Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Jazz 2 shipped with three original battle levels—all titled Battle Game, so we’ve had to refer to them as Battle1, Battle2, and Battle3, to reduce confusion—and the first one is by leaps and bounds the most popular. Probably the most popular official multiplayer level of all, with Diamondus Warzone’s star somewhat reduced these days. Many people have reimagined Battle1 over the years, ranging from simple edits to Charnel Keep to Higher Fragging Rate. An important part of how Battle1 works, at least in my opinion, is its reliance on (nearly) one-way pathways and its refusal to let you go everywhere at once. This level does the same.

Tavern of War is fundamentally an oval that you travel counterclockwise. Different points along the outside of the oval have various reasons to stop and explore—powerups, carrots, warps—but that’s all local. If you want to go somewhere else, for example if there’s a player on the opposite side of the map you want to hunt, then you need to travel the oval. If there are only two of you and it seems like therefore you’ll never reach each other, then you try to trap the other player by turning around and moving backwards along the oval to intercept, at least to the extent possible. This isn’t how every custom battle level works by any means, and it probably shouldn’t be either, but it’s a great idea to encounter from time to time.

Eyecandy is generally pretty solid. I think the author is comfortable with layers that move at the same speed as layer 4 and should start experimenting more with background (and even foreground) layers that move at other speeds, to see what effects can be created that way. The chosen tileset offers a good variety of fun features like arches and curtains and stairs, and the level goes all out in scattering them around. Maybe it’s never perfect, but it’s nice to look at without ever becoming so detailed as to obscure the gameplay.

Can I say that the finer layout details are always the best they could be? No. People generally try to avoid enabling access to the far left and right sides of the level, because of the weird running physics there, but this level puts up no such barriers. The powerups have specific ways you’re supposed to access them but don’t seem to realize that they can be shot by bouncers instead. There’s a generating carrot behind layer 3, so it’s hard to find if you’re looking for a carrot but also confusing if you’re already at full health and don’t know why you went into a dead end. The top right area is all kind of empty. There’s a text sign with no text on it. But these are all surmountable issues that a bit more editing work could handle, and really, I think what’s more important here is that this is an interesting idea for a battle level, a layout that generally supports the idea, and eyecandy that keeps things enjoyable without getting in the way.

Definitely my favorite of the author’s uploads so far.