Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Sorry for the very long delay, but here is the review I promised. I don’t feel like posting a massive review, but whatever, here goes.

SuperJazz has put a ton of effort into organising and building this pack, which becomes very obvious once you play through the levels. This pack contains a whopping 15 levels, more than any of the other packs released so far this year. The levels are mostly very high quality (Atom Heart in particular), however a couple of them feel little more than “filler material”, just made to fatten the pack up. (The Fights of March :|)

That being said, however, this pack is top-notch. All the levels have some very nice EC (especially Earth which looks awesome); nothing looks unrealistic or unrealisticly repetitive. The gameplay is also just as great, the levels are spaced out well, they aren’t filled with dead ends, they’re relatively easy to learn and flow well in general (Center of the Universe being an exception D:). I have no gripes about the item placement either.

Here’s a brief summery of each of the main levels:

Atom Heart is my favourite level of the pack, by far. It looks great, has a very strategical layout and is quite creative in some aspects, for example the PU placement. [8.6]

The Sun Fired Blanks is a very large level that is also symmectrical, with a linear yet solid layout, however I don’t like the fact you used solid layer 4 tiles in the background. Like the sprite layer eyecandy though. [8]

Center of Universe has a pleasant, calm atmosphere and an interesting layout, but it has practically zero flow which makes it annoying to move around in and seriously affects the gameplay. Aside from that, it does have some nice strategical defensive options. [7.9]

Dim0rphic is another big level, except this level is very hard to learn but is quite unconventional, but a few of the gimmicks here just seem tacked on. I personally hate the the Thermal Carrotus tileset, but at least here you managed to get away with that. [7.7]

Earth is my 2nd favourite level of this pack. There are some very original eyecandy things here, it has superb gameplay and just feels…cool. The layout might be a little hard to learn at first though. Sitll, definately one the best CTF levels released so far this year. [8.4]

The Fights of March is the smallest level of the pack, and to be honest just feels like filler material. It’s not bad, but just feels somewhat worse than the rest of the pack. [7.3]

Greater Legacy is the biggest level of the pack by far, and feels so imitidating with it’s eyecandy and size combined. I really love this level though, it should be great fun in an event despite being hard to learn. [8.3]

The Frozen Throne makes the best possible use out of the Glacier, tileset, and despite being rather small it can work with pretty much any amount of players. [8.2]

Central Shaft has a layout which is very vertical, and is significantly bigger than The Frozen Throne. It’s quite complex and takes some time getting used to but should be fun with several people once it’s learned. [8.2]

I haven’t really had a detailed looked at the other levels, but I image they will be fine too. This pack is still an absolute must-have. Host these levels often.

well i promised sj that i would review this, so here goes nothing.

EYECANDY:
eyecandy in these levels is really nicely taken care off, and most levels have very nice atmosphere, especially the bg layers.(Especially fiobb.j2l) my only complaint would be the Sprite layer ec in fioctff since i thought it was quite bland in some spots, but other than that, the ec is really nice.

GAMEPLAY/FLOW/LAYOUT:
gameplay is also nice, you can get around easily without bumping into stuff, and levels are sorta easy to learn (except fioctfe)
Layouts are very nice, most of them balance beetween tunnels + open areas which is good enough.

PLACEMENT:
Ammo placement is nice, ammo-flocks dont look bad, and i liked the pu’s you have placed in the levels.

OVERALL:
This is really nice pack, and most of the levels are bash-quality and some would be also good for jdc events and stuff. eyecandy is also good, and so is the gameplay. download recommendation.

(I also might adjust this review later because it sucks. ;/)

- snz -

I’m reviewing this on behalf of the review exchange.

First of all, I really enjoy levels of uncommon gametypes. This pack only had one, but it’s one of the best assault levels I’ve ever seen. It was well thought out, however I think you could’ve used more things accessable from your base, like buyable teleport spheres or something. Overall, this is a great original level.

Because the above level was the only unique level in the pack, I will be reviewing the other levels in general.
These levels have pretty well developed eyecandy. You used some very original ideas here, such as translucent hiding spots and corridors, and the slightly less original turrets. This made gameplay fun and strategic. I found the CTF levels in specific were very evenly matched between red and blue. In the CTF levels however, I noticed less originality was used. This is made up for in eyecandy however, as you used your tilesets to some of their highest potential.

I suggest that any multiplayer fan should download this, as it offers a wide variety of levels many people will enjoy!

Originality – 9

Eyecandy – 8.5

Gameplay – 8.5

FINAL GRADE – 8.7

You have a high quality pack here!

I put in ‘The Fights of March’ to be a level for those, who thought the levels in my pack were way too big. However, I don’t myself consider it to be much related to the pack since it was finished so long time ago. You could possibly call it ‘a bonus’, yeah.