Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I have two pithy thoughts here: the last modified dates for most of these files (mostly 2015-2019) are sad to look at, and it's an interesting pack that mostly reviews itself. The detailed readme gives sonicnathan's thoughts on all these levels individually, written years after they were made, in enough detail that I don't really think I need to do the same. I'll give some general thoughts but I'm not going to touch on every level one at a time, other reviewers may definitely want to though, there's a lot of variation here.

The earlier non-story levels, with the Colon tileset, do some interesting things with frogs and queens and so on, but they're mostly linear left-to-right single player experiences. They have a lot of block tiles, often the wrong ones, because Colon (like most official tilesets) doesn't have dedicated tiles for trigger scenery, and no one in 2015 would seriously entertain the idea of a ColonButWithTriggerScenery.j2t. That's an early way the episode shows its age, technologically speaking. Later there's a warning telling players not to save in a level because it's too big, which is no longer an issue, and the Bees event is used for wall/ceiling spikes, and stuff like that. It's all perfectly playable but one does occasionally remember that some problems have been solved in the last 5-10 years. The readme calls some of this out too, including a couple sequences where you need to shoot empty air to make small platforms appear, which gets you stuck if you happened to be inside the platform at the time.

The shooting-empty-air sequences are a great segue into one of this episode's main design principles, what I tend to think of as "mind reading" design, in that you have to be able to read sonicnathan's mind—or, realistically, just shoot and stomp every surface—in order to progress sometimes. There are a lot of things that would count as obscure secrets in other contexts but here are mandatory. What bothers me about these areas is how large they are, you're not just checking each wall in a room, you're wandering the entire level (that you've unlocked so far). One particular example: in the Ship Wreck, there's a one-tile-wide invisible hole in the ceiling. Initially it's walled off by a trigger scenery tile (which looks like a speed block), so if you see that and take note of it and remember which part of the ceiling it was at, you're good! Otherwise you're in trouble. Sometimes help strings or arrow signs will clue you in when you need to stomp a bit of floor, sometimes they won't. There are several more-or-less blind mazes scattered through the pack as well.

A random thought: for all that this is a single player episode, these elements remind me of something like Cracco World of Coins, or the UR Orbs levels. There, some of the progression is equally arcane, but because many players are exploring the same area at once, they can use chat to share discoveries and get everyone to the finish faster. Here you're more on their own. Also, because checkpoints don't do a good job of saving trigger scenery states, often the pack will make you spend many minutes in a row tracking down secret after secret, all the while dodging enemies and spikes, knowing that death will reset all your progress.

That's the negative. Even when the levels do give you hints, like saying a 'lower door' has opened, the hints are often hard to follow. As the pack progresses, linearity gives way to opaque confusion, the platformer equivalent of pixel hunting in adventure games. It's a distinct level design style for sure, it's clearly very intentional, it's part of the grand tradition of taking JJ2 levels in different directions than the official levels intended… it just kind of wears on me personally. I think without the checkpoint problem, and with slightly smaller areas to explore, I'd be fine, I'd regain the thrill of discovery and exploration, but there's just a little bit too much stacked against it right now, especially in the Top Secret level.

The positive is that there is still cool stuff in here! I'm naturally biased, but the Crysilis level is really pretty! There are so many different eyecandy elements thrown all over the level, and yet it rarely feels unapproachable. Yes, it can be hard to keep track of where you need to go next, but there's inventive design and cool platforming sequences! The background is surprisingly detailed for Crysilis too, and the number of enemies seem generally well matched to the ammo.

The readme mentions inspiration from EvilMike's episodes, and this is particularly obvious in the intro/outro text, but also in the use of specific weapons to gate progress, like descending through the level to find a single toaster pickup to blast through some toaster blocks. This is still rare enough to feel cool, I think! It does have the issue where you'll get only 3 or 6 rounds of a weapon, and need to spend every single one of them on the blocks, and definitely not slip up and kill an enemy instead—but in general the ammo and the blocks are close enough together that people probably won't make mistakes.

The readme isn't kind to the Chemical Labs level toward the end, which is mostly storytelling instead of gameplay, but I like it… it's a good example of level design as storytelling, working together with the more traditional text strings. (Levels in general are laid out differently from each other, befitting their tilesets and their story roles.) And then there's a kinda cutscene level afterwards that feels like an Another Story throwback.

For all that the more opaque puzzle solving didn't fully land for me, again, there's other good experimentation going on, like the queens early on. It's that skill of looking at what an event does and thinking about how it could be used, which can be different from how it was supposed to be used. The boss battles do a lot of this too, using flailerangs as added sources of danger, like the monks from Time Tripping. And there's a lot more pepper spray here than in most custom levels, acknowledging that it can be used as a sort of blaster powerup with finite ammo, good against tuf turtles (but also dragonflies).

I don't have much to comment on about the story, though it's neat that the readme goes into detail about what episodes 3 and 4 might have covered. Some of the asides are neat, like the hologram sequence. In general, Jazz is being a hero and Devan is being evil and has lots of evil plans and resources. It suffers from the same problem as a lot of similarly-plotted episodes in that Devan himself is mostly absent, you just get a disembodied voice from time to time, threatening evil against you.

Overall, this is definitely an episode with highs and lows, and I'm having trouble condensing all that into a rating, a number. It's a custom episode in the grand history of many custom episodes, a struggle between good and evil, a classic that we almost never got to see. It's a tour through complex layouts in varied locales, with puzzles to solve and enemies to kill (though that's rarely the focus). It runs a full gamut between basic linear design and whatever the opposite of that is, and therefore, no matter what your favorite point on that scale is, at some point in this pack you're going to encounter areas that are NOT that.

This is more of a Mario level than a Jazz level, it's very basic platforming that's not well suited to how far and fast Jazz can move. Also falling into the pit doesn't actually kill you or anything, you just softlock. You are using more than two layers, though, so that's a plus.

This level manages to feel like a typical, average vanilla JJ2 level at first but differentiates just enough to be unique in its own way. There is no ammo so you’re stuck with a blaster (at least on Hard which I played on), which isn’t really a problem for most of the vanilla enemies you’re up against except maybe for the ravens while airboarding. Carrots are plentiful but not scattered around very evenly, as it felt like the latter half of the level had more of them. The pathfinding wasn’t always clear to me, with silver crates rarely marking or even hinting at what they open up. Some walls seen earlier while playing are clear candidates for trigger scenery, but a random manhole? That took me longer than necessary to find. That, and the random warps unexpectedly taking you away while falling didn’t feel like the most intuitive pathfinding. Other than that, I can’t deny that the level was fun enough to play through, with little diversions to keep it fun, such as a snowstorm covering things up and making rooftops slippery about halfway in the level, and an airboard ride in the wind. Download still recommended!

I remember playing this long ago, so I wanted another run. For an early SP it's not terrible. Very plain level design with enemies put in lines and very powerful PU's up for grabs early on, but at least there are some original ideas.. A basic story, running across collapsing floor, and the for the time obligatory multi-bossfight of course. Music re-utilizes some original JJ2 songs in an out-of-place way.

I'm not the best person to review this, because I'm not familiar with Monica Gang or Brazilian Comics in general. This reminds me of https://www.jazz2online.com/downloads/1678/land-of-blode/ more than anything, but that had level design and tiles that were drawn to be used in levels. This really doesn't. The clipart is oddly small, but more importantly, the level art just doesn't line up with the 32×32 pixel tile grid at all. The level is a bad use of the tileset, but I don't think it's possible to make a _good use of the tileset. The author needs to find a drawing program that supports 32×32 grids, and then get some practice drawing tiles that fit in that grid and can repeat as tiles.

I like the reverse layout approach, but this is lazily executed. In particular, arrow signs still point in the old directions, there are unnecessary springs, star blocks are used as trigger scenery, and there are two trigger crates in the same area for some reason. More problematically, the witch activates and reactivates at the wrong times, the health bar flickering in and out of view for no clear reason.

The hardest test have Been created !,but as you said it is very good for challenge

Nice, but you should give the background some texture mode effect, like legacy tunnel or whatever. That way it looks way nicer, and players can achieve that basic look by putting their settings to un-textured and low detail. Also it was quite difficult to get out of the big hole trap… A bit too harsh imo xD But maybe it's fun if it gives you a lot of free kills :P Anyways, it's fun none the less, to have a 1v1 or 1v1v1 on this map. Especially if you're a good player who knows how to wall climb and rocket jump.

Very Good Script and Idea,Nice Work Turbo

Fun Level, Pretty Colours, Very Innovative

I didn't finish this, but based on my experience before I stopped playing this, I can say the following. It's clear that a lot of creativity and ideas went into this level and there are a lot of features that try to break out of the mold of standard JJ2 puzzles and test elements.

But it's presented in a way that makes it exhausting rather than fun for me. Just at the start, there are four long text signs to read with instructions, some of which contain information that is not relevant, such as notes about playing the level in Co-op while I was playing it in single player. Then just a little bit further there are some crates, all with their own instruction sign, and then you dive in the water where more signs await. I don't want to read an instruction manual while playing the game! If you need to explain everything in such detail, that should be a sign that the puzzles or gameplay elements you came up with are not clear enough to the player to understand at a glance or with a little trial and error.

It's a shame because there are some interesting ideas here – a separate gun you need to collect to be able to shoot underwater, needing a shield to pass through an area with enemies, toggling between helicopter ears and double jump – but they are presented in such a way that I do not feel very motivated to try and explore them.

One reason for that may be that the level is not linear – you can kind of run around and try the different challenges at your leisure. That's a nice idea but it also means there is no opportunity to introduce each new feature on its own and e.g. explain it through the level design, by adding a low-stakes obstacle that can only be passed if the player understands that feature. That is how most games introduce things and it works well, but since that is not possible here the player gets a lot dumped on them at once and instead of being able to try things out first you just have to read the instructions and get it right. I did not enjoy this.

As a last note – there are several text signs that are used to explain the difference between hard mode and normal mode or that say "this only applies on hard mode" or something along those lines. You don't even need scripting to make events specific to one game mode – even good old JCS lets you configure a Text event so that it is only present in a specific difficulty. You can use this to not make a player read text that doesn't even apply to the difficulty they're playing – one less thing that can get in the way of them enjoying the level for what it is.

I really like the tileset and the level! It works well as a battle level because all parts are recognisable enough for such a small level so you can easily navigate through it. Great for a 1v1 or maybe 3 players even.

It's also really cool to see how you setup the water surface part below the main part. I tried to figure it out in the .j2l file with MLLE and saw the wave layers. I didn't know this was possible yet! And the level has enough nice looking details (eye candy). I also like the color scheme and atmosphere, in combination with the sinister music.

I also really like the background, the starry night with gothic/fantasy/medieval castle & towers and the moving clouds below them, it really adds to the mystical vibe.

It's not really missing anything, but the angel script is quite simple, I imagine you could add something creative with it to make it a 10. But it's only a 0.5 point deduction (the least amount I can deduct is 0.5) because this level doesn't need it. But on the other hand; if this level is hosted on a server with lots of mutators the angel script might cause conflict so you gotta be careful with that. In that case it's safer to keep it simple like you did.

Thanks, this helped me a bit getting started making my own 32-bit tileset. Although eventually I had a really different approach than yours. I just make a 32-bit tileset with paint.net, and the masks I placed like before; in an 8bit tileset. But I like to see your approach and to see what 32-bit is capable off. This inspired me (together with other things) to really give 32-bit tilesets a shot.

Hey, I like that you upload things here. But I can't really test it alone since it's for MP. If you want we can test it together on my server? And I advise you to add screenshots, they really help giving the viewer an idea what it's about. I don't give this a rating yet because we have to test it together first.

Nice vibe, if you wanna battle me on this map, lemme know. Just for fun.

It would be nice if you add some screenshots though.

But I really like the tileset, and I know Blade's tilesets aren't the most easy to create with, so good job!

I am a huge fan of Violet's levels as he is so creative in using JJ2+ building facilities. He always comes up with amazing gameplay never seen anywhere in JJ2. This project is no exception to that. It consists of 60 puzzles in which you need to reach your flyboard without getting lost in outer space. It is veeeerrrrry difficult and I have to admit I was only able to master the easiest 'incidents', as these puzzles were called. Perhaps this gaming style is not quite my taste. But hey, that doesn't mean that it is all bad, since it absolutely isn't! This level is a huge recommendation for anyone looking for something new in JJ2 playing. And Violet, please build another sequel to this, maybe a little easier for people not used to this kind of gameplay. My idea for a setting: ORBITUS, so you introduce have cool gravity puzzles in that one!

Lol, for 2002 not bad especially because you made your own tileset, although it's a very basic one and the tiles don't always connect seamlessly it seems. The duck is quite cute and the example level was fun. On to the next!

@SpyrotheDragon2022 Yes. If you're the only player (e.g. Single Player) then there's nothing meaningful to detect. At least 2 players are needed.

Is this meant to be used in multiplayer?

This is essentially a Test level, but made to be played in Single Player rather than online. As someone who never enjoyed online tests that much I appreciate that, and there's less of a sense of urgency when playing just by yourself.

The tests are a mix of standard test fare – jumps, precise sidekicks, etc – and one or two more creative challenges including one where you need to do maths. I don't understand the math clue, which tells me that the formula to figure out what the right gun number is is "[number] x 2 + 1". The number for the first block is 0, so that's 0×2+1=1 i.e. blaster, so far so good. Then the next number is 1, so 1×2+1=3, i.e. freezer? Which doesn't work, so I'm not sure what's supposed to happen here. But overall it's an okay selection of challenges, even if most of it is pretty standard.

Rather than warping back to the start of each challenge, in this level you simply die if you fail, most of the time. Lives are not infinite though, which I found really annoying. Some tests took me a few tries to figure out what I was expected to do and not having the chance to fail more than once or twice seems to only serve to frustrate the player. This was demotivating and I would enjoy the challenges much more if I could take my time trying to figure them out. It also kind of breaks the level once you reach the end of the challenges – you're supposed to shoot a checkpoint and then kill yourself to respawn beyond a wall… but what if you have no lives left at that point?

There's a bit after the challenges where you have to swim through a school of fish. This is pretty easy to do by just speeding through with maybe one or two hits. Then there's a boss, which I found way too hard and no fun at all, but I guess it could be a fun challenge if you're really good at the game. The fact that it takes place in an arena with the same insta-death spikes found in the rest of the level at the bottom feels a little cheap though.

Visually, the level is not terrible, but not that interesting either. I guess using a blocky tileset is more or less a genre requirement, in Test levels – by that standard, this one is one of the nicer-looker ones, with some effort spent on making the background look nice, for example. This level takes place on a world orbiting an oval sun. The argument that it looks right in 16:9 doesn't really work for me – sure, it does, but then everything else looks bad.

Overall, not a bad take on the test genre, but with a bit too many elements that spoil the fun for me to really enjoy playing it.