RecommendedQuick Review by PT32

Posted:
24 Feb 2012, 19:01 (edited 24 Feb 12, 19:10)
For: Crime and Punishment
Level rating: 8
Rating
8

Interesting pack, to say the least.

I can’t believe a decent review hasn’t been written about this yet, since it’s arguably a great pack. Good eyecandy, good mechanics and smooth flow.

In short, it’s a good pack, and DEFINITELY worth a download.

RecommendedQuick Review by PT32

Posted:
24 Feb 2012, 18:39
For: Lost Flag
Level rating: 8.7
Rating
8

Nice level. Good, solid eyecandy, decent layout. Music wasn’t the greatest, but it’s still worth a DL.

Review by PT32

Posted:
14 Feb 2012, 23:24
For: Death Star {updated}
Level rating: 8.1
Rating
N/A

@KRSplat:

Thanks for the review, but could you please be a little more specific?

P.S.-The flags are in the Airlocks, in response to your question. =)

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
14 Feb 2012, 00:47
For: Starlit Basin
Level rating: 8
Rating
7.9

What makes this level good? For starters, it’s made by Ragnarok, and a lot of things he constructs have the habit of turning out pretty darned well.

Just as this level, Starlit Basin, does.

It’s a battle level, but it feels more like war games on a deserted tropical island. Weapons and powerups are distributed liberally, and plenty of springs and escape routes are provided to make this stage a blast to play. I was a little skeptical about the blaster PU with accompanying fast fires right out in the open, but it’s not a game-killer.

Buggage is minimal, and the music fits the level quite well.

I think my only real complaint is that the Mystic Isle tilesets are so limited, and it’s difficult to come up with something original with them since everyone else has already done it to some extent. I feel that holds this level back to some extent, and that’s too bad.

In any event, Starlit Basin is still a very satisfactory level, and I’ll gladly give it my seal of approval. Download today.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
14 Feb 2012, 00:40 (edited 15 Feb 12, 00:02)
For: Lost Ages v1.2
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
7.9

Well, it’s been a goodly long while since I played through a decent custom Jazz 1 level pack, so I popped a Cherry Starburst in my mouth, took one final pit stop, then settled down in my chair for a grand old time with Blackraptor’s “Lost Ages” JJ1 pack…

—————

Carrotus Level 1

From the very first level of the pack, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rest of Blacky’s pack. For one thing, the brown rock background cave tile seemed to be malfunctioning (although I do believe he pointed that out himself), leaving brown tile vines hanging in midair in a rather unsightly mess. The sound effects didn’t work either, although Blackraptor acknowledged that as well.

I was also surprised by the difficulty level playing on medium, especially that first “Thorn Tunnel”. Seemed a bit excessive on medium mode to me.

I felt that some of the events (like the goblets) didn’t match the level very well, and the music also didn’t fit the level (although, to be fair, there really isn’t that much of a selection, and there won’t be until some bright person figures out how to put custom songs in a JJ1 level). I would’ve maybe used a song like Fanolint, or maybe Scraparap or Dreempipes (not that my choices are much better, lol).

Edit: It seems that I was mistaken. There IS a way to use custom music in Jazz 1 levels after all, therefore your horizons have officially expanded.

Fortunately, that’s about where the downsides end.

I was blown away by all the ingenious stuff that Blackraptor did with the now virtually limitless JJ1 engine. Custom baddies (with custom ANIMATIONS). Custom moving tomato and airboard platforms. A very well laid out level structure. The Birdie baddies were especially impressive.

There was also a Fast Feet segment, which although not perfect (I kept getting hung up on stuff), it was good enough.

The only thing I was disappointed not to find was any kind of custom weapon (which is possible, by the way, because I’ve done it before in my own Jazz 1 levels). I invented this really cool spike knife gun using the Dreempipes mine shards…

…But I digress.

Overall, there were some snags and bumps, but Level 1 ended on a high note in my mind.

Carrotus Level 2

Hoorah! The cave walls worked in this level!

Once I got over my initial pleasure concerning this, I quickly became concerned with the level itself. To be brutally honest, it confused the sam hill out of me. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get out of that dadgum cave, and I wasted almost every last second of my time in a vain attempt to do so. At great length, I at last figured out that you’re supposed to ride the airboard from one end of the room to the other (with a tricky over-the-tree jump in the middle), then climb out a hole in the roof to daylight.

Sigh.

Fortunately, this level is well supplied with gameclocks, so I was able to escape the “dungeon” with my life, my sanity and a few ticks left on the dial.

The next part was much easier to get through, with some platform-action sequences featuring more bodacious custom baddies (Including some that look like gophers who’re high on meth), a HUGE clump of grape food, and some cherries, too. Then there’s a fake exit sign, some Marbelara dragons, and finally the end.

Thank goodness. I thought I’d NEVER get out of there alive.

Overall, Level 2 was astounding as a complex, custom-made level, but also frighteningly confusing.

Carrotus Bonus

Another level that was brilliant in concept, but far less than impressive in execution. I spent most of all of my time trying to get out of the airplane landing strip that constitutes the first room, so I never did end up finding my way into the rest of the level.

That was too bad, because I was greatly looking forward to it.

Jungrock Level 1

I’ll be honest. At first, I wasn’t too impressed at the thought of a custom Jungrock level.

“Aww, man,” I complained to myself. “This won’t be very original at all!”

Happily, I was quickly proved to be wrong.

Jungrock According to Blackraptor is a brand new place, with seemingly every piece of eyecandy reinterpreted and used in a way you’d never have imagined before. Remember the springy plants? They’re plain old eyecandy now. Remember the green thorns? So are they.

Jungrock’s also been infused by some jungular tiles from…well, Jazz 2 Jungle, naturally. The graceful background trees, the green flora and fauna, it’s here.

And just like in Carrotus, Blacky’s made use of his custom baddies, using the Turtemple Scorpions (although that doesn’t really count as a CUSTOM, per se), turning the Red Buzzers into Spark events, adding a flying brown owl, and adding a MASSIVE gray godzilla/dinosaur monster that lumbers around and feels surprisingly fitting on Jungrock. Maybe because it looks a bit like a rock monster.

Overall, I was initially disenchanted, but ultimately satisfied by Jungrock 1. Well done.

Jungrock Level 2

From the first time I fell into that blasted death pit, I couldn’t settle my nerves down until I completed this heinous level.

Let’s get one thing straight. It’s not heinous because it’s BAD. Granted, a little added directional guidance would’ve been greatly appreciated (since half the time I didn’t know where the devil I was going), and the curiously chosen goblets are back again, but those things aren’t what make this level so wicked sick.

It’s the gameplay that does the trick, and if it doesn’t kill me first, I might actually grow to like it.

There’s a number of instant death pits in this level (created by simply leaving out tiles at the bottom of the level), and sure enough, son of a gun that I am, I fell into one.

After that, I couldn’t make a midair leap without holding my breath over whether or not I’d fall to my death. Miraculously, sometimes I survived.

It’s a crazy adrenaline rush, but this adrenaline rush consequently makes the level a LOT more difficult to hack through. There’s a few gameclocks hidden around, but it still took me a while to master leaping into oblivion and hoping for the best.

Because it’s so tense, this level will DEFINITELY rub a lot of people the wrong way, and it would probably rub me wrong too, if I weren’t such a Jazz 1 aficionado. Fortunately for Blackraptor, I am, and I can appreciate a good challenge.

Overall, the supreme difficulty/challenge of the level is hard to adjust to, but it’s quite fun once you become accustomed to it.

Jungrock Bonus

I was very disappointed to find out that Jungrock has the same exact bonus level as Carrotus, so for a second time I wasted the entire level trying to figure out how to access the rest of the bonus. Quite aggravating.

Corrupted Sanctuary Level 1

At last, the golden goblets belong!

The next level of Lost Ages took me to Corrupted Sanctuary, a dark, grim, desolate world (I don’t care what Blackraptor says, this looks WAY more like a castle than a monastary) where Grave Hands spring up from the ground, black Cobras chase me around, and the Jungrock rock monsters sprout wings, breathing fire. The tileset was expertly used, with wooden beams occasionally criss-crossing the stones and hiding secrets (occasionally). The Medivo song was used here, and added quite nicely to the overall ambiance.

The Fast Feet segment here was shorter, but also less complicated, and therefore easier to execute.

On the less bright side, this level felt quite a bit shorter than the rest. I don’t know if this was because Blackraptor just ran out of steam, but it felt way smaller. I got to the end, and was like, “Huh?”

But oh well.

Overall, I was decently satiated with this level, and had some pretty good fun.

Corrupted Sanctuary Level 2

Complex. That was the word that kept popping into my mind as I played this level. Simply complex.

The stage starts off with a classic Jazz 1 tactic: A Spring Tower with One-Way Floors (although only the floors beneath the springs are one-way here, as that plays into the level to a great extent). As I bounced up the tower (and collected the requisite goodies hidden within the walls), I came to the top floor and entered a second spring tower.

The catch? This time, you’re going down instead of up.

The springs become your enemy here, hindering your attempts to cross, but never enough so to fully keep you from passing. The black bone maze was a perfect addition to the JJ1 tileset.

This level also seemed rather short, just like the first Corrupted Sanctuary level. It was a little disappointing, but I suppose it could’ve been worse.

Overall, this level was about on par with the first Corrupted Sanctuary level. Both were likely the weakest links in this pack.

Corrupted Sanctuary Bonus

Once again, this was a recycle of the first two bonus areas. However, this time I figured out that you could walk along the colored tiles lining the highways, and by doing so enter other areas (well, at least one area. I ran out of time on the clock by the time I figured this out).

Still, it was very frustrating, and I did not enjoy it at all, especially after having two previous cracks at the same level.

—————

Thoughts on the pack in general? Lost Ages was good in some aspects, not quite so good in others. The creativity was on point, with the custom baddies and events. The tilesets were also well done, with plenty of visually appealing elements to keep me engaged. The gameplay was sufficiently challenging, the cadence of the pack was good, and I enjoyed myself a lot at times.

Unfortunately, there were also times when I nearly screamed myself hoarse over the annoying things Lost Ages did (or didn’t do). The events didn’t always match the levels. The music of Carrotus didn’t fit at all. The bonus level was a valiant effort, but ultimately unsuccessful, since I had three tries to beat it and couldn’t find my way into the rest of the level on any of the three.

Oh, and there was no boss. Why was there no boss? I was disappointed by this, since the pack seemed to be climaxing up to it. Rather a big letdown.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Blackraptor for dragging me into a much longer review than I had originally intended. I had meant to just play a little bit now, then continue my playthrough tomorrow, but the excellence level (for the most part) of the pack had me riveted for upwards of three hours.

This is a terrific pack. Lost Ages certainly has its flaws, but for every single one of these, there’s two other things that are absolutely rockstar. This whole level pack is a barrel of fun, so if you’re looking for a good old fashioned time, Blacky’s JJ1 masterpiece just might be the pack for you…

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
8 Feb 2012, 20:36
For: Rock Haven
Level rating: 7.2
Rating
7.2

There’s only so much you can do with a tileset.

That, I think, is the primary flaw with Cmdr Dats’s Rock Haven stage. It’s a quality level, after all, with some decently well-placed ammo and some good mechanics. While the layout wasn’t the greatest in the world, it certainly wasn’t the worst.

Okay, so the music probably wasn’t the best song, either. But it was better than, say, a disco song (which would’ve been ill-suited for Rock Haven, in my opinion).

The biggest drawback here is a lack of options with the tileset. There frankly isn’t that much there, so JCSers have to get creative.

That’s not easy.

Nevertheless, Rock Haven is still a decent enough level, and is probably worth a download.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
8 Feb 2012, 20:28
For: Diamond Mines
Level rating: 7.5
Rating
7.5

I’m not sure where to start with this.

On the one hand, Diamond Mines WAS a fun level, with some caves (presumably the mines) at the very bottom, a few open areas and grassy plains at the top, and some chambers and passages in the middle. Layout was pretty straightforward, and eventage wasn’t too bad.

On the other hand, the coin warp was a pain in the neck to collect coins for. The eyecandy, while all right, could’ve been better.

Also, the music didn’t really fit very well (see my article Here for how I feel music should mesh with a level). I would’ve gone with something maybe a little more natural, sort of outdoorsey?

In any event, Diamond Mines was STILL a good, quality level, and I think it’s worth a download.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
8 Feb 2012, 19:58 (edited 8 Feb 12, 20:00)
For: Rather Useless CTF
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
7.4

Ah well, it was a good level, in the archaic days of mysticism and chivalry.

Now that I’ve got my Rather Useless Sentence out of the way, let’s have a peek at Stijn’s Rather Useless CTF.

For one thing, I was pleased by how smooth the gameplay was. There were no real places that I had issues with (Well, that’s not entirely true. I DIDN’T like the camper-friendly powerup warps), and the shrewd use of Float Ups (affectionately called Floaties) make uninterrupted movement a breeze, if you’ll pardon the pun. Perhaps the only case of the Floaties in RUCTF I didn’t like was the tunnel immediately above and to the left of the Red base, where you couldn’t go back down again without buttstomping, which was somewhat of an annoyance.

There were also a number of Layer 3 secret passages and shortcuts, most of which added to the level in a positive way.

Events were placed liberally, although I detected a considerable concentration of seeker missiles, which really takes away from a lot of the fun of playing a multiplayer level.

Music was all right, I suppose. It’s not the song I would’ve chosen (I would’ve maybe gone with Epic.xm or perhaps Purple Motion – Nova.s3m), but it fits the level well enough.

Is this Rather Useless CTF a Rather Good Level? Meh, I guess so. It was generally free of errors, decently fun to play and well-rounded (despite a few small drawbacks), so I’ll recommend its download.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 19:21
For: Harlem
Level rating: 6
Rating
6

Let’s take a look at Harlem by Robee…

I liked that the level had some clever eyecandy (particularly the pipes going in and out of the ground), the song fit decently well, and ammo seemed well enough placed.

The Yo-Yo gag was pretty funny, too. GJ.

Unfortunately, Harlem suffers from two central problems: Its size and its lack of originality.

Granted, there aren’t any rookie mistakes in Robee’s level (No ugly tiles, no misplaced events, tile bugs, et. al), but I feel like the level was made simply by looking at BlurredD’s Twilight Park example level. The eyecandy is very run-of-the-mill. And the map was SO small! I had a very hard time getting over its size, which seemed barely large enough to hold a good CTF match in. I was borderline claustraphobic, if that’s even possible in a computer game.

That being said, there are no glaring issues with Harlem, and it’s a solid level, albeit with a few drawbacks. Worth a download, I suppose.

Review by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 19:08
For: KingDOM
Level rating: 7.4
Rating
6.9

KingDOM is certainly a very big level. I will concede that. It certainly has a little bit of good eyecandy and a ton of ammo, I admit. It certainly has potential, I confess.

However, there was just something about SPAZ18’s level that turned me off ever so slightly.

Maybe it was the springs. For the most part, they were well placed, but a spring crate in one spot (No one wants to take the time to shoot a crate just so they can explore a route, especially in something as fast-paced as a Domination level) and another in the middle of the wall (Good premise…problem is, since the tileset wasn’t used to semi-conceal the spring, it looks like it was randomly placed in the middle of the wall) provide a misleadingly amateur impression.

Perhaps it was the background layers of the level’s eyecandy. Like in the 6th, 7th and so on. Granted, it was nice enough to look at, but it could’ve been executed far better (Hint: A straight line/crack in a background wall looks confoundingly unnatural).

Or, even, it could’ve been the gimmicks KingDOM employs. The Red Key lock was a great idea, but those concepts really only work in Singleplayer. In a multiplayer scenario, players want fast, fast, fast. They (speaking from experience) really don’t want to slow down and find the key to open the door, especially since it seems impossible to destroy the RF powerup, save by buttstomping.

At the very least, it might or might not’ve been the music, which although somewhat appropriate, just felt inadequate for reasons unknown. I’m not entirely sure why, but it just didn’t click with me. I don’t know.

Should KingDOM be downloaded? I’m honestly not sure. I reviewed this upload once before several years ago and was (as I recall) quite enamored by it, but my review was so lousy and badly written that I deleted it and started anew. Now that I’ve played KingDOM again, I can’t for the life of me remember what it was that made it stand out so far in my mind. In the same vein, I can’t put a finger on just what I didn’t particularly like. Neutral DL rec, since I can’t make up my mind.

RecommendedQuick Review by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 19:04
For: Medvio
Level rating: 9.2
Rating
9.5

Nice job as usual. DL rec.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 18:58
For: Voltage Cable Malfunction
Level rating: 8.7
Rating
8.6

Can’t speak for the rest of J2O, but this CTF deserves some lovin’.

Voltage Cable Malfunction. The very NAME of Fawful’s level sounds cool. And it gets even better.

VCM takes the Tubelectric tileset to a whole new level, using a primarily four-color palette of tiles (Black, blue, purple, silver) to create one of the most visually appealing levels out there. Half the floors are one-way-enabled, allowing a player to zip around at will and capitalize on a variety of unique shortcuts and trails.

Although I already said as much, eyecandy for the level was great. Very well executed, and much fun to look at.

Level structure was likewise well executed. Nothing much seems to interfere with the flow, and I had great fun with it.

I didn’t download the music, so I won’t include it in my rating.

Great. That’s the word that kept coming back to me as I played this level. Simply great. Definitely worth downloading, folks.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 18:51
For: Starlit Summit
Level rating: 8.7
Rating
8.8

What a nice pack. Really.

It’s pretty hard to make an attractive, significantly useful level with a JJ1 tileset, especially Diamondus, since the graphics are so last-generation and so limiting.

So Ragnarok took what he had, put it together a different way, and lo and behold we have Starlit Summit.

Huge CTF levels can be truckloads of fun if they’re executed well, and SS is no exception. This thing is GIGANTOR. The Red and Blue bases are farther apart than east and west, and there’s a dizzying plethora of original, noncliched routes and passages to get there.

Plenty of ammo is provided for shooting at the opponent, as well as a small number of powerups, and it may be entirely possible to run aimlessly about for thirty seconds without seeing a single opponent.

And the eyecandy here is excellent. Unique shapes are cut out of the blue cavewall backgrounds. Trees stick out from the topmost sections of said blue cavewall. Nothing is overdone or copy-pasted, and it all looks like it belongs.

I wasn’t, however, as impressed as Crimi was with the music. The song Rag chose seemed a bit too ‘technological’ to me, for a naturesy, outdoors-type environment like Diamondus. Perhaps something like AMBIENTtwist.xm or even aws_ox9f.xm would’ve worked better.

In any event, Starlit Summit is a great level with lots of character, and it’s worth a download.

Review by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 18:43 (edited 25 Jan 12, 18:45)
For: New Diamondus Bay
Level rating: 7.1
Rating
6.2

Meh. This level was all right, I suppose.

After all, it WAS playable. It DID have a few good routes, and enough ammo was present for New Diamondus Bay to be decently enjoyable.

Unfortunately, that’s about all it was in my mind.

NDB was very sparse, in terms of creative or innovative eyecandy. Almost entirely baseline stuff was used, and I’d be hard pressed to point to something that was truly original. The Toaster Tower on the far right served little or no purpose, and it was relatively easy to get the powerup placed in the wall.

Likewise, the music used (JJ1’s Diamondus) didn’t work at all for me. It was far too mild, and significantly detracted from my enjoyment of New Diamondus Bay. The first appropriate song that came to my mind when I played the level was FlyingIndian.s3m. In fact, I almost caught myself muting the in-game music and loading FI in my music player. It would’ve worked quite nicely.

So, what can be said in the end? New Diamondus Bay by master sven was a great opportunity, but I feel like it fell a little short. I don’t like to be the bad guy and downrate an upload, but somebody has to do it.

Neutral DL rec.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 18:36
For: Highland Glaciers [DOM]
Level rating: 6.5
Rating
6.5

Something happened to me today while I was playing Jimbob’s Highland Glaciers, something that has (thankfully) RARELY ever happened to me when playing Jazz Jackrabbit 2.

When I played the level, I was confused…impressed…disappointed…incredulous…all at the same exact time.

And fellers, that’s hard to accomplish.

Highland Glaciers is a study in consternation and unexpected surprises. There’s HUGE clumps of ammo littered all over the place. Powerups in plain sight. A boatload of capture points. A seeker powerup with a carrot and a capture point, all of which can be camped upon ‘til the cows come home.

Huh?

The level also made some eyebrow-raising eyecandy choices, with clusters of twinkling sparks in various places, an off-color Layer 8 background, and some water that’s apparently supposed to make the point that this is a glacier, or the very least, a fjord.

It was a tough sell.

Music worked decently well for the level, once it got far enough into the song. I won’t quibble too much here.

Gameplay, on the other hand, was brilliant. The level flowed quite smoothly, and I liked the shape, size and overall structure of HG. That was well executed.

Hence the consternation.

Did I like Highland Glaciers? I guess so…but that’s a VERY tentative “guess so”. There was nothing visually offensive or hard to ignore in terms of eyecandy, and once I got over the initial shock of the amount of weapons, it was reasonably fun to play.

If this qualifies a download rec, then I guess I’ll give it my blessing.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
25 Jan 2012, 18:32 (edited 11 Mar 12, 16:48)
For: Enter the Chaos
Level rating: 8.2
Rating
8.1

Whoa. Talk about a hangover…

That’s basically what Enter the Chaos by FireSworD is. A controlled hangover. Eyecandy is layered and stretched chaotically. Weapons are grouped in various places. A unique and really fun Chaos symbol formed by a falling Pole event. Darkness, broken occasionally by a brilliant, yet not overpowering flash of light. Erratic music, filled with clashing chords and wierd-sounding samples. Backwards rain.

A Caterpillar event.

In any other level, this combination of factors would result in complete and utter anarchy. In EtC, it’s brilliance at its best.

Every single aspect of FireSworD’s masterpiece contributes handily to an overall impression of disorderly disarray, yet never seems too over-the-top. It’s crazy, but as the old, cliched adage goes, there IS a method to the madness.

EtC is also available in a Lite and Dark variation, which are simply the same level with corresponding light or dark Layer 8 fade colors, plus a few aesthetic differences (like more/less platforms, caterpillar/no caterpillar, etc.).

Do I have any objections to this level? Not many. My biggest problem with Enter the Chaos is with how dark it is. The vines in the wide open central ‘cavern’ were quite hard to see, and it tipped the level more towards ominous and away from chaotic.

It seems, then, that this Enter the Chaos gives…well, chaos…a pretty good name. I like it a lot, and heartily recommend its download.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
23 Jan 2012, 22:16 (edited 23 Jan 12, 22:17)
For: After Apocalypse
Level rating: 8
Rating
9.2

I can’t believe no one has reviewed this yet. It’s a travesty, I’m telling you.

This is an awesome pack. That’s all that needs to be said.

However, since people will undoubtedly want particulars, I’ll provide some.

After Apocalypse consists of two CTF levels, “Cast to Darkness” and “Post-Apocalyptic Office”. Each level is done particularly well, but I will highlight a few strengths and weaknesses in each.

CtD:

PROS

“I loved the way Jgke used the Desolation tileset here. Eyecandy is original and visually pleasing, and it looks pretty sharp. Weapons are evenly distributed, and the gameplay is smooth. Music was appropriate, and suited the level well enough.”

CONS

“It seemed a bit skewed, in terms of size. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater on small levels, but it just felt claustraphobic to me. It was also pretty easy to get from base to base.”

P-AO

PROS

“The tileset is used PERFECTLY. The gameplay was terrific, bases were suitably far apart and challenging to travel between, and events weren’t too bad, either.

“The song for this level was divine. Simply divine. The ominous, pulse-pounding melody enhanced the level’s creepiness factor by tenfold. It’s one of the best level-song combinations I’ve seen in quite a spell. Well done!”

CONS

“Almost nothing. The blaster powerup seemed rather easy to procure, and the Red base was a little challenging to navigate in. Both are minimal drawbacks.”

In the end, I was wholly pleased by this pack. After Apocalypse delivers nicely on the expectation of quality levelbuilding, and I fully endorse its download.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
23 Jan 2012, 22:11
For: Mystic Pond
Level rating: 6.5
Rating
6.4

This was a quaint little level. Not quirky, not queer. Quaint.

At the same time, that quaintness helps this collab to excel, if not fantastically, then at least moderately successfully.

Mystic Pond is well on the small side, with clumps of food and ammo lathered without restraint across the level and powerups in easy-to-reach places. Add to that a ridiculously short underwater segment with only one access point which houses fastfires and a blaster powerup, and you’ve got this level.

On the brighter end of the spectrum, MP has some good, solid eyecandy and a background song that helps create the mythic atmosphere of a serene, untouched lake in the middle of the wilderness. Kind of relaxing, which is no doubt what the level was intended to convey.

There weren’t really any problems with bugs that I could uncover, which is always good.

Should you download Mystic Pond and play it? I think so. It’s a well-built level with a handful of notable, drawbacks, and it’s worth playing, if there’s nothing else to do. So go ahead and download it. And just relax…

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
23 Jan 2012, 22:02
For: Visceral Tower [collab]
Level rating: 7.2
Rating
7.2

Collabs can be fun, and they can be brutal. They can go well, or they can tank.

This one was a little of both.

Visceral Tower had some great eyecandy and decently passable level structure. It was also extremely small and hard to manuever within. Granted, there were some good routes and it wasn’t the worst level ever created, but for a CTF level, it was pretty cramped. In my mind, it would’ve fared much better if released as a duel level instead. Maybe a 2-v-2 CTF.

The powerups were also kind of easy to procure.

That being said, VT was pretty clean bugwise, and the background song worked quite nicely. As I said before, the eyecandy was very impressive, and I thought the level had a great look to it.

The color-coordinated springs were a clever flourish.

In the end, Visceral Tower’s saving grace is its eyecandy. I flipped and flopped for what seemed like forever between grading it with a 6.2 or a 7.2, but the great visuals ultimately overcame the limited space, and I went with the higher mark.

Good work, and DL rec.

RecommendedReview by PT32

Posted:
22 Jan 2012, 23:32
For: Sparks Factory
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.8

Heh. This was a fun level to play.

I really liked Sparks Factory for a number of different reasons. For starters, the gameplay was amazing. It’s a Boss Challenge map, where you have to navigate your way through a short level and break into a boss arena. Sort of like starting from the last checkpoint of a Jazz 2 level and going straight to the boss.

In SF, you are required to find twenty coins and activate a warp, which leads you into an arena with the Schwartzenguard. Easy enough, right?

Wrong. The whole time that you’re searching for coins, the Schwartzenguard is throwing flailarangs at you. Since you’re in a Sparks factory, Sparks are constantly being spawned to come after you. The eyecandy was quite whimsical, with Sparks parts moving through tubes and belts as if in a real factory.

The only thing missing from that is the factory ambient sounds…

SF is relatively free of bugs, and the music, while not terribly interesting, was nonetheless quite fitting.

My biggest beef with the level is that there’s too much going on. Don’t get me wrong, factories are USUALLY busy, and there SHOULD be plenty of activity here, but for such a concentrated are there seems to be an inordinate amount of eyecandy. It’s kind of distracting.

In any case, Sparks Factory is a good level, and it’s worth a download.

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