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…
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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.
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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…
JJ1 Level, by 
