Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I beta tested this quite a bit, and I must say that this is fairly impressive for a first Capture the Flag level. Regardless of this fact, it lacks the polish that comes with experience, and this brings down the quality of this relatively small Capture the Flag level significantly. Regardless, it shows a lot of promise and I hope that Ninja will keep making more levels.

GAMEPLAY: Gameplay was more or less standard. The flow had quite a few hiccups. The one ways help this mariginally, but not enough to improve the gameplay to good levels. The layout of this level is interesting, and more resembles what you would think of as a battle level than anything else. THIS LEVEL IS SMALL. When I say small, I mean really small. This level is probably smaller than Distopia, which is a fairly tiny level in itself. The miniscule size of this level is somewhat of a pitful, too.

EYECANDY: Eyecandy was pretty good. There was not anything that you would not expect in a Swamps of the Sleeping Jaguar level, but it still left me wanting more. There just was not extremely creative use of eyecandy here, though it was by no means an ugly level. Since there were not many open areas, there was not any eyecandy-drained places, but for a level of this size, that is not a huge accomplishment.

LAYOUT: Layout was really small. The entire level is probably no larger than half of Battle2. This translated as a problem in many respects, as the passages between bases were way, way, way too small. This caused definite flow problems. There were several dead ends, which is not so bad in CTF levels if they are used well, but the dead ends in this level just are not done well.

TILE PLACEMENT: Tileset placement was good, but again, nothing special. It looks like most Swamps of the Sleeping Jaguar levels. Eyecandy was not anything special mainly because not much creativity was used in placing eyecandy in this level. Not much to say here that I have not already expressed in the “eyecandy” section. Not amazing, but good enough.

PICKUP PLACEMENT: Pickup placement was below average. There were several powerups, too many for most Capture the Flag levels and definitely too many for a level of this size. There were few carrots for the ammount of powerups, and they all came out as more or less useless since you would just lose the life the moment you left the area in which they were. Pickup placement was badly coordinated to the rest of the level.

OVERALL STATEMENT: This level definitely shows promise. However, in its current state, all I can say is that it is way too small with way too narrow passages to make for a good play. More or less good in eyecandy, this level suffers from a bad sense of scale that causes the passages to be far too hard to get around in. So many powerups should not be used in a level of such small size without enough carrots to make up for it. This level reminds me of a battle level, except it is way too small. Spend some time on making your levels larger and I am sure that your rating will improve vastly.

+ PROS: Looks good. Definitely shows promise.

- CONS: Bad flow. Too many powerups. WAY TOO SMALL.

VERDICT: A so-so Capture the Flag level in general. By no means is this great, but CTF freaks might find it worth the download. If this level were to be larger, the rating would be significantly higher. However, for now, I have to give it a 6.5 and a download recommendation only for Capture the Flag fans. Though this level definitely has some good sides, it has far too many pitfalls.

This level is definitely a good effort. It shows that there was some hard work put into making it, and it did translate fairly well. Still, this level just lacks the polish of more refined levels, which brings the score down. If the level was to be edited and improved just slightly in a few ways, it would make for a really, really, really good Capture the Flag level. Reviewing time.

GAMEPLAY: Gameplay is where this level seems to run into problems. While the layout is more or less good, the flow needs work. I found myself often hitting into the walls and sides, which is OK in a battle level, but just does not cut it in a Capture the Flag level. If this flow was to be improved even marginally, my score would be higher. Gameplay was fairly enjoyable, save for the flow quirks. This is definitely the level’s weakpoint, as bumping into things in Capture the Flag is frustrating and should not happen often by level design fault.

EYECANDY: The eyecandy in this level actually looked pretty good. Heaven is used a lot (especially lately, it seems) and the eyecandy in it looks simply astounding. Of the Heaven levels that I have reviewed lately, I have to say that this was the weakest in eyecandy, but then again this was also the weakest overall. Still, some more could be done with the Heaven tileset to make it look a little tiny bit more spiffy. Eyecandy was still more or less good, though.

LAYOUT: Layout was alright. There are not a huge amount of complaints here, though the level layout should have been adjusted slightly to improve the flow. The symetrical quality of this level did not translate into balanced sides, though; one team definitely had a small advantage over the other, which was moderately noticable during play.

TILE PLACEMENT: Tileset placement was good, but again, nothing special. This is a fairly simple and classic Heaven tileset-based level tile placement-wise, and there is little that makes this level different from the others in the eyecandy field. Still, the tileset was not used badly, and that definitely is worth something. It shows that this level does in fact have some time put into it, which is nice to see.

PICKUP PLACEMENT: Pickup placement was alright. The carrot was in the middle of the level, which balanced it slightly. The “House of Knowledge” as it seems to be called was indeed a bit unbalanced (whatever it actually is. I’m not sure). The creative story line was interesting, though did not make sense beyond it being a “ancient battle of knowledge (blue team) versus power (red team).”

OVERALL STATEMENT: Despite the flow quarks, this is a pretty good Capture the Flag level. This would have made a good submission for BlurredD’s Capture the Flag level contest, in fact. It is good to see that levelmakers are not just resting while this contest happens and are still making other Capture the Flag levels. For the brief pause there is during the contest in Capture the Flag level making, I was expecting to see very few quality levels. Fortunately, this is one. Download recommendation for Capture the Flag fans.

+ PROS: Good-looking Capture the Flag level. Good weapon placement.

- CONS: Slightly unbalanced. The flow has a few kinks that could have been worked out before release.

VERDICT: This is not a bad Capture the Flag level at all. Overall, I give it a 7.2 and a download recommendation for Capture the Flag fans. Nice work, Fireball.

Regardless of how good you consider the tileset, this just is not a good level. It is not only increadibly linear, but it shows very little effort. Here goes the semi-quick review.

GAMEPLAY: Gameplay was boring. You walk along a pretty much straight path, and there are only two routes, with a bit of ammo on them. Not very interesting at all. This level is about as linear as it gets. There is not much room in this level, and it is fairly small overall.

EYECANDY: The tileset use in this level was not that good either. It is ugly and does not match. There are no interesting parts eyecandy-wise to this level to speak of. It is just a flat platform and little more than that. I can not explain it in much depth, for it lacks much depth.

LAYOUT: Not exactly layout…it is just a flat platform. There are two routes, and tubes. The tubes do not go the direction the arrows on them point to in many instances. Layout overall is poor, if existant. This just is not much of a level at all.

TILE PLACEMENT: Ugly. Really ugly. The entire level is just one platform more or less, so there is not much tileset placement to rate. Those tiles that are there are placed badly, with many tile errors. This level looks and plays badly.

PICKUP PLACEMENT: Pickup placement was probably the overall highlight of this level. The basic ammo was placed more or less well, though it is not hard to place ammunition in a level of such diminutive size.

OVERALL STATEMENT: Spend more time on your levels. Much more. This just is not a quality level. It is too small, too ugly, and lacks effort. Maybe you should concentrate on going slow and making your levels larger and of betting quality. Otherwise, you will probably get more of these sorts of ratings.

+ PROS: Good ammo placement, sort of.

- CONS: Ugly, small, linear.

VERDICT: My final rating for this is a 1.7 and no download recommendation. I can not see much effort in this level at all. Spend more time on your levels and you will get much better ratings. I just can not think of anyone who would want to download this level. Sorry.

I was going to review this entirely but my computer konked out due to an electrical outage (yes, I know, excuses, excuses.) Oh, well, here I go. I will borrow Blackraptor’s reviewing criterea since mine takes ages.

GAMEPLAY: Overall, gameplay was more or less standard. This is all in all a basic Medivo level and little more. Level flow was OK, though there were some quirks that made it not as good as it could have been. The passages were mostly small, and gameplay probably would have been a tad better if they were bigger. Still, gameplay is fairly fun, and the small passages are not exactly so small that they become annoying.

EYECANDY: The eyecandy needs work in a few ways. First of all, the rain is used in a strange way so that the rain’s rate of falling increases and decreases depending on how fast you are going in the level. This looks really weird. Also, the ugly red-tinted rain falls way too fast regardless of how quickly you are moving, and quickly becomes destracting. The “black lightning” is strange. It is one animated tile that is above everything else. Once in a while, the level flickers black once for just a milisecond. This is weird, as it adds no apparent atmosphere and is kind of annoying. The rest of the eyecandy, standard for a Medivo level such as this, is good but nothing amazing. There are a few small things that could have been changed to make this level look a lot better. Still, this is excusable.

LAYOUT: Level layout was pretty much a mixed bag. Some areas were nice and wide open while other areas made me feel claustrophobic. These areas were somewhat hard to get around in, though I eventually got used to them. If they were just slightly wider, it would have made for a better overall level layout. Unfortunately, this brings down the level’s score a bit. The overall layout seems to be a bit Jazz-oriented, though it was not that bad for Spaz (I have to disagree with Blackraptor on that one.) However, it sort of seemed like it was biased towards whatever character I was not playing.

TILE PLACEMENT: All around, this is a basic Medivo level with basic Medivo tiles. There is not much to distinguish it from other Medivo levels eyecandy-wise. There is not much creative use of eyecandy, but it still looks fairly good. Nothing special, but nothing bad either.

PICKUP PLACEMENT: Pickup placement is only slightly above average. The powerups are placed interestingly and there are plenty of them, so expect that a lot of the battling will consist of bouncy and seeker powerups. The seeker powerup is placed in the middle of the action, so a lot of battling in the middle room involves getting the seeker powerup over and over before running out. This is good to some people, and bad to others. If you really like action and powerup-filled battles, well, this level is for you, I suppose. The other powerup, the bouncy, is placed towards the right of the level, and probably would be used more during coordidor battles. Basic weapon placement was pretty good, as well, though there is not much to write home about there.

OVERALL STATEMENT: This is another case of a level that would have been very good a few years ago but just is not amazing by the standards of today. I have to say I enjoyed playing it more than the other level I reviewed (“Diamond Battle v1” or whatever). There are a few interesting things in this level, but there is not much to distinguish it from similar Medivo levels. Levels often do not age very well, and this is one of those levels that did not. Still, for battle freaks and those who like seeing old levels yet again, you will like this. Download recommended for those kind of people.

+ PROS: A solid Medivo level. Good for action-packed battles.

- CONS: Small cooridors, maybe too many powerups. Strange foreground eyecandy.

VERDICT: Overall, I give this a 6.7 and a download recommendation for old level fans and battle fans. It is not really a necessary download for anyone else. For the time it was created in, this was very good. Compared to the levels of today, though, it simply falls into the above average category. This and the other level VeggieMan uploaded are very similar in construction, so if you liked the other level, you will probably like this. Not a bad level, but by today’s standards, it is not anything amazing either.

This is a fairly old level, which sort of shows. It was apparently originally created in late October of 2001. While it is a pretty fun play, by today’s standards it is not the best of levels.

EYECANDY
Tileset Use: Tileset use is OK overall. There are some things that look bit strange, such as the trees, the spikes (which don’t hurt you – they are actually springs) and where the sucker tube is. Tileset use is otherwise fairly good, though there is not anything groundbreaking. The basic ground tiles were all used well. Tileset use, aside the few “iffy” looking things, was generally good.
Tile Errors: I can not exactly say that these were tile errors, but some of the tiles in this were used in really unconventional ways that many would probably consider erronious. As I mentioned earlier, the spikes being springs was a little odd (though better than them being hurt events). Also, the sucker tubes looked weird. There was not all that much to complain about, though some of these things should have been done slightly differently.
Creativity: The tileset was not used very creatively. In fact, it was used as it generally was back when this level was made. There are a few interesting tile uses, but most of this is fairly standard. Nothing amazing here.

PLACEMENT OF STUFF
Carrots: From what I could see, there is only one carrot, located in the middle of the level. This is fairly good placement for it, though it can be a tad bit hard to get.
Powerups: I only could find two powerups in this level with a quick look, one located at one end of the level and the other at the opposite end. The blaster powerup is somewhat harder to get to than the bouncy, which can be frusterating.
Basic Weapons: Many of the basic weapons in this level are located within barrels. This means you have to take the time to

stomp the barrels, which can be a bit annoying. Other basic weapon placement was good. Unfortunately, this level contains the infinitely useless TNT ammo.

GAMEPLAY AND FLOW
Flow/Navigation: The flow of this level is…interesting. And in both a good and bad way. While the Float Up use is creative and well-done, it slightly detracts from the overall flow of the level. Flow is not as important in battle as in CTF, so this is still acceptable.
Layout: Layout needs work, mainly because there are a few dead ends that can only be exited via sucker tube. This is not a huge problem, but still it would be nice if there was a more constant layout. The layout of the middle area is very good.

BATTLE SPECIFICS
Compatibility: No crashes or anything. Yayness. The level file, however, is passworded.

SUMMARY
Back when it was created, this would have been considered a really good level. These days, however, it seems very slightly lacking. The flow of this level and the layout needs a bit of work, as do a lot of things in this level. Still, it is a fun battle level to play and great nostolgia. Just do not expect a masterpiece or anything. If you look at this level, you can see some common mistakes that were accepted as normal back when this level was made. This is not a bad level in any way. It is just that a few small elements need work. Other than that, it is a very good battle level that I recommend for download for battle freaks.

+ PROS: Solid level overall.

- CONS: Everything seems to just need a tiny bit of work.

VERDICT: My overall rating is a 6.7 and a download recommendation for battle and nostolgia freaks. If this was to be uploaded in 2001, this rating would probably be much higher. By that day and age’s standards, this is a great level. By today’s standards, though, it is just above average.

“Banana Beach Demo” is an excellent and entertaining single player pack which truly shows what a good levelmaker can do with the Beach tileset. Tileset use is very creative, in fact, at some points looking almost three dimensional. There are a lot of enemies in the final level, but it is still fun to play. The puzzles may be my favorite part of this level. They are interesting and fun to do. The end is probably the most annoying part of the pack, due to the overuse of enemies. Other than that, the pack makes good use of enemy placement and the tileset. The eyecandy is very spiffarific, as is the gameplay. Other than the end part, the pack is really enjoyable. There is a certain “fun factor” put in place by the completely untedious puzzles and tileset use that boosts the score. These levels are not quite like traditional levels using this tileset, which is definitely a good thing in this case. These levels are creative and well-done and great examples of what a good levelmaker can do with the beach tileset. Definitely worth a download.

+ PROS: Fun, entertaining, and great puzzles.

- CONS: The last level is not up to standards.

VERDICT: My overall verdict is an 8.5 and a download recommendation for everyone. Those who like puzzles will definitely love this especially.

Here is my original review with some added comments:

“Patchy” is actually an apt description overall for these two levels. The enemies on both are usually very close to eachother, and there are long areas of “droughts” where there are no enemies. This can get a bit annoying after a while. I generally dislike levels that use this method, though it can be used creatively. This was not one of those cases in which it was used well. Parts of the level had way too much action while other parts had absolutely none.
>> This still rings true for these levels. Very little about them is patched, and I am very disappointed at the author saying “If you fall and can not get up, type in jjk.” The user should not have to cheat to be able to finish the level under any circumstances. Fix your own level before uploading. Especially since this is supposedly a “fixed” version, I would expect to see fixes for major bugs such as these – apparently not.

The eyecandy of this level is so-so. There are a few REALLY SMALL tile bugs that get in the way of play, but not enough to completely destroy the rating. Eyecandy is slightly below average in this respect. The backgrounds from these levels were ripped from levels that came with the original Jazz 2 episodes. While this looks and feels fine, I would rather see a unique background for each levels. This is a case where there is very little to complain about eyecandy-wise, but there just is nothing interesting.
>> Barely any interesting eyecandy was added at all. I wonder why the author chose to upload this anyway, because there is very little difference between this and the other one he uploaded. First off, fix EVERYTHING before uploading. And if you must upload a fix, make sure it is worthwhile.

Some parts of the level are harder than they needed to be, such as the spike pit which is pretty much impossible to avoid. The dragon pit thing (hard to explain) was also too hard. This is an example of the “patchy” quality of this level.
>> There is not much more to add here either. Gameplay remains more or less the same. I can not see many fixed bugs, and this should have simply been reuploaded.

There were not enough weapons. Only one powerup and some bouncy ammo was in the level, and was hidden. Prepare to rely mainly on your blaster for getting through this level.
>> Yawn. Yet another example of a lack of change. I do not see much that this fixes at all.

Gameplay is far below average. The “patchy” thing really makes the level not fun to play at all. If the enemies were to be more spread out, this level might be even slightly above average. Unfortunately, everything is bunched together. This downgrades the quality of this level by a lot.
>> Same old, same old. This level has not changed significantly enough to warrant any mention.

+ PROS: Few eyecandy bugs.
>> No change.

- CONS: Bunched together stuff downgrades overall fun. Uninteresting eyecandy. Ripped backgrounds.
>> Add to that list “Few actual changes. Should have been reuploaded.”

VERDICT: My rating for these levels is 3.7 and no download recommendation. Even single player freaks will find this level aggrevating. It simply is not very good. I am sorry, but I can not recommend this at all.
>> I was considering giving this something in the 4’s, but decided not to. There just is not enough change. Also, you packagesd several files that should not have been packaged (mod2j2b, for instance) and are of no use. I will be nice and give this a rating of 4, even though it does not deserve the extra 0.3 points over the original. Next time, if you need to make a bug fix, reupload it instead of doing this. That is all I have to say about this. Oh, and one last thing: why did you have to reupload all of the tilesets and music? Unless I am missing something, nothing much really changed there. This barely deserves a reupload, and definitely not a seperate download.

EDIT: My apologies on one note. You uploaded the tilesets and music under a seperate account and they were not functional. Still, the question remains of why you need so many accounts in the first place. This still is worth nothing but a reupload, regardless.

EDIT again: Oh, yes, alright. I only saw two levels. I raise my rating slightly.
[This review has been edited by Trafton AT][This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

“Patchy” is actually an apt description overall for these two levels. The enemies on both are usually very close to eachother, and there are long areas of “droughts” where there are no enemies. This can get a bit annoying after a while. I generally dislike levels that use this method, though it can be used creatively. This was not one of those cases in which it was used well. Parts of the level had way too much action while other parts had absolutely none.

The eyecandy of this level is so-so. There are a few REALLY SMALL tile bugs that get in the way of play, but not enough to completely destroy the rating. Eyecandy is slightly below average in this respect. The backgrounds from these levels were ripped from levels that came with the original Jazz 2 episodes. While this looks and feels fine, I would rather see a unique background for each levels. This is a case where there is very little to complain about eyecandy-wise, but there just is nothing interesting.

Some parts of the level are harder than they needed to be, such as the spike pit which is pretty much impossible to avoid. The dragon pit thing (hard to explain) was also too hard. This is an example of the “patchy” quality of this level.

There were not enough weapons. Only one powerup and some bouncy ammo was in the level, and was hidden. Prepare to rely mainly on your blaster for getting through this level.

Gameplay is far below average. The “patchy” thing really makes the level not fun to play at all. If the enemies were to be more spread out, this level might be even slightly above average. Unfortunately, everything is bunched together. This downgrades the quality of this level by a lot.

+ PROS: Few eyecandy bugs.

- CONS: Bunched together stuff downgrades overall fun. Uninteresting eyecandy. Ripped backgrounds.

VERDICT: My rating for these levels is 3.7 and no download recommendation. Even single player freaks will find this level aggrevating. It simply is not very good. I am sorry, but I can not recommend this at all.

Ancient or not, I can not say that I like this level at all. First off, it is a hotel, which is a crime on its own. Second of all, it shows little creativity. Do not make hotels. Hotels are bad. Capture the Flag is good. Apparently, this is supposed to be a battle level (I review as it is uploaded). As a battle level, I can not say that this is very hot. It lacks the necessary elements that make a good battle level, and has bad weapon placement. The eyecandy, which is not much of my rating at all, is actually not bad. There is some creative eyecandy use, but that does not make up for the pretty lame battle elements. If this were to be uploaded as “Other”, my rating probably would be just a tiny bit higher. But it is not. This is good for a hotel level, but I can not say that is saying much. Overall, this makes for a fairly bad level, though a pretty good hotel level. My rating is 5.7 and no download recommendation.

+ PROS: Good for a hotel, with good eyecandy.

- CONS: Bad for anything else.

VERDICT: My final rating is 5.7 and no download recommendation, unless you are someone who really, really, really, really, really loves hotels. In that case, you deserve to be troutslapped infinitely.

Yet another battle level by White Rabbit. Let’s view it, shall we? Cringes at use of royal “we”

This is a solid battle level using the “Heaven” tileset, which we are all farmiliar with. The level is overall very spifftacular indeed, though there are a few minor kinks that could have been avoided and raised the rating. Regardless, if you are a battle fan, and even if you just play battle games every once in a while, I can guarantee you that you will like this level. Judging by Violet’s review, this level is not very stable. I have to agree. When I ran it at first, my computer froze. The next time, it nearly froze and I had to resort to good ol’ end task. The third time apparently was a charm, as it ran, and quite smoothly at that. I am glad that I put forth the effort to get this derned thing to run, because this derned thing is derned good. The flow of this level is possibly the best part of it. There are very few bugs that I noted, and no dead ends. Eyecandy was right behind it, with some spiffy-looking stuff, though there were a few ultra-minor errors. Weapon placement was generally good, though the seeker powerup was placed in a lame fashion (come on, show some creativity! ;-P). Still, weapon placement is overall good. There were not many errors at all, which is nice to see. A great battle level and definitely worth a download.

+ PROS: Overall, a very nice battle level. Excellent flow.

- CONS: The seeker powerup was placed badly.

VERDICT: I give this an 8.2 and a download recommendation, especially for battle freaks. Great job, White Rabbit!

Here are two fairly good single player levels from Unhit.

The first one that I will review uses the Carrotus tileset. This level is chock full of stuff and reminds me of the Blade-esque overdose of pickkups. It contains several birds, much like one of the actual Jazz 2 single player Carrotus level, but seems a little bit too easy overall. There is not much challenge in it to speak of gameplay-wise because of the excessive amount of pickups. Still, eyecandy is solid and overall it is not a bad level.

The second level is in Medivo. It reminds me a lot of the first level, except it is a tad harder. The eyecandy is questionable in some parts, with rain falling inside the castle (oops) and some weird use of the spikes in the tileset, which do nto always actually hurt.

These levels would be pretty good if Jazz 2 was a platformer. Mostly, it consists of going around, collecting items, killing an enemy every once and a while, and avoiding the perils that come in the form of various spikes and thorn bushes. All in all, it is too easy for most players because of the excessive pickups. Still, it definitely shows some effort, and for that I give it a 7 and a download recommendation for single player affecianados.

+ PROS: Solid levels overall. Good design.

- CONS: Too many items, and a few miscellaneous minor mistakes. Way too easy.

VERDICT: Overall I give this a 7 and a download recommendation for single player lovers. It might be worth a look for other people, but it would probably not interest anyone who has been playing Jazz 2 for more than a month. This is about akin to the first few Jazz 2 levels on “easy” minus the bosses in difficulty. If that sounds far too easy to you, and it probably does, then this is not a must-download.

This is not actually much of a bad level at all. It features a lot of platforms (South African-ish) that make the level have interesting flow. When I say interseting, I mean it as in the strange way. The flow of this level is problematic, and I got stuck several times without even trying to. This is the quintessential level that uses this tileset, nothing less and definitely nothing more. There were a few things that looked iffy eyecandy-wise, notably the use of spikes in layer 3 (definitely a no-no as this looks really bad). There are quite a few tileset bugs, but not anything that drags down the eyecandy greatly. It is hard to write an enthusiastic review about this level since it really is just more of the same. If you have seen a good (Darn tileset) level, you have seen everything that this level has to offer. It is not a great level, but it is good. There is not much more to say than that. An OK level with little to distinguish it from anything else. Snore.

+ PROS: It is a solid level.

- CONS: Not much that is very interesting. A few eyecandy problems.

VERDICT: I give this a 7.2 overall and a download recommendation for those who like this tileset or are battle fans. It is not notable enough to be worth download to anyone else.

We all knew that someone was eventually going to make a tileset like this, and I’m glad it happened. I’ve always wondered why you don’t see many underwater-themed tilesets. Now for the review. First of all, I have to say that this definitely is one of the most rux0r tilesets to come out as of late. But the tileset when used is almost as easy to use as it is easy to untangle coral. This will challenge even the most advanced levelmakers. Just look at the tileset in JCS and you’ll have a good idea of what I’m talking about. This tileset redefines “hard to use”, in fact. I’m sure that someone could make a good level out of it, but it would require more effort than most people posess. Still, drawing quality is really key here. And the drawing quality is pretty good for this tileset. Despite only using the fairly limiting collection of sprite colors, this tileset looks pretty derned realistic. The fish and everything are well-drawn. Included are suckers, hooks, signs, poles, blocks, and pointy things for your levelbuilding pleasure. There aren’t any fancy-schmancy “megaeyecandy” objects or neat-o animations, but there is a sufficient amount of features to keep people entertained. Simply point, if you can make use of this tileset (not as easy as you would think), it can make some great stuff. However, mastering the tileset is extrodinarily challenging. I’m not a huge fan of underwater levels, but with some creativity, you could make a pretty spiffular one. You have to actually use this tileset to do justice to it. In JCS, it looks a little dry. But when you combine it with the water event (like in the demo level) it looks really nice. Whilst on the topic of the demo level, I have to say that I like it. The only complaint I had is that it was too hard to distinguish the man (and rabbit)-eating piranahs from the nice, friendly, docile trout. Back to the tileset, the shipwreck tiles are confusing to put together but really look nice when you do put them together. To put how difficult this tileset is to use in perspective, I would say it is roughly 3 times as hard as Beach. It’s pretty much impossible to use if you don’t have at least 6 months experience with JCS. In that case, I recommend you simply enjoy this tileset for its beauty and don’t make a level with it. Still though, for advanced levelmakers who want to make an underwater level and actually can use this tileset without too much trouble, you’ve found your dream tileset. Download recommendation for all, though don’t expect for it to be easy to use.

+ PROS: Tileset looks great, well-drawn, first of its kind.

- CONS: Hard to use. Really, really, really, really, really hard to use. And unless you want your level to look really weird, it will have to be underwater. Enemies blend in with fish swimming in background if you choose to use them in the background.

VERDICT: At first, I was thinking that I would probably give this tileset a 7.5 to 8. After seeing it in action, though, I raised that to an 8.2. Simply put, this tileset isn’t easy to use at all. It’s very well-drawn, but only the most experienced JCS users will probably be able to put it to great use. Still, anyone who is interested in tilesets should download this, even if they are unable to use it in a level. It’s really that well-done and creative. Great job, Violet.

Various Edits: Moonblaze, I agree about the sucker tubes – they do suck. ;-P

Edit: Rating change to 8.5.

[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

A level that runs is not bad for a first level. And this runs.

This is a fairly simplistic and pretty short single player level featuring signs in Dutch. Not being anywhere fluent in Dutch, I have no possible way of rating the storyline, so I will skip that process. There are a lot of oversights here that you could expect from a first level. For instance, the spikes lack the “hurt” event. The enemies are all far too easy. There was no use of enemy or boss range controlling, so Devan (the end boss) will often simply jump out of the screen. There are far too many carrots for a level with so many simple enemies. Anyone who dies in this level needs to practice a bit more. Finally, the music of this level (which is unexplainably strange-sounding) does not fit this level whatsoever. This level is way too short, way too easy, and way to buggy. The eyecandy was actually somewhat surprising. I could not find many eyecandy bugs, though there were a few. That could be contributed to the fact that the eyecandy is fairly simple. Still, this is a commendable thing and rare in a first level. Overall, this is an OK first level. There are things that definitely need work. Next time, put a little bit more time into gameplay but keep up the good bug-free eyecandy. I can not recommend this for download, but it definitely shows promise.

+ PROS: Very few eyecandy bugs.

- CONS: Too easy. Too many gameplay bugs. Music does not fit at all.

VERDICT: Overall, I give this a 3 and no download recommendation. There are a few things that definitely need work, but this still shows promise. Focus a little bit more on gameplay next time and I am sure that you will eventually get pretty good ratings!

Actually, I have to say that I like this tileset, though I am not exactly sure why the author did not just make his own signs and Carrotus tiles, etcetera. This is a fairly basic tileset featuring tiles ripped from the Carrotus tileset and the Diamondus tileset. The latter is mainly just “Kill this Rabbit” posters modified to say some other things. The grass is easily the oddest part of this tileset. The grass sort of reminds me of that of mEzMeRiZe in that it is excessively sparkly and unrealisitc. When building a level, this translated to some fairly weird-looking grass, but I can not complain that much. It still looks alright. There is plenty of eyecandy there, some of which is disappointingly ripped. I would rather, even if another tileset happens to provide exactly what the tileset needs, see authors draw their own content for their tilesets. Regardless, it does not look bad, even though there was some degree of color loss during the rip. Beyond that, this is a fairly solid tileset that would have made a perfectly good 1.23 tileset. In fact, next time you make a tileset, please try to make it 1.23. More people will look at it and review it than with 1.24 tilesets. Besides, these tilesets are not that big and could fit perfectly well in a 1.23 tileset. Overall, this is a good but strange-ish tileset that is worth download for anyone who likes Carrotus or is a tileset collector.

+ PROS: An interesting twist on Carrotus. The abstractness could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

- CONS: Might be too abstract. Ripped tiles make the tileset look neophyte-like. Should have been a 1.23 tileset.

VERDICT: Overall, I give this tileset a 7.2 and a download recommendation for those who collect tilesets, like Carrotus, and/or enjoy abstract tilesets. It is still a good tileset, though the ripping is disappointing.

Please note that the author got offended last time when I reviewed his level in a negative fashion. Nothing here is meant to offend you, it is meant to help you construct a better level. I do not mean to offend anyone with reviews, and I really hate it when people are offended. They are not at all intended to be offensive.

This level screams “beta” in the worst way. Everything, from the eyecandy to the gameplay, feels and frankly is very much unfinished. It is evident that this level probably did not have a huge amount of effort put into it, and this translates badly. The first area consists of a group of sucker tubes which shoot you through a few one ways to some ammo. One of the sucker tubes instead shoots directly to a room with a bubble shield, which looks pretty bad. The bubble shield is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too easy to get and simply makes for bad gameplay. Simply put, most of the gameplay consists of rushing to get the water shield. The only way one can really die is by not being able to get the water shield for an extended period of time. This kind of gameplay isn’t acceptable. The rest of the level is much of the same. There are no interesting highlights to speak of. The eyecandy fares no better. Everything is ugly and tile errors (combined with a lot of incorrect tile use) is more common than correctly-used tiles. Simply put, this is not a good level at all. I am sorry, but I can not recommend this for download.

+ PROS: None to speak of.

- CONS: Looks bad, plays bad, and has a way too easy to access water shield.

VERDICT: My rating is a two and no download recommendation. This level just is not good. I am sorry, but if you want higher ratings, you need to spend much more time on your levels than this. Still, it shows some promise. Good luck with levelmaking and remember – quality, not quantity! :)

EDIT: Unknown File, it is not the rating – it is the review. I tried to be as positive as possible. I am sorry if you were disappointed by the rating. You must understand it is not an attack on you. We all were bad when we first started. Please do not be angry. It is not an insult and I am very sorry that you were offended.
[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

If you’ve ever wanted to see different red blocks from various JJ2 tilesets, well…then download this. Frankly, this tileset is entirely a rip and thus the rating is severely downgraded. Next time do your own work. Since I’m too lazy, I’ll steal Violet’s list:

The spikes from Exoticus, the spikes from Deserto, H and V JJ2 poles, a ripped background, a series of red blocks with poor tile placement (but one animation), the hook from Labrat the textured background from Psych2, a set of background mountains from Aztec, the plants from Aztec, some of the tileset’s red blocks, with JJ1 arrows on them, various exit signs, the laser, warp and belt from Mez02, the shiny stuff from Castle, the rope from Labrat, the sparkly animation from Carrotus, a series of various ripped block tiles, the beehive from several tilesets, some stereotypical blocks, a yellow circle, a box like thing, and a lot of black tiles.

Now, not all of this tileset is one color, but much of it is in fact red. I suppose a rip would have been slightly more excusable if the masking was even average. But this masking is awful. I got stuck countless times. Oh, yes, and I had to make my own level to get stuck in since this download provides none. Next time, please make your own tileset instead of ripping from others.

+ PROS: It’s diverse for a rip.

- CONS: Still a rip. Bad masking.

VERDICT: Some effort probably went into this, but I doubt there was much. Overall, I give this a 1.7 and no download recommendation. Next time, please take your time and make your own blocks. You probably will see better ratings if so.

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Originally posted by Blackraptor:
Chritmas Afterthought: The level is OK. Nice music choice, has a christmasy theme. The eyecandy is also ok, some candy canes which are trasnslucent. Also some hills and etc. The backround was not made warped though. The layout bothered me. There were dead ends and stuff, and they could easily be fixed. The coin warp idea was cool, though occasionally a bit unfair (makingyou collect the same amount of coins for a useless ice powerup and some seekerz etc.) Then again, i just may be biased. Also, the left side is exposed, which leads to invincibility (agaisnt shooting) for anyone who stands at the far left. The ammo placement was a bit sparce. Also, as far as i can tell, there are only two coins (gold) in the whole level, which may lead to people “camping” right under them(well, this might happen to people who are unavare ofthe secret and may think there is only one coin in the level.You should of included some silver coins in the level. There was a secret, but only one (i only found one, and im to lazy to check if there are more. Also, the only way the carrot (fullenergy) is accesible is by the bonus warp, and i have failed to find any more carrots in the level. OVERALL: 7.0
Christmas Afterthought(The night one): Basically the same as the first level, but the backround and lighting are different, so is the music (Candion Music) and there are minor changes in the level. The small problems in the first level have not been fixed here (the left side being open, lack of carrots etc.)
OVERALL: I think ill rate this a 7. Im not sure though, and may change it to 7.2

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This pretty much perfectly summarized my thoughts. Christmas Afterthought is a strange level. It has many elements of good current levels but some of the things in it appear as if they were directly from a level from the year 2000. Eyecandy and gameplay were both good, though eyecandy was bland in some places. There were a few polls and such to keep this small-ish level interesting. I don’t have much more to say than this. I would recommend making the eyecandy a little more exotic and fixing a few flow problems. Other than that, I can’t see how this level could improve much. It’s good, though.

+ PROS: A good, solid level.

- CONS: Black Ninja bothers me to review things, so he must be troutslapped a lot. The level looks and feels strange in parts.

VERDICT: A 7 overall and a download recommendation for battle freaks. This is a fun play, though you should look elsewhere for serious battles. It’s good, solid, and quirky. And that makes it a fun battle level with a pretty low replay value. Still, it’s fun the first few times. Battle freaks will like this.

This level is…well…certainally interesting. It reminds me of what would probably be regarded as a solid battle level in the summer of ’99 when chat rooms and the consequences of abusing their rules were accepted due to the lack of any static IP addresses. By the standards of these days, however, this level is not as good. It does show promise, with some creative use of one way and sucker tubes, but it just feels so strange at some points it’s not very good and so bland at some points it’s not very good. The chat room is quite evil. It has the rule that anyone who is caught sidekicking (!!!) is banned (!!!). There is a 10-point coin warp that requires going out of your way and into the aggrevating pinball rooms in order to collect sufficient loot to enter the prize. The flow of this level is OK for a battle level, and the layout was strange but acceptable. The eyecandy, however, was not so good. The layer 5 objects were used strangely and just didn’t look right. Overall, this is a very slightly above average battle level that would have been great in 1999. But this isn’t 1999.

+ PROS: Acceptable gameplay, some interesting but too-weird things.

- CONS: Strange layer 5 background use, bad use of pinballs, dialup-era banning rules.

VERDICT: A 5.5 and no download recommendation except for nostolgia and battle freaks. It’s an alright level that suffers from what could have been prevented if more time was spent on making this level look right. It does, however, show a lot of effort, and that deserves recognition. Keep working on levels, since this definitely shows some degree of promise. Some day you’ll probably be very good.[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

This all feels increadibly rushed, and obviously is. There was a huge amount of bugs in this level which included non-working trigger zones, incorrect settings, the list goes on. The text file contains the following text:

“Splot save sonic land folk and destroy robotnik.”

Not only does this sound like it was from Babelfish, that is possibly the worst waste of a readme file I have seen to date. This upload shows both a complete lack of effort and lack of skill. While this usually improves with time, it will not improve if you never put any work into your levels. I would recommend that you spend a few days of 3 hour sessions or so in JCS before you decide to produce anything major. Still, it shows some promise (you know how to use trigger zones, after all, and the eyecandy and gameplay are not as bad as they possibly could be.) Then again, that’s not much consolaton. Also, do not play this level with Jazz. He is simply unable to play it. I’m sorry, but this level both lacks quality and effort. Please spend more times on your levels.

+ PROS: None.

- CONS: Buggy, bad plotline, ugly.

VERDICT: This level, which shows absolutely no effort in it, is not of acceptable quality for even a first level. I give it a two and no download recommendation. Expect more ratings like this unless you spend more time on your levels and beta test them more thoroughly.