Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

[takes a squeaky-hammer to Dorian] I wanted to be the first to review this! Augh. T_T; [ahem] Anyway…

Introduction:
Like a Diamondous in the rough, this piece finds itself unburied from the sands of time. But does it shine in the sky? Or is it simply an immature piece of coal? Let’s find out.

Song Analysis:
As far as I can tell, it basically goes like this. fod took the Jazz Jackrabbit 2 arrangement of “Diamondous” and heavily arranged it into what he considered a “funk” style. While it does indeed sound like “funk,” or “jazz,” there just seems to be no real flair to it like with his other stuff. Almost like he didn’t try as hard with this one. Needless to say, I’m kind’a disappointed…

Sample Analysis:
As usual, all samples are clear and true with no noticable graininess.

Final Analysis:
Mm… I’m kind of disappointed with this one, fod… I’m sorry to say, but I really am. As mentioned, this more or less sounds like a simple rearrangement of “Diamondus” from Jazz Jackrabbit 2. And that’s it. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting here, but this wasn’t really it… It’s still Jazz to me(the genre, I mean), but it doesn’t have that flair of absolute awesomeness that your “Hell Freezes Over” remix had.(In case you couldn’t tell, I really, really liked that remix.)

Score: 5.0
“Insert Aladdin Reference Here” Points: 0.7
Total Score: 5.7

Recommendation?:
As Dorian said, you don’t regret this download in the least. Just don’t expect much as far as changes go.

Miscellanious Note of the Moment:
Considering this is the first truly bad(read: “average”) review I’ve given to fearofdark, I’d say he’s doin’ just fine. Heh heh.

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The “Simon Cowell” of Jazz 2 Online‘s Music Scene… Joseph Collins
“Doc Lithius” or “LithiuServer” on Jazz 2

this is some nice piece of work just like the other works made by FOD. i like this funky tune especiely becouse diamondus is really a nice tune and i think that what was made in this fine piece just puts out the best out of diamondus i also very like the melody made by the sax, it’s relly nice tune and of course i recommend this download, belive me that you won“t regret it.

Short review:

The song sounded very futuristic. The song would be great for a future or pinball level. I disagree with Danyjel about the size. I think 300KB is rather OK for a music size since some are 1000KB or more. Take my Labrat remix for example, that song is over 700KB and uses 20 channels and didn’t see Danyjel complain about that. This song uses 12 which is about the average for an S3M file. I like the beat samples used which can also be used for other people who want to make future mixes. Some of the samples used is the tune are also quite useful.

I dislike that sampling between patterns 24 to 27. Also, the song can be too repetitive (eg, the repeating notes used mainly in channels 1 to 4 are used to often) but the rest seems to be OK.

GOOD POINTS:

Pinball/futuristic style
Reasonable size
Usefull samples
Good Beat

BAD POINTS:
Bad sampling
Repetitive

RATING: 7.2
RANK: 7 Good
DOWNLOAD: Yes

Hello, it must have been actually a while again from my previous review when I had that “review-fewer” and got to finish a whole two reviews. Anyway, The Chasm, by Blackraptor of OLC, has a quality of very high gameplay and other and being a genre of the LRS-type, which just remains to be an underused one from people that aren’t belonging to the JDC staff for instance. Seeing a piece of it in a somewhat private server awoke me and made me evil. Evil enough to review the level by now.

Wherever you travel in the level, you’re mostly having a really neat vision around. All layers were used, and to bring a nice look for the entire sprite-layer, all of the foreground layers were used along with the sprite layer.
The three layers in front of sprite did their job anyway. I think there isn’t really anything that would fit as a separated foreground-eyecandy to the level. It could just make things look confusing. Blacky added a nice amount of stuff here and there within the lava, and still not blocking the vision to the players moving there, and showing that there actually IS LAVA. I’m just pleased that the sprite layer was focused a lot after all too.
The background is a very amazing part of the level also. It’s already hilarious to see what kind of tile the author used as a tile for the background, which does fit it perfectly in texture mode. The other background-layers, 6 and 7, have both old and new stuff involved and they are moving in a nice velocity to opposite directions horizontally.
But an impressive bonus is the layer 5 definitely. The black caves do end to linear, sharp edges, unfortunately, but Epic just did not design the tileset for this kind of eyecandy. At least I am not distracted by it a lot, especially when I would be playing a game there. The dripstones look good as they are. The advanced use of lightning give extra atmosphere for people who use ambient lightning. Only what I wished was tweaking the kinda black walls with a little more decent details…especially in the top-left region. I did like the blinking figures by the way, as well the tall Stalagmite in middle.

The level offers both solid and separate platforms. At times the level is a little bit like mountain-hiking with springs as help, but the level being wide with suitable amount of routes to places makes the level really exotic.
Spaz is being biased on some spots of the level. However, what would levels become in case all was focused on both-character friendliness? I don’t want to say. And still Jazz got quite and advantage at the left side of the level to land from high safely to the ground, meanwhile Spaz has to watch out a little where to fall.
Also the level being a Last Rabbit Standing-type gives a pressure during fighting right above the lava for instance.
A useful spot is the launcher in middle. You can fly yourself to left or right cavern. In case your at low health you could choose right which is a good place to hide with cure involved it seems. You may also bring ice from the small hole at top-left for the spring and go into the tube that will randomize a destination of two choices for you. Too bad both of them are quite close to each other.

The amount of ammo is quite alright. I have a thought the level could have larger groups of single ammo, especially if thinking of the amount of players in the begin. Then again it’s more exciting when you’re just slowly collapsing your opponents one by one, not crushing all at once with infinite overwhelming seekers.
The level includes a powerup of gun2, gun5, gun6, and gun9. As a tiny tile-masking bug, I could get stuck when sidekicking towards the wall at the gun9-PU.
Food is also included…kind of few. Probably to make some places to look even less dull. At your final life of 3 you will get a shield within yourself including 15 seconds of usage-time.

The level is entirely fantastic. Good the author decided to (finish?) and upload the level during the begin of JDC-season. It is a definite one to be counted in for an LRS-, or multiple-event.
Just a tip for the non-knowing; wherever you see lava, just do not touch it.

I’m sure I spent nearly 3 hours for reviewing the level, and admit it was a hard time for me deciding what order I’m going to go through things with the review, etc. Please do rate it and review the level yourself too. There’s not much time until it disappears from the downloads first page.
From me, the level gets a 8.7 and an extremely recommended download-recommendation. Well done Blacky!

-Sj

Rating Crypt:

Rating:
Not the best tileset I’ve ever seen. It is almost 100% brown and pretty hard to use.

The example-level is also bad. Good example levels are small Single Player-levels with enemies. On that way I can see how I must use the tileset.

But the orginality is not bad. I have never seen a JJ2-tileset into a crypt.

Conclusion:
Despite the orginality this tileset is still one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Too brown, too inpractical and no good example-level.
So, I can’t give you any higher than a 1. Sorry.

Mark: 1,0
Download recommendation: NO!
(Rating removal. While J2O does allow you to give ratings significantly different from the average, the policy requires that you support your position in somewhat more detail than is required for an average review, as you have more to prove than simply “I agree with everyone else”. In any case, your points basically amount to “this tileset is brown” and “I’m not sure how to use it”, the latter of which is weird because the tileset is mostly large blocks without much assembly required… meanwhile, basing ratings on example levels is forbidden. ~Violet)

Quick review, as I promised.

The level is way too empty. To make you sure that I don’t lie, this image could help.

It’s also kind of unbalanced. The main problem is in flow, this kills the level. PU placement is good, not the same with rest of ammo. Eyecandy is okay, but could be even better. It’s medium size level, maybe optimal for 2v2s. I don’t like the level much.

[Rating (5) clearance. There was no actually explained support given for the rating. Why does the flow kill the level? Why is the eyecandy okay? ~Cooba]

Cool!

Unfortunately, the palette sucks. But that’s your first conversion, so… better than nothing. Also, this is the first Fanolint conversion ever (Ice Wolf made one, but it sucked, cuz it had no animations). There are also enemies! I also planned to convert Fanolint. If I could rate it, I would give it a 6.5.

PS: I’m making a Deckstar conversion. When I try to build it in JCS, there’s an error message saying that the tiles/mask file (I don’t know which one) cannot be opened. Anyone knows a solution? Send me a PM fast.

I would like it if you made a 1.23 version. Then i’ll make a propper comment.

Theming and Eyecandy – 5 out of 5

There could be entire paragraphs written on just the eyecandy here, but I will keep it short. The eyecandy here is the best eyecandy ever made in a Damn level, period. The amount of detail is marvellous, I found myself walking around the level with my jaw literally dropping in awe. Blacky managed to give this tileset a far more evil feel than ever like he wanted, and I salute him for that. The background is brilliant, the large glowing purple pillar in the middle of the whole structure, vanishing skeletons, the perfectly designed lava pits (especially the ones at the rightest part of the level), and, of course, the very right part of the level. It was seemingly rushed by Blacky as it seems, since it doesn’t have the amount of eyecandy the rest of the level has. And guess what? That’s what makes it the most awesome part of the level. It gives the brilliantly exact feeling of a chasm, it perfectly contrasts with the rest of the level. I never thought I’d like use of Damn 1 more than its blue/yellow counterpart. Using the alternate palette version would ruin the feel (and masking!) here, so yay. Great job, Blax.

Gameplay – 4 out of 5

The gameplay is the finest battle gameplay I’ve seen since Villain Village The Corsair’s Coast (which, notably, was also Blacky’s). This level flows perfectly, the springs take you where you want them to take you, no dumb obstacles all over the place. This level features the (simplified for whatever reason) Last Rabbit Standing concept, which, as the name says, makes you lose a life when you die and you’re out of the arena when you run out of lives. One fine twist here was that the lava pits (which abound here) make you lose a life too, which adds an extra gameplay element and makes the level feel even more evil. Unexperienced players are prone to lose two lifes at once, when they fall with 1 heart and are killed when they respawn. The pits aren’t too exposed (maybe except in the lower left corner of the level) and are fairly easy to avoid, so if you fall in, it’s ultimately your fault. The only reason which keeps me from giving the gameplay a 5 is that the rightmost part of the level doesn’t add much to the gameplay value. Sure, it looks great, but doesn’t play as great.

Eventing – 4 out of 5

This part of the level isn’t as strong as the rest, but still fairly awesome. Anyway, the powerups were kinda lacking here. There’s the usual Bouncer/Toaster/RF mix here, although it didn’t stick in mind as much. RF does a very evil job here, since it can reach insane lengths in this level (as well as Pepper Spray) and tends to push people straight into lava. Bouncer, and its long range nature technically should work well here as well, and they’re arguably eviler here than RFs. But at what price? It took a while to find out where they are and how to get them (I should have figured it out straight out, stupid me…), and there seems to be few +3 Bouncer ammo in general. By the time one gets the PU and full ammo, other people will own with Toasters and RFs. There’s also an ambush/gambling element in this level, and it’s straight above the rightmost cavern. The tube requires Frostbiter (located at the very left) to get pass through, and even then one has no way of knowing whether they will be spit above the +1 carrot room
(which is THE perfect ambush spot) or if they will be passed down. I like the ambush part, but the randomness kinda ruins it. And as usual, there are food events there and there. They’re mostly grapes, though (note that this doesnt affect the rating!) I’d definitely prefer them to be apples, as a symbol of the primary temptation, the first incarnation of evil.

• The best eyecandy in Damn, EVER
• Awesome gameplay
• Perfect implementation of the LRS system

• The randomness ruins the ambush part
• Bouncer PU gets annoying
• The rightmost part of the level isn’t quite polished gameplay-wise?

Overall
Best level by Blacky since Charnel Keep. Download and admire immediately, or Cthulhu will eat you in your dream :(. This level will be perfect for BlurredD’s built-in Pitfall LRS, so yay.

• This level used to go through a lot of revisions, gameplay wise. Originally, it used to be Treasure, and then Blacky decided it to be SP and then CTF. It made it way onto the LRS path though, as you see.
• Blacky originally wanted death metal music to go into this level, but the musics which fit the level best (in his opinion at least) were mp3’s.
• Blacky missed the 6/6/06 when he uploaded the level. The funniest thing is, that user Sacrush (formerly Satan) uploaded a level on 6/6/06 by a fluke. _{That level is also a brilliant place to 2vs2, so download immediately.}

Saphir’s First Racepack:

Rating:
This good racepack is good. And not a little bit, but very!
Each round can take a very long time, because the levels are all very big.

Peter and myself played a tournament and the one that has average the shortest time wins.
The loser are doing the dishes. Peter was the loser, with an average time of 16:27:83. I won with 13:52:11.

It has lots of differents circuits: in space, in a lab, in a pinball-machine, in caves… Saphir: how much time did you spend on this great episode?

With other words: your first levelpack is a great pack for a whole tournament. Well done!

The eyecandy and gameplay are super!

Conclusion:
Saphir’s First Racepack doesn’t earn a 7,6, but a fat 10. If you want to do a race-tournament with your friends, this pack is THE racepack that you need. For everyone is at least one good level and this is absolute a download recommendation.

Mark: 10,0
Download recommendation: YES

Rating Remake Muckamok

Rating:
This is a disappointment. Normally is Gus a great tileset-creator. Sorry Gus, but this is a 1.

Hahaha! I’m joking, Gus. Yes, I like jokes and I want to be a clown.

But now serious: this remake from the classical Muckamok-tileset is extremely good. Good colors. Lots of green of course. There are lots of slimey mountains, green mud etc. And in the example-level you can discover how I must use the tileset.

Conclusion:
For everyone that like the tilesets from Gus and like remakes from JJ1-tilesets it is sure a download recommendation. So, this tileset is really no disappointment. On the contrary: it is one of the best JJ1-remakes I’ve ever seen!

Mark: 8½
Download recommendation: YES!

Rating Ocean of Acid

Rating:
Ocean of Acid is one, gigantic Single Player-level. It is extremely hard, but not inpossible. I was able to complete it with all three characters. (also Lori!) That’s a plus.

It is manifest why this level is called ‘Ocean of Acid’. If you fall, you’ll fall in a ocean of acid.
If you fall in the ocean of acid, you need to return to a platform immediately, before you die.

The eyecandy is good. There are also lots of obstacles, like the acid. There are many enemies, good placed in this large level. This Jazz2 Fan has made a good job.

But there is no boss. And if there is a Single Player-episode I always hope on one or more bosses. But also without boss this level is still very great!

Conclusion:
Despite the fact that there is no boss, this is still an excellent level.

Mark: 8,8
Download recommendation: YES!

i fully agree with noob

seriously, what the hell is an electric flute anyways? out of all my metal songs I have i dont think i have one with an electric flute, because what the fuck is that?

oh no i swore :(

otherwise, metal ftw.

==================Simple Review==================
Base Score: 5/10

Point Bonuses: +4
[+4] You know what? I’m shooting myself in the foot here, but I sincerely think this song deserves full marks. Or close to it… It is absolutely beautiful and delivers exactly what it promises; a funk remix of “Labrat”. If it wasn’t for that part around 2:09 that sounds exactly like the source material, this could easily be given +5 points…

Point Deductions: -0
[-0] No deductions. None. Whatsoever.

Final Score: 9/10
=================Extended Review=================
Introduction:
A complete retooling of “Labrat” from Jazz Jackrabbit 2, done in a seemingly trendy “funk” style. Does it hold a candle to fearofdark’s other works, or will we be left just blowing in the wind? Let’s boogie!

Song Analysis:
As mentioned, this is a complete retooling of “Labrat” from Jazz Jackrabbit 2. While not quite as funky as fod’s “Dark Groove Funk” or “Hell Freezes Over Funk,” it still has that wonderful funky vibe I’ve come to expect from these kinds of arrangements. Unfortunately, this particular piece of music seems to borrow a little more heavily from the original piece of music than “Hell Freezes Over”. As such, a lot of patterns (particlarly the patterns around 2:09.5) sound pretty much note-for-note, aside from the added drums.

Features/Sample Analysis:
More beautiful guitar samples with some equally awesome drums and synths mixed in. Everything is clear as a bell with no real grain to it. What more can I say?

Final Analysis:
Aw, fod… I’d say “you let me down,” but honestly, despite the fact it’s quite a bit too similar to the original Labrat, you really haven’t. I really, really like this piece! I just kind of wish you’d done something a little more funky with that “awe” area around 2:09.5…

Recommendation?:
HECK. YES.
========================================================
Your friendly neighborhood S3M/MIDI artist, Joseph “Doc Lithius” Collins

After taking a peek under the hoods of both files, I’ve come to this single, solitary conclusion:
The only thing that has been changed is certain aspects of Stereo Seperation and the notes of Pattern 7 have been shifted to channels 5 through 8. Also, Pattern 7 has been looped once.

In short, this is not even an edit. Switching channels does next to nothing, especially if you use similar(if not the same) channel panning.

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The “Simon Cowell” of Jazz 2 Online‘s Music Scene… Joseph Collins
“Doc Lithius” or “LithiuServer” on Jazz 2

DanYjel:
“CowBell”? That should totally be my new Jazz Jackrabbit 2 online username! Or maybe not! I dunno.

Anyway… I appreciate your unique insights to my music, DanYjel. Thank you! However, some bits of it confuse me. For example, is 300 Kilobytes really that weighty? I would think 300 Kilobytes would be a pretty nice size for your average Jazz Jackrabbit music, especially if it were to be converted and used in a stage or something. Goodness knows, some of these mammoth-sized files wouldn’t be very conventional to use in Jazz 2 stages. While one or two Megabytes might not seem like much all and all, it does take a lot longer for our Dial-Up friends to download.
Another thing that confuses me is that you mention around 3:38, there’s a “totally different beat”. Well, said beat is actually the exact same beat(and patterns) from around 1:42.5. The most major change-up occurs around 2:59.75 where the bassline changes entirely and part of the main “echoing foreground” disappears, sounding like it does around the beginning of the song. Though after 4:04, it leads into a very long fade-out. Is that what you’re referring to?

80s electronica wasn’t really what I had in mind when I made this music. I was trying to go more for an “electronica/rave” style, honestly. But now that you mention it, there is a bit of the 80s in this piece! Good ear! But what does “getting this from your head” mean? Do you mean it will get stuck in your head? If so, that’s very nice of you to say! Thanks!
Another thing that confuses me is how you seem to say that you like it in one instance, but in another instance, you don’t. If you could be a little more clear in describing what you do and don’t like about this song, that would be very appreciated.

Lastly, I have to ask this. If you don’t like this genre of music — which is roughly the same genre that artists like yourself and Luigi E. excel at — then why did you call it an “awesome tune, really”? And I notice you bring up the compartitively miniscule file size once more in your overall score. As a critic myself, I understand that sometimes, you have to look at something from all sides, but it seems like you let personal tastes get in the way of an otherwise decent review. It’s nice to know the score deserves an 8.0 aside from the fact you seem to have a sincere dislike for electronica and the 80s in general…

Thank you for taking the time to review my piece of music and I hope to hear from you in my next project! And before I forget, I absolutely love your new review format! It’s much more organized than your old system of (+) and (-). Though, I’m gonna miss that system… Oh well. Such is the price of progress, I suppose.

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The “Simon Cowell” of Jazz 2 Online‘s Music Scene… Joseph Collins
“Doc Lithius” or “LithiuServer” on Jazz 2

This isn’t as bad as DanYjel said it was, actually :P Kind of disco-ish. A little wierd.

Overall: New and interesting.

[Inappropiate rating (8.2) removal. No sufficient reasoning was given for this rating. – FQuist]

Well, I gave it a try anyway….

EDIT: I included the IT version in this file: THAT is the version you should listen to.

zomg, i call this edit… wowowow, the best remix of this spring!!!

—-

There’s almost NOTHING changed, you have to have OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG cool ears to hear the difference… It’s the same as the original, sorry. The only new thing is Flanger effect used at the end of the song, ehm

To Crimi: Re-arrangation is what we make, which this is not. Really, this is edit, trust him ;)

Introduction:
Suppah, new CowBell’s music… I’ve been looking forward for it from yesterday, so thanks a lot, CowBell! You probably read my mind. Well… the tune has almost 300 KB so OMG, isn’t it too much? Find it out!

Song Analysis:
All the sections of the song are from original “Crysilis”, author apparentely didn’t take lot of work with this. But it has nice at-one-note edit, it rocks, I just love it!!!
And then around 3:38, things get totally different beat. Why? I don’t know.
Going back for a moment, the beginning of this song reminds me of some 80s electronic music. Soft beats which kill ears after 20 seconds of listening… Actually, you’ll have problems with getting this from your head.

I’ll not lie, the beat is bad. But it has nice transitions, really. I also like the bass and background, it gives song even better feeling…

Sample Analysis:
The biggest problem of the song. Lead sample sounds like something between string and beat, I don’t really like it.

Final Analysis:
If I will not mention the samples, it’s awesome tune, really, but OMG it has 300 KB and I don’t like the genre, sorry :(

Score: 8.0
“Wrong genre” Points: -4
“300 KB” Points: -2
“Man, 80s are bad!!!” -1
Total Score: 1.0

Recommendation?:
Hmm… It’s great tune but it’s not my genre so… No.

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The “DanYjel” of Jazz 2 Online‘s Music Scene… DanYjel
“DanYjel” or “DanYjel” on Jazz 2

I hope this review will be respected and accepted in totally same way as Collin’s one. Thanks a lot.

2Cooba: Why? You agreed with that people can give bad rating just because of wrong genre so what? Why it

was okay yesterday, but it’s a problem today? I am interested, really.

2CowBell: No problem, man! I’m looking forward for your music very much!!!!

—-

Ok, let’s stop kidding, now review with real reasoning. The song itself sounds very… off-key, time by time it’s plain loudness and the sample lead sample really suck (see above). It’s annoying repetitive, the length should be like 3:00 minutes and it could be okay.

Also, nothing new, except for the one tone melody, added.
To be honest, this is the worst tune by you, Collins…

Rating: 4