Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Why is part of the tileset name censored? Remove that word from the censor, since it appears on JJ2 anyway! ;P

I really think that this level is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. All you do is run left to right. Oh, there’s a buttstomp bridge -secret for even more stupidity. I’ll just be nice and NOT rate this. Probably will be bad anyway.

i wonder how such a big zip file that passes the size limit still be uploaded.

Ground Force levels are few and far between, especially because custom dictates that they must always come in packs. The main Ground Force pack is, of course, Survivor, which was conincidentally re-rereleased recently. Let’s see how Satan’s pack, which has been rated once before, stacks up against the standards.
The first thing you notice upon running the SGF (Satan’s Ground Force?) pack is that Satan basically copied blur’s level-start system and made it bigger and wider, removing layer 3 and making most parts visible. The room where the host collects blue gems to end the level is now visible, as is everything else. And the rooms are a lot larger. This can look nice, but it loses the “everything fits into one 20×15 screen!!!” effect, so I’m torn. It also uses blur’s anti-jazz system with the bridges, and moves the gold host coin out of the host’s way so it’s easy to not collect it and seriously break the level.
While we’re talking about matters not specific to the individual levels, I’d just like to briefly complain about the text. It’s really bad. There are approximately two text strings in each level – “DO A SIDEKICK WITH SPAZZ” is one of them. It appears six times, and Satan never bothered to look up Spaz’s name. The pack was also bigger, so the levels are described as being Level # of 10, except for #6, which is honest and actually says it’s out of 6. This would have taken, what, a minute to fix? Sloppy presentation.
One small bug – the host can sidekick the crate, and re-enter the passage between host room and main waiting room, thus not entering the arena at the appointed time.

Magical jungle
The first level is in charge of the first impression, and Magical jungle handles that nicely, offering some nice eyecandy at the start, which is something blur could occasionally be lax in. It’s all standard Jungle use, but it looks good.
Unfortunately, the arena itself is not so appealing to the eye. There’s a fairly sparse background, with some tall things (trees and the like), and then it attempts to get more eyecandied down at the bottom. But it messes up. Most of the little background details are ok, although the strict adherence to speeds 1/1 is a little annoying. The tree would be fine too, except it sprouts from the ground. A big ground. An enormous floating ordinary looking Jungle style platform – which is COMPLETELY UNSOLID. So annoying!
Anyway, the rest of the graphics are fairly boring, as the author chose to use the standard destruct blocks. The ones which look good in a small clumb but not when they’re composing the entire screen. As a result, Magical jungle ends up looking ugly as soon as you enter, and the effect only lessens once a lot of the blocks are destroyed.
The blocks are destroyed quite quickly, though. Magical jungle has a very strict setup – enormous amounts of TNT crates are placed in chains through the level, meaning that only a few pre-chosen parts of the level will remain when everything has blown up. Once that’s all taken care of, hit the remaining crates and what’s left of the level will be destroyed, leaving everyone to claim winnership depending on how long it took them to fall in or unfreeze. (Yeah, the freeze enemies are back too. This really feels like a copy of Survivor.) Technically a few platforms are left over, but I don’t like them.
So, I’m not too thrilled with Magical jungle. It’s kind of ugly and way too prescripted. The chain is an interesting idea, though, and it has a few sparks of fun, so I’ll not go too harshly on it.

BOOM base
BOOM base is much better than its predecessor, but it seems I’ve written a lot already so I may not have as much to say. Possibly breaking the author’s claim that the pack only uses standard sets, BOOM base uses a Mez tileset, you know, the brown one that got used by Shadow. It’s used well. There are ladders, tubes, glowing holes, lots of interesting looking stuff. The walls of the level are green and gray blocks – not as interesting looking as blur’s level of the same tileset, but a whole lot better than Magical jungle.
The design isn’t too remarkable and is actually somewhat boring, but I like the idea behind the level. Once you hit a bunch of crates (as usual), the true level design is revealed, which appears to be a bunch of tiny platforms above a long line of Collapse Scenery blocks. It’s actually kind of fun, and there’s lots of hourglasses floating around.
So, BOOM base ends up being interesting, but the majority of the level is useless and uninteresting and way too flat. Decent eyecandy, decent idea, not the best execution but fun anyway.

Electric Shock
Electric Shock feels more like one of blur’s levels, specifically his first. There’s a random level, you go to the top, hit a crate, and most of the level is destroyed. blur used lasers, Satan uses DNA strings composed of TNT crates. Whatever. In any case, I guess it’s an ok idea. Not so ok is the level design itself, which relies heavily on players somehow being able to run up 32 pixel slopes – I.E. solid blocks. It’s like Polar Chill or something, but without the slopes.
Another strange aspect of Electric Shock are the RF crates – which appear in such abundance that the level would make more sense if it was called BOOM base. If you shoot the crates, they’ll explode and not do much. Take the ground out from under, they’ll fall down and maybe (but maybe not) destroy the block they land on. They’re essentially useless, just like in Overlord’s RHG level. Interesting, but I’d like to see an actual use for the little things.
Eyecandy in the level is about what you’d aspect. For the most part, Satan uses Tubelectric quite well. The only exception is, again, the arena itself, which is mainly composed out of ordinary destruct blocks, which take up far too much of the screen. Ouch. Electric Shock gets kudos for including two blue gems instead of one.

HOT ground
Ok, first, no. This isn’t hot ground. All the blocks are blue destruct blocks (…arrgh!!!). The background is reddish, but certainly not hot looking, just kind of mournful. The only part that even suggests hot is the fire at the bottom, and I wouldn’t quite count that as ground. HOT ground is an extremely misleading name for a level which mostly feels like it’s supposed to be frozen over.
Anyway, the eyecandy is, as usual, very good but disappointly standard. As is often the case with the level design, Satan takes no chances, instead going completely by the book of CliffyB. Everything is what it’s supposed to be used for, although the bones are in the background and that’s not normal and actually looks kind of cool.
As for the level design, there kind of isn’t any. At the bottom of the level is a long horizontal plane of ordinary destruct blocks (again argh) with a crate on it. Hit the crate and a few TNT crates fall here and there on the rest of the level – or the lack of such. You see, other than the thing at the bottom, Satan just went wild with the “press tile” tool and placed destruct blocks randomly all over the arena. Then some random ammo, and voila, the level was done. Blah. Uninteresting.

Hurting Grounds
Hurting Grounds has a good concept – make the blocks look interesting, add slopes, have floor tiles be destroyed if you stand on top of them and shoot. Execution is somewhat flaky, as the level design ends up being again way too flat, and the level is practically destroyed when you hit the crate. There are turtle shells and stuff, but who cares? It all gets destroyed almost instantly.
Eyecandy’s good and nothing to say about. But the third frame for the destruct scenery blocks is badly chosen.

Old Grounds
As I mentioned earlier, Old Grounds is notable for being the only level to notice that the pack is six levels long. It’s also notable for having a really weird level design.
In most Ground Force levels, you have to try to stay in. In Old Grounds, you have to work to fall out. It’s divided into three floors of basic destruct blocks (kill), one on top of the other, and you can only get to the next floor by finding and hitting a crate. How long it’ll take before someone is bored enough to hit the crate is sort of going to depend. Anyway, the floors have a huge number of blocks in them, and most of the level probably doesn’t get destroyed.
The final floor has an interesting bottom. It has a row of Switch Blocks, ready to be destroyed when you hit the final crate. Above that are several little platforms made out of Butt-stomp blocks. These come in handy when the switch blocks are gone, as they can only be destroyed by TNT, or some rascal going around and sidekicking the platforms before the crate is hit. It’s pretty fun and requires some interesting thinking.
So, cut out the top two floors, and I’d enjoy Old Grounds a little more. It’s got decent eyecandy, not the best at all, but not bad, and the thing with the knights at the start is fun (if somewhat ignorant of physics). Bla, bla, bla, I’m done with this review.

oh my…this is like the best tileset ever keep up the good work and its that good so 10
(Unsupported rating removal. A proper review requires you to say more than “this is the best tileset ever”. Please explain what makes the tileset good, and try to give the reader of your review an idea of what the tileset is like. In general, make the review longer than the rating removal message. ~Violet)

i’m not that good at making levels but my levels are so better that…..no wait i make real levels like everyone else still you get a 1
(Unsupported rating removal. What makes this so bad? Can you describe the level in more detail than “bad”? ~Violet)

1-2 is unbeatable you get to the end and nothing happens but it is so good i give a 9 it would have been a 10 if i could get 1-2 beaten
(Unsupported rating removal. It’s good that you have a comment to make on this upload, but you still could use more explanation than just “it is so good”. Can you please explain what’s so good about it? What made you want to give this a 10? ~Violet)

Yep, don’t have the tileset from the level of Snooze. Include that please.

Excelent!
Best ground force pack ever.
Eyecandy is very good.
Music is great.

agtjrbt16.j2l not found please! help!
(COMPLETELY unsupported rating (9.7) removal. Try to understand that 10 is not a default rating. The average is, if anything, 5.5. As a result, you need to explain what makes this pack so INCREDIBLE that it gets a 10, which is higher than the average rating of any upload there is. ~Violet)
Edit:oh sorry Violet i forgot
and spaz users use tnt

n

Sorry

I fixed the problem with the ‘ in the zip name. Please use standard characters in filenames to avoid this sort of problem.

hmph… Cant download it because there is a ‘ in the zip name. remove that.

Just when you thought that Blur is done with making Ground Force levels, he comes and kills wannabe “survivor” levels with survivor prefix. With 5 brand new outrageous levels. \\o/

Updates
All 30 levels use the new (and somewhat superior) Anti-Jazz system. This system is generally more safe than old one (the one using bridges tends to give Divide By Zero errors. Go figure.), and isn’t as complicated. Complicated as in, it’s far more user-friendly in JCS (I doubt I will use it, though). However, someone may not know how to wallclimb, so they are stuck in the Anti-Jazz filter room; while almost everyone should know how to sidekick with Spaz. Other than that, this system is easier to use than the older one (sometimes I kept being pushed into the bridge so I couldn’t even kick in). And we all know, that in multiplayer the easier, the better. ;p

The recent update on most of the levels is the feature, that if you are hit in air enough high, you lose. While it doesn’t really sound dangerous, be aware than it might happen with some lag and seekers. It never happened to me, but still, be aware.

Rants on originality
Most of the levels are a little more than your typical Ground Force level, as in, they’re just more original. The best example would be level 20 (Tower of Death) and 28 (Under Construction). They’re just like something you have never EVER seen before. In “Tower of Death” you must climb up an enormous tower or be hit by Laser Shield (shot out of apparently nowhere. Whee evil forces =D ) and fall down. “Under Construction” features a building made out of Speed Blocks and they have lots of Pepper Spray which destroys Speed Blocks as well. So, if you buttstomp – you are dead.

Those two levels are fine example of this pack’s overall originality, like I already said. While not every level is incredibly original and outstanding, the levels which are make up for it. Check out by yourself.

YaY for Eyecandy!!1 =D
Most of the levels are, simply, beatiful. The waiting rooms are perfectly decorated, yet eyecandy there isn’t overdone. Most of the levels have splendidly used layers, and outrageously designed walls. Everything tiles perfectly, no minor annoying bugs. The remains of destructable blocks are oftenly different than the blocks themselves. but they still manage to look great and whatnot. In levels using official tilesets, eyecandy is very original and isn’t what you’d expect from a level using those tilesets. (That doesn’t really apply to level 6, which is a little plain.)

However, not everything is pink and sweet and curly. (I said that MOST of the levels are great. Don’t blame me if you misread stuff.) Waste Drain (level 3) is just bland. Barely any noticable layer work at all, no real variety between block patterns, etc. The textured background, however, is original and isn’t what you’d expect from a typical Wasteland level. Also “Second Chances” is a little bland in the waiting rooms.

Evilness rux
The levels are hard. Hard as in, it’s difficult to survive in those, especially with a lot of people. This applies to latter six levels (25-30), because they are quite unique losing-wise. (But then, so are levels 8 and 18.) You can make barely any manouevers in “The Sludge Grounds” because warps are evily placed in the ceiling etc. Already mentioned “Under Construction” prevents you from buttstomping. In “Second Chances” walls become (like Blur called it) “evil” when a trigger crate is activated. Someone you fight with in “Avalanche Ranch” might have got an extra life so when he falls and you follow him, he warps back into the arena and thus wins. The reason why “Tower of Death” is evil should be obvious. (The SE version is even more evil, trust me.)

…yes. Truly pure Evil, with capital E.

Did I mess something? I mean miss.
That’s basically all I have to say. The overall score I’m giving it is a 9.5, no more, no less. No more, because some levels lack variety and eyecandy, no less, because of anything else.

Download it and be happy.

Six years later edit: My 13-year old self has learnt what ‘less is more’ means.

Best tileset ever
(Unsupported rating (10) removal. Please actually take the time to write a few sentences to explain your rating. Notice that even “Unsupported rating removal” was longer than your entire review. ~Violet)

Heya, lets start =)

I never saw you hosted it but whatever, i downloaded it and i saw that it was only 100×50. Not a big problem if the other things are very good.
Layer 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are used, good point, eyecandy is okay.
But the level is very small and the platforms are very near to eachother.
I dun have many time, so i’ll give you the rating.

Hey! I’m the first who reviews this!

Now to the Pack:

I find out the Levels playing all 30 of them On-line.
When I joined the Server, It was first time i was playing these Ground Force ‘‘gaming mode’‘
Jazz2 Levels. At the Start I saw the 3
’‘Out-Game’‘ Areas at the Upper Left hand corner. You
start in a Area, wheres just a Morph Monitor for morphing to spaz. Than I have to do
Wallklimbing in the middle of this area. (And, yes, its also the first time I have done this.)
When you have done that, You get warped into the Area below the first, where you wait for
all the other Players, if they are in the 2nd Area, the Host Starts the Game by smashing
Trigger Crate, I think, and the both below the players in the 2nd Area Dissapeares, the
Players fall into a Warp wich warps them into the

’‘In-Game’‘ Area: Everything is Destructible there, and you have to Survive there,
before falling into the Warp, wichs down from you. But there can also be WArps, Left and Right
from you. In one Level, there was also a Warp from you.
When you fall into the Warp, you get into the
’‘Out’‘ Area. (You spinn around in a cube like placed Suckertubes. When everyone is
out, the Host can start the next game by entering the End-Game Area.

SHORT: GAMEPLAY IS GREAT!!!!

Playing these Levels was, no, IS so much fun, each of them is in its form different, an many ‘‘secret’‘
Events were used:
The TNT-Crate wich falls onto the Game Area, like a heavy Air Strike,
The Beam, wich destroys many Blocks at once.

There are great In-Game Areas!
On of them was a High Sky Scraper (I like this Area best)
And also used was the Icey Ground force Tileset.
There is a High Tower in a Hell set to climb up, befor the blocks below you get destroyed by a laser beam.
There is a 7th Lava Fall tileset using level with great eyecandy.
There are so much good levels in this

While Playing this BIG Ground Force Level pack online, it cames clearer and clearer
into my Mind:
The RESEARCH of things like this, New Gaming modes for Jazz Jackrabbit 2, Will keep the
fun in playing this Classic and Fun game and keep Alive the Jazz2Online Community for many time longer!!!!

This is Really amazing work!
I hope we gonna do these Ground force Online- Games some more times.
It was about 2 Hours and there was no minute it wasnt fun.
So jazzers out There! If you see such a ground force Server online- Come in!
you would be angry when missing that great new Jazz 2 Gaming Experience!!!

Download Recommendation? Are you Stupid? OF COURSE! DOWNLOAD IT NOW!
(I just mean, if you don’t download it here, you will download it wihle playing the levels
online, i think you cant get around that.

GO ON MAKING SUCH A GOOD WORK TO ALL OF YOU JAZZERS!!!!
FOREVER!!!!!!

Edit: I solved the Error by myself. Now the Rating is 10!

To all the Germans HERE:
OHNE HELP? OHNE MICH!

she* ;P

Wow
(Unsupported rating (10) removal. ~Violet)

Please Include The Tileset!!
EDIT :
To SabaSpaz :

NO!
I Don’t Think That The Athor Allow That!!!!