Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Astral Witchcraft is an unique multiplayer map that combines visuals and audio like never before with a fresh tileset and new weapons. It's a scripting marvel showcasing the power of SPRITE::MAPPING. Every levelmaker can learn from this in the future.This level does so many new things, that it's a real risk taker. I'm very appreciative of level designers trying new things, however taking risks can go both ways. Other reviewers have covered the basis of the level already, I'll try to go into detail of each level aspect to provide some good feedback on what I liked or didn't like about it.

To start of with what I really liked about this level:
The jungle 2.0 leaves are a great addition to the tileset. Not just for the tiles themselfs, but also the way Minmay utilized them. The way the thin leaves curve around the bricks is really clever and I can't deny I'm a little jealous not thinking of that myself. I wonder what the inspiration for this was. Together with the writings on the walls, drifting objects, potions, particles and background it sets the tone of the level immediatly. The map has clear landmarks for an open area at top, a middle area and a basement area. It's easy to learn and to move around in. Also I can't forget to mention the background colour shifts are amazing. This level is the reason why generalized mapping functions for scripting are rising on everybodys wishlist. Overall it feels great how alive this level feels.

Things I liked less about the level:
While this level is a visual marvel, it also pushes the boundaries a little too far sometimes. I think a little bit 'less is more' on the visual effects could have been applied here. The flashing foreground (during the bridge part of the music) hurt my eyes. The floating tiles I was talking about earlier, are also screen filled in a 1 -to-1 tile proximity which I can only describe as spilling a bowl of rice on my monitor. A small last nitpick about the visuals is that the tree branches from Agama Swamp feel a little bit tacky due to the artstyle and vibrant colouring, but I give this a pass because it's very difficult to find and match those tiles. I couldn't think of any better replacement myself.

The level limits itself to 3 weapons, one of which looks and plays like a blaster resprite and 2 other special weapons which can be collected at the centre of the level. They look great, they sound great, they play not-so-great. The novelty of them also quickly falls off when realising they are both incredibly powerful and easily collectible, way more powerful than any existing JJ2 weapon. This not saying the balance of jj2 weapons hold some golden standard, but the nuances of the gameplay are missing. Other reviewers have mentioned the level layout is build around the weapons, but this isn't necessarily a good thing when this allows the bullets to fly everywhere with extra area denial. The distance of the bullets is so high that it constantly hits atleast 3 screenlengths away. While playing with many players in the server it felt chaotic and like my actions were meaningless. My whole tactic in this level became camping and being afraid to ever make sudden movements. Any agressive movement is a death sentence for some of the bullets coming at you at mach 8 speed. This in addition to being limited to 3 weapons becomes stale quickly. You win by sticking to the ground as much as possible, because there is no weapon like bouncer that covers below you.

So overall: The scripted visuals are revolutionairy for jj2 and I hope to see them more often. I liked the eyecandy implemented here for the most part. The gameplay felt refreshing, but only for a very short while.

Spyros Battleships CTF is exactly what you would expect. It is a CTF that is in the style of JJ1 Battleships. Visually it doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but the gameplay is alright. It's nice to be able to see the outside of the ship, although some areas feel slightly ambigious. It looks like you can go outside the ship for a playable area, but it's actually out of bounds. The level is flat and small, which works nicely for fast action packed games in small multiplayer lobbies. The bottom right seems to be a loose dead end without rewards, which is maybe perhaps not the best design choice, however it doesn't hurt the level either as it can be ignored.

Good Map For CTF Spyro,It is bit small but cool !

Fixed Now ! You can play the lvl with the full files

This is among the best custom content I've had the privilege of playing, all the contributions from everyone involved in making this have so much quality put into them that I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience from start to finish. Clearly a lot of effort has been spent testing this episode and giving it a high amount of cohesion even though the levels have different authors (and sometimes multiple authors) who imprinted their own personal styles and design philosophies and also which import lots of custom content into them. The many scripted bosses in particular have been a standout and really showcase how fun boss fights could be with some ingenuity and care put into their craft. I also appreciate that the episode provided a good challenge but never felt like the difficulty curve was unfair or that the levels asked too much of me even though I haven't played in ages.

I highly recommend Holiday Hare 24, regardless if you are someone new who is checking out custom content for the first time, have played this game for years, or are returning after a long hiatus to relive some cherished memories and fun times. I think there is something for everyone found here, and it's a great celebration of the holiday spirit of this community.

Your screenshots show that the level uses a custom weapon, but you don't include the script file to make that work. If you're using MLLE, try the "Tools -> Package in ZIP file" dropdown menu option: that will give you all the right files so that other people can play your level.

That said, we can basically play the level, since there's not enough here for the secondary weapon to really matter. The initial section is a bit interesting because you have to jump onto the sides of the pillars, then from the sides onto the tops, dodging (or stomping) the skeletons. But everything is buggy. Destruct scenery doesn't really work (https://www.ninjadodo.net/htjcs/ht/anim.html), hooks don't have the Hook event, the sky doesn't tile correctly because you didn't resize the background layer. It's good that you have different challenges, that part of the layout is interesting, but the basic technical details aren't here. Read some tutorials, study some other levels that do the things you want to know how to do, find a friend who can verify that you actually included the right files to play your level.

Not Bad Idea,LoL

I Have a question !
how to upload the mutator in the single player mode ? (i didn't find any mutator option in the mlle level maker)

I forget script files !

very cool ! this level is a merge of funny and lightness of playing
I liked it

Really awesome!!! I'm gonna play it some more around Christmas.

Your screenshots show that the level uses custom weapons, but you don't include any of the script files to make that work. If you're using MLLE, try the "Tools -> Package in ZIP file" dropdown menu option: that will give you all the right files so that other people can play your level.

In description it says Battle, but you labeled it as 'Single Player'. Maybe edit the upload?

Good tileset.

I have to admit that I didn't at first quite understand this level and was therefore more confused than impressed by it, but during the past months I have started to like it more and more. I felt that the layout is rather maze'y and perhaps too cramped in certain places, plus I wasn't so fond of the tileset and so forth. However, the fact that this level has abolished the standard set of JJ2 weapons and replaced them with completely custom scripted weapons that support the layout and gameplay overall have quite made the difference between a good and an average gameplay for me.

And that is what this level is really about; It's about minmay's astronomical witchcraft in AngelScripting and making magic real in JJ2! The custom weapons, which I don't know how to call, have been designed cleverly to offer the players true tactical weapons to overcome their opponents in the level's creepy corridors and silent stairways. Although the weapon choices are few, they offer everything needed to make the good maneuvers in this level, much better than a classic set of e.g. Bouncers and seekers would do. There's even the really cool concept of a chargeable ultimate buttstomp strike to unleash your whole magical potential and the custom minimap of the level to ease navigating.

There is so much to describe about the cool scripted gimmicks here, which do not limit to just the gameplay features, as they also make the visuals come to life and dance to the music track as well. Even the mezmering background is mighty impressive on its own.

Although I haven't got to play the level for long yet, I did enjoy it for the shorts moments I got to try in the recent online events. I think I definitely prefer the CTF version here though (with the Halloween Evas), as the level kind of loses a part of its profile in a battle-based game mode, albeit that is playable too. I suppose the level wouldn't really work in duels, but I haven't tried that either yet. Maybe the only real complaints I have to the gameplay are the slightly too narrow pathways here and there, plus the minor dead ends at the center and top-right corner.

Still, outstanding work minmay and a strong download recommendation from me!

As far as 1998 levels go, this one's pretty good.

The level is fairly short and simple, but its geometry seems to have some thought put into it. Tree branches are used interestingly as a sort of obstacle, with enemies often placed just below them. The level only ever contains Seeker and Electroblaster ammo, which you will definitely need for the tricky enemy placement, though I wish the Seeker ammo was a bit more sparse, as this weapon tends to trivialize fights.

Unfortunately there's no pickups beyond weapons, health, and a total of 4 coins. This makes the already small level even more basic, as there's pretty much no exploration involved. The coin placement is pretty cool, though. They take a little bit of figuring out even on JJ2+'s 800×600 FoV. There's no checkpoints either, which wouldn't be much of a problem considering the level's length… except there's a boss at the end. The arena is small and has a few respawning enemies, so I barely survived it without losing a life. Knowing that I'd be sent all the way to the start was probably a major factor to how much effort I've put into this boss fight…

Default music and sparse eyecandy certainly scream 1998. The same trees on a background and foreground layer at the same time make the opening section a bit confusing. There's also a nasty tilebug with one of the flowers.

It's okay for what it is, a somewhat decent 5 minute romp.

This level just blows my mind
From eyecandy to special weapons its just CRAZY good
I liked the color swap and the blackout of the background when that happens
Also the flying yellow thing and the ultimate rocket weapon's effects are crazyyyy cool
And my favorite is that robot arm thing powerup that shoots around
10/10 for me

This level truly silenced me in awe in terms of visual concepts when it came out on the last day of the year 2024, especially by its breathtaking background visuals that for the most part are fully original and unique in JJ2 (for now). I don't know the source of the background cliffs and lava pits, and I suppose they weren't self-drawn either, but they do really fit into the overall visuals and atmosphere of the level! The background graphics and also some of the sprite- and foreground graphics add a certain extra dimension to the visuals, making the level look way more 3-dimensional than an average JJ2 level and that is truly special!

If I had to describe the level looks by some other reference, that would probably be something like Mines of Moria from LoTR movies, but with a strong green tone. And speaking of green, I also agree with Violet that there are strong ezhf.j2l vibes to this level on the sprite layer in some places, but I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Guess another way to describe the level would be Green Hell!

Besides the astonishing visuals, there is also a solid gameplay design. However, due to the rather large size of the level it can really take a while to get used to the layout, and players new to the level will find themselves lost easily, especially since there aren't too many unique landmarks to be found around the level. But I do understand that the level size allowed Loon to experiment and utilize the massive tileset combination to its full potential.

Even if the level is large in size, there are hardly any places in the level that would have a quirky flow. There has been a significant effort to get the flow right, and that is something that Loon consistently delivers. The only real issue with the layout that I have found is the very top corner above the RF Powerup, which seems to have a lot of camping potential. Luckily since this ain't a level designed for duels, it probably isn't as much of an issue in the big games that this level was designed for.

This level was definitely fun to play in the last JDC season's final events and it was my favorite Loon level from last year. With that said, I can strongly recommend downloading and playing this level at the next opportunity!

I saw a quote recently that stuck with me: "As a designer, I'm a very good developer."

This feels like a level that was developed more than it was designed. It's a series of (unrelated) ideas, fairly novel, executed in a technically correct way. You collect coins but you use a float lizard's copter to get multiple chances to collect those coins. You try different ammo types on some ? blocks. You carefully manage both your food counter and a float lizard. You pay close attention to arrow colors and go through a relatively interesting frog morph puzzle. You, uh, okay, I dunno what's supposed to be going on in the boss battle: you just shoot it and it dies.

Visually it's fine. Nothing about it is particularly attractive, and the thin lines of the forest are kind of hard to pick out against the background, but all the tiles line up together that I noticed and everything's used how it's meant to be used. The visuals are a vehicle for the gameplay—that's totally fine, normal stuff for single player.

Everything seems to work, except, as noted, the sugar rush puzzle, where it's too easy to do things in the wrong order. I'm just not convinced by the argument that it works if you do it properly. If people can do it improperly, unless they're doing it improperly really deliberately, then that's a failing of the design, not of the people. It's fine for a puzzle to include ways to fail, but the trouble is, a failure takes so long to recover from that it's just not enjoyable.

Otherwise, though, yes, everything works. But the thing I keep coming back to is: is it fun? Well… not necessarily. The ideas are a little too bit just the raw ideas without enough concession to gameplay. I do think the frog puzzle is fine, but I don't know why I should care about the (bizarrely long) sequence of following blue arrow signs instead of red arrow signs. There's nothing actually enjoyable about shooting a block with different weapons until it explodes, even if it's technically executed perfectly. What most of these ideas need is to be better integrated into a level with more traditional gameplay… rewards, filler, however you want to describe it. Look at the Fortress of Floods, for example: it starts from a basic idea like you'd find in this level, "go up faster than the water does," but merges that idea with traditional JJ2 gameplay to form an actual game that the player plays, instead of dutifully following the instructions to act out the developer's idea.

This is complicated stuff to describe or implement, and I recognize the danger of subjectivity in ending my review by saying "this isn't fun." But I think there's good work here that just needs some more time to cook.

A Titan, Ornery and Titan Armory were my two favorites in the JDCE 34 mappool, so it was a real clash of the Titans (pun intended)! I found both of the levels to be extremely entertaining to play battle duels in. While Titan Armory is a level that requires fast and intense maneuvers from the players in a small skirmish arena, this level is more about psychological play and cunning tactics, and so both of the levels brought something unique to the mappool.

Since Titan Armory was more polished on the visual side, I think that won the clash from my perspective, but that doesn't mean that this one would look bad either. It just feels that some parts of the level feel a little empty visually, even the background a bit, although that may be justified to some extent by the use of the massive lightning concept and a limited tileset.

But even without the visual side polished to the full potential, the gameplay here greatly compensates for that, with all the best traits and influences from classic battle levels that allows for enough room for strategic, yet skillful play.

The custom weapons, Elektrek Shield and Fusion Cannon, bring a nice spice to make the gameplay even more interesting and unique. While the Fusion Cannon's purpose and efficiency may be debatable, I think here it serves especially well as a decoy weapon due to its slow speed. You might fire it in a wide open area and make the opponent think they know your location in case they see the projectile, but you may have already changed directions, which might surprise them.

All in all, A Titan, Ornery is a very enjoyable level to play in duels and slightly bigger games, but bigger games may be chaotic. Also happy to see that the lightning concept from Thunder Cliffs yielded another similarly themed level, with a funny execution. Download and playing recommended!