Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Another level I really liked in the Bash.

Music:
10/10

Eyecandy:
Well, the tileset has its issues. Sometimes it looks boring but Snooze tried to make the best out of it. The pond was an interesting expiriment… I actually think it turned out nice.
The caves were very nice.
The vines were placed awkward but once you realized they were there, they did not cause problems at all. A better tileset could’ve helped but I do not penalize on tilesets here.
8,5/10

Gameplay:
Well, it worked all pretty nicely. The warp, the fall-through-ground and the suckertube w/o being clear that they were there, made it a bit messy but again, once you got to know them you could use those at will. They’re NOT noob-friendly, but noobs who learn this map should be capable of learning them without too much hassle.
8,5/10

Pickup placement
Very well done, though I think the RF PU in the pond is a bit
too powerful because the map has long, open, horizontal paths where you can blast those RF’s through (even moreso as Jazz and Lori because they can copter and thus fire RF’s even when going upwards the slightly sloped hill).
8,5/10

Replay value:
It is a great map which can definately be in a mappool. It is very well playable with either Jazz, Spazz and Lori and not too difficult to learn if you have more brains than a monkey.
8,5/10

44/50

Penalties:
None

8,8/10

DR: Yes!

We really need more people who know what they’re doing, and Hitch has not let us down. This is one of the best multiplayer packs out there, and that is evident throughout each of the six levels.

Police Headquarters:
Very good work here, lots of eyecandy in many places, and a good choice of song. The only thing that doesn’t quite fit is the fade colour chosen for the textured background, otherwise it’s one hell of a good level.

The Penitentiary System:
This is an amazing example of how to use the JJ1: Industrius 2005 tileset, it looks like the level takes place in the substructure beneath some city on Industrius. I don’t get the way a Jailbreak level works, but that’s no hindrance to a good rating.

Greed:
Amazing work here, this version of Battleships has been used to amazing effect, and the use of the coins in conjunction with the CTF mode has a profound effect on the way the match plays out. As for the song, I have never heard anything as good or as suitable as this one (Guild of Sounds).

Arctic Citadel:
I’ve seen many WTF levels in my time, and this is an amazing level in its own right. This is one of the best ways to prove skill as a JCS’er, and teach novices a lesson in the process.

Radiator City:
Yet another good example of Hitch’s skill, although the Flag Run mode is a tricky one for me to get the hang of. As a level, this is just amazing.

Midnight Metropolis:
Saving the best ‘til last. This level shines brighter than all of the others, and all of the others outshine their main rivals. Interesting idea for a multiplayer mode here, Onslaught (or as UT3 players call it, Warfare), and some outstanding work showing itself in every corner of the level.

I give this pack a strong 9.7. Don’t ever play the levels without the music, though, the music makes it what it is. Playing the levels in silence just doesn’t do them any justice. Get the music and play!

Here we go again, someone with no clue what they’re doing…

What we have here is a swarm of badly made levels that all use tilesets and music that came with JJ2, any vehicles are very badly done with mere destruct blocks, the bosses are pathetically done, there’s nothing positive I can say about this, because I’d be lying if I did.

This pack is worthy of no more than a 1.5, anything more than 1.5 is overrating, and I’ve had enough trouble with that.

My advice, work on your skill before uploading anything else. It’s good practice.

This level is nothing short of amazing, as is often the case when a skilled JCS’er picks a good tileset like Desolation.

The extreme level of detail proves what the Desolation tileset is capable of in the right hands, and this is just hammered into the player’s mind the longer you play the level.

The ONLY thing I don’t like about this level is that it’s passworded. That is always a mistake, and in this case, limits the level to a maximum of 9.0, but it would get 9.7 from me otherwise.

I’m quite heavy-handed with bad tilesets and stupid acts (passwording levels is a stupid act), but thankfully, this isn’t too much of a problem this time.

[Please rate levels for what they are, not if they’re passworded or not. ~cooba]

This is significantly better than the standard Jungle tilesets that came with JJ2, and also way better than many of its competitors.

Those that have read my reviews on Blade’s tilesets may notice that I don’t pull any punches when reviewing a pathetic tileset. That’s just how I operate. Thankfully, I don’t have to do that here, since these ARE examples of good tilesets.

The day version is the one I like the least, but that’s not a problem, as the other two are amazingly good. The evening version accomplishes amazing atmosphere with skilful use of the scenery available (such as the waterfalls and foliage).

The storm version is easily the best jungle-themed tileset when it comes to storms, as it takes the good lightning from Windstorm Fortress and combines it with strong rain. Put the six rain tiles in a 2×3 layer with both tiling options and some good automatic speed settings, and it looks like it’s chucking it down.

On top of all that, it’s ultra-strong at making trees. If you’re interested in a dark jungle environment, the evening and storm versions are almost essential. Quality-wise, this is close to chasing down Swamps of the Sleeping Jaguar. This is worthy of a strong 8.7.

Considering that this pack is unfinished, nice work.

As for the levels that are finished, they’ve all been done especially well. Custom tilesets for most of them, no wonder it took so long, efforts like that always do.

By far my favourite tileset in the pack is the elevator tileset. That tileset is capable of going toe-to-toe with the tilesets made by the J2O elite (Agama, BlurredD, Blackraptor, EvilMike), and that’s not an easy thing to pull off. It seems Kejero also went crazy making the level as well, as it’s a 31k monster and doesn’t lack on detail ANYWHERE in it.

This pack is worth no less than a 9.0, as it is of superb quality, mercilessly smashing lesser packs into the ground.

Oh, BTW, there is a way to play this with TSF. Don’t select Lori as the starting/default character, and if you have to transform back into Jazz, stomp the monitors. If you shoot a monitor as Spaz, you’ll turn into Lori, but if you stomp it, you’ll turn into Jazz. Handy or what?

Some of the levels are of mediocre quality, others are of poor quality. Some good marks there, nets a respectable 4.5.

Different story for the tilesets. Man, those tilesets are HORRID. Thank God that Tazar made the “Mario/Sonic Megamix” tileset.

This would get a 5.5 if the levels were not passworded. The passwording knocks a good ~20% off the final rating.

The only thing I really enjoyed from this pack is the song “Deadlock”.

[Please rate levels for what they are, not if they’re passworded or not. ~cooba]

The tricky thing here is as far as the art style Disguise likes to use is concerned, it puts him right in the middle of the scale.

On one side, the super-high-quality Desolation, 7th Lava Fall, Sirius etc tilesets made by Agama, BlurredD and the J2O elite. On the other side, the somewhat less capable (no names mentioned). Disguise falls right in the middle.

Thankfully, what Disguise lacks on art style, he more than makes up for on the others (layer management, diversity of tiles and environment). He manages to justify the lack of quality with functionality, which is a good fall-back plan to have.

As a result of that, I give this tileset a 6.2.

Hm, yet another tileset that received over double the rating it deserves.

Even a very capable JCS’er like EvilMike couldn’t do this tileset justice, and you know what he’s capable of (DevRes). If one of J2O’s elite JCS’ers can’t make a level look good with your tileset, that’s (quite bad).

This tileset has extremely low quality, if it has any quality at all. I give this a 2.2.

I don’t pull any punches if someone’s work is of (subjective) quality. Get used to it.

[You’re going to have to pull punches if you want to stay around. Severe negativity removal. ~cooba]

(Review changed to quick review, since no justification is given for the rating. ~Violet)

My last rating was too heavy-handed, and I’ve re-rated it at 5.

Please don’t ever remind me of that experience. I now hate those comments just as much as you guys did.

Review edited, my original one was way too brutal, sorry.

Just don’t bring the topic up again, ever.

Edited review, original one was too savage.

Sorry about that, just don’t ever bring the subject up again, please.

Well, I like the interesting approach with the music, with each level using just ambient sounds and a song constructed entirely from ambient sounds, although the .avi files are using an obscure codec that the newer of my computers does not and cannot have.

As for the tileset… there is no quality to speak of. The tileset looks like it was drawn by a total novice.

The installer package (the .exe file) method of packaging JJ2 levels is impractical and unusable in most situations, in addition to the uninstaller file using the common “uninstal” mis-spelling (I’ve seen this too many times before, C&C modders have done this too).

Overall, it nets a maximum of 5.0, only because the horrid tileset handicaps the rating.

[Offensive finger pointing removal. ~cooba]

(Rating (5.0) removal. At no point in the review do you mention the levels. ~Violet)

This is what we like to see from Jazz2Online. This is by far the best single player episode that I’ve ever seen.

Difficulty-wise, I find it almost impossible. I’ve had to resort to using the invincibility cheat just to make it playable, and it could at least do the decent thing of being playable with Lori, but ultimately, that’s a small price to pay.

This pack clearly isn’t short of detail. The levels look like they took months to complete considering their size (50k+), and the insane levels of detail and animation. The ominous feeling is best experienced at 2AM, when it’s just you and the episode, especially the “Pride” level. You don’t know what true creepiness is until you try that.

Obviously, there are some less capable levels, but I find this is only true with the Mario-based levels. I, for one, find the “Hellfire” level unplayable thanks to the song alone (it induces hostility in the room, and can turn a player into a psychopath. Seriously guys, don’t ever use that song), but hey.

The star of the pack, for me, is the Phantasmagoria tileset. That is a must-have for anyone trying to make a dream level, since it’s just a big hodge-podge of places that Jazz has been before, and is a sure-fire way to make a good-looking dream level.

This pack nails an ultra-strong 9.5.

The original comment is now dead and gone. Please don’t ever remind me of the abusive comments that I posted.

This pack gets a revised rating of 5.5 from me, as a result of me being too heavy-handed.

Re-rated pack at 8, since it deserves that.

Removed heavy-handed comments. Don’t continue the discussion, please, that topic is over.

Re-rated pack at 6.2 due to my original brutality. That attack run is now dead and gone.

Removed original heavy-handed comment, and re-rated pack at 7.

Don’t bring up the now-dead subject of my heavy-handedness again, please, for everyone’s sake.

Original review was too heavy-handed. Pack re-rated at 6.

Please don’t ever bring the subject up again, for everyone’s sake.

Comment edited, original one was too heavy-handed.

Re-rated pack at 7.7.