Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

At first blush, this level looked like it could become a classic. The grey-metal Wasteland eyecandy was good-looking and gameplay was fun. That is, for the first ten minutes of play or so. After that, problems in the general structure of the level became quite apparent and the level lost some of it’s enjoyablility (is that a word?). Wasteland is probably a bit overused, and the eyecandy in this level was odd. Also, it quickly became apparent that this was the layout from the underworld. Still, it’s a solid Capture the Flag level. Let’s review, shall we?

TILESET/TILESET USE: The level’s author decided to use Blade’s “Wasteland” tileset. While “Wasteland” is a very good tileset, the grey-ness of it is a bit overwhelming. The monotone color scheme of this level was not exactly interesting. Instead, it made everything feel a little bland. I was expecting more, but maybe I should not have. Wasteland does look fairly spiffy, but it does also have its limits. I liked the detail the author put into the pipes in this level, but I still think that the eyecandy was a bit bland.
Pros: I did not see any tile bugs. The little individual pipes were well-done and it showed effort.
Cons: The color of cement is only so interesting. Nothing creative, new, or interesting.
Rating: 7.5

WEAPON/ITEM PLACEMENT: Weapon placement is definitely the strongest point of this level. Some may consider this too many powerups, but I myself think that this is a fairly good balance for the amount of carrots there are. The basic ammo was well-placed. The basic ammo was not clumped as it often is in levels such as this, but it was also not so sporatic that ammo drain occured. The balance was very good. As with many levels these days, electroblasters come in handy for getting powerups that are in walls. Ammo placement was well-done. Good job.
Pros: Everything was placed pretty well.
Cons: Some might consider the amount of powerups there are to be a little bit too many.
Rating: 8.5

ORIGINALITY: If ammo placement was this level’s best side, this is definitely its dark side. Simply put, while this level is quite solid, there is not anything original in it. The eyecandy is not original, nor is gameplay. While the float up use towards the bottom of the level is not often seen, it has been done plenty of times before and has by this point became uninteresting. Originality is easily this level’s worst part, and that drags down the level’s quality and makes it a tad less fun to play. Something a little more creative would have been nice.
Pros: This level does not take chances with things that could have turned out awful.
Cons: This level takes way too few chances. Nothing that has not been done before is in it.
Rating: 6.7

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: The level’s layout (which is quite evil) consists of four gigantic platforms and smaller platforms coming out from the walls. While playing is fairly fluid (it did not take that long to get from base to base), playing it over and over is not very enjoyable. The level is by nature fairly linear: one or two routes are by far the fastest while others are too slow to be usable. The flow is still more or less good. The problem with this level is that you can not play it over and over again without becoming bored. The only thing I really hated was where the springs next to the bases were. They can be used to get to the above platform, but they confuse me into thinking there is something in the little compartment that the springs are located in other than basic bouncy ammo. Other than that, gameplay was solid, but linear.
Pros: The flow was more or less good.
Cons: Layout gets old quick, and is sometimes a bit annoying.
Rating: 7.5

REPLAY VALUE: I can not say that I like the replay value of this level as much as a lot of other reviewers. Simply, this level seemed to get old after about ten minutes of play. There are not many alternative routes, and eyecandy was nothing spectacular. Also, the music got really, really annoying. I had to test it on a computer with speakers to make sure the music was good, and it was just not worth the effort. I suggest that those who wish to play this level a lot turn off the music and turn on something more interesting.
Pros: The level was OK.
Cons: Got old really quick. Background music is annoying.
Rating: 6.7

COMPATIBILITY: This level really looks as if it would cause flag bug, but fortunately does not, at least during testing. Still, the places where there was not a sufficient mask make me nervous.
Pros: Not applicable.
Cons: Not applicable.
Rating: Not applicable.

OVERALL: This is a solid Capture the Flag level, more or less. While this review does sound very negative, it is because I am comparing it to CelL’s other works. The flow of this level is more or less OK. Still, I was just expecting more from CelL and was a little bit disappointed by what I got. This level does not show much room for improvement beyond improving the eyecandy slightly and maybe tweaking the flow a bit. This would not improve my score much, but it would be nice. Not a bad level, but it has some problems that make it not so interesting to play. A download recommendation for Capture the Flag players.
Pros: Weapon placement was pretty good. There were no tile bugs.
Cons: Gets tedious fairly quickly. Music was annoying. Low replay value. Ho-hum eyecandy.
Rating: 8.2

OVERALL RATING (Not an average): 7.7

Yeah… the music is alright. Only with this titleset there isn’t much eyecandy. But the background and the pipes are okay. A challenching level. Weapons are okay. Almost a 8 form me. :)

TILESET/TILESET USE: The author uses Wasteland, but I can’t say I love the use. The background eyecandy pretty much obscures all the green in the background, so the whole level feels very grey. There are a few interesting things, but overall this is just Wasteland, with nothing very new.
Pros: No noticable tile bugs, not all plain and ordinary.
Cons: Nothing new, too grey.
Rating: 7.2

WEAPON/ITEM PLACEMENT: Weapons seem pretty good. Various types of ammo are scattered (not randomly, though) around the level, not in big clumps, which is interesting. There might be not quite enough, but I’m not sure. There are two full energy carrots, one in each bottom corner. (Right below the warp to the Seeker Powerup) There are three powerups, the Seeker at the top middle, and two others (RF and Bouncy, I think) in the middle, accessable by Electro Blaster.
Pros: Everything placed pretty well.
Cons: Maybe a few too few weapons.
Rating: 8.5

ORIGINALITY: There is very little that is original about this level. You’ve got the four big platforms, the hidden alcoves, the EB-only powerups, the float ups at the bottom, the scrolling background eyecandy. There are one or two interesting things, but nothing much is new.
Pros: No “never-done-before-because-it-sucks” things.
Cons: Nothing much else, either..
Rating: 6.3

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: The level consists of four large platforms, and four things sticking out of the side walls. And there’s a tunnel running along the bottom. It all seems fairly fluid (time between bases around 6 seconds), but I wouldn’t have minded it if the bottom middle large platform had been moved up a bit. The design is solid, but it does have a little too much feel of going back and forth.
Pros: Everything seems to work.
Cons: A little too tested by time.
Rating: 7.7

REPLAY VALUE: You may want to play this a few times. However, I do advise turning off the music and playing something else in the background if you want to really enjoy the level.
Pros: Not applicable.
Cons: Not applicable.
Rating: 7.5

OVERALL: This is a good CTF level which can’t really be improved other then starting from scratch. Or improving the eyecandy. The author comes close to triggering flag bug in several places, but avoids it somehow.
Pros: Design, weapon placement, some other stuff.
Cons: Music, lack of originality, some other stuff.
Rating: 8.2

Since Shen wrote a long enough review, ill summarize my thoughts into a short one. The music is great, the backround eyecandy is an interesting idea. I didnt like the layout to much, it was to…plain and to roomy, not my type of level. The ammo was placed ok, the carrot were ok. There is only one powerup (I only found one) and its a seeker. It is easy to locate, and another powerup would be welcome, but the balance right now is ok. My final rating would be a 7.7, since the level is good, but i didnt like the layout much, and it got boring fast. I may upgrade the rating after further play. Great work CelL!

YaY, another CTF. This one’s by CelL and uses the Wasteland tileset by Blade.

Design: 7.5
This level is very well designed, and looks as if it has been planned out beforehand. It basically consists of a large metal ‘hull’, if I may call it that, around the outside, with an open bottom guarded by Area Float Ups. There are four metal platforms ‘floating’ in the level, with ammo and springs to reach the higher platforms. There are also two big pointy things poking out of the sides, where the bases are. Finally, there’s a long horizontal platform or two along the bottom with warps back up to the higher platforms.
This level looks complicated at first (the vast amounts of eye-candy don’t help much here) but once you’ve had a good bounce around in it you can navigate it fairly easily. However, with this you can run from base to base in about fifteen to twenty seconds sometimes, with not many obstructions along the way. It’s also seems very horizontal as well, as you don’t need much travelling up or down to get from base to base. But it plays how I think it’s meant to.

Placement of stuff: 8.5
There’s a lot of ammo almost everywhere – it’s hard to run out of it in this level. You can also see that each ‘platform’ has its own type of ammo – there’s seekers at the top, and bouncers along the bottom, for example. The one thing I found sort of annoying was that it’s mainly placed in 1×1 blocks of the stuff – ie one tile at a time – so you can’t really be running along and getting lots of it at a time, instead you have to walk along the platforms and do precise jumps whenever you see some.
There’s one power-up in the level: it’s for the Seekers and is located in the middle up at the top. You come across it many times in the level, mainly by warping to it after dropping down or by jumping past the platform it’s on. This is OK as Seekers can often be wasted easily ;) but some players could use the seekers too often. Another hidden powerup somewhere else would be a nice addition – the level’s big enough for one!

Eye-candy: 9.0
Whooooooa, there’s a lot of this. The author has used the background tiles from the tileset to great effect. It’s all Layer 4 eye-candy, but the tileset supports this and it doesn’t really matter. At first it can be hard to distinguish between the foreground tiles and the background tiles, but you can soon overcome this. The foreground tiles are also well presented, they don’t have some sort of grid on them or anything.
The background layers are pretty good – there’s two layers of horizontally scrolling metal and pipes and stuff going in different directions to each other. This isn’t exactly a new effect, but it comes out tops. If you look in JCS (hee hee, aren’t I evil) you can see there’s some parallaxing Layer 8 in there as well – you don’t really notice this ingame but it’s a nice touch :)

Music: 9.5
Good choice of music, in my opinion it suits the level well. It’s at the right pace, and is at the same ‘speed’ as the background layers. You also don’t keep humming it for hours on end afterwards.

Originality: 6.0
There’s nothing new about the concept – grab the flag and return it to your base before your flag is stolen – but the tileset has been used in various new ways, which especially shows in the background metal eye-candy. Overall, there’s nothing really new except various new uses of the tileset. It’s good to see tilesets being used in more, interesting ways, though :)

Lastability: 5.0
Lastability isn’t too great, sadly. You’ll spend some time happily bouncing around getting the feel of the level and finding some secrets and getting all the ammo, but afterwards you’ll find that it’s quite easy to travel from base to base and you could end up getting bored quite easily. You could host this a few times, but you’ll get tired of this easily.

Overall: 8.5
Overall, BlueCore CTF isn’t a bad level. It’s fairly large, but you can find your way about too easily after quite a bit of playing and then it can get boring fairly easily. It’s worth a download and is great for some online servers, but only for a bit. Well done, CelL :)

Oh, and I got a new review system =D[This review has been edited by Shen]

Ok, since EvilMike said most of the stuff in his review, i will keep mine short.

Firstly, good choice of music, it’s very atmospheric. The level is creative, and frequently reminds me of a jungle or a rainforest, which is good, because thats what its suppose to be. One of my complaints about this level is that sometimes the passages are to small and narrow. I also didnt like the top left and right corners. There is a hole, which I thought was a suckertube or a warp, but it was actually a spring bouncing you back up(hidden FullNRG as well, at first i didnt notice since i had full life. This is considered a small dead end, and could of been fixed by having a suckertube or a warp leading elsewhere. Also, Jazz tends to have a bigger advantage because of the free open areas available for flying across. Thankfully, there are some tiles coming out of the ceiling which prevents jazz from hovering across the hole level left to right or vice versa. There are somne interestingly hidden sucker tubes above the window ledges that shoot you up like a cannon.. I have found a few minor tile errors, but ill ignore those. One thing was on the top right where the toaster ammo+15 on the one wayed ledge, i sometimes found it quite difficult getting out of there, a oneway on top could of done thetrick. Bases were placed ok.

Also, why was this level passworded. I do have the special anti pass program, but you should of included the password in a readme or just not icluded it at all so people can look more closely at your level. Anyways, there was some useless, hidden text, but it was fun to find and read. Also, i was searching for the warp evilmike mentioned, and it was in position 163,86 :P The warp is almost impossible to find unless you know where it is, and the chance of you turning is highly unlikely, but possible if you know where the warp leads you and are trying this on purpose.

My overall statement about this is that its a fun level which reminds me of the jungle, and its good to play if youre bored. Not in my top 10 list, but still fun to play. Ill give it a download reccomendation.

So much for the short review :P
~Blackraptor a.k.a Blacky
Edit: Forgot rating :P. Ill give it a 7.5, seeing its good in most parts, and only has a few bugs. Not as low as EvilMike, not as high as everyone else (which in my opinion overated this)

[This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

I dont have much to say about this, since there are so many levels using this set. The music is good, although it is overused, someone should find some new music for this.
The eyecandy is good, but then again it usually is for a level made bythis set. The tileset use is…..new. I havent seen it like this in other levels, great work. Pickup placmeent is creative as well. There are coins, food and ammo all placed in different ways. The splash in one certain place is a bit off (the splash appears higher than the actual green watery liquid) Interesting spikes and all that foreground stuff.

Well, it is creative and I will give this a download reccomendation, but i wont rate it as high as the Marshland of Evil or Zaitox Station 67, this just doesnt strike me as much as it does to most of you. Its still a great effort worth checking out though.

Nice levels, keep up the good work!

Good levels, download very reccomdend!

I like this :p It seems to be very good CTF level and it will be much used in 2 vs 2 or 1 vs 1. First

*Eyecandy
The eyecandy is preety good not to much not to little! And well placed!

*Gun and ammo placement
It was well equal and very well thought out

*Carrot placement
Very nice idea to put the coin warp that will help with camping

This is a good level! keep up the good work!

Good eyedea of the one silver coin.
Only then you can get a full heal carrot.
I’m only geving a 7.7 bechause I dont like the eyecandy.
I’s only dark.
The background is good, very nice with that cave background.
Now about the level itself:
THE GAMPLAY:
I get around esely, this level is too easy. And one more thing: the generator is coming back too quik. In overal: Almost an 8.

A nice level, good music choice. I feel there could of been more eyecandy and detail in the level, as well as that it is too small. Lots of hidden powerups, nice ammo placement. Nothing really that is outstanding here, but a good CTF level to play if ur bored. 7.5, download it if you want

One Silver Penny? What an evil idea…

GAMEPLAY:

I can’t find anything horribly wrong with this. I can get around easily. It looks balanced for the most part. I don’t think I can get stuck anywhere. And one coin for the coin warp sorta adds a little originality. I barely played it online, but everything seems alright; No real complaints here.

EYE CANDY:

The eye candy is pretty good. It looks a little bland with all of the purple on purple on purple, but that’s just the tileset. Other than that, it’s definitely above average.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

And here is the evilest part of the level: a full energy carrot only accessible with a coin. Nice idea, maybe too evil since you could hog the coin and keep anyone else from getting it. I like it; it adds some strategy. I have nothing bad to say about where the ammo and powerups have been placed.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

If you suddenly get the urge for a duel or a 2vs2, consider this evil level. I’m giving this an 8 just because.

AMAZING!
I`m going to convert it into the Episode ,,AZURA`` I made at time!

CELL IS A FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :D :D :D =)))))))))))))))))))))

Another grrr eat level by CelL of FoR and OLC (blah).
Just what Red_XIII said, it kinda rules. The level isn’t so big, but that no problem.
You can get the fullhealcarrot with one coin (No, really). The level uses the diamondus tileset, wich is very good used in eyecandy & co.
You can get the Seek PU easily and the FullHealCarrot is simple to find.
The – points are that there are PUs wich you can get too simple.
But overall I think this is one of CelL’s better levels. I hugely recommend this.
But please, use next time the Diamondus (1) tileset. It’s used too few times.

I like. Then again, I do over-rate levels. Butttttt, this one kinda rules. Nice structured CTF level, brilliant idea of one silver penny for the carrot, and.. well, have fun. Yeah, brilliant for 2vs2. Nice eyecandy,

DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION :D:D:D

I will now give a useless, but detailed review on EVERY CTF level in THIS pack.
Cell CTF 1 aka paragoniax beachline or something?
DESIGN/LAYOUT: 4/5
Very nifty, some errors, but had springs placed well and platforms placed well. NOt the best ive seen though
EYECANDY: 3.9/5
I saw some errors along the way, and some poorly placed tiles, but the good eyecandy and detail in the pack made up for that.
AMMO/CARROT PLACEMENT:4/5 Generally ok, some carrots and powerup’s to close to each other, but some powerups placed well, like the bouncy one, and ammo placement had a creative touch to it.
Music: 3.5/5 Was ok, but was sometimes annoying and boring.
OVERALL: Around a 7/10, well done

CelL CTF 2 aka DreamScape
DESIGN/LAYOUT: 4/5
Was very detailed and fun. Some greatly placed platforms and springs, but sometimes i had no clue where i was or where i was going. The warps were very fun though.
EYECANDY:4.2/5 To much of the same color, but was detailed and good. I cant remember any errors, but there might have been some. Im thankful that you used another backround other than the one i loathed.
PLACEMENT OF STUFF: 4.5/5 Some powerups placed well, ammo placed creativly. I found very few carrots, 3, and they were all +1 carrots
MUSIC: 4.8/5 I loved this music, and it went good with the level.
OVERALL: 4.375/5, about a 9.

Cell CTF 3 aka Technical Dreampipes
DESIGN/LAYOUT:3.8/5 Very fun, although i got stuck in some places, interesting.
EYECANDY: 4.2/5 Twas ok, some bugs but very creative. Backround eyecandy was nice as well.
PLACEMENT:4/5 Creative
Music:4.3/5 SOmetimes annoying but calm and suitable for these dreampipe type levels.
OVERALL: 4.075/5
About a 9 as well.

CelL CTF 4 aka 22 hour biscuit
QUICK COMMENT: Using the mezmerize tileset (again) which is now probably overused
DESIGN/LAYOUT: 3.5/5 To confusing at times, but VERY creative. The confusion takes some of the mark away though
EYECANDY: 3.5/5 This is what basically lowered the layout mark, the backround was the one i completely loathe, and it kinda ruined my view so i couldnt see where i was going. The eyecandy, otherwise the backround, was ok.
PLACEMENT: 3.9/5 Was basic, to much useless ammo though.
Music: 4.5/5 Didnt fit as much as it did to the previous mezmerize level, because of the different eyecnady etc. But still ok
ADDITONAL COMMENT: I would rate this level a 6.5, but the secrets and layout make up for it.
OVERALL: 3.85/5 about an 8.5 or an 8
Cell CTF 5 aka Superior Technologys
Firstly its technologies, not technologys :P
DESIGN LAYOUT: 4.5/5 Was very nice and fun, especially the suckerz.
EYECANDY: Was basic and good 3.5/5
PLACEMENT:4/5 I loved the placement, very well done
MUSIC: 4.5/5 Suits the level nicely
OVERALL: 4.125/5, about a 9 or an 8.7

NOTE: Although it seems im rating these levels to high, I would really rate them 1.5 or 2 marks lower if they were uploaded singularly :P
CeLL CTF 6 AKA The plastic pipelines
DESIGN/LAYOUT: Basic, a bit above average 3.5/5
EYECNADY: Above average, no errors i think. 3.4/5
AMMO PLACEMENT:3.5/5 Well done
MUSIC: I didnt hear any???????0/5
OVERALL: 2.6/5, about a 5.6 which is rounded to 5.7 (because of the music, if i would of heared the music, i would of rated much higher
EDIT: Oh, i think there is a seperate music pack why i havent downloaded, that explains it. Plastic Dreams rating will change to a n/a, since i canthear the music
CELL SOMETING AKA ASPHALT WARZONE
Desing: 4/5
Eyecandy: 3.6/5
PLACEMENT: 3.7/5
MUSIC: DOnt have it yet, cant say

Hmm…It seems the music for this was never uploaded???Im going to have to review without thw music column then, unless i coincidentally have the music already.
CeilCTF8 aka claustrophobia(common name)
DESIGN: 3.3/5 Very small, and those electric things confused me somwtime, but there are good parts here
EYECANDY:3/5 Basically average, but no bugs
MUSIC:2.5/5 I have it, yay, wasok and calm suited the level ok
OVERALL: To lazy to check, but around a 6.7 if this was a single upload.

Realm OF darkness
DESIGN: 3.2/5 Basic, but leas to the same area’s to much times. Kinda dull
EYECANDY:4/5 Was good, some nice and not overused foreeground and good backround, nice
PLACEMENT: 3.5/5 I didnt like this as much, but was passable.
MUSIC: 3.4/5 The beginning didnt suit at all, but was ok.
OVERALL: About a 7 or so it it was a single upload.
Mechanism 35
OVERUSED TILESET ALERT OVERUSED TILESET ALERT
Design: Except that one dead end, it was good. 3.5/5
EYECNADY: A bit overused, but its what you would expect from this type of tileset. 3.3/5
PLACMENT: Was good and ok, 3.2/5
MUSIC: 2.5/5 To strange to get a high rating
OVERALL: About a 7.2 if it was a single upload
INSIDE THE GLUEFACTORY: Oh this is an old one, ive had it for a year or so, maybe less. But sadly i dont have the music for it.
DESIGN:4/5 Was good, i liked it
EYECNADY: 4/5 A bit overused, but went good with thelevel
PLACEMENT: 3.5/5 Was ok and good in some parts
If it were a single upload, it rate it 7.2
Factorial Fiasco
Overused tileset again, it is similar to the other Cyberspaz used tileset, and i wont bother rating it, excpet for an overall rating. Id rate this around a 7 if it were a single upload
Island Paradise: Glad to see a level here which DOESNT use a mechanical tileset or a futuristic one
Design: 3.4/5 Basic, but had good points, i couldnt tell whether some Tiki dolls were masked or not.
EYECNADY: Calm and basic, just how i like it. 4/5
MUSIC: Couldnt hear any, didnt have it
Toxic landscape
DESIGN: The bridge was sometimes annoying, and there were big jumps, but it was overally good. 3.7/5
EYECANDY: A bit above average, not to good though 3.2/5
PLACMENT: Basic 3.6/5
MUSIC: Dont have
Ok, im quite tired now and will continue this review at another time.

[This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

Backround is nice, and so is the layout, except soemtimes it was hard for me to get around, and there is not enough to explore. The ambient lighting used to make the gold grounds sparkle was pure genius, and boosted my rating of this level by a lot. The CTF bases were ok placed, i couldnt have placed them any better here, so they add on to the mark. Ammo choice was annoying, to much of a variety in one place, the game kept changing the ammo for me when i got new ammo so it was annoying and by the time i got the right ammo i was killed. I guess i should use the weapon keys (1-9) more often. Other than that, the ammo placement was good. Eyecandy and gameplay good too, no comment. The only things blocking me from rating this a 9 were the small things like springs placed poorly in some places, and the fastfires were all bunched up in places etc. I have half a mind to rate this 7.7, but i rated an 8 because i play CTF levels in SP when i am rating them, and i usually get stuck t\in the ceiling when i start, and i have to use jjfly and jjnowall all the time and etc, but CelL generously placed the warp there so when i start instead of being stuck i warp to some place in the level. Thanks CelL :)

OVERALL: A good detailed level with tons of good points and only a few barely noticable bad points, and worth a reccomendation to all you out there :)

So this is the infamous one thousandth’s upload (counting deleted ones)
Well, it uses disguise’s fun Darkened Landscape tileset, and a music named _alamages.it or something. The music choice could of been better, but it had some beats in it which made me figure why CelL would choose it to come with the level. The ammo placement is above average. MY complaint is that the fast fires were all bunched up, and you would expect everyone to go to that area to get all of them. They should ofbeen scattered around like the ammo, but thats just my opinion. The text -Did you ever feel you were being watched?-(I spelled it in correct grammar here), made me notice the evil eyes in thebackround, and made me stupidly try to hide behind a wall from them;P The layout is ok, the level is semi-large. The springs are used in a good combination with the one ways. The bases were placed ok, the powerup could of been placed better, but oh well. I really cant decide what to rate this, maybe a 7, 7.2 or 7.5. Ill just leave it N/A, but ill change it once im ready to make my decision.