There seems to have been a lot of levels lately which are extremely small, yet do not quite qualfy as a microbattle level. These levels are mostly fairly quickly made and of middling quality. This one, unsurprisingly, is no exception to the rule of mediocrity. A fairly uninspired level by nature, it falls into the realm of below average due to a few moderate to major problems. And, finally, its fate is sealed by a major bug revolving around falling off the level. This level is not an epic by any means. It is more like a picture book with the last page torn out. Now for the review…
EYECANDY/TILESET USE: Jungle is used adequately here. There is nothing that impressive about the overall eyecandy quality of this level. It is a fairly standard Jungle level, which nothing amazing. Eyecandy is decent, and while there are not many tile bugs, there are a lot of questionable tile uses that probably could have been avoided if the author was paying a bit more attention. Again, the problem here is although this probably is the best category for this level (tied with weapon and item placement), that does not necessarily mean it is flawless. Still, this category does come out to be decent, although empty and uninspired.
Pros: The eyecandy is one of the best parts of the level, if that is any consolation.
Cons: The eyecandy is still questionable and oftentimes uninspired.
Rating: 5.5
WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: As I stated earlier, this section is probably tied with tileset and eyecandy and tileset use for the category this level best fares in. Not that this is saying all that much. There is a sufficient amount of ammo to allow for interesting play, although it sometimes goes overboard. Another big problem with this level is a bug revolving around the stomping of the ammo boxes in the “ammo hut.” This causes, because of the sudden animation of all of the ammo, the disappearance of the player’s sprite. This is really an annoying side-effect and should be avoided whenever possible in any level. This level also contains a seeker, which switches the ammo ammount from below average, mainly basic ammo to too power-up oriented.
Pros: Could be worse.
Cons: Seeker powerup throws off balance. Annoying disappearing sprite bug in the ammo hut.
Rating: 5.2
ORIGINALITY: This level is not really original. It is, more or less, just a standard really small Jungle level. Not much more to say here.
Pros: None.
Cons: Not original.
Rating: 2.7
GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: Here is where the level hits quite a few large snags. The first snag is a major bug revolving around the tree which boarders a line of sucker tubes which are intended to send the player hurdling back into the play area. It is not that hard to cause, especially when a player is trying. If you just stand on the tree and walk slowly to the right, you can bypass the sucker tubes and go onto the other side of the tree. From there, the player can not only not get up, but also can fall off a nearby cliff. The land does stretch for a bit after the tree, but eventually comes to a very abrupt end where the player simply falls off of the level. This is quite a big glitch, and while it is fun to exploit, it should have been caught and fixed before uploading. Beyond that, there are a few things fundamentally wrong with this level. Spaz can access the top area without aide of anything but his double jump, while Jazz must find other ways. This is not a huge problem, but it does leave Spaz in much a better of a position than Jazz. Also, there is an area of this level which looks solid but is in the background. This sort of thing has always bothered me, and probably always will. I dislike invisible things that look like they are solid, especially when it is difficult to get back up after you fall. Due to the size of this level, gameplay is not very amazing and it is hard to give information on layout. However, one thing is certain. The level seems disorganized and sloppy, with little of a layout. Not to mention it is small and buggy. Not a good score in this category.
Pros: It is, yet again, not as bad as it could be.
Cons: The major bug regarding the sucker tube and tree should be fixed immediately. The annoying invisible background eyecandy thing. Jazz being unable to jump to the top area. The level’s size. Really, the list goes on. This level is just fundamentally flawed.
Rating: 3.5
REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: I have played this level online, as another reviewer decided to host it for a while after reviewing it. Most of the play concerned exploiting the interesting tree sucker tube bug and killing the player on the other side. While, at first, this can be fun, this is still not enough to raise my score or anything. Not to mention this gets old after about the tenth game of “transtree tag,” so to speak. After that, this level is reduced to a fairly uninteresting and all together too small Jungle level with an uninspired atmosphere.
Pros: The tree bug thing was sort of fun. Sort of.
Cons: The rest of the level is really dull.
Rating: 3.7
OVERALL (not an average): Yet another miniature battle level, and yet another disappointment. I would recommend next time spending a bit more time on the level, and definitely making something bigger and checking it for bugs more thuroughly. Still, I have seen what you have done in the past, and if you spend time and dedicate yourself to making the level, I am sure you can make something pretty good. However, this just is not it. I am afraid that I can not recommend this for download and I am afraid that this level probably can not be fixed well enough. The idea of the level, along with the many major bugs and flawed layout make this a fairly unforgiving repair prospect and probably a good idea to put in the past.
Pros: It could have been worse.
Cons: Some really severe bugs definitely get in the way of play. This level has too many flaws to list.
Rating: 4.2
GAMEPLAY: D
Flow: D
Layout: D -
Creativity: D
Bugs: D -
EYECANDY: C+
Tileset use: C+
Eyecandy look: C+
Creativity: C
Bugs: C
PLACEMENT: C
Weapons: C
Carrots: N/A
THE FINAL GRADE: C -
THE FINAL RATING: 4.2
Pros: It could have been worse.
Cons: Some really severe bugs definitely get in the way of play. This level has too many flaws to list.
- Trafton