Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Definately the greatest pack in NA series. Both the eyecandy and gameplay have been improved dramatically since snz’ previous packs. Some have very interesting visual designs with the chosen tilesets; King of the Clouds, Hornet Hive, The Curse in particular. The levels were also very fun to play, and that is what really counts. A well deserved 9!

New Ages III was uploaded some time ago, last spring if I remember right. The waiting time has been long since from what we know Snooze from, is the small amount of time which he requires to create a level. I have to admit this level pack came a bit out of the bushes, as it first looked like Snooze was creating and uploading single levels until the last month or so. So even this pack came out with a quick progress, and the quality is even better than the previous New Ages-packs.

These levels draw you into themselves with their original and interesting atmospheres and looks. No level does really feel boring to play because the atmosphere and eyecandy, eventhough some levels just might feel a bit emptier because they are such ‘outdoor’ levels. The author took the effort to create you entertaining environments with pretty limited sets, and that is something that has been accomplished here well. As an example take the ‘Hornet Hive’ (naivbtl05) that uses Woodlands set by Blade. Basically I don’t have anything to complain about in the eyecandy, although it might not be superior in every level.

The gameplay in this pack is quite high-quality as well. The pack includes the earlier uploaded singles which are; ‘The Curse’ and ‘Steam Machine + Landscape.’ Most levels have a simple layout and design, and that way the levels aren’t hard to navigate and are easy to learn. The level sizes and spaces are also variable. The levels are that way quite versatile, as they can fit duels, while also some bigger games. No level here is giant though, so I recommend not to play anything bigger than 4vs4 though.

There are a few exceptions though. While ‘DDRR’ is a nice castle-themed and medium-big sized battle level, the gameplay reminds me about Blade’s old Battle-levels, especially since the tileset used is by Blade himself. The design is just a bit too random, and the level contains too much of holes, easy camp-spots/dead ends. Some levels including this, don’t have that smooth flow either. although I really like when the level requires jumping and isn’t filled with springs, this just feels too much like those Sandstrand ‘O Hazes-levels too. Played a 3vs3 TB here and that proved my thoughts quite right.

‘Neufrlagar’ uses Agama’s Egypt, and while the level looks neat and feels like another decent duel/2vs2 map, it also feels that some areas are just empty and don’t have a real purpose or use. I’m sorry I couldn’t have mentioned this earlier, because I always saw this level as unfinished only and wasn’t sure about the progress. However, this is neither nothing too serious, but it drops the fun-factor a bit.

What I find fun is how the levels also have secret passages and things or tricks you might not find out the first time you play. This is something what the newer level-makers don’t usually do. After all these are like ‘Dream’-levels that can contain anything and be very unrealistic, though sometimes things are just overdone a bit. Personally I also feel that some levels like ‘DDRR’ and ‘The Curse’ don’t have the very perfect music choices, but who am I to tell that alone.

So, 5 battles, 4 CTF’s. A bunch of levels to try and play, huh? Myself I prefer the CTF-levels, since I am for now a bit more familiar with them and they fit the best for duels. This is definitely download of the month so far, and most levels are bash-quality. Well done Snooze! Download!

SJ

I like this level. It seems original,the layout is simple but good,so is the gameplay. Tileset is good.

A very uniquely designed level. Powerups and carrots are superbly placed. Perhaps the level’s most unusual feature is the area at the top, somewhat isolated from the rest of the level; it contains a lot of RF ammo and (of course) a seeker powerup.
It’s unfortunate that there are so many easily campable areas, however.

Its a good level with WTF set. when i first saw this, i didnt know what to think of the moving white dots and the huge waterfalls, so glad you fixed them. the level still feels weird, probably because of the name, layout and music choice.

I would say its not sj’s best level overall, but its still very high quality.

Snooze: People are very frequently requesting that I upload my levels to J2O. Seriously. And if anything, the fact that I’m unsure of its quality is even more reason to upload it; I can learn what to improve.

“im not really sure about this one”

then why the hell do you upload these?

Fun level

some tiles have low quailty ( or detail) …

Ragnarok wanted more reviews for this, and I can see why. The level pretty much oozes polish and quality.

The level is notable for taking advantage of JJ2+‘s capability to have very long respawn times, as well as initial spawn delays. It’s also notable for not abusing said capability.

It’s a fairly typical level aside from that. Powerups, carrots, and ammo are all well-placed. Pits are present, but they honestly feel like they were added for flavor rather than gameplay reasons.

One unusual feature is the seeker powerup that can only be obtained by those with a sugar rush. Whether anyone will ever actually get it or not is anyone’s guess.

The level’s primary selling point is definitely its visuals. It is excellently and consistently decorated throughout, with quite a few creative methods of tileset usage.

What really caught me, though, was the level’s general lack of flaws. There are no usable camping spots, no spammable weapons, nothing of the sort.

Overall, this is a rare gem of a level, and should be treated as such.

cool!

The tileset looks all right, but it’s entirely lacking in extra decoration. Besides the token background hills and precious few “variety” tiles, there’s nothing of the sort, in fact. Hence, any level created with it will be terribly bland, and so I cannot really give this a download recommendation, but it deserves a decent score for effort.

I’ve always wanted a conversion from this set. Usability is just a bit edgy, otherwise I love it, it’s hard to be too flashy with it though. Still love it.

Decent conversion, but too many tiles missing, not enough freedom and way too many frames for animations. Also no textured background? Order isn’t that good either. There’s also some color changes from the original

the only thing these tilesets are good in are the graphics. with a bit more effort they could be less limited, please try to think of more crucial tiles.

nice… very good tileset…
it have vines hooks and h-pole v-pole with two types
BUT IT HAVENT MORE TILES:
Cactus, Computers, Beds in Base, ETC…

Tileset is GOOD…
But im not want set rating…
[EDITED] hmmm…
i think this tileset looks like weirdry…
But working is good! ~Crazy Rabbit aka Chameleon

Cooldude gonna crazy!
He set rating: 1.0 to minigolf without reason!
And he set rating: 10.0 and said STUPID words…
I think he is big noob in JJ2…

Level design is fairly solid for the most part, however many of the levels (DiamB levels in particular) feel dull and lifeless and a lot of the pack in general just screams “devres wannabe”

Versatile and nice-looking for the most part, but some things, most notably the second set of destruct blocks, are pretty poorly done, though that’s probably to be expected of something like an LMAT set.

It took me a while to decide how to approach reviewing this pack. As others have stated, its quality is…variable, to say the least. So I’ve decided to split the review into three sections: one on the levels I really like, one on the levels that are passable, and one on the levels that just don’t work. In that order, because it will make the ending that much funnier.

So, first. The best levels. Opinions vary, of course, but I’d say Technologized Sonicwaves, Pleased with Presents, and Hard Cheese qualify.

Technologized Sonicwaves is a very well-designed and well-constructed CTF level. It has few flaws if any, and is highly suitable for both duels and larger games. As with most such levels, however, there is not a lot to say about it.

Pleased with Presents is a battle level which I actually helped quite a bit with, as far as design decisions and balancing, although admittedly most of this was in its earliest stages. In particular, I am afraid that I am to blame for the belts. I beg forgiveness from anyone who has fallen into a pit because of them.
That aside, the level has a nice, learnable layout, and good eyecandy (although the background may be a bit too strange for its own good). Its biggest drawback is probably its inconsistent placement of Fly Off events – you can enter some indoor areas, but not others, while flying. Still, the level is fun to play in.

Hard Cheese is a simple, yet moderately unconventional, CTF level. It’s mostly horizontal, even moreso than most levels, and although you’d expect this to lead to a ton of awful bottlenecks, it actually works very well. I am not, however, especially fond of the eyecandy here – it feels like it was sort of thrown on in a rush, as the style is rather inconsistent.

Now, on to the levels that missed the proverbial mark in some way or another, but still manage to be (barely?) playable.

I’m going to start with Knight FurnFace. This is one of the most graphically striking levels ever made for JJ2, as the tileset lends itself to FawFul’s use extremely well. Unfortunately, this lovely eyecandy comes right back around and bites the level in its wrinkled 8-bit rump: it’s rather difficult to tell whether or not something is on layer 4 or 5 (or 3 and 2 in a few especially bad cases). This means lots of bumping into things and falling through things, probably into one of the level’s pits. Mercifully, a pitless version is included, but the level still requires memorization before it can be properly played.

Neglected Future is a level that, while nicely balanced and well-designed overall, has a lot of annoying quirks. I could describe them, but 30 seconds of playing will demonstrate.

Myopia is a level which suffers primarily from being too large for any fewer than 10 players, and even with 16 it feels rather too large, especially given the nature of its layout. If JJ2’s netcode were reworked (hey, BlurredD…wait, where are you going? BlurredD?) to support more connections, I have no doubt that this would make for some great 12vs12 games. But that hasn’t happened yet, so this level is not especially useful.

Radioactive is simply too boring to be given any more than an acknowledgement. Unlike pretty much every other level in the pack, there’s nothing unique about it, and when that’s added to the fact that it isn’t exceptionally well-made in the first place…

Alien Heart. This level has been played a lot, and I’m pretty sure that’s only by dint of there being so few Domination levels around. Although it’s playable, it’s not very enjoyable, especially with things like that seeker powerup…

Hideout Center I never got the chance to actually play, since Flag Run isn’t exactly the most popular gamemode around. It feels a bit too complicated for it, to be honest.

And now the part you’ve all probably skipped to: the bad levels. There’s just no excuse; they’re bad.

Favourite Park. Horrible usage of sucker tubes, and a limiting layout, combined with mediocre eyecandy.

8th Heaven could simply be described as an idea that seems good but isn’t. The towers make gameplay feel both limited and repetitive, and the pillars of light are downright silly.

Downtown Maze is pretty aptly named, because trying to navigate the level is like trying to navigate a maze. In other words, worst layout ever. Wait, no it isn’t; I forgot about…

Klassieker for the SnOOzE. I don’t like Snooze very much now, because if he hadn’t existed, we wouldn’t have to suffer this level. The bases are extremely close, the layout is small and very strange, and the level is terribly unbalanced – what were you THINKING with that seeker powerup?

Electric Factory…well, it’s not a serious level, and so shouldn’t be treated as such. I honestly can’t imagine anyone wanting to play it though.

But I’m basing my rating on the levels that ARE worth playing. And the pack is definitely worth downloading, just don’t be disappointed when the later levels don’t hold up to the standards set by the earlier ones.