Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

ShockSheep… I don’t have any witty comment to put here at the moment.

Gameplay: Original
The level has a platformed lay-out, which means the level consists of mostly platform that connect through the use of vines, springs and solid bridges. ShockSheep is an average sized level, with a lot of space being covered (though the down right corner is basicly just ‘earth filling’).

As it is a battle level, it is good that there is a lot of space to jump in. Few low ceilings and large walkways make the ideal settings for a battle level this size.

The level has some ‘gimmicky’ power-ups. With that, I mean that you’ll automaticly grab them via a spring on the ceiling, if you take the correct route and speed. The PU’s in question are the Toaster, Bouncer and RF Missiles. Furthermore, Seeker ammo can be found as well, but the Powerup is either well hidden or missing. That’s a good thing. The level also counts three +1 carrots (if I didn’t miss any), which is good in a level of this size.

ShockSheep also has a very fun gimmick, namely a working ‘turret’. When you enter the turret, you get instructions on how to operate it. Using Wind events, you’ll be able to run inside the turret and not move. In effect, everything you shoot will be thrown away for tiles than you can imagine. When inside, be sure to have the Toaster PU. Normally, the only thing that this weapon lacks is speed. Inside the turret, however, speed isn’t an option. The awesome spread of fire with the Toaster will cover a huge area, which is basicly inaccessible after you start shooting. Take that with the fact that the Toaster doesn’t run out of ammo fast, and you’ve got a killing machine. However, the skilled player will be able to ‘knock the turreteer out’ with one well-placed seeker.

Atmosphere: Crowded
The tileset used is one of NOKA’s remakes of the JJ1 set Letni. Out of the pallettes available, Arti (or Camou) went for a darker setting. NOKA – JJ1 Letni 4 is the purple version of the tileset, and most definitely the darkest one.

While this isn’t such a big deal for people who can adjust their monitor brightness, the overuse of eye-candy kind of kills it. Don’t get me wrong, though, the level looks really sweet, but it can be confusing in times. For instance, sometimes solid tiles are used as layer 3 and 5 eye-candy. Normally you’d stop at these tiles (or bump into them), but it took me a while to realise that in this level, you have to walk through those. Same goes with the background tiles (the nearly black plates) used in layer 3… Those have knocked me off quite a few times.

Sometimes, layer 3 also features the ‘tubelectric’ wood tiles, which looks surprisingly good. Then again, sometimes I find that more annoying than pretty, for example in the left-bottom corner spring.

Now of course this review isn’t going to end up with just negative aspects. The background looks peculiarly awesome. Looking in JCS, it’s really simple, but it looks pretty nice, also because of the addition of the black plating in layer 6.

The sprite layer eyecandy is something else as well. Nice platforms with good eyecandy in the walls and edges make for a winner. Too bad it is sometimes blocked with too much layer 3.

Overall: Not bad
If you get to learn this level, it isn’t half as bad as I make it sound here. Though the eyecandy can be confusing at first, look past that (or use Low Detail you pussies) and you’ll have quite an enjoyable level.

Download Recommendation: “On the edge” yes
The lay-out can be quite hard to learn at first… and not everyone feels like learning levels. I personally would like to recommend this, though, as it can be quite fun to play in once you know how the level works.

Score: 7.2
ShockSheep is an entertaining level with fun gimmicks and can be used for an unsettled score with an arch enemy. The level is also really fun for larger games, because of the turret. That could result in a ‘Tower of Power’ kind of gameplay.