Lost Gemz, Volume I: The Beginning

  • Rating: 8.4

Reviews and comments

    >CelL< Posted more than 20 years ago

    9

    Whew! I must say that i was rather impressed by these levels. They use a number of underused tilesets, Dethman’s AWESOME MeZmErIzE tileset to name one.

    The design in these levels is splendid, and very easy to get around in. I’m glad to see a treasure pack here, because this game-mode is so darn underused, while it can be great fun having a good treasure game with 4-8 people. The gems in these levels are very well placed too. A good amount in each level, with diferent kinds spread well.

    There is a great use of triger efects, like gems coming down out of the sky after stomping a triger crate and such. Eyecandy is also very good, these levels look just totaly terific to me, wich may be partly because of the fact they use a few of my favorite tilesets, but thats allright:P.

    Tileset use in most levels is also very origenal in most levels, “Pitch Black” using the castle tileset to name one. This level makes use of the Castle tileset in a way i have no other level ever do before. Another good example is “End of hours” using the MeZmErIzE set. MeZmErIzE is probably my favorite Dethman set, its looks totally awesome, and is very easy to work with. The use of the tileset by BlurredD is just splendid, and has sort of a mythical atmosphere to it. I also liked the looks of the “Dark Awakening” level, using DehMan’s “Cyberspaz 2V” set. This tileset has a very cool industrial, dirty look, and even though it was auto-masked(lazy DethD00d:P), and looks a litle unfinished at some parts, its great to work with, and can result into great eyecandy if used properly, as this level well shows. Its got a great look, all tiles look so complexly put together, and i’m guessing that BlurredD used at least 6 diferent layers to achieve these tile combinations.

    The music here is also very cool. It uses a few rocking background modules by elite music trackers. Tunes like “Blade” by Cyberzip and Shutdown left me completely breathless. Another well chosen adition was “The ZARATHUSTRA” by Drax, wich has a good egyptian sound to it, and was origenally chosen by Agama as one of the default music files for his awesome “Egypt” tilesets. These music files all fit the levels perfectly. I only did’nt totally like hearing the “Labrat” tune. I somehow dont like this music file, and would have liked hearing something else in its place, but still, i guess it fits good.

    To sum it up, i must say i am very, VERY impressed by this pack, certainly regarding its only BlurredD’s first(!) J2O release. After long hours of thought, i have decided to reward “Lost Gemz, Volume 1” with a very high 8.5(!) points, and a BIG FAT download recomendation to everyone, treasure fans or not.[This review has been edited by >CelL<]

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    Wacky Spaz WW Posted more than 20 years ago

    8

    VERY VERY GOOD I ORDER YOU TO D/L

    This is a short review. It has less impact on the upload's score.

    Another Jazz 2 fan Posted more than 20 years ago

    9

    I think that these levels are excellent! Very innovative and original, a lot of fun to play! Makes you wonder why there are so few TH levels out there. I hope you make more TH packs! Also, very good eye-candy, great-looking levels. I can’t believe someone (who will remain nameless at the moment ;) ) rated so low.

    BTW: I like the missing background effect in that one level, it is one occassion where that is cool. Once I made a layer 8 bg transparent… it was semi-blurred, but not very noticible. (That level is not released at the time).

    Also, about the belts – there is an event (acc-belt, I think) that works the same as a belt, but I think it should work on corners. Hope that helps.

    Another Jazz 2 fan

    DOWNLOAD NOW!!![This review has been edited by Another Jazz 2 fan]

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    Superspaz Posted more than 20 years ago

    8

    I downloaded this levelpack because of my sister, she loves treasure hunt.

    But now I like it too!!!

    This is a short review. It has less impact on the upload's score.

    Blackraptor Posted more than 20 years ago

    8

    Here goes

    Pitch Black:-0.5
    Hmm…To hard to navigate -1.0, and kind of hard to play with many ppl online -.2, but backround is kewl +1.5 and the gem placement is ok +.1. The layout isnt bad and nice spring placement +.9
    Hide and heat seek: 1.7
    good eyecandy +1.7, and good gem placement +1.0, bit big and well, big -1.0
    Abyss:1.9
    Probably the best, nice music choice +0.5, and good layout +1.5, but hard to get around in -.5. Eyecandy ok +0.4
    End of hours: 1.7
    Also a bit big, but easy to navigate +1.4 and good gem and sucker placemnt +0.6, the backround, i dont like it as much but it is ok -.3
    Dark Awakening:-1.8
    NO BACKROUND?!?!leaves traces _ -3.3
    Good placement +0.5, good tileset use (other than backround) +0.6, and music ok +0.5
    Total 3×2=6.0 +0.5 for including good music and effort.
    Total score=6.5[This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

    -That was my original review. I thought’d I just redownload this, after all this time, and rate it once again since my old review SUCKED. Here goes:

    Before rating information: Apparently this pack was created in 2001, long time ago. Let’s see how good stuff could’ove gotten back then. And the Zip file has a comment, how rux. Also, I’m testing these online now.

    LGABYSS (The Abyss): Uses the egyptian night set. Good tileset choice. At first I thought the level was OK, but then it grew on me. Some thing that was annoying for me was that it was hard to get up, it took some time to land on the springs and sometimes even some more times to get them to bounce you up to the right place. I quite disliked bumpyness of the level, and I can’t imagine playing as jazz here. Other than that, there is a fair amount of gems, and I like the part where “Treasure comes to those who wait”. Another thing that sort of ticked me off were the hurt events. Only the host can die from them, which coincidentally happend to me, which made me lose my 150 gems and die. I had to cycle the level with PC4 then. Overall, it was a level which the eyecandy looked rux, but I didn’t really like the layout too much, nor the hurt events.

    LGPBLACK (Pitch Black): Hmm..a pitch black caslte level. The level is basically a maze of rooms and suckers, and the lighting is what the level name implies, pitch black. I found the level quite original and interesting, I like how the suckers jut you in the rooms and how those ceiling springs bash you on a gemstomp or super gem. The only thing I disliked was that I couldn’t find the exit room, until I actually looked in JCS. Then I still couldn’t find the exit room, nor the room that has the exit sign pointing towards the exit room. THEN I finally found it. Maybe with more people this kinda thing wouldn’t happen, but for me it was sort of annoying, but I’m not an expert on navigating mazes. The level was original, interesting, but didn’t really stick out that much. Music was ok.

    LGEHOURS (End Of Hours): At first glance, I didn’t really like how the walls were made, the same one or two tiles kept repeating themselves and it was kinda boring. The interior of the walls being black was original though, I liked it. The layer 5 was also nicely done. I didn’t like the backround too much, but it didn’t show that often. Again there’s a trigger crate in the level, this time I have no idea what it does. The gems were placed well in the level, and the music ruxed. Not much else to say.

    LGAWAKE (Dark Awakening): Ah, I remember reviewing this, the level without a bg, fun. This time, though, I’m actually playing this online, so the trace bug is nonexistant. The level looks ok, the eyecandy isn’t the best, but this was made a while ago so it mighta been considered excellent back then. The BG looks nice, like a night sky, with lightning, which also looks spiffy. I’m not too fond of the layout, but the level overall is well done.

    LGHSEEK (Hide And Heat Seek): A Labrat level, argh overused tileset. The layout here is original, I especially love how the text sign was made (the text sign being in a foreground layer that has a different X-speed than the sprite layer. The level had a lot of belts, but they ruxed and shouldn’t get in the way. The layout, though linear, rocked. It didnt make me feel like I was playing in another labrat level, and thats good. A thing I didn’t like was in the bonus warp, I landed in an area with seekers (Hide and Heat Seek, makes sense), but then I sidekicked the crates and fell into a warp I had no idea was there, thus wasting 10 valuable coins for nothing. If there was something that would point out the existance of the warp, I wouldn’t have done that, but there wasnt. I also found a mini bug, which I’m not sure if the level or jj2 was at fault, where I jumped on a belt, but it had no effect on me (I just stood there). I rejumped on the belt and it worked again. Also, I like the different Sector things in the bonus warp, reduces camping. The layout of the level was imo a bit too crowded, I frequently bumped into stuff, this also made the seeker less useful (which is good in treasure) so I dont mind.

    OVERALL: Its pretty good for a treasure pack, even now. It has a lot of originality, and there will surely be something of interest to you in at least one of the levels.

    LGABYSS (The Abyss): 8.1
    LGPBLACK (Pitch Black): 8.2
    LGEHOURS (End Of Hours): 8.2
    LGAWAKE (Dark Awakening): 8.3
    LGHSEEK (Hide And Heat Seek): 8.6
    OVERALL: 8.2
    Final Rating: 8.2666666, rounded to an 8.2

    Final Comments: Apologies for the previous review, where as I underrated this. This is a nicely done Treasure pack, even now its still pretty good. I disliked some things in it, which brought down the rating. The average of this should of been around 8 or so, but I was nice and boosted up the rating of some levels by up to +.3 points. Anyways, Good Job and a Download Reccomendation, since you don’t see Treasure Packs often, and good treasure packs even rarer.

    ~Blackraptor

    [This review has been edited by Blackraptor]

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    ~[GpW]NinjA Posted more than 20 years ago

    9

    Along time ago, I rated these levels like crap.

    Okay, these levels are excellent. I remember liking the Egyptian one(S?), and the Labrabit one alot.

    BlurredD did an excellent job on these levels, and I apologize for my old stupid review.

    This is a short review. It has less impact on the upload's score.

    Ðx Posted more than 20 years ago

    9

    Well well, another BlurredD level :P

    1- nice levels
    2- nice musics!
    3- And very nice tilesets!

    my rating is an 8.7!

    This is a short review. It has less impact on the upload's score.

    Seren 8 Sep 2015, 12:59

    7

    These levels vary vastly in quality. Dark Awakening and End of Hours are quite decent, whereas the rest are barely playable. Both of those two still feel quite claustrophobic though, and not very suitable for fighting in.

    This is a short review. It has less impact on the upload's score.

    White Rabbit Posted more than 20 years ago

    8

    Very nice treasure pack, some good chosen music, splendid use of tileset, great eyecandy, especially in the lvl The Abyss and some creative ideas in some lvls making these treasure lvls….really fun to play. The lvls size varies from medium to small and has good navigation making it easy for ppl to run around without obstacles getting in their way.

    I recommend download this.

    Btw, are you gonna upload yer tileset Odyssey or not BlurredD???[This review has been edited by White Rabbit]

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    blurredd Posted more than 20 years ago

    In Hide and Heat Seek, you mite find sum belt glitches (when you step on a belt but you don’t move). That, I can’t help. And about that missing background in Dark Awakening… I left it out cuz I couldn’t get the desired effects otherwise (I added little stars, too). Also, I’ll upload that Odyssey tileset when I put it in my battle pack :P (Sheesh, i would EXPECT a little more reviews especially since this is my 1st upload)

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    DaThunderPX Posted more than 20 years ago

    You should make it so that the last level goes on to Lg2 :P