Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

This really isn’t what PT32 says, but it’s not exactly a very good pack either. The tileset is a start, and it’s good to see people make tilesets specifically for their packs. The design got repetitive after a while, though it did have its moments (I liked the spike boll maze). Overall, this pack is a good start, and I hope to see more.

An awesome lot of work there :D Thanks a lot DD.

Ah yes. I have returned temporarily, just long enough to review this level pack, maybe longer.

Anyways, from the outset, I’d say that the level pack does a few things right. For one, it only puts the first level in the level list, which is good because it prevents confusion. It also does a very nice cutscene with some great animation and stuff, which somehow manages to go to the next level without the usual end-level fanfare that is found normally.

After that we hit the first level. It looks pretty good, with good music and a nice tileset choice. The storyline is very vague here, but that’s not much of a problem. What IS a problem is a few gameplay problems. For one, insta-death pits galore. Also, it wasn’t totally clear what could and couldn’t be stepped on.

There’s this one graphical element here I don’t like though, which is this repeating land mass which creates depth at the top and bottom of the level, but also obscures stuff and looks odd at the beginning. Otherwise, the only major complaint with this level is that the final boss is an icy pile of snow that shoots flails at you and summons flails from the ground and walls.

The next level is a hotel. I’m not kidding. I have no idea why, but it is. It’s supposed to be a base or something, I think, but I couldn’t help feeling I was playing as Jason or something as I slaughtered tons of what must be tourists. The eyecandy was very busy, and not that good, with screwed up perspectives at different times. The enemy placement wasn’t that good either, with just tons and tons of enemies, even when it didn’t make sense.

So then we magically get onto a satellite in space after that. Then we navigate through three satallites which are actually mazes before we have to take out a very hard “communications array” consisting of three hidden queens. Afterwards, we are treated to a nice “cutscene” (as it’s just a still image) of Jazz jumping down to the planet from the satellite… this looks alright, but is a bit weird. Jazz says he want to take over Devon’s planet. Huh.

So then we’re in central park, which looks really nice, but isn’t particularly good or bad, except there are still a ridiculous amount of enemies.

And after that is the city. This is probably the worst level, as it feels unfinished. Not even any music. Not really much in the foreground, though there is a big background which looks great. This level requires a lot of leaps of faith, often into but often not into insta-death pits. At last we make it through and fight Devon Shell in a big open arena. He then actually pleads for mercy as Jazz says that he is going to take over the planet, muhahaha.

Then there is another of these cutscenese. Then the game crashes.

Yes, when it says “first half” it does not mean “chapter one” it actually means the download is split into two parts. I don’t see why. It would’ve been nice to put a “To be continued…” or something, and quit gracefully.

Last thoughts?

It’s an okay pack, with a semi-interesting storyline I could not take seriously because of the variation and odd choices in the levels. I’d say download anyways. You’ve got nothing to lose, and there’s some interesting stuff anyways. So yeah, not that great, but not bad either. It’s okay. 6.5/10

Well, there’s not much to really say. The levels are exactly the same as the standard Treasure Hunt levels, except with ammo instead of gems. One thing I was very pleased with was that the author did not simply do a mass replace of gems with ammo, but actually took some time to consider placement. Overall nothing really new, or particularly great.

Found this hard to use. :(

I like harder test. Your pack isn’t hard. just for justice.

I like this level.I think it’s really good fun.

[Review changed to quick review. – cooba]

Ok.I begin it.

MAIN PROBLEMS:
-the levels are too short
-there isn’t any food
-not a good eyecandy
-little ammo

LEVELS:

Level 1: Bad.Short.Boring.

Level 2: Ok.It’s not bad.I hope you’ll create more levels like this.There are some coins,a bonus room, and some trigger sceneries.But you should fix it.

Level 3: Too short!!! There are some skeletons and some warps.And no more!!!

Level 4: Too easy(I think).The boss room is little.No more.

My rate is:No download recommendation.But the second level is a little good :)!

good lvl

[Review changed to quick review. – cooba]

good test :P

[Quick review. ~cooba]

Good level! =D

.

[Rating (1.0) clearance. One character is not enough support for a rating, let alone for extreme ones like 1.0. – cooba]

Let me be honest here…This level is a tad overrated. I’m glad some things were fixed, like the filename and bugs, but the level as a whole isn’t that great.

Graphics: This is where the level suffers the most, I think. Don’t get me wrong, the eye candy’s okay, but there’s just too much of it! It’s hard to make out what can be jumped on and what can’t, and it obscures items and enemies.
GRADE: C+

Music: Standard jungle theme. It’s not bad, but you could have done something better.
GRADE: B+

Playability: This level can be beaten, which is good. Just be prepared to deal with unseen enemies unless you have a very sharp eye.
GRADE: A-

Structure: Felt kind of tight in places, as if trying to keep you from dodging obstacles and such. It doesn’t really do you many favors. It’s not terrible, but please do keep enemies and movement in mind when making other levels.
GRADE: C

Placement: Most of the items were easy to reach, but I couldn’t find the coins needed to open the bonus warp. That might be from my rusty skills, but eh. I’m not too concerned. There should be more weapons and maybe a few extra carrots, I ran out of toaster ammo before I reached the end. Also: NEVER put enemies on top of or near checkpoints! That’s just bad design right there. Also, take away the platforms in the boss area, the boss isn’t going to jump after you and the lack of platforms allows for better maneuverability.
GRADE: C-

Difficulty: I’d say about average. A player with decent skills in JJ2 should be able to beat it without dying.

Verdict: I’d say, try it at least. If you like it, that’s fine. Me, I don’t really like it. It’s not terrible, but it could be improved.

FINAL GRADE: C
RECOMMENDATION: No

Last time i did review this, i wasn’t very positive about it. Maybe i did got the old version or so…

But now i am very happy with it :D It fixed my trigger event problems (didn’t show that event :O) in JCS.

The added text is nice and can be usefull even for experienced JCS’ers. Some info about MCE could be nice to just as Sonicnatan Suggests.

Nice!

Very good level! I don’t know,how do you remember construction of JJ1 Battleship.

An idea with powerups instead Gun-crates is really nice,almost like ammo-orbs from JJ1

But to the battle this level is little bad. You could make your own Battleship in Single Player type. When I’ll make Episode Six,I’ll do it definitely.

Music is good,you choose good Battleships remix,based on orginal Song15.s3m(Battleships)

Tileset,well you choose nice set,but why always everyone make so slow animation in each level. Faster animations are more effective,ex:25-30 fps.

On like-boss in the end of Battleships level I advise put a Tweedle Boss and near him put Activate Boss event.
When you destroy Tweedle(he’s invisible)you could put destroy scenery on wall and behind it finally put End Area event. I know this is little stupid idea,but I’ll rather use it.

OK,I think you worked hard on this level,because is little tiring to make an ideal copy of JJ1 Battleship.From my all positive comments,I’ll give you 8.0 rate.

There are currently two reviews with completely different viewpoints. You, as a potential person who reads these things to be informed of what to download, may be completely confused and conflicted by this. “Which review is closer to the pulse of this pack’s quality?” you may ask. I’m here to say “Stijn is. Listen to him” as well as bring my own opinions to the table.

Dark Forest Adventures is comprised of four core levels and then two repeats that are actually quite good because they offer a different take and add new challenges to the original (fledgling level designers take note- this is pretty much how you can reuse levels and get away with it.) These levels mostly feature Mario-esque pixel perfect platforming and traps (Bowser would be proud of the way Devan refurnished Carrotus Castle) only in a JJ2 set of mind. Instead of the platforms going right floating over a pit, they’re strung across large expanses of forest, caves, and castles having the player explore an area in pretty much every direction. While its not perfect, its still a refreshing ride to play through these levels. Also littered about are some decent puzzles that give the pack a nice sense of variety.

Unfortuantly there is only one tileset used for this pack making the two castles and the outside bits look a little samey respectively but I think that can be outweighed by the fact troglobite went out and made it himself putting forth some extra effort very few level makers actually take by making his own set. Even if it isn’t really up to par, I can’t think of a pack in recent memory that had tileset developed specifically for playable levels. Further proof of this guy’s great creativity is the story giving proof to what I’ve been rambling about for years: You don’t have to be EvilMike to make a good Devan story, you just need a good story. The twist was unexpected and wonderful, and the fact that the villain had some actual motivation beyond “RAWR IM EVIL. TRY AND STOP THIS TEAM JAZZ!!!1” should be applauded.

In a time thats currently comprised mostly of decent one off levels and awful JJ1 remake packs, its great to see someone combine the ‘decent’ and the ‘packs’ bit to create something worth your download and time.

I’m guessing the name of Dark Adventures is cribbing from the rather fun “Dark Forest Adventure” pack. Mostly because theres no adventure and its hardly ever dark! Whats the deal? as Seinfeld would inquire.

In fact continuing on with my one note all text Seinfeld impression, whats the deal with these levels? They’re short, bland, and pretty awful. Except for Mission Impossible which not only was out of place, but was semi-decent at the start making me think some thievery Limbo of the Lost style was at work here (it goes back to being awful halfway through so my fears were put to rest).

How awful are these levels. Lets take a quiz. You are playing a level where you hold right and shoot things, ocassionally having to hit a spring or stomp something.
Do you
A) Like it
B) Dislike it
If you chose B, you can be rest assure that the first two levels hold nothing for you (despite the second starting to show some deviation from this, its a lie). Also, do you like awful boss arenas? No? Well then the two boss fights (one is Uterus in a tiny cramped box like area, the other is Devan in an arena where he’s more likely to jump through walls than actually attack you) will do nothing for you either.

Level 3 offers a different variation in which you occasionally go left to shoot enemies and hold down the directional button. Awesome. For the record, Level 4 is just the Devan boss fight.

I cannot recommend downloading this, but to Esteban I say keep trying, the first part of Level 2 showed some promise.

thanks for the advice. this was mostly a test to see if the concept was good. When i made it i just used the first 10 minigames ideas i had, although i have about 25-30 to pick from for a final version. I will most likely do like 3 versions of the final product and get testers to pick out the best.

A minigame compilation pretty much lives or dies by its minigames. The concept of having to complete games to win a race is very cool, but many of the minigames here are pretty awful. Im not sure I completed mutation lab correctly (and it also felt quite slow), vault doesn’t seem to work right (and is impossible to return to the top to change the combination), the warp/spring one, the frog game, and moneybags are frustrating, dull, and far too time consuming, and the maze is kind of confusing (why are there two exits if only one works?).

Some people here will be like “focus on the eyecandy!” and I’m here to tell you “NO.” Do not listen to those people. They are bad. For two reasons: 1- This is an in progress proof of concept. 2- Even if they looked pretty, most of these games woukd still suck. I liked the signpost one although the final stage was a bit too complex (there was about 4 different ways those arrows could be interpreted) and I liked the water leveling one.

I think for a race-minigame hybrid to work, the minigames need to be challenging, but at the same time fast-paced. Adding some freeze events into the Signpost game would add some challenge and still keep the speed intact provided the player minded to avoid the hourglasses.

Axe everything but the signpost, water rise, and cat minigames (since those would work well, however at the same time all need some degree of fixing), and try coming up with some speedier concepts for minigames.

I have a seperate idea on how to change the minigame select mechanic although its not really necessary at this point and I doubt you’d want to hear me ramble about it anyways.