Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Ugh. I had to restart this review 3 times now because of stupid computer self restarts and internet crashes, so I’m rather frustrated right now. Anyways, here goes:

Since this level has only one review (although its a great review) I decided to review it.

Introduction

“What is this?” is a solid, enjoyable level by Newspaz of J2LC. It’s no wonder it made it into the bash, since this level excels in several categories.

Layout/Gameplay
The layout of this level is interesting. In fact, its a mix of several different types of layouts. There is an open, platformy terrain in the top right, narrow corridors in the temple area, and corridors linking to “rooms” (open areas) in the cavern area. Yes, this level even has a dead end with a carrot in it. This bizarre mix of ideas can only add to the creativity of the level, and through my experience with this level, works alright (although people tend to stick to one area frequently). The gameplay of this level is also nice. There are even springs on the sides of masked objects to bounce you around, which could become very chaotic with several people playing. Although the gameplay is generally good, there are a few
annoyances that could be improved in it. Some springs are rather unneeded (like the one in the very topmost platform on the top right; what is it doing there?) and some could be of a different type of spring (the two red springs in the bottom right room, a blue spring there would suffice). 6, 22 – the area there should be revised. The floatup is too noticable and annoying – it causes a noticable delay before you hit the red spring. The slope should be smoothed out so the floatup wouldn’t be needed and there would be no delay. 57, 30 – Spaz can run and double jump up to the blue springs, while jazz has to go underneath the one ways to get up there. Otherwise, I rarely found myself bumping into stuff or getting stuck, although I think the room in the bottom right could use another exit since its a big dead end (at least have the sucker be lower so you wouldn’t have to climb up to get out.)
Rating: 8.5 (Generally good, and an interesting combination of different things, but it does not come without small bugs/annoyances which horde up together).

Eyecandy
Probably the section this level excels at the most, the eyecandy is probably even more bizarre than the layout, and probably gives the level its name, “What is this?”. Although strange, it’s creative and adds to the already-strange mood of the level.
There is a good amount of eyecandy in the level, and thankfully none of it really gets in the way or blocks view. The eyecandy could be confusing at first, but personally I got used to it quickly. The trees in the backround layer could be moved up more though, since they are barely noticable and the top right of the level is more empty than the rest. There’s not much to point out about eyecandy, though some of it looks particularly random (ferns growing out of the center of stone boulders and rocks growing on tree branches?). To sum it up, the eyecandy has a lot of creativity in it, and is pulled off nicely. The level doesn’t really have much of an atmosphere (except some screwed up jungle perhaps?) but it still looks good.
Rating: 9

Placement of Stuff
Let’s start out with the ammo, since it is battle. Personally, I didn’t find the ammo as creative as the previous two categories. Most of it is seemed to be placed in bunches, forming random shapes, usually rectangles, lines, or stairway like things. The majority of the +3 ammo is in the top section of the level; underneath in the caverns you’d find more powerups and +15 crates (while on the topic, I don’t think having two +15 crates of seeker ammo next to each other is a good idea). I think the top right could’ve used more ammo, since it’s quite empty in terms of events. Powerups (3 of them) were placed alright, I didn’t have any problems with them. Maybe the seeker was a bit easier to get than the rest, and more of a target since it even has a carrot next to it, and a Toaster powerup might’ve been good here (replace the RF with the toaster, perhaps?). Otherwise, nothing noteworthy. With the carrots, I think the one in the top could’ve been further away from the seeker. With the one in the bottom, I found that either it was ignored for most the game because of the inconvenient area it was in, or many people camped at it because it was a good place to regain health in without being noticed. Strategy wise, that could be a positive or a negative thing. Suckertubes were well placed. There also appears to only be 1 start pos, which could explain why people pile up in one area.
Rating: 8.3 (not as creative as the previous categories, and there is room for improvement)

Originality/Fun Factor:
The area where this level excels at the most. One of the most bizarre quality levels I’ve played (even the name indicates it’s strangeness), this level has seemingly random, but yet nicely pulled off eyecandy, and a combination of different layout types. The music choice is even original (although really weird..). As for Fun Factor, this level was fun enough to play in, although after the random level selection in the anniversarry bash forced people to play this level dozens of times it started to get boring.
Rating: 9.2

Overall (not an average):
I like this level, and so do many other people (its average is 8.8 and it made it into the bash). There is a lot of things in this level that make it stand out from other levels of the same set, and there is a lot of things in this level that make it enjoyable. (While I was typing this my computer crashed a 3rd time (4th if you count the internet crash), good thing I was typing this in notepad this time ;D). You should definately download and play this level if you haven’t had a chance to through the numerous times it was hosted. Among all the positive things in this paragraph about the level, there is still always room for improvement.
Rating: 8.5

Final Rating: 8.7 on the dot. This is a great piece of work that definately earns the rating and the download reccomendation I’m giving it, and I hope I will have a chance to review & play more of Newspaz’s works in the future

~Blackraptor.

Edit: wow. It took me an hour and 7 minutes to complete this review. Darn computer crashes..