Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

“EvilCastle CTF” is a pretty decent level using the Medivo tileset. Really. It’s not spectacular or extremely exciting but as i said, very decent.
But well…first of all, EvilMike forgot to put single player start events, which makes testing and reviewing a pain…i’m tended to lower my rating because of that (j/k! ;-).
Apart from that little flaw, the layout of the level is quite good…like the eyecandy (nothing special though!). Weapon and event placement are okay, too (nevertheless, i don’t like all the destruct scenery too much).
The author obviously tried to make fair routes from base to base (parts of the layout are “mirrored” if you allow me to put it like that) and the music choice is very good (a classic Fasttracker MOD using 10 channels, obviously a tune by a german tracker as i can see from the song title…gotta be quality :-).

Well, to sum it all up: you can’t do anything wrong with downloading this CTF level (esspecially if you’re a fan of this playing mode). Good work, EvilMike.

LOL! And i remember playing that game back in…1995 or something like that. It was not really the best platformer of the decade but Jump and Run fans like me surely had some plain fun with it (anyone remembers “Magic Pockets” by The Bitmap Brothers? :-).
Anyways, back to present: Assassin made a nice little tileset out of the game (level one of the game, rather) that has about 200 tiles, most of them red shaded stone and wall structures. There also is a lot of other stuff, in the meantime goodies or powerups from the actual game. The masking seems to be very good and i am sure talented levelmakers can do a lot with this great new “Magic Boy” tileset conversion. Definitely worth A FAT DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON!

P.S.:
The author even tried to rebuild Level 1 of the game and added it as an example single player level. For the background, he chose “supermarioland.mod” by reflex/movement. A perfect chiptune that fits quite good but…i have to check my old 486-‘puter which music file format “Magic Boy” used (maybe it’s convertible :-). In any case, very good work, Assassin![This review has been edited by Aiko]

Cool, finally something fresh from Germany after a while :-) “Leopard World 1.0” contains 130 very colourful and good looking tiles, mainly presenting an animated head, fur and the scary teeth of a Leopard. Not to mention some nice background structures. The masking is okay (i only wondered why the author didn’t mask the teeth as real hurt events). Only the twelve palette tiles are quite redundant (as F!re already mentioned).
The tileset also comes with a very short single player example level showing the basics of the set. The next level setting is wrong (not a good idea).
To sum it up, a promising, great new tileset by a new J2O member from Germany…you should really DOWNLOAD and ADD THiS TiLESET to your collection. And make some good levels using it!

And EvilMike, you are still annoying with your TSF complaints, just get TSF if you’re a real J2 fan.

“Woodlands”, the brand-new tileset/level/pack addition by finnish master Blade, consists of 410 very good looking, brown shaded tiles. It has all the useful structures you need for a good level (platforms, walls, diagonals, vines, poles, signs, spikes, scenery blocks and so on…) and it really looks awesome. Not to forget background structures (dunes and some textured stuff for layer 8). The masking is very good, too. Everything is just great, what else can i say?

Blade also included four fresh levels to expand his already large, breathtaking Battle Pack. The levels look a bit too similar to each other, but otherwise there is nothing to complain. Design and eyecandy are just cool. The background music simply rocks (Demo style, extremely oldskool, tracked by a french scene guy called Zaac of Zalem). The atmosphere is Blade’s levels is always incredible…the mixture of tileset and music makes it very special and enjoyable.

Personally, i find all of Blade’s creations extremely impressing (i’m really a fan of him). They definitely have their place in the all-time-Top 10 of Jazz Jackrabbit 2. This update makes Blade’s Battle Pack even better! MUST DOWNLOAD FOR EVERYONE (8.5 may sound a bit overrated but i just love Blade’s style and as i said, he’s one of my favourite creators around)!

“Knightly Kill” is another pretty average level using the well-known “Castle” tileset.
The overall design is above average, but there are some aspects i dislike…some sucker tubes or the many warps, for example. The room filled with super goodies (full energy carrot and a shield!) is a bit overdone, too. Nevertheless, there is some nice eyecandy in the level.
The copter event stinks, because Lori can’t grab it. Next level setting is also wrong.
Really, the mentioned problems have to lower the rating a bit, sorry. But hardcore battle fans may want to download this, i guess (six points; what did you expect? :-).

Heh! I have to say, i really like this new level called “Pyramid Battle” (boring name, as always). Mainly because it uses a tileset that was, as far as i can remember, never used before in a battle level, namely the breath-taking “Egypt_Light” by Kejero. Very good idea, F
Apart from that, the (large) level has a quite proper design (including weapon placement) and some good-looking impressing eyecandy (well, maybe thats caused by the tileset :). The oriental background music fits perfect and sounds a bit weird (even better :).

Conclusion: if you have five or more people in your Internet server, this will be automatically great fun! If not, you will still enjoy the beauty of the tileset and the weirdness of the music. In any case, i RECOMMEND “Pyramid Battle” as a MUST DOWNLOAD for all us people from the western world. Let’s walk like egyptians! :-)

Indeed, “Diamondus Fight” is not a bad level. But the dull level name already gives a taste of the fact that something…i don’t know…special is missing.
The level uses the overused Diamondus tileset (if you released this three years ago, it would have been a killer level > see Jeh’s stuff). Design is very good, very fluently playable and circular. Classic platform style, perfect for a decent battle session. There also is some layer work, not outstanding though. Of course, you can have a lot of fun with this level, but as i said, i think its missing the special touch. Dunno :)

Apart from all that, “Diamondus Fight” is still worth seven points and a serious DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON from me. Happy roasting![This review has been edited by Aiko]

And another level (this time its a pack of two) by Mr. Gargoyle/Krysis/whatever his new name may be :-)
“Carrotus Canyon” uses, um, the Carrottus tileset (bad idea) and has a lot of empty space, that could possibly be used by rabbits flying around on airboards. I don’t know, not really a killer design. Eyecandy is nearly non existant. Plus, it has a bad next level setting.
“The Floating Castle” (uses Castle tileset, d’uh! :-) has a pretty cool, circular design (very fluently playable!), a nice layer 8, but it suffers from a lack of eyecandy and the weapon placement is horrible.
The background music in both levels doesn’t fit in my opinion.
Well, my conclusion: if you like textured 3d backgrounds and a heavy weapon rush, go download. Thank you. Goodbye. 5.5 points.

Hehe, cool. I really like the idea behind this level. Reminds me of my favourite pinball games from the old days: Pinball Fantasies (yay!), Epic Pinball (featuring music by Robert Allen), Extreme PB, Psycho PB, Pro PB and so on…well, back to the review.

As we all know, Carrottus is very overused and therefore not my favourite tileset choice. Nevertheless, the author really tried his best here…to rebuild a pinball table with all kinds of targets, rewards, traps and the like. I only miss some LCD mini games ;-)

Seriously, i don’t have a lot of experience in rating pinball levels for Jazz Jackrabbit 2 but i guess the design is pretty good…it only could need some more eyecandy in my opinion. The default race background music fits okay.

Well, i really don’t know how to rate this. Lets say 6.5, okay?

In any case, it’s DEFiNiTELY WORTH THE DOWNLOAD because the idea is really, really ORiGiNAL. Clean your Shift keys, left and right! :-)

Oh, great: another spiffy gar*** level by our favourite level make Gargoyle, one of the most active authors on J2O! :-)
No, really, i actually like this pack. It contains two unbelievably small tilesets (each one having only 20 tiles, actually only 10 and actually its only one tileset in different colours so that i really wonder why the author didn’t make one tileset from it). Well, apart from the not-so-exciting tilesets (i have to admit that they look kinda cool, though) there is a nice, small Capture the flag level included.
It has a very interesting look, a very cool design, okay weapon and base placement and my overall impression is pro Gargoyle this time :-)
The music choice is not really perfect, i always prefer some fresh custom music for custom tilesets.
But well…to sum it up, i find this whole thing quite original and funny and therefore i give out a DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON and impossible 6.5 points. That’s about it :-)

Scream Tracker 3.2, gotta love this song! :-)
No, seriously, i don’t have much to say here because i’m not really a tracking expert. It sounds remixed somehow, but not like the author really added something super special or exciting. The actual song isn’t changed (same exact lenght and tempo), there are just four samples and five channels added (as the author stated above :-).
If you’re a fan of tracked music, you may want to download this. Everyone else, think about it (i don’t know how to rate, lets say 5?).

P.S.:
Sami Tammilehto r001z!!![This review has been edited by Aiko]

Boooooooooo!!! And so useless (i know some good programs that do the stuff for you). I’m tended to rate this 1 point…[This review has been edited by Aiko]

“The Noodle” is a very small tileset (about 70 tiles) featuring some yellow tube structures, an animated, bubbling sauce pot and a red (tomato sauce) background (as some other reviewers already found out :-). Thats about it, sorry. I’m not sure, but i think the possibilites of a level author are quite limited when using this tileset. Maybe this is the the proof (in short):
The battle level’s name fits perfectly and has a wrong next level setting. The example level (“Pasta Playground”) is even more dull. The “Fasta Pasta” race level can be fun, though. There even is some design and discreet eyecandy. Nevertheless, it is way too short (not even one minute per lap). The music file used in all three levels sounds a bit too much like the average Amiga Protracker MOD (don’t like it too much :-).

Anyways, i’m willing to give this a relatively high rating because i like the idea (kinda funny) and the decision to make a race(!) level. Maybe you can work on it a bit more (create a GOOD battle level for example!). To download or not to download, that is the question (i can not answer).

Indeed, “Wild West” is a pretty good new tileset. It contains 200 tiles showing scenes and scenery from the “Wild West” (18th/19th century USA, somewhere in the desert, for those of you who didnt know, not to forget 20th century b-movies :-).

There are some basic platform structures, poles, lots of signs (saloon, store, bank and the like), a cactus, clouds for the background layers and some (supposedly ripped) hotel structures. Plus some more ripped tiles from the Jungle and Inferno tileset (not a problem!). Maybe the masking could have been a bit improved, as some others said, but honestly, i have seen worse tileset masks!

The author also included a small example SP level, thats gives a good overview whats possible with his tileset. Very nice!

To conclude my boring little review, i’d like to give A DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON for this tileset. It’s quite cool and all you talented level authors will have a lot of fun with it! Seven points because i’m in my one-day-holiday mood (post your levels on holidays! :-).

Oh well, we all know that the Carrottus tileset is horribly overused and that i hate it but nevertheless someone had the cheekiness to build a relatively good level using it :-)
Generally it is a very creditable idea to make a Tresure Hunt level. There is a massive lack of good TH levels, that is true.
Well, back to my review: actually, the level is pretty average, nothing spectacular, neither relating the design nor the layer work. Sorry. I even find it boring a bit, not “tight” enough somehow.
What i do like is the readme file :-)

Overall, i really don’t know. You won’t see me hosting this one too often i guess…but maybe thats only me. Download or not? Decide for yourself. It’s A MUST DOWNLOAD for all Treasure Hunt freaks, though (a lucky 6).

Okay, in “Dope Mystics, Stage I” the author obviously tried to put some eyecandy in his level. And indeed, the level is relatively nice to look at. Stupidly the design isn’t on the same level in my opinion. There is just too much knick-knack (too many [useless?] events) in it: crates, a lot of empty secret rooms and areas, warps and the like, which makes the level not really fluently playable, if you know what i’m talking about. As F!re said, gameplay is the key.
To sum it up, i only see this level at the average (+ 0.5 lucky points for the eyecandy attempts). But don’t worry, there’s always room for improvements! :-)

P.S.:
I didn’t find an “old version” at J2O. Confuses me. I’d like to have a look at my old reviews…in other words i hate them being deleted by some admin-o-maniac ;-)[This review has been edited by Aiko]

Well, “yet another Mario tileset”, you may say. But hey, i’ll promise you this is one of the best you have seen so far!
It contains about 400 tiles that are obviously ripped from the Super Mario Brothers 3 game (no idea, i never owned a console, only emulators :-). Thats why it has all kinds of platforms, tubes, those dangerous snapping plants and some grassy hills.
I have to say that the tileset could have been a bit more optimized (many blank tiles) but thats not really a problem (j2t files are compressed anyways). Oh and the masking could have been improved, too :-)
Otherwise i really like the look of the set. Very colourful and child friendly.
Our hungarian friend also included two nice levels in his ZiP archive: one small example level and one real, long single player map.
The SP level is obviously meant to be an exact copy of a original SMB3 level. If i knew the game, i could prolly confirm that :-) I was truly impressed by the length and the detail work of the level. The music choice was good (“Dreampipes” from Jazz1) and i guess you already knew that i LOVE super 01d5k001ish 16 KB chiptunez like “Super Mario Land” by reflex/m0vement. Good work, tazar!

As you probably noticed, i really like this pack. Therefore it gets a STRONG DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATiON from me. And build some (battle!) levels with it!

Cool! Finally a Treasure Hunt level! Very good idea, MoonShadow! But i have to agree with F!re: it kinda reminds me of the default Labrat Treasure Hunt level that comes with the game. A different tileset would have also been a great idea :-)
But well…“Gem Formula” has a neat design, some real nice layer work and…a lot of gems, of course. Nevertheless, i still miss something really special in it…some places still look a bit empty for some reason. I don’t know.
However, i RECOMMEND you to DOWNLOAD “Gem Formula” right now! It’s Treasure Hunt! :-)

First of all, Chi Chi DZ, you should always tell us who made the tileset that your level uses. It has large effect on my rating!

Well, “Veridian city” seems to use a nice little selfmade tileset containing about 310 tiles, mostly showing comic stuff from the japanese tv show, that seems to quite popular these days (i have to admit that i don’t really know or like it). Apart from the comic stuff, the tileset also features some nice platforms (good idea!) and a whole lot of funny animations (some people will find them funny i suppose :-).

As some other reviewers already mentioned, the level itself is neither a real battle nor anything else, which makes it a problem to give a clear opinion. Fortunately the design is kinda good and i even noticed some discreet eyecandy. The background is interesting but not really beautiful. On a side note, TSF’s “Frolick Lane” fits okay as the background music (i will always prefer custom music for custom tilesets, though).

Overall, “Veridian city” is only VERY slightly below the average (because i don’t see a clear level concept). But i’m 100% sure the author tried his best here. Keep making tilesets and levels! Well, Pokemon fans will love this anyways. Everyone else might want to have a look it at, too. Decide for yourself.

Oh and F!re, you should watch your language a bit.

What JelZe said. Thats about it. Bye…

No, seriously, let me give a short review on this fresh, awesome space tileset by our tileset (and level!) legend Disguise. It has the unbelievable amount of 1020(!) tiles and nearly all of them are incredibly good-looking and useful. While looking at it, i actually have the feeling its a compilation of four or five different tilesets because Disguise created some seperate landscapes that wouldn’t fit together in one level. When im scrolling down in my upper left JCS window, i can see a “CyberSpaz Tileset v2“like part, then again comes a part that looks like it was MEZ05…its just a great, wild mixture. Of course, everything is still space related, somehow…:) There are also some very interesting background structures that look kinda “3d rendered” or something like that.
Well, what else to say…“Spacey Universe” includes everything important…all kinds of shapes and landscape design. A small disappointment are the around 15 tiles ripped from original Epic sets (including important stuff like signs and poles!). It would have been much cooler if you had own drawings for those events.
Some of the writings that can be found on certain tiles look a bit silly (“Blue Rocks”, “We hate RED” etc.)too…but that isn’t a real problem :-)
Apart from the tileset itself, Disguise included four nice example levels in his ZiP archive: two battles, one CTF map and a treasure hunt level with an annoying exit event :) The levels could have been a tad better, but they still would get a rating around 8 i guess. Oh, one word about the music: i don’t like it AT ALL. Over TWO MB, six and a half minutes playing time and 30 instruments for nothing, i’d say. Not my style, sorry. And for that matter (Criticism! Harhar! :)…you can take it as a nice little provocation Disguise, i still like some of DethMan’s tilesets a tad better (mainly “7th Lava Fall”). Therefore, i’m very bold and rate it 8.5 (i was undecided between 8.5 and 9). Of course, i could think about it and re-rate it anytime :-)

Anyways, there can be no doubt that “Spacey Universe” is one of the best homecooked tilesets ever. It’s a MUST DOWNLOAD for all you freaks!

P.S.:
You got an extra point for the best author’s description (see above) so far :-)

P.P.S.:
TSF rules.[This review has been edited by Aiko]