Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I hate those bird samples. I hate that slow tempo.

Okay. No rhythm here, annoying bird samples, too slow, too long. Only one lead sample used, no bassline.

(+) Includes bird samples, which you can save to your disk
(-) That other.

Download recommendation? Maybe on April Fool.

First review in…
count fingers
a long time.

Anyway, this font does in fact look a lot like the b&w lettering in JJ2. The only complain that I have is that it has a few holes here and there. Still, it’s fairly legible, and fun to use, though if my opinion deters you, read somebody else’s.

Edit: Since a lot of characters are missing, I’m bringing the rating down to 8.2

I will also review this level, because it’s a CTF level.

Introduction: a level by ÄÉæÛÕ, with the Mystic Isle tileset. Not his first upload here, and considering the ratings, it’s not a bad level. I will find out if it really isn’t.

I’ll start off with the layout. This level is open, and has alot of vines and stuff that can help the flow a bit. There are some things I dislike, like the hooks in the level, which you need to get to the warp with the full energy. Some one ways in the level will help the gameplay too. There are also tubes in the level, that will help the gameplay even more. One thing that’s a bit bad is that there aren’t many springs on some places. It’s not too hard to get to each base, like WR said, it’s pretty easy for Jazz-users. The triggers in the level can be useful, some aren’t.

About the eye candy, it’s pretty good. This tileset is limiting, but what’s used, looked good. I liked the figure in layer 2, there are good animations in this level. Layer 3 has ground tiles in it, and also water and some secrets which aren’t too hard to find out. Layer 5 also has some dark tiles, and it looks good. The background in the level isn’t bad. Almost every layer is used. Only layer 1 isn’t. Overall the eye candy is good, I have no complaints.

About the placement, the ammo placement is decent. There isn’t many ammo, but there are also some strange events, like a 1Up, Fast Feet and time clocks. There are 3 Power-Ups. The Bouncy pu is more at the left side of the level. The Toaster pu is placed at the right side of the level. The Blaster pu is in the bottom-middle of the level. I don’t see a use for the TNT in this level, but it can sometimes be fun. There is also food, there isn’t too many, so it’s good. The Full Energy is in the warp, that’s not easy to access. There is also a +1 Carrot in the level. That carrot is secret. The ammo is placed fair, I can’t say a team has an advantage. The ammo respawns too fast, though.

I can’t say alot more about this level. It’s decent. I can’t say this is download recommended, but it’s also not a level that isn’t worth it. So I’ll give it N/A. About hosting, you hosted it already and I was there, but afterwards, don’t host it alot more.
My final rating is a 7.1.

Mario music plays
It’s a me! A Neon!
With an-a reveiw for you-ah!

First glance: Very nicely put together. Not much eyecandy but oh well.

Gameplay: I thought this level was put together well, Although space wasn’t filled up that much. Yet there was still good flow.

Eyecandy: A good amount, but not enough.
Mostly consisted of bamboo and dirt.

Weapons: A good amount. Not much to say here. But, there you go.

Final: 8

Review time!

Starting off with the layout, it could be much better, but its still decent. The level consists of ten or so medium sized platforms. While platformy layouts usually aren’t a good thing, AEaeUO did a nice job here. For the most part, the platforms seem to flow together smoothly. There are, however, a lot of things about the layout that I dislike. Firstly, I think the full energy area is way too hard to get to. I also think that this level is somewhat Spaz biased (most platformy levels are, to be honest). There are also several places where I wouldn’t mind seeing springs, for example, the very bottom right of the level. As a plus, there are team based routes. There are triggered walls added near both bases that benefit the team defending that base by making the route to it much shorter and more efficient.

There are a number of suckers tubes inside the platforms that help navigation a lot. The problem is, though, there is no indication that they’re there. Once you’re aware of where they all are, though, you’ll dominate in this level greatly. I would’ve liked to see arrows or something where the sucker tubes are; this way you wouldn’t have to memorize so much stuff.

The minute I saw this level, Diamondus Warzone immediately came to mind. A lot of aspects seem to be borrowed from it. There’s the full energy area, which is essentially a hollow rectangle floating casually in the main part of the level. It contains three crates of ammo (bouncers, freezers, and RF missles, respectively), and a full energy carrot. It can only be accessed by a warp, and can only be exitted by a warp. Nextly, there’s an area at the bottom of the level where there is a plateau. You can run under the plateau and collect electroblasters, and you can also stand on top of it.

Moving on to the eyecandy, it is pretty decent, but, like the layout, could be better. The tileset is somewhat limiting, so rating too harshly on the level’s overall appearance wouldn’t be fair. Nevertheless, though, there are some aspects of the eyecandy that I absolutely adore. For example, as Violet called it, there’s a wonderful abstract cow. If you look at the bottom left of the level, some cave tiles in the foreground make up what appears to be a bull’s head. Look under the bull’s head and you’ll see a tile bug, though. I suppose the background is good enough, but I wouldn’t have minded if there was more there. There are two background layers; one consists of a series of interconnected vines, and the other is made up of a mountain range, with pillars sticking out of it. Layer 8 looks fine. It fades to a pleasant, dark blue color. Some areas of the level make good use of lighting effects; namely the areas around the bases. There’s also a good amount of moth events scattered around, which, as always, can enhance a level’s overall feeling greatly. While I would’ve liked to see some more eyecandy in the foreground and on the grass (flowers, etc.), the overall appearance of this level is pretty good. As for major bugs, I only found one: if you jump in the small area behind layer three above the toaster powerup room, you can see your ears.

The item placement here is interesting enough. If normal ammo wasn’t enough, AEaeUO included things like fastfeet, stopwatches, extra lives, and a variety of foods. As for ammo, you can find every type in the game here. However, the only weapons that get the honor of having their respective powerups added in are blasters, bouncers, and toasters. There’s one normal carrot, and one full energy carrot. The +1 carrot is sort of hard to find due to the layout, and is guarded by a text message condemning me as Ted. As for general placement, it is pretty good. Ammo crates and barrels are a bit overdone, however. Lag might be a problem here if there are too many players.

As for my closing thoughts, this level is good. There are some comical text events here, too (would’ve been nicer if “vanish” was set on them so you didn’t have to read them over and over again). The music choice is great. This level gets a download reccomendation from me.

Final rating: 7.2
Overall pros: Nice flow, good eyecandy.
Overall cons: Somewhat lacking layout, surplus text events.
Overall cnidarians: Alaska.

Ahh. Really fun level. Aeiuo had this up for some time, and I got to beta test.

Eyecandies:

Very well done. Smooth, not too annoying, and goes well. 8 of 10.

Music Selection:

Goes good. 7.5 of 10.

Gameplay:

Now here is where the fun begins. Aeiuo put in a lot of neat gimmicks, like a gem that runs away from you. Also, he used food. Not that many CTF levels use food. The level also has practical things, like great weapons selection. 8 of 10.

Hype:

Hype is basically the rating of the level prior to me rating i, which is 6.7 of 10.

Tilt:

Aeiuo is awesome, and this level only further proves that. 9 of 10.

Overall:

This is a level i’d love to play on any server.

8 + 7.5 + 8 + 6.7 + 9 = 39.2 / 5 = 7.84 = 7.8.

Download Recommendation.

I didn’t reduce the rating because of the vine, but I still wanted to mention it, so I put it under Cons.

Rating changed to 6.7.

I’m going to keep this review short and to the point.

Pros:
1. Good eyecandy, but there is a lot of empty spaces. Fortunately, that’s not much of a problem thanks to Moonblaze’s tileset.
2. Nice, big area to copter around in, for jazz users. :-)
3. The lvl has many secrets and surprises. When I was shooting pepperspray in front of me a turtle shell suddenly fell down. There are lots of other neat things althouh most are useless (fast-feet, shield clocks, 1ups, a silver coin).
4. LRK is Ted.

In the middle we have the gameplay. Sometimes it flows beautifully, sometimes you hit a wall when you least expect it. There are springs when you need them and vines when you don’t. The bottom part of the lvl is as flat as the horizon, which will not lead to good strategy or tactics.

Cons:
1. Despite the large, open areas, Jazz is at a huge disadvantage on the ground. There are many, many places he cannot reach without stopping and uppercutting. The full nrg warp is especially hard to get into without double jumping.
2. Suckertubes lack direction. Ppl don’t know where the suckertubes will take them until they attempt to enter it. Put arrows at the exit and entry points so ppl know if they can enter the suckertube from their direction or not. The tube at 129, 13 is also Jazz-unfriendly.
3. Sparse ammo. This is quite a big lvl, and therefore suited to lots of players. Lots of players, however, means that ammo will be used up rapidly. There is not enough ammo to go around, not even for a 2v2.
4. Some eyecandy bugs. Pos 107, 46 is one example.
5. The red spring at pos 185, 25 is useless unless you are on the red team. It would be better if you just placed a suckertube accesible only by the red team instead of a spring, so blue players won’t get confused and run into a dead-end.
6. Pos 22, 38. The suckertubes there needs to be fixed. One is set to Y speed -8, which should be changed to +8.
7. The next lvl setting is not set to arealang but to actf, which I don’t have.
8. The swinging vine, or any swinging vines in JJ2, does not work in MP.

I’m giving this a 6.7 because there are many bugs and flaws in this lvl that could have been fixed easily if you had betatested it (if you did betatested your lvl, then you should definitely switch to someone else… :-P).

I wouldn’t recommend downloading Arealang until the bugs have been fixed. After that, it’s an ok lvl, not great, but fully playable and enjoyable.

EDIT: Changed rating to 6.7. I give DL recommendations to all lvls at 7 or above but big fans of CTF may want to have a look at this.

Let’s rate it:

Eye Candy:
I like the space eye candy, I love it a whole lot that should get from me:
8.7

Layout:
The Layout is the best thing about this level, well, it is, defentily is, yes! I love it a whole lot:
9.8

Weapon Placement:
I like how you place the weapons in the level, I love it! Yeah, there are may weapons, I think some are even hidden.
9.9

Powerups:
That’s good, there are two powerups that I found, I like it! Absolutily!
7.0

The Carrot Powerup
Well, that’s good, full healed, one actually that’s not good, no good at all:
4.5

The Flag’s Place
I like how you place the flags, yeah, it’s diffucult to find, nothing wrong here!
10

Tileset Choice:
Good choice, I like your choice
7.6

Music Choice:
I’m not interested in music but this music is absolutly perfect
10

Avarge Rating: 6.75= 6.8
If you’re looking for a good level this is the level you’re looking for.
Download recommanded: Yes
Put it into server: Yes

~The Blaziken Master

Yes, all typos made by Spotty were completely intentional. If you’ve ever talked to him on MSN, you’d know. ;-)

[test edit. ignore me. ~cooba]

Jarno vos, that’s the way Spotty talks. There are no accidental typos in Spotty’s speech! ;-P

When I start the program, I’ll get this message:
Component ‘richtx32.ocx’or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid.

please update the file and put this component into the download.

Carrotpie

Well, let’s begin:

1st Level: Mission

Layout:
The Layout is good, I like that a whole lot! 7.8

Eye Candy:
Not bad, not bad at all, well, I like it!
10

Story:
The story isn’t perfect, just halfly!
5

Overall Rating: 7.6

Level2:

Eye Candy: Well, I like it but it’s not perfect! It’s better than in the other level!
8.9

Layout: I’m lovin’ the layout, oh yes, it’s perfectly perfect. But not a 10 I deposte, maybe a
9.5

Enemies:
They are many, not too many for me, I love it! :D
8.7

Weapons: I like how you set weapons, I love that too! Well, good work in that!
6.7

Ammos: Many, not too few not too many overall, it’s good event!
9.9

Foods: No foods? Eh….
0

Suck Tube: I love these, I defentily do, well, I love it!
8.7

Boss: He is strong and hard to beat, it took me long time to beat it! :(
9.8

Overall Rating: 7.775

Tileset Choice: 8
Music Choice: 9
Overall Rating: 8.09375=8.1
Rating Recommand: Yes! :D
Good luck with your next produtions!

Bjarni: To update to version 1.23, download and install this file: http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/downloads/info.php?levelID=572

I apologize for being off-topic.

By special request from Danyel, It’s my turn to review. That, and this download doesn’t have a rating yet and I’m trying to catch up anyway :p

Melody

If the name didn’t give it away, this is another remix of the Jazz Jackrabbit theme we all know and love. It starts off shallow, slowly fading in till 0:54, when the real song starts. Nice for keeping the intro limited to 1 minute or so. The intro is basicly the first part of the intro of the original (I think I lost a few readers) over and over. If you’ve read my review of Dan’s Tubelectric Remix, Dan uses the same tactic: switching instruments. Nice strategy, as it helps keeping the song from growing dull. From 0:54 the actual song kick in, it somewhat follows the original(with a piece omitted). At 1:29 we get an intermezzo (quiet period) followed by, in my opinion, an annoying part if you use stereo headphones: The section 1:34 to 1:46 has the melody focussed too much on the left. Kinda painfull as it’s kind of loud. Followed by another intermezzo and at 2:04 we get an orignal solo piece till 2:28, with the same problem: focussed too much on the left. At 2:34 it resumes with the same melody as at 0:54. It goes on like that till 3:27, where we get another original solo (focussed too much on the left again, could ya guess?) It’s quiet long too: to 3:50. Then comes the outtro, which follows the outtro of the original faithfully, only with fade-out. Ok, i’m done.

Instruments

Switching instruments seems to be Danyel’s favored strategy for making remixes, and with the in-game songs being so short (a few exceptions here and there), what else can ya do aside from creating original melodies? I can’t exactly indentify the exact instruments, all I know is that the ones in the background are bassed in the beginning, sounding somewhat heavy and dampered. My guess is they’re synthesized. One instrument that caught me off guard was the piano, used for the original solos. As said before it’s quite loud. It’s also used at the very end, with heavily bassed instruments in the background, it’s a nice contrast wth the clear piano.

Tempo

All I can is: it’s steady. No changes or anything in mid-song. Compared with the original, this remix is a tad slower.

Verdict

A nicely done remix overall, the only problems are that on occasion, it’s focussed too much on the left and the piano’s a bit too loud when that happens. Still, the original pieces are an added welcome. Recommended listening with reservations, be sure not to use stereo head-phones :)

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

Wow Great Levels. Violet CLM

And By Some Levels Have You Used
A Hocus Pocus 3D Tleset (9.7 For The Tileset That You Have Used)

Eyecandy Ehhh
What Can I Says Over The Eyecandy EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Nothing :P (8.7)

By The Things That Spotty The Ghost Says
Have You Typed Words Wrong!

~Jarno

Hm. I had this set under a different name (and maybe got the music from this, music owns =P). Or rather, I had a set like it except with fewer tiles. Since I’m reviewing this for nostalgic purposes, the review will be kept fairly short.

There are several tiles included, I don’t particularly like the way some are drawn – Tiles like the ones on row 9, 10, and 11 (the blocks) and the Bg look differently drawn then some of the tiles like the plain green ones. If you want to make a set, stick to one drawing style in it so things don’t look out of place. The theme doesn’t really remind me of a forest, rather, I wouldn’t know what theme to go along if I make a level using this. Not so many animations in this set, but it has stuff like poles, hooks, vines, hurt events, and destruct blocks and stuff, and eyecandy tiles. The stuff needed to make a good level is there, but I don’t really like how the set is drawn, and am not particularly fond of the detail/texturing and coloring of it either, as well as that it doesn’t look much like a forest. Looks really flashy though ;d. Masking is good enough.

This tileset feels like a 7.2, so that’s what I’ll give it. Seems low compared to some other ratings, but those reviews where made in 2002, and this one in late ’04, so standards change I guess ;|. Download reccomendation? Doesn’t really scream out one, and apparently MB has a set just like it. In conclusion, its a decent set, but there are better forest ones out there. Probably the highest I’ll give something without giving a download reccomendation ;d.

Very fun lvl and very long too! :D Good eyecandy and originiality(because there are no library lvls apart from this one, AFAIK). There are no cool effects, but the lvl is filled with secrets. It’s also pretty easy no matter the difficulty, but its length will make up for that. Great lvl. I want to give it something higher than an 8 but it’s just one lvl. :-(

Download recommendation and ++the library tileset, which should be expanded! :-D

I liked that a lot. Great puzzles.
Music is hmm…. great.
Eyecandy rocks!!!
Mummy bunny is very good enemy.
(I tried use that but it’s not easy.
Download recommendation from me.

Had fun betatesting this

Just like I had mentioned in the JCF post I made about this pack, it is a very good one (Imo I prefer it over time tripping) and this is the place where I’ll justify my reasons.

Legends and Hints

Well, to summarize this in one sentence: This is one of the best cutscene levels I’ve seen. Not one of those old overdone ones where you’re taken through a sucker tube and read text strings (I’ve done those a few times =P), but a hocus style one with even pictures (Taken from google!). Good first impression on the pack.

A Random Castle
Not particularly the most creative name I’ve seen, but the level itself is good. Firstly, it’s non-linear, which, at least for me, made playing it more enjoyable. I really like the chesire trick used here (and throghout the pack), original and cool. The level was challenging enough, and provided several off-route secrets which made it more fun to play. Eyecandy was alright-good, nice to look at, but I’ve seen it before. Enemies where placed alright, even though the bats may have looked a bit awkward floating in midair.
Layout/Gameplay: 9.2
Eyecandy: 8.5
Placement of Stuff: 8.5
Originality/Music: 8.4
Overall (not average): 8.8
Average: 8.68 ~ 8.7

Lack of Marmalade

This was one of my favorite levels. Firstly, I liked the music choice here. Layout was also nicely done, I had trouble finding some of the coins here playing the first time, and spent a while on it. I don’t like some of the changes made to it after I tested (the dark lighting) though, looks strange and I don’t like how it interfers with the playing arena =\. Other than that, the level was fun, had some cool effects, and was nicely done.
Layout/Gameplay: 9.5
Eyecandy: 8.3
Placement of stuff: 9
Originality/Music: 9.5
Overall/Not an Average: 9.2
Level Rating: 9.1 (on the dot).

A Cold Day In Foomania

Hm. A nice change, a level in the pack that doesn’t use the hocus tileset =P. Looking at the tileset (which is rather limited – Ground Force by ET) Violet did a good job. I like the music, it gives the level a nice feel, and the eyecandy is near the best it could be considering the set. I really like the layout, very nicely done, and lots of secrets too. Considering the chosen set, this level is very well done =P
Layout/Gameplay: 9.8
Eyecandy: 8.7
Placement of Stuff: 9
Originality/Music: 8.6
Overall (not an average): 8.7
Level Rating: 8.96 ~ 9.

Black Ninja’s Castle

Beginning (and lighting) of level owns (especially the nice blackness effect of the skulls). Level is actually fairly short, but the boss battle with BN owns (must’ve been annoying animating all that =P). I like the eyecandy here a lot, creatively done.
Layout/Gameplay: 9.2
Eyecandy: 9.2
Placement of Stuff: 8.5
Originality/Music: 9.7
Overall/not an average: 9
Level Rating: 9.12 ~ 9.1. The shortest level so far got the highest rating, heh.

The Nature Castle
Nice & different scenery, interesting layout, and lots of secrets. Not the best level, but I like how it differed in appearance from the rest of the hocus levels so you wouldn’t have the same eyecandy thrown at you and stuff. Different enemy choice, and nice (but overused ;() music. Lots of chesire2s, too.
Layout/Gameplay: 8.5
Eyecandy: 9.3
Placement of Stuff: 8.4
Originality/Music: 9
Overall (Not an average): 8.8
Level Rating: 8.8 on the dot.

Mellenwah
Also nice first impression & tileset use. Music is alright, fits the mood. Eyecandy rux, layout is alright and the level is flooded with enemies. I like how the mad monks were designed. Seemed to be less hidden stuff in this one.
Layout/Gameplay: 8.5
Eyecandy: 9.3
Placement of Stuff: 8.4
Originality/Music: 8.7
Overall/not an average: 8.7
Level Rating: 8.72 ~ 8.7

Fooruman’s Hologram Machine
This level was HARD. And long. Layout was nicely done, multirouted. Lots of sparks, hurt events, lava, hatters, etc. Ergh. But lots of shields and pickups too so =D. Eyecandy was chaotic but managed to peice together alright, we couldn’t find a better music for this so this stayed, although I don’t mind M04. I had no idea what to do in the end boss place. I just stayed crawled up on the left side platform where nobody seemed to be able to hurt me (sparks were faced towards me, Bilsy didn’t notice me). Stomp scenery = evil. Sooner or later I somehow won. So yay.
Layout/Gameplay: 9.2 (haarrdd, try it on hard mode :P)
Eyecandy: 8.8
Placement of Stuff: 9
Originality/Music: 8.9
Overall/not an average: 9.2
Level Rating: 9.02 ~ 9

Just a question, but what was Greenkiller doing in Fooruman’s Hologram machine? =P

Oh Yeah

This is really a level ;o. I like the effects in the beginning of the level (the Hologram machine’s destruction, Fooruman being a stup and taking your coins). Most the level is just credits in a level (Nice idea), except the epic battle in the end which is nicely done. I don’t really know how to rate it since it’s not really a level (level, credits, cutscenes and EPIC BOSS BATTLE in one!) so I’ll just say it was an awesome ending.

Final Notes: I really like the concept of this pack. Needing to collect a certain amount of coins is more original and fun then just searching for the ending. It also had most the levels be multirouted and non-linear, which is also good. I had a lot of fun playing, testing, and giving suggestions towards this pack, and I think it is definately something you should all download and play. Happy (Early) holidays!

=Ratings=
A Random Castle: 8.7
Lack of Marmalade: 9.1
A Cold Day in Foomania: 9
Black Ninja’s Castle: 9.1
The Nature Castle: 8.8
Mellenwah: 8.7
Fooruman’s Hologram Machine: 9
Average: 8.914 blahblah ~ 8.9. I’ll be nice and up this by +0.3 because the cutscenes were rux enough to help the rating of this pack. 9.2 is what I give, and definately a download reccomendation.

Good Job Violet!
~Blacky.

(Kinda ironic that I would give this less than I gave your hocus pack. Heh, standards changing I guess.)