Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

I’ll try to make this quick, but I’ve been known to get carried away…

First really good treasure hunt level I’ve seen in a while. FS wanted me to review this, and there’s no doubt that it deserves a review. I’ve just been a little busy… okay, so I’ve been playing Advance Wars Dual Strike. Whatever. On to the review.

Gameplay – 9/10
Great gameplay. Most of the level takes place underwater in maze-like tunnels. The level’s pretty hard to learn at first, but after a while you’ll notice that it’s really not that advanced. The layout is made in such a way that there are two ‘sections’ in the level. The main section is on the left. That’s where most of the action will take place. There’s another section to the right which is only reachable by land. The advanced layout and myriad of gems here make this level able to hold 16 players easilly, making it ideal for mass events. Of course, it also works for smaller games, but they’ll be kind of short.

The most original aspect of this level’s gameplay is the enemies. Using MCEs, several enemies including fish, tube turtles, and crabs have been placed in the level. They will hurt you, making you blink, slowing down your gem collecting prowess. They can also kill the server, which can be a problem, so FS conviniently included olcclite.j2l, which has no enemies.

Eyecandy – 9.5/10
This level makes great use of a seemingly limiting tileset. Lots of things have been put in the level to enhance it’s appearance, from gem barrels to fish to bubblers. This is the best looking level I’ve ever seen using the CoralC tileset.

Item placement – 9.5/10
Great. There are plenty of gems here, but not too many. There is also some TNT hidden in the level (I won’t tell you where it is or how to get it, I want you to download the level and read the readme) which can blow up the various gem barrels found underwater. These contain lots and lots of gems, making them strategically important. You’ll also find bouncers, seekers, and toasters (fairly useless, but you’ll still find them).

Overall (not an average) – 8.5/10
Amazing treasure hunt level. Host this. Play this. Review this. Wait and see if I’ll feature Noka’s tileset or this level this month (not even I know which I’ll do yet! Can you feel the suspense? I sure can.)

Overall pros: Great gameplay, really nice looking, etc., etc.

Overall cons: You’ll need a lot of players to really play this level at it’s best, hard to learn, the enemies are annoying for the server but take away from the level when they’re not there.

My first thought by playing this level:
WOW!! WTH!? This is beautifull!

My second thought by playing this level:
How big is this anyway!? And how long
would it have been to make such lvl as this??

My third thought by playing this level:
OMG where is that dopefish animation? I can’t find it =) And where are the rest of the diamonds? How to get that TNT??

My last thought by playing this level:
Where is that idiot exit!? =P

As you can read, it’s a difficult Diamond Hunt. I was thinking there wouldn’t be an exit, but hey, whats described on that wall there?

You must have put much time in this lvl by eyecandy, cause it rux. There is nothing more to say about it. It’s so beautifull…
Gameplay is great, cause it’s just like a puzzle! Diamonds here, diamonds there, I’m still finding some diamonds!
O, this was the last one =).. I was just shooted pass the exit with these tubes, so you hadn’t enough time to see a sign with ‘exit’ on it. Many corridors and caves everywhere in the lvl. Just like White Rabbit said: sometimes you just swim against the wall, and sometimes you swim trough it. Irritating, but than on the fun way.

Placement is also nice, but I saw there where so much diamonds next to each other, so I got something like 23 allready when I where swimming something like less than a minute.. But then, the line of it just disapeared. Where are the rest of the diamonds!? I still need 77 diamonds! But what are these MCE’s doing here? =)

If you want a REAL Treasure Hunt, host this one. No fighting, but a real SEARCH. Oh and one more thing before I end this review:
.. Nope doesn’t work.
… also doesn’t work…
… OKAY HOW DO I GET THESE AEFPOIJAE TNT AMMO!!?

This level just needs a 8.7, no discuss about it.

Rating Coral Coves

To start:
Very beautiful made Treasure Hunt level under water. The gems lie hides between reefs and wrecks.

Eyecandy: (20 pts)
Forefront: Very well! Context: Excellently! And have you also splendid, mysterious platforms made. Moreover reefs have decorated the complete level.
Result: 19 pts

Gem placement: (20 pts)
The level have 119 red gems, 4 green, 3 blue, 15 purple, 2 Super Red Gems and 5 Red Gem Rings.
0 Gem Stomps. Nicely, because those are uselessly under water. The gems have been well spread concerning the level.
Result: 17 pts

Gameplay: (20 pts)
Good! You need to search gems into caves, in reefs and ship wrecks. And after you have find 100 gems and must search the exit, it is hard to find it, so the game is not over yet when you have find 100 gems. When Peter and me have played this level, this was happened. I’ve got 100 gems, but was not able to find the exit. Then Peter got 100 and he finds it…! So this level is until the end very exiting…
Result: 18 pts

Other Items Placement (10 pts)
Except gems also TNT has been hidden. If you let descend that exactly at the correct moment, that can cost important gems to your opponent. There are also Bouncers. But I think that the Seeker Rocket a better weapon is for under water.
Result: 6 pts

End result:
Total points: 60
Maximum number of points: 70
Mark: 8,6 (8,5714285714285714285714285714286)
Download recommendation:

Seeing as how I didn’t review this yet, I’m going to do so now to pass the time.

Coral Coves – FireSworD.

This is probably the best treasure level out there. I’m really glad that during that one fateful night (or day? I can’t remember =P) FS accepted my challenge of using this set and wasn’t scared off by how user-repellant it appeared in JCS. I’d wish I had gotten The Chasm finished in time for it to be released with this, but ah well =P (at least that level DID eventually get released. Like a year later, or something). Anyways, onto the review.

The eyecandy in this level is extremely beautiful, especially in the underwater areas. This is even more awe-inspiring when you consider the tileset chosen, and how difficult it is compared to most the other tilesets out there. FS not only braved the challenges faced when using the tileset, but he mastered the tileset as well. Everything here manages to look incredible without having any negative side effects along with it. The eyecandy is plentiful, yet not overdone, and avoids being confusing or in your face. Truly, if this level doesn’t look like a coral reef in jj2, I don’t know what does. The level definately masters the eyecandy portion of the rating.

The layout of the level is pretty interesting. Its rather large which leads to more exploration and less fighting, which is good for a number of reasons. The level can handle large amounts of players, and appeals to me because I agree with FS’s statement on how treasure levels should be more about hunting for gems rather then hunting the players for them (you have battle mode for that ;D). Because the level is pretty big, it also is less annoying because you’re not forced to be stuck in a small area with lots of other people spamming seekers everywhere, and more strategy can be used this way instead of just shooting everywhere and hoping not to get hit.

Another interesting thing is that the level has enemies. This is pretty cool since it also enables strategy (get hit by the enemies instead of by your opponents to avoid gem loss, etc) although this makes the host at an extreme disadvantage since they are able to get killed by the enemies. However, there is a lite version included that has them removed, so one can’t really complain.

Gems are scattered throughout nicely, and there is a huge amount of them which really emphasizes on the need to collect as fast as you can rather then fight your opponents for them. Ammo is also placed well, and both the gems and the ammo are placed in creative patterns and shapes rather than dull clumps. There’s also more emphasis on strategy placed here with the TNT and the gem barrels, which is definately a welcomed add-on.

Overall, there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t download this level. It’s the best treasure level out there (why is it that people tend to make the good treasure levels be underwater? ;P), and even if you don’t like treasure this level can still appeal to you for the great tileset usage and atmosphere it contains. If anything, it will definately make you view the tileset in a new light. I’ve played numerous games here, and even though oftentimes I find treasure mode to be somewhat annoying (mainly for the reasons White Rabbit stated in his review) this level is different then the typical treasure in that it shows what treasure really is about: hunting for gems, and because of that, this level provides for fun matches.

That said, I would definately reccomend this level to everyone. It shows wonderful levelmaking skill, allows for great enjoyment, and will hopefully inspire people to either use the tileset or make more treasure levels. You can learn a lot from this.

~Blacky with a very late review

Small, comment-sized replies eh :P

This is a truly stunning level. You are fantastic and finatic Firesword.

The eyecandy deserves a 10 without question.

-it is very original looking and very colourful – this colourfulness matches the whole scene that it is a bunch of coral coves underwater, its flawless really.

The gameplay deserves a 9.

-it is very hard to get a 10 for gameplay, and i feel that the hard(ish) to find exit ruins the gameplay a little, as i spent 30 seconds looking for it but i only found it because i tripped into it – this could be quite annoying to someone less lucky.

However, the gameplay is still amazing in itself – the way badies are used in the level so that people can loose their gems from the water creatures (as well as their opponent) is an original factor that i really like. Also, the structure of the level is very good for a treasure hunt, the web of caves is set out very effectively.

All in all, the best treasure level ive ever seen and probably the best treasure level period.

Score awarded: 9.5

Contrary to White Rabbit’s review: The right side has a higher gem amount than the left if you count the gem barrels and gem deposit, as mentioned in CCRead.