One thing I do whilst doing my never-ending work on my levelpack (I've gotten back to it again recently) is looking at my favorite platformers and figuring out what makes them fun. When it comes to speed, Jazz took over many elements from Sonic... and then messed them up, kinda. I realize Epic had best intentions when they gave the player a lot of control over the character, and indeed mobility in Jazz, especially in Jazz2, is never quite the problem. What is the problem, however, is that the characters are TOO mobile, and few non-harming obstacles are really a threat.

Basically, two things in Sonic cause the need to keep up your pace: one is the fact that Sonic can't just stand on a slope. He'll automatically gain momentum down one, and will need the speed to scale up the next one. He can't just jump up it, either, because Sonic's jumps are always perpendicular to the surface he's on. Compare this with Jazz. Second, every Sonic level has at least a 10-minute time limit. It's large, sure, but it CAN run out if you're hanging around too long.

When working on my levelpack, I don't center it around one thing. Some levels are mayhem, some are puzzle, some are speed. Many are divided into 2-3 segments which are different type each. When doing the speed type, I always try to give a sense of urgency. This is something I've been trying to work into JJ2+ by suggesting the timer feature. This is also why I suggested the Slide event making characters slide down slopes automatically. And this is part of my leveldesign. Of course, every timer is explained in the storyline, every conveyor belt and slide make sense given the surface. The item placement also encourages speed - while I put secrets upon secrets in my levels, speed-oriented areas rarely have any, and if they do, it's more a question of quick reaction that deliberately avoiding all the poles and springs to slowly and carefully look around. I mean, it's doable. But it's also less fun and absolutely unnecessary.

And the final thing I came up with that was inspired not by Sonic but by Metroid Zero Mission was the inclusion of shortcuts. Jazz1 has a few. Jazz2? Maybe that upper path in the first Diamondus level... I think you can also skip a part of the second Damn level by stomping floating lizards. In my Devil Dash, I added in lots and lots of very hidden ways to breeze through levels. These are the hardest to find secrets. Some are just really well hidden destructible blocks, but many require techniques such as luring flying enemies, backtracking, RF jumping and TNT jumping. They don't give points, but they give a sense of exploration and achievement. I haven't really tested, but I believe that by finding them all you can skip like more than a half of the levelpack. In an ideal case, players would be able to count their playthrough times and compare them. Speedrunning is quite a popular thing among many gamers and has a lot of viral potential.

In conclusion, it's doable. We may need to make a few more tweaks to the game, but in reality, it's really all in the level design. Perhaps in time I'll finally be able to show you. Fresh ideas are scarce ever since EvilMike disappeared into the shadows.

P.S. As for making speed, picking up items and fighting enemies work together. I may suck at scripting, but I'm trying to figure out how making a Sonic Advance 2-styled boss could work. Look it up on YouTube if you're not familiar with the game.