Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

DON’T MAKE THE SAME FILENAMES AS THE ONES FROM OFFICIAL LEVELS DUDE!
Sorry, but I don’t wanna overwrite the original diamondus level. Please fix that, then I will review. Send me a private message if you have fixed that.

2 levels, one them is a bonus, other one is single p.
Both of them were poor. no eyecandy, no balance of goodies and baddies (in Diamondus level, goodies were more than baddies and it was boring. it also looks like a bonus level!
The music was good, and there was a blaster power up, that makes these levels good.
One more thing, try to build more interesting levels. There are two ordinary levels that you go, shoot, collect coins and find the exit warp. i think from now on everybody must build more unordinary levels:)[This review has been edited by chandie]

Excelent balance with a very good theme. Like to hear more!
(err…? This is a level, not a music file. The rating on this review has been removed. ~Violet)[This review has been edited by Violet CLM]

Locked In A Lab
Well, another one of fearofdark’s levels… I thought he would quit creating when he made his fourth level, but here is it’s sixth. I guess he carefully read my review, because he said he made this level a lot longer then the other Mez level he created earlier (Electro Rabbit, a level I gave a average 6.2) Let’s check out if he learned something from the reviews I gave him…

EYECANDY: 1.75 out of 2.5
The level is made again with one of the Mez tilesets… It’s not my favourite tileset type, but it’s often decent. Fearofdark chose here for the Mez01 Tileset, a set we all know from the funny endurance level You Can’t Scream In Outer Space (LLOONNGG) But it doesn’t look like it was made with that set, because the backgrounds used here are totally different from that level. About the eyecandy, I cannot really say if it is very good or very bad eyecandy, but it leads me more into the positive direction then to the negative. There is some originality in this level although the tileset is overused (in example, the backgrounds and the light settings are fairly original and the look fine) About the sprite layer, I can say that I didn’t found any bugs around, but I also didn’t found the eyecandy very good in any way… But perhaps that’s just a failure of the tileset. The foreground layers are used nice, I can see that the author really put work in this level, but the foreground layer is sometimes annoying, because you can’t see where you’re shooting at (thanks to the strange vertical bars) Overall, I can’t say that the eyecandy is really good, but it’s decent here.

ENEMIES: 0.75 out of 1.0
Now let’s say something about the enemies. As fearofdark said in the author comment, this level is a lot bigger then the previous one, and so that means that there are more enemies around. About 4 types of enemies are used here: The red bubbles, the labrat, the fight turtle and the normal turtle, which is probably enough for this level, and it’s good. I like the amount of the enemies used in this level, it makes the level harder to play then the original SP ones and it’s a bit challenging in some way, because there aren’t that much carrots to heal you and there are now save points on your path, so the advice is: save the game a lot of times, or you have to restart! Overall, I like the enemy placement here, and it will be good for next levels.

PLACEMENT: 1.0 out of 1.5
Now something about the placement. If you play through the level you will sometimes see that the level is a little bit too empty at some places. There is not much ammo in some places and the other pickups can sometimes be hard to find… a little bit more food would be better. About the carrot placement, this has two sides; there aren’t that much carrots around and this will be a little bit hard for newer players, but it’s more like a challenge for experienced players. Perhaps you could add different difficulties next time, so that there are some more carrots in the Easy level and a little bit less in the Hard level. Overall, I can say that the placement isn’t that bad, but it could be improved at some places…

LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.5 out of 2.0
Let’s talk about the structure. In the comment fearofdark said that the level was miles longer then the previous one. This is true, the level is really longer and it is of a good size, not too small, not too big. With this size you could get a maximal score for structure, but unfortunately there are some penalties. The main problem about this level is the fact that the structure gets boring when you get deeper in the level, because everything you will see is something that you have already seen before in earlier parts of the level. In other words, the structure could be a little bit more diverse at some places. There is some diversity however, there are a few springs, and there are different kinds of platforms to jump on. But overall, the structure is OK, but it could be a little bit more diverse sometimes.

GAMEPLAY: 2.0 out of 3.0
About the gameplay I don’t have that much to say anymore. If you want to talk about the flow, I can say only one thing: it is OK. There aren’t that much flaws around and the speed of the level is adequate. A problem of the gameplay could be the light: the level is a little bit dark in some places so you can’t see the platforms you need to jump on. If you make a wrong jump you sometimes have to do it all over again, which could be frustrating in some way. The music of the level is a good choice, not so original (after all it’s just a basic music file) but it surely fits to the atmosphere of the level. In total, the gameplay was fine, I enjoyed the level a bit and it’s better then in previous levels of yours.

RATINGS:
Let’s conclude this review: the eyecandy is decent, it’s not bad and there are no bugs but it could be a little bit more diverse. The enemy placement was good for this level, sometimes a little bit too hard for n00bs but further no comment. The placement was most of the time OK but there could be a little bit more ammo in the level, because it’s a but too empty now. The structure was OK but it also could use a bit more diversity. The flow, music and other forms of gameplay were nice. Any advice? Mmm…. Let me see… Oh yeah, quit using the Mez tilesets please. They simply didn’t provide good enough eyecandy and diversity, and you could get way higher scores with a better tileset. Although, I think that this is a good level, surely if you see the low possibilities of the tileset used. As you can see in the cores, I can’t find arguments to rate this lower then a 7.0. Good job, it’s your best level so far (from the ones I’ve seen) Keep creating levels, because you’re getting better and better.

Score: 1.75+0.75+1.0+1.5+2.0 = 7.0
Download: Yes, it can be funny for a short time and it’s one of fearkofdark’s best levels.
Host: Perhaps in Coop, I guess that there are better levels to host but it could be funny for a while.

Greetings,
- ChippieBW of XSÐ, CC and XLM

EDIT: I think a 7.0 is a little bit too overrated, since I’ve seen better levels with the same rating. I make it a 6.5.
[This review has been edited by Niels aka ChippieBW]

Let me review :-)

CHECKLIST
[x] Single player mode available
[x] Multiplayer mode available (Co-Op)
[x] playable with Jazz
[x] playable with Spaz
[x] playable with Lori
[x] easy/medium/hard setting

LVL DESIGN, EYECANDY AND…STUFF
Lvl Design was nothing special, you are in something like a lab, without a reason, and it seems that you have to find the exit. Eyecandy seems to be a bit empty, could have used more sprite and foreground stuff.

GAMEPLAY
Like I said before, there was nothing that surprised me too much, there is a bunch of enemies in your way, that you have to kill, and some very easy to find goodies (a warp that you can easily see, shouldn’t give you a powerup, if you want to make a powerup warp hide it and make it harder to reach). Size was ok.

AMMO AND OTHER WEAPONS STUFF
There was enough ammo, but sometimes really too easy to get (toaster powerup). The coin warp had two powerups (seeker and 3way), but I missed 2 coins and so I never got in. Overall, ok ammo placement.

BADDIES
Baddies fit well into the place, except those ravens (ravens in a lab??). They are ok placed, but on some parts too much turtles. Also you should use the event Stop Enemy (Gameplay/Modifier/Stop Enemy) to prevent turtles from walking over spikes. Looks weird because the spikes do not hurt them, but even you..

HURT EVENTS AND OTHER OBSTACLES
There are some spikes, that was it. Could have used more variety.

TILESETS
Mez03 was used (and NOT the totally overused Mez01). Hmm…ok choice, but not my favourite tileset.

USE OF TILESETS
The tileset use was…hmm….it has two sides..Good thing: No tilebugs
Bad thing: Sadly it looks too empty and there is too less in the foreground.

CONCLUSION
Because this is nothing too special I can sadly give nothing higher than a 6.5
Have fun.

PHT

Electro Jazz

It’s been a few days now since I reviewed the first three levels of fearofdark, which were not really good levels. I see he uploaded a new level, and I hope he really improved his skills, because the last levels just were bad. Ah, let us see this!

EYECANDY: 1.75 out of 2.5
When I first started the level I was expecting something that looked like the previous three levels he made (Candy Christmas Chronicles, Chilly Breeze and Freak-E) but when the level was done with loading I saw that the creator really made better eyecandy this time! This time, the level is made with the Mez’ tileset, which I don’t really like, but there is some quite good eyecandy here. This level has a parallaxing stars background in layer 8 that moves around and there is good eyecandy in layer 6 and 7. Perhaps the eyecandy would be better if you used something layers 5 or 3, not the level looks a little bit empty. There are not much bugs visible, so I won’t distract points for that. Overall, I can say that the eyecandy is better then what the author made in previous levels, but it is still far from perfect.

ENEMIES: 0.5 out of 1.0
Now let’s check out the enemy placement around here… I must say that the enemy placement is not so bad, because there are a lot of enemies moving around…. In the beginning the placement is even really good, there are just enough enemies walking around to make it funny. When you get further in the level, you will see that the enemies are a little bit overused, and that there are too much of them when you reach the end. There’s fortunately no boss in this level, but You could have beaten him better then in previous levels because there are enough powerups to pick up. Finally, I can say that the enemy placement is good in the beginning, but coming near the end there are too much enemies to keep the level funny. Next time lessen your enemies, or make the level bigger with just as much enemies and less carrots.

PLACEMENT: 1.0 of 1.5
In previous level of fearofdark, the placement wasn’t so good. Here I can say that there is better placement. With the ammo is not some much wrong, but don’t you think it is a little bit a stupid idea to place about 10 powerups in a level that is so small? Maybe next time you put less powerups in it (about 1 or 2) and some more individual ammo. I found something original in this level, a bird morph, which is something you don’t see much in levels. It’s required to take a golden coin at the top (you really need to watch out here, there are everywhere mods that morph you back and which make you fall on hurting things if you’re not Jazz!) About the coins, there are 10 of them needed for a bonus game which leads you to a secret room with two P’s/ About other things this level is also OK, there’s a lot of food and diamonds around. Overall, I can say that there’s mostly good placement around here, but next time lessen the PU’s and add some more other stuff.

LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.25 out of 2.0
Next point: the structure. Well, When I walked through the level at first I noticed that there’s a lot of diversity around the level in structure (there are warps, conveyor belts, sucker tubes, bird morphs et cetera) which makes the level diverse and funny to play. I don’t like the ending of the level however, because the exit is not well placed and the level goes on behind it a little bit further. In my opinion, you really need to place the end of the level at the end of the level. Also some bugs here: the level is not closed. I know it sounds a little bit dumb to say that, because you almost can’t jump over the walls, but please fix these minor bugs next time. And another point, like all your levels: they are too small! I easily can beat those levels in a minute or two, which is really too less. I don’t say that the levels need to be as big as those singleplayer levels of Evil Clones, but something like the singleplayer missions would be fine.

GAMEPLAY: 1.75 out of 3.0
Always the most important thing in a level for me, that’s why it gets the highest scores around. The gameplay here is often fine, but there a some small problems. The flow is good enough, you can move around easily, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel right. An example is the warp at the beginning: you jump in it, get into some tunnel and you try to hit the toaster PU. You miss it of course the first time, and you get pushed against a floating eye, which costs you a heart. This is not really funny. Another point of confusion was the warp when I ran through a tunnel of enemies, after the first saving point. I accidentally ran into a warp, got warped away and ended up somewhere else on a lab mouse. Could be a lot better, maybe next time mark your warps better, About the music in this level: it is OK, nothing special.

RATINGS:
As you can read, I think this is your best level till so far. Thde first three levels were mediocre, sometimes bad, like the third level. This level really shows some improvements, especially on eyecandy, and it keeps the good placement of your second level. The structure is mostly fine, but it could use some improvements. Same thing for the gameplay. Overall, I won’t give this really high, but here’s a 6.2. Good luck, I hope you make more levels in the future. I will surely rate them.

Score: 1.75+0.5+1.0+1.25+1.75 = 6.25 = 6.2
Download: Yeah, it is a nice singleplayer if you are very bored a few minutes.
Host: No, as said before, there are way better levels to host in Co-Op.

Ciao,
ChippieBW of XSÐ, CC and XLM (as level group)

Candy Christmas Challenge

Well, a singleplayer series! I would be a fool if I didn’t review all three of them, so I do it. Oh yeah, remember the comment of PHT. NEXT TIME UPLOAD YOUR LEVELS IN A PACK! This sucks, because you have to download all the levels if you don’t want a bug at the end of the level. Well, let’s see:

EYECANDY: 1.5 out of 2.5
I wonder why the candy tileset is becoming so popular last week, I know Dx put a nice level with it online, but the tileset alone is not really good. Anyways, I wonder why this level is called “Blockopia” as filename, because the title is Candy Christmas Chronicles. Back to the eyecandy. As you can see in the score above, I didn’t really liked the eyecandy used in this level, but there mere a mistake of the tileset then of the creator. The maker tried to make this level a little bit fun for the eye, but because of the tileset limitations (it’s a JJ1 Tileset, d00d) the eyecandy here is often boring. The snow used looks fine, but the background used here is boring. It could be a lot better with a better tileset. Perhaps use a better one next time?

ENEMIES: 0.25 out of 1.0
Well, I can’t say there is a good enemy placement around here. The only enemies shown here are a few bees, and they are the most annoying enemies in the whole game (in my opinion, of course) they have stung you a few times before you have collected all 170 coins, and because there are no carrots around, you have to battle Devan with about 2 or 3 hearts! No funny, because you can never beat him that way.

AMMO: 0.25 out of 1.5
Also not a really fine placement here. I guess the author of the level thought that a extra life is the same as a carrot, because there are no carrots around and about ten extra lives! Pff… Maybe it would be good if it was vice versa, now it sucks. There are 170 you need to “find” before you can go on to the boss, but there isn’t really a search. Just jump around and you will have them in no time. Easy enough, but when you have reached Devan, you have to fight him without any good weapon, so you never can qualify. The ammo is dramatic, there is no ammo in this level except a Pepper PU, a rather useless weapon, especially versus Devan.

LEVEL STRUCTURE: 1.25 out of 2.0
I don’t really like the structure of the level, although it is kind of diverse. There are a few chocolate bars on which you can stand, but they break if you walk over them. You also have to make some big jumps, else you fall into oblivion. The structure is perhaps the best thing of this level, because it is quite right and diverse, although there isn’t really a path you need to follow, and the level can be a maze sometimes.

GAMEPLAY: 1.5 out of 3.0
As I have described in the points above here, I didn’t really enjoyed the gameplay in this level. The music used here was average, perhaps fitting to a level like this. When I walked through the level I got the horrible feeling that I was walking on a died out planet, because the level is so darn empty. A huge contrast compared to filled levels like the recently uploaded Evil Clones pack, which really r0cked (too bad they removed it) There is quite a good flow, which I have to say, and you can walk around not too hard.

RATINGS:
Well, as you can see I was not really satisfied about this level, but I guess this is your first one, so don’t worry. If you read the critism carefully of the reviewers, I’m sure you can make better levels in the future. For now, this level is not really worth playing, but it’s not that bad either. It ends up somewhere in the down-middle class.

Score: 1.5+0.25+0.25+1.25+1.5 = 4.75 == 4.7
Download: If you are absolutely bored and you are a huge fan of fearofdark, maybe, otherwise don’t.
Host: No. Not in Co-op, there are much better levels for such an occasion.