Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

“Fake ]I[ Arena” gets my “butt ugly level of the week” award (remember that contest by stripe at J2C?).
It uses the legendary Mez01 tileset, is 100*25 tiles small, has one platform with two CTF bases (i thought it’s a Battle level?) and a lot of useless ammo and food in one place. There is no eyecandy and i have no idea, why this should be “very useable for JDC or TSF tournament”. At least i won’t participate in that kind of tournament :-)
The author should really spend more time on his level creations. This is more like a waste of webspace.

Well, JelZe, old pal, it is not too much my kind of level actually :-) It was a good idea by the author to use an awesome custom tileset like DethMan’s “7th Lava Fall”.

But i don’t like the design of the 70*70 tiles small level too much: the lava at the ground may be an original idea, but think the Sucker Tubes and all that cost too much time. The rest of the level has some platforms and a few weapons, not to forget a coin warp. Open and stuff, but nothing too spectacular, in my opinion.

The layer work looks okay which may be caused by the cool, dark look of the tileset.

The music choice, “Astraying Voyages” a 1994 ST3 made tune by S3M super hero Purple Motion fits good, but it’s not my favourite PM tune and the filesize is pretty large, too (~700 KB).

All in all, there is missing something in “Lost City” to give it an outstanding rating. I guess it’s just a decent battle level, nothing more, nothing less (low 7 points). Well, anyways, why not download it? :)

Lost City is a quite small, symmetric battle level. The eyecandy and weapon playcement is fairly okay, though I don’t like mirror battle levels at all. This though is only semi-mirrowed :).
The gameplay is quite okay as far as I tested. What you could have changed are a few springs instead of some vines, and I also think 50 coins are too many for the warp. Overall, I’d give a 6.8, and as there isn’t a 6.8, I’ll give a 7 :).

Well that’s just pointless.

Knightmare castle is a great CTF level for 2 to 4 players, but it shouldn’t be played by more players.
There’s a lot of tactics, you can ect. shoot seekers up on the springs for make them go even more far.
Its easy to get to your opponents base, and its easy to get to your base for score when you roasted your opponent.

The eyecandy is very nice and decent, I’m sure on Unhit designed down to evry detail, even under the bridges there’s eyecandy.
Thought I don’t like a few things about the eyecandy, but its acceptable.

The bad thing is Unhit didnt include the music in the zip, so if you dont have it, its musicless yes.
Thought Unhit did send me it lucky.

I personal like the level, you get easy used to it, and its a mirrow level so you dont need care about what team color you get.

This could be fun to play for duels, if you dont feel like playing too much time on.

Download recommed.

Newbie is sorry he hasn’t reviewed for a while, he has been gone! Anyway.

Great levels and gametype, that’s all I can say.[This review has been edited by Newbie]

Just for Gzou…does it appear in your JJ2 folder? After all, there’s a limit for how many levels you can have in Home Cooked.

Nyah Stiletto, at least you gave me a higher rating…………..a bit

Longer review will come……Ill edit this later…..to tired right now

Stiletto, that rating is not fair, and you did not provide a reason why.

This level is pretty good, but some aspects of gameplay are missing. The warps are very nice, and the sky looks good, but ammo placement can be a little weak at some times. All in all, a very good level that should be downloaded immediately, but be warned that it has it’s quarks.

BLAZEY I LOVE IT. hugs

Lovely atmosphere! I like the red sky… mrrrowww… n.n
And i love the idea with the warps on each side of the level!
Well, the rest was alreday said, so… um..uhm… WHEEE! n.n

Fl$h: Noooooooo more springs, I hate springs ;P

Hurray for the fantastic review by Stiletto (probably written in 2 seconds to get the first review on this and increase his review count to get a higher rank)

The backhground layers have a kinda nice layout, not too messy like in Cells levels but they also are’t too empty, it really gives you the feeling theres a “Lost city” on the background. The level itself is a bit empty, but I think it gets more interesting when playing it with 3 or more players. The ammo and event placement is good I think, maybe you could have placed a bit more springs and guns, but it’s enough too roast some rabbits.

To conclude: This small level could have been better, but I think it isn’t too bad. Download? Decide yourself.

EDIT Stiletto: May I maybe decide that by myself? I started this review when only Splash replied. And please don't call me Flashie.[This review has been edited by Fl$h aka BlewMeUp]

Either Stiletto has gone mad, or someone hacked into his account…

Unless I’m very much mistaking, this is Aiko’s kind of level. It’s very open, it has nice eye candy, 3 powerups (electro or pepper always do 1 damage, powered up or not. 1 power up would have sufficed btw)…The neat thing is it’s settled in a lava river: you have to be carefull not to fall in it, or you get sent back to the top of the level. The music file, “Astray Voyages” by Purple Motion (1250 kb, a bit too big for my tastes) fits the level quite well.

Conclusion: not a bad level, especially for those who love open levels. Download recommemdation from me.

- JelZe GoldRabbit

Being around for quite some time now, people would think that the above reviewer might have learned a thing or two about levels…probably not. No offence, but Stiletto’s rating is way off. Sorry pal.

The level isn’t as bad as Stiletto says it is. I will admit, it is not the best, but I have seen alot levels worse than this. Level structure: A room set above a lava pit. You can battle on various platforms, and players need to watch out or they wull fall down into the lava (after that, it will take some for you to get up using the tubes, and you will probably lose some time and kills). There are 2 warps that enable you to teleport to the other side of the room for quick movement. These two aspects is what makes this level strong: people can be fast at times, but need to be agile or they will lose precious time, falling into the pit.

The objects aren’t ‘hurray’: most of the platforms are similiair, and not very detailed (apart from the fact that this tileset is detailed from itself). I don’t think this really hurts anyone, because the stuff found and the backgrounds put on are still decent. Music selection was good, a gloomy song that kind of reminds me of a future post-apocalypse setting. Weapons were good, maybe a bit off from normal standards, but not bad.

I couldn’t decide between a 6.7 and a 7.0, so don’t get mad at me: I gave it a 6.7 :) Happy battling!

Well, well, “Ultimate Warzone” (hmmm, if i remember right there was a pretty cool level with the same name years ago…by Distruct of J2LC i think, well, seems like it’s a boring name many people think of, eh?) is a quite average battle level using Overlord’s “Plastic 2” tileset. It is eventually a tad too large regarding the width (210*30 tiles).

The layout is okay, but somehow not really exciting. There are a lot of annoying dead ends and warps that warp you back to the level start at the very left. The weapon placement could have been improved as well: a whole lot of powerups, which are all very easy to get (and that “secret room” isn’t really secret, if you ask me).

Furthermore, i think there is a major lack of eyecandy in “Ultimate Warzone”. A few background layers are used, but not much in the foreground. And on a side note, i don’t like the look of the tileset too much. Quite boring.

The very guitar orientated “Boss” music doesn’t really fit here as well, i think.

To sum it up, “Ultimate Warzone” isn’t my favourite download of the week. There’s just something cool missing. No download recommendation from me, sorry (slightly below the average=4.5).

“Galactic Hollow” is another very well designed CTF map from Mr. Cell’s level factory. It uses our beloved Mez03a tileset and is only 80*60 tiles small, but that’s a good idea in times like these i guess (not too many people playing online anymore).

The layout of the level, as i said, is very good, open and easy to play. Ammo and event placement is good, too. The bases are pretty close to each other, but i don’t think that will spoil the fun. Sometimes you need an easy CTF map with a lot of shooting and scoring in my opinion. CTF experts may complain about that.

The eyecandy is neat as well, not too much of it, but well done by Cell.

For the background music, the author chose a FT tune called “galactic” by darkhalo, which most of you probably remember from HappyCTF. Well, i love it and therefore, i won’t complain about the horrible filesize of 1678 KB this time. It’s worth every byte, really.

Well, i really don’t have much too add here. Just a very good level. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Anyways, you can make some really nice eyecandy with this tileset, download recommed.[This review has been edited by Moonblaze]

I put names of my own tilesets on those signs because I like them more than the default JJ2 tilesets. I’ll upload these tilesets with a sign for ‘party casino’ and a sign for ‘haunted church’. :D I probably won’t reupload it though, it won’t be a big enough update.

I dare you, if you nag about my review, I’ll kill you.
I offical used 2 hours to after midnight on write it.

The intro

You can choose between start, credit, and story.

The credit is “about me”, for saying it honest. You didn’t credit any beta-testers (if any), the makers of the music, or whoever that deserves it.
The story is..starting, I don’t like the idea of the story, it dosent hit the “Big enemies, big guns” style, which is the jazz style really.
Also, the tileset used for intro is bad, the letters are hard to read, could have been done better.

Get down

You’ve jumped down in the hole, and enter a hole cave of earth, lava, and gems.
Intresting, but the tileset’s graphic isent neat great, but still acceptable and decent.
Also, Piccolo aka Fawriel gave us a little maze with a 0% abient light, you’r really helpless becuse you can’t see your enemies.
Thougth the bad thing in this maze may be the hurt that you didnt expect as hurt, takes a unfair heart from you.
Enogh, the level is played in around 3-4 minuts if you’r slow, it isent so long, there’s a few very basic puzzles there’s posible figure out.
It ends up with a boss, which is hard becuse you’ll meet him with around 2 hearts left and no good damaging powerup, a little lame.
Music seens math the level, and makes you like it.

Under-ground hive

I liked this tileset, bones in ground, the same style bagrund as the previus level.
You easy find a seeker powerup, which I’ve got an idea of is wroth keep to the end.
Also, Piccolo aka Fawriel made a little extra life secret, a spring crate up in the cillemar, too bad that you dont even need the spring for grap the extra life, could be fixed.
As usual, its nicely balanched with enemies, lava, and hurt, it keeps you on low hearts, whips weak players off here.
And ends up with the Devan Robot boss, where Devan’s role has been used for a big evil bug I think.
Again the level is small, but the music works.

Phycho Hills

This level where really a challenge, it had 2 puzzles I never got throught (cheated due the clock is 00:33), the enemies where over-rused and made me lose a life.
I didn’t like the tiles you’d add for do the water green, it made it hard to see, again you get the feeling of you’r helpless for being attacked by enemies.
I don’t think the music mathes very well here, but works.
Don’t use the rest of your seekers, becuse I’ll promish you, you’ll need them.
Again the ammo where a needing, there should have been made more seeker ammo.
I where so lucky find enogh coins for a bonus warp that gave me a bouncher powerup, but I think with all choose bees and so, it should have been toaster.
I expectelly liked the in-drawn enemies, worms, they where really good.
It ended up with a usual boss, which this time where over-done, Ultraus (or however its name are spelled) are agreed hard to fight on a single heart.
After all, I agree with the name of this level, and I think you should have made some hints in the puzzles.

Acid Reign

The second level in the “Phycho Hills”, a puzzle level, a bad one.
I first used hole 5 minuts on figure out that the little green circle was a hole, lucky I got stuck a little time after.
Then some trigger rocks helped me getting stuck in the cillemar, and at last, I stucked in the pinball, the level where after that not really fun so I skipped it.
The forgrund is really a pain, the rain is moving fast, and evrywhere, its annoying, I desided to play on low detail in this level.
The music, didn’t really match, moved over to being annoying.
This level is the level where people often quits the game, becuse it loses the fun, but I wanted to continue.

Welcome to the Machine

I didnt like this tileset, except for the rotating skulls, they are cool.
The level where a puzzle, I didnt really figured it out before I lost the mood, so I skipped it after playing the half part of it.
The music didnt fit very well, thought I died before I skipped.
I’ll posible take the fight up a day and make a complete review of the skipped levels.

Out of the machine

Wow, I never played sucha confusion level, I didnt complete it becuse I feel out of the level.
The music is again, not really mattaching, I’d expect you would fish something better up this time.
I still didn’t like the tileset, but I liked the level in the start.
You should work on the level some more and try make a basic system in it, so its posible complete.

Strongest vs strongest 2

The music here…sucks.
But the boss where really fun, thought it wasent a hard end boss, on the bright side, it was better than 45 Devans.
You used my “I don’t like this tileset” tileset for this level too, no extra points for that.
Suprisly I ranned out of ice, I did felt like freeze them, maybe it did me feel better, I don’t know.
A nice ending on the “I don’t like this tileset” levels.

What’s happending?

A clip from the story, I didnt really get it, but whatever, I didn’t really catch up the story from the start.

In the center of evil

A breathing..garden. Serious, I don’t get this tileset. If its evil, it reminds me of zerg. More Star Craft from me, I’ll play it too often.
The music..No. That just didnt go here, more a slimy music would have work.
It where again a puzzle, but I where brave, and made it. After that, Jazz did meet his favorite boss, Bisly.

That’s all folks

A happy ending with happy music, the story ends, and you get a nice “congrats” folowing in a waterfall down in the bagrund.
Also I noted that the “SCE, here we go again” had a little drawing error, scrath that.
Now the story is end and I’m going to enemy placement, and more review stuff.

Enemy Placement:

There’s lots of challenge, new enemies to discover, thought sometimes they are a little bad placed, anyway, the enemy placement is great in this pack.
You’ll get the challenge you’ve downloaded for, don’t worry.

Ammo Placement:

There aren’t placed ENOGH ammo, I bet Piccolo aka Fawriel is one of choose blaster users.
But you can find some nice powerups in bonus warps and secrets.

Secrets:

Tons of them, collect gems, coins, and more goodies, its one of the pack’s good sides, wroth to look for secrets for anymore score.

Overall:

Get beta-testers, to tell you what’s good or bad. White Rabbit is an excellent beta-tester, he could have helped you a lot.
The pack where fun in the start and the end, but not really so fun around midle, may make you quit.
You should download the pack and try make it, its a challenge you wont miss.

Download recommed.[This review has been edited by moonblaze]

I’ve played this level online, and I must say that I love the new gametype. The only bad part of it is, as you will figure out as you play, the people who go out last in the first round are very much disadvantaged to those who go out first. So, being the player who doesn’t go out is obviously best, but being the player who goes out first is better than the one who goes out second to last. The many options, which are reperesented using triggers, really add to the gameplay. Plus, if you are alone, the “spring ride” (the springs are placed so they bounce you around the level in loops if you stand still) is very fun. Making a long story short, this is an excellent level with a great new gametype that I hope to see more of. Download recommendation.

Very nice.

And, A2JF, there is a hard-to-get utility, Jazz 2 Episode File Creator (great name, eh?) that lets you make .J2E files using .PCX files and a customizable .INI file.

This is a good portion of what could be one of the best episodes, if it was finished. Please finish it! I won’t rate, because it is incomplete.

BTW, How did you make the episode file? I’ve only seen it done once before, but this time it has its own picture and everything! Never seen that before.