Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

Ow man…. This sucks. No coin-based exit (like Labrat said) (-1). No layer 6 and 7 (-1). You can’t host this in Coop (-0.5). Nice eyecandy, but you use still only the same tiles (-0.5). I don’t like the music (-1). No variation in level (-2, very important).

Rate: 10-6=4

Gr. BS

Whether or not it is a horrible sign of horribility that I am lazy and have not reviewed anything up to this point is either an omen or a coincidence. Going for the less poetic stance, I’d go for coincidence. Or at least because these ratings confuse me. And, as any great reviewer should (which begs the question why I do), I disagree with all of the above reviews. Labrat’s and dx dc’s overrate this, primarily because it is hard, while mikeejimbo underrates it, probably for the same reason. However, difficulty should be balanced. This goes beyond just difficult and more to something along the lines of trying to kill the player. Being dumped onto spikes and enemies does not make this a good pack, although it nonetheless is one. The fairly good level design and decent eyecandy make this a good pack, while the unbalanced difficulty hurts it severely. This pack is overall flawed in many ways; the eyecandy is riddiled with inconsistincies and just plain is not great, while the gameplay suffers from hiccoughs and dead ends. A good pack, but certainly not a 9. Read on.

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN: First of all, dropping into enemies is simply something that is not supposed to happen and is considered taboo in levelmaking because most players would rather not have to buttstomp whenever they fall into somewhere offscreen. The first level in this pack, the capitalization-challenged “on the beach” features decent gameplay at the beginning with obvious and clear paths, but then quickly begins to deteriorate as the level goes on. There is an area with a pole that oftentimes sends the player in the reverse, away from the target. Additionally, you can back up in this level to basically the start if you have ice, which is a definite no-no. The secrets are placed creatively, but for the most part are far too minor to prove worth your time. What can easily be noticed the first play of this level is that it is miles from easy. This is not a compliment in this case for several reasons. You tend to find yourself dumped upon enemies or with too many chasing you to do much about it. This is too hard, simply put. Besides, simple shoot ‘em style game play grows old, and this level lacks any puzzle elements to back its action elements up. Finally, if you are hoping for save spots or a good amount of ammo, you will be disappointed. No save spots are to be found, making this level go from questionably hard to trying-too-hard-to-be-hard. When you add on a nearly impossible to find exit to the formula, you have yourself a disapointment. “Carrot land” continues the proud tradition of poor naming but at least improves the capitalization rate fifty percent. The start of the level features what has to be the biggest mistake in levels like these you can make: spike pits. Ah, yes. Spike pits. The scourge of levelmaking. Of course, as Carrotus lacks spikes, those spiky plant things are used. As if once was not bad enough, the most difficult part of this level is based on doing it again. While bouncing off springs. While trying to climb using those springs. While fending off enemies. Get the idea? This is just another way in which this pack tries too hard to be too hard. And, above it all, all of the signs in this level begin with “sign”. Uh-huh. Thanks for clarifying that. At least there are save positions in this level.
PROS: Challenging and generally high-quality.
CONS: Has some indiscrepencies throughout the levels. The difficulty oftentimes is too strained.
RATING: 7.0

TILESET/TILESET USE: The pack’s starting level, “on the beach”, is an example of utilitarian eyecandy at its best. While there is in fact eyecandy, most of the visual treats that are to be found are simply required elements of any decent level using the Beach tileset. Beach is not at all the easiest tileset to use, but the wood in this level is far too wooden and not creatively used. For those about to complain that I am being unjust in demanding more out of the Beach tileset, I recommend you take a peak at FireSworD’s excellent “Termite Haven” CTF level, which manages to make Beach look great – and using only the wooden tiles, too! The second level, “Carrot land”, follows a similar path to “on the beach”, although there are a few less masking-related errors. Carrotus is indeed a really boring tileset, and despite levels attempting to make it better, most mainstream use continues to center upon the same boring old formula. If you are going to use the formula in question, though, at least it should look fairly spiffy. This does not. Because of the spiky pits, or whatever you call them, which require tall, one-tile squares, much of this level’s eyecandy looks pedestrian and a bit off. Which is disappointing, especially considering that Carrotus is infamously easy to use. And regarding that lightning: since when do random areas of caves become pitch black while the rest is light as the outside day?
PROS: Good looking in some parts.
CONS: Dull. Not much more than the base requirements.
RATING: 7.0

WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: I can’t complain that a level has bad ammo placement because it is hard? Just watch me. While playing “on the beach”, I found myself thinking “thank God that there are at least carrots in this level.” In fact, I was initially glad that there was ammo, however little of it there is. Ice and TNT, perhaps the two most useless ammunition types for this level, are naturally the two most common ammunition times for this level. There are a few creates and miscellaneous other things that contain ammo such as bouncers, but for the most part you will have to rely on your trusty blaster unless you want to suffer through the slow TNT and fast-melting ice when attempting to defend against some very hungry fish. “Carrot land”, the second level, is a bit more liberal in the distribution of healing items, and perhaps a bit too much. At one point, there are three carrots right next to eachother. Additionally, it was before – not after – a hard part, and most players really trying to play well in this level would already have plenty of lives at that point. Besides, carrots together in such great quantities look amateurish and one has to wonder why they were not distributed throughout the level in the first place.
PROS: It gets better as the pack goes on.
CONS: Little ammo. Little thought to how the ammo would work in the specific levels.
RATING: 6.5

REPLAY/FUN FACTOR/ORIGINALITY: This category was obviously going to be trouble. “on the beach”, which I really, really want to capitalize, at least gives you a short period to recover before falling into some hungry piranah. There is some enjoyability to it, but some is definitely the word. The fact is, this is little more than a difficult and bland level with various defects that make it tedious. After being off reviewing levels so long, I am surprised to find perfectly sane people rating this so high. Perhaps that’s why I am going to avoid rating much else for a while (if I can control myself, that is). This level is nothing extraordinary, and due to lack of puzzles, it is simply too carbon-copied to hold interest. “Carrot land” has a good concept going, sort of, but is maddeningly irrelevant. It requires you to wade through several key-finding missions before finding the correct warp that leads to a key. This is not a puzzle as much as complete and total random luck, and does not count as a puzzle in my book as much as a really annoying obstacle. Calling this level fun would be a lie. The spiky pits and key puzzles certainly make this level longer, but at the expense of the player’s enjoyment and interest.
PROS: Hard, which can be fun.
CONS: Hard, which can be annoying.
RATING: 6.5

OVERALL: I am sorry for not providing good reviews for the remaining levels, but I do not think that I can say much more. They pretty much follow a similar prototype and template. This pack – despite what I have said – is good, and I am mainly being a bit mean in the review because it is overrated. It has some good ideas and is difficult, but really, really needs better enemy placement and perhaps a bit of a tone-down on the difficulty. After all, you can make it so there are many enemies only on hard mode. Then even neophytes can play, and us reviewers can sleep at night!
PROS: Hard…
CONS: …unnecessarily hard.
RATING: 7.2
DOWNLOAD RECOMMENDATION: For single player fans and obsessives and for level obsessives. An okay play when bored.

GAMEPLAY: B+
Flow: B+
Layout: B
Creativity: B
Bugs: B+

EYECANDY: B+
Tileset use: A -
Eyecandy Look: B+
Creativity: B
Bugs: B+

PLACEMENT: B
Weapons: B
Enemies: B -

~ Traft

hmm……what could I say…..good idea but not so good done. My first comment: to easy, no obstacles
second comment: eyecandy looks good but is very confusing if u don’t know where u can stand on and things like that. Also there is the thingie what labratkid said. It only works in SP mode. So…..
Download Reccomendation: No
Host this often: look at labratkids review
Rating: 6.0[This review has been edited by PHT]

Hi Snooz!
I have downloaded ur tileset (what a surprise :-) ) and I must say it looks kool. I made a level with it this evening and I will add to my episode coming soon (as the second lvl). The tileset is easy to use and kool drawn. But it is too small (like labratkid said). I also missed some tiles (with that small green thingis). There isn’t really a textured background and the example level was tooooooooo short :-(.
But for my level i used other tiles to create a back and foreground. u can use every layer with that tileset. U can do better Snooz, but it isn’t bad. I think i’ll give a 7.2.
Download reccomended: Maybe…
Build with this: Yes, sometimes :-)
Well Done
PHT

I’VE ALWAYS HATED MANATI’S BUT STILL THE LEVEL STRUCTURE IS GOOD

I HAVE SEEN THIS LEVEL DEVELOP YOU CAN BE PROUD OF YOURSELF jaws

Trafton: Rating removal.[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

This is 1.24. Anyway, you can’t host this in race mode, because you can’t turn into a frog in race mode. You can only host it in COOP. That doesn’t work, either, because you didn’t make a coin based exit. You should get a coin every time you exit, and then when you have 3 coins, you are warped to the exit. Then, it would work.
Eyecandy is good… but overdone. It all revolves in layers 3 – 5. There is no background. How many times do I have to tell you to put backgrounds in your levels? ;p
Now, the gameplay isn’t too fun. The frogs aren’t fast enough… it’s not very fast paced, or anything, so it’s not fun.
The level’s too small, too.
Overall: Okay
Download: No
Host this often: Maybe once or twice just for fun… but not because it’s a very good level.

I strongly dissagree with Mikee. And, I must say, I never thought I would live to the day when I rated a level higher then DX ;) Here you have a good handful of lovely, huge, very hard single player levels.
THE BEACH LEVEL
Great level; maybe the hardest one. Good eyecandy, and fun gameplay… a great challenge, overall.
THE MEDIVO LEVEL
Another wonderful level. Very nice to look at, too. Really original… my favorite one.
THE DIAMONDUS LEVEL
This is what saves the level from getting a 9.2. Jazz really can’t beat this level unless you know how to do the golden jump, and not everyone knows how to do it. The eyecandy here is a bit overdone, too.
THE censored LEVEL
A very hard, and original. Also the boss level. It frusturated me to the point where I was ripping out my hair. ;p
THE CARROTUS LEVEL
I must say, I don’t remember this one. I just remember that there was a place with springs.

Download reccomendation: Yes.
Own Mikee’s review: Yes. ;p
Play this again: Sure.

Mikee, if you’re going to be dropped into a pit, the author is testing your reflexes of buttstomping enemies quickly from above. Falling into spikes is your own fault ;)[This review has been edited by labratkid]

Can i say: this sux?
oke,

1-bad eyecandy
2-boring

an 1 from me

This level pack is interesting, at least. When I first saw the first level, I thought “This looks like it’s worth a 7 so far.” A bit of playing and I ran into all the annoying stuff.

One thing that happens frequently is that the level drops you onto enemies and spikes, going against the “top ten level editing tips.” Also it often makes you go through the same part twice, when you’ve already been through, which I believe goes against the list, but in any case is bad.

If you look at level two, and other places in some of the other levels, the tiles don’t fit together properly.

GAMEPLAY:

Annoying, and not really satisfying

WEAPON PLACEMENT:

The weapon placement is not all that great. There aren’t too many, anyway.

ITEM PLACEMENT:

Ouch… this was bad. There were very few carrots and few checkpoints too.

Unfortunately I can’t rate this lower, because I would be accused of underrating.

And the credit level is the most annoying one I’ve seen, pretty much ever.

EDIT: One thing I forgot. It’s very annoying, and there are more fun things you could do with your time. I’m thinking of starting a webcam pointed at my lawn.

Didn’t you read it? “Don’t teach players to play by killing them.” That was from one of the JJ2 team members, too.

And the only way you can avoid dropping onto them in some places is with the helicopter ears, and in other places he sets it up so that you CAN’T.
[This review has been edited by mikeejimbo][This review has been edited by mikeejimbo]

Well, it looks very nice… the graphics are cool looking and all… but it’s too small, there is no animation, the masking is bad, and there is no background… but… it’s easy to build with… and the masking is okay… An average tileset, I suppose. As average as they get. Spend more time on your sets. Make them so big that if it were any bigger, it wouldn’t work properly. That’ll make people rate higher. Also, remember to put in backgrounds ;) That’s one of the most important thing. There is layer 5, 6, and 7 eyecandy (mountains), but nothing for layer 8. There are only 32×32 blocks (1×1). You should make blocks that are 64×32 (2×1) which would be a long block, and 32×64 (1×2) which would be long the other way. Also, a 64×64 block (2×2), which would be a big one. Look at other tilesets, like, let’s say, Dark Reign, or Death Metal. They have more blocks. They even have slopes that are different angles (32×64, 64×32, 32×32). EvilMike’s tileset from back in the day even had 96×32 slopes! Of course, they don’t work properly.
Anyway, no download reccomendation, sorry. If you’re a new level creator, maybe.
Download: No
Build with this: No[This review has been edited by labratkid]

hmmm.

1-Nice eyecandy blocks.
2-good walk blocks.
3-not really good suck tubes :P
4-NO TEXTURE BACKGOUND :(!
5-v-h poles.

an nice tileset snooz!
an 7.2 from me!

WOWOWO!

1-great gameplay!
2-hard easy normal mode!
3-GOOD eyecandy!
4-Good ammo placed.!
5-good food placed.!

download reccomed??? YES!

donwload![This review has been edited by dx dc]

to give a 10 is to high i see some bugs, but howeveri can see its this tileset a 9.7!

Dx about number2 Its small
Have you says that To?
I don’t think that a small lvl get an 7.5:I

Why would I rate this? It’s nothing! Just some problem fixed! Plus Signature, you forgot Mask there! Sorry, Labratkid, no much fixed! I’m so sorry! I can’t even see what’s fixed!

Bah. Not so good. DX overrated this big time.
Eyecandy – Bad
Bad eyecandy… all though there is a background, and that’s all ways good. The eyecandy in other places if just annoying and ugly. Some tiles don’t go together.
Gameplay – Bad
Bad gameplay. Expect a boring time, especially if you’re Jazz. Frusturating, too.
Flow – Bad
Bad flow… the spring placement is annoying, and some places lack springs. Jazz can’t reach many areas, for example, on top of the floating building. Spaz can barely reach that, either.
Layout – Bad
Hideous layout.
Ammo placement – Okay
The ammo placement is merely okay… nothing good, though.
Size – Bad / okay
Not so good, but at least it’s A LITTLE big…
Host this often – Not a chance… it’s 1.24, anyway.
Download – No.
DX: Rate everything 1.0 points lower than you would normally rate them, and your ratings will be far more reasonable. Also, look at the gameplay… don’t rate levels high just because they look neat, or your friends made them, or you beta tested it. GAMEPLAY is everything. Flow, etc. The level has to be enjoyable and easy to get around in for good gameplay. I never see you look at the gameplay when rating.

hmmmmmmmmmm.

first when i played it for the first time i found bugs.
i said it to him and he made it better.

Oke…

1-good eyecandy.
2-small :(.
3-not much ammo but its OkEy.
4-the bases ar to close to eachother… but it dont metter.

oke, i give this an 7.5.

download recommed: hmmm if you like ctf…
host this often? i dont think so..

Ps: i am now an betatester, if you whant to let test yor levels, put me on msn!
msn: Ruwandx12@msn.com

i am bored so let me betatest thinks!

It’s bad! It can’t get 5! No buttstomp, too small! Have it bigger! 4.2 from me, I’m so sorry! It’s bad really bad!

Trafton: If it’s illegal please chance the rating to N/A but please don’t bann me from jazz2online, please! :’(

Rating of day finnnished!

Edit: Don’t tell me, your changing this review to N/A, right?[This review has been edited by the real one Bjarni]

Oke.

1-little bit eyecandy.
2-small.
3-boring.
4-is dis battle!?!?!?
5-to easy!

dis is bad.

download reccomed: nOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! dont download it :P.
host dis? :| noo

an 3 from me.