again to check) placed randomly, as they are in practically every other level of this pack, with no thought to creative defeating methods. I am considering copying and pasting parts of my review by now, like Trafton evilly did, but my ethics have taken the upper hand and forced me into submission.
Pros: Decent weapons and items.
Cons: Not sure.
Rating: 7.5

ORIGINALITY: Well, the spike balls were kind of original, and I suppose some of the tileset use was. However, I don’t have much to say about the originality of this level, as I just learne from sitting staring at the screen for a few minutes, as my train of thought was ambushed and the passengers robbed of their metaphorical belongings. Basically, some things are original.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 7.0

DIFFICULTY: This level was not too difficult, and not too easy either. The randomly placed enemies did not add too much of a challenge, and neither did the occasional hurt events. As for puzzles, there weren’t many, and this ended up being way too much of an action-oriented level, adding another level to my general displeasure. I sincerely hope I can end this review on a high note with the next level.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 7.7

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: In case you have not gotten the message yet, I did not enjoy this level at all. However, Trafton seems to have liked it somewhat, so I am going to N/A this section and decide it was probably just me.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: N/A

OVERALL (you know what it’s not): This is probably a good level, but I don’t care for it. The eyecandy is ok, though not too good, the lighting is a bit annoying, but the gameplay is ok in places. Now let me stop typing and play the next level.
Pros: It’s… ok.
Cons: Maybe it’s just me, but I took no shine to it.
Rating: 7.0

Average rating for Level 6: 7.2

Level 7: Mines of Moria 2 (NiP_moria.j2l)
TILESET/TILESET USE: Well, this uses Mez01, as I’m sure you already knew. It is probably one of the better uses of Mez01, which I keep typing Mex01, though that’s not saying too much. The stars/rain/whatever in the background is kind of interesting, but when the author shows off the pipes and stuff at the very end, it kind of made me wish the rest of the level had looked good too. Most of the level consists of walls made out of green, blue and white blocks, with a few slopes and blue pipes. There are also some green/blue tubing for walls, blue sucker tubes, and blue doors. In short, what you’d expect from Mez01. Kind of colorless (needs more red), though the parts where the author tried to use eyecandy do look good. (Jesus moved to Canada because of the war?)
Pros: One of the better uses of Mez01, some parts look good.
Cons: Way too bland.
Rating: 7.2

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: Weapons and Items were pretty much ignored in this level. As for enemies, there are a bunch of dragons. I am not about to imitate Trafton and repeat the word Dragon (Dragon) over and over (Dragon), but it is true that there are lots (Dragon) of Dragons (Dragon). At one point there are some devils which charge at you out of the wall, too. It is hard to place dragons strategically, so having a larger variety of enemies might have been a good idea.
Pros: Not really.
Cons: Not enough weapons or items, too many dragons.
Rating: 6.5

ORIGINALITY: Most of the originality was in the tileset use, as there’s very little you can put in a Mez01 maze level which hasn’t been done before, muched on thoughtfully, and abandonded in search of better levels. Still, the air obstacles are kind of interesting, though it gets confusing figuring out where you can or can’t jump.
Pros: Some things are original.
Cons: Sadly, Mez01 mazes just end up being Mez01 races.
Rating: 7.7

DIFFICULTY: The level itself is, of course, the main feature. There are enemies, but they’re more of a minor event, so devote your attention to beating the maze. Most of it is a lot easier then MoM1, or QoB, though the tube maze gets a bit annoying. I think you’re not supposed to be able to TNT the crate in the tube maze, as there was an area of the level I never seemed to be able to access, but I can’t say I mind. The hardest parts of the level were probably the tube maze (I’m not sure why, but it ended up taking me like a half hour), and the air obstacles, though those maybe because it’s hard to tell what’s a warp and what isn’t. Relieving.
Pros: Not as hard as it could be, allowing a little fun.
Cons: Still a Mez01 maze level.
Rating: 7.5

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: This sort of level is unlikely to be fun for most people. I kind of enjoyed it, until it bogged down, but I like puzzles (ok, I like PUZZLES, but this sort of thing is ok too). You may not. I am not going to rate the entertainment value of this level, as it varies drastically between people.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: N/A

OVERALL (not an average): Well, this is an interesting maze level, though I think I might have liked the original a little more. I believe you can get stuck, and it’s a little boring at times, and the eyecandy generally needs work, but you CAN see the author spent time and thought here, and so…. it gets a rating.
Pros: It’s a decent level…
Cons: with some quirks, of course. Wrong next level setting.
Rating: 8.0

Average rating for Level 7: 7.5

STORY: The pack has no story. Mines of Moria 2 aludes to some stories, with various LoTR sounding (sort of) names, and there are a few other instances of such, but overall the levels are not linked in any paticular way. They are not meant to be. This is more Spaztic’s level designing talents then an episode or anything like that, and I have decided to not rate this, after all.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: N/A

Average rating for non-level factors: N/A
Average rating for levels: 7.7

However, 7.7. is a little low for this pack, as it fails to account for the amount of work spent, which wouldn’t really fit into any of the categories. The rating is raised from a 7.7 to an 8.5 and a download recommendation.[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

Okay, this was a rather ‘interesting’ pack made by Spaztic. Out of all my years playing JJ2 I have never encountered a level pack like this. I am not in the mood to review ALL these levels individually, so I’ll review them as a whole:

The Nothing In Particular Pack (NIP)

Like I said, this whole pack was interesting, and it had HUGE replay value. A good challenge, but to me, it seemed stressful with all the enemies and such low supply of carrots.

Gameplay: It was all good, but at some points I kept getting stuck with all the puzzles. :\ Maybe I’m not the brightest boy, eh?
Eyecandy: Good. It all blended in and I couldn’t find very much tilebugs at all.
Enemy Placement: Great! Placed just at the right points. However, it didn’t look very pleasent (especially all the rapiers in Sticks and Stones and all the norm turtles and tough turtles in Emerald Isle).
Pickups Placement: Good I found it was fairly balanced. Not much ammo though.
Length: Well, I found all the levels to be the perfect length: about as long as the official SP levels.
Difficulty: I found some levels, hard, others not so I’ll just give it an Average/Hard.
Overall: Excellent. A long level pack with excellent replay value. I’ve played all the levels at least 4 or 5 times. Out of all the levels and packs uploaded on Jazz2Online, this HAS to be one of my favorites! Great job!

And that concludes my review… I think this level fully deserves a 9 for providing a challenge along with puzzles and other original ideas.[This review has been edited by Dago]

Ok, first of all I see we have some mad reviewers here typing over 10 000 chars here (estimate) Anyways, since Im currently bored and have nothing to do, I thought I’d play this.

Emerald Isle:
Firstly, I was upset that you suddenly get attacked by a bee when you start. Though you wont likely get hurt (since you are flashing and invincible for the first few seconds when you start), but you may be unprepared. The puzzle at the start was interesting, and the snow looked cool. There were lots of puzzles and secrets and the level was challenging, though there was few ammo and and the enemies where piled up frequently (I despised the pesky generating bees btw.). There was also many interesting features in the level and eyecandy was also done nicely, except for the small BG bugs..

Fungi Jungle:
A basic SP level, with some nice eyecandy and MCE’s. There were fewer stuff here that amazed me, but the level was ok.

Sticks and Stones:
Hmm…uses a custom set. The enemies here are definately overused. There was a maze here. I also lost my lives in this level, and then got an error for some reason (though it was more likely something with my computer than the level). The backround here is quite dull, and so are the places that are taken place outside. The death trick is interesting, thankfully you dont loose lifes. The puzzle is irritating and I had no idea how to beat it (when I froze the red spring and pushed the spring crate there, it kept getting stuck in the floor). There might have been another solution to that puzzle, but I couldnt figure it out…..Most of the puzzles here drove me insane, I was lucky to beat the level.

Shock Core:
The enemies are piled up yet again, and there isnt much variety in food. Level wasnt as difficult as the previous and it was fun to play.

Toxic sunsets: There could of been more backround eyecandy here, but the foreground and layer 5 made up for that. The tileset use and eyecandy is just beatiful to look at. The level here had cool effects and some puzzles as well. I quite liked this level, except some parts drove me insane.

All that Glitters is Cold(that is a lie!!):
Like the previous level the tileset use and eyecandy here shocked me. Although soem parts made it hard to see the eyecandy was amazing. The tileset use is also great, it would of been almost perfect aside from the fact there are too many places waiting for you to get stuck in. Enemy choice was a bit strange for a level using this tileset, and the puzzles are good. Level wasn’t “straight” and had some different routes sometiems, which made it more fun to play.

Mines Of Moria 2:
Oh God, Spaztic is obsessed with LoTR. Anyways, the mazes are interesting, though they were quite confusing and I didnt like them much. The backround made the foreground lag (Or something similar) and it made me a bit drowsy. In one place I got jutted in by a sucker (around that “invisible force field” place and didn’t know how to get out. More variety in pickups is needed as well, and enemies are piled. Some places I didnt like much, and the next level setting leads to a level which was not included in the Zip and I doubt anyone other than spaztic has.

My conclusion: Though the pack suffered from several cons, I extremely urge you to download this. There is at least 1 thing you will find spectacular in this pack (You will likely be amazed at many things) so I definately reccomend this. Great Job Spaztic, and I hope to see you making more levels in the future.

[This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

Well, here at long last rating. I haven’t rated anything at here for long time because my computer went broken. But now I have new, so I installed JJ2 on my comp, played it through and came here again to download, play and rate levels. But I didn’t find the TSF CD so no TSF levels anymore :(! Sad thing but now Even more can play my levels because I make them with 1.23. But now on to the rating:

Trafton and Violet, why those extraextraextraextrahuge reviews? Could someone read those? Well, I have cut off some acts of my ratings. But now let’s begin:

DESIGN
Well this doesn´t have a story like ya, Spaztic, said in the rdm.file that this is just for fun. I anyway like of the acts, so an 8.
8/10

EYECANDY
This is quite good with extra effects too, but I found few bugs.
9/10

GAMEPLAY
Nice puzzles, and levels are enough long.
9/10

DIFFICULTY
I don’t even know that does this have any difficulty options. The levels are quite difficult even on easy, so I can imagine how difficult this is on hard, if this has difficult settings. Seems that this pack is meant to quite experienced players.
6/10

ICNLUDING
Good rdm.file included. I liked the school-tileset did ya make that?
Bad that you didn’t include every levels on that pack. No next level after Mines of moria, and that level was quite annoying, walking in the mazes, duh.
5/10

PICKUP AND ENEMY PLACEMENT
Well placed pikups, but strangely placed enemies.
7/10

+ or – extra points.

4+ Good effects, wow!
1- Places to get stuck
1+ Good music choice

OVERALL 8
Level rank: Good level
Download recommendation: yes

ENDING COMMENTS:
So, I don’t know then. Maybe I didn’t like your level so much than the others. Or then I just see too much errors or something in your levels.
But 8 means a good level anyway. Seems that you have skill on level making too. Keep going!

Superjazz was here
[This review has been edited by Superjazz]

I’m sorry but in all my life I have never seen reviews like that, it is, simply put, totally crazy.

Tick, I hope you understand that I’m not writing a huge review, I’m doing that considering you will be busy through the whole of this year reading those other two reviews.

Anyways, I really enjoyed playing this, it was great being betatester aswell, even though I felt quite helpless compare to the amazing power of traftie. The highlight of all this is for me is the level you made with Spacey Universe (gee, I wonder why), I never thought I’d see stuff like that using that set, great job!

The one thing I particularly liked was the design of these levels, it was great! Not at all linear, I think you desevre an extra pat on the back there. That’s it from me, great pack, ‘nuff said.

First of all: health warning: don’t try to save your game in the fifth or seventh level unless you enjoy tearing out your own hair (in other words: it will give an amnesia error). That being said, i’ll try giving an actual review.

I must say, i quite enjoyed this one. It’s a pack hard enough to keep you busy for several hours, yet it wasn’t insanely difficult. It’s a very nice combination of puzzles (lots of them) and combat (lots of it). Eyecandy looked rather good in all of the levels, at least i haven’t found any major flaws. Maybe the ammo is a bit too scarce for some players, but there’s enough of it to keep yourself alive in every situation.

I haven’t seen many glitches in this pack. The only i can think of is the lack of a next level setting in the Moria level, and a place where it’s possible to get trapped in that same level (mind you, there’s a bit of text to warn you).

Conclusion 1: yes, definitely worth the download.
Conclusion 2: Trafton needs a hobby.

I hate to think what trafton is going to go through when I release my project…

Geez, it’s like war of the reviews! Anyway, I’m not done playing through these yet, but I’ve played the first and second level, and they are good so far.

jeez – those reviews should get a review thats SICK man :d

Show off…:P

I thought it was great! But there were a tad too many puzzles at times.

(Unsupported rating removal edit. Don’t do this again. ~Violet)[This review has been edited by Violet CLM]

Can’t rate this at the moment as I haven’t finished it yet. I seem to keep getting a “Fatal Application Error” in the Sticks & Stones level.

Oh Geez, Trafton, you are such a perfectionist. :P

Well, yes, I tested this. :) But I really like it, for the most part, because it is it challenging, and that is rare in SP.

This was long awaited. DOWNLOAD IT NOW![This review has been edited by FoD]

Holy basketball player,TRAFTON! Do you really think ANYONE will READ THAT? XD;;;;;
Boyoyoy…well,I tested it,and assuming its bugs and such got fixed,I’ll give it a better mark than I’d have given it…thus,a 9,for challenge and extreme originality!=D

Good job Spaztic! I really enjoyed the pack (well maybe except the Mines of Moria…. O_o)
Good job with eye candy especially I like the use of the background and foreground layers in the ‘All the Gold that Glitters’ level – you did an amazing job there with those crystals!

I give this pack 9,5 and a download recommendation!
Again – good job Spaztic!

Dan.

I haven’t finished playing it and HAVE NO INTENTIONS of writing an very long critique of the levels because, as Disguise put it, its “totally crazy.”

However, I know the amount of work that must have been put into this level pack and I like the result of Spaztic’s efforts so I’m giving it a 9.7 (because I like SXR better) and a download recommendation. :)

were you having fun writing the readme file?

well, nice levels, I won’t make long reviews as Trafton and Voilet.
never.
a 8.9 (rounded up to 9.0) for this excellent level pack.

Good pack.

i think that your SXR was better…..

Great LVL’S, Spaztic! This is REALY GREAT!
There goes many jears over I can’t make this so great!
Well done Spaztic and as my promise(with one then?;)I give you an 9.2!