Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Stunning. That’s the one word I can think of when I see this conversion. Simply stunning.
Violet CLM has done it again, taking a (seemingly) boring and bland tileset like Raneforus and turning it into a bona fide work of art. From the standard JJ1 version with a new and fresh twist (which I’ll get to), to the “past” version (with a color scheme that could only be described as “sexy”), to the future, TechNoir-laced set, just about anything you could ask for is present and accounted for in this set.
So, let’s to Raneforus V.

V1

THINGS I LIKED:
I liked the fact that so much creativity could be found in such a drab set as Raneforus. It has all the tiles (that I know of) from JJ1 present, as well as tiles from other JJ1 and 2 sets. Take the bluish BG trees from the Jungle tileset. Take the expertly recolored blue rock BG from Scraparap (it’s actually green in this set). Take the leafy branches from Jungrock. Even the rain looks perfect. Violet doesn’t bother with any “Cool” tiles……At least, none that don’t look like they absolutely belong. See, that was the thing about the set: everything just belonged. And that’s hard to do in a set.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
These were very few. Perhaps one would be the textured background. I didn’t think it fit very well in the colors. Too light, perhaps. I always kind of thought of Rane as a rainy forest planet. But that’s pretty minor. Overall, V1 was a great success to me.

V2

THINGS I LIKED:
Ahh yeah, this was my favorite of the pack. It looks sort of like a sunset tileset palette, with the subtle orange and brown hints in the set. There was a very shrewd input of the Jungrock….rock tiles, in addition to some very neat rock graphics already present in the set from Stonar. Very pleasing to the eye. I could go on and on about the amazing color choices here. Did I mention that I loved the colors? I do. But enough of that. Very nice set.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
Hmmm… There honestly was nothing I could find after my initial run-through. I guess this is the first “perfect” tileset I’ve ever seen.

V3

THINGS I LIKED:
This was also a cool set, with enough TechNoir present to counterbalance the Raneforus there. Variety does indeed help, which lends the set a rather convincing impression of a rainforest being gradually overrun by the machines of industry. Neat concept. The colors once again meshed quite prettily. And the birdie tombstones? Man, I just about lost it when I saw ‘em! Priceless.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
However…..This was the set I liked least of all. For one thing, there seemed to be more space devoted to TechNoir background details than that of the set itself. There was a tree or two, but not much. Also, while I DID like it and it WAS cool, the color didn’t seem much different than that of the first V. I would have liked maybe a darker colored set. But there is none, leading me to believe that the sun always shines there (And it sets partway every night :D). I was disappointed by that.

So all in all, I really thought the sets were quite good. But that’s only the half of my review…

THE EXAMPLE LEVELS:

THINGS I LIKED:
The levels themselves (as Violet’s custom of sorts seems to keep perpetuating) were so good that I felt I just had to review ‘em. They have master level event placement. The level design is just as good, as is the buggage. The first one was exactly the length of a singleplayer level, which seemed quite a bit long, but showed off a LOT of the set. Which is always good.
Violet put as much work (it seemed) into the levels as the tilesets, which really pays off. I loved ‘em.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
But, as is almost always the case, there were a few minor issues I had. For one thing, the second example level had a small sprite of the Dreempipes Owl flying in the foreground. Which is nice, except that it can fly backwards as well as forwards and never seems to leave the screen, which gets kind of annoying after awhile. I’m not a big fan of foreground “creatures” like that, since they are so HARD to get right.
The music for Level 2 didn’t really catch me, either, whereas the songs for the other two were generic Jazz songs. Which is not bad, except that I would’ve expected something original from someone of Violet CLM’s stature. The use of the TechNoir song in Level 3 only added to my (weird) conception that the TechNoir elements in said level and set seemed to be conspiring to choke out the Raneforus elements. Fortunately, excellent eyecandy in that level helped ease my discomfort.
The first level seemed long, the second one was medium, and the third one was short. I mean, I did a catch-22 when I got to the end of 3, it was that short. Kind of surprised me. I think 2 was the best length.
I said this already but I will do so again: I was fairly disappointed that there was no dark tileset. I mean, there’s three different sets, and they’re all light colored. What’s with that? Why not make one, say number 3, a midnight or dusk color? It would’ve been the final knockout punch for the set, but instead is quite absent.
Masking was interesting too, but as Violet said, there is a reason for this, so I won’t take too much away for that.

SUMMARY

So, what should be said at the end of the day? Good job, nice digs and try again someday? Why goodness, no! This set deserves so much more than that. It’s not a perfect set, and it has its flaws, but that’s the beauty of it. Just like every remarkable diamond has a scratch or two, so every worthwhile upload on J2O has a tarnished spot. Don’t let it scare you away. Download today.

EDIT: (3/10/2012)

Now that Violet’s released a fourth version of the tileset (LOL, look how far behind the curve I am…), I thought it would be prudent to review the new(est) one as well, since it affects my final grade of this set.

V4

THINGS I LIKED:
I could keep this up all day, and I’m not kidding. Here at last, ladies and gents, is the Raneforus Night tileset we’ve all been waiting for, and for a tileset (and example level, for that matter) that was merely “thrown together”, it’s pretty good.

No, that’s a massive understatement. It’s absolutely stinking awesome.

Raneforus V #4 is painted in olive green and indigo blue/purple shades, almost as if the player were walking through a withered and dead forest. The “rocks” are colored perfectly. The torches were a stroke of genius. Every single leaf, branch and pebble jelled together like a Swiss watch, and I’d be hard pressed to put a finger on anything I didn’t like.

The example level was so good, it’s almost a crime. One of these days, I wish Violet would take all of his considerable levelbuilding talent and make a great singleplayer epic. That would be so much fun to play.

But I digress.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
Once again, nothing significant to point out. That makes two 10/10 tilesets in one upload, which I’m sure will never ever happen again…Until Violet CLM releases his next tileset conversion, that is.

The music track was not present, so I wasn’t too impressed by that. However, since this upload is a tileset conversion and not a singleplayer pack, I won’t count that against the upload (Although if this were a singleplayer pack, I would most certainly subtract points).

SUMMARY

In the end, Raneforus V #4 blows the previous three sets out of the water, including the Past version that I loved so much. My revised rating is 9.6, and I now recommend Raneforus V’s immediate and unconditional download.