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LDC with highest scoring entrant: Storytelling, with MP3’s entrant gaining 16.83 points.

LDC with highest scoring top 3: Cave, with an average top 3 total of 16.02 points compared to Storytelling’s 15.33

LDC with most entrants: Cave, with eight to Storytelling’s six. (We’re not counting Kevin)

LDC host who won the themed duel: MessengerOfDreams, whose Cave entrant beat Buff’s Story entrant by 1.61 points.

LDC with most new blood: Tie! Cave with Captain America and Triple J entering, and Story with Kaboom and Tune4toons entering. Percentage-wise, the odds are in Story’s favor with 33% of their entrants being new contestants.

LDC with highest placing new blood: Story, with Tune4toons getting 14.5 and an overall 6th place finish with Indecisive.

LDC with the most sequels/prequels/affiliations with past work: Cave, with Zebtrestalala creating a prequel to King Goombiard, Volcove creating a sequel to Into The Depths, and lordpat creating a branch from Cave of Memories. Sequels were also plotted for Dimension Infinity (Star king) and Ghostly Cave (Nwolf) but decided against.

LDC with most placing original works: Storytelling, with the top 3 being all original work (no attachments to prior work) as opposed to one placing original work in Cave (the winner, MoD).

LDC with most returning winners: Tie! Cave had Volcove and MoD, and storytelling had Buffooner and MP3 Amplifier. Interestingly enough, past winners made up the top two in each LDC.

LDC with most returning medalists/ribbonists: Cave! Its four past placing contestants included the two aforementioned winners, Zebtrestalala (who had one bronze and one 4th place ribbon) and Karyete (who had a fifth place ribbon from the 17th LDC) whereas the storytelling had three- the two prior winners and blackyoshi, who placed fifth last LDC.

LDC which continues a longer consecutive streak: Storytelling, which gave Amp her fifth and sixth consecutive medals in a row (17th to 21st LDC). None of the top four who entered the Cave LDC placed in the prior LDC.

LDC with higher overall score: Cave, with an average score of 14.05 compared to Story’s 12.88. (TMGK’s entrant kept it from being an exact tie between the two.)

MessengerOfDreams wrote:Kaboom

Fun-6/10

The story was by far the most powerful asset of the level, but ultimately the gameplay failed it in a few aspects, while being just passing in others.

While there were a few pretty good platforming twists in level 1 and level 2, overall most of it was just passable, at about an average line of enjoyability. The journeys themselves were what kept me going, but the actual gameplay often seemed like a chore. One of the big problems were jarring difficulty spikes and valleys, especially in level 1. The FLUDD often seemed to make things too easy, yet you utterly needed it in some places. Those insta-kill thwomps were a ♥♥♥♥ move for a first level. Platformingwise my favorite aspect were the windmills in level 2. Level 3... see other. Level 4, however, while I enjoyed the concept of retreading the old worlds, it wasn't pulled off hugely well. The boss itself was too chaotic and almost insanely hard- not creative type of hard, but just turning the power on to 11 without even seeing how it'd work.

Oftentimes the most fun I had was visiting and revisiting the village in the beginning, and going to the other areas around it. Traveling itself was fun, through time and through distance.

So yeah, good story and good journey, but the platforming was hugely underwhelming.

Graphics-3.5/5

Oftentimes I felt that even for a simple level, it was a bit too simplistic in design. The tiling was decent but it was vastly undecorated. You don't have to throw fifty plants into the space of a tile, but at least give it a little bit of definition. The cabins were mediocre and the overall design was just a bit too little. However, I applaud your usage of the same set pieces a repeated amount of times and watching the transformations throughout each level.


Other- 2/5

-2 This is by far the worst example of lack of proper playtesting I've ever seen. Level three in particular, I quite literally had to play sections entirely on their own simply because you didn't give us anything even semblant of a clear path. It was a tragedy of errors and miserable to play through because I didn't know what I was doing. It pissed me off, because I didn't know what was going on and I wanted to for the sake of story, but... gragh.

-1 for getting to the 'end' of level 4 by going the normal path with no indication to why there was a forced kill with still more level left. I was majorly pissed off, you have no idea.

-1 for giving us no direction once we got to the boss- we just had to guess to go up when we couldn't even SEE up.

-.5 Lag in the Doctor's Clinic Battle, which made the whole fight a pain in the ♥♥♥.

-.5 Why does every wooden platform make you slow down? Is there any purpose for that other than to annoy me?

+1.5 However, I did like the story; how it spanned over an entire lifetime's romance, through childhood through to maturity and even death. While the dialogue was sometimes cheesy the story itself had a simplistic charm and a gripping mood that I appreciated, even if it was undercut by the level itself oftimes. You conveyed a lot of it without dialogue too, which even I myself have struggles with, so I applaud you for that.

+1 The alternate music, esp. from Mother 3, was a powerful asset to the levels.

+1 The credits scene was rather brilliant.

+.5 I loved the fall into hell in level 4. That was clever.

Overall-11.5/20

This level had aspects that were both great and horrible, so it's only fitting that it gets a spot in the middle of those two. I'm so, so pained that this didn't turn out better.


MP3 Amplifier

Fun-9/10

This level has some very top-notch gameplay, and certainly the best I've seen from you. Originality, challenge factor, and plenty of fun all-around. I've seen many, many segments that I've never seen before, and for that I deftly applaud you. Story or no story, this would have stood out all on its own. It did get a bit too frustrating at some points, and a couple of things felt flimsy (the narrow platform overhang with the bullets, the flight cap in part 2 stand out as sore spots). It also seems like you're shoehorning a bit too much into there with a challenge at every turn with little to no breathing room. I know that sounds absurd, but come on, did we really need a cap challenge in the hospital room?

Overall, though, it's clear to see just how far you've come from the 13th LDC.

Graphics-5/5

All around some of the best I've seen. At once trippy, magnificent, intricate and deftly original, the graphics and the landscape you've created is simply marvelous.

Other-2.75/5
+1 No lag and no bugs.
-.5 Personally, though, the loading time in part 1 could have been easily avoided if you had split the level at the hospital. It's a good stopping point for the story and would have been a perfectly clean split just over halfway through the level.
-.5 I'm not fond of the lava/instakill rocks. They serve their purpose and in theory are kind of neat, but they're very early on into the series to provide something so hard to overcome. They were also gigantic, making it nearly impossible to avoid. Those would have been a lot better either scaled down, utilized in level 2, or both.
-.75 Another thing I noticed too much is a big lack of direction. Oftentimes you lead us to go past places we need to in hopes of exploring and finding secrets, often for no purpose or to our doom. Examples of this include all the empty space after the first shine and the segment before taking the platform from the boiler room into a house with the FLUDD, and definitely that dark pit after the hospital with no signs as where to go. In addition, this is prevalent in gameplay, such as with the three green platforms in the beginning, which take you to death with no way to get to the next platform save for the bottom one, and the wing cap segment where you jump the ♥♥♥♥ into nowhere and hope you don't hit a wall while flying at machspeed. Make our paths clearer.
+.5 I loved the visual effects- i.e. the explosion, the not-green green platforms (you coded a hundred tiny thwomps into that one platform?...why?! It looks great but, why?!) and the like.
+.25 A little bit of extra love for the sake of the red-block-invisible maze and the reflection of the hospital. Both excellent little tidbits that deserve merit.

The story itself was a mixed bag for me. I'll divide it into bits.

+1 I loved the mystery itself; classic Sherlock.
-.25 The dialogue wasn't nearly as sharp as a classic Sherlock BBC Episode, and since you were tackling such high standards, you should have either made it fit or took a different approach, because it didn't fit that sort of episode at all, more like pretty good fanfiction.
-.5 I simply don't get why you would have the level itself be so vastly different than the text story. You don't explain it, and it just alienates me. It also doesn't play into the mystery well when all the clues are in text, and only one is in the level.
-.5 I also wish you were able to incorporate the text into the level instead of forcing me to switch between two tabs the entire level. It attributes to the disconnect between the two.

Overall-16.75/20

I actually enjoyed the gameplay on the level of Antichesm, even if a bit overly stuffed. It's just a handful of annoying bugs and the needlessly bizarre incorporation of the story that bugs me.


Blackyoshi

Fun-8/10

It's typical BY work- classic platforming with many small, clever and catchy twists. It's not overwhelmingly grand or as good as some past works, but I enjoyed playing it nonetheless.

Graphics-5/5

Overall some very stunning graphical work. Autumn is executed flawlessly. I love it.

Other-1.5/5
-2 for incompletion, and how it makes the story itself seem flimsy.
+.25 Although the story is indeed flimsy and cut off, it is actually told well through the surroundings; you created an autumn so intense it never ceases, and it's believable.

Overall-14.25/20

It's a shame this didn't complete, but it's a pretty good work nonetheless; a good starter point with stunning graphics.

The magikoopa guy

Fun-3/10

This has nothing worth noting platformingwise. It's all just incredibly basic, with no defining traits to it. It lacks the Kirby feel immensely and feels like average SM63.

Graphics-2.5/5

I sort of liked how the bridge looked; reminded me of King. The inside of the tree was well done, too. However, the rest of the series' graphics were pretty poorly done- either little decoration or too much clumped together, and instances of cutoff.

Other-1/5
-1 The story failed to incite anything worth giving a point too. At once lacking originality, a classic Kirby feel, and forcing the peevish having-to-pretend-Mario-is-Kirby and having-to-pretend-characters-that-aren't-there-actually-are cards are never good.
-1 Bad lag in the last level, due to no level transition until halfway through.

Overall-6.5/20

This didn't do well at all to me.


Tune4toons

Fun-7.5/10

For a first level, this is certainly better than 75% of first levels I've ever seen (and certainly better than a good handful of second, third, fourth and so on.) Even if I gave you a few general how to design tips, you still showed a surprising amount of prowess on your own; a good amount of independent skill and know-how.

The level gets by on its mystery factor. You don't know what's going on, where to go, what the best thing to do is. The confusion is welcome and makes the level interesting, and while the minimalist platforming isn't enthralling it's fun enough, and it's a pretty enjoyable level.

What I think hinders the level is that due to the cryptic dialogue, it's nearly impossible to know what path is right. It wears the strong curiosity factor off pretty easily if you don't know what you're doing, and odds are you won't. There's a lot of guesswork that could have been done better, interweaved with the story better. Otherwise, I enjoyed the concept and it was pulled off respectably, and it was an enjoyable play.

Graphics-4.5/5

The minimalism and surreality is rather brilliantly pulled off, and it just gives the level a highly spooky feel. No cutoff and good item placement are a surprise from a beginner, so well done there.

Other-4.25/5
+1.25 On its own, one of the better stories of this contest, which is unsurprising due to your writing prowess. We're never quite aware of what's going on which I welcome in a story if executed well, which it is. Although it could have been integrated better, it's still a good entrant.

Overall-16.25/20

A strong first entrant and a good testament to your writing skill. I expect great things from you!


Buffooner

Fun- 6/10

Oddly enough, it was the flimsy platforming and overly minimalist approach that put you down a few points this time. I mean, everything flowed just fine but there wasn't much to do gaming-wise. I fail to see why exactly this story required such minimalism in design, either. I suppose you were rushed, but even then it seems a bit too little, especially in parts two and three.

Part one, however, I found to be a better sort of minimalism, at least while it lasted. It added to the haunting mood and it made me expect some pretty great things. It was the other two parts that underwhelmed me. Not the greatest follow-up to last LDC, but it was a decent play that highlighted the story.

Graphics-3.5/5

I loved the graphics in part one; it made the story intense and scary. I think your biggest mistake was pulling it out of the black without keeping the same atmosphere graphicswise; the minimalism was taken a bit too far and the landscape felt unnatural in a different, less appealing way than being dropped into a tense atmosphere. Also, I'm surprised that three years in no one's ever taught you how to checker-tile. This means to rotate between the two filler cave tiles (or grass tiles or snow tiles) so the cave looks much more natural.

Other 4/5
+1 Yes, the story wasn't the most original but it carried through, and I looked forward to reading more. I also enjoyed the sort of twist at the end, pretty clever. You also did a great job at integrating it to the level; perhaps the best example of which I've seen this LDC, even if the execution left a lot to be desired.

Overall-13.5/20

The story wasn't the problem here; it was creating a level to match it.

blackyoshi wrote:'The Blind Experiment' by ~MP3 Amplifier~

Fun 8.5/10

The gameplay itself was very fluent and fitted well with the story itself. I personally enjoyed this level a lot. But even great levels have their flaws. Right after collecting the FLOOD a transition with some very fast moving platforms made it hard for me to get safe over the hole. AKA I died several times which, combined with the actually long loading time, wasn't very funny at all. Also the 'angry thwomps. I disliked that there were no place 'rest' and to see the pattern of the movement of the thwomps. So I got squished several times. The second level was mainly gameplay based. I liked the several inventive challenges through the whole level. Even if I disliked the part with the breaking blocks in the beginning and the evil invisible star ( Which could easily be fixed with a star before the line of the invincible stars, which removes the invisibility.
Also the section with the fire which appeared in a circle around the cave tiles with the shine sprite in it. They were way too fast for me so I got burned everytime I passed there. At last the cannon/ flying star section. It took much time to pass that. Maybe there is a trick or something like that. But for me, it got a bit frustrating. I enjoyed the whole plot and the gameplay in the level a lot. But some things could have done better, though.


Graphics 5/5

The graphics through the whole level looked quite awesome. From 'red' light, water reflection, hospital, awesome tile patterns, lots of inventive stuff to make it look better, to the explosion in the end of the level (And countless other things). I feel well to overlook 'empty looking places' and other minor stuff and give you full score here. Well done.


Other 3.75/5
Inventions everywhere (different coloured platforms for example) +1
Lag and loading time issues -0.5
No lack of coins, many boni with 1up made it more fluent for me. +0.25


All 8.5+5+3.75=17.25/20

Except some minor and not too minor flaws (I mentioned above) was this level very good.
I also think this is a level I could play again without getting bored at all.

__________________________________________________________________________________


It took way more time to review this series than I thought first. It was after all longer than I thought. I hope the review is ok.



blackyoshi

~MP3 Amplifier~ wrote:Here we go :3 I don't really know whether Kaboom's third level was corrupted or just badly playtested.

KABOOM:
with Shine Flower

Fun – 5.25/10. It was very limited gameplay-wise, mainly moving around on landscapes, but I suppose the freezing water was a nice touch. The wooden platforms where the houses were slowed you down as you were running and didn’t really have a particular purpose so that was frustrating. It was also boring having a slow continuous green platform taking you along a mushroom vine. Some added obstacles in the middle would’ve been much more interesting. Also the green platforms near the ice bit were a bit pointless IMO but I suppose it gave you an understanding of where you were heading so I’m neutral on that one. Also, difficulty wise, there wasn’t much of a challenge as far as I could see in these first levels.

It was a little bit disappointing as I saw plenty of opportunities for some challenges too. In the underwater section in the second level, it felt a little awkward going really low underneath the grass, perhaps you should’ve made the turf end just a little higher..? But then I see the windmills. I really liked that, a sweet concept, and fun to get across. Although their look could’ve been improved, the platforming itself was much of an improvement. I didn’t like the doctor’s clinic boss so much but see more opinions on that in Other.

Right, to the beginning of part 3 now. Nasty injury already if you don’t move out of the way for the block in time. That isn’t nice at all. And what the hell I’m stuck in the room..? I’m gonna take a further look at this, see my comments in Other. For now I’ll just move the starting position. Although the wooden platforms don’t seem to get me across the lava so I’ll take the roof. This really isn’t looking promising to me… and forcing yourself to get hurt by a flame on the rooftop. I’m sorry, but what the hell is this? I don’t want to sound rude, but this third level looks as though it’s had no playtesting, no bug checking, no effort put in and seriously did it not occur to you that these blocks were covering doorways and leading you to impossible paths? This is a really big disappointment for me currently, and possibly the worst mistake you’ve made so far this series. This is what’s going to lose you a decent placing this LDC. I’m really not happy with this. It’d better improve in the final level.

Now onto the final level. This does, as you said, have a pretty long loading time. However it was bearable and under two flash player signs (which is my personal limit for loading levels) so you were safe. As for crossing the ravine, I was thinking you could land on the cloud but clearly I couldn’t, but still got transported across, so that was quite nice. However you can’t trust people to stay still while falling down a ravine. But you’ve also shown me you can disable which gives no excuse for having a non-disabled shine sprite in the level before this. (check Other) It was a bit unclear on how to get across using paths out of level bounds after that, but no matter, I just managed to jump and that was all. Also the ending… with the bone platforms and twisted branches saying “End?”. You have no idea how much this confused me. Was I supposed to load it up again and play through it again? You didn’t make it anywhere NEAR clear enough. I’m sorry, but this really disappointed me. I was expecting something really unusual and interesting, but it just wasn’t. Sorry if you’re upset with this, but I honestly think it’s down to lazy testing or none at all. Sad thing too since it had lots of potential.

Graphics – 3.25/5. Houses and rooms look empty and they looked really similar too. I kept coming across a room in the first level with a Hover FLUDD and blue coin in the exact same place … it really confused me on where I currently was. I think the jungle section looked quite nice, but the snow section looked a little empty. However both lacked quite a bit of décor IMO (in the first level) but I really liked the tile shape and structure. That looked perfectly fine to me. Also as I began the second level, I started to realise that the style and graphics were very repetitive and similar … the layouts of the rooms for example, it was pretty much identical to the first level. It would’ve been nice to feel some more variety to styles and layouts, so it wouldn’t feel like you’re entering the same place over and over again.

Moving swiftly onwards, “Another Town”- it was a sweet little idea however if you smashed the ice blocks where the lights would originally be, it leaves item cut-off. And it looks a little ugly too. Then in the third level we see lava cut-off … which isn’t so great at all.

In the final level, the snow tiles and landscapes and rooms still look very bare… if not even more bare than before. I know it’s been done for a reason so it’s not too bad, however I would’ve preferred to see some kind of death using creative décor instead. Also I found the flames were in random places, it would’ve been nice to have seen a pattern of some kind instead of having them scattered everywhere. Then on my ascent using the green platforms and the bowser texture blocks, it was very plain and there wasn’t much for decoration at all. However I must bring something up in the third transition and that is I saw a lot of cut-off from tiles and snow. It was… rather ugly, actually. It looked as though it was supposed to be secret, but no, we could see it. Overall, the graphics were okay … but as you can see I picked out many flaws. Whether these were accidents or not, I really don’t know, but either way you can’t afford to do this again in an LDC.

Other – 2/5.

+0.25 – Cute little penguin at the beginning.
-0.25 – Outside the storage cupboard in the first level it said “supplies” yet inside there was one Hover FLUDD.
+0.25 – The checkpoint system isn’t like the usual, but it worked for me.
-0.25 – You said if we hit the baby thwomps we could get hurt, not that we could die. Make it clearer next time.
-0.5 – WHOAA what’s with the huge-ass lag in the doctor’s clinic? Faaaarr too many bullets crossing, making the difficulty very unbalanced. Get this sorted please. Oh yes and you need more coins in that section too, not many, but a little more.
-0.25 – …Why the hell is the shine sprite at the beginning of part 3 not disabled? I just ended the level there … what.
-0.75 – Your third level seems to have some serious problems in that signs, platforms, shine sprites have all been moved under the turf. Could you not have noticed this before? It’s made me very stuck and I’m having to even move the start position to avoid it.
+0.5 – While there were many flaws in this series, the levels certainly fit the theme well and the story was very nice- it kept me in a fairly good mood as I was playing them … no matter how many times I was pissed off at some sections … overall you did fine. I can still see improvements story-wise, but it was a pretty enjoyable read nevertheless.

Overall – 10.5/20.

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blackyoshi:
with Autumn Madness

Fun – 8.25/10. This was pretty awesome. The gameplay wasn’t very unique or even very difficult but I still can’t deny that it was fun. A few minor things that I thought for platforming, not even anything to be changed, just extended. The wing cap section in the second transition was very short, I would’ve loved to have it continue for a while as wing cap is personally a favourite of mine when it comes to gameplay. The tiny goombas shocked me a little when I saw them, because within the masses of leaves on each little volcano tile pillar, it’s really difficult to notice them and they can push you off the edge very easily. I personally think medium sized goombas would’ve worked better here. Then I saw the rotating green platforms- was that a little bit of inspiration from my entry there? It worked well though, and the fences kept its traditional spiral shape well too. Unfortunately the level ended not too far after that … and didn’t get continued. That was a bit of a disappointment because the atmosphere really worked well here. Overall great gameplay, very entertaining indeed.

Graphics – 4.75/5. Wow… you load up the level and already you see pretty incredible graphics. You certainly fit the theme of Autumn, a pretty difficult choice of story theme to follow too, and you did very well here, especially that it was the only thing I could think of when I was playing it. However one thing that confused me a little bit was the motionless flipping platforms containing some background tiles. What was that? It wasn’t very clear as to what it was tbh. But that was one of not many improvements to be made graphic wise- I think you succeeded very well here, the fallen leaves in particular looked awesome. The choice of tiling to portray an autumn scene was very creative and certainly worked for the best, so brilliant work.

Other – 3.25/5.
+0.25 – The shine sprite hidden by masses of fallen leaves at the end was quite cool, not to mention the dead/dying tree at the end which looked giant. Nice effort.
-0.25 – Thwomps were a little bit slow to take effect, maybe making a little bit faster (but not overwhelmingly fast) would’ve done the trick.
+0.25 – As far as the story itself and how well the level fit the initial theme was concerned, it was okay. However I say okay because there was very little of signs to describe what was truly going on. Yeah I suppose we had that sign at the beginning that told us what we were trying to achieve and whatnot, but it wasn’t very detailed and I think there was a bit more room for that IMO. But I did love the creepiness in the dialogue especially when it came to the factory, it was left very open to different interpretations on what it could be doing there, and I liked that. Overall it was a confident but more silent story, so well done.

-2.5 for incompletion due to part procrastination, part computer problems.

Overall – 13.75/20.

Gahh originally 16.25/20 this is paaaainful.

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themagikoopaguy:
with Revenge of Dark Meta Knight

Fun – 6.25/10. So after loading the very first level, I could tell straight away this was simple. There wasn’t much gameplay at all in the very first level, the FLUDD felt a little bit pointless and I didn’t like the bone platforms leading up to the castle rooftops… Then in the second level we had the FLUDD again, but I suppose this time it had more uses, or one, lol. The shyguy army really irritated me, because it’s an equivalent of enemy spam, but thankfully it didn’t cause much lag. Then the doors… I didn’t really understand why there were hundreds of doors not leading anywhere, unless you were just trying to build the atmosphere of a castle. In general it wasn’t too bad, and that level ended on a bit of a cliffhanger I suppose.

Now onto the chapter 1, first part. The gameplay here again is lacking and is mainly moving around on jungle/grass sections. But there are still more downsides, for example, in the first transition there was one flame and ice block. Well, not only did they contradict each other, it wasn’t continued at all throughout the level. It felt kind of random and out of place, also having the boos in a light jungle section didn’t fit either. But as far as challenges go, I felt like it was all very easy, I beat it without dying at all and it didn’t feel like there was anywhere for me to have risk at dying, I think I saw one ravine or something. The only time I felt like I could die was the whoamagod huge bully and bullet spam section. It was sooooo goddamn frustrating, when you’re trying to read signs and there’s constantly a rush of bullets trying to push the bullies into you, then as soon as you press Z to stop reading, they shove you across through the whole transition. Not to mention a real lack of coins there, and it made the difficulty of the level feel incredibly unbalanced. The annoying thing is, after the cannon and you’re trying to find your way out of the switch blocks, you’ve got this tree and it’s covering the place where you get out so it’s difficult to see, so that kinda annoyed me.

Again, even in the second part I’ve noticed how the FLUDD is constantly used … I suppose it is an important item in the series, but I’ve only actually had to use FLUDD in one minor thing so far out of the whole series and that was to get onto the ceiling in the prologue. Other than that, I haven’t physically needed it. Maybe in the future add more FLUDD related challenges.

Onto the third and apparently final part now. When I finally got into playing it, there was a fair bit of lag that certainly decreased the fun in many ways, however I think that giant tree feature (I’m guessing inspiration from King’s level) was quite cool and the warp star was a pretty neat feature also. Nice work. I do however think you should add many more transitions in this part, which is why the first transition laaaags so much. The invincibility cap after that really long transition felt a bit pointless because we can just spin attack and ground pounding to get through enemies and blocks. And the annoying thing about a big bully challenge is that you can always find cheats on how to skip it. But overall the gameplay, although lacking, had some good and bad sides. Just check on what you need to improve and get that sorted for next time.

Graphics – 2.75/5. You do have some flaws already even in the first level. The jungle for example could’ve done with more décor or something to make it stand out more. The castle at the end of the first level had cut-off by the turf and on the roofs … and the doors and their angles looked a little bit messy. In the second level (still prologue), while it didn’t have cut-off, the décor was majorly lacking and there weren’t many interesting or nice things to see… mostly very plain and boring.

Moving onto the first part of chapter 1, I can see a fair bit of cut-off here. Well, actually, quite a lot. The layout in general was rather geometric especially at the beginning, but then there was that floating grass boulder in the sky next to a tree which had cut-off (besides the fact I had no idea what it was) and then there was a door hidden behind a bush that lead us to a place where you could see the cut-off at the bottom (without even zooming out!) and then the house at the end of the transition had more grass cut-off next to it. The décor however was much better. Sometimes it was lacking still but it had improved from the previous two levels, although putting a snow covered tree in the middle of a grass section with lots of bushes and green trees felt rather out of place IMO. Sometimes with décor, some sections would look a little bit empty and some would look full of it, so my advice here would be to spread it out some more. Also some kinds of décor were used a lot, and it’s always nicer to a variety of décor when making a level. Then the bit inside of the building in the first part of chapter 1 looked very empty except for the cluster of rocks, so some twisted branches of hanging vines would’ve created a great atmosphere in there. Towards the end of the part 1, there was lots of cut-off and tileset mixing… it looked rather ugly. The desert tiles in particular. It really didn’t mix well at all, wasn’t impressed with that. But then we see the really laggy section near the end also… that bit was far too over decorated; it really didn’t fit to the style of the rest of the level. And also, before the switch blocks appear, there is some grass cut-off too.

Now as we go into the second part of the first chapter, there is still a real lack of decoration with the grass and still grass cut-off for the mini floating islands in the ravines and whatnot. Also the black bullet bills didn’t seem to fit the colour scheme so much … I think green would’ve suited the atmosphere much better. It’s the same with the jungle section- a real lack of décor, however this time the variety of shape in the turf was excellent, so well done.

In the third part, you’ve taken some inspiration from King’s graphics in The Great Tree methinks. It looks pretty good actually, sometimes the technique can look quite messy but I personally believe you pulled it off rather well. Again the jungle section at the very beginning looks very bare and straight but it’s only a minor part of the level now. Overall, the graphics did have many problems with them, but recognise them and work on them before you continue to rest of your series.

Other – 2.5/5.

-0.5 – Tons of enemy spam throughout the series, yeah, it isn’t a good thing. No matter what the circumstances are.
+0.25 – Instructions on pressing the backspace to exit was pretty good, it was far quicker than manually having to exit the level through pausing it. Very useful indeed.
-0.5 – Takes a rather long time to load up the third level, let alone trying to test it.
+0.25 – The story wasn’t a particularly strong one, and it felt confusing to put it into chapters since there was so little about it. But overall it fit the theme rather well and certainly had the traditional feel of Kirby and a story being split into chapters, so I can’t deny you did rather well with that.

-2.5 for incompletion due to an impossible task in completing this series for an LDC (originally to contain 22 LEVELS).

Overall – 9/20.

But originally 11.5, so it wasn’t too bad I suppose. :3

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Tune4Toons:
with Indecisive

Fun – 7/10. Gameplay wise, I suppose there isn’t really much, which could’ve been improved upon. It was mainly tile jumping or moving around on turf rather than objects. However, I did like the puzzle element in the level. It did fit surprisingly well to the story, besides the fact you chose some really wacky tile combinations, and in the end I found my way round to both the red coin and silver star and getting the shine sprite. So I congratulate you there, as it was a very successful first level.

Graphics – 3.75/5. The graphics in this are pretty good; especially considering it’s your first level. However there are a few things I think you should improve upon in the future. For example, mixing two types of turf really doesn’t work for me. The grass and the cave mixed together… individually they looked good but together it just looks a bit untidy. The cave shape is quite creepy looking (which I suppose is done purposely) which is cool, but the grass could do with a bit more decoration. It’s a little bit bare right now; with some more trees and plants it’ll be sorted to look brilliant in no time. And then there are the rooms with all the unusual bricks and textures; they are indeed very unusual. I’ve never seen it to that extent before. …Perhaps save for MMMMMM. Then I quite liked the golden castle wallpaper mixed with the lego tiles, which was rather imaginative, and they complimented each other well also. I personally don’t think graphics were a major problem, but my main tip is just to spice it up to become a feast for the eyes by adding more décor and interesting shape variety.

Other – 3.5/5.

-0.25 – There’s a minor issue at the very start where you can squish yourself underneath the stairs and ceiling.
+0.75 – I really liked the story, it was very dreamy and quite puzzling, and it was overall a really interesting read. Not only that but I also feel it fit the level style and the theme itself incredibly well. Nicely done.

Overall – 14.25/20.

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Buffooner:
with Questions

Fun – 7/10. The gameplay here (or the first of it I could see) was rather simple, mainly green platforms, but there’s nothing bad about that. While it didn’t begin as much of a challenge, it wasn’t disappointing in any way. Although using the metal platforms as a part of your story was pretty good, it kind of gave them a purpose of why they were there and what significance they had. The gameplay in the second level, to be honest, wasn’t that interesting. It was mainly green platforms or bone platforms and it would’ve been nice to see some more variety there. In the third level it was mainly moving around on landscapes but I suppose there wasn’t much else you could add there. Overall, the gameplay probably isn’t the best I’ve seen from you, but you did say yourself this wasn’t your best attempt.

Graphics – 3.75/5. Even starting the first level is rather creepy. All those disabled transitions, reminded me a bit of Ship Below. But I while it lacked a little in ‘dead’ looking décor I suppose (twisted branches would’ve suited incredibly well here) it did seem to fit the atmosphere of the story well, so it wasn’t bad at all. The cave did look quite nice, the décor sometimes felt lacking, but not always, which was nice. But inside the building after the cave felt a little untidy, mainly scattered rocks and flames in mid-air, I think if they had a purpose to be there it could’ve been made clearer. But then in the second level, I think there was room for more creative volcano tile uses and décor uses. The volcano and cave mix didn’t look all that neat but one bit did look rather like an actual volcano so that seemed fine. The décor in the cave was fine, too. Then in the third level the décor round the jungle was pretty nice, but underwater it was a little bit bare.

Other – 4/5.

+0.25 – Nice use of disabled transitions in the first level.
+0.75 – I really quite liked this story, it was rather short (level wise) but it had some great atmospheres in it, and that Mario was the hero in the end, it was a really interesting and enjoyable read.

Overall – 14.75/20.

Cavern Adventure by CrazyMario
Fun: 6.75/10 The level was quite fun, but there was too much tile-jumping for me. The variety of challenges was okay, but it could be done better.
Graphics: 2.5/5 The graphics are pretty boring, as you used flat tiles almost in the whole level. There was a bit of decoration, but not enough. There also are those blocks at the end which normally only appear when starting the LD-only version. Dunno how to call them. But they are there.
Other: 2.8 --> 2.75/5 +0.05: Loading time at beginning and lag after going through 2nd door.
-0.1: The first platform moves to fast and passes through Mario after a short amount of time
+0.1: Secrets pretty good, could have been more secretive.
-0.25: Often pretty bad placed items, like the underwater fire (the fire tower at the right is placed lower than the other ones), Koopas placed too random (last section), colorful block figure (last section again) and, well, other.
Overall: 12/20 A pretty okay level and I think you have the potential to improve a lot. You should especially work more on graphics and a bit on Fun.

Craggy Grotto by Triple J
Fun: 9.25/10 Ignoring the insanely high amount of loading time and slight amount of lag, this was one of the most fun levels I have ever played. Interesting and well time challenges were just awesome. Didn't try the minigames because scared of loading times.
Graphics: 4/5 The graphics in this level often were very great but sometimes also pretty boring and flat.
Other: 2.85 --> 2.75/5 -0.5: Total of 5 crash warnings throughout the level and sometimes there is lag.
+0.1: Nice usage of disabled stones
+0.15: Firballs are awesome
+0.1: The green platform in the Exit section which speeds up and slows down is just so.. cleverly done.
Overall: 16/20 If it wasn't for the insane loading times and those rare but bad looking moments this would have easily gotten 17+ points from me. The rest of the level was just great.

Kamikaze Chasm by Karyete
Fun: 8.5/10 This level had a nice variety of different challenges and different uses of the flame tower. It could sometimes use even more variety in challenges and a more unique one.
Graphics: 3.75/5 The graphics were pretty nice, but there were some parts which either looked too flat or didn't have enough decoration.
Other: 3.25/5 +0.4: A bit of loading time
+0.1: The idea with the bigger flame towers coming out after a small flame tower warns you is nice.
-0.25: The mini flame tower in the last section (next to the unblossomed cave tree) which is there for decoration... well, with the expectation that I have to jump on it and reach the next rock I jumped there and fell down. What I want to say, not really your best idea.
Overall: 15.5/20 A nice short level.

Deep Secret Paradise by lordpat
Fun: 8.75/10 Don't be confused when I say another water level, I played MoD's before this one But holy ♥♥♥♥ another awesome water level in this LDC, where the ♥♥♥♥ was Avo? You combined underwater sections and platforming in a nice way without making the level too easy. The use of the invisibility star in the 2nd level was nice too, only annoying thing in that level was the sometimes too high jumps out of the water. I have the feeling it's random how high Mario's jumps are and I needed many to get the 2nd star.
Graphics: 4.75/5 Holeh shat. That graphics. Reminds of a mixture out of Cave of Memories and Void Dimension. Very nice. But sometimes I have the feeling that the cave tiles are a little bit too flat.
Other: 3.4 --> 3.5/5 +0.4: Almost no loading time and no lag.
Overall: 17/20
Very nice Cave/Water level with almost perfect graphics.

Quicksand Cave by Zebtrestalala
Fun: 8.25/10 To begin with the positive stuff, I liked the beginning and almost everything else after getting out the first section with lots of sandfalls. The level had a great variety of nice challenges. Especially up to the first rock pipe I enjoyed the level very much. The sandworms in the next section were a nice challenge once again, except for the one in the horizontal passage (--> Other). The sandfall section was a bit annoying for me actually, because there weren't more coins than needed. Yes, of course this increases the challenge and makes the level more interesting, but I just didn't like it. The path to the Turbo FLUDD was fun, I liked that the player had to ride on the sandworm to go further. The boss after that was okay. For me the boss was a slight bit too fast. The rising block section was bug heaven, especially the fact that the Thwomp blocks the path at the end and when having only 2 wedges of the life bar left you die. I liked the idea of having to switch between the two FLUDDs. The section after that was pretty fun again, except for one bug (--> Other once again).
Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics were actually quite nice, even without a large amount of plants as decoration. Rocks and great cave formations were nice too. Sometimes it just felt a bit empty, especially in the parts which have tiles from the Desert tileset.
Other: 3.5/5+0.45: Almost no loading time and no lag at all. YAY
-0.1: Jumping in the quicksand section (with the Turbo FLUDD) can result in entering the next transition too high
+0.4: Text is nice
-0.1: The 2nd sandworm is missing a block.
+0.25: Even if about 30% of them don't really work like they should I liked the sandworms.
-0.25: The worm in that small passage were you have to dive at the end in the small hole to avoid the worm... you still can get squashed.
+0.1: Even if about 60% of them don't really work like they should (or are just stupid ♥♥♥♥♥ :3) I liked the idea of sandfalls
-0.25: After the rising block section the 2nd dangerous sandfall is impossible to pass, at least for me. Using Hover FLUDD Mario just jumps without an end and doesn't seem to get through the small hole to the next rock.
-0.25: Same section, the sandfall at the end which would normally should be the only save one kills me instantly even with full life.
Overall: 16.25/20 A very nice level with cool ideas but also a too big amount of bugs.

Cave Chasm by CaptainAmerica2
Fun: 6/10 The level was quite nice actually, but often it either was too easy with all the power-ups or there were too many coins.
Graphics: 2.75/5 First, there often was very very bad placed water. 2nd, the amount of decoration was good, but there were too many flat tiles.
Other: 1.35 --> 1.25/5-0.3: 1 crash warning, a bit lag
-0.35: Using 1 block high gate blocks often results in squashing.
-0.15: Floating signs
-0.2: Using 1 block only to avoid players destroying blocks underwater which should only be destroyed by stomping with metal stars.
-0.5: You fall down directly when entering section 3 and this is pretty unfair.
-0.05: Time maze lasts way too long, wing cap is unneeded
-0.1: Unbricked level transition at the end
Overall: 10/20 Well, yeah. The level wasn't too interesting, but also not too bad.

Sliverfall Cove/Marina Ruins by MoD
Fun: 8.5/10 I played lots of water levels and Sliverfall Cove surely is one of my favorite. The usage of water is nice, especially in combination with various items in tiles. It wasn't too long or too short and not too easy or too hard. Marina Ruins naaaaaaaaao.
The auto-scroll room was a nice, but the fact that the blocks don't stop at the end makes it a bit annoying, cause when being stuck because of a glitch or so and being on the left side of the auto-scroll room, it's nearly impossible to get out because the blocks go back. The boss fight. I somehow liked and hated it. It was a bit too glitchy, mostly because the blocks make the game glitch when moving at a too fast speed. The Bullet Bills were pretty annoying, but also were a great help. The thing with the invisibilty/metal star glitch: You didn't have to use it.
Graphics: 4.5/5 The graphics are nice, but it sometimes was a bit flat or not decorated enough. The boss looked great, just like his room.
Other: 3.5/5 +0.25: Star coins/1-ups hidden in good places.
-0.05: Almost invisible water cut-off, but it's there.
+0.1: Dat cross-check-point-system.
-0.25: You can get squashed in the 1 block high gate.
+0.45: Hardly any lag and very short loading time
Overall: 16.5/20

mdabjukerwjmlkfbkjqewmjmewk by KevinOC
Fun: 7.5/10 holy ♥♥♥♥ that level was so ♥♥♥♥ awesome somehow, probably because of stupid text on stupid signs of stupidity. Also awsm boss thar, bestest I has ever tseen
Graphics: 0.5/5 Er, self-explanatory actually :3
Other: 3.3 --> 3.25/5 No. +0.3: No loading time, a bit lag
Overall: 11.25/20 Holy ♥♥♥♥ if you would make a... normal level for a LDC with the same humor you would definetely get a nice amount of points. Maybe even a LDC medal. But I guess that day will never come.

Volcove's level by Volcove
Fun: 9.5/10 Yes, this level is indeed very hard. But I think it wasn't too hard, the level was pretty fun. Except for the flame towers I enjoyed the level a lot and didn't want to stop play the level. There were lots of nice ideas you used. It was nice to have such a... tactical level. Especially the beginning was interesting.
Graphics: 4/5 The graphics were also pretty good. It had a dark and mysterious feel with the background tiles. But the flametowers and the Bullet Bill cannons weren't always timed perfectly and so it made the level even a bit unfair.
Other: 3.75/5 +0.25: No lag, but loading time
-0.1: Flametowers and Bullet Bill cannons not perfectly timed.
+0.5: All those different types of block monsters... wow.
+0.1: Dat end.
Overall: 17.25/20
This level was very great and uses lots of different elements without having too much. I enjoyed this level very much and I think I have to play Into the Depths now.

• CrazyMario: 12
• Triple J: 16
• Karyete: 15.5
• lordpat: 17
• Zebtrestalala: 16.25
• CaptainAmerica2: 10
• MoD: 16.5
• KevinOC: 11.25
• Volcove: 17.25