I am a massive fan of using the turtles as platforms. Its such a simple but effective way of making a more immersive level rather than just using default/generic platform sprites.
As others have said the level looks really well and seeing the GIF gives a good idea of what the rest of the level will feel like as well.
After over a month, i've finally started on a new level.
This is another world 2 level. The main gimmicks are these propeller lads with vines you can grab onto, aswell as sticky honey ceilings and bees.
Dude... it's crazy how much this hack is progressing and SMW Hacks in general.
This doesn't even look like a SMW Hack anymore, it looks like a revamped Mario game, especially because of the camera movement in the last bit.
I love the sticky honey ceiling gimmick
I love the ease motion from the propeller lads with vines, and
The way you switched up the camera motion from horizontal to vertical in the last bit is GENIUS!! You didn't even have to transition into a different level for that!
Have you already decided on the soundtrack that you wanted to use for this level?
I think the soundtrack that you have right now fits the best for the level. It really lets the player know that the bees are the main focus of the level.
I think the reason why it sounds unfitting is because of the rocky waterfall in the background. That soundtrack captures the bee and jungle concept really well, but it doesn't have that mountain atmosphere in my opinion.
I tried to look for some alternatives but I don't think they're as good. I'll list them anyway:
- Donkey Kong Country 2 - Bad Bird Rag (has a mountain, jungle atmosphere, but it sounds a little too tense for those bees)
- Wario Land 4 - Monsoon Jungle Remix (also has a mountain, jungle atmosphere, but it may not fit that well for the bee concept)
I would keep the soundtrack and maybe change the Layer 3 BG into treetops/bushes?
New level for world 2. i wanted to make an insect themed level, so i went with ants, in a giant ant nest.
here, a bunch of ants come out of their tunnels, there's also a trainbell (or antbell if you will) to warn you that there are ants coming, it makes a sound too, check my tweet to hear it.
I added the antbells because the ant spawners aren't 100% reliable and sometimes get delayed when they get on screen, and the player might walk right into the ants when they spawn, so the bell gives the player a warning.
New level for world 2. This time in an abandoned and overgrown greenhouse full of plantlife.
I'm Proud how it turned out so far. But The flowers and lights still need some work.
They don't have inbetween frames yet, and the lights should flicker when they're about to go out.
I'll change them when i figure out how custom exanimation triggers work.
I like the light switch and flower gimmick. I was wondering why you chose light to make the plant grow instead of rain, but I remembered from one of my high school natural science classes that red light helps with photosynthesis or something along those lines.
EDIT:
GIMMICK IDEAS:
That red light grows vines and Mario has to climb up or across the vine before the light switch timer runs out.
Maybe there could also be a gimmick where that red light that spawns or makes a plant sprite active - like a YI Wild Piranha as an example.
Or you could make it to where certain plant sprites get stronger when the red light shines on them and gets weaker when it doesn't.
You could hijack some of the ASM from Erik's Sprite Morph Blocks V3 to have those small plant sprites morph into big plant sprites when under the red light.
Great stuff as usual, the aesthetics and design are on point and I've been loving the creative level/world themes on the past few updates. Keep up the good work!
those "hugging" vines look amazing! Keep going 
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