Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

—EPISODE 5: The Fortress of Ruin—

I’m one of the people who tested this episode before it got released. Evilmike said it would take at least two hours to beat that. For the people who read this, scratch the two hours and make it six. That’s right, this pack will take at least six hours to beat depending on how skilled you are.

I wrote a review of episode 4 and I said that I was a little disappointed with it because of the lack of originality the first three episodes had. Now we come to those unavoidable questions:

Does this pack contain original things? YES!
Is this pack the longest of all? YES!
Is this pack indeed the hardest of all? YES!
Is it better then episode 4? YES!
Is it the best of the series? NO! I mean, YES YES YES!

STORY

After the war your nameless character fought on Carrotus, he’s going on a hunt to find Devan Shell and kill him. He’s hiding on the planet Nippius. the problem is, his lair is sealed. To unseal them, you have to defeat three bosses in three fortresses in one large central castle.

Yes, the story sounds very simple but it’s been expanded greatly in the story cut scenes. After each fortress Devan speaks to you and tells you something interesting. All the loose threads of the previous episodes find themselves weaved together here. Still, this episode is less story heavy then the other episodes and feels a little more arcade.

EYECANDY/MUSIC

Both of these are some of the greatest choices I’ve ever seen. All the music fits perfectly with the levels. It really feels like you’re playing the last episode and the end is near. Yet it isn’t because there are so many levels in this pack.

The eyecandy is just as great. There are dark spooky houses, an ice fortress, an acid lake and many more. Some of these levels are very colorful, others aren’t but they have some very nice special effects like thunder, or dark trees on the foreground. You will really enjoy the looks of most of the levels. There are a few levels which are less creative but it’s barely noticeable.

GAMEPLAY

The most important part of each Single player game. Is it fun to play? The answer is yes. the pack started with a bit standard levels but the more progress you make in the game, the better this packs becomes. Each level has its own creative things. In one level you’ll find yourself flying through crazy obstacles as a bird, in another you’ll race against a raising water level only to break some blocks with your flamethrower at the top. Of course the flamethrower is unusable under water.

I won’t spoil everything but there’s one more part I’d like to describe. At one part you are standing on a breakable floor. Run too fast, and it breaks and you will die. So you have to walk slow. This seems very easy but it’s not. Above you, there are breakable walls and floors as well. and all the way at the top is a crate you have to stomp. So you have to run, only to break the bricks above you, but you have to be aware that you don’t fall into the chasm underneath you. To make things harder some trampoline are added which you have to use to get to the top. This are only a few parts of the many creative parts in this pack.

This pack is hard. Very hard. I think that all the latter half of the pack contains levels that are all harder then the hardest levels of the previous episodes. I found myself trying to get past some obstacles two hours long. That’s right, some levels will take two hours to complete. While it’s hard, it’s never frustrating. It’s rather addictive actually. There are these crazy parts in which you find yourself making progress after very much practice. After you finally complete these levels, you’ll be very satisfied. It isn’t advice able to play this all in one sitting because then it may get frustrating after a while. I’d also like to add that this pack doesn’t contain slow crate pushing puzzles. The pack is very fast paced and I like that.

So is the gameplay perfect? No, it isn’t. Some obstacles are extremely hard to avoid. They are certainly possible but it requires some great skill and some crazy jumping moves. Other areas just screamed for carrots on easy mode at least, but there weren’t any. you’ll also find a few enemies which I find a little unfair, but that’s only on normal or hard. I won’t say that easy isn’t hard though. I played this on easy and most parts will take some great practice. It is recommended that you play the previous episodes first, but if you don’t care for the story and just want to have some single player fun, go ahead and download it anyway!

Another low point were the final two bosses. These bosses were exactly the same as some of the previous episodes, only in a different setting. I can’t really say which ones because that would be some kind of a spoiler but I was a little disappointed with them, especially after all the creative things I had seen before. And then it’s inevitable: you become a spoiled brat and only want to see more of it.

RATINGS

Story: 9.5/10
Eyecandy/Music: 9.7/10
Gameplay: 9.9/10
J2O rating: 10/10

It’s kind of sad Mike takes a long break from level making now, so let’s hope that JJ2+ will eventually add some nice single player features. But I don’t know if that’s possible.

***EPISODE FOUR: THE RESISTANCE.***

I am a long fan of your ongoing series Evilmike. I downloaded and played the first episode and it was one of the best packs I’ve ever played. Then came episode two which contained the most original ideas I’ve ever seen in a levelpack. It certainly surpassed the first. It was followed by episode three which was on the same quality level as the second one. And now for the fourth one of which I think is a little less great than your first three episodes.

—-Story—-

The story continues from episode two: (Episode three didn’t add much to the storyline). Devan Shell is back with all of his old armies and new ones thanks to the artifact found in the castle on Deserto. You landed on Carrotus after your planet Deserto was destroyed and now you’ve been in prison for the last few months. This episode also don’t add too much to the storyline but it does rise up some questions wich will probably be answered in episode five. Still though the story is one of the best ever in Jazz 2.

—-Eyecandy—-

Most of the game the eyecandy was very good. My favourite was just in the first level which contained a beautiful broken wall background. I didn’t like the town level though. The mountain background was kinda ugly and the houses didn’t fit with the style of Jazz 2. The rest was pretty basic. But I did like the forest path. The greenish felt just like a real forest. Good job!

—-Gameplay—-

This is where I have a few complaints. The first level was very good and original. This was mainly because of the brilliant puzzle in this one which is the best puzzle Evilmike ever thought of. But after that the levels become pretty standard. Don’t get me wrong because it plays really smooth and addicting again. But the previous episodes contained unique traps which were sometimes very hard to avoid. When you finally passed them you thought you had to play further because you had to know what the next puzzle/trap would be. I didn’t get that feeling here. The overall difficulty of the pack was easier because there were less dangerous traps. The difficulty still was pretty high however due to the great enemy placement. They weren’t just put randomly across the level, they were tactically placed and you have to think of your next step before you go. But there are still some unavoidable enemies and blind falls. The levels also feel very open and big. Although the pack is lineair, you sometimes have the choice of two or more paths to go. I liked that. I also never got frustated and I never cheated but there was one exception: the forest path. If I remembered correctly, there were no checkpoints in this level and the level was to big too save. Then one more thing: I like a few big levels better than many shorter ones. Like the SWS Fencer and Terrapin for example from Episode three. And as a final word here: I would like to see a more memorable ending in episode five. The first had the Rocket turtle chase, The second had the fight against Devan (and in one ending the exploding orbital base) and the third one had the epic and puzzle filled SWS Terrapin. Episode four dissapointed me a bit when I finished the last level.

—-Ratings—-

Story: 9 out of 10
Eyecandy: 8.5 out of 10
Gameplay: 7.5 out of 10

—-Conclusion—-

Episode four is pretty good and plays very smoothly but it isn’t as epic as Episodes two and three and it is also less original in terms of puzzles and traps. The eyecandy was great at the beginning but became standard as you progressed.

Work on these critics Evilmike and we’ll all wait on the final episode in the series. (which is hopefully not the last episode Evilmike will ever make)

I shouldn’t call this X2
I think its a expansion pack on 1 earlier. Its just too short and with the old levels not a sequel. The levels are quit good though but they can use a little more eyecandy. Enemy placing is good. In your next episode, try to make some more variation in tilesets too too.
I give it a 6.5 but because some special effects I give it a 7.0

Evilmike asked formore reviews here I have one. It’s very short but ok.
This episode with invasion of deserto are the best packs I’ve ever played. I thought the first one was very good but this one is just GREAT. It has great story, it is difficult and has many new things in it. Well I hope there come more reviews soon because I can’t wait for ep3

Arjan