Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

One of the better new levels lately. We had a lot of fun 2v2ing and 3v3ing in it. It looks horrible to duel in though (since you can basically just idle forever in the powerup corners in order to never die)

Perhaps quick review isn’t appropriate for this, but I think you deserve a perfect score. for creativity, versatility, and because the sonic inspiration/influence was amazing to see :)

Only bad thing here is that some very usable tiles, mostly transition/connector tiles are missing.

EDIT: I noticed the waterfalls in past ver.

This level suffers from one fatal flaw: there’s way too many carrots. Seriously, there’s at least one carrot every 6 or so tiles you move, meaning that it is practically impossible to die here, even on Hard. Aside from that, there’s not really much to say, aside from the bland eyecandy and overly linear level design. E+

I’ve seen these levels so many times and I regret the fact that snz doesn’t finish this pack. These are 3 excellent Single Player levels. While Dreamless had great levels too, snz has improved with making SP levels. I look forward to the project that he is working on. Anyway, I recommend these levels for everyone that likes Single Player.

How could I miss this, a level with several 9 or close to 9 ratings?

Desert Fight is, as far as I know, Laro’s debut in the JCS scene, and a decent one I may add. However, “decent” is about the epitome about what can be said about this level, for there are no real aspects about it that have a certain plateau of polish and charm to justify giving it such high ratings. This does not necessarily mean I consider the level bad in any shape or form; I just think it does not deserve the tremendous amount of praise it has received so far.

The name “Desert Fight”, while being decidedly generic, is descriptive enough for this level – it’s set in a desert, and you’re going to fight here. Oasis was a good choice for this level, and is used adequately to create the environment one would expect to find in a desert. However, I found the level looking rather unnatural in places:

Yes, that’s right. Straight aka “squared-off” edges are ever present in this level. I don’t generally have a problem with this if the level has a theme which justifies the use of more regular patterns, such as an indoor technology based theme. Here, seeing so many straight edges just makes this level feel “forced”. I mean, tell me how many times you have seen a cave or cliff overhang with a perfect, smooth edge like that? It’s almost as if someone carved the level out of a colossal slab of stone. Speaking of which, an overview in JCS shows that it is highly probable that Laro created a simple box first, and then built the layout inside it. Is that really a good idea though, to confine your thoughts to within a box? He seems to have thought so.

It’s not exactly an easy task to see what Laro was trying to accomplish with the visual design here. From a first glance, it seems as if he was trying to make a barren desert environment, in comparison with other levels with this set which make much more liberal use of aspects such as the buildings and the palm trees. I prefer the subtle approach he takes to the eyecandy in that regard, from what he was trying to create. However, the “artificialness” of the structural design counteracts this ideal, so it ends up being a useless move, only making the level feel somewhat bland. A real desert would look curved and jagged, so why not at least attempt to make the level like that? Fortunately, this is MP so I can somewhat overlook that while I’m playing, but I still consider the general appearance of this level somewhat lazy. Meh.

Seeing as this level was an entry for jjnet’s duel contest, the gameplay here deserves more of a sharp focus. The design is basically somewhat diagonally based, with an emphasis on uphill climbing. This is generally a very risky design choice, because at most any given time, the player with height over another player is usually at an advantageous situation. Surprisingly, the balance here is met quite well. While I think there might be a slight favour towards red due to having more immediate access to both carrots, the blue has the advantage of having a much less exposed base, and a quick escape route via the RF PU and copter. Also, the lack of a Bouncer PU eases the bias somewhat. The two PUs which do exist, RF and Toaster, compliment each other well in this level, and both come in handy in many situations, ie chasing your opponents on the long straight corridors with RF and defending the bases with a flood of fire from Toasters. The middle section of the level, aka the no-mans land, will see heavy usage, for it is the central hub connecting the rest of the level together. It is quite open; not as open as something like Distopia but still could be annoying to navigate if the server lags. Fortunately, the lack of a Seeker PU does remedy this – the number one cause of airs in a server. However, expect Toaster spam there now and again. It isn’t that much of an issue, but just be careful. At least the items are well spread out, meaning just about every area in this level will get some use.

The carrot situation is alright, but not perfect. They’re both placed fairly equidistant from eachother in comparison with the bases. As I’ve said already, the red team can reach either one of them slightly quicker than the blue team, due to having to make nothing but a simple drop, whereas blue has to make a couple of tricky jumps in order to reach them. This can prove quite an advantage for red at moments, as being able to make a fast escape from the base after being hit while you’re RTS while the enemy is being RTS. Blue team does have the copter for quick access to the left carrot; assuming it has spawned that is. Speaking of the left carrot, it suffers from the same problem as the left carrot in BBswing – you cannot check to see if it has spawned without taking the risk and looking yourself, as it is obscured by the foreground. While the hole it is in can be shot with EB to check if it is there (it will fall), I still dislike having to randomly check if it has spawned or not – I should be able to tell for sure by seeing it. In duels, carrot control will be a vital aspect in this level, as it is for the BB duo. So far many of the reviewers have stated that it is impossible to camp them successfully. This is true to an extent, although due to them being placed on almost a straight line, it is possible to run back between them with relative ease, dominating the control over the level. Shooting down the left carrot helps with this.

Would I recommend this? Yes and no. While there is nothing particularly outstanding or innovative about this level, and it does have a couple of annoying flaws, I can imagine many players these days will enjoy the gameplay it provides, which is reminiscent of many popular levels. I did find it somewhat amusing to play in after all.

If you’re into online play at the moment, try it and see what you think.

EDIT: To be fair you did improve this level a bit, so it’s only fair I increase the rating.

Nice lvl :)

This will be my first review, but I think it’s worth it. First things first:

Eyecandy: 8.7
Nice and simple use of the tileset, the thing doesn’t feel too full or too empty, it feels just right. Nothing special, but the point isn’t making it flashy. If it looks and it feels cool, then it’s cool.

Layout: 9.5
This is the level’s strongest element. It’s really well balanced, not too complex, not too simple. Just right. Flow is great, very easy to move around, except a few platforms here and there which you’ll need some practice to get perfect every time (which is why I don’t give it a 10 here).

Pickups: 9.5
All weapons are placed exactly where they are supposed to. It’s not too one-sided since there are only two power ups (RF and toaster). The carrots are very wisely placed, and it’s almost impossible to camp at them. Yet some weapon pickups aren’t enough to make them selves useful, like the few bouncers in the bottom center. Everything is well balanced though, which overall gives this a sweet score.

Overall: 9

Download recommendation…? Hell yeah. This is just as good as some of the most famous levels in my opinion.

Dueling here feels familiar. It has the great flow of Distopia, but without all the carrot camping. The two carrots make it feel like bbswing, too. If you like dueling in these two levels, you’ll love this one.

It’s a great level for 2v2. Tactically it’s pretty sweet, since there are many routes to get from point A to point B, some more risky but more rewarding, some less. Good flow and balance.

3v3’s… Well, I attempted it, and it feels a little small for it. If you like action though, 3v3’s are very fast-paced here, it just feels like there are too few power ups for it.

To conclude, this is an excellent level for tourneys and small events, I’d love to see it make it to the duel tournament.

Edit: Due to the recent edits, I raised my score a bit and slightly edited the review.

I’m also not agree with “10.0” of Starcraft lord…… the lvl is too messy, i can’t find myself…

@ThunderWalker

“End level bug: -0.5”

Me and my 2 friends who tested this lvl encountered no bugs…. This is a problem with YOUR JJ2 client, sorry.
Altough i changed the exit like you said, putting “end” on the “next level” string…

Ehh…This is the best Single Player pack without any store?! And this deserves 10.0 (EvilMike’s episodes are the best, ofc, but they are with story. If you want make a levels for SP, I have a story :)… ) Download recommendation? YES

Verry nice eyecandy. The gameplay is good, because of the coin collecting you cant rush levels. Still there are some minor things I dont like about these levels like bats suddenly coming out of walls or verry hard to evade spikes. Gameplay should be balanced between verry carefull and rushing so you wont get both too much (Imo).

I promised to review so here I am. Level looks nice. Eyecandy is good, and game play is too. I would like to play this level in Duel Tournament v2.0 . Eyecandy was bad, imo, but you fixed it, and now looks a lot better. Keep making levels and you will get better and better and … :)

Alright, I just played this with hard mode and I played this with Jazz.

Gameplay:
The gamepaly is very good and very challanging (atleast on hard mode) I like the way you must get coins in order to finish the level, I don’t know what happen when you get into 100 one though. :P

Eyecandy:
Awesome, and well used, all I can say.

Music:
Good music choices.

I can’t wait when this is fully finished, I hope it will have a good storyline too! :)

It’s recommanded if you want to have some great challanging fun.

And xSnooze, for now, have a 9 rate well deserved, and goodluck with your project.

-Laro B. aka Laro24

I need real Muckamuk (Muckamok?) conversion…
But It isn’t bad too…

Good, but some effects (especially spaz :P) more red in evening and night.
I waited more blue more yellow… :)
And you didn’t add some background :)
But good again :D

Just… Yes!

Small and pretty ^^

I like “Thrax” level because this is easier than others :P
You must play!

Eyecandy couldnt be more perfect, ammo placements are ok, there are only two pu’s, toaster and RF, other pu’s (expecialy bouncy) would probably be way too overpowered, i managed to find two RF climb spots (one at each base) which are really usefull so that u can run away right after u get the flag, its a lot faster than taking fucked up springs, gameplay is pretty good duels 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3 are all possible, map is neither too small or too big, C placements are ok, its rly hard to make a good lvl with two c’s, few fastfires which is also nice. With a lot of things fixed, this map is actually pretty good.

I like this level nice