Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

An impressive level, thematically and eye-candy-wise.

You can’t easily enter the bases from the areas directly below them, as you’re forced to go even lower or take a repetitive series of platforms, and even the top area forces you to butt-stomp to enter them, making you vulnerable. If that’s your cup of tea, I hope you enjoy it, but I think those aspects are annoying.

Without careful play, attempting to camp and/or take the seeker pu can kill you, and I like that aspect, but way more in smaller games or duels.

The navigation may be a little more flipper-reliant than necessary, as springs could be easier to use for areas lacking a lot of choices, etc.

The layout, ammo placement, and everything else seems to be very solid.

Is this a GREAT level? – Definitely, but it’s not without its flaws in my opinion.

I had a few fun games here, but some areas (Like the area above the full c) can require very special and/or awkward maneuvers to reach. Also, lots of dead-endish areas, but they are well justified.

One of the most balanced a-symmetrical ctf levels I’ve played. The PU choices and the full cs are well justified in my opinion, but I think bouncer pu may still be more advantageous in certain situations.

I didn’t get to play a 3vs3+ game here, but Polaris’ layout is quite familiar to me and perhaps most other players; The layout is very solid. Some interesting game-play related things like timed fly cs and ricochet guns+pus. Lots of sounds enhance the level thematically. The rushed/contrived eye-candy is my only complaint.

While I agree this is flawed I believe it’s a bit more than the sum of its parts.

Really cool level. Duels work (though not recommended), 2v2’s work and even larger games work. The Laserblaster might be a bit random at times but it’s a nice concept. Download recommended!

Evidently I promised this a review, deservedly so as I seem to duel in here every time JDC comes around. This is a simple, small map that is ideal for 1on1 matches. While there is a trick with a crate involved, you can virtually learn the entirety of this map in a manner of seconds. There is suitable ammo for the type of layout provided, although imo bouncers are clearly the best weapon due to the vertical gameplay and slopes. I feel that the bottom part contrasts this due to it’s flatness, but perhaps for the better as it encourages the use of the variety of other weapons here. The placement of pickups is very balanced, so that there is always a lot of mobility; matches feel fresh and quick instead of stale and campy. The eyecandy is nice but not obstructive or overdone, its done well in a way that it doesn’t stand out at all but feels natural, because of the limited amount of tiles actually being used from the Dreempipes tileset in keeping with its visual theme. Only when you stop and pay attention does it become evident that there is more going on than initially meets the eye, especially in the background layers (the foreground could’ve used a bit more love though).

Overall, I almost feel as this level is a mandatory addition to the folder of any battle player since it fills a niche, it’s balanced, it’s very easy to learn and provides a quick burst of fun battling without overreaching beyond what it intends. The rating here doesn’t quite tell the whole story, and its probable that only after having a match here can the appeal of this level be fully understood.

~Blacky

9

[No]

Seems good for 3vs3s, perhaps even 2vs2s but duels could get really boring here, though CTF is basicly a team game so that’s cool. Some tight passages make very good use of that ricochet weapon, the fly carrot is useful and not too abusive, and is placed right where it needs to be. TBH i dont like the pit version, but as for the regular one, it’s fun. The eyecandy really does feel cold so it matches the name perfectly, and the sounds are a nice touch for the ambient as well.

Probably one of DS’ best levels yet in terms of gameplay. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this level during ab18 and the last JDC.

good battle map overall, nice use of the eyecandy and background

A level fun enough for my liking. Works with 3vs3s, eyecandy and pickup placement is decent, however the tubes at the top are useless.

Welp, I’m always glad to see new Single Player levels uploaded on Jazz2Online so I just gave this level a shot. Unfortunately, at least for me, playing this JJ2 level was not very enjoyable.

Pros:
- The level design is not that bad. I haven’t glitched through the level so that’s also a thing. It’s not fantastic, can be a bit too linear and claustrophobic but it’s anything but bad.
- The eyecandy is also alright. It’s just the good ol’ “Inferno 1” tileset it uses, nothing changed to it. Same thing for the music, it just uses “Hell Freezes Over”. A little bit of diversity would’ve been nice but at least there are little to no wrongly placed tiles. In general it’s pleasing to the eye.

Cons:
- Not Jazz and Lori friendly. There is one point in the level where you have to stay on a rope and do a big jump. I tried this with Jazz lots of times but just couldn’t pull it off (This makes the third image you uploaded on this level’s download page very questionable). Therefore I had to JJMORPH into Spaz in order to continue the level.
- No checkpoints. Yes, of course, there is “Save” but that’s not an excuse for not having checkpoints. If there is one that I did not notice, please let me know, I might’ve just not noticed it.
- The level has a part that happens at the bottom of the map. It feels very very claustrophobic with very limited jumping. Also it’s just annoying not to see your character somewhere in the middle or the horiziontal edges of the screen.
- “Fire”. I don’t know why did you have to use this in favor of all the other possible hazards. If you want me to dodge the fire then don’t put it behind things!
- You can get soft blocked if you accidentally fall into one of the pits at the bottom of the map.
- The enemies respawn exaggeratedly fast. I just wanted a MEDIUM gameplay experience, not a hard one.
- You have to collect all the coins in order to progress in the level. Look, if the level was less hard and at least MENTIONED that you have to collect all the coins (It instead mentions that you need lots of flamethrowers, which is partly true), then let’s say, maybe, just maybe. At that point of the level where you have to use those coins, backtracking to get the others is really hard if not impossible. Don’t do that, if you could’ve just mentioned that I need to collect all of the coins, that would’ve been great. Not to mention that there are some coins that only Spaz can collect. God bless the JJCOINS cheat.
- Little to no weapons. You can find very few toasters, some freezers, a little TNT and RF Missiles. There are two upgrades, however they are not very helpful.
- Considering how difficult the level is, the boss fight difficulty should’ve been reasonable. Not only that Bolly should be in a tall room with multiple platforms you can jump on (and not a wide one with literally ONE PLATFORM) but there is also wind so you can’t do your nasty butt stomp strategy and Sparks spawning from below.

Looks like there are more Cons than Pros but there is just nothing else I can say good about the level. Sorry.

I can’t say whether I can recommend downloading this or not. I know some of you are crazy good at JJ2 and are always looking for a new challenge. If you’re that kind of person, feel free to try out this level. If you’re like me, an average player looking for a medium difficulty level, do not download this, you’re just going to have an unpleasant experience.

I rate this level 6.7 out of 10. It has potential and it was obviously worked on a lot but if you make such a challenging level, at least warn the players about this. I still think it could be improved. If so, I’ll gladly give this level a higher rating :)

Well, this is something I waited for.
A simple little Tool with everything you need to make your own
.j2e files.
Could be better, but could be worse.
Download recommended.
If you like Singleplayer, get this.

I like these chronicles! The levels seem very interesting! I recommend to download this. By the way, I’m already translating this episode to english version. I also used custom music and an AngelScript code on final level.

Placing schwartzenguards outside the boss arena in order to make a boss more difficult in the era of AngelScript is just unacceptable. Almost no actual thought went into these boss fights, with the author just throwing in as many hazards as possible into each arena. Download this only if you prefer “cheap” difficulty over genuine challenge.

Good level but not without issues. There are a lot of obscured hazards and often it’s very unclear where to go. One area requires you to collect an item but gives it only barely distinct looks and doesn’t provide any feedback when you get it. The introduction of pits is accompanied by fake foreground pillars and the last checkpoint is far behind.

one of if not the best chrysilis remixes i’ve ever heard, probably second to only crystalline action.

Looking for answers has an unfortunately accurate title, for that’s exactly what i found myself doing the whole time I tried to play it. In all honesty, I could not finish a single level, because I would inevitably find myself in one or more places where I simply could not figure out what (if anything) I was supposed to do next. In many cases, when I did make some kind of progress I wasn’t even sure whether it was intentional or whether I had happened upon some sort of bug in the level design. Walls appear and disappear without warning, trigger crates do not have clear effects, immense spike pits or ctf death pits abound, and layers move at bizarre speeds to complement sometimes empty-looking layer 4s. Huge airspaces are filled with countless ghosts, ravens, bees, dragonflies, and pacman ghosts. More of those enemies lurk under the ground behind layer 3, meaning you can’t even plan for challenges in advance. In one place massive quantities of completely invisible wind, combined with non-regenerating cheshire2s, make an ascent all but impossible. Another area fills the screen with so many smoke rings that the fruit platforms you’re supposed to ride have trouble even spawning. Water levels change according to inscrutable rules in front of the ugliest tileset you’ll see. Nothing seems passable unless you made the level/s and therefore already know where all the traps are and which random/secret routes you’re supposed to take.

There are glimmers of good levels shining through, like a section in the first level where you jump from one alternatingly masked and unmasked series of blocks to another to avoid landing on spikes below. Everything is clearly technically proficient and done with a purpose. It’s just that that purpose feels completely unfathomable.

I think the new Labrat levels may actually be my least favorite of the pack… probably in part because I’m less attached to the tileset, but also because they seem to deviate less from the standard JJ2 formula and show less of the author’s experimental side. Experimental level design has a long history in JCS, not all of it positive, but the author’s earlier work always fell on the side of enjoyable and memorable. These Labrat levels are not without their good points, but they also feel more ordinary, though by no means bad. An uninspired FarkasUrdung level is still better than a lot of other stuff out there, but the Labrat levels feel less purposeful and more thrown together. I definitely appreciate some of the efforts being made here, though, like the serious take on a bird gameplay section, and a lot of the work with springs and weapon blocks and such, as always. I had fun and I’ll probably play them again. There are lots of pickups and enemies and that’s great. But I’m not sure they’re the best of the bunch.