Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Ok, here I go by picking this level to review.
First impressions: Hmm… A level by Blacky[si] of OLC, which is very nice, so, I review it. Btw, I stop with saying good/very good or so.
Gameplay: Well, here is a big level, with a nice layout. The flow is nice too, the PU may be hard to find at first place but who cares. There is a nice trigger use and placement, with some tubes to make the gameplay even better. The base placement is original, You can’t go to base at the start of a duel. I haven’t seen a level with this before I think, and that’s why I like it.
Conclusion gameplay: Nice use of triggers, good spring placement, alot of tubes, nice layout. Flow is nice but not perfect. And, the level is big too.
Eye candy/Tileset use: The level has alot of eye candy, and I like the way the tileset is used too. That lava is very original, and looks nice too. The level is dark at some places too. Layer 3 and 5 had lots of eye candy, and layer 2 had something too.
Conclusion eye candy/Tileset use: Very nice eye candy, alot of stuff in the layers, excellent tileset use.
Pickup placement: This level has a nice ammo placement, but there is maybe too less here. I don’t know why there is a Blaster PU here, and it doesn’t have generator, but the Blaster PU is not too handy here, so who cares. The level has a full energy in a big red tube. That full energy can only be gotten by falling in it I think. That’s also original here. There are 2 other PU, the RF PU placed at the right side you can only get by falling, but you can get the bouncy PU without falling.
Conclusion pickup placement: Nice ammo placement, but there’s too less ammo here. Original carrot placement, PU placement may be biasing.
Originality: Yes, like I said, a very original level. First: The base placement. Second: The lava by using it for eye candy. Third: The placement of the full energy. And fourth: The music the level uses. So, I give complete points here(8.5).
Fun factor: This level is fun to play. That base placement made it not a level to do a boring straight way. (Actually, it is a straight way.) But, this level is so big, which makes it more fun imo. The level could be more closed, but who cares?
Others: Host this: Yes, I like it, really.
Download: Of course, why not?
Final Rating: 8.4-8.5.
- DarkSonic of XSD, CC and XLM -
Edit: forgot to say that you get the RF and Bouncy PU with gun9.[This review has been edited by da man]

Ok, ok, I’m reviewing this at last.

BR’s “The Zerox Factory” is a rather interesting CTF using the somewhat-too-popular 7th Lava Fall tileset. Heaven knows where the name came from, although my own efforts aren’t any better. It sounds good anyway. Regardless…

Gameplay:

The main gimmick of the level is that if you fall between a number of small platforms at the bottom, you get warped back to the last base you came from. However, this effect lasts as long as you don’t go to the opposite base, so you can potentially do some evil things with a little planning. Outside of that, there isn’t anything too unusual about the level design, outside of the fact that it makes frequent use of sucker tubes, including sticking the bases in them. Flow is good, with few, if any, spots that would hinder normal gameplay.

Eyecandy:

Unfortunately, the problem with overused tilesets is that it’s hard to come up with new and exciting things to do with it. In this case, the bottom and background looks nice, and several layers were obviously used. The top is somewhat less spectacular, although still not at all bad or boring. Several long, streaming lavafalls, chains, and cables the stretch from top to bottom are scattered about the level in several layers, so it rarely feels empty. My own opinion is that it looks better without the lighting, as the tileset is dark already, but that’s probably just me. In BR’s defense, he’s done a great job with an overused tileset, there’re no tilebugs, and the eyecandy in general is great.

Pickups:

BR has provided a nice variety of ammo to suit any given situation, but RFs, Pepper Spray, and Seeks are probably the most useful. For that reason, of the two powerups, the RF is harder to get than the Bouncy, though Jazz players won’t find it difficult thanks to coptering. Both of them can only be gotten with the relatively rare Electro Blasters, thanks to their location in the walls. Basic ammo is scattered about, although a tad sparsely for my tastes. I won’t count off for it though, as what is there is enough. Unpowered weapons will probably be used the most, though, as the powered weapons should generally be conserved until they’re really needed. One Full Energy carrot can be found at the top and center of the level, so no complaints there either.

Conclusion:

All said and done, this is a great CTF that is far above the vast majority of the levels that are currently produced. I had fun testing it, and I expect that it will show up more than once in the future.

Download: Unless you want to miss out on a great level, yes.
Host: Please. New material is always nice to see.

First of all, I’m saddened you forgot to list me as a beta tester. >”“|. Now the review.

Gameplay in this level reminds me somewhat of EvilMike’s platform-hopping “SPACE LEVEL WITH ISLANDS.” Not only are the tilesets sort of both industrial-looking, but this level features lava towards the bottom and you must step accross stones to get to the other side. It is more easy than in EvilMike’s level, but this is the quickest way of getting accross and it is annoying to get seekered into it. This is, however, a good thing. It gives this level a nice dose of originality that it needs very much. The score would be a deal lower if it was not for this part of the level. There are a few other interesting points. It is the sort of level that obviously had a good deal of work put into understanding where players are going. While it does not make it very easy for the player to go through the level and the flow is not perfect, this is not necessarily a bad thing. “Perfect” flow would consist of the level making the user capture the flag themself. That wouldn’t make any sense. Rather, this level does a good job of balancing ability to move with the necessary obstructions to making the level interesting. You have to be careful on the lava, but otherwise the rest of the level is pretty fool-proof. It’s well done.
PROS: Well done. The lava, while not massively original, is still good.
CONS: There are not many routes between the flag bases. One extra one would be nice and add more dimension to the level, although it also might ruin it. That’s levelmaking for you.
RATING: 8.5

There is nothing absolutely great about the eyecandy in this level. In fact, I was tempted to give it 7.7 if it were not that the lava at the bottom provides a good distraction from the rest of the level. It may be that I have seen far too many “Seventh Lava Fall” levels, but nonetheless I am beginning to find the eyecandy in most levels using this tileset a bit tedious. While this level does use the tileset strongly and has no easily visible tile bugs (I thought a quick sweep would be sufficient in this case), the top of the level simply is not that interesting. It’s standard 7thLF fare, with industrial bricks. Supposedly, the entire thing is supposed to look like a factory, but I don’t buy that. It is better suited to be a postapocolyptic industrial area abandoned than a factory. I cannot imagine that anything could be made here. Which brings me to another point. Why is it that there is not much creativity with 7thLF levels? There are plenty of things, like boxes, that could be used to make a decent-looking factory. I once made a test level simply to show that this could easily be done, and if I could do it, anyone could. Think conveyer belts. It’s sort of fun to watch. Still, this level offers good eyecandy, especially considering the tileset.
PROS: The lava looks nice. The lack of any questionable tiles is also commendable.
CONS: The top part of this level is not reall ythat exciting.
RATING: 8.0

This level takes a fairly untraditional approach to distribution of powerups. All of the powerups in this level are in the wall and are only accessable using the electroblaster gun. Because of the fact that they take time to get, much of the game will usually revolve around the use of basic ammo. In CTF, this is not a bad idea, and this level is just big enough to pull it off. Had it been any smaller, it would be difficult to kill the opponent before they reached base. In this level, the lava provides a challenge of crossing and also forces the player to slow down and gives opportunity to kill an opponent. The placement of the basic ammo is also quite good. It is spread out in a fairly random manner, which does good for this level. There are no cheesy patterns that hurt the eyecandy.
PROS: Ammo, both basic form and powerup, is just sparce enough to make things interesting.
CONS: Some may consider it a bit too sparce, but I do not.
RATING: 8.0

Originality is one of those categories in my reviews which sort of spill over into other categories, which is why I have no specific section for it. Much of originality ends up in this category, “fun factor.” In this case, this level is not exactly original, per se. Rather, it melds elements of other previous levels while still changing them enough that it keeps it fresh and exciting. The lava is similar to that seen in “SPACE LEVEL WITH ISLANDS” by EvilMike. The base-in-a-sucker-tube has been done plenty of times. And, of course, having powerups in the wall is not a novel concept. However, Blackraptor manages to put these all together in a way that neither feels stale, nor feels stolen. The level is fun, although not so amazingly new that it is that fun. However, a CTF level like this does not necessarily need to be fun, just good, and that is definitely what this is.
PROS: Enjoyable to play.
CONS: Not groundbreaking or anything.
RATING: 8.2

This level is a good CTF level with a twist. While it is nothing extremely new or anything, it nonetheless is enjoyable to play and probably will see a nice bit of hosting. Despite the eyecandy on the top of the level not being fabulous, it still remains that this is a far above average level worth playing. It is not a classic, but is not meant to be. It is aiming to be a fun Capture the Flag level that has some original elements, and it hits this mark exceptionally. This level is definitely worth a download and several plays and would make a welcome addition in any idle Capture the Flag server’s pack.
PROS: A very good level. The lava is fun. Fairly original.
CONS: The eyecandy on the top of the level could have been a bit more interesting.
RATING: 8.2
DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION: Everyone will probably like this level, although CTF freaks will especially love it.

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

EYECANDY: A -
Tileset use: A -
Eyecandy Look: A -
Creativity: A -
Bugs: A

PLACEMENT: A -
Weapons: A
Carrots: B+

~ Traft
[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

This is a nice little level from Blackraptor, that uses the popular “7’th Lava Fall”.
GAMEPLAY: This level has a similar gimmick to EvilMike’s old “Islands” level. That is, if you fall in the “pit” (in this case, lava) you are warped to your base. However, this level adds a small twist. The bases are hidden in sucker tubes, and going through the tubes will also set some triggers that will warp you to the corresponding base the next time you fall into the lava. This adds some nice strategy into the mix, and is definitely a nice addition. This makes “Zerox Factory” stand out. The level, fortunately, doesn’t favour either Jazz or Spaz. However, it’s possible to get stuck in the tubes in the lava, which is annoying, and the level’s biggest flaw.
EYE CANDY: Eyecandy is a strong point of this level. The tileset is used to great effect, as many BG layers are used, with buildings, lava flows and such. Nothing particularly special in the foreground, but the BG layers make up for it. Plus, the platforms near the lava look like they’re floating in the lava, which is a nice touch.
ITEM PLACEMENT: Basic +3 ammo is all placed well, and for once, there is no Seeker powerup. Instead, RF and Bouncer powerups are hidden in the walls. The RF is the most important weapon here. Get it, and you’ll own the level. The carrot is placed well, in the giant middle tube. It’s not biased to either side.
CONCLUSION: This is a very nice level from Blacky, that, with its interesting gimmick, makes it more interesting than yet another cookie cutter CTF level. All the bases are covered, and there’s nothing wrong with it at all. Plus, the music is nice. Download reccomedation.

EDIT: It’s come to my attention that the trigger bug is not Blacky’s fault. Therefore, I’ve raised the rating a tad.[This review has been edited by Iam Canadian]

I tried something different again.

GAMEPLAY:

Let me start out with the bases. Each base is placed within a tube on opposite sides of the level. The best part about this is dying on the flag would be rather difficult. This level is like EvilMike’s Space Island level in that when players fall into the warps below, they get sent back to where they came from. The only difference is that players will only be sent back to the side where they last entered through a tube to a base. This seems to hold true even after the player dies, which could be useful. I would have to say this system can allow for more strategy than EvilMike’s since it’s simple and can be more useful overall. The layout is alright, although it may be a little limiting. I could do with fewer/shorter tubes, especially with the warp system at the bottom, but it’s not a big problem. The tubes that takes players to the top from the bottom of the level are hidden, but they are easy enough to find. The flow is above all decent, and I can’t spot anything really worth changing.

EYE CANDY:

Generally good eye candy for the given tileset. It does have some originality in it like with the red tubes and the lava. Nothing really bad here.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There is a full energy carrot is within some red tubes in the center of the level. If a player shoots it down, it will just fall into the lava slightly hidden. Evil fun. Nothing’s bad about the ammo placement—I’ll leave it at that. Powerup placement is good as well with a bouncer and an RF powerup on opposite sides of the level. Both are accessible with some electro blaster. The RF powerup is slightly harder to get, but it is, IMO, more useful in this level.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Moderately often. It’s a fun level, although I wouldn’t want to play in it with more than 5 other players. 8.0 is what I think of this level.

Here’s yet another level I feared was going to be released on J2O.

GAMEPLAY:

BR said it was unbalanced. I said it was unbalanced. We both said it was unbalanced, so let’s just leave it at that. Other than that, the flow isn’t bad aside from a few poorly placed springs (like near 13,38 and 58,19), but I’m not fond of the level’s small size. I remember saying this for a few levels that other people made: it’s size could be suitable for duels, but I prefer slightly larger levels so I can have a little more space to move around and strategize. I also think players can score way too quickly in this level.

EYE CANDY:

Here’s another level where the eye candy is different from most Agama Swamp levels. It’s a nice change from the ordinary, but I don’t like it all that much. The eye candy isn’t much worse than usually or anything, but the background looks far too flat for my tastes. Yes, I know it fits the theme, but it still looks a bit dull in places.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The full energy carrot is closer to the blue base. The bouncer powerup is closer to red base. The toaster powerup is also closer to red base. And the pepper spray powerup is closer to red base. That’s all I have to say about that since we all already know this level isn’t balanced. At least the ammo placement is decent.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Blame Trafton indeed. Everytime you consider hosting this, you should blame Trafton severely. 7.2 only because a 7.0 felt a little too low.

FYI, this level doesn’t loop to itself. Instead it loops to nothing. I feel like I’m the only one who notices these things.

i give it a 8.

gameplay okey
the gameplay is nice.
eyecandy Okey
good eyecandy
bugs? i did’t found them yet

hmmm you must download it the mmusic is nice
choosen and overall nice!
the ammo placed is good.
final rating

8

Originally posted by Labratkid

BLACKY DONT SHOOT URSELF BCUZ I GAVE THIS UNDER 8 ;( PLZ

,_, Løl

I don’t see how the base placement is that biased. I got 4.5 seconds going from blue to red and from red to blue.

First of all, I beta tested this level a long time ago. You forgot to give me credit. ;-( I also remember Gummi coming to your server and was holding hands with you as Spaz, and I kept trying to sidekick you two. It was fun.

Layout – Okay
I don’t like it. ;( I just don’t. It’s confusing and all… it just doesn’t seem to do anything for me.

Flow – Okay
The flow is okay, too. I’ve seen better in your levels, especially The Junkyard. Some places particualarly annoy me, such as POS 44,9. When you are running at that clump of roots from the clump on the left, you end up running at a place that’s masked like this: > And that makes you just keep running in place, which looks buggy and is never good for flow. In POS 15, 39, when you run at that spring and then try to go to the right while you are going up from touching the spring, you hit the ceiling and then eventually fall into a pool of water. There are other places that bug me, too, but I won’t get into that. What matters is that I’ve seen better flow in your other levels.
Ammo placement – Good / Very good
Good ammo placement… nothing else to say about it. There is no seeker powerup, and I would’ve liked to see an RF powerup, but it’s good overall.
Eyecandy – Very good
As good as it gets with this set. The background is a nice variety of tiles put together in such a way that they make what looks like a cave (OMG REALLY IT LOOKS LIKE A CAVE!?) There are scattered leaves, etc. It’s nowhere near as good as in the Marshland of Evil, but then again, nothing can come close to that.
Gameplay – Good / Very good
Good gameplay… for a battle level. But, this is CTF =( I can all ways host it in battle, though. Despite the bad layout and bad flow, the gameplay isn’t as bad as you would think.
Overall – Good / Very good
Download – Yes.
Host this often – If I do, it’ll be in battle.

BLACKY DONT SHOOT URSELF BCUZ I GAVE THIS UNDER 8 ;( PLZ[This review has been edited by labratkid]

It’s an inside joke DX, because Blacky thinks anything under 8.0 is a really bad rating, which is wrong. ;P[This review has been edited by labratkid]

Late CTF Level Review Number 10: The Junkyard

(Against my better judgment, I will review this level offline. I may later on adjust the rating when I finally get around to hosting this online.)

GAMEPLAY:

So far, this is the best level I’m reviewing in a long while. The layout is balanced for the most part, and it has decent flow. The only thing bad about it is I got stuck apparently where Labrat Kid did, but it only happened once and it seems avoidable. Extra one ways should have been added in any case.

EYE CANDY:

I suppose the eye candy is average (I never played JJ1 so I can’t tell for sure). What I can tell is that this level looks a little dull compared to the levels CelL and Violet made. But overall, it’s good eye candy.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

The full energy carrot and the +1 carrot are placed in the middle, so no complaints there. The ammo and the powerups are also placed well enough, so I won’t mention anything specific.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

Every now and then. This was a nice lazy review. I’ll give this a 7.7 for the time being.

PS: Some guy named “necros” made the “Grey Void” music. And no, not necros(FM). It’s all in the comments section of the mod file.

The Edit: Okay, so maybe an eight.[This review has been edited by BlurredD]

Carin Refinery? that was my first impression when I saw this, only this has a slightly bigger layout, some dfferent eyecandy (although it’s still quite similar).

The gameplay here is good, no complaints, except that it really feels unoriginal, it has a lot of that been-there-done-that feel to it. The flow was good, although some places felt a little difficult to move around in until I got used to it (which didn’t take long, at all). One thing that was strange about the layout is that at first you think it’s a common symmetrical layout seen often in solid CTF levels, however both sides have some small variations, this made me worried if it’s slightly unbalanced, however through playing this I didn’t encounter any huge troubles with balance, that is usually better tested with a 2vs2 match.

Eyecandy is little different from Cairn Refinery by CelL, however the BG here is slightly original so it’s quite a noticable difference, the tileset usage was pretty good for most of the level except the top area around the Seeker Powerup, I noticed it was quite bland-looking up there. Nothing really creative or original looking in eyecandy.

Fun Factor is here, but because of the conventional layout it’ll feel slightly repetitive(I did an instagib CTF match here on Blacky’s server, it was a blast, however there may be other CTF levels that’ll be the same, or perhaps better for that unusual setting).

Ammo placement is the best part. I had no problems getting the sufficient ammo I needed, even afer I had died, and the way it was placed was pretty good too.

The music choice was ok, when I first heard it, I thought it was a pretty sloppy song but when I played with it, it went very well.

Originality is where this level fails, I don’t feel the need to explain further as I have explained earlier in my review.

Overall: A good CTF level by Blackraptor, nothing special, I would’ve givin this a 7.5 but I’m in a good mood today.

8.2 is my final rating. Truly.

-fs[This review has been edited by Fire Sword!]

Very nice i have play 6 levels
and they where very good
I hope you gonna make more like this
Succes with your next one!

Heh, turns out you’re right DX. My fault for being in a rush to upload this and not even have a second thought about if the tileset Im putting inthe zip file is right. Well, at least now you have an extra tileset. Enjoy.

bangs head on wall for stupidity

And thnx to all the reviews, I enjoyed reading them.
[This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

YAY!

1-good eyecandy!
2-good ammo placed.
3-good bases placed :)

blackraptor :D dis is a good ctf level!

download reccommed:YES!
Host this:hmmmm yes[This review has been edited by dx dc]

WAAAAAAAAAAAh forgot to read!

a 8 from me![This review has been edited by dx dc]

KUFORGOTMEINTEHBETATESTERSYUFORGETNOWISADKTHX

Eyecandy – Good / Very good
The eyecandy is as good as it’s gonna get with this tileset. Some places look dull, and don’t have much besides the wall tiles, but other places have plenty of stuff. The textured background is neat, too.
Gameplay – Very good.
I like the gameplay here a lot. It’s fun for duels.
Flow – Very good
Yayayayayayaya. KTHX.
Layout – Good / very good
Yayayayayayaya. KTHX.
Ammo placement – Good
It could’ve been better, but it’s unique.
Overall – Overall, good. It’s hard working with this set because there is no flat ground to work with. Nick was drunk during this tileset’s creation and forgot the flat ground. Either that or Violet was ;p
Download: Yes.
Host this often: Sometimes, yes.

Wow! these levels deserve an eight. gameplay: 8
eyecandy:8
ammo placement:8
goodie placement:8
overall:8

Rating:8
Download recommedation[This review has been edited by snooz]

This is a nice level, with good eyecandy and all. It’s very fun to play. Sorry for a short review. Download this.

Great level that I played a lot on Blackraptor’s server.

EYECANDY…
Pros
1.) Nice eyecandy, especially in the background layers, and in the sprite layer, too.
2.) Over all nice look to the level.
3.) Minimal bugs in the eyecandy, if any at all.
Cons
1.) Nothing really amazing, and the moving speakers look kind of funny.
2.) There is a tile mismatch in the background layer that only I could notice, with my 20-20 vision. Nobody else could see what I was pointing out, so this is not a real con.

Weapon / ammo placement…
Pros
1.) Nice weapon placement overall.
2.) Well balanced placement.
3.) The powerups aren’t in the middle of nowhere; it takes skill to get to them… for example, a bouncy powerup is in the wall, so you’ll need some electroblaster ammo to get it.
4.) There are no shields. Yipee!
Cons
1.) No cons.
2.) (no number two)

Originality…
Pros
1.) Team based routes. I’ve never seen this!
2.) A GOOD Tubelectric level. This is rare, considering the tileset is so easy to use, especially for new level makers… BR is no new level maker, though, and now I’m confusing my review readers AND myself, so this is the end of number two. The end.
Cons
1.) No cons.
2.) This is rediculous, I said NO CONS!

Music…
Pros
1.) No pros.
Cons
1.) No music.

Bugs…
Pros
1.) There aren’t too many bugs in the level.
Cons
1.) There is one place where you can get stuck in the wall. I’m too tired to find out which place it was. I’ll find that out later.
2.) I forgot what I was going to write for number two. Silly me =P

Replay / fun factor…
Pros
1.) Very fun to play.
2.) Especially fun for duels, or lots of players.
3.) You get to know the level really quick. (see cons)
Cons
1.) Boring for 2 on 2’s.
2.) You get to know the level really quick. (see pros)

Misc….
Pros
1.) Team based routes. Yahoo!
2.) It’s easy to get from base to base quickly, but it’s dangerous to follow the same quick and easy route over and over again. This makes the games interesting!
3.) Cool background…
4.) Team based routes! Yay!
Cons
1.) There’s that one spot where you can get stuck…
2.) The blockades for the team based routes that you can’t get past look kind of funny there, and a bit “out of place.”
3.) It’s extremely hard to adapt to the level after you switch teams. Than, after you adapt to using that one team, and you have to switch to the other, it gets even MORE confusing, and so on, and so forth.
4.) SOMEONE, and I’m not using any names… GORZAK… keeps roasting my guy while I’m trying to write a review. It’s also Scizor. They’re all ganging up on the idle guy. Poor me. Anyway, uhh… back to the review…

Host this often?…
Pros
1.) It’d be great to host this often, and I would, but…
Cons
2.) I can’t I can’t host because of my cable router. My firewall is built into it, so basically, if I turn off the firewall, I turn off the router, and if I turn off the router, I turn off the Internet.

Hey, that was interesting. While I was idle, Gorzak must’ve shot me with an RF missle and knock me all the way over to a supercarrot. That’s cool… :-P Now I got roasted, how rude.

Anyway, I’m just blabbering from this point on since I’m so bored.

I’ll end the review here, because I’m too bored to blabber on about how I am bored.

The end.

Everyone download this, it’s a great level.

Hey, what do you know, the server just shut down. Perfect timing, eh?

Good Work ! —-/o\—-
Bye