Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Well, well… this pack right here is definitely something of a small gem.

It goes without saying that you’re probably downloading this pack just for a few levels out of all fourteen. It also goes without saying that most of these have gone wrong in a way or another, either by being full of superficial gimmicks, by an erroneous layout, or excessive eyecandy (or a combination of some of these).

But what’s not obvious is that every single level here had potential to be very good. Some of the levels definitely have their visual moments – Myopia’s stone-and-nature parts, for example, I really dunno why weren’t they used as a common motif. Downtown Maze has this real tranquil, dreamy feel that’s uncommon. Those levels that aren’t outstanding are still good and fresh looking. And unfortunately, some levels cross the fine line between “a lot of eyecandy” and “complete inconsistent mess”. For example, Pleased with Presents had a really cool 70’s disco theme, until it became a chaos of christmas toys with a gay rayman rap track. And I’m not even going to beat the dead horse that FurnFace is…

One thing you’ll definitely notice is that Faw has a soft spot for gimmicks. Almost every level will have some, and almost every one will misuse them. This pack will attack you with fly carrots, freeze enemies, cheshire cats, pinball pads, walls which seekers go through, etc. It’s almost as if Faw tried really hard to make each level unique and original. In case of which, it’s probably slightly ironic that the best (in my opinion) levels from the pack are those which didn’t try too hard to be original. This includes nearly all the CTF’s and hardly any of the battles…

In two levels you can even hear FawFul’s musical skills backing up the themes, this aspect should be probably expanded in the future. It’s really too bad that this pack wasn’t as polished and refined as it could have been – there’s a ocean full of potential here.

Think positive!

It took me a while to decide how to approach reviewing this pack. As others have stated, its quality is…variable, to say the least. So I’ve decided to split the review into three sections: one on the levels I really like, one on the levels that are passable, and one on the levels that just don’t work. In that order, because it will make the ending that much funnier.

So, first. The best levels. Opinions vary, of course, but I’d say Technologized Sonicwaves, Pleased with Presents, and Hard Cheese qualify.

Technologized Sonicwaves is a very well-designed and well-constructed CTF level. It has few flaws if any, and is highly suitable for both duels and larger games. As with most such levels, however, there is not a lot to say about it.

Pleased with Presents is a battle level which I actually helped quite a bit with, as far as design decisions and balancing, although admittedly most of this was in its earliest stages. In particular, I am afraid that I am to blame for the belts. I beg forgiveness from anyone who has fallen into a pit because of them.
That aside, the level has a nice, learnable layout, and good eyecandy (although the background may be a bit too strange for its own good). Its biggest drawback is probably its inconsistent placement of Fly Off events – you can enter some indoor areas, but not others, while flying. Still, the level is fun to play in.

Hard Cheese is a simple, yet moderately unconventional, CTF level. It’s mostly horizontal, even moreso than most levels, and although you’d expect this to lead to a ton of awful bottlenecks, it actually works very well. I am not, however, especially fond of the eyecandy here – it feels like it was sort of thrown on in a rush, as the style is rather inconsistent.

Now, on to the levels that missed the proverbial mark in some way or another, but still manage to be (barely?) playable.

I’m going to start with Knight FurnFace. This is one of the most graphically striking levels ever made for JJ2, as the tileset lends itself to FawFul’s use extremely well. Unfortunately, this lovely eyecandy comes right back around and bites the level in its wrinkled 8-bit rump: it’s rather difficult to tell whether or not something is on layer 4 or 5 (or 3 and 2 in a few especially bad cases). This means lots of bumping into things and falling through things, probably into one of the level’s pits. Mercifully, a pitless version is included, but the level still requires memorization before it can be properly played.

Neglected Future is a level that, while nicely balanced and well-designed overall, has a lot of annoying quirks. I could describe them, but 30 seconds of playing will demonstrate.

Myopia is a level which suffers primarily from being too large for any fewer than 10 players, and even with 16 it feels rather too large, especially given the nature of its layout. If JJ2’s netcode were reworked (hey, BlurredD…wait, where are you going? BlurredD?) to support more connections, I have no doubt that this would make for some great 12vs12 games. But that hasn’t happened yet, so this level is not especially useful.

Radioactive is simply too boring to be given any more than an acknowledgement. Unlike pretty much every other level in the pack, there’s nothing unique about it, and when that’s added to the fact that it isn’t exceptionally well-made in the first place…

Alien Heart. This level has been played a lot, and I’m pretty sure that’s only by dint of there being so few Domination levels around. Although it’s playable, it’s not very enjoyable, especially with things like that seeker powerup…

Hideout Center I never got the chance to actually play, since Flag Run isn’t exactly the most popular gamemode around. It feels a bit too complicated for it, to be honest.

And now the part you’ve all probably skipped to: the bad levels. There’s just no excuse; they’re bad.

Favourite Park. Horrible usage of sucker tubes, and a limiting layout, combined with mediocre eyecandy.

8th Heaven could simply be described as an idea that seems good but isn’t. The towers make gameplay feel both limited and repetitive, and the pillars of light are downright silly.

Downtown Maze is pretty aptly named, because trying to navigate the level is like trying to navigate a maze. In other words, worst layout ever. Wait, no it isn’t; I forgot about…

Klassieker for the SnOOzE. I don’t like Snooze very much now, because if he hadn’t existed, we wouldn’t have to suffer this level. The bases are extremely close, the layout is small and very strange, and the level is terribly unbalanced – what were you THINKING with that seeker powerup?

Electric Factory…well, it’s not a serious level, and so shouldn’t be treated as such. I honestly can’t imagine anyone wanting to play it though.

But I’m basing my rating on the levels that ARE worth playing. And the pack is definitely worth downloading, just don’t be disappointed when the later levels don’t hold up to the standards set by the earlier ones.

what is that supposed to mean louis? ->

what i mean is that louis is randomly spamming around non-sense without providing arguments and help. i want to thank cooba for his extremely helpful review. he seems to understand how i mocked things up.

Quality over quantity :P

Cooldude gonna crazy!
He set rating: 1.0 to minigolf without reason!
And he set rating: 10.0 and said STUPID words…
I think he is big noob in JJ2…

Generally speaking, this pack was outstanding, but there was one thing wrong: the link to the music files doesn’t seem to bring up a download. I’ve clicked it several times over the last few months and it’s brought up a page that says “Sorry, the file you requested is not available”.

Other than that, I can only say that it’s a good effort. I haven’t put up a rating because I’m not one of those people who shows any interest in multiplayer, so I thought I’d leave it as N/A.

Well,I betatested it with FawFul and he did a GREAT job!

EYECANDY

That was the one thing I was realy impressed with because i was amazed at it!

TILESETS

non I have ever seen!
~Translation:I LOVE them!

MUSIC

same as tilesets!

ORIGINALITY

Brand-spankin new!!!

BG’s

Same as the tilesets and music.

DR?

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OVERALL

10.0!!!!!!

Well I hope this proves to everyone that I can do good reviews because i have changed.