[W4] Castle Rush - SMWCX

Oh boy, first completed SMBX level.

Anyway....
If the title hasn't already given it away, the main focus of this stage is to rush through one of Bowser's castles and escape before it "collapses" (a.k.a. time runs out).

As of right now, the timer is set to 150 Seconds (2.5 minutes). The time is eventually going to be changed.

The stage has 2 stars (One bonus, one ends level).

It should be noted that this stage DOES NOT have a Midpoint:
1. Starting half way through the level with full time sort of ruins
the gimmick.
2. I've tried to make the level short, of course I'll let you guys decide that.

Pics
http://tinypic.com/r/14u9m53/5
http://tinypic.com/r/fenl86/5
http://tinypic.com/r/n3x0ya/5
http://tinypic.com/r/331deso/5
http://tinypic.com/r/3590hz9/5
http://tinypic.com/r/2bsd3n/5
http://tinypic.com/r/2qv9wg9/5
http://tinypic.com/r/98sqhi/5

Level
Castle Rush v0.1

Feedback, Ideas, and Comments are greatly appreciated.

Alright, so I got done play-testing and stuff, so I hope this is helpful!

My notes:
-I really like the concept, it's one aspect I kind of wish SMBX had that came from SMW.

-One beef I had with this level was the fact I never knew how much time I had left (besides the 10-second countdown), and due to SMBX's capabilities, I don't really see a way for that to happen. Though I guess it can build suspense/paranoia from the sheer fact you have no idea how much time is left.

-At the end it seemed there was a slight red-koopa spam, I'd mix it up a bit just a tad more.

-I REALLY love the circle/platform graphics, I kind of wish you put some more details for aesthetics.

-Speaking of aesthetics, the Boom-Boom fight room seemed a bit bland, other than that it was fine. Nice use of SMB1 graphics.

-The weird crack graphics seen in the Boom-Boom room (see below) looks a tad ugly. Instead of using 1x1 pixels to draw the cracks, use 2x2 pixels instead. The same goes for the heavenly sequence arrows.

-You can bounce off the koopa as seen in the image to cheat your way around having to bring those mushroom blocks with you.

-The castle sequence kind of ends abruptly, you could probably extend the level a tad longer. Also, 150 seconds seems like way too much at the moment.

-I didn't like the heaven "light" graphic, The light itself should shine down in a cone style (as seen in the image below).

-The extra star wasn't too hard to get.
-The music fit with the level nicely.

-The heaven sequence plus the castle 'destroyed' graphic (when you're outside) were nice touches, haha.

-I died a few times, but that was due to me rushing to beat the level. Once I took my time, the level was fairly easy. I'm not sure where I would place this "world-wise," since I haven't got a clue where difficulty is at the moment.

Hope this is beneficial!

A while after first posting this level, I kind of started to hate the way the level came out. So I decided to start from scratch once again, and eventually came Castle Rush v 0.2. The level still follows the same basic formula but with many changes:
* Timer is now 100 seconds.
* The way you get the secret star is slightly changed.
* Heaven Sequence Removed. I found possibly rewarding the player with 3 lives for waiting around until the timer runs out to be counterintuitive.
* Most graphics and NPC's are from SMB1.
* New Level Layout

Anyway pics!

Boom Boom battle was changed. All platforms move up and down. The two end platforms are synchronized while the middle platform moves at a different pace.

Already mentioned, but the secret star has been slightly changed. Find this Koopa's son and... well you know the rest.

Download
Castle Rush v0.2

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Also Sturgy Man thanks for your help it really was beneficial.
- Cracked Graphics and Heaven Sequence were removed so no need to discuss them. The Cracked Graphics were meant to show the best three areas to place the mushroom blocks. If you put it to close or too far you couldn't make the jump back up.
- Tried to mix up the enemy types a bit more.
- I changed the Boom Boom fight entirely and gave the fight a little more flavor.
- Thanks for your comment about the circle platforms, granted they need 64 events to work properly, lol.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Again any feedback and comments are welcome.

Wow, looks nice! Might test this one out tomorrow

Updated the level once more, and the level is nearly complete (I still want to set some graphics to a SMB1 style but everything I want to do with the level design is finished).

Changes

The most notable change is this big bob-omb which sort of acts as a timer. It walks across the top of the stage heading towards the end of the castle. As long as you're in front of the bob-omb, you're good on time.

Once it reaches the end of the castle, it spends the last 10 seconds (which still use the beeping sound effect) preparing it's explosion.

I noticed that it was pretty easy to be crushed by the moving platforms in the previous mid-boss battle. So I went back to Boom-Boom, removed the moving platforms, added some slopes, and added a pipe that moves back and forth across the top, dropping Goombas every 3 seconds.

Part of a revised area.

Also changed the music from Mario Galaxy 2's Hurry Up to a sped up, higher pitched version of Mario 3D Land's Final Boss Battle Theme.

Anyherp,
Castle Rush v0.3

As usual, any feedback, comments, etc. are welcome!

I really enjoyed this level. The concept is good and it is fun to play.
I especially liked the Big Bob-Omb indicating the time limit, and the secret star was creative.

I still have a few suggestions:
- You could lower the amount of time we get, or make the level a bit longer. I always finished the level with around 15-20 seconds left, because you can rush through the second part of the level pretty easy with the cannon.
- I personally liked the Mario Galaxy's Hurry Up Music better than the Final Boss theme, but the Final Boss theme is still a good song for the level.

It's a good level overall. Keep up the good work

Thanks Blue Leaf. Lowered the time by 10 seconds and changed the music back to Mario Galaxy 2. Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback so far.

, I'm now submitting the final version of the level (below) for quality control.

Also Castle Rush v1.0

As per usual, feedback and comments are welcome.

Accepted!

Bonus

Due to the nature of the level, I feel this would work best as a bonus stage. It's pretty fun (though it expects the physics to not be so greasy... maybe I need to stop playing with Toad) and it has a lot of neat tricks. Excellent job!