Thursday 2 July 2009

Review: Jazz Unleashed Demo

Author: BlurredD
Year: 2003
Genre: Single Player Episode
Filename: UD-Intro.j2l
Download: J2O

Jazz Unleashed Demo is a short episode by BlurredD, who is well known for being the creator of the JJ2+ patch, as well being the creator of a large number of multiplayer levels he has made over the years. He has even a few tilesets. His levels are known for being highly polished, and tend to feature some very creative ideas. This happens to be his only released single player pack.

This episode is not for the faint of heart. It may only be a somewhat obscure, short demo of five episodes from an unfinished (and probably never to be finished) episode. It is also, however, unarguably one of the most difficult JJ2 episodes ever, featuring some of the cleverest, most diabolical, and perhaps mean-spirited level design I have seen. Personally, this is the hardest episode I have ever played. It goes from fairly easy in the first level, to basically impossible in the fifth one, with everything in between being "just" extremely hard. I recommend you play this episode only if you have played a fair amount of JJ2 single player, and find most stuff to be rather easy.

It is not possible to exaggerate how hard this episode is. There are no carrots in the levels, so the only way to get them is if they are dropped by enemies. Checkpoints are common, but not common enough. There are no extra lives unless you play on easy mode. The number of enemies is not overwhelming, but they are placed in the most creatively evil ways possible. And to top it all off, bottomless pits are everywhere. (It's also worth mentioning that this episode is the first one to use instant-death pits extensively, though this is a common feature now.) Easy mode could be accurately relabeled as "extremely hard". Medium mode ought to become "soul-crushingly difficult". And as for hard mode, I'm too afraid to even think about it. Save often if you want to retain your sanity (F5 and F6 are the hotkeys), and expect to get game over several times. This is the only episode I know of where it's hard to win even if you use cheat codes to make yourself invincible.

Difficulty is not the only thing that this episode has, however. Practically nothing in Jazz Unleashed Demo is mundane; the entire thing is packed with challenges and puzzles which cannot be found anywhere else. In fact, nearly every screen features something unique, and every level has its own distinct feel. This level of originality and variation is unparalleled, and it gives the levels a very professional and polished feel which usually can't be found elsewhere. At least, that applies to the first four levels. The fifth is a different story... more on that later.

When playing this episode, I couldn't help but think of the NES game Battletoads. There is a real similarity here: Battletoads is a game that is known both for its extremely brutal difficulty, and for its tendency to have a different sort of gameplay in each level; it was totally groundbreaking despite the fact that virtually nobody could beat it. These days it's a bit easier, with the advent of emulators and savestates, but back in the early 90's none of that was available. The game was hard, and that was at a time when games were a lot harder than they are now. It's worth mentioning that it also had very good graphics for the time. Jazz Unleashed Demo has a similar level of difficulty, and like Battletoads, it is also is characterized by its varied gameplay and good eyecandy. Suffice to say, I enjoy both, and also enjoy the feeling that comes with finally beating the damn thing. On the other hand, many people have the opposite opinion, and prefer to give up in frustration than play through until the end.

If I were reviewing just the first four levels of this pack, I'd give it a perfect score without hesitation. The first level is easy and simple, but fun, and is designed in a way reminiscent of old platformers. The second level takes place on a train, and while the level design itself is limited and cramped, the theme of the level makes it fun. It is the only decent (released) level that I know of which is set on a moving train, and it manages to convey the idea rather convincingly, even though the tileset was never designed for that. The third level is where things become really unique, and it is probably the most famous level of Jazz Unleashed Demo. In it, you ride a floating rock to the other side of the level, and have to avoid all manner of obstacles along the way. It's an extremely hard level, since you have such a small space to stand on (not to mention the fact that it's moving), but at the time it was the only level of its kind, and is still quite fun - and still better than whatever shameless ripoffs have been made since. As for the fourth level, it's not as good as the other three, but still memorable: the start is particularly unique, since it forces you to run through a large cavern without running out of time. The time limit is very short, which makes for a frustrating experience when you run out a few tiles from the end, but again, this level was the first of its kind, and still the best. The rest of the level is more generic and not as interesting, but it's really the first few moments that defines it. The only complaint I have with that level is that it has an annoying block pushing puzzle that requires an obscure trick to solve.

So far so good, right? Well, unfortunately, there is one more level after that, and it is absolutely horrible. I said if I were reviewing the first four levels, I would give this pack a perfect score. Well, the opposite is true of the fifth level: if I were to review it on its own, I would give it the lowest score possible. It's that bad. The problem? The creator of this level himself has never beaten the fifth level. It is not impossible, but it requires such a superhuman level of skill that it might as well be. The lack of checkpoints and carrots doesn't help, but what really sets it apart from the rest is the fact that you can't save the game. The difficulty of the other levels is offset a bit by the save feature. Here, you have no such safety net.

No one has ever beaten this level without cheating. And no one ever will. In my book, that means it is unplayable. And if something is unplayable, it deserves a big fat 0. Or maybe a 0.5, since the scale I use here doesn't really go below "half a carrot". But maybe I'll make an exception in this case. It's that annoying!

However, not all is lost. Because Jazz Unleashed Demo has no story, and is really just a series of unconnected levels, you really don't lose out on anything if you decide not to play the final level. You can just skip it. You won't lose out on any plot, or even a little "congratulations" message at the end. I characterise this as an "episode", but the term only fits loosely. This could just as easily be a pack of five standalone levels: the only thing that really makes it an episode is that it is, technically, a demo for a larger project (which presumably has/had a storyline). Therefore, the terrible fifth level does not harm the other levels as much as it would in a normal episode, because it is not strongly connected to them.

I think I can safely say that Jazz Unleashed Demo is still one of the best JJ2 episodes ever, in spite of how it ends. Still, it's not good enough to get a perfect score. You can play the first four levels and quit. You can even pretend the fifth level doesn't exist (and I recommend you try). But one day, you'll want to see just how bad it really is, and you'll play it. And then you'll hate yourself for not listening to my advice. Due to this, I can't give this episode a perfect 5: a thing as awful as its last level is impossible to ignore completely.

And don't say I didn't warn you!

Good:

  • Extreme difficulty
  • First four levels are excellent
  • Some of the most creative level design ever
Bad:
  • Extreme difficulty
  • Fifth level is utterly horrible - just pretend it's not there
  • No carrots!
Score:

7 comments:

Pigma said...

Hit the spot perfectly - I agree on all points. I like that he decided to release these levels without any special plot or real meaning to them, it makes me able to take the time to beat them (might be because I can save, if I couldn't save I would've quite at the second level.).

I for the life of me cannot figure out how to beat the fourth level's puzzle... Seriously, it's driving me insane.

Michael said...

Like I said it requires an obscure trick.

When something in JJ2 goes sufficiently off-screen (it's somewhere around 32 tiles I think), it "resets" back to its original position, because it disappears from memory. You need to take advantage of this. Push one of the big rocks off the ledge, so it lands on the pumpkin one tile below. Then push the trigger crate ALL the way off, so it falls into oblivion.

Now, carefully climb back down to a certain height, and then climb back up. If you do this right, the rock will be where you left it, but the crate will be back where it was originally. Now just push it to the left, and detonate the TNT.

It's an annoying puzzle because it requires knowledge of how the game engine handles objects.

cooba said...

SUPER OBSCURE FUN FACT: the checkpoints in level 5 require Seekers.

FUNNER FACT: It works like one out of five times.

Pigma said...

Ah yeah, thanks for the help. Got a tip from Blurredd and I managed to beat it. While slightly cool, the puzzle is just really, really... annoying. I don't like the fact that I have to abuse game mechanics like that. :p

as for the fifth level, I managed to get past the part where you are constantly frozen in the air and you need to hit sucker tubes, after that saving crashed the game and the save file. ._.

Anonymous said...

I more or less agree, although I would have framed the discussion somewhat differently. As I see it, the point of Jazz Unleashed (or at least the demo) is pits, and each individual level is a different take on how said pits can be used in gameplay. They're mostly concepts first and levels second. Later levels that use pits extensively in gameplay, particularly your fifth episode, seem to me to be references back to Jazz Unleashed.

Michael said...

Even though this is the first real episode to use pits, and popularized the concept, I think Jazz Unleashed Demo has more interesting stuff in it than that, at least from today's perspective. Back then the pits were probably the biggest feature... now I'd say they are still a big deal, but they aren't the main reason for playing it. I don't really agree that these are concepts first and levels second: aside from the fifth level, JUD seems more like a series of highly polished and creative (albeit hard) levels. If these were just concepts, there wouldn't be much of a need to dress them up as regular levels. There's definitely a lot of showing off of new ideas here, but to me it's the levels that are the main attraction, not the novel ideas. One of the reasons I say this is because a lot of the ideas in this pack weren't really new, but rather just used VERY well. For example, the enemy placement, use of moving platforms, "letterbox" format, and coin collection concept were all used before this.

I've always thought one of the keys to level design isn't just coming up with new ideas on your own: it's also using old ideas better than everyone else. I think blur achieves both equally in Jazz Unleashed Demo.

I do owe quite a lot to this episode (I even directly copied the floating rock level), and that's a big reason why I put BlurredD in the "special thanks" section of the credits. He's definitely a major influence.

Though, an interesting thing to note is while my first episode came out in 2005 (years after Jazz Unleashed Demo), I started work on it in 2002 and had made working death pits a few months before JUD was uploaded to J2O. I'm not saying I came up with the idea on my own; in fact, it was BlurredD himself who told me that it was even possible to have such a system. But, being the cryptic guy he is, he left me to find out how to do it on my own :P. I recall trying all sorts of tricks and bugging him A LOT before finally figuring out how to do it.

That's also why my levels use a somewhat different system than what Blur uses in his. Mine is actually a bit inferior I think, at least visually. It takes up less space but doesn't look as cool

PurpleJazz said...

You've successfully noted the creative aspects of this episode in your review. However, on a personal look I've felt playing through this pack is both a delight and a curse.

I can agree with confidence that JUD features ingenious level design. Throughout the 5 levels, there's a plethora of moments for both aspiring and veteran JCSers alike. However, I feel as if the main purpose of this pack as a demo was to showcase the concepts which would be present in the full release. I agree with Violet that these levels feel like they were made simply as a medium of showing off Blur's JCSing experiments. As awesome as these levels are obliged to be, do they actually fare so to the player?

You get a whiff of intentional engineering as you progress through the levels. You'll notice that all of the enemies happen to be in the most strategical places possible, that pits always seem to be placed where you'll be most likely to fall in, and that the items will be frustrating to obtain. Everything feels very forced and artificial; even the first level set in a forest. I am not questioning the design here in this case though; for the most part you know that Blur has put vast amounts effort into perfecting these levels; not once did I notice any shoddy design.

What I am going to criticise is simply the lack of obligation you feel to actually play these levels in the first place. There's no storyline, which means the player finds it more difficult to engage themselves with the levels. As you say, it normally does not matter so much with only a small amount of levels. Whilst it would normally not be a bother, the fact that these levels are so diabolically difficult and almost inconceivable to beat makes you question the "reward" for playing them. Story gives motivation to a player. What motivation do I have to put myself through these levels? There's almost no goodies to find either, so where's the replay value?

I enjoy challenge in single player. If something is too easy, I'll likely get bored and not even finish, or just breeze through in a few minutes and find something else to play. Along with a good story and adventurous value, challenging gameplay engages the player in single player by essentially keeping the player on their toes, rather than mindlessly charging through from left-to-right.

Challenge still needs to be done in balance however. I'm not saying that very difficult gameplay is bad, but the challenge still needs to be presented in a way that the player will have an fun time trying to overcome. Take a level like Neobeo's Firetruck, for example (which I highly suggest you review on this blog). The level is very cryptic and exceedingly difficult to complete, has no story and no goodies, but the fact that it engages the player to use their brain to solve the puzzles makes the experience a joy. Tomb Rabbit 1 + 2 also have challenge in the form of puzzles to keep you using your mind as well as your reflexes.

JUD requires little brain power with the exception of that annoying puzzle in level 4. The difficulty comes from pixel-perfect precision. Each one of the levels is designed like an obstacle course with the sole intent of making life as horrendous as possible. You'll see the game over screen at least 50 times on your first playthrough, assuming you can even beat the pack. That's on easy mode. The levels may look pretty and filled with creativity, but that doesn't change the fact that playing through these levels is like navigating through the dark depths of hell. These levels demand absolute perfection, and are beyond punishing. They’re an endless cycle of death traps. If you actually ever manage to beat all 5 levels, exhilaration will not be felt; only relief. The only thing driving you through these levels is the fact that you just don't want to let the levels get the better of you.