Kinda was really slow today so I didn't quite get to play MarkD and WisePerson's levels but I'll definitely get to them tomorrow.
Also @idol ty for pointing it out. I think after the deadline or something I'll go back and adjust all the aesthetics scores.
Also, the paranoia that I'm playing incorrect level versions is setting in. So if I did that pls yell at me and I'll review yours again!!
Also @idol ty for pointing it out. I think after the deadline or something I'll go back and adjust all the aesthetics scores.
Prizm | |
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Design and Execution: 34/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 13/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 16/20 Overall: 63/100 |
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Really nice rompy level! I love the look of the level, and the bright palettes and nice music just make it feel very relaxing and fun to play through. The difficulty curve is done pretty well, with increasing difficulty in setups with note blocks and fuzzies, though I sort of wish that more was done with it? It's a pretty basic curve, and the level isn't super innovative or anything with the note blocks, it's just pretty basic setups. However, that's not really a bad thing - the level is designed well and the terrain is varied enough that the enemies do pose a threat and don't feel slapped on everywhere. The Splittin' Chucks, I think, were especially used pretty well, considering how bad they can usually end up. I really love how the Dragon Coins were hidden - it's actually done very cleverly and it's a very cool way to actually hide them. I do feel like the whole 'concealed by the BG' aspect could be conveyed a bit better, though, towards the beginning or something. I only spotted the first outline block around the 4th DC, having spent the past like two minutes wondering where the heck the DCs were. Once I realized what to do, though, I got them all on my second playthrough. I'd say towards the beginning add a section where there's a cliff and an invisible note block concealed by the BG that you need to progress - having it so like when the setup first comes onscreen the block is invisible but as you move forward the layer 3 hills line up with the block and you see it. Seriously though I love how the DCs are hidden lmao. I have a few small complaints aesthetic-wise. I find it kinda weird how the brown clouds at the top of the level aren't solid - they look solid due to their palette and it just kinda bugs me, lol. Maybe use a different tile for that cloud ceiling or something, I'm not sure if darkening the palette or something would look particularly good. Other complaint is the end room, the clouds at the bottom of the screen look solid and as such I literally jumped into the pit to the left of the goal orb thinking it was solid and I cried for 20 minutes after that. It'd probably be best to just remove those clouds or something because they don't particularly add anything aesthetic-wise imo. Oh also one random complaint - after the fifth DC the coin guide down to safe ground I don't think is very accurate, I tried to follow it and proceeded to fall on top of the munchers. Maybe move the line down over a block or two. Besides that, though, this is a very well-done romp, and I like it a lot. I think it's a prime example of how to do a romp the right way - fun and somewhat challenging due to intelligent design, having a proper difficulty curve and some setups sprinkled throughout the level so the player doesn't fall asleep, and taking advantage of its rompy nature to encourage exploration for the very cleverly-hidden Dragon Coins. Great job with this! |
ThePat545 (again) | |
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Design and Execution: 42/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 23/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 15/20 Overall: 80/100 |
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Holy geez this level changed a lot and now it's actually really good!!! <3. The despawning issues have been fixed and as such the vertical section isn't an issue anymore, and on top of that the level feels far more focused because the entire level was basically redone and there's a lot more Mega Moles now. The first room is now a lot of fun and pretty hard, though I think it's brought down a bit by the Mega Moles having dumb hitboxes. But I don't really think that's something you can fix so I won't old it against you. I do think though that the first DC is too hard to get and the spikes should probably be pushed ip a bit so the bowser statue lands on higher ground. Idk why I didn't complain about it in the old review because it's basically the same here lol. The vertical section is pretty nice, too, and the dragon coin placement is a lot better so the section where you have to get the springboard isn't nearly as annoying. I really like how the dolphins were used though it feels like they just kinda get dropped after the midpoint, it would have been nice to see them more in the second half. Some of the jumps, namely the first mole right after the midpoint, seem a bit finicky mainly due to again, the mole hitboxes being pretty dumb so I think in the first jump with the wall springboard and mole I'd move the ceiling up a few tiles to give the player more breathing room. The final room is pretty fun, too, though I have a couple complaints. I think the moon could be made a bit harder to get, maybe use the bowser statue activation thing glitch, because as it stands I thought it was gonna be for a DC or something and I went for it and died immediately. The powerup by the springboard is also weirdly hard to get, so maybe replace the regular springboard with a wall springboard. The corridor to the right of the moon is also kind of weird too, because it basically seems like a corridor meant to catch players that are rushing. You can just stand above it and wait for all the enemies to just pass by. Other than that the section is good, and I really like the corridor at the end with all the carrot platforms. I think I'd suggest a 1-up checkpoint right before the big boo fight. I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary but it'd be cool to have as an anti-frustration feature, because the actual big boo fight can be quite deadly and what comes before it is already pretty hard so it might be annoying to have to redo it because you die on like the last hit of the big boo fight or something. Besides that, though, I like the level a lot, and it's awesome to see the huge amount of improvement. Also I laughed at the message box, I'm a sucker for dumb jokes like that ;p. Small aesthetic complaint - I think that the little bush/block/cement floor decoration formation thing could have its palette changed to be darker, because I still think it looks solid. Other than that, this level is pretty great. Again, it's really nice to see that this level got improved a lot!! <3 |
Mata Hari | |
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Design and Execution: 29/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 12/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 14/20 Overall: 55/100 |
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Pretty fun level overall. I like how you used the weird properties of diagonal lava to create some unique skull raft rides, though I think that the concept could have been taken further. The first ride with the thwomp, ball n chain etc is noticeably less difficult than the second because there's a long diagonal ride down where the one obstacle is a single chuck, and that COULD be a threat if you didn't have fireballs, but if you do you can quickly fireball the chuck and then have absolutely nothing happening for the next like 10 seconds. I feel like the whole level could have just been more threatening in general, really. The first skull raft ride in the first half has a ball n chain that you basically have to go out of your way to get hit by. There's also a couple sections mostly in the first half where platforms just sprawl everywhere and you can jump around and stuff but I don't think that the ball n chains and chucks etc were placed in the best positions. Sometimes they're pretty out of the way and don't really pose a threat and other times they do and are interesting and fun to dodge. The first half also I think has some issues with conveying where to go sometimes, because at the first skull raft ride if you ride the raft off a cliff you get a DC, but the second raft if you do the same thing you get killed. I think the DC drop could use some sort of visual hint. The second half is more fun and well designed imo, because it uses the afromentioned weird diagonal lava behavior and the first ride especially is pretty fun and challenging, especially considering what raft rides tend to be. The second raft ride has the issue I mentioned earlier. The rest of the section is pretty good. Honestly this level is a bit weird because it just has one main issue and there isn't much more I can actually point out. It's fun, and the aesthetics are pretty good too, but I think it can just use a bit more to be pretty good. It has potential, but right now it's still a fun and good level. |
Guiga | |
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Design and Execution: 24/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 12/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 13/20 Overall: 49/100 |
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Kind of an odd level. There's some rooms that I like, and a few clever moments, but there's also just some weird parts which don't really feel like they fit with the rest of the level. The secret exit room mainly comes to mind, unlike the rest of the level it's just a kind of empty room with only an annoying boo cloud chasing you constantly and also a background palette that's like twice as bright as the really nice palettes from the rest of the level, lol. I think the level could use a little more focus because it has these good ideas that are just kinda not used all that well. One thing that struck me as pretty cool was the usage of Torpedo Teds and vines in the first half. You typically don't see that combination, but unfortunately there's only like one setup with it and then right after it there's a weirdly hard springboard jump. I wish this was used more because I'm a sucker for these kinds of setups lol!! (the grinder/vine setups in ice cutting site from last year made me all go ) The first half has a lot of filler in the first place, with a couple instances of just waiting for boo circles to come around, just corridors with ball n chains, etc, so there's room to incorporate more of this kind of stuff. The second half feels pretty weird. You have this random two-screen room with a skull raft and dolphins first. It's a neat idea to have a go forward and then loop back type of room like this but the dolphins are just sort of placed randomly and you can also just make a running jump to grab like the second vine in the area and skip it entirely. The darkness room is pretty good, and I like the way to get the secret exit for the most part, though I'm not the biggest fan of having to tank a hit on the spikes to get to the door (or am I doing it wrong?). The room also gives me nightmares of All the Way from New Jersey from JUMP lol. The room in general tho plays pretty well, especially for a spotlight room where the ground becomes invisible. The random skull raft ride at the end seems a bit weird, since it's not as threatening or fun as the previous room and it's only a few screens long. I'm not sure why it's here, really. I think the dolphin room and the raft room can be cut out and possibly have the section from the first half right after the midpoint be extended for more torpedo ted and combining w/ other sprites use? idk. As mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of the secret exit room, because the boo cloud is a very annoying sprite to deal with due to the high probablity of a boo telefragging you. It doesn't help that the room feels pretty empty and again, the palette is weirdly bright. Not sure why you didn't just copy the palette from earlier in the level. Honestly I'd recommend replacing this room entirely, because it's both dull and frustrating at the same time :S. Maybe move the skull raft ride to here and make it more interesting? So uh, yeah. This level has some good ideas, but I think it needs to expand upon them more. It has its clever moments though, namely the shell 'puzzle' for the secret exit and the torpedo ted/vine stuff. It's a start! |
Luks | |
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Design and Execution: 24/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 24/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 20/20 Overall: 69/100 |
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Nice level name (YOSHI'S ISLAND 1) :V. Omg why is this so short???? I really like the concepts and the level is fun to play but it's just so short!! There's like 5 setups total in each half and I feel like the level is really going somewhere but then it just kinda ends D:. What's here is a really good start, it's just that there's like nothing. I really like some of the setups in the second half, especially the setup with all the floating rocks and having to keep the mushroom so you can break the turn block. I think the level design, besides there being like, MORE of it lol, could use some tweaks tho. The setup right at the beginning with the huge wall of rocks is kinda frustrating to get past since it's like a huge enemy density right at the beginning and that kind of density appears absolutely nowhere else. I also think the setup with the rotating platform and the throw block could use some more space, because right now it eels like luck to get through it without getting hit because you can't see the rocks ahead of time. The fifth DC is also way too finicky to get imo especially since the punishment for failure isn't death, but rather having to do the level again because your midpoint gets reset. I'm...literally out of what to say now lol. The level is just so short that there isn't that much to say about it. The level basically feels like the first half of a great level and I don't think it goes nearly as far as it should. Pls make more of this cuz I want to see more!!! I love what's here!!! Also that background is actually kind of amazing btw. |
Master Lakitu | |
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Design and Execution: 3/50 Design Creativity and Aesthetic Creativity: 6/30 Aesthetics and Polish: 5/20 Overall: 14/100 |
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The first half has no enemies. I think that's all I have to say, honestly. |
Also, the paranoia that I'm playing incorrect level versions is setting in. So if I did that pls yell at me and I'll review yours again!!