Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

The aurora in layer 8 is quite lovely, but the rest of the level doesn’t charm me as much. The layers of mountains and trees in front of it are dull gray, neither silhouettes in front of the green glow nor illuminated by it. Frosted Peaks does a better job of blending these background colors. The darkest color in the blue grass gradient is still too bright, distractingly so. Electroblaster pickups are common but the layout does not seem designed for them. Barrels and masked trees appear because the tileset has them but mostly don’t seem to contribute to gameplay, instead getting in the way of easy movement. Multiple top right corners of walls can’t be jumped up against because of improper masking (and no One Way events). Most egregiously, innumerable platforms are simply too high up to reach unless playing with a double jump. Several in particular are placed ever so slightly higher than the highest point reached by a spring that appears to be intended to take you there, but, only if you are Spaz. Other springs bump you into ceilings or are hard to find, set not quite flush against the nearest walls. The design process seems to have prioritized graphics (though with some questionable palette choices) above gameplay flow, but both are important. The areas with bridges or vines are generally nice and interesting, but it’s frustrating to get around the rest of the level.