[ACCEPTED] "Bowser's Kingdom" by mario and luigi

Permanent link to submissionThe title screen has a nice palette and some ...custom graphics? Custom graphics in YOUR hack? This is unheard of! O_O Anyways, your colorful logo reminds me of these wonderful pieces of my childhood. Of course, I'm expecting the brass buckle and leather belt to be from this hack, and a sure-fire whipping given that dirty Bowser music on this title screen. Also, I'd suggest moving your copyrights stuff down so that it doesn't run right into the menu.

The intro is one hell of a grand entrance: Mario gets shot out of a cannon and right into a Super Mushroom. The environment looks very, very tainted.

The overworld looks quite grungy. My only complaint is the top being really flat.

Yoshi's Place is just his house, but everything is ZOMG DARK AND EVIL.

The Path to Bowser! reminds me that I am on the path to Bowser, as if the map design didn't already hammer that message into my thick skull. I can't get over how strange it is that the cave demonstrates forward progress, yet the pipe you come out of is just behind where you enter it. That first room also has a yucky cloud palette. This is a really long level, even without the side rooms, and there are too many styles going on. The NSMB stuff doesn't fit in with the rest of the cartoony graphics. The level design itself takes too many turns and it doesn't feel cohesive within itself, but there were no objective 'errors' to point out. The happy grassland look of most of the level doesn't really fit in with the apocalyptic overworld, either. So yeah, the level was 'fine' but felt very, very wrong.

The Giant Mountains has a more fitting atmosphere than the last level. I really liked the way of getting the secret exit, although there is no need for the blue Koopa with that kind of structuring. This level was also really long and substantive, but it felt a lot more tolerable and than the last level. There are a lot of neat ideas within the level, but sometimes it's too much - the level feels like it's all over the place rather than one single entity.

The Old Red Button is kind of funny... it's a dark level with a disco ball spotlight and bonus music. Party at the abandoned house, anyone? Anyways, this level is nice because of the simplicity. There's a little slowdown throughout the entire level but its consistency makes it less of an interference than you'd imagine.

Bowser's Arsenal is pretty good on its own and returns to the trend of long, unforgiving levels. The Sparkies and Hotheads distinguish this level from your other castles, which tend to make heavier use of Ball and Chain and Dry Bones than this one. That said, I'm very disappointed in Bowser's taste in weapons.

Bowser's Castle wasn't very climactic - it literally felt like the shortest, easiest level in the hack apart from The Old Red Button. Of course, I feel like the Star run thing was too soon: on one hand, it makes for a great start because it gives you the feeling like you're invading Bowser's Castle like a one-man army... on the other hand, it's like his defenses were already shattered before you even got into the castle. The bulk of the level takes place in the courtyard, which plays a lot like the first level of any standard hack, and the room with the Magikoopa doesn't really do anything with the Magikoopa.

So yeah. I didn't find any severe problem with your levels that should prevent it from having a chance to be accepted, unlike your other C3 entries. It's a shame though, that you have all these lengthy and challenging levels, with an easy, dissatisfying ending.

Difficulty: Normal

Also LIES @ "vanilla"

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+1:
MercuryPenny
Wakana
Clemasterable
Everest
Wormer21
Aurel509