Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Pretty darn good. The middle part was a little off-key to me, but the rest was pretty spiffy.

Not a whole lot of Crysilis in there, is there? It’s basically a stripped down version of Tubelectric with the chimes of Crysilis whenever appropriate. Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

The mixing quality of this file is horrendous. It’s extremely rare I give out ranks of 1, but rest assured. This deserves it.

I can see why you said not to play this song in your description. It’s the original music file converted to IT format with electric guitars and rock drums — neither of which are used effectively.

Simply terrible.

An interesting take on an old favorite. It uses all the instruments from the original song in interesting ways, but the song still sounds a lot like Robert Allen’s piece. This is neither good nor bad, but does lead to some mild disappointment. On the plus side, the song is not bad. Just not very interesting.

Did… I miss something? I can’t access the levels in Jazz Jackrabbit 2 at all, and in Jazz Creation Station, it gives a version error of “2.03”. I don’t recall there ever being any patches that high. (Last time I checked — five seconds ago — the highest patch is 1.23+.)

(You are confusing different version numbering systems. Jazz 2 version 1.24 and 1.24x use version 2.03 of .j2l files, whereas all other versions use .j2l 2.02. Similarly, 1.24 uses version 2.01 for .j2t files, whereas 1.23 uses 2.00. ~Violet)

Point Bonuses: +4
[+4] Great arrangement! Flawless use of volume slides and samples!

Point Deductions: -0
[0] If anything, maybe it’s too catchy… XD

Final Score: 9/10
This is your last remix? That’s terrible news… But better to go out with a bang than a whimper, I say! And bang you did!

==================Introductions==================
It are a music pack. A music pack of four random tunes — Stonar, Carrotus Gardens, Tubelectric, Crysilis. These files are of mixed quality, but this does kind of leave me at a loss. I’m…never quite sure how to review packs of things, though… I mean, one really horrid entry could easily destroy the entire overall rating of the pack, or one really superb entry could raise the ranking of the entire pack far beyond where it needs to be! I guess the easiest way to go about this is to review the pack as a whole… So that’s what I’ll do.

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +3
[+1] Starts out promising…
[+2] “Pools of Light & Shadow” by itself is worth two points.

Point Deductions: -2
[-1] But quickly leads to disappointment when you realize that two of the songs in his pack bear almost no resemblence to their intended counterparts.
[-1] Tying in with the above deduction, the rest of the songs, while not absolutely horrible, don’t really feel like Jazz Jackrabbit songs anymore.

Final Score: 6/10

=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:
Really… It’s a mixed bag. I’ll give my take on each song individually here, then give my overall opinions at the bottom.

Song Analysis:
Silent Valley
I’m not exactly sure I hear Stonar in there, though… Unfortunately for the author, I genuinely cannot hear much of the original song buried within the heavy drums, deep bass, and pan flutes. The only real similarities I hear between the two songs are Stonar’s bit of melody at 1:53 and this song’s similar melody around 0:51. Well…that and the authentic Jazz Jackrabbit samples reused for this tune. As an original song, though… Not too bad.

Carrotus (Carrotene Mix)
Rather than lead up with a cheerful rise as in the original, this song chooses to drone down deep in heavy guitars right from the start. Again, the similarities between this song and the source material, “Carrotus” from Jazz Jackrabbit 2, are far and wide. I’m not entirely sure if this uses any of the original samples. The song also kind of falls into chaos around 1:20, in which the chimes start to overpower the electric guitars, causing a headache-inducing rhythm that’s not real pleasant on the ears. If it wasn’t for that one part between 1:20 and 1:43, I’d say this is a pretty good rock song despite its lack of similarity to Carrotus. This particular tune was also made to be looped, and it does indeed loop flawlessly.

Eu4ria 2.1belectria
Tubelectric. Again. Has anyone really done anything different with Tubelectric yet? Not even my “Winter Thunderland” remix was all that different if you get right down to it. But I digress.
Loudness. That’s what this particular mix is. Loudness. It uses the original samples in a number of places as well as using a number of heavy drum samples among other things. It’s not as awful as some of the things I’ve heard, but there’s a part around 1:42, and the ending part, that aren’t at all pleasant. Once again, it just ends up being a disorganized mess of loud samples around these areas. The rest of the song? Well, as a change of pace, PT32 actually made the song sound like Tubelectric. A good portion of the song is actually a lot of fun to listen to, as well. It’s not terribly different from what you’d come to expect from Tubelectric, but it has a certain appeal to it.

Pools of Light & Shadow
This. This right here. This wins. If you were going to download this pack for just one song, it would be this one. Pools of Light & Shadow is the author’s best work from this pack without a single doubt. Maybe I’m just a fan of echoing melodies, but I genuinely love this song and what was done with it. It has a beautiful sense of drama and fine arrangement that makes it of the same quality as some professional grade music. This is a true joy to listen to. And just when you’re getting used to the beautiful melodies, at 1:48 comes a huge change! It gives an image of walking through the planet and admiring the crystal caves, then having them collapse right on your head. And yet, all is not lost. 2:19 brings a peaceful, yet forever-changed landscape of a single electric guitar with deep choir in the background, leading to a slow fade-out of the song. And finally, a beautiful reminder of what once was. If the author had submitted this song by itself, I would have absolutely no qualms about giving it the high rating I think it deserves.

Sample Analysis:
The samples are clean, clear, crisp, and don’t fuzz. I’d say about half the samples come from the source material while the other half comes from wherever they came from. For the most part, they’re used well, but as mentioned in the individual song reviews, sometimes they’re just too much for that area of the song. Not much else to say about the samples.

Final Analysis:
There aren’t enough good things I can say about “Pools of Light & Shadow”. The rest of the songs I can give or take, but Pools of Light & Shadow is the main reason you’re going to want this pack. A suggestion for you, PT32, might be to upload the songs individual for a more balanced review of each, or at the very least, upload Pools of Light & Shadow by itself if you’re aiming for a popular song.

Recommendation?:
If it wasn’t obvious, I recommend this music pack purely for the beauty that is “Pools of Light & Shadow”. The song title tells you exactly what to expect: light and shadow.

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“FawFul stole my tagline! I HAVE FURY!!!”
Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +1
[0] I like what was done here…

Point Deductions: 0
[0] …but I don’t think enough was done to really justify giving it more than an average score.

Final Score: 5/10

Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +1
[+1] Promising start. But…

Point Deductions: -5
[-1] …it quickly degrades into what’s best labelled as “the musings of the tone-deaf”.
[-2] New samples clash considerably and are just as badly off-key.
[-1] The new samples are REALLY LOUD at some points.
[-1] What’s with those random blank spots? Those don’t sound good at all.

Final Score: 1/10
Don’t give up, but don’t upload anything else until you get some feedback prior to uploading. I mean this in the nicest way, mind you, as feedback from member on the forums can be very helpful.
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Notice: This review applies to v1 of the song. v2 is nowhere to be found, it seems, as the version uploaded here is still the original, unmodified music file…

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10
(Edit: When I say “Base Score”, I mean that ALL files I review start out with 5 out of 10 points. In this, some files can get average scores by having no positive or negative points, or an equal amount of both.)

Point Bonuses: +3
[+2] Strong start, pretty good body, decent finish!
[+1] Reminds me of the “Enigma” table from Epic Pinball as well as other classic Epic games such as Unreal. (Not so much Tyrian, though.)
[+0] Doesn’t suck! :D

Point Deductions: -1
[-1] Slightly repetitive…
[-0] Doesn’t quite loop, but it’s nothing worth getting in a huff over.

Final Score: 7/10

=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:
Serious remix is serious. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a serious remix of Episode 3, World 2: “Scraparap”.

Song Analysis:
The song is a very well-constructed remix of Scraparap’s theme, as I’ve said. The artist really thought outside the box on this one, not limiting himself to the simple, repetitive tune we all remember. Instead, he expanded upon it, indeed creating an entirely new experience while keeping just enough of the old tune recognizable.

Sample Analysis:
Not much to say about the samples other than they’re crystal clear and mix very well together.

Final Analysis:
Just when I was getting bored of the bippy-bip-bop-etc.-etc., it cuts out at 1:53 and goes into a kind of quiet melody for a while. I really liked that. And honestly, I like the song itself! Quite a bit! I think anyone who liked the original Scraparap tune is going to be pleasantly surprised by this remix.
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Yes! I DO review things other than music once in a while! Amazing, I know…

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +5
[+3] Extremely creative use of the basic Jazz Jackrabbit 2 engine and most of its gizmos!
[+2] Good eye for detail! Interesting how there are subtle differences between Spaz and Jazz or Lori which make this level work only for him… I would not have noticed otherwise.

Point Deductions: -3
[-1] Undocumented: Only seems to work on Medium difficulty…
[-1] Even then, it doesn’t always work. Snag areas include the float lizards (on Hard at least) and the conveyor/TNT crate area.
[-1] There are some serious “dry spell” areas… For example, the “fight” with Queen Earlong took too long (and didn’t always work perfectly) and there was at least two long stretches of NOTHING which were in dire need of SOMETHING, I saw…
[0] That palette is ugly. Seriously. It looks like you removed one of the RGB values or something…
[0] You misspelled “Running” as “Runnig”. ;P

Final Score: 7/10
=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:
Run, rabbit, run! Run until you can’t run no more! And then keep running anyway! Mwa ha ha ha ha!!! [ahem] This is the first level of its kind (to my knowledge) in Jazz Jackrabbit 2 — that is to say, a level that plays ITSELF. Super Mario World? Rockman Rockman? Eat your heart out.

Level Analysis:
At first glance, it looks like your average level. A very complex one, at that! Springs, crates, enemies, gems, food, and all sorts of other things EVERYWHERE! Kind of an “elegant mess” of sorts. Best of all, it was created using only a basic “Castle” tileset whose palette was altered (and I think one or two tiles were added?).

Features Analysis:
Okay, first, you fall down this shaft, right? Then, you get tossed around a lot! Then, you eat a lot of food, beat up some enemies, collect BUTTLOADS of treasure, beat up MORE enemies, bully Queen Earlong around, run around like a maniac, bounce, bounce, bounce, swing, fly, bounce, run more, and finally show Devan Shell and his Superbot who’s boss! All this, and you never, ever have to touch a single button.

You tell me that doesn’t sound awesome.

Final Analysis:
You wouldn’t happen to have some sort of Japanese gamer heritage in you, would you? I say this because a few Japanese gamers — particularly those that hang around Nico Nico Douga — seem to have an obsession and are darn good at making “automatic stages” in various games… Anyway, despite the glitches mentioned above, this is most definately worth the minimal time it takes to download and DEFINATELY worth five minutes of your time to watch in action! It’s just that awesome. When it works. ;3
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Heh. I remember you from VG Music! I also remember listening to your Lagunicus MIDI and going “…huh.” I meant to e-mail you from VG Music and tell you that while your MIDIs are 100% accurate…they’re only accurate as far as playing the PSM/MOD files in an external player. See, some of the files (such as Lagunicus/SongCD8) don’t play correctly outside of the game for whatever reason. So while your MIDIs are accurate in notes and samples, they’re also unfortunately accurate as far as the song errors goes as well!

Try zipping around the levels and listening to the music in-game if you want to fix your stuff, KDS. Like I said, they’re darned accurate, but not accurate to the in-game music.

Another Tubelectric remix? What is this? Mid-1994? Are we all still all playing the shareware demo? There ARE other tunes to remix… ;P

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +2
[+2] Well, despite being a Tubelectric remix, I have to say this is pretty epic nonetheless.

Point Deductions: -2
[-1] Those strings (at 0:31) SUCK compared to the rest of the samples! Even so, I KNOW they can be used a LOT better than that.
[-1] It just kind of…dragged on after a while.

Final Score: 5/10
=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:
As stated, it’s YET ANOTHER Tubelectric remix. Am I the only one getting tired of hearing Tubelectric every other music upload? Maybe… Maybe… Still, this at least somewhat unique.

Song Analysis:
I’m not altogether sure what to say. It’s an electronica remix of Tubelectric. Heavy on the “electronica”. Not a bad concept, and really, I’ve heard FAR worse…and in fact, I can’t say I’ve heard better. But somehow, it still just kind of falls apart.

Sample Analysis:
I think the strings sample (spotted around 0:31) could have been used far better… Throwing that in with the rest of the samples, which are of such higher quality and sound beautiful, just throws off the parts of the song the strings are actually in, in my opinion.

Final Analysis:
I know it’s a “dance mix” of Tubelectric, but despite the variations that pop up every minutes or so, I found it pretty boring to listen to after about three minutes. One can only take so much of the same ol’ same ol’ before one goes insane. Seriously though, I had to shut it off after I listened to it twice because it just started to sound like noise to me. Not the good kind, either. I know Danyjel put a lot of effort into this file, but the flaws are just too glaring for me to rank it above average. Still, it’s worth a listen upon occasion…
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +2
[+2] Very chipper! Very up-beat! Creative use of the source material!

Point Deductions: -0
[-0] Familiar, yet original!

Final Score: 7/10
DANG, that’s some chipper music! Put a smile on my face right from the word “go”! Nice!

At the risk of getting beat-up in the parking lot outside of Shoney’s, I’m going to review one of Danyjel’s pieces of music again. Bear with me. This could get MIGHTILY ugly.

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +1
[+1] Strong start! Very pretty lead-in for the song…

Point Deductions: -1
[-1] …but that’s about it.

Final Score: 5/10
Everything else is pretty bland. In short, it’s “just another Crysilis arrangement” which has nothing new to offer.
=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:

Song Analysis:
The song kind of leads you into a false sense of security. It starts off strong with a beautiful piano melody, but it doesn’t take very long for it to slip into a crystal-induced coma. What I mean by that is that basically, it’s your average, run-of-the-mill Crysilis arrangement. That doesn’t mean it’s a BAD piece of music, mind you. On the contrary, it’s a very FINE piece of music. An improvement on the source material, but ultimately, it’s also nothing to write home about…

Sample Analysis:
The samples are (no pun intended) crystal clear and very pleasing to listen to. The samples are also used very well, helping improve on the source material while retaining the feel of the original tune.

Final Analysis:
It’s definitely worth a listen and I could easily see this working in a crystalline stage of some kind, be it Crysilis or somewhere else.
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

Personal Request: Find somewhere to host your tunes. Seriously. I always seem to want your music REAL late in the game. So late, in fact, that your upload places have already removed the files in-question! D:

Ishca?

Your boss stages are, quite simply… EPIC. Not without flaw, to be sure, but pretty darn epic nonetheless.

It’s time for a new twist on an old favorite… Time for a new rating and review system! Shew…it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these… I wonder if I still know how? o_o;

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +4
(+3) Decent selection of samples for the tune. All seem to fit the atmosphere of the tropical planet of chameleons. The samples and the notes seem to mesh together very well.
{+1} Despite the source material being repeatitive, this is not.

Point Deductions: -1
(-1) Some of the samples are a bit too sharp which gives them the illusion of being “too loud”.
(-0) I don’t deduct for this, but at 3:59, there’s a noticable “stumble” in the song… Like it’s “hanging” or something.

Final Score: 8/10
I’ve never heard the music of Splinter Cell, but to me, I can honestly say this sounds like something Alexander Brandon did. And in saying this, I mean this very much in a good way! It sounds like something from Unreal Tournament, another favorite game of mine! Some parts are a bit questionable, such as the samples around 2:33.50 to 3:05 and at 3:59, there’s a rather odd breakbeat glitch that sounds like the song hung, I notice. Other than that, I say “well done!” The music works very well. Most of the samples and notes mesh together and give a really atmospheric, but overall, it’s got a pretty decent sound to it.
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Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph Collins

[takes a squeaky-hammer to Dorian] I wanted to be the first to review this! Augh. T_T; [ahem] Anyway…

Introduction:
Like a Diamondous in the rough, this piece finds itself unburied from the sands of time. But does it shine in the sky? Or is it simply an immature piece of coal? Let’s find out.

Song Analysis:
As far as I can tell, it basically goes like this. fod took the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 arrangement of “Diamondous” and heavily arranged it into what he considered a “funk” style. While it does indeed sound like “funk,” or “jazz,” there just seems to be no real flair to it like with his other stuff. Almost like he didn’t try as hard with this one. Needless to say, I’m kind’a disappointed…

Sample Analysis:
As usual, all samples are clear and true with no noticable graininess.

Final Analysis:
Mm… I’m kind of disappointed with this one, fod… I’m sorry to say, but I really am. As mentioned, this more or less sounds like a simple rearrangement of “Diamondus” from Jazz Jackrabbit 2. And that’s it. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting here, but this wasn’t really it… It’s still Jazz to me(the genre, I mean), but it doesn’t have that flair of absolute awesomeness that your “Hell Freezes Over” remix had.(In case you couldn’t tell, I really, really liked that remix.)

Score: 5.0
“Insert Aladdin Reference Here” Points: 0.7
Total Score: 5.7

Recommendation?:
As Dorian said, you don’t regret this download in the least. Just don’t expect much as far as changes go.

Miscellanious Note of the Moment:
Considering this is the first truly bad(read: “average”) review I’ve given to fearofdark, I’d say he’s doin’ just fine. Heh heh.

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The “Simon Cowell” of Jazz 2 Online‘s Music Scene… Joseph Collins
“Doc Lithius” or “LithiuServer” on Jazz 2