Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

plunK showed me this level after a couple hours of work when only a couple platforms were created, and later again in the late stages of beta-testing. It’s a nice, symetrical level with a fairly dark atmosphere.

Gameplay: 8.5/10
This level has a set of powerups that can be accessed only through shooting certain tiles. The triggers are global, which means everyone gains access to the powerups at the same time. This gives the fighting a cool, dynamic aspect. There are a few little places where the tunnels feel a bit constricted, and the level doesn’t flow perfectly in a couple places. Overall, this would definetely be a fun level to host, probably with about four to eight players.

Eyecandy: 9/10
This level has a very good atmosphere, and lots of nice details. It even looks like an eye on JCS when zoomed out. The only reason I don’t give it a perfect ten for eyecandy is that in a few places, walls or platforms can almost blend into the background.

Bug-Free-ness: 5/5
I didn’t find any bugs. There could be some, but everything looks good to me.

Event-Placement: 8/10
The powerups are at the center-top and center-bottom of the level, and cannot be accessed immediately. The rest of the level has a few carrots, and ammo scattered about. The ammo is fairly sparse, which can be a good thing, because people will have to conserve their ammo, adding an extra factor of strategy. The carrots are maybe a hair too easy to access, although with enough players, this wouldn’t be a problem. The biggest potential problem I see is that the blaster powerup is right next to a pile of fastfires. Since the other ammo may be hard to conserve, whoever got this powerup could dominate for a while. However, once one person can get the powerup, so can everyone else, which should cancel this out by the end of a battle.

Total: 8.7/10

This is a very cool level, and definitely should be downloaded and hosted frequently.