[REMOVED] Mario's Treasure Sidequest - Demo 0.5 - greyjaybird

Permanent link to IPS


Cons:
> The area where you have to jump on Vertical Red Parakoopas is a bit too complicated for the first level of the hack, for a hack marked as Easy the first level shouldn't be complicated at this point. As well for the spot where you need to get the Balloon is a bit complicated to those that aren't familiar with this sprite, they can easily get hurt by the Boucin' Chuck near there.
> [1] [2] [3] Areas with one-tile high ceiling can kill the player when big - it'll push the player and eventually kill.
> The timer of the first level could really be increased, so the player won't feel that (s)he has to rush to beat this level. (Of course opinions about the amount of time varies, but you need to set timers more wisely)
> [1] [2] Such spots like those aren't really fun to pass from, mainly when they're repetitive.
> The hack is too short! It only has two levels done, and the Submission Guidelines for Hacks state that you should avoid submitting too short hacks.
* The intro level could have another sign at its begin, I simply didn't have any hints I was supposed to proceed to right to eventually read the intro message.

Pros:
> Level design; It's just okay overall. But it could be more worked on for the future.


I can't say it was a nice hack at all. Way too short - not to mention the amount of bad issues you could've avoided to do. My advice for now is that you take your time remaking your levels a bit and get testers as well, so you can hear to general criticism and opinions! I don't have more to say about this hack to give more constructive feedback, as I've stated, the hack is very short. :/

For now I think your hack has to be denied, not only for the bad issues I've mentioned but because it's really short to evem be enjoyed.
Difficulty could be Normal, but if the first levels get reworked on I'd change it to Easy again.

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+1'd users:
- Wakana-chan
- JackTheSpades
- Everest
- Koopster
- MarioFanGamer659
- Macky

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My hack thread

That's all?
Honestly, I don't think this hack is enough, in terms of lenght, to be accepted. That'd be my main issue, but I'm going to review it anyways.
The level design is decent: I wish you added more variety in general, since some parts are just flat, without any obstacle and such. Another complain I have about this factor is that the Switch Palace level has a kaizo-ish part in the beginning. I'm not saying it's hard, but it can be pretty annoying, especially if you're small Mario. Overall, I'd improve the design a little bit, especially in the empty parts.
The aesthetics is vanilla, and since you used SMW's standard ones, I don't think this needs a detailed analysis. Let's say that there weren't any major cutoff and/or glitches around. It would have been appreciated if you customized it a little, but this is a subjective thing.
The difficult is normal, I believe...
Since this hack is just 2 levels long, I would go with rejection. As the submission guidelines state, you must submit a hack with a rasonable lenght. Hacks like this, with just 2 short level, of course aren't.

Very short hack.

Because this hack is pretty short, this will not be a long review that I usually like to do so I will solidify my opinion in this one paragraph. The obvious problem as I have already stated is that this hack is quite short. As such, it cannot possibly be accepted into the section yet as it fails to be long enough to make it interesting to any person out there. Moving onto the level design, the level Grass Area 1 which seems to be the main level in this hack is okay however it could use quite a lot of improvement. While I am glad that you managed to vary the structure so it is not very flat, the usage of sprites seem to make the level empty in certain sections. There are also some areas that have blocks that seem to cause unnecessary difficulty. Difficulty spikes are not appropriate in any hack especially the first level. You might also want to refrain from including advanced concepts early in the game such as a P-Balloon which I was able to break the level with. The secret exit is pretty easy to find although requiring to be small isn't exactly the best thing to do in the first (main level). The switch palace seems to be pretty short and I do not like the fact that you have included one-tile blocks that I can easily glitch through and die (also present in Grass Area 1). Please fix it.

There isn't really much else to talk about. The aesthetics seemed fine to me and there isn't any major problem regarding them.

Difficulty: Normal due to some difficulty spikes.

I will go with rejection due to the length of this hack and some areas containing bad level design.

Level design here is okay, although it can become a bit empty here and there, especially when it comes to enemies. I also found your levels kind of "unfocused". As in, the first level starts as a normal grassland, then it becomes a cement block/thin pipes structure and there's a P-ballon ride in the end... It's not worth denying a hack for that reason alone, but take this as a tip: focuse each of your levels in a single theme. It makes the hack feel more organized.

Another thing I'm not a fan of in your design is that muncher dodging section in the red switch level. It requires the player to do somewhat precise jumping, which is more of an annoyance than fun.

Also, it's notable that the player is required to do some running-and-then-ducking here and there in your hack. I don't disapprove of this, but since you're doing that, you should avoid situations where stuff like this can happen.

Rejecting since this hack is just way too short. Since you're only planning to go for a few levels, you'd better only submit it into the section when it's fully done. Difficulty seems normal so far, but it will depend on the rest of the hack I guess.

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It's easily the best thing I've done
So why the empty numb?

Title Screen
The start was very good but after a while when the first munchers appeared, I don't think, the hack will be good.

Levels
In the first level there are some enemy-jumpings at bottom less pits. Well, they actually belongs to last/special world or hard level hacks. There is also a P-Balloon passage... I like tubular more because it's a special world level and not a first level level plus in tubular there are no large problems after you've collected the balloon (in this hack, you can also get hurt by the chuck). The secret exit was also misplaced because it's near the normal exit and at first you'll think it's a bottomless pit. You've also spammed some cement blocks and pipes which is obivously bad. Some munchers are also misplaced (just random with no reason). In Red Level (which uses a normal tile but I recommend you to use a switch palace and not a normal level tile) there is a hard spot where you'll have to jump over a muncher on a two tiles high ceiling (there is enough space to jump over an enemy without problems and ducking) but can be also broken (jumping over the ceiling). There is also a kind of big Mario discrimination at the switch palace (see Mirann's post). I also didn't forget the glitchy smoke in Rest Hut after you've collected a mushroom and the hack is also too short (can be beatin in less then two minutes).

Difficult: Normal due to many 1-ups even if the hack isn't so easy.

Verdict: Rejection (with no reason)!

Well this was short... the title screen is somewhat okay, but this doesn't fix any issues. Now let's talk about the major flaw in this hack; the level design. Levels were not all that great, since they're actually pretty boring if you ask me, so I really can't comment much on this hack since it is very plain. Also in the first level you can trigger the L + R glitch that let's you skip through solid objects and that's not a good thing since that is giving the players a break to skip the whole level rather than playing it.

Like Mirann said about not enjoying the hack, I'll go for rejection.