RecommendedReview by FireSworD

Posted:
2 Sep 2007, 21:43 (edited 7 Oct 14, 23:37)
For: The Warden Woods
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.5

After hosting this level multiple times, I really enjoyed it. It has a conventional layout that reminds me of some blur levels. It requires a lot of jumping, and not every area is totally free, yet the flow retains its smooth feel since the more dead end-like areas aren’t important to the overall flow, and they are accessible only by choice. You can periodically take advantage of certain areas, and you also have enough freedom not to be limited to them.

There’s a small pit at the bottom right side of the level, with a mysteriously floating red spring under a carrot; If you’re evil, you can freeze the spring while a player is using it, so the unfortunate soul can fall in the pit below (Insert player’s hilarious reaction here). The location and size of the pit compared to the layout makes it somehow feel interesting.

The eyecandy places you in a dense forest, and you might also get the impression that you’re actually in a park. The only complaints I have are the black bg (Even though the level would probably look completely different with a textured one) and the ‘tube’ tiles supposedly being tall trees, I just have a hard time accepting that with this particular theme.

Everything else is quite standard, and there’s really nothing else to complain about.

RecommendedReview by Grytolle

Posted:
5 May 2007, 19:40 (edited 5 May 07, 20:20 by grytolle)
For: Toxin Twister
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.9

Toxin twister
Looks, high detail
Great. Not overdone.

Looks, low detail
Great^^ Didn’t expect Cooba to put thought into making it work for low detail, but it rocks that he did.

Base-areas
As the level is symmetrical I save time by not having to review two different base situations, yay!

The levels are located close to each other, only divided by a thin wall, perhaps a bit inspired by Zaitox? In any case, this allows sneaky gun9 hits, which is always fun. Staying rts at base doesn’t work for long here, since you will get hit by seekers from the turret/tube, from under or from above, where the fullNRG carrot is a major camp spot, however with lots of space for dodging if the server isn’t too laggy. A bit more successful of a tactic is to camp the area under the bases. Anyway, over all, I really like the base areas, even if they’re not as awesome as for example the red base’s in bblair. In my opinion it’s a bit too hard to avoid getting shot up so you miss scores. So far very good.

Secret Trick Lol:

Carrot placement
There are 3 carrots, one fullNRG and two one heart carrots. It’s hard to get the upper C, since people camp there a lot, and if you go take the lower C, you will have troubles getting back to base, where you rts, safely. I like it – it’s not easy to get C unpunished. People die a lot in the level, so there aren’t too much carrots, and the one H carrots makes the game play not have to be all about the fullNRG, which would be annoying. So far very good.

Powerups and ammunition
Symmetrically placed, definitely fair. Sufficient amount of pickups. Not much to say about it really. Good :)! All Pus are placed for off, except RFs. You really have to prioritize, either get ammo, which takes a long time, or hunt ammo less.

Routes
The level is slightly one-wayed, you just run around in a circle. This could be seen as something bad, but I think it’s rather nice, for some reason. If you want stuff you have to go elsewhere, like getting aforementioned carrots or power ups. You really feel that you’re not where the action if you for example go for the seeker power up.

When rushing from base to base, you win a lot by taking the tube from base, something I hadn’t realized the first games I played. Nice thing. There are alternative ways to run, you just don’t notice them so easily at first. For example there are vertical suckers (or some other event, same purpose at least) which allows you to sometimes be faster than the enemy you are hunting.

Overall rating
8.9. It’s a really good level, and the reasons it’s not given more are:
- A bit too hard to be RTS, even though it’s addicting, I find it too chance based, since you can just get an airhit and end up in the total other side of the level than where you should be when RTS.
- Too one wayed. It doesn’t offer too many variations… learn from semi- or superconductor.

Still, the level is original gameplay wise while still very playable, it has a nice amount of eye candies and is fun to play. Good job, Cooba! I was thinking of giving it a 9, but it just didn’t feel right – so 8.9 it is. Keep making CTF levels, please.

Edit: The symmertricalness makes the level easy to learn, which is good. This doens’t mean that you know it perfectly yet, though – which makes it a good idea to play the level a few more time if you didn’t like your first game too much (which is what happened to me here, when I first played it).

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
14 Mar 2007, 11:49 (edited 14 Mar 07, 11:52)
For: Toxin Twister
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8

Here we see a few months-old ctf-level from Cooba called ‘Toxin Twister’ getting uploaded with some improvements. Well what was the result? The original one already was a show-off about the level’s tactical gameplay and the creative background at least. Both of them were improved a bit, as well there was some sprite-eyecandy added. And something else?

Like I said, the background here is creative. Though there could have been a little more effort put to design the background in a different way, since layers 6-8 are all used for the same part of it, and so there remains just lots of black area too, which isn’t so good thing. Sprite-layer had the most lackings originally but it looks quite fine now. The solid wall could use some more detailed stuff, especially around the bottom-tunnels.

The base-placement and their entrances bring to my mind ‘Demonic Home’ by Sacrush, although here you are able to reach either base from the same spot. This, and the rest of the layout was designed with care to make it friendly for the player also. Some people might think the bases are left too safe and campable, actually they aren’t, they are more like the most dangerous hang-outs here, except for duels maybe. Seekers can be shot from above, beneath, or through the tubes. Electroblasters also enable shooting from base to another.

The position for the full-carrot was no doubt the best choice. Putting it beneath the bases instead wouldn’t have worked, nor are there any other spots for one, because there are lesser carrots in the bottom anyways. It’s easy to hide in bases with low health in duels though, and just wait for the carrot to spawn. This has been made more risky with the warp in bottom. There are two Bouncy-PowerUps placed in the tunnels near bottom. It should be fine since they are very close to each other. The more powerful Seeker-, and RF-PowerUp are placed wisely as well. However, I have variable opinions about ammo-flocks.

Looks like not everyone appreciates this level that much. Cooba hasn’t done, or at least uploaded any CTF recently yet. Anyway I consider it great, that Cooba didn’t focus on eyecandy, and tried to make the level feel good from a player’s view as well. I can remember the 5vs5 I had here once, which unfortunately didn’t last long. I would say I enjoyed to play it there. I can’t be very sure how does this work in duels yet. I recommend you to download this.

SJ

RecommendedReview by PurpleJazz

Posted:
11 Mar 2007, 11:29
For: Toxin Twister
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.3

EYECANDY

The EC in this level was very nice for this tileset. One special thing about the EC in this level is the BG, it is very original. I have never seen a background like it in any level, any tileset. GJ Cooba. I totally disagree with Flash, who said that there is little creativity in the EC in this level. This level has extremely original EC, stuff like making animations out of the Textured Background, hooks/vines etc for EC. I really like the skull at the bottom of the level, it adds too the atmosphere a lot. I think the ground could use a bit more vareity though, it’s a bit plain. Overall a great job on the EC, a huge improvement over the original.

GAMEPLAY

This level has fast-paced, stratigical Gameplay. It is symectrical, so it is balanced. The base placement is nice too, but they are a bit close together, so scoring is quick. There are float ups at the bottom, with tubes on both sides and a Carrot in each. I think they are a bit too close together. Also there is a warp that takes you to the top where there is a Full Energy carrot. But there are 4 PU’s, so it won’t be hard to kill. One of the Bouncer Pu’s should be replaced with a Toaster PU though, because the two Bouncer Pu’s are too close together. There is a good placement of the Seeker PU which is above the pit in a wall, and Electo Blasters are required to get it, so it is not very campy, which is a good thing. I think this level is better for Duels rather than Teamplay.

Pro’s

  • Creative Eyecandy
  • Good Gameplay
  • Nice Placement

Con’s

  • Bases might be a bit campy
  • Walls need more vareity

I think this is Cooba’s best CTF level so far.

Download: Yes.
Host: This is a nice Dueling level.

RecommendedReview by Stijn

Posted:
10 Mar 2007, 18:34 (edited 16 Jan 08, 09:26 by Fl@$h aka BlewMeUp)
For: Toxin Twister
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
7.7

hilarious lol

I wanted to review DarkSonic’s pack but since people hated my server (at least they didn’t want to join it) and I didn’t feel like waiting for enough people every level Cooba’s the one to get my annual review this time.

‘t is a nice level. I liked the flow and layout, which just worked and was fun to play in. The level has one full-energy carrot and two energy+1 carrots, which may be a tad too much (especially since the two +1 carrots are close together and near them is a warp to the full energy carrot) but since there are plenty of powerups too killing people shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The bases are fairly close to each other (travelling from base to base will take about 7 seconds) but this is not much of a problem. Partly because the level itself is fairly small anyway, partly because the more interested pickups, apart from the RF powerup, are placed near the top and bottom of the level.

The level is symmetrical and fairly small, with few complex structures and a general division in an open structure with some platforms at the top half of the level and a cave/tunnel system at the bottom. Both are easy to navigate and the springs are conveniently placed just a tile lower than the normal platforms. The eyecandy however is not too great. Everything looks a bit dull and uninspired and though there are some nice twists (such as the giant skull) the tileset has not really been used to its full potential, nor does it do anything (apart from perhaps the aforementioned skull) to make the level stand out from the rest. A little more creativity here wouldn’t have hurt.

To sum it up, |Toxin |||||||Twister is a nice and fun level, but fairly average too, with a nice layout and solid gameplay, but not too interesting eyecandy. Hosting this will guarantee one or two fun games though, with 2 or 4 players being the optimum.

Edit: formatting stuff

Review by Donda97

Posted:
4 Aug 2006, 20:20 (edited 4 Aug 06, 20:36 by Cooba)
For: Pre-OEM Purple Castle
Level rating: 7.5
Rating
N/A

Oh well, then I can’t let it work coz I got just the Secret files! and Jazz 2 normal doesn’t open on my PC so Is there one in the secret files ?

[…eh? 1.23 tilesets work fine in TSF and so does this conversion. ~Cooba]

Review by HorvatM

Posted:
31 Jul 2006, 11:54 (edited 31 Jul 06, 12:17 by Cooba)
For: Pre-OEM Purple Castle
Level rating: 7.5
Rating
N/A

An orange version of the Castle tileset also existed. Could you make it too?

Unfortunately, I’ve got no pictures.

[I had the light yellow version in plans, but I got lazy and it would wind up being a lot of work. The screenshot didn’t have a palette and it was saved as an MSPaint .jpg, and the level shown in it was just… really weird. ~Cooba]

Review by SPAZ18

Posted:
30 Jul 2006, 11:12 (edited 1 Aug 06, 10:34 by Cooba)
For: Pre-OEM Purple Castle
Level rating: 7.5
Rating
N/A

Wow, the Gems sure looked different in the early JJ2. The numbers at the bottom of the screen (lives, ammo) were smaller too. The icon for the Blaster weapon was different also.
Anyway, great work in making an early JJ2 tileset now usable.

EDIT: I’ve just noticed that there wasn’t a score counter.

EDIT 2: Are there any other early JJ2 Tilesets that didn’t make it in the final version?

[Yes. There’s Diamondus Beta which I linked to in the download description, the differently drawn Inferno, and an entirely different background in the Damn levels. Feel free to message me for the screenshots. ~Cooba]

RecommendedReview by Ischa

Posted:
7 Jun 2006, 18:20
For: Familiar World
Level rating: 7.5
Rating
8.9

Rating Familiar World

Rating Story: (X1)
It is a good story!
Rating:

Rating Length: (X2)
Three pretty large playable levels (the last is the ending) filled with lots of puzzles. Good!
Rating: 9

Rating Gameplay: (X2)
In the three levels are lots of puzzles, obstacles and bosses at the end of each level. That are the best levels!
Rating:

Rating Obstacles: (X2)
With the enemies, bosses, fire, lava and life-risking puzzles the levels are very hard! But there are some bugs…
Rating: 8

Rating Bonusses: (X1)
The goodies and crystals are good placed!
Rating:

Rating Eyecandy: (X2)
The foreground is good! The background is good and you have created beautiful paths!
Rating: 9

Final Rating: 8,9
Download recommendation: YES!

RecommendedReview by CrimiClown

Posted:
27 Mar 2006, 19:36 (edited 27 Mar 06, 19:36)
For: Random Race Levels
Level rating: 9
Rating
8.5

Starting Comments
Cooba made me do it… And I’m glad he did, too.

Gameplay
The flow of the two levels is just amazing. You just soar through awesome levels. Especially Velocity is a fast level, like a race is supposed to be. Shooting from building to building, dodging trap holes and deep pits. It’s like a race I’ve never raced before. Absolutely brilliant.
Gameplay = Very good

Placements
The placements of ammo and even enemies is quite decent. The ammo is nice (for example the Gun9 in the zig-zag tunnels is handy) and the TNT blows up parts of the tunnel, hindering other players. Very nice. Also, the ravens add an extra touch. If you hit one of the springs in Boomerang, you will be kicked back to the ground, into a pit, with the ravens following you. Even though you just KNOW you’re gonna lose, at least it looked pretty neat!
Placement = Good

Eyecandy
The eyecandy looks like a whole new generation of JCS’ing. The walls and ceilings look like they should, but had an extra sprinkle of beauty-powder. The layers were well used, the background looked nice. There was nothing to complain about, actually.
Eyecandy = Like, dude, yeah!

Music
The music is exellently chosen. Both tracks give you that extra boost you need.
Music =

Originality
Boomerang is an awesome level. After you think you’ve reached the finish, you get stopped by a “?” sign. After you fall in a pit, you’re told you need to go back. When you do so, the track seems slightly slower (Because you have to climb some distance) but still fast paced. Also the seeker ammo shows you where to go in order not to get trapped.
Originality =

Score
I had fun playing these levels and I hope I always will. These levels are a great addition to your host. No doubt you will agree with this 8,5!
Score = 8,5

Bonusses/substractions
None
Added Score = 0,0

Download Recommendation

Further comment
IC ftw y’all!

RecommendedReview by n00b

Posted:
28 Feb 2006, 21:48 (edited 31 Mar 06, 23:15)
For: Random Race Levels
Level rating: 9
Rating
9.6

On first impression: These are well built Race levels. But this is on a design-only perspective. i will have to play the level online to fully experience the action.

Oh and first review & download. In yer face Nostradamus

Final Review:

Since this pack is so humbly amazing I had to find things to critique. I will bring those up now, and then you can continue the amazing storm of PRAISE that I am spewing. Boomerang’s checkpoint gimmick loses it’s steam the instant you figure it out, if it even fooled you at all. Luckily Boomerang isn’t a one-trick pony, and theres more to the level than that. My next complaint goes out to the Citadel: It felt too slow to me. While Noomerang was fast paced, Citadel seemed a tad bit slow. It may have to do with the constant jumping you have to do in the level.
From here I’ll pick at minor details that don’t really diminish much, and then go all out in a final round in which I point out every single reason why you need this.
The ammo in Boomerang, at least in my experience, isn’t all too useful after the first lap. It could just be the motley crew of players, but after the first lap, there wasn’t much change in the order the players were in. Plus getting the Powerups requires slowing down. This is a double edged sword for inexperienced players. If you slow down, theres no garuntee that you’ll make it to the top of the pack. And if you don’t, a more experienced player will probably get it, and use it against you.
Which is a double edged sword for me, since I enjoy unfair advantages but dislike double edged swords.
Next, the presence Electroblasters in Velocity feels forced. Not too sure why though.
Also, the muck pit near the end in Boomerang leads you into the wall. The Muck pit slows one down enough, and does not need this added punishment.
Finally heres the part where I rain down immense praise, mainly because from this point anything negative will be mystically replaced by immense praise.
The dark tunnels and platforming aspects of Boomerang are [COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WONDERFUL]. I have never seen such [DESIGN IN A RACE PACK]. Probably, because I’ve never played alot of them. While CItadel sufferes from some [AMAZING] [MANDATORY DESIGN CHOICES EVERY GOOD RACE LEVEL HAS], it picks up halfway through and is a highly enjoyable, albeit slow race. Another thing, Boomerang’s checkpoint system is [HIGHLY INNOVATIVE. HOPEFULLY OTHER PACKS WONT BLANTLY RIPOFF THIS KIND OF IDEA]. Plus Boomerang has the immense feeling of speed, and if you’ve kicked into the ‘runner’s high’, the unworking speed shoes will make you feel like you got an extra burst of speed. One of the pits is highly cleverly placed, and deffiently seperates a cluster of racers.

Despite some flaws, this pack is highly enjoyable. Don’t mind most of my negative veiws, I’m just a soured critic.
Download reccomendation all the way.

Review by the jamster

Posted:
3 Jan 2006, 11:23 (edited 18 Apr 06, 10:47 by Fquist)
For: Villain Village
Level rating: 8.1
Rating
N/A

yo coob its me jamster BB i will be using this in BB hostup very good level ok time to rate it

eyecandy 9
placement of stuff 8
music 7
tileset choice 7
start pos 6.5
background 7.2

[Inappropiate rating (9) removal. No proper reason was given as to why the level was rated this way. – FQuist]

Review by Ischa

Posted:
30 Dec 2005, 15:09
For: Quicksand is Mighty
Level rating: N/A
Rating
N/A

What’s this?

Review by cooba

Posted:
4 Apr 2005, 14:22
For: Avoidance
Level rating: 7.6
Rating
N/A

It’s not the trigger crate what blocks the wallclimb spot, it’s the trigger zone. It’s there so latecomers don’t wallclimb in when game starts. However, this system falls prey when server is laggy, and right now I’m modifying it. Thanks for noticing that, Blacky.

(blah) Nonetheless, thanks for pointing the bugs out, Sonyk. You helped me with making these levels better, thanks to you. =)

RecommendedReview by Blackraptor

Posted:
3 Apr 2005, 01:44
For: Avoidance
Level rating: 7.6
Rating
7.3

Overgrown

Firstly, let me comment on how the music for this level wasn’t in the zip =D.
Otherwise, I dislike the crate system. It blocks off the wallclimb spot so nobody else could get in after someone gets into controller room. Why did you make that? Anyways, I played this with a lot of people and it got annoying. The actual level is pretty small, and you need TNT to blow up stuff, so its not that fun and chaotic like other ground force levels. eyecandy is alright.
Rating: 7

A Lone Island
Yay music =D. And again that crate system >.>. I don’t like the main arena here much. Eyecandy needs a lot of work and the backround is pretty boring. The delay between the bomb falling is nice, if only you couldn’t reach the bombs and blow them up manually without even hitting the crate.
Rating: 6.5

A Water surprise
Nice atmosphere, and imo this level looks a lot better for me in 16bit =D. I actually kinda like this level. Eyecandy is nice for the most part. I think you put too many carrots in the crates that fall though, it might get laggy. I would’ve given this a 7.5, but I managed to jump out of the gem area the controller gets to when out and back into the arena. You really need to fix that. -0.5

Rating: 7

Blazing Speed:
The turtle shell thing is fun (although not completely original since Blur’s Scatter used it), but some times the turtle shell fell without breaking anything. Yay for LRK’s song. The eyecandy is alright here, and this is a decent level.

Rating: 7.2

Palace of Punishment:
++Music. The concept is interesting, but this level is kinda hard =\. I’d prefer the coin amount you need before you get out to be higher. The eyecandy is alright, but because of color repetetiveness within the tiles it gets confusing.
Rating: 6.5

Windy Carrots
Lol @ tileset. This level was actually kinda fun, and the wind thing was original, but the wind might’ve been too strong. Still, one of the better ones in the pack imo.

Rating: 7.4

10 is a magical number
Dont get the name but k. Destruct blocks took some effort to destroy, and the empty areas in the arena were =\. Don’t really have much to comment on the level.
Rating: 7

Elixir of Distort:
Woah. Pretty big level. Also kinda lacking in music =P. might’ve been funner if the crates didnt drop the bombs on you and in a distant area where other players might be instead. Tileset use was ok. I like the backround
Rating: 7.2

Marbles of Magic:
Hm. Lots of eyecandy bugs in the start area, but I liked what you did in the walls in the arena. I dont like the layout of the level, since its really hard to get up especially if you fall down all the way. Music is nice.
Rating: 6.7

Thunderstorm of the Ancients:
I see rain but I dont see lightning anywhere ;(. More like a huge rainstorm. Level is pretty big too, and the turtle thing is interesting (the shells). One thing I noticed is that people were able to get back into the arena if they rejoined the level (-0.5), and that kinda sucks. I also got killed by the turtles too. Whee. Music is nostalgic though, reminds me of donkey kong 3 (probably cause I think it is from donkey kong 3).
Rating: 7.4 – 0.5 = 6.9.

Rating of the pack: 6.94 rounded down to a 6.9.

Lots of these levels are really buggy and need some fixes, but otherwise some of them are ok and kinda fun to play. I’d give this a download reccomendation, since it has some fairly original stuff in it.

~Blacky

Edit: Since apparently a lot of bugs are fixed, I’ll upgrade the rating of this to a 7.6. GG.

Edit: Some bugs are still there. I can get into the arena after the server and everyone else got in (i.e by rejoining if I get out) and stuff. Back down to a 7.3 until this gets fixed..

RecommendedReview by Sonyk

Posted:
3 Apr 2005, 01:03
For: Avoidance
Level rating: 7.6
Rating
8

Okay, people got all annoied at my “underrating” of this set, but for someone who never used the Access Violation patch, or knows how to avoid common errors and problems… the levels were kinda unstable, which made playing them horrible and all. Anyway, with the fixes the levels are more enjoyable.

Each level is basic ground force, nothing too special about the types. When each level starts, the system is different in each. But the server locks the start area, which makes problems in servers with downloaders.

Each level has its own little “theme” which relates to the levels name, more often than not. Like in ’10 is a magical number’, each block takes ten hits to destroy it. In ‘Thunderstorm of the Ancients’, there are even turtles, which I presume to be the ‘Ancients.’

Overall, the levels are nicely made, but ground force is a ‘you like it; you don’t’ kind of thing, so downloading it is really your choice.

Overall, since Ground Force levels are (in my opinion) not that original, or anything breathtaking, I didn’t really see anything in this pack that really deserved a 9+, but the levels are nice, so an 8 is about right.

EDIT: After playing the levels some more, I started liking them more and more, so, I recommend to download them now. Very much so.

—————————————————————————-
A little note I would like to make to those who blame me for “underrating” as well. A review is how I liked the pack and the rating is what I felt it deserved. As long as I provide reason (which I did) I could’ve made this rating lower or higher. So, I had reason for rating it the way I originally did, and thus, if you didn’t like it, simply ignore what I have to say from now on.

Review by cooba

Posted:
9 Jan 2005, 18:38
For: Familiar World 2 (file re-uploaded)
Level rating: 6.6
Rating
N/A

PHT, big rocks are a (crap) decoration FYI. ;p

RecommendedReview by The Blaziken Master

Posted:
28 Nov 2004, 13:11
For: Villain Village
Level rating: 8.1
Rating
8.1

Let’s rate it:

Eye Candy:
The eye candy is so great, but it’s not perfect, sorry! I would give the eye candy 8

Enemies:
No need for enemies in a multiplayer levels, some MP levels however has it 10

Layout: The layout isn’t bad, it isn’t good either, I would say you should have better layout, but this is really good I’m not saying that’s bad! 7.5

Weapon Placement: There are some weapons, not too few not too many either, but I like how you put weapons in the level 6.7

Powerups: Well, I found some powerups, there are some powerups that I didn’t noticed, but I saw a lot of them! Really good! 7.8

MP Start: Well, there are a lot of start points, I like how you place them, there are so many, that’s really good! 8

Music Choice: Well, the music’s choice is great choice, it’s great choice, I love this music, I’m not interested in music, but I sometimes enjoy them! 8.7

Tileset choice: Well, good choice I would say, some people chooses a custom one but you chose this one, it’s really good choice, great work! 7.5

Avarge Rating: 8.052= 8.1
Download Recommand: Yes
Make it into Server: Yes

Edit: Since I now have the text box, I have edit the rating to higher level, it deserves that high, and to the guy that didn’t find my review helpful, please PM me and explain why you didn’t!

RecommendedReview by Ragnarok!

Posted:
30 Sep 2004, 19:22
For: Hangmen Rush
Level rating: 5.9
Rating
7.2

Hmm, the reviews made me think the level was shit, so i downloaded it. But it wasn’t as bad as the ratings. Hmm, well Cooba and Dx were underrating eachother’s levels for some reason. Which i don’t care of, but back to the level. Okay, the tileset used was overused, but who cares… Here we go:

Eyecandy:
My rating: 7.7
Comments: The background was kinda original. I disliked the animations of this tileset. The warps (Spinning things) were too unoriginal, hmm but the red thing u go in in the blue base is cool, i like it. Moving on, There is no forground.

Gameplay:
My Rating: 6.7
Comments: The rooms were really cool, but some were unevenly made, as in some has easy access, like the red base has a gay suckertube. But still… The powerups, the only useful one is toaster.

Placement:
My Rating: 7.2
Comments: Some PU’s are useless, the blaster, the bouncy, but the toaster has a good use here! The ammo is placed good. There should be some fastfires.

Overall: 7.2 i think, i felt like it ;D

Not recommendedReview by Violet CLM

Posted:
30 Sep 2004, 06:50
For: Hangmen Rush
Level rating: 5.9
Rating
5

“Hangmen Rush”, in addition to being a weird name, is a weird CTF level. The author boasts that it is strategic, but this seems to be more the “I’ll-call-it-strategic-because-it’s-unusual” syndrome than actual strategicism, as there is really only one path between the bases. This path is made up out of warps. I think this level has been done before.

EYECANDY:
Eyecandy is a mixed bag. Everything in the background is zooming towards the right, which is presumably intended to make it feel like layer 4 goes to the left, but fails (don’t worry, few levels accurately achieve the perspective effect). The stuff flying by consists of, basically, whatever tiles Cooba saw in the tileset and liked. This means the sucker tubes, the giant scaffolding things, and of course those girders which show up in every 7th Lava Fall level. Layer 4 is about the same, with random wall tiles thrown here and there, in an effect which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. The most notable flaw in the eyecandy is the lava animation next to the blue base, which does not even pretend to be done well. Fortunately, you can only see a small portion of it.
PROS: Good variety of tile use, multiple layers.
CONS: No foreground, some tiles feel random, that lava is really ugly.
RATING: 6.0

DESIGN/GAMEPLAY/ORIGINALITY/SUPER-MERGED-FUN SECTION:
As the author’s description graciously informs you, this level is split up into several small rooms, connected by the spinning pink warps which you know if you’ve ever seen the tileset before. There are, unless I’m mistaken, five different rooms – the blue base, the red base, and three inbetween, each with a +1 carrot. The designs of these rooms vary – some have slopes, some do not, some have annoying combinations of slopes/non-slopes. Possibly my favorite is the tetris style room, which is a rotated L with warps and no ammo. Anyway, these rooms are all held up with chains, but that doesn’t effect the gameplay at all.
To get from one base to another, you must travel through all three rooms, meaning there is only one path between the bases. Not one best path, but one path. Just one. I’m not sure how much this would add up to strategy, as there’s going to be 97% camping and 10% bad math. Fortunately?, the setup of the warps is mostly symmetrical, with the possible exception of the blue base, which has warps in two different places, both leading to the same room. The left side of the level is just annoying period, because it has a red fog one way area beneath the blue base, and a really long sucker tube to reach the middle room. I have now talked enough about the design of this level that my brain is complaining. Let’s move on.
PROS: Well… the author tried.
CONS: Camping, camping, camping, I hate that sucker tube.
RATING: 3.2

CARROT/BASE/WEAPON/PANCAKE PLACEMENT:
I didn’t pay too much attention to the weapons, but there aren’t enough of them, and I see no need for the RF’s when the whole level is made up of tiny rooms. There are also a whopping three powerups in this level, each accessible by Electro Blasters (or, in the case of the Toaster, Jazz’s uppercut), which is an all right choice but might be a little much for such a small level. Carrots are kind of annoying, as there’s little challenge in getting them, especially when warps are right above them, and this just leads to base-biasedness with the SUCKER TUBE that I mentioned earlier. Bases are boring and logically placed. Pancakes.
PROS: Bases are thankfully in opposite sides of the level, powerups generally need EB’s, and there are no seekers.
CONS: Not much use for a Blaster powerup without fastfire, so why is it the most hidden?
RATING: 5.5

MUSIC:
The music doesn’t fit well.
PROS: N/A
CONS: N/A
RATING: -0.1

SUMMARY:
This CTF is somewhat… rushed? It’s not too bad, but it’s not particularly interesting, and the sucker tube is really rather annoying. The idea behind this level could probably have been expanded to create something more fun, but I don’t feel like figuring out how. Next time, have more than one route between bases, and make sure the placement and design aren’t biased. A bigger level might also be nice. Depends.
PROS: It does have a concept behind it, and the eyecandy’s not too bad.
CONS: There are a lot of things about this level which rub me the wrong way.
RATING: 5.7

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