Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Blacky’s Single Player Catch Up Review #2:

I was having fun playing this but it took me less time to complete than it did to cook up a bowl of ramen :(

Not sure how to rate this, but it was a glorious 5 minutes.

Nice small level with a gameplay based on searching for trigger crates.

PROS
It’s castle, but it slightly differes from the original castle levels. Music is vigorous and buoyant, the eyecandy is modified a little- 5th layer uses vitrages and tons of chains.
Those floating hetmuts elegantly illustrate the possibilities of the Belt event. I also appreciate the idea of diverging corridors. Most of those corridors are descending, which makes bouncers pretty useful.

CONS
The level is obviously too small. The Boss… meh… Besides the fact that Tuf Boss isn’t a difficult enemy itself, the boss arena is just a smooth room without any additions that could make the fight challenging enough.

CONCLUSION
I think this level deserves to be downloaded, so I’ll give it 8.5 in order to raise an average rating to at least 8.0.

Ooh boy. I wish this level were longer.

It’s not revolutionary in its structure—go left a bit, find a trigger crate, go left a bit more, find three trigger crates, enter a door, fight a boss. It’s not difficult at all—there’s one area with some pillars sticking out of a pit of spikes, but the JJ2 engine makes it trivial to navigate them. The tileset use isn’t unusual or innovative. The boss arena has nothing interesting about it.

And yet, everything is done well.

Sure, the level leans a little more heavily on big thick walls than it needs to, but it’s still pretty to look at with varied tiles and chains and lights and things. There’s a lot more put in here than just the minimum amount of effort needed to use Castle. Part of the reason the level is so easy to beat is that the enemies can be taken out by bouncers—and the level gives you bouncers. That’s a satisfying feeling. Ambient lighting is played with enough to be visible yet not frustrating. The paths to reach the four trigger crates are not innovative but they are all distinct from one another and give off a quiet confidence. Pretty much any given aspect of the level is respectable, but the level is short enough that it still feels a bit empty.

(There could also be more pickups, I think. That would help make everything livelier.)

Greetings from your fellow Mario Maker (and nice reference by naming this Lost Levels)! By first impression, this level felt more like an actual dungeon than the original Castle levels did. The helmuts on belts at the first crate were indeed fun to watch. The gameplay involves the commonly used JJ2 mechanic of finding multiple Trigger Crates to open up your path. And while it’s not original, this level did it pretty well by placing the crates in hazardous spots such as near 3D Spike Bolls, all down in the dungeon where the ambient light gets darker. Ammo is just Bouncers, and they are actually useful down the slopes. The boss is just a regular Tuff Boss, which may be justified if this was part of an episode but on it’s own it’s just your regular bullet sponge. This level is very short but feels professionally made.

I recommend this one for when you have a spare 5 minutes and crave for some quality traditional JJ2 gameplay.

I’m with PurpleJazz when it comes to the sequel. This level is superb IMO. The background is awesome, good enemy, weapon and food placement as well as good music choice. Perfect level, would love to see more!

The part with the moonwalking Helmuts was hilarious and probably the best reason to download this. It’s a fun oldschool level overall, even if the experience is rather short and easy. I feel it would’ve worked out much better as part of a full episode as originally intended. Nonetheless, cool to see an old level finally get a release!

Nice & very big , goood job man :P

[Review changed to quick review, see the review rules.

i am speechless it’s the best level i’ve playd

[Review changed to quick review. There is an option to make reviews like this, please learn to use it. – cooba]

Okay, this is part of some kind of review-exchange and I’m really happy to review ‘Extraterrestrials’. It’s really unique and I’m glad Sacrush included a drawing of the layout. This points out again why this level is so unique. Anyway, let’s start reviewing!

First of all, the bases are actually quite close to each other. However, trigger scenery avoids a really fast connection. Instead, there’s a copter above the pits which leads to the Seeker PU. It might seem a bit campy, but I’m sure most people appreciate a save spot in CTF, and it’s actually quite hard to get with the pits. The other two PU’s on top of it’s wings, a Bouncer at the blue side and a Toaster at the red side, are placed where you would expect them. This level has 3 carrots, with two of them being +1’s. The Full NRG is at the very top of this level, only accessible by taking a copter to it. This is also the only part where you can find Gun 9, which could be really helpful in this level. Nice thinking, making valuable ammo hard to get. Gun 9 can also be used to hit carrot campers. Taking the +1’s makes you fall down, but it isn’t hard to get back to the middle of the level. At least it makes them non-campy.

When I used to think about ‘Extraterrestrials’ my first thought always was: “Oh right, it’s that level with narrow passages”. But now I see it really isn’t that cramped. The only narrow places are the vertical passages and you really don’t need much space there. Also, the springs are at exactly the right heights, so you won’t bump into walls all the time. The horizontal area’s are more open, so it’s actually really balanced. You might not expect it, but since the flow is really good ‘Extraterrestrials’ is actually quite fast-paced. Nice paradox, right?

About the eyecandy, it isn’t as appealing to me as other EC I saw in this set, but it’s definitely good. You can see Sacrush put a lot of time in doing the EC, since it’s really detailed. Also, Sacrush didn’t flip the level but built both halves separately, compliments for that, since this layout is quite complicated. The concept of a creature-layout is still great, though, it really sets this level apart from others (I’m not sure if you can call this EC, but oh well..). Also, the moving background really looks good and the fade fits the level.

Now a thing I don’t like. The middle part of this level seems a bit vulnerable for camping, since a lot of paths end here: the two tubes from the outside-legs and the one way above the Seeker PU. And it’s obviously the connection between the creature’s upper and lower half. This means it’s possible to trap people in the lower half of the level, since both the Full NRG and the +1 carrots are in the upper half. Since the warp targets are also close to this area spamming seekers might be enough to cover the whole area (I didn’t test this though, but it really seems possible).

So should you download this level? Yes. Why? Well, it looks good, the atmosphere is quite okay and simply because this layout is so unique and it really sets it apart from other levels. Also, I bet this will play well, but I wouldn’t play huge games in it, 2vs2’s or maybe 3vs3’s. I think it won’t play particularly well in duels, either, but as I said, it should be fun in small teamgames!

The gameplay gets a bit frusstrating sometimes and i think there is too much EC for a race lvl. DR though.

~BS7

Another great lvl by Sacrush. i like the layout a lot, the monster idea is great. The Gameplay and EC are both really good. Not much else to say

Don’t give up one making levels! It takes more than 3 levels to get you name out there. Look at evilmike, his levels were average until he released his Invasion of Deserto pack and now hes one of the best levels makers on jazz2online! Now for the review. My first Race review!

Eyecandey:
The eyecandey is great. The black part made no sense but after that the eyecandey looked great. The trees in the background look amazing. It looks it took along time. There’s a moving textured background and the place really looks like it’s outdoors. Layer 3 was used a lot for tons of shrubage and the holes in the wall look professionally done. Great eyecandey!
8/10

Gameplay/obsticle placement
Good. The black area I got stuck on. There was no way to get past from what I saw. I found a trigger crate in the wall using JCS but there’s no way to get to it. Mabey I have to be in MP? Well anyway I used cheats to look around and this is what I saw: There were lots of little obstacles in the black area and during the outside area it was nice. it was a good long race and there were lots of h springs for you if you not careful. There were parts were you had to climb the wall and there were lots of jumps were if you missed it you’d fall behind fast! Still something with an airbord or the switch box. (If they work in MP) So gameplay would be better if there were more verity in obstical placement.
7/10

Pickup placement:
Great. There wasn’t that much ammo in the level which is good for a race level I think. There was a verity in ammo and it wasn’t all clumped together. It was nice and scattered. There were no powerups that I could see which is good I think and no carrots. (Are those even needed in a Race level?) Great pickup placement.
8/10

Final score:23/30
Score: 8.5
Rank: B
DR: What do you think. Yes of course.

WOOW

[Review changed to quick review. – Cooba]

Extraterrestrials, using LMAT – Kansas tileset. The layout is really interesting. Level looks like a giant bird ;) The general idea is nice.

Level is symectrical, so it’s balanced.
Level is really big. Gameplay is not amazing, but it’s nice and strategical. Full NRG is in good position. Ammo and PU placement is ok too.
The flow is bad in some places. I can’t say much about that…

The eyecandy is really nice. You have used all kinds of tiles for making good eyecandy. I didn’t notice any tilebugs. That is a good thing. Eyecandy in layer 6 and 7 is really interesting.

Overall really nice CTF level with good gameplay and eyecandy. This is also a level with nice ideas. Amazing job Sacrush :)

Rating: 8.5
Download Recommendation: Yes

-TripleJ

hmmm…1st time. but some1 gutta do it r no1 will notice the lvl D=.

Gameplay:
The lvl is realy fun at 3v3!
Its not recomended 4 duels thu,its 2 big.Also a great lvl for big servers (bout 7+ ppl it gets rly kool).

Eyecandy:
There r not moch eyecandys in this tileset, itihnk u did good with the the eyecandy u gut.
The layers r awesome =O.

Hmmm nothin 2 big on the other things. Lets see, the pickups r ok (some ammo here and there) itihnk the lvl can use some food ect.
The music is ok,but ithink a louder thing will fit better(me and my taste).

Rly great lvl there,make some more plz!

I really don’t care what was done to change a song, as long as it’s been changed, it’s still a remix, JC!

And, yes, the sample swapping really did add to the song, gave it a sort of new raison d’etre. In essence, making it more upbeat without a tempo change.

However, little was done to it. Meaning I can’t give it more than a 5, but because it works so well, can’t give it less than a 4. Hence….

Review for Personal Park.

Sacrush, the creator of this level, didn’t get a review for his level. It took quite some time to make, so I’ll give him a review so he won’t be sad. There really needs to be reviewed more in my opinion.

Introduction to Personal Park: Sacrush, an IC member, made this level for r3p’s contest. This contest has ended already, and this level didn’t get a prize. Probably because it was too big for duels. For 2on2s the level worked fine in my opinion. I had a few games in this level already, and I enjoyed it. Now it’s time to go to the actual review! I’m trying some different reviewing style again.

Layout and flow

The level is pretty big for a CTF level. Although it doesn’t have much platforms. The layout is symmetrical and thus it’s balanced too. The flow is good, but you can bump against walls sometimes. There are one ways and tubes to make the flow better, and there are warps in the left and right corners. The spring placement is pretty good as well.

Other gameplay

In a 2on2 it’s pretty easy to be ready to score because you can see when your opponent is coming. The way to the base is pretty much run left and run right, which isn’t a big problem here. Defending can be easy too, but if you want to kill an opponent before he/she can capture the flag you need some skill. You need to defend at the right time and chase opponents, or something.

Eye candy

While there is no real eye candy in the background and foreground layers, the sprite layer eye candy is excellent. I found this tileset pretty hard to use when I tried it, and Sacrush really put some effort into it when he made this level. There are lots of trees in this park, and combined with the other stuff in this tileset I really like the eye candy here. Almost every layer is used, only layer 1 isn’t but layer 1 isn’t used a lot.

Ammo and Power-Up placement

I almost never say the ammo placement is bad, and it isn’t in this level as well. The ammo placement is just how it should be, with some nice shapes of ammo and a good Power-Up placement. There is a Seek PU in the middle of the level, there is a Bounce PU in the left corner of the level and there is a Toast PU in the right corner of the level. There are some Fast Fires throughout the level, they can be helpful for Bouncer or something. Most weapons that are used often don’t work with Fast Fire, like RF(be glad it doesn’t work) and Seekers. RFs are very good in this level. You can easily shoot RFs at your opponent if he/she is at low health and waits for the carrot to kill him/her.

Carrot placement

There is only one carrot in this level. A second Full Energy probably won’t work with this layout, but 2 +1s could work instead. The Full Energy can be shot down by RF if you have enough skill. You can also just camp it and hope you kill your opponent before he/she gets to you and grabs the carrot.

Overall I think this is a very nice level. If it was smaller it could have won a price in the J2MC contest. The winners of the contest had more than 1 carrot, because it makes duels not so campy. But now that tournament isn’t a duel tournament anymore. Anyway, I think this is one of Sacrush’s best levels. I give this level a big fat 8.2 and of course it gets a download recommendation.

-DS

Umm… Pretty ok… But I couldn’t stand that music, sorry.

~MoonRazor
(Unsupported rating (2.2) removal. ~Violet)

Rating Toby Episode:

Rating Obstacles: (X2)
So-so. The spikes are good placed. The enemies are also not very bad, but the boss-placement is abomiable. However, the first of the two bosses is OK, but the final boss…? (Toby) It is much too hard to beat him and the level doesn’t end automatically after you’ve beated him. A better selfmade final boss is the Spike Machine, created by Gus in the episode ‘Flashback: Outta dis world’.
Rating: 3½

Rating Bonus Placement: (X1)
In the level ‘Dark’ is it very bad. At the begin is it OK, but then are there no bonusses at all. The rest is all OK.
Rating: 5½

Rating Story: (X1)
No story.
Rating N/A

Rating Eyecandy: (X2)
Too cruel. There is much too much blood to score any higher than the lowest mark as possible.´
Rating: 1

Rating Length: (X2)
Ten levels and one credits. That is OK, but the levels are too short for a sufficient.
Rating: 5

Final Rating: 2,1
Download recommendation: NO!

I think it’s a good tileset for someone who has never made one before. It’s got the stars for the background, ships to stage battles, and has other good tiles that could be used for any story line.
I think this is a great tile set, but it could use some fire, and some more detiled tiles that a creater would need.