Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Well, “Inside the Castle2” is pretty confusing battle(?) level using the Castle tileset, which is totally overused.
The layout is more than confusing in my opinion and i wonder if it makes sense at all. It’s more like you warp from one area to another collect some of the not-so-creatively placed weapons, find your way through you some may call labyrinth and take the next warp. That’s all.
Okay, there aren’t any major tile placement bugs but nevertheless i find the use of some structures very questionable. Layer work is nearly non-existant.
To sum it up, this isn’t worth downloading at all. Sorry. Try to avoid the disavantages i mentioned next time (nearly three points, but i didn’t feel like).

P.S.: Do not include the full path info in the ZiP archive. Causes trouble.

As i know from my own experience, it’s quite hard to work with the “Colonius” tileset. Nevertheless or even because of that, it’s definitely one of my favourite sets. Logically, it is very underused in the J2 level building community (which is a pity!). Thanks for a Colonius map, Disguise!

“Domestic Dispute” is about 150*80 tiles large and has a very nice open design. It is fluently playable, allows easy navigation and even has some little secret rooms and all that. The CTF route seems to make sense (pretty erm…diagonal as it should be, afaik) and the eyecandy is above the average as the tileset itself already requires some tricky layer work.

Oh well, even if i have the impression that some parts of the level were made a bit in a hurry (some repetitive stuctures in the walls and backgrounds or this very empty space at the right bottom, for example), it’s still cool. I bet that you can have a lot of CTF fun (btw, it’s a MUST for all fans of this game mode) playing “Domestic Dispute” and most of you will just be happy to finally see some different tileset used (makes a very good 7!).

I’m very sorry, but in my opinion, “Happy flowers” is a very dull level: it uses Diamondus at its worst (boring to the bone, and esspecially in this way completely overused!).
The layout is very linear and looks more like it was a single player map. Another fact that makes me think of a single player level is that there are nearly no weapons. The whole event placement isn’t very fortunate: a lot of annoying poles and warps, not much more. Eyecandy is not available in this version for some reason and the next level setting is also wrong.

To sum it up, “Happy Flowers” isn’t worth the download, if you ask me (very low three points!). It’s not clear that it’s supposed to be a battle level at all. Anyways, good luck for the next try, Chi Chi, and don’t take it personally. Don’t hang your head![This review has been edited by Aiko]

Whew! Even though it uses “Diamondus” (overused and so on), i really like “Gemstone Warfare” a lot!

The layout is as platform based as possible and the navigation is really easy, which will, in combination with the relatively small size (about 85*80 tiles), definitely result in some exciting battle fan. The weapon and powerup placement completely fits my needs (the author only used my favourite type of ammo!) and there aren’t a lot of annoying events.
Another aspect worth mentioning here is the eyecandy: it may look a bit confusing at first (reminds me of the second level in Nemesis’ great old battle pack, if anyone remembers) but you will get used to it quickly and without any doubt we can call it original.

Adding up all the mentioned facts, i can really give a strong DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON for “Gemstone Warfare”. With it’s simple but effective layout and it’s orignal eyecandy it offers the perfect ground for a great battle. Seems like Diamondus isn’t dead yet (very high seven points! :-)

“Chemicals Labroratorys” (i wonder if that’s grammatically correct…well, english sucks :-) is a nice little (standard size: 100*50 tiles) battle level using the good old Labrat tileset.

It has an acceptable layout that is obviously supposed to be round and easily playable (which it isn’t because of reasons i’ll mention later).
The weapon selection is very good. As for the event placement, i didn’t find it exceptionally good: the gems and food are pretty useless in a battle and the destruction events (which are quite annoying sometimes, esspecially regarding navigation) are just not my favourite idea in such a level (no real big problems, though).

Regarding the layer work, i have to mention this real nice(!) “JAZZ” arrangement in one of the background layers. Otherwise, nothing special about it.

Well, all in all, even if it may sound harsh, i don’t see this level too far away from the average. It is just missing something in my opinion. In addition to that, i find it horribly overrated here, which also influences my rating of “only” (high) 6.5 points. Still worth a download, if you like the tileset, the “Made in Holland” sign or if you just feel like.

“Fishy stuff!” is a small (about 50*40 tiles) battle level, has a very dull name and uses Disguise’s very cool “Fishy” tileset.
The whole level design is not spectacular or very original. The author obviously tried to make it circular and playable but somehow i found the navigation too complicated in this. All those sucker tubes, dunno. The text events aren’t too motivating as well. And eyecandy? Not much except the background, sorry.
About the music: actually you can’t do anything wrong with a chippy Jogeir Lilljedahl tune, but this one is only 30 seconds short. I have to admit, it still sounds 1337 :-)

Okay, despite that it’s not the super fun producing battle level in my opinion, at least someone tried to make a level using this great tileset. I’ll reward that effort and the idea with 6 and a half points. However, fans of custom tilesets should really download “Yhsif” (which sounds even more stupid than the actual level name!).

I’m a little bit surprised by Red_XIII’s (over)rating. “SpotDiamond” (the actual level name seems to be “A diamond is forever!!”…) isn’t a bad level but it definitely has some problematic aspects.

The layout of this Diamondus(ARGH!!!) level isn’t too circular, there are a few dead ends and too many irritating ideas (like this “cave of doom”). The event placement didn’t amaze me as well: a lot of unnecessary food, ice and coins. Spikes (esspecially if they don’t hurt) make no sense in a battle level for example.

Regarding the layer arrangements, i can’t say too much (nothing really cool, only those flying leafs, the background and some VERY FEW foreground objects).

Last but not least one word about the background music: no matter how cool it is, Spotty, you should never ever choose a 2 MB large file for that purpose. That’s simply not appropiate (there are so many good tunes that are around 100 KB large). I mean, the included Impulse Tracker tune (“Foregone Destruction”) is not completely bad (seems to be from this popular Unreal game), but it doesn’t really fit for this harmless Diamondus level, sorry!

To sum it up, i don’t like this level as much as the other reviewers did so far. It simply doesn’t hit my favourite style and the idea of using Diamondus for a such a level does the rest. Sorry, i don’t see this far above the average.

Indeed, as Disguise wants to explain in his description, he obviously tried something different this time. In my opinion it’s his luck that he wasn’t really able to do something completely different than what i sometimes call “south african style” (i guess thats only logical because this style is, imho, one of very few ways to make a good level at all).
Nevertheless, the design of “Swampy Showdown” is a bit less tight than in other Disguise creations. There are quite large structures (and empty spaces!) and the level somehow gives me the impression of being too large (well, it has at least 115*80 tiles). By the way, “Swampy Showdown” is definitely one of the levels where i have to admit that my overall impression is really (too much?!) influenced by the tileset (Agama’s “Swamp”, which looks completely breathtaking, so beautiful!!). But back to the layout: the weapon placement is okay (not a lot of them, though) and events are hard to find (which isn’t a bad thing as it is an important feature of Disguise’s very own style). The CTF route is quite long, probably too long to score a lot (but i don’t really wanna judge that, as i’m no CTF freak).
The layer arrangements are…sound, not spectular (as always, sorry :-).
As the background music, Disguise choose a ST3 module by an unknown finnish(!!) artist called “Jungle attack” (1997). No super hit and very slow but it still fits good in this jungle atmosphere.

My conclusion: sounds boring by the time, but this is yet another great level by Mister Disguise. Awesome tileset choice, playable as hell and perfect for battle games. His attempt to create a new own style pretty much failed and you know what? I’m even happy about that (7.5, mainly because of the cool composition…tileset, level and music :-).

Yes, like the other reviewers i can’t say too much about this level except that it’s just fine. The design is very good, open and playable. Same is true for ammo placement (i only dislike the ice a bit) and eyecandy (a lot of details, really looks good).
The main and actually the only problem i have with “The Amazon” is the fact, that is has no correct next level setting. Try to correct that, MAGOO.

Otherwise, you can’t do anything wrong by downloading “The Amazon”. Pure battle fun is garantueed (only 7 points because of the ice and the next level setting :-)![This review has been edited by Aiko]

Oh well, as you may know already, i’m not a big fan of this type of level. Nevertheless, i will always try to rate them fair, like all other levels.

“The Brothers Hotel” has four “rooms”, one additional room for each MP mode (CTF, Battle and Treasure Hunt), a toilet, a disco (doesn’t really make sense without a DJ and some gals :-), two shops (seems like the only item they sell are powerups, duh!), a kind of cinema or something like that, a boxing room, a swimming room, a pinball room and a “training” room.
All of those are very small and doesn’t really look beautiful in my opinion, which may have its cause in the tileset used here (“Building” by a guy called Gringo…i’m sorry but i never really heard of it or i don’t remember so i can’t tell you a lot about it, it’s not too impressing i’d say). On the other hand, the level author also didn’t really make more than he obviously needed to. There’s isn’t much layer work or variation throughout the level. Another disappointing fact is the lack of any background music.

All in all, i have to admit that i’ve seen worse hotels. Technically it’s absolutely okay and there aren’t many event placement problems i think. So if you’re a fan of this (in my opinion silly) fashion of level making, you will probably like this one a lot. Otherwise, better keep your hands off this (slighly below the average because i don’t like hotels too much personally :-)!

Well, let me put it straight, this is not my favourite level this week. Tube Electric is pretty easy to use and still, the author made some unfortunate mistakes here.

The whole design is kinda confusing, the level seems to be very large (255*64 tiles, way too much width) and the event placement is not very appropiate. For example, those Spikeballs only hurt the server and can cause access violations. The many (coin) warps don’t make navigation easier, too. In addition to that, the whole map doesn’t really look and feel like a battle level. Full energy carrots and annyoing dead ends (in the lower right corner, for example) may give you prove of my critics (pretty bad ammo placement in the whole level). As for what we call eyecandy, i didn’t find a lot of it…actually…erm…i didn’t find any. Not even the tubes are placed in foreground layers! Oh, and by the way, i think the level wasn’t started from scatch (as it should be), but it’s based on Battle2. Some places really really look like it :-)

Conclusion: sorry, but i can’t give a download recommendation here. It’s more like a waste of disk- and webspace to be honest.
I suggest you (the author) to read some level making manual or some of the reviews for bad levels here to avoid some of those “classic” mistakes in the future. Good luck and don’t hang your head (makes a very lucky 3).

P.S.:
Of course, “The Brothers Homebase” doesn’t have a correct next level setting…[This review has been edited by Aiko]

Whew! I really like the style of this level. Psych is still so underused and in “Groovin Grinders” F!re really shows us what you can do with this awesome tileset (actually not one of my favourite ones, but hey, if you have a good level…).
The level is kinda large (150*50 tiles, a tad too large i think) and it has a pretty cool design: good platform, weapon and event placement (argh! food! :-), circular, quite easy to navigate and just fun to play. There a lot of obstacles (those mushrooms, for example) and nice arrangements. About the layer work: being not totally breathtaking, it’s based on a few passing objects in the foreground, hills in the background layers and some detail work (not bad at all, really).
Furthermore, as a main reason for the funky “feeling” of this level, the author used a great background music: “funkacider” by reed/trsi (whew, oldskoolerz! finland style!), which was an multichannel compo entry at ASM 2001. Usually, i don’t like the idea of not using the original J2B file for an Epic tileset, but this time i see it totally different. It’s funky to the bone!!
Anyways, in the meantime i’m here to rate the level, not the music (would be a 9 then :). Which leads me to the conclusion, that “Groovin Grinders” is a very 0Oo.FUNKY.oO0 battle map that will garantuee a lot of fun and also may cheer you up a bit (if you live in one of those cold, dark, rainy grey landscapes like me :). My recommendation: DOWNLOAD NOW! (a very good 7!).

First of all: no doubt, i’m a real friend of aliterations in level names. But this goes too far! :-)

Heh, well, let’s refocus on the actual level. I can’t really say a lot about it except that it’s very very good. The design is circular, very open and (despite it may sound like a contradiction), very tight. The weapon placement was obviously made with sense and style and the way Splash used the One Way event is also very appropiate in my opinion. The eyecandy looks quite cool, too (very dark, i esspecially like the background), and all in all this composition creates a dark, “medivo” like atmosphere.

Just download it and have some great battle fun. It’s really worth it (a sound 7 i’d say)!

Und wieder mal…yet another tileset from german tileset king mirrow. Its theme is the intact landscape of the world famous “Easter Islands”, which you’ve probably seen somewhere (remember: those large stone heads staring at you etc.). But that’s not the only thing the tileset shows on its about 350 tiles: there are lots of platform structures, vines, spikes, palms, rain and a ship and a sun for the horizon (plus some useful tiles like signs or shooting blocks, but they are simply copied from Epic tilesets). The mask seems to be well-made, too.

The author also included a very short example single player level in his pack: nothing spectacular, but it gives a nice demonstration of what you can do with “Easter Islands”.
Despite the fact i have some tileset where the nice little tracked Monkey Island theme by Stefan Uhlemann fits even better (namely my unreleased and therefore very infamous Monkey Island 2 tileset :-), it’s an okay choice. “Beautiful music”, as mirrow put it above, is a tad overdone here, though.

As a conclusion, i’d like to keep it short: “Easter Islands” is a very good looking tileset and definitely a MUST DOWNLOAD for all your Jazz2 fans and esspecially level builders out there (a low 7.5)!

Okay, despite the fact i don’t really know the “tournament” concept, i want to review and rate this level.
It uses MEZ’s first tileset and looks very, very basic. The whole design and weapon placement isn’t too spectacular: boring blocks all the way. As Elrick already pointed out, the trigger crate and warp part is a bit overdone. To be honest, i don’t see the point in it at all (not to mention that it makes navigation kinda hard). Well, maybe thats part of your tournament concept thing. Apart from the nice flying stars in layer 8, there is no eyecandy (plus, we have seen better space ships, and submarines, in the past :-).
The background mod “Rocket Life” is of scandinavian origin and therefore simply rocks. Demostyle! (and very “spacey” so it fits great). Good choice!
To make a long story short: as a battle level, “Sauron’s Space Tournament” isn’t exactly my download suggestion of the week. Space and MEZ01 freaks and those who like good tracked music may download the pack, if they really want to. Just somewhere in between (a clear 5 :-).

Hmmm, a demo of how i can make a level? It’s more like an example of how a level, at least one that is posted here and wasting webspace, should not look like: in both of the two levels (one uses Castle, the other Jungle), tile placement is not really what i would call fantastic. Apart from that, there are a few events (warps and a boss f.e.) and obstacles (somehow, i got into a dead-end, in level one). It takes about 30 seconds to make it thru’ both levels so it doesn’t seem to be very hard…like erm…a hard single player level.
Sorry, i don’t see the point in this. At least 1.5 points for your attempts, Bjarni. Greetings to Iceland.

P.S.:
Nice try, Ali-Maga alias Bjarni. That’s a tad too obvious. Fquist will delete that review, it is not very appropiate, if you look at the levels.

No doubt: we have to face the fact, that Mister Cell really developed into one of the best and most talented levelmakers in recent Jazz2 history.
“The Crimson Generator” gives another good proof of the above: a very well-designed Treasure hunt level (good idea, this playing mode is so darn underused!). It makes very good use of the great and famous “7th Lava Fall” tileset with its very cool industrial, dark and dirty atmosphere. One interesting thing are the very horizontal dimensions of the level: while its only about 100 tiles in width, it goes 220 tiles down. Not a bad idea in a TH level.
Regarding the eyecandy, i can’t say anything bad. Just looks fine (many layers used…we’ve seen most of these arrangements before though…in some of Commander Dats’ levels for example).
The background music (“Chapter 2” by some finnish tracker [they all RULE! :-]) fits great because it was also used in the original “7th Lava Fall” pack, afaik.
Summing it all up, “The Crimson Generator” is one of the best Treasure Hunt level there is at the moment. If you like that game mode (it’s a bit underestimated in the scene in my opinion), then this is a MUST-HAVE! Otherwise, another great level for your huge Cell collection :-)
Well, nevertheless it’s very good, i think it’s a bit overrated so far (9.5?); reason for this could be DethMan’s awesome tileset. Makes a good 7.5. Bye.

Indeed, “Snowy Mountains” is a good example of a typical battle level clearly above the average. It makes use of the very cool “Glacier” tileset by finnish tileset master Blade, it has a nice layout and some well-placed ammo. The attempts to create some nice eyecandy in the foreground is obvious and without any doubt, that was a good idea (some people may find some of the layer arrangements a bit confusing regarding the navigation, though). Apart from that, the violet(?) snow and the overdose of milk may irritate some people (esspecially if you don’t like sugar rushs). The music is good (“Mountain Breeze” by dutch tracker dude Jeroen Tel, which was also used in Tomb Rabbit and is unfortunately ***NOT iNCLUDED iN THE ZiP FiLE***!!!)…i would prefer the original tune used by Blade, though :-)
Otherwise, there’s nothing wrong and i didn’t find any serious bugs.

To make a long story short:
6.5 or 7 points? I don’t really know. Bonus points because it’s from a german fellow? Nah, not this time. However, “Snowy Mountains” (boooring name, btw!!!) is still a good thing to download, esspecially if you’re a fan of Blade and small, intense battle levels!

Yeah, i also really like the way EvilMike used Blade’s awesome “Forest” tileset. Not much to add to the other reviews here.
The level looks original somehow, has a good design (weapon placement etc.) and the layer work looks really nice i think.
Of course, the map is a tad small and the route from base to base is not really challenging but that doesn’t affect my good overall impression.
The background music tune is nice, but i would recommend the original song used by Blade here (that is part of my crazy “1-tileset-1-music“theory :).

In the end, i am very undecided between 7 and 7.5…but somehow, i like the idea of using this nice set so much that i decided for EvilMike this time (even if he didn’t use a single player start event to make reviewers life easier…accidentelly or intended, who knows :-).

P.S.:
I usually don’t comment other reviewers, but Buster, you really overrated here :-)

FiShY! is a funky new tileset creation by famous Mr. Disguise and it contains 630 scurfy tiles.

The colours (very “soft”) and the overall impression of this set is not too spectacular, but nevertheless, it’s definitely a solid download.
A lot of fish eyes will stare at you and there is a good selection of useful stuff you can use in your level (numbers blocks, signs, vines, poles and different backgrounds, for example).

As (nearly) always, Disguise included a small example CTF level in the package, mainly to demostrate the qualities of his set. Unfortunately, he didn’t set single player starting points which makes it a bit hard to test for us reviewers. The level itself looks a bit like it was made in a hurry: the design is okay (very open, fluently playable and so on) but the details are not so well-made (bad weapon placement, f.e.). The background layer(s) look quite nice, however (=eyecandy).
By the way: as a background music, Future Crew’s “Fishtro” tune would have been the ultimate choice here in my humble opinion :-)

Conclusion: yes, i recommend you to save a copy of this tileset on your PC. It’s really worth it and i’m sure a few talented levelmakers will try to make some nice maps with it. Esspecially if they…LiKE FiSHiES!!! :-P