Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

There seems to have been a lot of levels lately which are extremely small, yet do not quite qualfy as a microbattle level. These levels are mostly fairly quickly made and of middling quality. This one, unsurprisingly, is no exception to the rule of mediocrity. A fairly uninspired level by nature, it falls into the realm of below average due to a few moderate to major problems. And, finally, its fate is sealed by a major bug revolving around falling off the level. This level is not an epic by any means. It is more like a picture book with the last page torn out. Now for the review…

EYECANDY/TILESET USE: Jungle is used adequately here. There is nothing that impressive about the overall eyecandy quality of this level. It is a fairly standard Jungle level, which nothing amazing. Eyecandy is decent, and while there are not many tile bugs, there are a lot of questionable tile uses that probably could have been avoided if the author was paying a bit more attention. Again, the problem here is although this probably is the best category for this level (tied with weapon and item placement), that does not necessarily mean it is flawless. Still, this category does come out to be decent, although empty and uninspired.
Pros: The eyecandy is one of the best parts of the level, if that is any consolation.
Cons: The eyecandy is still questionable and oftentimes uninspired.
Rating: 5.5

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: As I stated earlier, this section is probably tied with tileset and eyecandy and tileset use for the category this level best fares in. Not that this is saying all that much. There is a sufficient amount of ammo to allow for interesting play, although it sometimes goes overboard. Another big problem with this level is a bug revolving around the stomping of the ammo boxes in the “ammo hut.” This causes, because of the sudden animation of all of the ammo, the disappearance of the player’s sprite. This is really an annoying side-effect and should be avoided whenever possible in any level. This level also contains a seeker, which switches the ammo ammount from below average, mainly basic ammo to too power-up oriented.
Pros: Could be worse.
Cons: Seeker powerup throws off balance. Annoying disappearing sprite bug in the ammo hut.
Rating: 5.2

ORIGINALITY: This level is not really original. It is, more or less, just a standard really small Jungle level. Not much more to say here.
Pros: None.
Cons: Not original.
Rating: 2.7

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: Here is where the level hits quite a few large snags. The first snag is a major bug revolving around the tree which boarders a line of sucker tubes which are intended to send the player hurdling back into the play area. It is not that hard to cause, especially when a player is trying. If you just stand on the tree and walk slowly to the right, you can bypass the sucker tubes and go onto the other side of the tree. From there, the player can not only not get up, but also can fall off a nearby cliff. The land does stretch for a bit after the tree, but eventually comes to a very abrupt end where the player simply falls off of the level. This is quite a big glitch, and while it is fun to exploit, it should have been caught and fixed before uploading. Beyond that, there are a few things fundamentally wrong with this level. Spaz can access the top area without aide of anything but his double jump, while Jazz must find other ways. This is not a huge problem, but it does leave Spaz in much a better of a position than Jazz. Also, there is an area of this level which looks solid but is in the background. This sort of thing has always bothered me, and probably always will. I dislike invisible things that look like they are solid, especially when it is difficult to get back up after you fall. Due to the size of this level, gameplay is not very amazing and it is hard to give information on layout. However, one thing is certain. The level seems disorganized and sloppy, with little of a layout. Not to mention it is small and buggy. Not a good score in this category.
Pros: It is, yet again, not as bad as it could be.
Cons: The major bug regarding the sucker tube and tree should be fixed immediately. The annoying invisible background eyecandy thing. Jazz being unable to jump to the top area. The level’s size. Really, the list goes on. This level is just fundamentally flawed.
Rating: 3.5

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: I have played this level online, as another reviewer decided to host it for a while after reviewing it. Most of the play concerned exploiting the interesting tree sucker tube bug and killing the player on the other side. While, at first, this can be fun, this is still not enough to raise my score or anything. Not to mention this gets old after about the tenth game of “transtree tag,” so to speak. After that, this level is reduced to a fairly uninteresting and all together too small Jungle level with an uninspired atmosphere.
Pros: The tree bug thing was sort of fun. Sort of.
Cons: The rest of the level is really dull.
Rating: 3.7

OVERALL (not an average): Yet another miniature battle level, and yet another disappointment. I would recommend next time spending a bit more time on the level, and definitely making something bigger and checking it for bugs more thuroughly. Still, I have seen what you have done in the past, and if you spend time and dedicate yourself to making the level, I am sure you can make something pretty good. However, this just is not it. I am afraid that I can not recommend this for download and I am afraid that this level probably can not be fixed well enough. The idea of the level, along with the many major bugs and flawed layout make this a fairly unforgiving repair prospect and probably a good idea to put in the past.
Pros: It could have been worse.
Cons: Some really severe bugs definitely get in the way of play. This level has too many flaws to list.
Rating: 4.2

GAMEPLAY: D
Flow: D
Layout: D -
Creativity: D
Bugs: D -

EYECANDY: C+
Tileset use: C+
Eyecandy look: C+
Creativity: C
Bugs: C

PLACEMENT: C
Weapons: C
Carrots: N/A

THE FINAL GRADE: C -

THE FINAL RATING: 4.2

Pros: It could have been worse.
Cons: Some really severe bugs definitely get in the way of play. This level has too many flaws to list.

- Trafton

Ok, I dont like this much. Firstly, instead of having the sucker tubes on the right side which is a bit slow and annoying, you could of had a wall. The level consists a some floating platforms and stuff. Most of it is empty. The ammo is very poorly placed. Those ammo crates in the warp cause major lag. There is only one carrot, and the level lacks springs. The eyecandy is nothing fantastic. Sorry, I dont reccomend this level at all. It’s late and I have to go so my review ends here. No download rec.

Hmm, well there are several problems here. Like after browsing this level in JCS, I still didn’t see the point of the sucker tubes in the far east side of the level. Also you need more platforms, weapons, food. Add some springs like BlurredD said. And see if you can do some more with the Eye Candy.

Very good level.

+Lot of secret.
+Originallity is high

-One level medium size

This is very bad level. Arena is too small (for 2 players). Little of weapons. Lot of bugs (very hard enemy).

No…

My feeling is this.
MY FEELING
Not good.[This review has been edited by Danyjel]
D/L not recommended[This review has been edited by Danyjel]

Dan, you were supposed to be turned into the frog. It’s part of the story, you have no choice but to exit the level.

Oh well… You asked for it… :)

Two words: too short.
Your first level was good, although it was short, but those are even shorter (at least for me)… Some tileset use mistakes especially in the third level and also in the third level there’s a witch which turns you into a frog and I couldn’t find a way to turn back into a rabbit unless I killed myself.

Your last level I rated 7. Those two are worse than your first battleship level – sadly…
I can’t give much than 5 and I still fell that might be too much sorry

No download recommendation.

1) Try to make the next levels a little bit longer
2) try to avoid tileset use mistakes
3) try to avoid impossible to get out situations :)

EDIT: There’s a story? umm… where?[This review has been edited by DanX]

Very Nice. The level is good created. And it fits good. Wonderfully Ammo placement. Beautiful background with the orginal tileset from Diamonds! But the music is standard in the game. If you had add a new music file playing in the background I would give you a 9.0. rating!

This level is not good! It’s small and doesn’t fit good… However this is your first level, offcourse you have to learn allot. Try making more levels and make them so good as possible and take your time, take some days to make them not just a few minutes. Better luck next time!

ET what happened to the older version of jazz ski rabbit…..i want to see the start movie…..By the way nice artwork on JSR i will be ratin it today……I just got it yesterday and i luv the game…..=P i am gona download this music…(which was supposed to be for JSR i bet)and i will rate again.=P Happy Jazzing! -Sk8terboyJJ2

Oops… I didn’t realize that. Umm… I’ll tell you as soon as it is uploaded. Wow, I am actually impressed with the rating, believe it or not, it’s the highest I’ve gotten so far. Proves I must be good if I can take a generally low-rated idea and get it rated 5 times that. I do realize it’s small, but maybe 5 people could play.

Ok, it’s updated. I also improved the eye candy a bit.[This review has been edited by mikeejimbo]

Koth is because it stands for (K)ing °f (t)he (H)ill.

I didn’t notice the chain, I thought it ended at either end of the level.

The coins regenerate quickly so that you try to knock people off as fast as possible. And I don’t see anything wrong with the placement.

I also don’t see the problems with the castle tiles. They all seem to fit together pretty well to me. Except possibly the windows.

Let me recheck these things. What can I do about ammo placement? [This review has been edited by mikeejimbo]

And of course it’s easy to complete. It’s the other players that are to provide the competition.[This review has been edited by mikeejimbo]

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Originally posted by SMCool:
if you saw mine then I guess you would know what I mean (falling results in 50 coin loss etc)

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Actually, I did see yours, (Evil Tax Machine.) I think I might take that advice, but mine was supposed to be simpler, with a small battle for control that keeps the “winning” player on their toes.
I think I may take your advice…[This review has been edited by mikeejimbo]

Removed my total faggotry from my younger self… excuse me for it.

This level is ok.I like all the work you have put into the level. But i have to give you a five until the complete version is done (if it ever gets done)
The Puzzles can get confusing if u know what i mean.
———————————————————-
2.5- Level Layout and stuff.
2.0-Choice of tileset Etc.
.5-for your hard work.

Nice. VERY nice.
My rating system: Very good, good, okay, bad, very bad.

Eyecandy: Good / Very good
Things I’ve never seen done here are present, and there are hardly any bugs that you can notice without looking in every secret wall you can find. No avoidable errors.

Bugs: Good / Very good
There was… one bug. When you go on the blue spring, spring up through a tight gab that quickly comes to a horizontal blue spring, you can get stuck a little (hardly at all). This happens a lot, it’s just a small issue.

Enemy placement: Very good
You put the bees just where I didn’t want ‘em.

Ammo placement: Very good
Very nicely done, just a little overboard with the food, and maybe a LITTLE bit too many gems….

Originality: Very good ***
Well, I don’t normally give out originality ratings for Diamondus and Castle, like I said in another one of my reviews, but this is just amazing. Things most people probably haven’t even began to think of were here. Very nice.

Fun: Very good
Very fun, kept me occupied for a while.

Overall: Very good
Surprisingly well done for your first level… You must have made some other smaller map besides this, because this is better than most experienced mappers.

Download? Yes!!

Awsome. Too bad it isnt for download anymore being that the site is down but I got to try it thanks to Violet. Unfortunately I lost it during a format of my HD but I rated this before. Just came back to remove all my nonsense. Anyways it’s a great game. Everyone should try it, just ask around on the JCF for it and hopefully someone nice will give it to ya.

Art: 10
You put alot of work into the art, and it’s very enjoyable. It just makes you want to keep playing it over and over.

Gameplay: 9.5
Very challenging game. But maybe too challenging? I dont know I kept trying this game and it was hard to get very far. But then again all great games take time.

SFX: 9
Some of the SFX was ripped and has somewhat a cut-out such as when you pick-up a coin. But other then that it was ok.

Sub-Total: 9.5

Bonus points for the movie.

Bonus: 0.2
Total: 9.7

-Sk8terboyJJ2 [This review has been edited by Sk8terboyJJ2](removed nonsense)

What is it lately that is causing new levelmakers to make extremely solid and well-done Diamondus levels? I am not sure, but I definitely like whatever poltergeist out there that is causing this most miraculous of occurances. This is yet another level in a long line of very good Diamondus levels from new levelmakers to be uploaded lately (for those who are not paying much attention, the previous levels I am referring to are spazz’s “A Diamond For You All” and raptor’s “Dynamite Diamonds”). Constructive criticism is always a good thing. While this level is quite good, there are a few small bugs and annoyances, which of course I will outline in this review, but those are not big enough to hurt the score of what is, all in all, a great level.

TILESET/TILESET USE: Diamondus 2 which is, for those who do not know, the night version of the original Diamondus, is used very nicely here. There is plenty of foreground, background, and normal layer eyecandy to keep the player interested, and there is not much in the way of eyecandy errors. There are a few small ones, I suppose, mainly revolving around areas in which secrets are covered by layer three. In these areas, the player’s ears or feet can sometimes be seen from above the covered tiles. It is often a good idea to cover all tiles within a one tile radius of secret areas with layer three wall, so the character can not at all be seen through the cracks in the walls. Otherwise, eyecandy was quite good. Diamondus is indeed an overused tileset, but this level is not very bland-looking, which is a very good thing for it. Eyecandy is solid and nicely done.
Pros: Very nicely done in general.
Cons: A few small layer three bugs.
Rating: 7.7

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: If there is a single thing that is wrong with this level, it could be that there are a few too many gems. I suppose that some people probably would like this huge amount of gems, but I would rather see it toned down just a bit. The same goes for ammo, although less so. There are a lot of areas of both straight gems and ammo in this level. There is some clumping going on, but not that much. Still, I would like to see the ammo especially reduced a bit to make this a bit harder. Enemies are placed very well.
Pros: Pretty good in general.
Cons: Maybe a bit overkill in gems and ammo.
Rating: 7.0

ORIGINALITY: This level could have had problems in the originality category. Why? Because, well, it is simply a single player Diamondus level. However, there are a few things that save it from getting a low score. The first of these is that the level has many unique elements. The bird puzzle of sorts is quite interesting, and so are the various multiple paths throughout the level. Unlike many first levels, this level is not linear. You can choose which path you want to go on, although you might end up having to take all routes eventually in some way. Still, it is nice to see this non-linearity, and is a rare find in a first level. Nice job.
Rating: 7.7

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: Gameplay and design waas yet another category in which this level did quite well. There were not many problems at all with the gameplay design. The only problem that I could find was one in which some wind lefts and wind rights took you in a continous circle. I could not, for my life, find any way to get out of this. I may be missing something, but that still seemed really difficult if not impossible relative to the rest of the level, so I will call it a bug. I won’t let such a small, and possibly not existant, bug ruin the score, so I will not detract very much at all for it. Other than that small blip, gameplay was solid and very well-done. It was not linear, and it definitely was quite fun to play.
Pros: Very fun and not linear.
Cons: One problem with the wind rights and wind lefts was a bit perplexing.
Rating: 7.6

REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: This is a fairly large level. It is interesting to note that about a third through the level, the level claims that it is about to end. Another sign, however, informs the player that it was just a joke. This is a good thing, because the level would have been fairly small if it ended there. However, it is quite big. There are many routes, and a lot of it goes by quite quickly. This is one of those levels which is fun to play several times. Definitely a good replay value.
Pros: N/A.
Cons: N/A.
Rating: 7.7

OVERALL (not an average): The spectre of quality first levels made in Diamondus strikes again, and this time the ghostly figure delives better than ever. This level is a high-quality single player level that definitely is worthy of play. For a first level, or for that matter, an any-level, this is quality and definitely shows a huge amount of promise. Keep making levels, as this is very, very, very good and shows pretty much none of the mistakes most first-time levelmakers make. Great job. This is definitely worth a download.
Pros: Very good. Not linear. Fun to play. Great for a first level.
Cons: The wind bug was a bit annoying. A lot of ammo, perhaps too much. Small layer three bugs. None of these are major enough to do anything to the score, though.
Rating: 7.5

GAMEPLAY: B+
Flow: A -
Layout: A -
Creativity: A -
Bugs: B

EYECANDY: B+
Tileset use: B+
Eyecandy look: A -
Creativity: B+
Bugs: B+

PLACEMENT: B+
Weapons: B
Carrots: A-

THE FINAL GRADE: B+

THE FINAL RATING: 7.5

Pros: Very good. Not linear. Fun to play. Great for a first level.
Cons: The wind bug was a bit annoying. A lot of ammo, perhaps too much. Small layer three bugs. None of these are major enough to do anything to the score, though.

- Trafton

Well, it didn’t work. So I took a look at the version in JCS and it was terrible. No eyecandy, about 14 – 20 tiles were used, most of which were used poorly. There is NO background either.

No download reccomendation here.

Not too good… here we go.
My rating system: Very bad, bad, okay, good, very good……….

Eyecandy: Bad
A couple parts had okay eyecandy, but most of it is just bad. Could’ve been much, much better, especially on the edges of the chunks of terrain, and in a lot of other places. Also, in the foreground layer with the blowing leaves, they didn’t have auto x/y speeds, I’m not sure if it might have had x/y speeds (not auto), but it should’ve had an auto x-speed.

Weapons and ammo: Okay
Not very good either, you shouldn’t make levels with three crates just sitting there in a row, it’s just kind of… well… uh, you know, it’s not very “attractive looking.” There was some good ammo placement, though.

Fun: Okay
This level could actually be fun if all the eyecandy was fixed up and all the ammo placement was better. It’s just ugly to look at.

Originality: N/A
Eh, all the Diamondus levels are the same. I don’t even bother rating originality when it comes to Diamondus, Castle, and all the other over-used tilesets. Maybe on tilesets like D*mn, H*ll, Colony, etc. D*mn and H*ll are tilesets, I’m not cursing at you, Powerboy. Don’t worry :-D

Download? Sorry, no download reccomendation.

I can’t believe you made something like King of the Hill after it rated so low. Anyway, I thought this was a nice level. Very small, but the idea is good. However, it wouldn’t work in multiplayer since there is no “End warp” event, it’s a single player “Area end of level” event. Soooo… there’s my suggestion. Make it actually multiplayer compatible. I could see how this would be fun, there is nothing wrong with the eyecandy for the most part.
Download? If MikeeJimbo makes an update so you can actually play it, yes.

Update, 5.5 because he fixed bugs.[This review has been edited by labratkid]

It is decent. I don’t often look at tilesets, unless someone recommend’s them, so you are lucky.. or not.

As Violet pointed out, some masking stuff. Maybe a few missing tiles. Still decent.

In the Level, I think the warp should led to a better powerup, but whatever. This is about the set, not the level.

Download. Yes.[This review has been edited by FoD]