Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Gameplay:

Players can choose to move from base to base quickly through the crowded middle area, which is probably most populated together with the base areas themselves.
One can also choose for a safer but longer route from the sides by picking up a fly c and venturing through the top of the map which contains a seeker powerup which most people are too lazy to take. You can also attempt to take a flag from below, which is slightly longer but safer as few people are paying attention to this route, although its easy for them to camp the end of the tube which goes quite slowly.

Eyecandy:

Multiple layers have been filled well with stuff as original as the tileset allows. Quite a lot is happening graphically if you pay attention to it, yet it is not distracting while playing

Originality:

This level is such a relief after all those new mappool maps of last year which had similar pathways and carrot areas. Castle of Devan Shell’s layout is unique, yet it works in games and requires players to think of movements and tactics they never had to think of before. Im really glad you made this so people can be inspired by its originality for making future maps. This map is definitely worth it being played in JDC events and even possibly mappool material.

I tried to adjust my rating a bit to people’s ratings nowadays so it would be more fair, yet Im glad that others already gave you a high grade so I can stick to my principles a bit more.

Final Grade: 8.5

Gameplay: 2.1 / 3.4

Placement: 0.6 / 0.8

The powerups are placed on the outer parts of the level, which makes players go there more often, that has been done well. I think there are too much ammo pickups though, especially toaster and fireball.

Flow: 1.2 / 2.6

Before your update there were mostly only 2 ways to go, which would result in very monotonous gameplay. The update couldn’t improve everything that much though. There is still nothing special about it and there are many areas where it’s hard to have a decent combat. The only way to get up here is either with springs or going through cramped tunnels, which are also present in the bottom middle of the level. They said they were gonna watch gameplay the most, therefore I can’t believe they made us be stuck with this one in the mappool. The gamplay in Blackjack was way way better.

Eyecandy: 2.3 / 3.3

The eyecandy is the best thing of this level, although it doesn’t really matter while playing it. I still say there is nothing special about it though, the most remarkable things are how the different layers are overlapped by eachother and how the background is structured.

Originality: 0.5 / 3.3

As I said before, there is nothing special about this level and that’s also the only thing I can say about it’s originality. Im sure SJ could’ve done better, but don’t expect his work to be good instantly.

Final Grade: 4.8

EDIT: rating (4.8) removed – do not rate a level based on its creator, but on its own merits, and either way “nothing special” doesn’t quite match the 4.8 rating -Stijn

EDIT: I have not rated based on its creator but just explained that one shouldnt always expect high quality stuff from him.’ Ok, a definitely playable level, which is big and spacy’ doesn’t match a rating of 9.0 either, so either you are gonna check all reviews of all levels or you will give me the right to review the level based on it’s gameplay, eyecandy and originality. -MS

Gameplay: 2.1 / 3.4

Placement: 0.3 / 0.8

Although the powerups are placed nicely, perhaps you could have placed at least one above, as they are all on the bottom of the level. The carrot slightly compensates it, though it can fall down easily. Ammo pickups are placed nicely and don’t think there is a lack of them.

Flow: 1.8 / 2.6

This level consists out of many small areas. They are however, big enough to have nice individual combat there. Also little springs are used, players can gain altitude by jumping on higher platforms or using vines, those are actually the only 2 ways in this level. Both teams have a warp to get to the bottom of the opponents base, though you can move through the carrot area only from one base, so that’s a bit biased. If this level had some spectacular original gameplay it would have been even better.

Eyecandy: 2.3 / 3.3

The background looks very detailed and certainly adds to the feeling the level gives you. The platforms all look much alike, of course you are bounded to the tileset though. Not much foreground to be seen here, you could’ve decided to add the things hanging from the ceiling to the foreground.

Originality: 2.0 / 3.3

As said before, this level lacks real inventive gameplay. Though the layout doesn’t really look much like other levels. Also the potential carrot area is quite a big part of the level, you did a good job there. I also like the hollowed out dead end at the toaster PU which causes the dead end to be not much of a problem.

Final Grade: 6.4

Can’t touch this!

Im not sure what u mean with the foreground.

The level doesn’t have a lot of ammo because normal ammo is regarded the same as a powerup here. If you would have actually played it in a game you would have seen that it respawns way faster than most ammo in other levels.

This is very good for a first level!

The gameplay is quite original and isn’t too hard either to make you stuck for hours. Some invisible walls in this level could have been done more graphically correct, but it also adds to the slightly confusing atmosphere of the level. The eyecandy is nice although I would’ve liked to see some more foreground eyecandy in the first part of the level. I recommend this for downloading for I hope many players will see this level and recognise Jenny’s JCS talent.
GJ!

Gameplay: 7,5
Eyecandy: 7,5
Originality: 7,5

Edit: A ‘decent review’ says nothing about the grade you give, Loon…

Let this be an example for everyone. Originality at its best!

Well well, Epitome II, this creates some expectations.
I actually expected a remake, but since this wasn’t the case and you aren’t Merlyn, why are you calling this Epitome then? Basicly the only thing these levels have in common is the tileset, though you could say the blue base, RF powerup and the carrot are on quite the same position as in Epitome, although the layout is way different, seems like false packaging to me.
When I look to the grades from the quick reviewers I get a bit frustrated, (I am not the only one btw) nowadays many maps get overrated. The original Epitome only got an 8.1 and was way better than this. This is certainly not a bad level, but its nothing special. Many paths are too small to allow a good flow, except for the area above the carrot which is suddenly quite big, but without a real purpose.
In the lower left corner of the level is a text saying: Epitome II: created by Merlyn. I don’t think he created this map, so just put your own name there.
The background is also different to Epitome and I think it is moving a bit too fast, having a negative effect on the playing experience. The foreground and layer 4 are alright, although they have little special to offer. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for downloading. Perhaps this level could be used for a duel tournament, although they mostly pick the traditional levels, which are out of this level’s league.

Eyecandy: 7
Gameplay: 7
Originality: 6

Final Grade: 6.7

So there it is, quite a harsh review compared to what Epitome got. Though, looking at your previous uploads I think this is not a bad delivery from you. Just nothing special really, I would consider changing the name to something original.

I like the name and I also like how this is uploaded at exactly the right time for such a level. I started playing this when hosting it online in sp mode, but something went wrong as there were no enemies and sp only tiles, though I thought this was possible.
The background is set quite low, causing little of it to be seen most of the time. When being at the bottom of the level with ice near, it seems as if you’re on the lowest point possible, though if you look on the background you’ll see that there is still ground below you, which feels a bit strange. The ice was a nice idea though, some spots were too weak to stand on and you would fall through and get hurt.
I like the tips on the signs and also the ammo placement has been well done. Imo there are a bit too many enemies, especially those annoying flying lizards. In the first level I couldn’t find the crate to destroy the blocks on 209,17.
The airboard-only passage was another nice original trick from you, as well as the following fly-up-and-destroy-four-crates-passage, where you had to push the crates down into TNT’s as you couldnt buttstomp because you were on an airboard, although I was only able to find 3 TNTs to destroy them with.

In the end I think this is quite some original level, I would recommend people playing it, especially when they feel like playing something which is not too brain-crushing. Hosting online could be a great option too, though I hope it works well normally, as it didn’t with me.

I think you managed to show the weather that it should warm up now, as it has been easter already. J2O still tries to do the same thing, as I can still see snow on the background of this website.

Eyecandy: 7
Gameplay: 7,5
Originality: 8

Final Grade: 7,5

wadle is back :O
WB!

@TW: Imo your grade for music is a too big part of your final grade for a level.
All you can judge a levelmaker on is if the music fits the level.

Long time ago I wrote a review, lets see.

Gameplay:

The size of the playable area is balanced nicely overall, there are no big area’s without tiles and there are only a few narrow area’s. The warp from the bottom to the middle means that one can constantly fall down and get back up which could turn especially duels a bit less internesting.

Eyecandy:

The edges of the level are very straight, I would have prefered some different lines in the walls, you could have made them symitrical as well. When jumping around a bit at the C+1 you notice a black line in the top of the background.
The rest of the background is nice and the middle part of the layer 4 of the map is quite good and nicely shaped.

Originality:

I think few maps in this shape have been made, its looks nice, you did a good job, though I always apreciate it when people use different methods than springs and warps to create ways up.

Gameplay: 6,5
Eyecandy: 7,5
Originality: 7

Final Grade: 7

Sean, your review looks like a newcomer’s. To be honest, it sucks.

@Flawful: An upload is supposed to be without flaws, as one can betatest it first to remove them. If it still contains flaws after being uploaded, just give the upload a lower grade, it got to do with the skills of the levelmaker.
If people reupload things they improve ofcource but reviewers have to edit their review. This can be annoying when it happens multiple times.
So to all uploaders: Take time in testing your file/map, test it with others too and when you’re sure there are no flaws then upload it.

King, in your profile you can select your rating system. It is possible to select a box where you can type in the grade yourself.

Now my own review:

Eyecandy

I’m positively suprised by the eyecandy here. The level is dark overall, but still contains a lot of diverse eyecandy. The layer 5 background has been used very nice, many holes and bushes were added to give it a mithical atmosphere. I also like the lower part where the layer 5 ends and you can see the layer 6/7 again. Those mountains in the background aren’t really spectacular, but they suffice.

Gameplay

This level can be confusing for the first minutes you play it. Everything looks alike so you sometimes don’t know where you are. The warps are also hard to learn how to use and they don’t really seem to be an asset to this map. I also wasn’t really happy about the flow in this map, in many area’s I couldn’t run at high speed, but bumped against tiles instead.

Originality

I like the placement of the powerups and the carrots. One would say that putting the seeker powerup symitrically with the bouncer powerup would make the map biased, but I think bouncers are more useful in most parts of the map, so they even eachother out.
The layout of this level is also original, it combines battles in small and larger area’s, still it isn’t really a revolutionary shape.

Eyecandy: 8,2
Gameplay: 7,5
Originality: 8,3

Final Grade: 8

GJ and HF in XLM.

Eyecandy

Well, I like the waterfalls in the top left corner of this level.
Too bad it has tilebugs at the top of the pillars on which the rocky thing is standing. Below it is also a tilebug in the grass. There are more tilebugs, especially at borders of the platforms. Try to spend more attention to that before uploading your level. The layer 8 background and the falling leaves look nice, but you’ll need more of that. Make some more background eyecandy in the other background layers and maybe some forground tiles which overlap a small part of the layer 4.

Gameplay

First of all, try to fix the spawning problem, players can spawn near their opposing team’s base. In JCS at the multiplayer spawn point event you can enter a team number, 0 or 1. Both are different teams. Also try to never have dead ends, always make a path lead somewhere. Try to find the right balance of tiles and empty space in your levels. In the middle of this level there is just too much empty space, which gives not very attractive gameplay. Try to make the bases a bit harder to reach if they are close to eachther. By the way, if you don’t want your level to have the CTF bug, which is taken care of by JJ2+, make a 3 tile thick layer at all borders of your level. Now this level is only CTF bug free in JJ2+. By the way, try to spread ammo more evenly over your level, also non PU ammo.

Originality

Well this level certainly has a nice shape, I bet if you continue to make progress with making levels, you’ll be able to make some very nice original work. And you’ll have many years to improve because you’re still young.
So my advice: Never give up, practise makes perfect!

Eyecandy: 5
Gameplay: 5
Originality: 5,5
Final Grade: 5.2

Reactive Factory:

Eyecandy

This level has got a fitting dark atmosphere. I think the eyecandy could have been made more exciting though, if more moving objects were added. The clouds are standing still, for example. The background is only moving at a slow pace. I think if you’d let it move faster it would have given a colder impression, fitting more in this level imo.

Gameplay

I like the shape of this level, though if I were playing with a team I would try to take the topside, because it has acces to the downside at the corners of the map. You can’t get to the upside from the downside corners, only from the middle, which makes capturing points easier for people on the topside. The tubes in the bottom middle of the level are a bit annoying, you can fall it in accidentally and then it transports you many tiles to the right. I like the placement of the capture points and also of the carrots. The powerups are placed a bit biased to the left though, drawing players to that side.

Originality

Well, the atomsphere of this map is unique, could have been a bit better as I explained before. There arent really unique ways to get somewhere, its mainly springs and especially tubes, which are a bit overrepresentated in this level imo.

Eyecandy: 7
Gameplay: 8
Originality: 7

Final Grade: 7.3

Download recommended, as this is a decent DOM level.

You guys really can’t deal with Shaney can’t u?
His spelling mistakes are part of him.
Such as the other behavior.
Shaney can do these things without blaim. >)

I had the honour of betatesting this one.

Gameplay

This level contains unique paths, the ways to get somewhere are mostly different than normal. If you want to get to the bottom of the level, it is way quicker to use the warp on the top, than to fall down. The warps add to that feature. When first encoutering them I was confused but if one plays this level for some minutes they will get used to it. The left side of the level has a nice flow and is also a good battle area, therefore I met most enemies in that area, while testing. The right side of the level isn’t as good as the left side in my opinion. The upper right side is just a huge empty space. Below that is an area that can only be left through tunnels to the downside or a copter to the upside. The tunnels, however, meet the path of the copter after a short while, which means the right side can only be entered through the top of the level, while the left side is connected with not only the bottom of the level, but also with several warps. Yes, the left part of the level is bigger, but the right part could have been connected better to the rest of the level. The top of the level is a huge building with a carrot on top. It has been built nicely and it is possible to have a ‘king of the hill’ battle over here, meaning the one taking the top could have an advantage, which adds to the quality of battles fought in this level.

Eyecandy

The colours of this tileset are quite the same. Still you managed to add some more colour by adding a lot of trees and plants. Also the night level has a nice red glow behind the buildings on the background. When jumping in the bottom of the level, the buildings look a bit weird, being so long and the same everywhere. Maybe you could have added another layer of buildings to the background.

Originality

As I mentioned before, this level contains unique pathways, which is mostly what this level is about. If someone uses the paths to his advantage, he is on his way to making a lot of kills in this level by beating his enemies with speed and traps. Clearly the originality of this level is in the layout, the layer 4 eyecandy is of high quality and the background is allright.

Gameplay: 9
Eyecandy: 8
Originality: 8

Final Grade: 8,3

Well, long time ago I reviewed anything, lets see.

This isn’t the final level? You are supposed to upload finished things only to J2O. If you want people to have suggestions then you should betatests your level first.

Gameplay

The flow of this level is allright, although it is a lot of jumping. I don’t really get the feeling of playing myself, I feel like the level itself gets me from place by place. This is because there are a lot of springs at places where players mostly land or bump against the wall. Maybe you should change the platforms a bit so that people can get somewhere without using springs.

Eyecandy

The background looks nice and very colourfull it also fits with layer 4. I also like the cave-ish background, but I think it might look better if it was a bit lower on the sides. There is a problem with your background too, it moves too fast. The cavewall seems to be quite some distance away and the mountains with the falls even more ofcource, but still they move a lot when you move your rabbit, causing a unrealistic event. Maybe you also should have put some more tiles in the foreground, because I find it rather empty, all trees I encounter are in the background.

Originality

You found an original way to capture point Westwood and Point Eastwood. Though, I don’t think this will be adding to the gameplay. People can jump in the holes in turns. Someone could camp there and hurt people, but they will stil have 1 or 2 hearts and if you are playing with more than 4 people, I expect that domination points will be captured too many times a game. Inthe background you had some original things, like overlapping rocks, but there is few originality in the gameplay. If you want to improve your originalty, look for ways to replace springs, it will also improve the gameplay of your level.

Gameplay: 7
Eyecandy: 8
Originality: 7

Final Grade: 7.3

For a level made in less than 24 hours this is really good. The originality is great, the eyecandy and gameplay are a little less.

Stijn, you guys should do that more often. :D