27th Level Designer Contest

[MessengerOfDreams]

...you know, I almost prefer the Triple J extreme self hatred to that display

[Harmless]

My computer is actually pretty decent. I had to save up a lot of money for it and

...

CRAP.

I didn't even notice TheFiredragoon had a level. ♥♥♥♥. Me.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Okay, seriously. Didn't even notice the part where not only did he act entitled to a higher score but he insulted the winner?

That's not okay.

If Yuri didn't deserve to win he wouldn't have won, Russell Hantz.

If you didn't have a ♥♥♥♥ of problems and ♥♥♥♥ in your level maybe you would have placed.

Have the humility to learn from your mistakes and go.

[NanTheDark]

Another reason I wanted to stop participating in LDCs. People getting upset. People being frustrated, angry, jealous, or hostile, or just sad.

We started making levels just to compete against others, instead of just making levels for the fun of it.

[~MP3 Amplifier~]

This post by ~MP3 Amplifier~ was thumbed up by:

NanTheDark (September 7th, 2014, 11:30 am)

[Harmless]

OKAY THANK GOD I FINISHED THAT REVIEW

Uh, it's not anything groundbreaking or significant though.

Harmless, I don't wanna see your judgings. No offense intented, but 5.25/20 is a brassiness compared with the other scores.

Too bad, here it is anyways.

In all seriousness, I have some pretty legitimate concerns with your level. See the judgings for more information.

1018peter: show

1018peter - "Floodgate Maze"

Fun: 4.5/10

I don't really know what to say. I want to say I had fun with the level, but to be honest I keep asking myself a lot of questions. Most of them start with; 'What on earth was the point of putting that there??'. I'm not sure if I'm just blind or something, but at the beginning of the level, you have three areas to drop down, one to the left, one to the right, and one to the far right. Yet two of the three are completely pointless and actually prevent you from rising back up if you happen to go down there. Worst part, I happened to have gone in those two areas first, and got stuck and had to restart the level twice. Needless to say, not only were those areas completely pointless, but adding enemies in there was completely pointless as well, since you're only really going to see them if you get stuck down there.

The platforming was decently executed, a tad bit linear though. However, the part with the switch controlled blocks was, again, confusing and misleading. You put four blocks to the right, but in reality you made it so you were supposed to go to a very obscure opening to the left. Ironically, the blocks to the right caught my eye first and I thought I had to go right, not left. So in reality I never knew how to get past that part until I got the shine and looked at the level.

Graphics: 3/5

Well, the graphics looked sorta good at least. The thing is, at the beginning you used a lot of decor (although it was pretty bland being almost entirely green with some weird white cloud in the roof of a cave), but then later in the level I hardly saw any decor of the sort. Also, your tiling was unique, but it was horribly confusing knowing which platforms I could land on and which ones I would zip right through.

At the beginning, the pyramid blocks looked really tight with the sand, but the sand looked really jarring with the jungle tiles. The sponges looked decent and added color to the level.

Overall, it's okay I guess. The bad sorta outweighs the good though, resulting in a mediocre-ish score.I'm not going to say anything about coins or enemy usage since it was clear you added those (even if they were in the form of enemy-dropped coins), but in completely pointless areas.

Other: 3.25/5

Good:

+ Even if it had its loopholes by being able to use the sponge as platforms, it was a unique challenge trying to get Mario from point A to point B by using the water level. Reminds me of Dire Dire Docks, which is ironically one of my more favorite SM64 levels. (+1)
+ Fitting background and music. Goes to show you don't need fancy youtube links to make something feel mysterious and worth exploring. (+0.5)

Bad:

- Those pipes behind cracked bricks were too easy to get to. I just had to press down right on top of them and I could get by the cracked bricks, skipping the first half of the level. (-0.5)
- What the crap was with that sign? That hint you gave didn't help anything either. Regardless if I couldn't translate it, I don't see what it had to do in the level. It felt so out of place and wasted a lot of my play time. (-0.5)
- That last room with the shine was incredibly misleading. I thought I was supposed to go down, not right, but that might've been out of my own stupidity. Regardless, it was sorta cheap to add a massive hole there and spaced block towers that were too easy to get stuck in. (-0.25)

Total: 10.75/20

There could've been a lot of potential for this level, but over half, if not all of the time I was very confused on... well, almost everything really. I'm not sure what to make of this level.

Yurimaster: show

Yurimaster - "Freezestone + Thermal Temple"

Fun: 7.75/10

Well, that was a lot of fun. The prologue offered a lot to the eye, from houses and NPC's and how they changed when the cold came around. Also loved the humor with the fabulous hair and the medic. I'm surprised there wasn't anything much on the top right corner of the town area. Also, this is just me, but why not offer more time with the Wing Cap? Might as well let the player explore without having it run out and having to press down at the fabulous hair guy over and over again.

The temple was well executed with regards to platforming, although the cheep cheeps sometimes provided frustration because Mario's spin attack doesn't hit enemies directly above him. Unfortunately, with not a lot of room to maneuver, this sometimes results in forced damage. However, regardless of that factor I loved the rooms you designed, changing the solidity of the water in the area and provided a puzzle-like element that wasn't entirely linear. Admittedly, I had to think for a minute before I could progress.

That puzzle room with the cheep cheep though. I almost had it, until it got to the ending stretch where it had to go up, and this accused blue brick was in the way. If it weren't for that the Cheep Cheep might've been able to get through. I even tried zooming out and in but it didn't really make a whole lot of difference. This may be slightly nit picky, but regarding the tiles in that room... don't leave in unnecessary holes where there's no switch-activated block occupying the space. It distracts from where the blocks do appear and can be confusing at times. Overall, though, I loved the level.

Graphics: 4.25/5

Fabulous hair took it all, 7/5, no further questions- *shot*

Well, aside from the fabulous hair and all, I do enjoy the graphics. It was more interesting how they changed with whether or not you freezed/melted the place down, be it slightly or dramatically changed. In the Prologue, though, some of the houses looked kinda weird in a sense that the tiles that made up the houses didn't have their lines connected, or had slight cutoff. Nonetheless, it looked unique and contrasted well with the surrounding tiles.

Regarding the temple... Personally, a bit more decor could've been filled in the center space of certain rooms (like the second room), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Tilesets were also mixed really well and blended with eachother, making a unique look in the temple. I guess they were right when they said the temple was fancy. Very well done.

Other: 4.25/5

Good:

+ You'd think they would recognize Mario unless if the villagers have the same IQ as the guards at Beanbean castle, heh. I loved the NPC's dialogue and contrasting personalities, almost made me feel if I were playing Earthbound or Xenoblade Chronicles or something with a similar effect. I really wanted to talk to more. (+1)
+ Somehow, the level fit the theme, but in a way that you wouldn't expect it to. I almost want to say you cheated, but ice/snow is a pretty valid theme for water, since it's technically still water... and you ended up including water anyway. (+0.75)

Bad:

- Some objects like doors and other pieces of decor here and there are misaligned with the ground/physical surfaces. (-0.25)
- The level's incomplete. Unfortunately, it's incomplete at the part I was anticipating the most - climax. As much as I want to overlook it, I was SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT DAMMIT. :< (-0.25)

Total: 16.25

That level was very impressive for what you did in a month. Still wanted that climax though.

TripleJ: show

TripleJ - "Aquatic Breach"

Fun: 2/10

I cannot even express how much frustration I have with these levels without going into essay-long tirades explaining every single detail. I'll go over some the details and what I especially thought was incredibly frustrating, but this still may be a slightly longer than usual read. And please take notes. These are not just minor inconveniences, but pretty serious problems.

First things first, that first platform that is closest to your starting position. That moving platform is WAY too fast, and has this gap on the left wall that makes it much harder trying to get past. Essentially, I didn't even start the level until 2 minutes trying.

Also, inconveniently, your name was implied a lot in both the first and second level (primarily the first though). Triple Jumping... god please don't have it required for nearly every single jump, especially for those freaking falling logs. I made one using a double jump and an incredibly well placed spin attack, but that was pretty much the only jump I managed to make that was not a triple jump regarding the logs.

The platforming was, well, incredibly frustrating. You got penguins here that were put in incredibly inconvenient locations to send you flying back to where you started, you had paratroopas there that would cause damage knockback and send you flying into your death, a certain thwomp that you see in the beginning of the first level that really, REALLY pissed me off... (you know the one, please tell me you do. His ground-wait time was ridiculously long), etc...

The worse part was the far right of the level. Not the end, I never even got to the end. Because I had this same problem with an earlier version of Konradix's 'Attack on Mushroom Kingdom'. Tell the player ahead of time if they need to search for coins. PLEASE. I literally explored (or thought I had) almost every inch of the level and found like one red coin until realizing that there were more and I had to get them all to finish the level. Please, take the sequencial order into consideration. Tell the player what they have to do, THEN send them off to explore.

And yet another thing that pissed me off...



I could probably see how you could get past this, but getting to the top rotating platform set was near impossible, again. I only managed to do so twice and had so little time to react and make a dive, since I assume that's what you had to do. When the second time came around and I dived, I missed near entirely. The only conclusion I draw is that, either you somehow beat it the first time and thought it was good, or you never tested this. Because this set of rotating platforms is near impossible.

Also, that derelict floating structure in the top-left portion of the level was practically impossible to get to. I tried using the invisibility star, not using the star, timing a perfect triple jump, nothing worked. I assume you had to use the flame to get up there anyway since there was no other path.

When moving onto the second level, first thing that pissed me off was;



Those dreaded platforms. I loved the concept. Quite frankly, I hate how they were executed. They moved WAY too fast and required literally pixel perfect platforming to get past. Although you can see plainly that you need to duck for this one, guess what comes back! Near impossibly to avoid damage from bullet bills flying straight at that ducking gap.

And then skellegoonies. Why did you place those there. It was nearly impossible to not suffer damage from those things (if not flat out impossible). It really looked like just a cheap way to inflict damage on the player as soon as they enter, and quite frankly that's exactly what they did.

There was also that blue brick that I had no idea was disabled. How was the player supposed to know you had to go through there? I mean, I got past it, but on complete accident. There's just so many major issues with the level that it felt much more tedious and frustrating than fun.

At least the sign at the end was funny, though.

Graphics: 4.75/5

Well, it looked nice, I give you props for that. That's all I really have to say though... I mean, I liked the decor usage since decor was used creatively and used at the right place and time. The tile mix was also nice, especially in the temple area. No real flaws, really, although those mountain props hiding that penguin's sign in the first level really bugged me. They felt out of place to a fairly high degree.

Other: 2.25/5

Good:

+ Very creative challenges and platforming. It wasn't well executed mind you, but major props for creativity. (+1)
+ You hid the red coins and invisiblity star in the first level well, almost too well. I also liked the thought of two endings, even if I had to go out of the level to even find the second one. The overall landscape and map was well designed, as if someone could explore there for a long time and not get bored. (+0.75)

Bad:



- WHY. WHY. WHY. This 1-Up* frustrated me to no end and literally made me stop playing the level as a whole and read all the dialogue in the signs out of the level, especially after experiencing all the other mishaps in the level (and getting sent back to where I relocated my start position for the 5th time). Essentially it sealed the final nail in the coffin, in less angryish terms. Before you tell me it's possible, remember that we're dealing with ice physics and cramped spacing, meaning one wrong move and you're dead, and you cannot recover, period. Worst part is there was no hint that falling down there was instant death. Very, very jerkish placement. (-0.75)
- Please, don't throw paratroopa bouncing at us. When you make platforms unreachable unless if you have to bounce on multiple paratroopas, who do not respawn mind you unless you exit transitions, it gets very tedious and very, very irritating. Especially since, again, one wrong move and you're dead, and you cannot recover, period. Sound familiar? (-0.75)
- Dude, I don't even... those were not tox-boxes. They didn't even move from side to side or rotated, they just floated around and crushed you or even prevented you from climbing some platforms. (-0.5)
- That loading time was awful, even for my computer. And it's worse when you have to restart the level every, single, time due to impassable jumps or challenges. (-0.25)
- Theme and backstory behind the temple was not very well explained... (-0.25)

*=Before you go telling me 'don't deduct points for 1ups ubaddie hamles', I would've said the same thing if there were any other collectible here. Aside from 1-Up's being items, it was a very bad placing of this item.

Total: 9/20

I really wanted to say this was good and I had a fun time, but reality is reality. Making so many errors and mishaps in a level is hardly worth forgiving of a good score. The things you would probably want to tackle first are avoiding really hard to make triple jumps, avoiding nearly-impossible to avoid damage, making the creative platforming and challlenges doable, and avoiding paratroopa bouncing. This is not the first time I've seen that sort of paratroopa bouncing mind you, and it's a pretty serious mistake in my eyes at least.

Supershroom: show

Supershroom - "Mario and the Orb of Morph"

Fun: 1.5/10

Sorry dude, but that level probably had only one fun thing about it - The Koopa Troopa underwater shell challenge in the third level. Otherwise it was absolutely gut-wrenching just trying to get past what you have put in the level. But let's take the fallacies a step at a time, starting with the first of the three levels.

(The loading time for that level was ridiculous high btw, as mentioned in 'Other', though I'm not deducting points for that here, only in 'Other'. I'm letting you know ahead of time for clarity's sake that each death/reset is actually a seriously long and annoying hike to wait for the level to load. Take that into consideration as you read how many times I had to reset the level because of the mistakes you've made.)

Let's start with the first error of the day that will become apparent in all of your levels; duration settings. The duration settings for that first switch was untouched, and as a result it was practically impossible to keep the switch-triggered block there and get to the door at the same time. Thankfully, I was still able to get into the door by just standing on the edge of the tiles next to it.

Next error:



This place in the level might look familiar to you. The left and right branching paths are reachable via the FLUDD you gave us in the level, and quite frankly you should've just blocked them off instead of allowing the player to go into the outside water and below, forcing the player to reset. There wasn't much wrong with the first level aside from its linearity and lack of platforming, which wasn't too great either mind you.

The second level was probably where the frustration began. First off, the thwomps and bullet bills really do not need to be as fast as you set them. Second off, mind the distance the rotating platforms cover. It can get really troublesome. Third off, those flame throwers in the passage to the invisibility star had too fast of a cooldown. A lot of the times damage seemed unavoidable, often resulting in unfair deaths.

The left and rightmost transitions also really need to be fixed. If you try entering the transition while on the top half of the way to the transition, you can skip the entire passage. This transition glitch has been used before, and I'm not sure if you intentionally wanted it (you probably did not), but it happened. To be honest, some part of me was glad it was there, since the passages to the stars were very frustrating anyways.

Speaking of the passage to the metal star, please, do me a favor and replace the quicksand with an empty hole. There's literally no difference except it's far more frustrating because I would get stuck before I even got in the quicksand, and end up having to reset again. And why not just have an empty hole in the first place? This is a sunken ship, not a desert. That quicksand was far out of place.

Oh, and fix the durations on the invisibility and metal stars. Having the default duration is incredibly inconvenient and made me reset my checkpoint for the 27th time.

So after moving my checkpoint yet again to just skip those two challenges, I went into the pipe, and now I'm freeeee.... free faaallingg... No really though, what was the point of that freefall passage? I'm very confused.

Well anyways, I got to the second checkpoint. Except I got there by completely skipping two signs that I was interested in reading, forcing me to reset and change my position again. No seriously, test your levels please. Look out for those kinds of things and make sure the player lands on the mushrooms instead of sailing completely past them.

Then the boat rides. Christ, those boat rides were not hard. They were ♥♥♥♥ unfair. Not only did you compliment forced damage with the flame throwers activating RIGHT OVER ALL THE SPACE IN YOUR BOAT, but you have very fast reloading bullet bills that were near impossible to avoid, scalding water with a ceiling so low that it was a nightmare recovering onto the boat, and etc.

And then the waterfall...

Supershroom: "The water here isn't hot anymore since there are no flames or shiny lights here. Just swim beneath the ledge and ground pound down the waterfall."

AHAHAHAHA SURPRISE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WATERFALL WAS ACTUALLY BOILING WATER!!!!11!!11 MY BAD, OH THE IRONY~

And if you didn't land on the boat (which wasn't there in the first place, mind you), it was impossible not only to climb back on it (because you'd be dead) but also impossible to proceed period. The cave wall was too high in the next transition.

Then you have this stupid boat chase where there wasn't even boiling water, but if you fell in the water you were dead anyways. No seriously, it's impossible to climb back up out of the water if you miss the boat, forcing another reset into the level designer. It also made me wonder why the lava tiled and the ice tiled areas were the exact same challenge, as I was expecting more variety or even somewhat of an opposite contrary to the lava tiled area.



Speaking of that area, there's also these rotating platforms that would sometimes crush me into a wall, but instead of causing damage they would teleport me to outside boundaries or areas where I would have to... you guessed it, restart the level yet again. And then move my checkpoint, yet again.

Third level, oh boy. There's a lot to say about this one.

First off, ♥♥♥♥ the blue challenge. The four platforms were a unique challenge, but they disappeared as soon as they were open to be jumped on, resulting in an impossibility right at the beginning. TEST YOUR LEVELS, and extend the count of those platforms by 30 or something while you're at it, since I did just that and it was finally passable since they didn't disappear as soon as I got to them.

And there you go again adding that tar on the stairs, resulting in the same issue I had with the quicksand. I had fun with the Koopa Troopa challenge later in the challenge though. Too bad I had to reset my checkpoint position YET AGAIN just to experience it, forgetting that it was a timed challenge and I had to reset yet again just to put my start position at the end of the challenge.

Green challenge contained all the things I criticized the second level about, so after one attempt I literally just deleted the red coin you supposedly got after completing it.

Yellow challenge... ugh. First impression was, 'finally something unique'. What ended up happening was nothing unique at all. It's cool you made a maze where you had to navigate with literally little to no coins to give you enough time to complete it (yes, it was practically incompleteable, add some more coins please), but to be honest that challenge was not very unique at all. I was really looking forward to mixing in elements of the invincibility star and maybe some destroyable blocks for a puzzle-like platformer challenge, but instead the entire challenge could've been done without the invisibility cap in the first place. No really, just remove the invisibility cap, the wire meshes you were supposed to go through, and the challenge remains exactly the freaking same.

After experiencing the horrors of the first three challenges I didn't even want to bother with the red challenge, especially after looking at it from the level designer. Just no.

So there I was again moving my start position to the pipe (how the hell do you reach that even??), and I entered. That block chase, I had a total of one deaths in it (thankfully). That first death came to me in less than a second upon entering the block chase though. Seriously, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TEST YOUR LEVELS. Give the player more reaction time there, please. On the contrary, if that little reaction time was intentional (I really hope that wasn't), then I'll change my criticism to 'a real ♥♥♥♥ move, pal'. Otherwise it wasn't too rageworthy.

And then after that random block chase... At least you gave a good plot twist, wasn't quite expecting you to be the villain, though there's a lot of loopholes and lack of details in the story.

However, you probably should've changed the ending to 'And Mario couldn't save the kingdom because Supershroom made the boss fight practically impossible due to the lack of coins and large distance needing to be travelled to reach the metal star'. Because that's exactly what happened, so Harmless had to place more coins for you.

Then when I reached the pipe, guess what happened. You forgot to set the destinations of the pipes in the first and second phase of the boss fight. So I skipped all that and got a happy ending of finally being over with playing those levels.

And now, for the recap. Trust me, those levels were very, very frustrating. If there was one thing I would recommend above all, it would be to test your levels, even in ways that seem impractical or against common sense. Make sure that durations are good enough to complete the level. Make sure these jumps can be made without a whole lot of worry for other players. What would the other players think if I set these bullet bills so they take forced damage? Keep those kinds of details in mind, please. Make this especially enjoyable for the player, not just yourself.

tl;dr Fix the everything that made me blow my capilliaries mentioned above. Your score would likely increase dramatically on a non-LDC review.

Graphics: 3.5/5

Well, at least it looked nice. Sort of. The first level probably looked the nicest, it was simple, had a relaxing atmosphere, and no cutoff was seemingly present. The transition from the jungle tiles to the rock tiles was a little weird though.

The other rooms in the castle were a nice touch, but I was honestly expecting more variety in backdrops and background.

Second level. There was a bit too many complicated mix of tiles and it was hard to keep my focus on the action sometimes. Also, the fire tiled and ice tiled areas mentioned in the boat ride section of the second level looked really out of place. Why would they be in a cave of all places?

Decor was used nicely in the second level, however. The water overlapping near the second checkpoint was sorta weird though, but there wasn't much you could do about that I guess.

However, the third level I'm extremely confused about. The decor in the challenges was so out of place it was weird. What gave you the bright idea to include trees and vegetation in the red challenge of all places? Ah well, at least the final boss areas looked decent, though I'm wondering why you exposed the snowy trees entirely. Those certainly felt out of place.

The room before the final boss was also completely bare. Not sure why.

And that's really all I have to say about that. This certainly was a lot shorter than the fun criticism.

Other: 0.25/5

Good:

+ Personally Newer SMB isn't my cup of tea music-wise, but some of the musics fit the atmosphere nicely. Some of the musics really did not fit the atmosphere nicely though, like the NSMBWii Ghost house music in the sunken ship. Just give us the normal version next time, not the one with an invisible yoshi screaming in our ears. (+0.25)
+ No seriously, that was a decent plot twist. It didn't help points in the Fun category, but certainly helped here. (+0.75)

Bad:

- I have a serious question for you. Why did you leave so much unused space in the level?? Instead of expanding left and right and creating more unused space, its recommended you just fill those in, making sure the camera doesn't exit its boundaries of course. But really, your statement about the unused space in the LD vault backfired on you completely, as I got at least 5 crash warnings through all three levels combined. There was also far more loading time because there was a lot of unused space, to be honest. (-1.5)
- Don't rely on us to move every single thing for 'checkpoint' sake in the level editor. I like checkpoints, don't get me wrong, but use a warp pipe or something instead of being lazy and expecting us to do the work. There were even some times where it took me longer to 'load the level, then find and move my start to the checkpoint' instead of just playing through all the frustrating bits and getting there myself. (-1)
- Regarding primarily the third level, why the hell did you just add pipes to kill the player instead of just fixing the issue on your own? 'If you use up all your coins in the first room of the third level, just enter this pipe and reset! No harm, right?' Just add a ♥♥♥♥ metal cap at the start. (-0.75)
- You added plenty of water, I fail to see how it is part of the theme or the plot here. The orb seems to grab the spotlight, and water seems very irrelevant in the story. (-0.5)
- There's several grammar and spelling mistakes in the signs. It's not too major, but something still worth noting. (-0)

Total: 5.25/20

You heavily, heavily blundered with this entry because you did not test your levels enough. Sure, there was a lot of criticism in the Fun Category, but there's also important criticism regarding the Other category. A lot of these mistakes seem to come because people do not test their levels enough. As the creator, it's your responibility that the levels work, and that they do not frustrate the player with out of place quicksand, near impossible challenges, and missing of the theme. If you think I'm harsh, I sort of am, but not nearly as harsh as some other judges. Point is, take this criticism into serious consideration for future levels. Trust me, it will help.

I understand you worked hard on it. That is no excuse for overlooking important flaws in the level, however. Don't let it get you down though, mistakes were made to be fixed.

MoD: show

MessengerOfDreams - "Echoes of Time"

Fun: 7.5/10

Well, that was about one of the best stories I've read from you, Moy. However, this is the fun section, so let's focus on how good of a time I had with the level.

The first level threw the player a bit late into the action to make room for some good comedy in Roa's living quarters, but the platforming was simple and the swimming challenges weren't too hard. However, some of the narrow caverns led to forced damage due to cheep cheep placement since Mario's Spin attack doesn't hit enemies vertically. It was better when you got the metal cap though, at least you could attack enemies below then. The checkpoint was a bit late, but hey, at least the level was good.

Some of the platforming and challenges in the second level were a bit shaky at times, but the platforming was uniquely non-linear and exploration was thrown at the player to the max. I had so much fun exploring all the different rooms and trying to find the stars, although you could've made the shine a bit less obscure in its location (unfortunately the last room I checked was the shine that lit up when you got all four stars, but even then its position could have been better).

The room with the bullet bills and step-activated platforms though...



I kinda wish you just replaced the platforms with non-triggered ones. Would've been much more convenient on the player not having to take forced damage to get out.

The area to the left with the floating platforms was very unique. I actually have never seen that in all my years here. Kinda wished that the transition wasn't so time consuming though, having to go through the door at the very bottom if you screw up near the top. Maybe you should've added an extra door halfway through just in case. But hey, it was fun, and surprisingly not as frustrating as I thought it would be.

The 3A route was far less frustrating than the 3B route. I will admit, having to land on those small platforms every single time was incredibly difficult at times, and even though I only died a handful of times I sometimes felt that forced damage by swimming through the flamethowers was a better option. In both levels, however, those spinning platforms ticked me off pretty badly. Please mind the speed/range of those things, they're really hard to get past. Not impossible, but really hard regardless.

I loved the notable differences between 3A and 3B though, even if they're similar in structure. 3A has creating an escape route, 3B is escaping while having your route destroyed, the relationship with Roa, etc... the endings were pretty powerful, even if they didn't seem like proper boss fights.

Normally I would've actually given this a 6/10 or something, but the signs actually provided to the fun rather than detracted from it.

Graphics: 4.25/5

The first level looked gorgeous and really immersed the player into the graphics and the expressions Cyril and Roa had. There was some cutoff however regarding some of the mushrooms, which not all of them seemed attached to their mushroom bodies.

The second level had some unique tiling, but decor was nearly non-existant. The entire level felt bare. I guess the outside would be expected to be bare of decor, but there wasn't even a single trace anywhere. It felt really odd, and as a result had an atmosphere that fit the level. If you did that on purpose, good for you. I actually liked there being no decor, but even a little bit could've made the level seem a little bit more ancient or mystical, or unsettling even.

The 3A had a good amount of decor in the river, but in the parts not in the river (and for 3B as a whole) it could've used some sort of derelict material or plants to show the crumbling of the area. Needs a tiny bit of atmosphere, y'know. Other than that, great job on the graphics.

Other: 3.75/5

Good:

+ The character development and story was insane. Cyril and Roa's relationship became more and more apparent as the story progressed, and the dialogue was incredible. I don't think I've seen anything like it in a long time. (+1.5)
+ Loved the music, especially the one in 3B. 3A's first music wasn't driving enough though. I love AW, but I'd rather listen to something with more drive as opposed to the Super Power Theme... (+0.25)

Bad:

- Don't get me wrong, the theme and plot was clear and I loved it... but what did it have to do with water? (-0.5)
- I'm actually slightly lost on the voice in Cyril's head. Why did it just suddenly disappear? If it was also linked to the place Cyril discovered and not just Cyril, it should've been made more apparent... I dunno, it's confusing. (-0.5)

Total: 15.5/20

I was pretty blown away with what you've accomplished here, truth be told. I think it was just smaller details that got you.

~MP3 Amplifier~: show

~MP3 Amplifier~ - "The Water Butterfly"

Fun: 6.5/10

Well, that probably wasn't anything oustanding platform-wise, but I certainly had fun exploring your ideal peace (seems to be a theme with these levels). I really am not sure why there are so many enemies in your ideal 'mind', but at least there were lots of coins to mend the wounds.

I don't really have a whole lot to say that would regard platforming or challenges or whatnot. The real fun lies in other categories like Graphics and, well, Other.

Graphics: 4.75/5

With a beautiful mind comes beautiful graphics, I guess. From small yet filled caves and passages to wide open areas, you really went all out on the graphics. There were a few pieces of decor (mainly a mushroom or two) that presented slight cutoff, but other than that it looked really pleasing to the eye. The use of decor wasn't too overbearing and it was very imaginative. I loved it.

Other: 3.75/5

Good:

+ The music fit very, very well with the atmosphere and the poem. Even small details like the poem and the butterfly at the end meant a lot, and presented the premise of the level really well. (+0.75)
+ Level fit the theme very well. (+0.5)

Bad:

- For god sake get those goombas out of there. The footsteps they make is very jarring and contrasting to the level. I could say the same with any enemies that made noise, but the goombas were especially a pain. (-0.5)

Total: 15/20

It's really weird, I loved the level but I don't have a lot to say about it aside from a few flaws that are best to amend. Maybe true peace is absolutely neutral? I highly doubt that, but... I dunno. I don't have a whole lot to say about it. Even if it's not an 'ideal SM63 level' where there's not a whole lot to say about it, it will always be a winner in my heart. Crap, now you got me speaking poetically.

KABOOM: show

KABOOM - "Cheep Cheep Canal"

Fun: 7/10

Well, it was a simple, good concept that reminded me much of a Mario secret level or something. Probably would've been more thrilling with a Turbo Fludd, but it was a fun level regardless. Got pretty sick of those Cheep Cheeps though, was hoping for a bigger enemy variety. 1-Ups were well placed and were a neat challenge (I only got two though :<).

Not really a whole lot else to say, though. Everything was pretty much spot on. It's great, although not extremely brilliant. But hey, a simple route isn't a bad one.

Graphics: 4/5

It looked really nice and was well decorated for an underground canal... although again, it was simple and great, not extremely brilliant though.

I think this is about my shortest review yet.

Other: 3.25/5

Good:

+ Personally, the music was a bit jarring for this level, but it sort of fit the atmosphere...? (+0.25)

Bad:

- Uh, I don't have anything in mind to put here... maybe add a few more coins in the level? No, I kid. (-0)

Total: 14.25/20

Not sure if you just ran out of time or wanted to do something very simple, but okay. It worked, and it was a good level.

Fluffy: show

Fluffy - "Waterfire Cave"

Fun: 7.25/10

Well, it was a simple, good concept that reminded me much of a-

No seriously. I almost have the same thoughts with KABOOM's level. It's pretty simple, platforming was well done but not mind-blowingly brilliant, etc. The primary difference is that you used a few more different enemies.

Graphics: 2.25/5

I'm ashamed in you, fluffy. Lots of decor and a brilliant design at the end but no decor anywhere else in the level? Well, at least the rocks made up for it I mean but still. Not really much else to say otherwise, other then at the end, if you zoom out you have a large cutoff to the left. Pretty disappointing. :<

Other: 3.25/5

Good:

+ I thought it would be hard to find music that fit the atmosphere of this level but nevermind, you did that nicely. (+0.5)

Bad:

- would you people stop it with the underwater enemies in really fight corridors, it's getting really annoying. No seriously, at the end, put the enemies in less jerkish spots pls. (-0.25)

Total: 12.75/20

Uh... it wasn't too bad for something you were lazy on, I guess. I dunno what to say, really.

hamles: show

hamles - 'drkwtr cvrns"

fnu: 11/10

mog tis levl kept me exsitd for te whol ride !!!!1!11 i espeshialli luvd te prt wer u jumpd on rocks !!!!

grphics; rainbows/rainbows

wow hamles how do u cre8 dis cav til i culd nevr unlok it cuz i dun has enuf shin sprts!!11! luks rely col !!1111oneone

othr:

god:

+ EVERYITIN (+1337)

bda:

- not enuf doritos (-420)

totl: bil nye/penguin of DOOM!!11

es bets levl evr ! u has mi SEEL OF APROFAL !!111!

TheFireDragoon: show

TheFireDragoon - "Aqua Temple"

Fun: 1.5/10

I'm really not sure what I just played, to be honest. The level did not look like it took a whole lot of effort to make. That being said, there isn't really a whole lot to say about it due to the low level content. It would probably be best if you expanded upon the maze or gave us more challenges as opposed to 'wander around endlessly for 3 red coins'.

Graphics: 1.5/5

Again, there is hardly a whole lot of content, including and not restricted to practically no amounts of decoration whatsoever, bland and repetitive tiling, background tiling cutoff with regards to the stairs in the level, and there being so much negative space in the level screams that this didn't take long to make at all. I'd say an estimated 10 minutes to make in fact. Please include more in the level.

Other: 2.75/5

Good:

+ Okay, I will admit, the FLUDD acronym was pretty funny. Unfortunately it was the only real interesting sign in the level, but hey. (+0.5)

Bad:

- I'm confused on the story. You probably should've given more background as to why Mario is there, what he is doing, etc. And who is this 'boss' guy? (-0.5)
- Why are there only five cheep cheeps outside the maze, and nothing else? You'd think there would be more enemy diversity in terms of enemy type and location. I'm not asking for enemy spam though, just spread out your enemy content. (-0.25)

Total: 5.75/20

Uh... sorry, but I think you need to add a lot more to the level. That's really all I have to say as my focal point of criticism.

Overall Standings: show

0. hamles (seel of aprofal/doritos)
1. Yurimaster (16.25/20)
2. MoY (15.5/20)
3. ~MP3 Amplifier~ (15/20)
4. KABOOM (14.25/20)
5. Fluffy (12.75/20)
6. 1018peter (10.75)
7. TripleJ (9/20)
8. Supershroom/TheFireDragoon (5.75/20)

[~Yuri]

This post by ~Yuri was thumbed up by: 2

NanTheDark (September 7th, 2014, 11:31 am) • Supershroom (September 8th, 2014, 1:50 am)

[MessengerOfDreams]

Harmless the level had to do with water the fact that 75% of the level was in water. Like all of the gameplay except for one room in the second level and the final boss had at least something to do with water.

I mean it's only an extra .125 to my score but it totally had to do with water ehehe

As for Yuri, okay, I get that, it sounded more spiteful because his own levels were held back by technical problems.

[Nwolf]

Supershroom would you please not insult other people and deal with the fact that your level was not perfect?

[MessengerOfDreams]

and post your judgings?