Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Online

This tileset is great!

Easily up to par with the standard sets, and actually surpassing them in some respects. As noted, this tileset does have excellent elements for some unique events. The fireballs and keys/switches/doors bits are particularly nice.

The level is pretty nifty too, and shows many wonderful things you can do with this set.

(btw, on a more artistic note, I enjoyed the “wide-screen” effect very much. Has this ever been done before?)

You will not regret downloading this tileset. There are many sets out there, most of them aren’t very good. Only a few are particularly good, and fewer still are great. This set falls in amoungst the great.

~Buster

Well, I’m not going to rate this, because for one thing I’ll take everyone’s word that it’s bad and not lower your score anymore :)

Has anyone considered maybe giving folks a grace-period if their first levels suck? I mean just because they’ll probably get over that by level 3 (if they try) and because otherwise you’re just lower the score for what may end up to be a wonderful creator. Just a thought.

Anyway, Tobi, I’d just like to encourage you as well to keep on trying. It’s very important that you hang in there. First levels are typically poor, so don’t feel bad at all. I can tell you all right now, if I hadn’t recieved extensive help from a couple of people when I was making my first level, it would be butt ugly :p (I know because I remember it before I sought help ;)

Heh, I still make lousey levels NOW :) I’ve got a CTF level here that is solid, complete, made good use of the tileset, is fully functional, and about the suckiest CTF level I’ve ever seen in my life.

Point is Tobi, you’ll probably throw out a few stinkers even when you have a full grasp of JCS, so don’t feel bad about that. The important thing now is to concentrate on simply learning to create levels well in a technical sense. Then worry about how good the levels are design-wise. I’d suggest making a few throw-away levels just to test various JCS elements to get the hang of them.

Anyway, thank’s for your time.

And also, the download wasn’t a total loss…I didn’t have the tileset before and I actually kinda liked the music :)

Keep on JCSing,
~Buster

Well, my first reaction to Mr Magoo’s discription was that the level couldn’t be as good as he is arrogantly stating it is.

Then again, is it arrogance, or simply a statment of fact?

I’ll go for the statment of fact.

This level is exellent, fluent, fast, and fun.

The only problem I am aware of in this level is that it contains a pepper spray power-up. Pepper spray power-ups don’t have any effect on the game except to change the color of the ammo. It’s just another example of an unfinished event in the game.

~Buster

Oops, didn’t notice I had it set wrong.

Newspaz – Normally I wouldn’t drop it one point over something small, but as I already noted I can hardly tell the lighting is dimmed at all. I understand you wanting the music to fit the level…I’m very particular about that myself. Of course the asthetic aspects are yours to edit how you please. I just don’t see any point in having the lighting THAT faint. As such, I had to consider it as more than a minor problem.

It is a well designed level otherwise.

~Buster

Nutshell – Good level. Download. You like.

Expounded Version:

The design of this level is very good. Ammo is plentiful and well placed, and the level is clean and easy to get around in, with plenty of eyecandy and good tileset usage.

The only problem with this level I can see is the lighting. If there was any signifigant reason to use it, that’s one thing, but the lighting is so faint that it’s not likely that you’ll ever notice it while playing, except that the framerate will be rather low.

I don’t mind the use of lighting, but when you can’t even tell the lights are dimmed, what perpose does it serve? It just comes off as annoying because of the effect it has on the framerate. For online levels espicially I suggest a conservative use of lighting, but if you’re going to use it, at least let us see some asthetic change in the looks of the level, not just a decrease in performance.

If not for the lighting problem, I’d probably give this an 8.0. As it is, I can only rate it at 7.0.

~Buster

NOTE – It just occured to me that I have contradicted Fquist in saying that the level is easy to get around in. I’d like to point out that I personally didn’t see any problem with the layout, which is reasonably open if not entirely fluent. Whether or not the level is difficult to get around in probably depends more on your playing style then on the design itself, as I personally had no trouble getting around.[This review has been edited by Buster][This review has been edited by Fquist]

Oh well…

I have one thing to ask of my fellow reviewers…

Be nice :)

Love Race levels :) Good practice (and fun) of nobody is around to race you.

These are some wild levels. Not at all the norm. Very original.

Of course, it’s not without it’s downpoints. Tileset usage is pretty good, but could be better. Some tiles seem overused in some places, and there are a few mismatches in there. Also, some levels could use some more eyecandy (while a couple have an overabundance of it ;))

Designwise though, this pack is awesome and challenging. ‘specially Puzzle of the Weird, which is…weird :)

Niftular pack AJ2F.

~Buster

Two very nifty levels, well crafted if, as has been said, short and easy.

Eyecandy is beatiful. I really liked the waterfalls :)

Sewer Surfing, however, is at one point to darn hard. Not hard in that you’ll die…it’s just flaming annoying :) Those tiny little platforms hardly give you a second to jump before you’re off.

Download these levels now, but play as Jazz. This place in Sewer Surfing is still difficult, but with Spaz you’ll probably be hitting your head against the wall :)

~Buster

Whoa, when I first looked at this set, I thought it’d be way too small for anything meaningful.

Then I fired up the example level.

This set may look small, but there’s plenty of scenery to make a nice level. Or two or three nice levels, none of which have to look the same.

I highly recomend this.

~Buster

I was wondering when someone would make a Jazz 2 skin for WinAmp. I’ve seen a couple besides this, but they are nothing to write home about.

This is a pretty standard image-style skin, but it’s very nice non-the-less. There is a slight graphical error on the playlist title bar, but nothing to distracting.

Overall, it’s worth a download if you like flipping around the skins on WinAmp (like me).

A solid attempt Raiden.

~Buster

Just listen to what Aiko said up there. Add the file Top.j2t to your zip and it should be fine.

~Buster

Great shots, what’s going on here? This is the THIRD level I’ve downloaded tonight that is NOT compatible with 1.23, despite the information above. Could we watch that a little closer or something people?

~Buster

This isn’t a 1.23 game…this is TSF (or so I presume due to the version conflicts I’m getting). Nevertheless…

Perfect, I’d advise you to listen to KJAZZ. I know that you didn’t post your levels up here to get slammed, you posted them for feedback, for that longing hope we all have within us that someone will actually like our work…reaching for that star that says, not only to they like it, they LOVE it!

Alas, Perfect, this isn’t that work.

MOST people don’t like hotel levels. You could craft the most cunning, beautiful level ever seen, and if it’s a hotel level, people will still view it with contempt.

I can’t imagine who came up with the idea…I suppose it was probably one of those moments when someone thought they had something fresh and inovative. Unfortunetly, those thoughts aren’t always true, and the fresh and inovative can quickly prove itself to be a bad idea.

There does seem to be a cult-like following for hotel levels, but I cannot grasp WHY it exists.

Allow me to place before you a question which no one yet has answered me…

What fun is a hotel level? What fun is it to join a level, be asigned a room, and then sit there and tell the server to ban people who come in? If I want to sit on a bed, wouldn’t I be more comfortable going to my own room and turning on some music, grabbing a book, and relaxing thusly? Is that not more restful than watching Jazz sit on a "bed" on my computer screen?

Nevertheless, there undoubtedly exists a market for such things. But, you’d be better off distributing hotel levels to the hotel market directly, not through mainstream channels such as this. Many people can be rather rough, even downright mean if you present them with a hotel level.

Anyways, that’s my two cents for you.

~Buster

GAH! You made a Zelda tileset for TSF ONLY?! How could you do such a thing?!

I vote we all pound on perfect a bit for making such an imperfect blunder.

~Buster

I HATE THIS LEVEL! THE AUTHOR HAS NO TALENT! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NOOOOOOOO TALENT!!!

Hehe, okay, seriously, this level IS AWFUL! cough*gasp sorry, had that one stuck in my throat :)

This level actually isn’t all that bad. ESPECIALLY considering it was Newspaz’s first. I can hardly abide what passes for second and third levels with some people. Clearly, when you look at this level, you realize that the author actually thought about what he was doing. Certainly there are some "bugs" (overabundance of carrots, tall objects keeping you from skipping ahead which you can jump with Spaz…) but design is clearly present. With more common "first levels", the only design would seem to be if the author intends to prove evolution is true or something (because the levels look like the result of a big bang…or maybe just a little thhbtt)

Overall the level could have used a bit more work. It has a "rough" feel as though you are playing a beta testing version, but otherwise I don’t really have any complaints.

It’s very short, but it’ll give you about thirty seconds worth of smile time.

~Buster

A beatiful level, with a rugged, industrial feel (of course the tileset is rugged and industrial, but the use of the tileset is superb).

The weapon selection is good and the ammo is well spaced. Nice use of springs too.

Overall, this level is gorgeous and functional. I can see where the eyecandy could be confusing, though I didn’t find it bothersome. This could easily become a favorite of mine. Download it now, or the flying monkeys will be after you!

~Buster

Overall, I’ve gotta disagree with some of the other reviewers and say that I thought the design was okay. Not spectacular, mind you, but okay. Small levels tend to be cramped, but the mass of weapons and the tight layout would make for a chaotic fight. I for one prefer hunting my prey, but the occasional melee battle can be fun.

I do have to come to task with the eye candy however. Indeed, to sit back and casually examine the level, the eye candy is generous and well crafted. But to actually get in and try to play the game, the eye candy detracts from the expierence by crowding the view with unimportant items and also confusing you a great deal with it’s generous use of foreground elements as backgrounds. In some few cases this works out okay, but in a small, tight level like this it is very annoying. You jump off a ledge expecting to land on a branch and instead fall to the valley floor. It wouldn’t be so bad except that some of the graphics in the background are also used as actual platforms, which simply adds to the confusion.

One more point: The level uses lighting to make it appear darker. The problem? The lighting is faint enough that it doesn’t make that big a difference, and hence only seems to serve to lower the framerate and create lag. Personally, I’m against using lighting in any multiplayer levels, but if you’re going to do it, you could at least do it so that it seems to serve SOME other purpose than to create lag!

If you could bring this level up to code by triming the eye candy a bit and removing the lighting, this would be a pretty decent level. As it is though, I can’t rate it higher than a 6.5

~Buster

I love this set! It’s been a little while since I’ve played Jazz 1, but this set has pretty much all that I remember. I trust those who are better informed and say that it doesn’t, but it’s GOT to be close!

The only complaint I have is with the included level :) If it was simply an example level, it’d be one thing, but it’s also a CTF level, and as such, it’s not very good. Too small, not much to look at. It does show how the tiles work, to a certain degree, but in a rather minimalist way. A better guide for how to use the set would be to play Jazz 1 itself, if you haven’t, or to go find some screenshots. Otherwise, for the set itself, this is just about perfect.

For this reason, I’m giving it a 9.5

Yeah, that’s a pretty high rating for something so small and not quite as graphically spectacular as other sets, but the reason is I don’t feel that this set should be judged so much as an individual work as it much as I feel that it should be judged based upon whether or not it truely emulates the original Tubelectric. In this case, I believe that it all but excels. Hence, the 9.5

~Buster