Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Huh. What we have here is a very nice single player pack, and it’s only part one. The levels all have their own individual style, and feel more or less like they belong in that tileset. Lagunicus has a lot of caves, Dreempipes is more trigger based, Diamondus is simple and flattish, etc. However, none of the levels are really all that remarkable, and there’s no apparent story, so this is not too much more than a collection of decent single player levels, all using JJ1 tilesets.
What the author lacks in level design ingenuity, he tries to make up for in flashy special effects. Strange sucker tube arrangements, fun secrets, dropping bombs, and even bonus levels add to the replay value of this pack, which alternates between normal gameplay and interesting diversions.
Unfortunately, the levels are not perfect. The eyecandy is not bad, but a lot more could have been done with the tilesets, causing some parts of the levels to look rather bland. There were also a number of tile bugs that I spotted – for examples, the slopes aren’t masked correctly in Lagunicus, and everything looks wrong underwater in Dreempipes. The last level incorrectly links to JJ16.j2l, instead of the boss level included. So there are a few problems.
Still, this is fun enough to play at least once, and how many good single player levels have you seen uploaded lately? This should help the wait for TDI2, or TR2, or FSP, or whatever sequel you happen to be waiting for.

Starting Comments:

This pack was uploaded some time ago, but as there is only one review so far I gotta write one too. :)

Played with: Jazz
On difficulty: Medium
Playing time: 31 minutes

Playability:

The levels were pretty decent for me. They were fun, but not a masterpiece. You travel through various JJ1 planets killing baddies, collecting goodies and sometimes solving a little puzzle. The levels were not very long, but the size was ok for me. Some more different obstacles would’ve made the pack more fun though, and some shields were toi easy to get. I found the bonus level in Lagunicus, which was cool, but a bit bugged. There is an event for secret levels which actually WORKS, though the author seems to have used the wrong one.

Score: 6.5

Balance:

I found the pack pretty easy, mainly because the only obstacles are enemies, which are not used in strategic areas most of the time. Increased difficulty would make this a lot more fun.

Score: 5.0

Creativity:

Most of the pack was pretty basic, some creativity was shown only in the secret level of Lagunicus, which was kind of original, and the few puzzle areas. The rest was pretty standard. Maybe more puzzles or some other stuff would make the pack much more enjoyable.

Score: 6.5

Eyecandy:

The eyecandy could’ve been a lot better. There were no major tilebugs, if any, but the background was often very empty and the sprite layer did not have enough eyecandy either. It’s decent though.

Score: 6.0

Fun Factor:

At the start of the pack there’s a message telling you Devan warped Eva to the end of the universe, therefore you have to travel through all those planets. However, that’s all so I guess I’ll rate Fun Factor instead of Story.

Apart from the easiness the pack was pretty fun, maybe a bit short but not bad at all. There could be more places with springs, poles, etc. like in the original JJ2 levels. Maybe some endbosses would’ve been cool too. Those who like fast paced packs which are not too hard will like this a lot. I found it too easy though, like I’ve already said.

Score: 7.0

Overall:

Overall a decent pack. It’s not a masterpiece, but worth a play if you have like not too long packs with not too hard difficulty. The eyecandy should be boosted, aswell as the item placement should be renewed and changed a bit. Still I think it’s worth a 6.8.

Overall Score: 6.7

Download Reccomendation: Maybe

This is great but just one problem, whenever I go to the 1st bonus level in Diamondus (Carrot Hills) and then go to the 2nd Bonus level in Lagunicus (Sea Water Caves) I get an error saying “Secret level cannot warp to another secret level.” Can this be fixed?

Also, I like the way the timer is used in the Bonus levels. How do you do that?

I would hope that you’re using my music, man :D