Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

The tubelectric tileset again. Starts to get boring. While this level is less confusing than “Strange”, it still shows the author’s quite chaotic style. It’s more linear and has less useless stuff, though some things still made me wonder. For example, at one point, the light suddenly goes out for no reason, making you hop around in the dark for a while only for it to suddenly get bright again.

You still stomp some crates and kill stuff, and while the winding corridors remain, there’s a main path that will sooner or later lead the player to the exit. There are some crate and weapon puzzles, but overall the level wasn’t very hard. The problem is that the enemies just aren’t placed very well, they never surprise you or attack in a place they’re hard to get back at. The puzzles have been done before a lot and are easy to figure out. That makes the level pretty easy to beat and it doesn’t require a lot of effort to finish it in a few minutes.

Overall, the level is better than it’s predecessor, but it’s still nothing more than average. The eyecandy is bland and uninspired, the gameplay has a few ideas, though none of them are particularly new (freeze springs to get through, use weapon 9 to hit a bomb crate behind a wall and destroy a trigger crate with it,…). The level isn’t a challenge either, and beside the nonsensical and often pretty profane text strings, which are still there (see screenshot), has nothing that makes it stand out.

“Strange” is probably the most fitting levelname I have read in a while. The level is exactly that, just plain weird. Though it’s at times strange in an entertaining way, that doesn’t take away from the fact that the level doesn’t make sense.

The layout is completely non-linear, you can go wherever you want through lots of corridors, hidden passages and warps where you don’t expect them. Each area contains something different. There are rapidly fast-moving spike balls, a water pit with fish in it, some rooms with warps that you seem to be trapped in, random platforms and an airboard that does absolutely nothing (you loose it if you fly up, and going down is faster falling than flying). The only thing that holds the level together are numerous text signs scattered throughout, that, for the most part, are absolute nonsense. You’ll read lines like “Door for toilet. It think only, there is a darkly place. It don’t drown in water.” or “My nose is prettiest than your.” Apart from the fact that no one on earth has a more well-formed and beautiful nose than I do, I’m really not quite sure if those text strings want to tell me anything or are just random junk. Probably some of both.

After exploring for a while and doing some random stuff I found the exit, which was, however, blocked off by two lines of trigger blocks. At least I finally found out what the four crates I trashed earlier did. So I went and, after searching through some more useless rooms with nothing significant in them, busted the other two, and finished the level.

Well, overall, the level feels like some kind of “Let’s fool around with the editor and write up some nonsense” approach was applied to it when it was designed. And while I found it rather amusing at times, that is not because the level is any good, but because it seems like it was purposefully made stupid.

Argh, frustrating. oO This level is actually very short, but the playing time is increased significantly because you either die all the time or don’t know what to do.

It uses Blur’s Castle edit and doesn’t look too shabby, with a cool background and nice tileset use. What bugs me is that the level is very hard in a frustrating way. The paths are very narrow and filled with enemies, collapse scenery, spikes and more objects of torture. There are also many barriers that have to be broken either by finding trigger crates or the right weapon to shoot them with. Those keys are often hidden evilishly, and I found myself running (and dying) around a lot until I found one of the secret passages. At one point pretty early into the level there’s a text sign reading that you have to destroy the blocks in the order 4,5,6,0. I stood around puzzled for quite some time until I realized those numbers described the weapons I had to find and use (4=seekers, 5=RF, etc.). The endboss, which came earlier than expected, was a bolly with a few tufs in an arena that made me just stomp bolly repeatedly next to the respawning carrot instead of fighting “honestly” with my gun.

I like challenges, but this one is just too frustrating. And while it won’t take too long to beat it if you try, it’s still rather annoying being lost as what to do or killed all the time.

I had prefered a longer level that is less crowded with evil stuff, so the hard parts could alternate with some less bloodthirsty ones to give the player a break.

Download if you like.

edit

Before I forget, the level is actually hidden from the home cooked list, so it requires you to go into JCS and edit it first. I don’t get why people are doing this all the time, why do you check options if you don’t even know what they do?

This level is rather short and set in Disguise’ Spacey tileset. While there aren’t any horrible mistakes, it still needs some major work. The main problems are as follows:

-very small size
-not a challenge at all, despite the name
-lack of eyecandy
-no good ideas

Basically the whole level consists of a small box with a few corridors and warps, some enemies to kill and stuff to collect. The items aren’t really worth collecting, there is neither enough ammo to have some fun, nor food to get a sugar rush and kick some butt. At one point I got almost stuck after warping into a pit, just barely being able to get out again (I was playing Lori). I believe I found the exit after a minute and thirty seconds or so, and while I might have missed a few goodies, I don’t think I ran past anything significant.

There’s a variety of enemies, but placed without much thought. They’re quiet easy to kill, and while there are some appendages of maze-like elements, these don’t really provide a challenge either. Making the level longer and placing enemies more strategically in order to give them an advantage against the rabbit would help out here.

Eyecandy isn’t that good. While I spotted no tilebugs, the tileset just isn’t used to it’s full potential. Mostly, the tiles are just used rather randomly to create the paths and walls, hardly anything else is added to make the level look better. While I admit that there’s a background layer, it seems to consist of random tiles aswell and doesn’t add too much.

Overall, “In Space Challenge” is a very simplistic and short level with nothing to make the player want to go back and play it again. The author shows that he knows how to use the editor, but lacks the spirit to spend some real time and effort into creating a fun, challenging and rewarding experience.

[Screenshot verified. ~cooba]

It’s been quite a while. I enjoyed FSP, and while I wasn’t able to finish that (yet), I was even more encouraged to find all the coins in this level.

Shade Castle, by the name of it, doesn’t look like a castle a lot. If I had to describe it in two words, I’d probably pick “creepy Bizarroworld” or something like that. The concept is as usual, finding the coins to exit the level, but the whole level design is pretty inventive. The ten coins needed are hidden all over the level, but you get to choose which you want to collect first. This makes the playing experience very refreshing. Along the way are several challenges and traps, along with lizards, demons, hardly noticable spikes (argh) and some clever puzzles. The level itself is kind of small, but it’ll take a while till you figure out how to get that annoying little coin that’s hidden behind the trigger blocks. And where to find the appropriate crate to smash. And the meaning of Eva’s hint. That, and the many sharp objects and baddies contribute to a high difficulty level. To finish the level successfully, the player has to use his reflexes and think at the same time. There were enough carrots and ammunition to keep you alive throughout however. Maybe even too many RFs. Once the money is collected, you’re transported to the big boss. I expected an interesting boss fight, but the outcome is kind of weird. Instead of using the copters to avoid the spikes, I pretty much spent my time standing on the edge and killing that devil guy with bouncers and RF-ammo, dodging the occasional attack and winning pretty easily. Dissapointing.
The eyecandy is simply awesome. It just looks like from another dimension, all the tiles have been used in a very creative way. To add to that, I just love those scream-like guys standing all over the place. Love them.
There wasn’t any kind of story involved, but this is just a preview, so it doesn’t matter.
I’m also babbling far too much here.

Let’s just say that I give out an 8.5 rating, and a download recommendation here. Have fun!

~LF

This was just plain not fun. Very high originality and nice eyecandy, but the overdone difficulty just destroys everything.

Gameplay:

I remember the concept from the earlier version, which I played as well. There are four red springs which hover over a huge lava pit and fly to the right. To get over, the player has to keep up with them. They’re pretty fast, which means you’ll have to rush through must areas. And rushing is no fun at all. There are platforms with enemies and ammo, but you won’t get to kill or collect most of them, because if the springs escape you, you’re done for. One deadly area leads to another. I really, really, don’t do this normally, but I really just coptered through most of the level (I luckily played with Jazz). That didn’t make it any more fun though.

Rating: 5.0

Difficulty:

Argh. I like hard levels. I don’t like this one. It’s just not fun when you have to hurry so much you don’t get to do anything the level offers. I honestly don’t feel like replaying it to kill the enemies and collecting the stuff (or reading the text sign near the end if you will). This level would rock if it wasn’t so freaking hard.

Rating: 4.5

Creativity:

Many advanced tricks have been used. Worth to mention are flying objects (including the springs of course) like enemies and spike balls (see screenshot below), among other obstacles. The whole idea is cool too, but there’s just no way to enjoy it all.

Rating: 8.5

Eyecandy:

Looks good. The tileset has been used nicely, with the flaming inferno being present everywhere. But then again. There’s just no way you could enjoy it while hasting through the level.

Rating: 7.2

Design:

Carrottus burns for whatever reason. You got to get over it using springs avoiding flying objects for no real reason either. Though it looks a bit like the rabbit apocalypse or something like that. No, there isn’t any kind of plot.

Rating: 5.0

Overall:

Like I said before, this level would be better with less difficulty. The way it is now, it’s just insane. Also lacks a story.

Final Rating: 5.7, no download recommendation (unless you enjoy frustrating yourself)

~LF

O.o

I started playing, like, three hours ago. Now I’m finally finished with it. Oddly though, reaching the first checkpoint made up about two thirds of the total playing time.

Gameplay:

Very fun. Interesting enemy placement and fresh ideas kept me playing. There are lots of secrets to be found, challenges to overcome and enemies to slaughter. Even though the level is very long, it always offers something new. Crate puzzles and different sets of enemies throughout the whole level keep it from getting boring. The second part was a bit dissapointing, because it ended surprisingly early.

Rating: 9.0

Difficulty:

Hard as heck. The first part until you finally reach the checkpoint, that is. I died again and again until I did it, strangely, after that it became a lot chillier. This is probably due to the fact that I had fully powered fast fire at this point, and enough weapons to kill whatever tried to make my life harder. I only died once more, and that was right after I reached another checkpoint. It still wasn’t easy of course, seeing as I had to keep myself on constant alert throughout the whole game to make it through. A safepoint right before the vine part would have helped a lot to balance it out though.

Rating: 7.2

Creativity:

Very very creative. Other people would create a whole pack with the ideas that have been implemented into this huge level. You travel through a lot of different environments, from the hot jungle to an ice cave to some kind of underground dungeon. There are many gimmicks to keep you playing, like the possibility to get a fire shield with lots of clocks nearby, lots of secrets and bonus areas and little puzzles involving the finding of crates. I would have enjoyed something like a great final at the end. Maybe a boss battle or something similiar.

Rating: 9.0

Eyecandy:

Beautiful. The level uses a tileset which looks like one from an old 2D platformer, though I don’t know which. Still, the rather shabby graphics of the tileset don’t hinder the view at all, it still looks great. Every area looks different, and some nice effects have been used. I especially liked the underground dungeon, which had nice lighting.

Rating: 9.0

Story/Design:

No story. That reduces the fun a bit, but it’s not ultimately needed. Awesome design. There really is a nice atmosphere while playing. Everything looked realistic too.

Rating: 8.5

Overall:

This was, despite it’s shortcomings, a very fun level to play and a huge challenge. Also, it gave me something to do this afternoon, which is always a good thing. Once you get past that annoying vine part and reach the checkpoint, this can give you a fun time playing. Some may be scared away by said part though.

Final Rating: 8.5, download recommendation

~LF

edit

O.o
That’d mean, I’d have to replay it all on hard? XD

Too bad I have no time today. =b
Seriously, I’m looking forward to replaying it on hard sometime.

Another Mario pack? That’s what I thought when I started playing. This one’s quite fun and original though.

Gameplay:

The game starts simple. You have to jump around and kill the evil guys and collect lots of coins. If you happen to get enough you can access a bonus room with some TNT. Blowing up my enemies with it was quite fun. Though when I faced the boss in the second level, I wished I hadn’t wasted it yet. More levels follow. Some are a lot of fun, others are messed up badly. In one, you have to choose which way of torture you want to go through. Sounds all quite hard. In truth though, nothing really hindered me from just coptering through to the end without being harmed. Spaz has a harder time here.

Rating: 7.2

Difficulty:

It begins easy, but soon gets more challenging. I liked the first boss, who was hard to beat without the TNT. In the levels that follow, the difficulty is mostly made up by lots of enemies. Normally, I don’t like those levels with clumps and dozens of enemies a lot, but these are an exception, because you had to use your weapons intelligently in order to beat them. Though sometimes it’s the best to just run away without fighting (cough*bee bridge level*cough). The last boss could have been a bit harder. I still have to replay this on hard mode sometime.

Rating: 7.7

Creativity:

Lots of creativity, actually. Every level is unique in both looks and style of playing. There is an airboard mission, an underground hell-like world and more. The only real letdown is the “path of death” level (how I like to call it). The obstacles are very repititive, annoying and just make the player copter through with Jazz or Lori (there are character changers available, so that’s no problem). This is the worst level of the pack. I liked the cutscene level with the mario brothers army (or whatever) marching towards Bilsy’s castle.

Rating: 8.2

Eyecandy:

I have to say it again, I hate the Mario tileset (I’m probably going to mention that in every review of a Mario pack). On a big computer screen, the graphics don’t look very pleasing. However, the set’s possibilities have been used very well. Every level looks different and well constructed. I don’t think the original games for the gameboy look better. I liked the picture of Bowser hiding.

Rating: 8.0

Story/Design:

You find Bowser hiding in a tube, telling you Bilsy wants to kill him to take over his kingdom. This is either ridiculous or funny, depending on your view. I liked it. So, to help, the player (and Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Goomba) begin marching towards Bowser’s castle which is inhabited by Bilsy. You’re never alone, as your friends from the Mario world are always there to give you helpful tips. Sometimes, they even take part in battle through the clever use of MCEs. I liked the story, it fits the Mario world perfectly and keeps the downloader playing too. A letdown is the poor spelling. I suggest the author gets someone to correct it for his next release.

Rating: 7.7

Overall:

I expected a mediocre pack at best, seeing as I never really liked all that Mario stuff, but this was very fun for the most part. A few areas need to be improved, but it’s still worth the download.

Final Rating: 7.7, download recommendation

Have fun.

~LF

This level feels a bit like a try-out. There’s a lot of stuff in there, not all of it working correctly.

Gameplay:

Quite solid. You kill enemies, collect goodies, find some crates, and kill a boss at the end. Nothing outraging, nothing awful. The boss had a more interesting arena now, unfortunately it the stupid guy got stuck in the spikes quite often, making him easy to kill. There were some platforms in the air with some crates and a flying lizard, unfortunately I played as Lori and couldn’t reach them.

Rating: 6.0

Difficulty:

Very easy. Nothing really challenged my hyper-mega-jazz2-skills (or something). The lives in the bonus warp were tweaked, still too many. For some unknown reason I lacked four coins this time though. Hardly any ammo, but none was needed anyway. There was enough food to get a sugar rush. In some places even a little too much, I felt. Oh yes there were some crate puzzles, but those weren’t hard either. Some more difficulty would surely boost the fun.

Rating: 5.5

Creativity:

Nothing all too creative, but some good appendages. In the updated version, the arena was made more appealing, but then again, it’s buggy. The landscape has been fixed a little too.

Rating: 6.5

Eyecandy:

Still not very beautiful. The surroundings have improved, yes, but then again there’s not much eyecandy and still some tilebugs. And I hate the Easter tileset. =P Well, enough for 1 bonus point.

Rating: 5.5 (+1.0)

Story/Design:

Quoted from the readme: “Devan and his army want to destroy easter land!”
Aaaah, so, well, any reason for them doing so? No? Nevermind, who cares. This is one of those utterly creative stories only coming around once a year or so. Easter land doesn’t look like easter land too, more like land of random objects land. But I’m getting too sarcastic here. To the point, not much effort has gone into designing anything plausible or adding a plot.

Rating: 5.0

Overall:

I find the improvement done in the update quite minimal, most of the really prominent problems are still there. The new boss arena doesn’t work, the game’s still too easy, however, the level looks a bit better in most areas now.

Final Rating: 6.2 (+0.2)
Download Recommendation: Maybe

Have fun.

~LF

6.5 huh? To be honest, at first the pack doesn’t seem like its quality is high enough to give it a 6.5, but it was quite fun still. And if it’s fun, why give it a lower rating?

Gameplay:

You start in Mario World. Mario (or was it Luigi) ask you to find Yoshi’s coins which have been stolen by Devan. So you start collecting coins. When you have 10, go to Luigi (or was that Mario) and he will reward your efforts. That is the concept, and it was fun, though simple and done before. I honestly don’t know what made this fun after all. It’s not all that challenging, nor original or something. Maybe it’s the awesome music. But still, I enjoyed playing. There were some bugs though, like getting stuck in appearing walls (through the use of trigger zones) and similiar things. Also, in one level you had to choose the right warp or sucker tube to get the coins, but if you chose wrong, you died. I didn’t like that. I was lucky though, and there was a safepoint right before that part, so it was ok. I didn’t manage to find all coins in every level, which makes for some replay value.

Rating: 6.5

Difficulty:

Wasn’t very hard. No challenging enemies, easy puzzles and the like. But it didn’t get boring. There was a good balance between the collecting aspect, finding triggers and shooting stuff. The boss at the end was very easy though. A different arena would have suited him well.

Rating: 5.7

Creativity:

I’ve seen Mario world levels before, and never really liked the idea. The cartoonish Mario world doesn’t really suit Jazz. The puzzles weren’t highly creative here, but they did their job. And that’s better than no puzzles at all, or lame ones. There were some nice gameplay ideas, though sometimes they weren’t executed very well.

(I wanted to insert a screenshot here, but freenet doesn’t open)

The “big maze” is really not difficult nor mazelike at all, some more twists would have helped.

Rating: 6.0

Eyecandy:

The Mario graphics may look good on a gameboy, but on a computer screen they’re not a pleasure to look at. This is the first problem, the second being that the tileset use isn’t very well. In some parts the scenery looks very unrealistic (the maze for example), there are many tilebugs and, it just isn’t very beautiful. Then again, the Mario tileset is probably quite limited.

Rating: 5.0

Design/Story:

The story isn’t highly original, but it gets the job done. It also gives the whole thing some meaning, something to do (other than randomly walking around shooting all those baddies). It’s all designed reasonably well, apart for the unrealistic look.

Rating: 6.7

Overall:

Maybe it’s the jolly music. Maybe it’s just me in a good mood. Or maybe it’s just quite a good levelpack after all. Troublespots are eyecandy and difficulty, but it’s still fun. If you’re a Mario fan, look for some easy enjoyment, or have some other reason, feel free to download and get carried away by the awesome music.

Final Rating: 6.5
Download Recommendation: Yes

Have fun.

~LF

Quite challenging. Quite frustrating too. This level requires very good timing and strong nerves. That’s why it took me quite long to beat it, despite the level’s normal size.

Gameplay: 6.2

From one death trap to another. And that without a break, gets quite annoying after a while. The level’s design focuses on forcing the player to react fast and precise, because otherwise doom is certain. One wicked surprise hunts the other. So, traps are fun. But this level is something like a trap overload. The constant stress of trying not to die totally kills the flow. The very sparce collection of items obtainable adds to that effect. What’s left? An RF-jumping part, which annoys the unskilled player somewhat that resisting to type jjfly is more of a challenge than actually getting up there without getting thrown back down accidentally when you just reached the top.

Difficulty: 5.0

Overdone. Just. Too. Much. Stress. This level needs some breaks with less difficult parts thrown in between the utterly challenging ones, otherwise the annoyance factor just cranks up more and more. Some more items will help too.

Creativity: 6.5

Lots of unusual stuff, but unfortunately all done before. The sliding rock is obviously ripped off, the bat jumping has been done before too. Don’t get me wrong, using tricks and things others discovered is fine, as long as you give it your own personal note. Still, it doesn’t get boring, so that’s a plus.

Eyecandy: 6.0

Utterly dull most of the time. The possibilities of the tileset just haven’t been used enough. Sometimes, there’s some nice layer 5 work, and the occassional pillar in the foreground, but that’s about it. Add some stuff, be creative. Create some atmosphere. That’s the part I love doing the most when I design (which happens rarely though).

Design/Story: 6.5

The level starts right at the end of the last official one. I kinda liked that, though the story, which is revealed at the end, is kind of, weird. It seems Devan has survived, and is about to continue wreaking havoc and stuff. Okay I guess. The design could have some more of that “everything is lost” feel. After all you’re in hell. That’s just a personal opinion though.

Overall:

This would be quite a fun level, if it wasn’t so.. overly harsh, for lack of better words. For me, the perfect challenging level starts with some moderately difficult part, then throws in something hard, then gets moderate again. That way, the player has time to relax a little, and, which is the actual purpose of the game, have fun. Difficult and frustrating passages easily get forgotten when you have a “winning experience”, or get some goodies or something. Overall, “Demonic Dilemma” has problems, but potential. I also suggest getting a personal beta tester to play your levels and give constructive criticism before you upload a level.

Rating: 6.2
Download Recommendation: Looking for some frustrating challenges? Hell, yes.

~LF

Whoo! This rocks.

I recently listened to the medivo remix, and while it was a solid tune, it never really caught me. This beach/diamondus megamix did however. It’s very catchy, has awesome dance beats and I love the melody. Everything seems to fit perfectly this time, and the length is appropriate too.

Surely worth the download.

I really loved castle funk. This remix from the Hell Freezes Over music is quite similiar in terms of style and instrumentation, which is the first drawback. I had hoped it was a little darker (more like the original) and also something new, but at some points I thought it was just an altered castle funk version. It also took a while till I noticed the Hell Freezes Over melody.

I think this tune would fit well in some levels, but not those actually using the frozen hell tileset it was meant for. Still, quite funky again and it’s a good song to listen to. Not what I was hoping it would be, but worth the download.

Final Rating: 7.2, download recommendation

~LF

Eh. This level would be quite decent, but it has some definite problems.

Gameplay: 6

Quite generic, nothing really special. It’s your basic running around killing turtles level. Unfortunately, you are indeed only killing turtles, because there are no other enemies. Reminds me of the easter levels from TSF, which fail so horribly because the only thing you’re up against are turtles, turtles, and more fucking turtles. These guys are quite boring, and prove no real challenge. Some more difference would have helped. To add to that, the items are very overused and easy to get. They’re all along the way, somewhat easy to grab. There are no real secrets at all. This is proven by the fact that I got my sugar rush at the same spot fearofdark got his. Summarized, this level is just too easy to be fun. May be good for beginners though.

Eyecandy: 5.5

The sprite layer eyecandy is mediocre at best. While there are no tilebugs, there is also not a lot of eyecandy. Many plain walls, nothing that stands out. What really hurts though is the background, which just moves too fast. There is neither a reasoning behind the speed of the clouds, nor does it add a cool effect. It’s just annoying. Needs work.

Creativity: 6

There is no storyline, and nothing really stands out. The only thing worth noting are a few triggers, but there isn’t a lot of creativity needed to create those. The eyecandy is somewhat uncreative too. Overall, this level just lacks something to surprise the player, something to remember. Boring.

Conclusion:

Not a lot, just an unchallenging little single player level. Not really worth the download, but you can if you want to give it a chance.

Final Rating: 6

This remix shows the water tune from a different perspective. The silent and atmospheric song has turned into a speedy dance tune. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well as the original does.

The track starts with a piano playing, which promises a good beginning. Soon the track kicks in though, and it doesn’t really fit I felt. At least not to the Marinated Rabbit level, which I played while listening. Another problem is the instrumentation in the main part. I don’t really like it, simply because it doesn’t sound as beautiful as Alexander Brandon’s work anymore. Instead, it sounds quite… dirty, for a lack of a better word. The speedy dance tune theme doesn’t fit to the silent and dangerous water world either, so I switched back to the original after finishing the level.

I guess it’s worth a try in the end, because tastes differ. For me it was a nice try, but nothing more.

Final Rating: 5.7
Download Recommendation: N/A

~LF

I’m not very good at rating music, so I normally don’t. However, this tune really caught me. It’s very catchy, I’m listening to it over and over the whole time. It makes me want to play JJ2 too (too bad I can’t, now that my sister’s pc is broken). I have not a lot more to say, other than that n00b is right about the ending.

Good work, and a download recommendation.

This is a typical beginner’s level. That is not a very bad thing, because you learn by the errors you make. However, you won’t get high ratings which such levels of course. Here’s what’s wrong:

Gameplay: 2.5

Before I could play, I encountered the first common mistake new designers do: the hide level in home cooked list option is on. If this option is activated, the level can’t be accessed from the home cooked levels episode, so I had to open the file in the level editor and disable it. This is annoying, but none the less I started to play. I didn’t look at the time, but I think it took me about a minute or two to get to the end. The whole level is pretty much a try-out with some random events. You jump over some small pits with turtles on, warp to a more or less secret room with some goodies, kill a few more enemies and grab a tnt that you don’t need and then the level ends. Not a very exciting playing experience. The main problem is that no real thought has been put into placing the events. It always feels like the designer just put in what he thought might be good to try it out. There’s also no real challenge even for a beginner, because the level is so short and the few enemies there are can be easily killed before they hit you.

Creativity: 2.2

Not a whole lot of creativity, but with that short size there’s not a lot of space for creative stuff anyway. Well, the author mentioned that it wouldn’t be very original, but that’s exactly the point. If it’s not, then spend some effort to make it what it should be. Putting in some creative stuff is not as hard as it seems. I could think off a complicated puzzle right now if I wanted to. Just think about what you can do with certain events, and you’ll almost always get some ideas.

Eyecandy: 1.5

Here it shows again how inexperienced the designer still is. There are a lot of tile bugs, in short, the set just hasn’t been used the way it should be, mostly because the designer didn’t know how. At least it seems so. This can be easily overcome by just practice. Fool around, try some stuff, and you can get to decent results. The way it is now, it’s not a pleasure for the eye though.

Conclusion:

Like I said, this is more something like a try-out than a challenging level. Practice makes perfect is my advice. With more experience, surely better results can be achieved.

Final Rating: 2.0, no download recommendation

~LF

“Yet another easter level” I thought when I clicked it in the download section. However, from the description it sounded like it was made a little more interesting than the bunch of other easter levels I’ve seen during the years. This one does actually have a concept.

Gameplay: 7.5

When I started playing, I figured this would be quite a fun little level to play. The objective is to deliver eggs to 20 baskets. You’re doing this, because the easter hare is either extremely lazy or has eaten a bad egg like stated in the readme (whichever you prefer). Everytime you fill one of the baskets, which are spread out around the whole level, you get a coin. Is the easter hare actually getting paid by now? Anyways. Nevermind. Maybe the reason for the sudden payment is that his job got more and more dangerous or something. Several evil turtles, lizards and similiar stuff await.. well, no, actually it’s only turtles and lizards, but they’re placed nicely so I don’t mind. Compared to the TSF easter levels the enemy placement is a big improvement.
The level is quite big and has a lot of fun stuff to do. There are many goodies, and some nice secrets (oftentimes you’ll get crashed through walls at high speed while collecting stuff). To find all the baskets, you’ll have to explore the whole level. This can sometimes prove problematic, because it has some mazelike elements in it. At the end, I lacked two coins and had to go back searching for them. Even worse, some passages require freezer ammo, which I didn’t have. I found no more to collect, so I had to cheat to get through. This takes some of the fun away of an otherwise good level.

Creativity: 7.5

There are some very original elements, and some which are badly stolen from Cliffy’s levels. You’ll find platforms with strong winds you have to climb (even the warning sign is there!) and spring crates to push, but there are also some interesting puzzles involving springs and ice. Yes, these have been there too, but they don’t seem to be ripped off like the windy passage. And besides, there’s still the cool concept. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but it’s still quite fun.

Eyecandy: 8.0

Quite good, especially for a level that’s actually three years old already. I can’t agree with the master on this one. Yes, the misfitting tiles at the ground are there, but aren’t these in almost every level using the easter and carrotus tilesets? Besides, there are some rather nice features using the background layer that look really good, though these can be confusing if you can’t tell what’s solid and what’s not. Sometimes, the impression of Jazz changing between the sprite and background layer is given, an effect that can look awesome when done right. I don’t remember if the other two background layers were actually used, but might have been additions to layer 5, so I won’t decrease the score here. Just the foreground could have some more stuff in it, and the walls are a little bland. Still, good work has been done here.

Conclusion:

This is a fun little level with some good ideas behind it (and some which are badly copied). It’s surely worth the download if you’re looking for something to entertain you for 15 minutes (or longer, depending on your skills at egg delivering).

Final Rating: 7.5, download recommendation

~LF