Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I tried something different again.

GAMEPLAY:

Let me start out with the bases. Each base is placed within a tube on opposite sides of the level. The best part about this is dying on the flag would be rather difficult. This level is like EvilMike’s Space Island level in that when players fall into the warps below, they get sent back to where they came from. The only difference is that players will only be sent back to the side where they last entered through a tube to a base. This seems to hold true even after the player dies, which could be useful. I would have to say this system can allow for more strategy than EvilMike’s since it’s simple and can be more useful overall. The layout is alright, although it may be a little limiting. I could do with fewer/shorter tubes, especially with the warp system at the bottom, but it’s not a big problem. The tubes that takes players to the top from the bottom of the level are hidden, but they are easy enough to find. The flow is above all decent, and I can’t spot anything really worth changing.

EYE CANDY:

Generally good eye candy for the given tileset. It does have some originality in it like with the red tubes and the lava. Nothing really bad here.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There is a full energy carrot is within some red tubes in the center of the level. If a player shoots it down, it will just fall into the lava slightly hidden. Evil fun. Nothing’s bad about the ammo placement—I’ll leave it at that. Powerup placement is good as well with a bouncer and an RF powerup on opposite sides of the level. Both are accessible with some electro blaster. The RF powerup is slightly harder to get, but it is, IMO, more useful in this level.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Moderately often. It’s a fun level, although I wouldn’t want to play in it with more than 5 other players. 8.0 is what I think of this level.

This is a nice little level from Blackraptor, that uses the popular “7’th Lava Fall”.
GAMEPLAY: This level has a similar gimmick to EvilMike’s old “Islands” level. That is, if you fall in the “pit” (in this case, lava) you are warped to your base. However, this level adds a small twist. The bases are hidden in sucker tubes, and going through the tubes will also set some triggers that will warp you to the corresponding base the next time you fall into the lava. This adds some nice strategy into the mix, and is definitely a nice addition. This makes “Zerox Factory” stand out. The level, fortunately, doesn’t favour either Jazz or Spaz. However, it’s possible to get stuck in the tubes in the lava, which is annoying, and the level’s biggest flaw.
EYE CANDY: Eyecandy is a strong point of this level. The tileset is used to great effect, as many BG layers are used, with buildings, lava flows and such. Nothing particularly special in the foreground, but the BG layers make up for it. Plus, the platforms near the lava look like they’re floating in the lava, which is a nice touch.
ITEM PLACEMENT: Basic +3 ammo is all placed well, and for once, there is no Seeker powerup. Instead, RF and Bouncer powerups are hidden in the walls. The RF is the most important weapon here. Get it, and you’ll own the level. The carrot is placed well, in the giant middle tube. It’s not biased to either side.
CONCLUSION: This is a very nice level from Blacky, that, with its interesting gimmick, makes it more interesting than yet another cookie cutter CTF level. All the bases are covered, and there’s nothing wrong with it at all. Plus, the music is nice. Download reccomedation.

EDIT: It’s come to my attention that the trigger bug is not Blacky’s fault. Therefore, I’ve raised the rating a tad.[This review has been edited by Iam Canadian]

First of all, I’m saddened you forgot to list me as a beta tester. >”“|. Now the review.

Gameplay in this level reminds me somewhat of EvilMike’s platform-hopping “SPACE LEVEL WITH ISLANDS.” Not only are the tilesets sort of both industrial-looking, but this level features lava towards the bottom and you must step accross stones to get to the other side. It is more easy than in EvilMike’s level, but this is the quickest way of getting accross and it is annoying to get seekered into it. This is, however, a good thing. It gives this level a nice dose of originality that it needs very much. The score would be a deal lower if it was not for this part of the level. There are a few other interesting points. It is the sort of level that obviously had a good deal of work put into understanding where players are going. While it does not make it very easy for the player to go through the level and the flow is not perfect, this is not necessarily a bad thing. “Perfect” flow would consist of the level making the user capture the flag themself. That wouldn’t make any sense. Rather, this level does a good job of balancing ability to move with the necessary obstructions to making the level interesting. You have to be careful on the lava, but otherwise the rest of the level is pretty fool-proof. It’s well done.
PROS: Well done. The lava, while not massively original, is still good.
CONS: There are not many routes between the flag bases. One extra one would be nice and add more dimension to the level, although it also might ruin it. That’s levelmaking for you.
RATING: 8.5

There is nothing absolutely great about the eyecandy in this level. In fact, I was tempted to give it 7.7 if it were not that the lava at the bottom provides a good distraction from the rest of the level. It may be that I have seen far too many “Seventh Lava Fall” levels, but nonetheless I am beginning to find the eyecandy in most levels using this tileset a bit tedious. While this level does use the tileset strongly and has no easily visible tile bugs (I thought a quick sweep would be sufficient in this case), the top of the level simply is not that interesting. It’s standard 7thLF fare, with industrial bricks. Supposedly, the entire thing is supposed to look like a factory, but I don’t buy that. It is better suited to be a postapocolyptic industrial area abandoned than a factory. I cannot imagine that anything could be made here. Which brings me to another point. Why is it that there is not much creativity with 7thLF levels? There are plenty of things, like boxes, that could be used to make a decent-looking factory. I once made a test level simply to show that this could easily be done, and if I could do it, anyone could. Think conveyer belts. It’s sort of fun to watch. Still, this level offers good eyecandy, especially considering the tileset.
PROS: The lava looks nice. The lack of any questionable tiles is also commendable.
CONS: The top part of this level is not reall ythat exciting.
RATING: 8.0

This level takes a fairly untraditional approach to distribution of powerups. All of the powerups in this level are in the wall and are only accessable using the electroblaster gun. Because of the fact that they take time to get, much of the game will usually revolve around the use of basic ammo. In CTF, this is not a bad idea, and this level is just big enough to pull it off. Had it been any smaller, it would be difficult to kill the opponent before they reached base. In this level, the lava provides a challenge of crossing and also forces the player to slow down and gives opportunity to kill an opponent. The placement of the basic ammo is also quite good. It is spread out in a fairly random manner, which does good for this level. There are no cheesy patterns that hurt the eyecandy.
PROS: Ammo, both basic form and powerup, is just sparce enough to make things interesting.
CONS: Some may consider it a bit too sparce, but I do not.
RATING: 8.0

Originality is one of those categories in my reviews which sort of spill over into other categories, which is why I have no specific section for it. Much of originality ends up in this category, “fun factor.” In this case, this level is not exactly original, per se. Rather, it melds elements of other previous levels while still changing them enough that it keeps it fresh and exciting. The lava is similar to that seen in “SPACE LEVEL WITH ISLANDS” by EvilMike. The base-in-a-sucker-tube has been done plenty of times. And, of course, having powerups in the wall is not a novel concept. However, Blackraptor manages to put these all together in a way that neither feels stale, nor feels stolen. The level is fun, although not so amazingly new that it is that fun. However, a CTF level like this does not necessarily need to be fun, just good, and that is definitely what this is.
PROS: Enjoyable to play.
CONS: Not groundbreaking or anything.
RATING: 8.2

This level is a good CTF level with a twist. While it is nothing extremely new or anything, it nonetheless is enjoyable to play and probably will see a nice bit of hosting. Despite the eyecandy on the top of the level not being fabulous, it still remains that this is a far above average level worth playing. It is not a classic, but is not meant to be. It is aiming to be a fun Capture the Flag level that has some original elements, and it hits this mark exceptionally. This level is definitely worth a download and several plays and would make a welcome addition in any idle Capture the Flag server’s pack.
PROS: A very good level. The lava is fun. Fairly original.
CONS: The eyecandy on the top of the level could have been a bit more interesting.
RATING: 8.2
DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION: Everyone will probably like this level, although CTF freaks will especially love it.

GAMEPLAY: A
Flow: A-
Layout: A
Creativity: A
Bugs: A

EYECANDY: A -
Tileset use: A -
Eyecandy Look: A -
Creativity: A -
Bugs: A

PLACEMENT: A -
Weapons: A
Carrots: B+

~ Traft
[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

Ok, ok, I’m reviewing this at last.

BR’s “The Zerox Factory” is a rather interesting CTF using the somewhat-too-popular 7th Lava Fall tileset. Heaven knows where the name came from, although my own efforts aren’t any better. It sounds good anyway. Regardless…

Gameplay:

The main gimmick of the level is that if you fall between a number of small platforms at the bottom, you get warped back to the last base you came from. However, this effect lasts as long as you don’t go to the opposite base, so you can potentially do some evil things with a little planning. Outside of that, there isn’t anything too unusual about the level design, outside of the fact that it makes frequent use of sucker tubes, including sticking the bases in them. Flow is good, with few, if any, spots that would hinder normal gameplay.

Eyecandy:

Unfortunately, the problem with overused tilesets is that it’s hard to come up with new and exciting things to do with it. In this case, the bottom and background looks nice, and several layers were obviously used. The top is somewhat less spectacular, although still not at all bad or boring. Several long, streaming lavafalls, chains, and cables the stretch from top to bottom are scattered about the level in several layers, so it rarely feels empty. My own opinion is that it looks better without the lighting, as the tileset is dark already, but that’s probably just me. In BR’s defense, he’s done a great job with an overused tileset, there’re no tilebugs, and the eyecandy in general is great.

Pickups:

BR has provided a nice variety of ammo to suit any given situation, but RFs, Pepper Spray, and Seeks are probably the most useful. For that reason, of the two powerups, the RF is harder to get than the Bouncy, though Jazz players won’t find it difficult thanks to coptering. Both of them can only be gotten with the relatively rare Electro Blasters, thanks to their location in the walls. Basic ammo is scattered about, although a tad sparsely for my tastes. I won’t count off for it though, as what is there is enough. Unpowered weapons will probably be used the most, though, as the powered weapons should generally be conserved until they’re really needed. One Full Energy carrot can be found at the top and center of the level, so no complaints there either.

Conclusion:

All said and done, this is a great CTF that is far above the vast majority of the levels that are currently produced. I had fun testing it, and I expect that it will show up more than once in the future.

Download: Unless you want to miss out on a great level, yes.
Host: Please. New material is always nice to see.

Ok, here I go by picking this level to review.
First impressions: Hmm… A level by Blacky[si] of OLC, which is very nice, so, I review it. Btw, I stop with saying good/very good or so.
Gameplay: Well, here is a big level, with a nice layout. The flow is nice too, the PU may be hard to find at first place but who cares. There is a nice trigger use and placement, with some tubes to make the gameplay even better. The base placement is original, You can’t go to base at the start of a duel. I haven’t seen a level with this before I think, and that’s why I like it.
Conclusion gameplay: Nice use of triggers, good spring placement, alot of tubes, nice layout. Flow is nice but not perfect. And, the level is big too.
Eye candy/Tileset use: The level has alot of eye candy, and I like the way the tileset is used too. That lava is very original, and looks nice too. The level is dark at some places too. Layer 3 and 5 had lots of eye candy, and layer 2 had something too.
Conclusion eye candy/Tileset use: Very nice eye candy, alot of stuff in the layers, excellent tileset use.
Pickup placement: This level has a nice ammo placement, but there is maybe too less here. I don’t know why there is a Blaster PU here, and it doesn’t have generator, but the Blaster PU is not too handy here, so who cares. The level has a full energy in a big red tube. That full energy can only be gotten by falling in it I think. That’s also original here. There are 2 other PU, the RF PU placed at the right side you can only get by falling, but you can get the bouncy PU without falling.
Conclusion pickup placement: Nice ammo placement, but there’s too less ammo here. Original carrot placement, PU placement may be biasing.
Originality: Yes, like I said, a very original level. First: The base placement. Second: The lava by using it for eye candy. Third: The placement of the full energy. And fourth: The music the level uses. So, I give complete points here(8.5).
Fun factor: This level is fun to play. That base placement made it not a level to do a boring straight way. (Actually, it is a straight way.) But, this level is so big, which makes it more fun imo. The level could be more closed, but who cares?
Others: Host this: Yes, I like it, really.
Download: Of course, why not?
Final Rating: 8.4-8.5.
- DarkSonic of XSD, CC and XLM -
Edit: forgot to say that you get the RF and Bouncy PU with gun9.[This review has been edited by da man]

Great job Blackraptor! As I like to think and i know all your levels rock, here is an addition! Okay, here is my STOOPID review: ;D Eyecandy: My rating: 10/10 just… Comments: Okay, i love the background, and i especially like the lava use at the bottom with warps and stuff. Also the tileset used is really overused IMO. The level doesn’t get dull in the eyecandy and the level is nearly symmetrical, and is solid and platformy at good places. Gameplay: My Rating: 7/10 Comments: Well, over here the gameplay is good, but i don’t like it too much. It has a very original idea to it, which is good. One thing I don’t like is that there is hardly any springs. But the idea of a suckertube with a base inside is good. It can be kind of annoying in this level because of the warps at the bottom that take you back to the base you were last at. I don’t really like that, but it is a really cool idea, so good thinking! ;D Placement: My Rating: 9/10, just… Comments: I have hardly any comments here, but all i remember is that the placement was good. But the power-ups need electro blaster to get them. It is used quite a lot, but I can’t live with it. (-1) Overall: My Rating: 8.7 Comments: This level has a 85% chance of must download. DOWNLOAD IT NOW, YOU CRAP!