Quick Review by jjturbo9

Posted:
11 Mar 2025, 13:23 (edited 13 Mar 25, 14:34)
For: Jungle Ultimate
Level rating: 10
Rating
10

Good tileset.

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
8 Mar 2025, 19:09 (edited 8 Mar 25, 19:14)
For: Astral Witchcraft
Level rating: 8.9
Rating
9

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!

RecommendedReview by DoubleGJ

Posted:
8 Mar 2025, 10:28
For: Diamondus Hike
Level rating: 6.2
Rating
5.5

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.

Quick Review by SmokeNC

Posted:
7 Mar 2025, 20:59
For: Spherical Coalesence
Level rating: 9.3
Rating
10

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

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
7 Mar 2025, 18:25
For: The Silenced Cathedral
Level rating: 9
Rating
9

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!

RecommendedReview by Violet CLM

Posted:
6 Mar 2025, 07:20
For: Diam Mountain duo-pack (2lvls, 4 Jazz mainly)
Level rating: 5.6
Rating
6

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.

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
5 Mar 2025, 19:42 (edited 5 Mar 25, 19:45)
For: A Titan, Ornery
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
9

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!

Not recommendedReview by DoubleGJ

Posted:
4 Mar 2025, 16:51
For: Diam Mountain duo-pack (2lvls, 4 Jazz mainly)
Level rating: 5.6
Rating
4

Well, I've seen worse first levels.

The layout feels largely incidental, very likely made up on the fly as the author was checking out what JCS can do. There's a sense of sections, where one concept is immediately dropped forever as another one comes up. This might be seen as a positive, as it technically keeps things fresh. However, given the nature of these gimmick, it doesn't feel intentional to me in any way, just classic "my first JJ2 level" shenanigans.

First section starts you off having to collect coins to progress, and you have to do this while falling. This is most likely why the level is supposedly "4 Jazz", but I played Lori who also has a copter ears move and even so I found it impossible to collect all of them on the first try (and you do need all of them). So you have to go back, and the method to do this feels counterintuitive, mostly because it's placed near a tree. JJ2 experience says the tree branches are one way platforms, but not this time, and it almost feels like intentional padding.

Here the player is thrown into what feels like JJGBA's shop intermissions, except everything is free. Worth noting is that this establishes that ammo is only provided in this level as part of puzzles and progression. I don't like this in general, as I feel utility is secondary to combat value for JJ2 weapons and should be mostly limited to secrets, but even aside from my personal preference this level does the cardinal sin of not respawning things necessary for progression. Instead, whenever there's a task you can fail, you're provided with suicide spots. Even in vanilla JJ2, there's a quicker and more elegant way to do this via CTF bases, so I'd recommend that next time if you don't want to delve into scripting just yet. Then again, JJ2+ death pits are easy to place even in JCS.

The next section I can only describe as things copied and pasted almost at random, just to fill space and play time. This is probably where jjturbo9 figured out how to copy things. The regular path is supposedly very hard, and well, it's not a cakewalk with all the bees, but you also get plenty of carrots and because these are the same repeating chunks of tiles you know what to do after you've climbed the trees once. As for the other path, I'm confused if the "secret" is a secret at all, given how obvious it is and that the level outright tells you about it twice. I guess not, since it's more or less assumed as necessary for the next section. The highlight here was having to get a Float Lizard to follow the player, and then avoiding smoke rings on the way up. I know I've seen this combination of ideas before, but not a lot.

It's at this point that the level uses the Sugar Rush mechanic as a means of progression. It's a novel idea, but because it's not scripted in any way, it doesn't do its job. Any character other than Jazz can just blast through, and even with Jazz it's entirely possible to tank enough hits to speed to the other side. Out of all the things in the level, this is where Angelscript would most come in handy.

The worst path though is the maze. On the technical side of things, it's actually the most impressive part of the level: generous use of new tiles, a frog puzzle that feels quite advanced for someone's first JJ2 level, and a decent sense of player jump height. However, all of this doesn't help that this is simply a maze through and through, something not very well suited for JJ2. If it was populated more interestingly, perhaps. But right now it's only a bit more palatable than Queen of Board (which sucks and I'm not open to discussion about it). The biggest problem is the concept of wrong turns. Sure, they're clearly marked. But it's still a ridiculous obstacle, with a punishment incommensurable with the kind of mistake you're doing. Furthermore, the Trigger Zones aren't properly placed – it's very easy to end up stuck in one of the appearing blocks, and then the only way out is cheats or level reload. Near the end, you get an option to backtrack. It's fool's gold. Whatever you might've missed, the level has so few items that it's definitely not worth having to go through the entire maze again to get back on track. A shortcut that opens up once the maze has been completed once would be nice.

And finally there's the boss arena. Is this a spoiler? There's no story, so I don't think so. The area is absurdly large considering the boss itself is stuck on a small platform. Well, at least you can't go so far away that the boss would despawn, so points for that I suppose. Miniscule ammo amounts in the level don't matter either, since you get the best powerup in the game just handed to you.

Now, as a final note, I'm not the type of person to complain that "you didn't use the tileset conversion that I'd worked so hard on, weeehhhhhhh" – but the yet another new Diamondus edit included with this level feels extremely superfluous. It's just FawFul's old edit with a few tiles changed, and most of them are really unnecessary. I recommend trying out the custom MLLE level editor, which lets you use vertically flipped tiles with a single key press; you wouldn't have to include every tile you're flipping in the tileset. You can also easily place a player character sprite onto the sprite layer and color it like a multiplayer skin however you'd like, it's just a few script lines! I know it feels impossibly hard at first, but it's really simple once you check out a few existing JJ2+ examples. Also, placing flowers on tree branches is certainly a… choice. Mistletoe, I guess?

jjturbo9, I hope my review and its rating doesn't discourage you from making more JJ2 levels. Rather, my intention is to give you an incentive to strive to be better, to learn more and especially learn from other custom levels. It's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock 'n' roll), but since you already went the extra mile to make your first level bigger and better designed than most first levels that land on J2O, I'm certain you can get even better!

RecommendedReview by abgrenv

Posted:
3 Mar 2025, 14:54 (edited 6 Mar 25, 11:17)
For: Diam Mountain duo-pack (2lvls, 4 Jazz mainly)
Level rating: 5.6
Rating
6.5

Uhm, you know you can't rate your own levels right? :D

Overall it's a pretty cool level, with some nice sections. Some complaints though, I don't know if it is to troll the player, or just an accident but the first text tells the player to follow the red arrows, otherwise the present is opened too soon. Obviously in this case it isn't an issue since you won't soft lock yourself, you'll just take 1 damage. But later you can get killed by trigger blocks locking you withing spikepits if you aren't sure the text advice was trolling you, or they accidentally wrote the incorrect color as information.

Also in the same area, it would have been nice to give a hint that the crate contains a green spring, since shooting it instantly (and instinctively) will force a restart since you'll have to kill yourself on the spikes since you can't get out of the area any more.

Other complaint. when you get to the "forest" area, the text tells you to go through the rabbit tunnel, said tunnel allegedly contains 96 food pickups. So you need 4 extra for sugar rush. You'll later get to an area, that can only be passed through while having sugar rush. Now the issue is, that you are supposed to get the rest from the forest area, which you skipped through the tunnel. Apparently it is supposed to contain 3 extra food pickups, the 4th one supposedly being right before the area that needs sugar rush. A helpful text is even there to advise you to pick up the 4th food item, after collecting the ones from the forest. You even have destructable blocks that make sure you don't pick up the 4th food item by accident (since you can only reach the area through a Float Lizard copter).
Now for the issue, I actually activated the sugar rush in the forest area, before picking up the 4th food item. So there are either more food items in the tunnel or the forest, or a more annoying issue, that being that dying, doesn't reset your food pickup count. Meaning that when I refused to go through the rabbit tunnel, I reached one of the food items in the forest and picked it up before dying. Therefore breaking the intended sequencing of the level.

Is it partially my fault? Sure, but not going through the tunnel to avoid the forest isn't even a big deal. You go through a bunch of bees, but the respawn timer is actually generous, and you even get a sufficient amount of health pickups. So technically the area is completely passable without avoiding it, especially considering that you have to go there regardless anyway.

So yeah, some sequences can work in an unintended way, which will make the experience a bit worse.

Other than that, it's a decent level, a bit standard apart from some scripting and unique sequences but definitely fun to play.

Edit: just noticed the uploader claiming it isn't the first level from him, I gave the 7.5 with the context of the level being the first creation of the uploader, with that in mind, I'll slightly reduce the score

Review by jjturbo9

Posted:
3 Mar 2025, 12:30 (edited 26 Mar 25, 23:14)
For: Diam Mountain duo-pack (2lvls, 4 Jazz mainly)
Level rating: 5.6
Rating
N/A

I'd give it a 10 but sometimes the tiles don't connect perfectly visually. I changed such visual imperfections so many times I'm okay with the few that are still in the level. Maybe I'll fix it later but the level is complete other than that in my opinion. So a 9.6!!!

EDIT01: I edited the visual imperfections and it's a 10 now within the limits of not using angel script. Maybe that's why 9.5 is still a good rating, a turbo 9! ;) I don't miss anything in the level though, so no angel script needed, but I still think it could be cool. I also might have missed a detail, although I think I fixed it all. But just to be safe I don't give my own level a 10.

EDIT02: I also played the level with a controller (more difficult for me) and realized one part would be too difficult for normal difficulty, so I added two save posts. If someone already downloaded and reviewed the old version they got a pm of the change. But I changed it an hour after the initial upload. Now the level is perfect and it's solvable with just using a controller only, from start to finish. I'll leave the rest of the reviews to others, I'm done with it (except playing the level and making/watching a YT video about it probably)

EDIT03 It's really finished now with the 2nd level added. Last time I still improved things after uploading, but this time I had some more experience to make less mistakes. So although 1 fix or 2 might happen, I don't think much is needed. A 9.6 and after I recorded a run-through video for YT and upload it I might have to fix some things, it might get a 9.9 or 10.

EDIT04 On a final note, I'm fine with the overal score right now. AngelScript is also added so it's better although the process of making it was a bit more difficult. That might affect my score a little bit, it's now just an 8.7 imo. The average score shouldn't get lower so I closed the reviews for now. I expected around a 7 although my own rating is higher, but sometimes you get rated lower than you expect and it's fine. I'm already happy it's not lower.

RecommendedReview by lachampinionia

Posted:
2 Mar 2025, 22:32
For: Episode One: The Invasion of Deserto
Level rating: 9.1
Rating
10

Friends this is my very first time playing a fanmade level of JJ2. AND I LOVE IT.

I play JJ2 since ¿2005? but it's only now that I am diving in this beatiful community.

I played a couple of levels of this episode, and I had to stop to come write this review. This is truly awesome, it reminds me of Dune and I'm going crazy with joy right now. Friends today I regain my childhood. Thank u so much

I totally recommend this episode and totally plan on play the entire series
Congrats and thanks again! <3

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
2 Mar 2025, 10:43
For: Titan Armory
Level rating: 8.9
Rating
9.5

Now this is a duel level that manages to pay tribute to the clear source of influence while being also very original on its own in terms of layout and visuals. It is everything but a remake of the original. I would dare to say that this is even the ultimate battle duel level for me or at least very close to it. Despite its small size, there is potential for slightly bigger games here as well, although a crowded JDC event could quickly start to feel overcrowded.

To elaborate, Titan Armory is a duel level that enables insanely fast gameplay in battle duels, where every room and corner of the level has its risks and benefits. The level flow may take time to get used to, but once fully learned it should be possible to move around the level at ease, although a couple of spots feature a quirkier flow that are always challenging to all players.

So is there any space to hide in and think for a moment or play defensively? Not really. I counted that there are a total of 2 spots that are only slightly more covered from open fire, but even those are still not completely risk-free. In other words, this is a level where offense is the best defense and I really mean it. Is that a good thing? In my opinion that is a great thing, considering how campy battle duels can often get in other levels, but I understand that not everyone may think the same way.

Relatively fast respawn times of pickups mean that it is difficult to maintain full control of the level, but players with a strong offense will be hard to counter here regardless. Basically the faster you maneuver in the level, the harder you are to kill, but it also requires that your maneuvers are meaningful. Basically you need to be on a constant move and think of counter-moves at the same time to survive and eventually out-maneuver your opponent.

The tubes that surround the level are the key to victory in most cases, as they not only give you quick access to higher ground and counter-play, but you also gain quick vision of around 30-50% of the level to better locate your enemy. Didn't spot your enemy while at the tube? Then they're most likely on the other side!

RF weapon enables fast turns in movement by its recoil (and RF climb maneuvers in a few spots), which further boost the gameplay speed here. The downside of the flow here is that it heavily favors Spaz, while players using Jazz/Lori will fall behind in terms of maneuver.

The level's visuals are also a great upgrade compared to the influencer, Triton Armory, as MLLE has enabled us to further mix tilesets and increase the depth of level backgrounds. That part has also been executed really well here, as there are no spots that feel too empty eyecandy-wise and yet nothing is too distractive.

So by that I conclude that this was clearly my favorite battle level of the year 2024 and one of my all-time favorites from PJ (but I have many of those xP). While one may think that a small battle level cannot be better than a large one with lots of different features and varying visuals, I tend to think of the level as a whole, and in this case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Download and playing highly recommended!

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
2 Mar 2025, 09:28
For: Saline Shores
Level rating: 9.1
Rating
9

PurpleJazz strikes again, but this time with more than just a pinch of salt (a shoreful of it)! xP

Puns aside, I think this one is yet another solid CTF level by PJ. It features a theme that is well executed and original to some degree, although I have to admit that there are two other levels that this level reminds me of in terms of layout traits and visuals; Vanilla Shores and Sand Castle. Perhaps those two were a source of inspiration/influence here? Just guessing.

I suppose the level isn't exactly duel-compatible due to its fairly large size, especially within the horizontal dimension. Judging by the looks of it, 3v3 games should work just fine here, although I haven't got to try that yet. It was definitely a fun level to play in JDC events though. Some spots around the upper parts of the level seem like they have some camping potential in them, but nothing that would be impossible to counter.

Overall I think the gameplay in the level flows well, with a balanced amount of open and closed areas. Even around the more closed areas there is sufficient space between different platforms, so the level does not feel too cramped or awkward to move in anywhere. Though I have to admit that since there are a lot of similar looking platforms throughout the level, there is some potential in getting disoriented flow-wise. But not that it would be a severe issue.

Otherwise, the level features neat visuals that make especially the background unique. I think the weapon choices are also well-thought and support a balanced gameplay, together with the reverse bouncers and boomerangs as the custom extras here. I am very much looking forward to play more games in here overall! Good job PJ!

Quick Review by minmay

Posted:
2 Mar 2025, 01:37
For: Koen D is JARIG!
Level rating: 6.7
Rating
N/A

Joke levels can be hard to review, so I'll just say that some parts were dull and some were funny. My favorite moment was slooowly pushing a box while a trigger rock inexorably rolled towards me.

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 22:15
For: Twilight River
Level rating: 9.5
Rating
9.5

2024 was quite the year for high quality CTF levels (and certainly battle too)! It was also a strong year for Dragusela and I think the strongest one from him so far! While there may be a certain bias from me towards my fellows in XLM, I genuinely think this is the most successful CTF level from Dragusela yet!

Since this is a fairly big level, it may not be suitable for duels (haven't tried yet), but the layout is still very solid and balanced which should allow enough room for versatile gameplay overall. I know it took quite some testing and effort to get the flow and balance right, but the result was clearly worth it! The flow has been optimized close to perfect, besides a few minor issues here and there. The level contains also multiple landmarks to ease learning and navigating in the level despite its size.

And boy does the level look pretty! The three main tilesets, Psych, Beach and Castle are blended perfectly together. The river, reflections, trees, mountains, clouds all tweaked to perfection in the aerial view. The only nitpick I have is that some of the key components were recycled from recent levels, mainly xlmthurism I guess. But the result is outstanding nevertheless.

With that said, I think you should definitely give this level a try in case you haven't yet! I am also looking forward to playing more games here in the near future. Well done Dragusela!

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 17:28
For: The World Spear
Level rating: 9.5
Rating
9.5

In 2024 there were a lot of high quality CTF levels produced throughout the year. However, I think this was clearly, albeit not overwhelmingly, my favorite CTF level of the year. The World Spear features a unique layout and characteristics that really make it distinguishable from the rest, combined with fast gameplay and top-notch visuals.

The only minor complaint I have, is that the flow could be slightly more optimized in a few places like for example around the full carrot. But by now I am able to find my way around it, so probably not worth modifying. Perhaps some of the areas also feel deceptively empty visually, but that is probably due to the high amount of contrast between the solid walls and the background walls. Since some of the previous levels by Warren have had too distractive eyecandy in some places, I definitely prefer it this way.

Although The World Spear is essentially a level made for team games, I've even played duels there, which seem to work just fine as well. Those little extras like the opening label, custom sprites for springs and the mascots next to CTF bases combined with a unique layout and inspiring visuals make this level a true phenomenon of its own. Download very recommended!

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 16:02
For: Diamondus Ultimate
Level rating: 9.7
Rating
9.5

As the name suggests, this is truly the ultimate mashup of the classic JJ2 Diamondus, Diamondus Beta and beyond. When I made Thunder Cliffs with this tileset, I found it so versatile that it was sometimes quite difficult to find the exact combination of tiles that I was looking for, eventhough I knew that it was there in most cases. Sometimes I even had to consult DoubleGJ personally to figure out how to link certain tiles together, but in the end everything was doable with relatively low effort.

The example level is also really nice, combined with its many scripted features that I had overlooked before. Those scripted features and the Diamondus Funk music track give quite some extra spice to the level itself, which make it much more exciting gameplay-wise compared to an average example level with minimal effort to describe the basic usage. I would consider rating the level alone something between an 8.5 and a 9 for my tastes, but of course combined with the tileset the whole is much more than that. Double Good Job (pun intended)!

RecommendedReview by Superjazz

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 09:23 (edited 1 Mar 25, 19:20)
For: Marbel Prize
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
8

I'm not exactly sure how I should review a JJ1 level, as I had never played a custom JJ1 level prior to this one. Even the previous time I played JJ1 at all was years ago. But I am amazed by how modern technology makes it possible to play JJ1 even with custom levels and especially on a web browser! If that wasn't the case here, maybe I wouldn't have even bothered to pay the effort to get JJ1 installed along with Dosbox, etc. Also as I have minimal memory of what the official Marbelara levels looked like or how they played out, I can't really compare this one to them, but I'll just review it as a standalone level.

On to the level, it seems like the level gives enough room for the player to roam around and explore different areas with creatively placed secrets, as typical to a JJ1 level. Maybe some of the &amp;quot;indoor areas&amp;quot; were even slightly closer to the official JJ2 levels by design, which impressed me.

While playing JJ1 after a while, I definitely was not used to the slippery controls and restricted vision in the game, and I found myself dying quite a lot especially in the beginning. Luckily the level offers plenty of save points and carrots to give a chance to the player to survive throughout the level, especially on lower difficulty levels (I played on medium).

I suppose the level visuals are quite standard to a JJ1 level or maybe even slightly improved from that, I cannot tell for sure. But just saying that I find the level also visually pleasant and nothing is especially bothering me about it. Although the level is relatively big to enjoy the gameplay for a while (I don't know what are limits of how big a JJ1 level can be?), the fun often ends rather suddenly. But this was also certainly an interesting experience!

Are you a fan of JJ1? If so, then this is for sure worth a try for you as well!

Review by Superjazz

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 08:42
For: Good Morning Turtleville!
Level rating: 7
Rating
7

Good morning Jazz2Online (at least at the timing of writing this review)! I had a go at this level a few weeks back and quite soon after entering into the level, I found out that it is a vanilla SP level with a fairly classic style gameplay. What in my opinion was not quite as classic, was the way the level environments changed suddenly by unexpected warps, but I got used to it by some point and managed to find my way around the level.

The level is also just pleasant to look at, although nothing is exceptionally visually outstanding. I don't typically create or play a lot of levels using Townhouse tileset, so I'm a bit unfamiliar with the standards, but at least it seems like the background skyscrapers are done with care and there are even some shapes that seem original. The only thing is that some of the horizontal layer speeds seem too fast, as is the case with many classic levels using Townhouse.

Maybe the level is a bit too platformy for my tastes, especially considering those thin floating platforms on the air. But strangely enough I did like some of those trigger crate puzzles around the level, even with the mile-long vine-hanging areas. I suppose overall this is around the average quality you could expect from a vanilla level and it was worth the try for me. I guess whether or not you'll like it depends a lot on what you expect from the level, so to whomever is reading this, consider giving this one a try as well!

Review by abgrenv

Posted:
1 Mar 2025, 01:31
For: Koen D is JARIG!
Level rating: 6.7
Rating
6

A decent level, going a bit overboard with the difficulty and trolling. Certain parts are fine, but I really hate the reliance on buttstomp jumping through respawning Floating Suckers. Also, the area with the bumpers, I literally had to use the fly cheat, because not matter how I timed it, the moving platform you are supposed to use, to get above the flipper bumpers, always passed through me, like it wasn't a solid platform, so add that to the irritating sections of this map too. Other than that, it's a fine level. Slightly too overreliant on buttstomp jumping over spike pits for my taste. Take it or leave it.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 1305