Originally posted by Mad Lad
hope I'll get at least another one done tomorrow.
...I should really stop setting such strict deadlines for myself xD.
Anyways, I finally got around to finishing two more reviews. The last request will hopefully be done soon. Hope you enjoy.
019 PokerFace:
Design: 53/60:
This was a blast to play. Every single section managed to bring something new and interesting to the table. There were tons of clever setups with well placed enemies (will go into more detail in the creativity section). The difficulty curve throughout the level was excellent with only the jump shown in the screenshot being a little too tricky in my opinion and the boss battle with too little going on (you're only in danger when you stand in the middle of the room or have to grab a throw block).
I really enjoyed that you put a lot effort into placing the yoshi coins interestingly as well, with my only coplaint being the third yoshi coin which feels almost luck based too me. But the only bigger issue that I had was the relativly tight time limit because of the levels overall length and exploration possibilites. To fix that I recommend to maybe consider getting rid of the boss battle as I felt it didn't add too much to the level.
Creativity: 26/30:
Besides the incredible amount of creativity in the aesthetics, the design offers quite a bunch of creativity in it's various sections as well. The sinking layer 2 and layer 2 smasher section come to mind. My favourite idea were the grinders used as electricity on the powerlines though. Genius!
Aesthetics: 10/10:
This might be the visually most interesting and impressive VLDC level yet especially the brilliant use of ExAnimation makes this level really "come to life". I litterally have not a single aspect I can critisize aestheticly. You've outdone yourself.
Total: 90/100 (NEW FAVOURITE)
033 ECS.98:
Design: 47/60
How can this be your very first level? Great job! While there are bits of the level that I didn't enjoy as much most of the sections and ideas are miles better than in a lot of other VLDC entries. Also because the rooms vary a lot in quality and uniqueness I decided it's best to review the design room by room.
The little introduction room comes in great effect, perfectly explaining how the gimmick works and leaving the player wondering how you were able to pull this off with vanilla resources only xD.
Room 1: For the most part a well designed room. I really enjoyed that due to the layer 2 / on-off switches the way back felt completely different. The room contains some of my favourite setups of this level as well, the fuzzball section and "3-grinder-section" at the beginning come to mind. The only negative for me were the waiting times on your way back (e.g. see screenshot). I'd recommend replacing some of the layer 2 platforms to make the transitions between the sections more fluent.
Room 2: Another interesting gimmick, that I feel is a little underused in the level. My only criticism would be that the backtracking feels completely unnecessary as there is not a single enemy left to pose any threat.
Mini-Rooms: My absolute favourite section of the level. While the rooms might be a little less difficult than the rest of the level, they truely show the potential and various possibilities of the sprite-slot gimmick. I'm pretty sure we can expect multiple levels based around this gimmick for next years VLDC.
Pre-boss rooms: Excluding the boss fight, probably the least memorable bit of the level. To make it more interesting you could for example bring back the gimmick of the second room.
Boss: I don't dislike the boss fight but in my opion it doesn't hold up to the creativity of the rest of the level. My problem is that you didn't use enemies or any of your newly introduced gimmicks to threaten the player, but rather relied on spikes which are a lazy way of adding difficulty. Combining two of the previously seen gimmicks (sprite slots, "looping" sprites) for the keys was a nice touch though.
Creativity: 30/30:
There is no way I can't give you a full score in this category. Rarely have I ever seen such an incredible amount of creative gimmicks and setups in one level. And to be honest I still don't get how you were able to pull at least half of the tricks off.
Aesthetics: 5/10:
While I genearlly enjoy the vanilla castle aesthetics and vibe, the aesthetics are still the category where the level could be improved the most. Thank you for making the layer 2 and "mario-only" playforms (in room 2) easier to detect, by giving them a different shade of grey though.
Total: 82/100
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