Ends 04/01/2012 12:00 AM

Judges
halibabica

It's finally here! The much-anticipated third installment of the RMN community series! And this time, halibabica's in charge!

WHAT IS THIS

Super RMN Bros. is a community collaborative game where everyone uses the Super Mario Bros. X engine to create Mario levels! The stages are made and submitted by members of RMN, then compiled into one big game at the end of the event. Huzzah!

WHAT YOU NEED TO PARTICIPATE

Super Mario Bros. X v1.3, available at the Download link. This is the latest version of SMBX. It has everything you need to get started from the player, the editor, and a sample world.

You can also download the SMBX Graphics Pack by Red Yoshi here. It has a ton of Mario Brothers graphics that you can use in your level with a simple copy+paste!

JUST WHAT IS SUPER MARIO BROTHERS X?

Super Mario Bros X is a freeware game engine by Redigit geared towards having the gameplay features and physics of Mario 3 and Super Mario World while adding a ton of cool features and not having to deal with the restrictions of the old (S)NES hardware. If you want to see what SMBX can do, check out the games here on RMN or watch these videos showcasing SMBX's capabilities!

Games are distributed as a world with levels package they can add to Super Mario Bros X and play from the main game. There is no way to make a self contained game so all players will need to download SMBX in order to even play the game. The game does come with a large set of graphics and sounds like the RPG Maker RTPs so everybody at least has a large number of platformer resources to work with (and it'll keep the download of the actual game itself small).

You can view the RMN engine page for SMBX here.

HELP!

The editor can be tricky to use, especially for beginners. You can ask questions on our SMBX Help thread on our forums! If you have any questions go there for some tips or helpful links.

We also have a tutorials section on RMN for SMBX.

SUBMISSION RULES

  • Levels must be made in SMBX v1.3 .
  • I don't know if you've ever made Mario levels before. There are dozens of hacks and roms out there, so it's possible you've played custom levels or created your own. However, this project is being made specifically in the SMBX engine, so if you want to contribute, you have to use that. You can download it here.

  • Levels must be made FOR THIS PROJECT
  • So, you've used SMBX before, huh? Hey, you can just submit levels you already made! Right? WRONG. If you didn't make the level specifically for RMN Bros. 3, you're not allowed to submit it. Do not just zip up the levels of your personal project and dump them in here (Davenport, I'm looking at you). Everyone has to start from scratch. And if I catch you trying to submit a pre-made level, ooh, I'll, I'LL- ...deny it. Simple as that, really.

  • Levels must end in ONE SMB3 STAR
  • Starman doesn't work in SMBX like it does in the Mario games of yore. Each one you collect instead adds to your star count. There are two kinds of stars in the engine: SMB3 stars and SMW stars. The latter adds to your star count, but doesn't end the level. The former concludes the stage when collected. Each level must have ONE and ONLY ONE level-ending star. However, you can have any number of SMW stars (covered later).

  • There is no limit to the number of levels you can submit.
  • Beyond these four rules, the sky's just about the limit. There are a few other criteria your levels must meet for them to be accepted, but they're nothing huge, and are as follows.

LEVEL CRITERIA

  1. Checkpoints
  2. Theoretically, every level should have one of these. It's the SMW checkpoint object that lets you continue from partway through the level. Unless your level is extremely short, it should have one. If it can't have one for specific reasons (auto-scrolling, switch block/character shenanigans, etc.), it's recommended you not make the stage too long. Also, SMBX can only support one checkpoint per level, so placing multiples doesn't work.

  3. Power-Ups
  4. Your stage should have a good balance of items that are helpful to the player. ? Blocks should never contain lone Mushrooms; don't be afraid to give the player a Fire Flower or Leaf. On the other hand, exceptional items like the Tanooki and Hammer Suits should not be easily obtained. Use discretion with where you place items. One at the start and one after the checkpoint would be the least you could do. Also, pick items that the player can put to good use. A Fire Flower in an area with monsters immune to fire does the player no good; maybe an Ice Flower or Yoshi might be better instead. On the subject of Yoshi, he's a power-up like any other, and no restrictions are being placed on his use. Similarly, all styles of Kuribo's Shoe are allowed. Just remember, these things are very helpful, so choose carefully where you make them available.

  5. Banned Objects
  6. Your level must not contain any of the following items. If it does, you will be required to remove them.

    • SMB2 Crystal Ball, SMB3 Roulette, SMB3 ? Ball, SMW Keyhole, SMW Exit Gate
    • All banned for the same reason; they end the level. All levels must end with an SMB3 Star. No other exit type is allowed.

    • SMW Bowser Statue
    • Banned due to its glitchy hit box. You can still be hit by its fireballs while standing on top of it. Use the SMB3 Bowser Statue instead!

    • SMW Dry Bones
    • Banned for its stupid hit box. You may place Dry Bones in your level, but all Dry Bones in the project will use the SMB3 sprites instead.

  7. Unbanned Objects
  8. These are objects that were disallowed in the past. I'm permitting them for the reasons stated.

    • SMB3 Lakitu
    • This was banned in RMN Bros. 2 because it behaves erratically. You may use them in your levels, but be very careful when you do. They aren't impossible to deal with, but they can make situations extremely difficult. You'll definitely hear from me if it's a problem.

    • SMW Star
    • These were formerly banned because they didn't end the level. You may now use them as bonus secret stars in your stages. The player can collect them on alternate paths, but must be able to return to the rest of the level after grabbing them. More on these later.

  9. Different Characters
  10. This is, first and foremost, a Mario game. Mario will be the only character available to play as, but that doesn't mean you can't use the other characters. If you want to make a stage involving Luigi, Toad, Peach, and/or Link, you must specify so. Include the appropriate character block at the start. If you don't, I'll assume the stage was meant to be played as Mario. You don't have to switch back to Mario at the end of the stage, though. I will manage character swapping in the hub area.

  11. Player 2 Start
  12. SMBX has the option to play with a friend by sharing a keyboard and crowding around a monitor. There is no way to disallow a multiplayer game, so be sure to include both P1 and P2's start positions in your levels. HOWEVER, this is all you need to do to accommodate the second player. Making a balanced one-player game is difficult enough, so don't sweat it if something doesn't quite work for multi-mode. I'm not checking two player compatibility; you don't have to either.

  13. Secret Stars
  14. Each stage must have only one SMB3 level-ending star, but you can have (almost) as many SMW stars you want. Before you go throwing secret stars everywhere, though, you should understand how they work. The most important thing to know is that you can only have one star per section of a level. That's not my rule; that's a quirk of SMBX. It can only register one star per stage section, as it flags all stars in that section as 'collected' if one of them is found. Because this is the case, any secret stars you place must be in different sections than the star that ends the level. Incidentally, this also means the most stars any level can have is 21. Don't worry; if you mess it up, I'll tell you about it!

  15. Water Must be SWIMMABLE

    You can set waterfalls to either be swimmable or not, but ordinary water must always be. Don't fill your pits with water if they're supposed to be bottomless.

  16. Misc. Stuff
    • Pipes, Doors, and Carry Items
    • By default, all entrances in SMBX are set to disallow the player from carrying an item with them through the portal. If your level has objects the player may want to bring with them, be sure to set your entrances properly.

    • One-Tile Passages
    • Avoid making paths that are only one tile high. If Mario stands up in one, he zips through the wall in the opposite direction he's facing. In some places, this isn't a problem, but in others it can break the game. Spare my telling you to fix it and avoid creating such circumstances.

    • Ceilings
    • If you're making a water level or Mario is able to fly, you may want to block the area off the top of the screen so the player can't soar over everything. In aquatic stages, one could swim past everything from up there, so it's extremely important to include (same goes for underwater pits, actually). Of helpful note: one block placed above or below a level's boundary will create an impassable wall.

STORY AND TUTORIALS

Nothing too complicated here. Mario, Luigi, Toad, Peach, and Link have fallen into RMN's Pit of Challenges, where they must collect the stars from our levels if they ever hope to escape. The main villain is not Bowser, Wart, Kamek, Aristocrab, or anyone seen yet in the world of Mario. I will be making the final level myself, and the final boss is...me! Because by the time this is over, you will all want to kill me.

I will also be making a tutorial level that explains the mechanics of SMBX, covering both the basics and the advanced stuff. So don't bother explaining to the player how to break blocks with their tail or spin jump on Thwomps. I've got it covered!

TESTING AND FEEDBACK

This iteration of RMN Bros. is going to put greater emphasis on play testing and providing feedback for levels. I will be playing each level personally and leaving feedback the developers can use to improve their stages. My feedback will be divided into three categories:

  • Deal Breakers
  • These are things you MUST CHANGE or your level WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. These include all variety of game breaking errors and poor balance/design. I will provide thoughts and ideas on how to fix these, depending on the complexity of the problem.

  • If-You-Don'ts
  • These are things that, if you don't change them, I will. These include things like levels without checkpoints, blocks containing only mushrooms, or levels with unfitting power-ups. If you don't make these corrections, I'll see to them in the end.

  • Nitpicks
  • These are small complaints of low importance. Things that would make the level look or feel nicer, but aren't really a problem on their own. These will most likely be aesthetic in nature, and they don't have to be changed for the level to be accepted.

    Although I will be testing each level thoroughly myself, I strongly encourage others to do the same. You don't have to follow the same methods of providing feedback I am (in fact, you don't really have the authority to!), but every bit of criticism helps.

ADDITIONAL STAFFERS

This is a big project, and it's very bold of me to be managing it alone. That's why I'm leaving open two spots for other users to join me in running the show. But you can't just sign up and say "Hey hali I'll be your game management bro." You have to PROVE YOUR WORTH. How, you might ask? By playing levels and leaving feedback! The more in-depth, the better. Show me you have what it takes to contribute to this project, and I'll let you in. If you can't handle the work, I have no reason to hire you.

Duties of these staffers would include testing others levels and leaving feedback, as well as helping refine my own stages, tutorial, hubs, and so forth. I'm a tough critic, but even I can't face my own work alone!

PROJECT TIMELINE

Signups begin NOW, and EVERYONE is free to join! The project will run for one month (thirty days), and levels may be submitted for testing during this time. When the month is up, no more levels will be accepted. Existing levels may still be updated based on feedback. I will do my best to have the whole thing compiled just one week after the event ends. Then we can download and enjoy!

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Super RMN Bros. 3.

Posts

halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
*PHEW*

Tutorial is done! I'd love it if some of you would kindly check it out.

I'll take a look at the new/updated levels sometime tomorrow.
I am davenporting the shit out of SRB3!

Name: Supra Mairo Bors: Boswers Castl
Style: SMB1 World 8 + Castle
Difficulty: 4/5 ... though it's kind of short (maybe 3/5?)
Notes:
Storm Boswer's castl! Dodge his minions, cannons, high wall and pits, then navigate his fire-filled lair and take down the old chap and rescue that dratted star! If you do it right, you can speedrun the first part pretty well (and it's a lot of fun).
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
This is quickly becoming Supra RMairoN Bors. Trhee.
Get this up on the frontpage spotlight already. You've got the perfect graphic for it!
Gonna try all mairo bors levels again aswell as the Spinning hazard re-release and the tutorial.
I'll try to leave feedback sometime soon and possibly depending on my progress today upload a new level possibly.
Goomba Caves is here!

OK. It's acctually not that amazing it's a mediocre cave level designed
to be straight forward and also not... to... be... straight forward.
(if that makes any sense)
It's straight forward in the sense that it's just 1 path mainly.
but there are small detours and shortcuts that can get you confused maybe...
aswell as switches and keys...
AND 8 RED COINS!!!
(SM64 BONUS STAR CREATED!)
It's actually quite hard to get the Bonus star, but I'll leave the rest of judging to you.

Theme: SMB3 Cave
Difficulty: 2.3/5 stars... of DOOM!
Secret stars: 1 BONUS...

SAND TOMBS attempt 3 is out after hanging in my files for no reason for about 5-6 days... #yay#
Halibabica's "Tutorial" level.

Pros:
Vast amount of information
Covers everything clearly
Nice theme attached to it
Some neat examples

Cons:
You can die pretty easily from a simple mistake. (escpecially for a tutorial level)
This results in a long retry
Little room to manouver around

My thoughts:
It's a good tutorial level, but my biggest problem in this level is it's danger.
Forgot to press down before releasing the shell? Death, Biatch!
Grabbed the bomb while it was starting to flash? Death!
Don't get me wrong it's the players own fault they died, but combained with the small area to manouver around:
small things multiply and getting stuck or dieing is easy.
This is bad because it's a tutorial level, it should be a safe instructional level to help the player.
Not trying to challenge them yet.
Let's just say I skip one of your info signs, I'm a NEWB and go attempt the trick with Yoshi and the blue shell.
I release the jump button for too long and I'm dead.
Sure It's my fault but c'mon it's my first level and I'm already pissed that I have to retry about 8 obstacles.
These mistakes should cause you to f.e. lose Yoshi and climbing back up and trying again.
Atleast in my opinion...
...
Don't kill me.

GreatRedSpirit's "Spinning Hazard V.2.0" level

Pros:
Same as before
A BIT more easy (just a bit)
Cons:
Still ruthlesly hard
1p starts at the checkpoint?
You can get the 2 saws after the checkpoint out of sync.

My Thoughts:
Still hard.
That's pretty much all I have to say.
Well... It is easier and the saws usually are in sync so no problems there...
The spikes are still hard enough so definatly no need to add the difficulty there.
I'd recommend lenghting the string where there is a spinning send backer thingy so that
you won't panic when you immediatly have to do the same all over again.
But, the real calls come from halibabica so you should wait until he has his saying.

I'll get into the Supra Mairo Bors levels after I can decipher Error 13 #2 on SMB2 dessert.
I agree with the lack of room in the tutorial. It'd be nice if there were more places to safely dump stuff like shells and fewer places to die from screwing up, like a floor in the flying areas with a ladder to get back to where you started. Also you never covered using the racoon/tanooki suit to use your tail to bop enemies/blocks.


Apa: Thanks for the second round of feedback. The checkpoint start was my fuckup from testing and forgetting to put it back (Hali plz fix). The saw sync issue can happen if you move the generators offscreen then back on as one will start before the other. The Off/On switch is meant to turn both on at the same time to prevent the sync errors. Ideally as long as you hit the Off->On switch and don't move the saw generators offscreen they should stay in sync (otherwise I'm going to post a wall of shake fisting emote and scream at SMBX). If they go out of sync hitting the switch On->Off->On should get them back in sync.

I might add a bit more room before the turnaround, might just leave it and try to finish another half-started level before Kentona does another Moon Base Mario and submit 40% of the levels again.
Tutorial:
-Give me music or give me death!
-Press up while swimming to swim up faster
-do a section on the blue-glowy blocks where you press down and grab it from above.
-I killed the thwomps with vegetables
-I died in the bomb section. it is WAY too tight in there.
-If you only destroy one block to the "bottom" area of the Bomb section, you're pretty much fucked if you go down there (since you have to toss a bomb upwards to clear our the other 2 and you WILL get hit by the blast since the ceiling is so low)
-I managed to spit the key out of Yoshi to the other side of the door, and now I can't get it back...
-There is not enough clearance to alt jump off of yoshi to get the key to the door.
-There's no where to spit out the yellow shell, really
...and I died again... my blue shell yoshi didn't seem to fly (do I repeatedly have to press the jump button to fly as that guy, or just hold down jump? the death pit is so shallow that I didn't get a chance to test it out...)
-fuck i just died AGAIN in that blasted pit. Does blue shell yoshi have a limit to how much he can fly? fuck.



AWWWW YEAH! I'm all over this.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
from apa649
thoughts
Hm, I see what you mean. I tried to keep the danger to a minimum, but I can see why it's a problem in some places. I'll find remedies for the more troublesome areas.

from GreatRedSpirit
I agree with the lack of room in the tutorial. It'd be nice if there were more places to safely dump stuff like shells and fewer places to die from screwing up, like a floor in the flying areas with a ladder to get back to where you started.
Mmkay! Removing the bottomless pit is a good idea. I had originally put spots in the wall for the shells to bounce into and destroy themselves on lava, but then...Yoshi got hurt and ran himself into the lava, too. I'll try to come up with a more elegant solution.

from GreatRedSpirit
Also you never covered using the racoon/tanooki suit to use your tail to bop enemies/blocks.
I covered it at the first leaf pickup!

from kentona
Tutorial:
-Give me music or give me death!
It has music! You didn't remove its folder, did you?

from kentona
-Press up while swimming to swim up faster
I didn't know that was a thing you could do. o.o

from kentona
-do a section on the blue-glowy blocks where you press down and grab it from above.
That's kinda covered by digging through sand and uprooting vegetables, don't you think?

from kentona
-I killed the thwomps with vegetables
Me too.

from kentona
-I died in the bomb section. it is WAY too tight in there.
Duly noted. I'll expand it downward when I remove the bottomless pit.

from kentona
-I managed to spit the key out of Yoshi to the other side of the door, and now I can't get it back...
Yeah, keys are wonky like that. I think I'll amend a sign explaining how to regain the key if you lose it.

from kentona
-There is not enough clearance to alt jump off of yoshi to get the key to the door.
Fair enough. I think I have room to re-work that.

from kentona
-There's no where to spit out the yellow shell, really
...and I died again... my blue shell yoshi didn't seem to fly (do I repeatedly have to press the jump button to fly as that guy, or just hold down jump? the death pit is so shallow that I didn't get a chance to test it out...)
-fuck i just died AGAIN in that blasted pit. Does blue shell yoshi have a limit to how much he can fly? fuck.
Yes...regarding the shell, see my response to GRS. This seems like a good place to tell the player they can smash objects by releasing them directly into walls. And yes, blue shell Yoshi does have a limit to his flight capacity. This won't matter as much when I take out those pits!

Thank you all for your help. I will make the tutorial much safer.
I think this was the push I needed to start trying out some of the games made with this engine.

EDIT: The gravity seems too slow for my keyboard playing. I feel like I need to play with a controller to enjoy it.
author=kentona
i just died AGAIN in that blasted pit.
Doesn't sound very tutorial like reaction, now does it?
Not trying to be mean,clever or anything just trying to prove my point...
If you need help I'm sure alot of us are more than happy to help halibabica. (Wink,Wink)
I'll admit it is hard to create a tutorial where there is no way to die by accident, but you could eliminate some of the problems.

-Basic rules in a tutorial level. (for me as a player!)
#1 You must be able to retry infinately
#2 You must not be able to get STUCK
(this includes jugging yoshi to a pit and realising I can't backtrack.)
#3 You must have adequate room to perform the tutorial
#4 Failure should have as minor consecuences as possible

I believe the tutorial should be simply left to right instead of being crammed into
a box like area.( That is why I made my cave level :) )

Oh. and you can drop the shell by holding down and pressing run.

P.S. 2 posts during the writing of my rambling? That must be a record or sumthin.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
from apa649
-Basic rules in a tutorial level. (for me as a player!)
#1 You must be able to retry infinately
#2 You must not be able to get STUCK
(this includes jugging yoshi to a pit and realising I can't backtrack.)
#3 You must have adequate room to perform the tutorial
#4 Failure should have as minor consecuences as possible

This is all good advice and will be heeded well.

from apa649
If you need help I'm sure alot of us are more than happy to help halibabica. (Wink,Wink)

I take this to mean you're trying for one of the assistant spots I've left open. Well, you're doing a fine job so far, and you certainly have my attention. :3

from apa649
I believe the tutorial should be simply left to right instead of being crammed into
a box like area.

If I hadn't already mashed it up all over the place, I might have gone with that. But nah. I'll refine what I have into something more workable. Again, thanks for the help!
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
Goomba Caves by apa649

Deal Breakers

- In a cave this maze-like and spacious, it’s difficult to tell whether a pit is bottomless or not. Try marking the pits with a dark jagged background (like the backdrop at the end of SMB3 levels). This way, the player will know for sure whether it’s safe to go spelunking or not.

If You Don’ts

Nothin’ here.

Nitpicks

- Power-up placement for the first section is really sparse. It could use one or two more fire flowers somewhere along the way, or at least ones you don’t have to kick shells into to obtain.

- That ominous Super Metoid music got me all nervous for nothin’. I’d recommend you either change all rooms’ themes to SMB3 underground…or go with Crateria or Brinstar in the main caves instead. Brinstar’s a good puzzle cave type song, but Crateria better matches the pace of the tune you already have. Both make the Item Room music seem less out of place.

- A chime telling the player they found all 8 red coins would be very nice.

- The Tanooki Suit is incredibly well-hidden. I thought I had it when I found the 1-Up hidden behind some pink ! blocks (formerly solid). On the contrary, the Hammer Suit was relatively easy to find. You may want to consider swapping these things around like last time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spinning Hazard by GreatRedSpirit

Deal Breakers

-

If You Don’ts

-

Nitpicks

- The longer spike jumps are fine, even the triple one. The rebound time of the saws between those jumps is not. Like apa649 mentioned, moving the blue spin block a little further from the spikes would give the player much-needed reaction time to bounce over again.

- I honestly think including leaves would be the one final straw that balances this level out completely. It’s doable as it is now, but that would give the player the element of control that makes the challenge seem fair.

- I still think even just one coin as a hint wouldn’t hurt for the secret star. In a level as hectic as this, the player probably won't be looking for something like that on their first try.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supra Mairo Bors by kentona

Deal Breakers

Not a one!

If You Don’ts

NOPE

Nitpicks

NONE

Know what that means? :3

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supra Mairo Bors 2: Dessert by kentona

Deal Breakers

None!

If You Don’ts

None!

Nitpicks

- I was a bit disappointed you couldn’t reselect your character after the checkpoint. Maybe make a copy of the first room and link it through the pyramid door or something?

- I'm not sure it can happen or not, but if Birdo wanders off the cliff, the level may become unbeatable. I'd put lava down there (off-screen) just to be safe.

This stage is fantastic. All around classic SMB2 fun. Even the tedium required to reach the secret star is tolerable. Kudos!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supra Mairo Bors: Boswer’s Castl by kentona

Deal Breakers

meh

If You Don’ts

meh

Nitpicks

- The first part has tragically few power-ups. I think one more hidden in the Hammer Bros.’ blocks would about do it.

More good work. Can’t really think of much else to say!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supra Mairo Bors: Lost Leevls by kentona

Deal Breakers

None.

If You Don’ts

Nothin’!

Nitpicks

- I still think the water part is too short, but the stage is fine otherwise! Good solution to the springboard problem.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also updated my Tutorial level!

Just as a heads up to all secret star users: I'll be adding events to stages with secret stars that replace them with 3-Up Moons after they're collected. Since they can only be collected once, the moon will be the player's reward for revisiting them.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
Decky
I'm a dog pirate
19645
Pickles!

Edit: Alright, I stand corrected: Kentona's levels are quite good :p
whoops, getting behind on those reviews!

Reviewing of Spinning Hazard by GreatRedSpirit
Difficulty: 5+/5 (bigtime)
Aesthetics: 3/5 (some rough edges, nothing stands out)
Frustration: 5/5
Type: Challenge, Gimmick
Where I would put it: Late game or bonus level

Okay, what can I say besides this level is damn hard! This really is the max 5/5 difficulty, for me anyway. We should be sparse with this kind of level. I died 50 times and failed to finish it, could never get past that part right after
the checkpoint where the spikes are. It reminds me of that World 8 fast air scrolling level as a kid, could not beat it. Gotta love those P-WINGs. This level is going to really filter the players. I mean that I suspect most players won't be able to finish it or will give up here.

Good things:
-very challenging, ability testing
-clever gimmick
-music is well suited

Bad things:
-sometimes the second saw falls into oblivion (SMBX fault?)
-this level is going to fucking piss people off
-secret star (no one is going to want to play this AGAIN and think about where a star might be)


ISSUES:
SEVERITY 10 - Spike Traps at second checkpoint!!! Just no.. I can't figure it out. It was easier before when they weren't so wide. I'd let this go if you could leaf through it...
---but---
Who is going to have a leaf left over from the difficult starting? They would have to quit the level, lose their progress, go back and find a leaf, all the while being tempted to quit and tell everyone about how bad this game is

SEVERITY 2 - Saws are inconsistent and sometimes SMBX nukes one

SEVERITY 4 - Secret star. I sure wouldn't be going back to get it. Hey... maybe put a tanooki suit there!

I say DENIED until:
A) some type of cheat (leaf in level) or alternate route is supplied
--OR--
B) spikes shortly after checkpoint are fixed

I do like this level and it has a place in the game, but wow... those spikes

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviewing of Major Linkage by Link2112
Difficulty: 3/5
Aesthetics: 4/5 (rather nice but water section is lame and there are rough edges)
Frustration: 2/5 (water section, getting lost in forest, being unable to find star)
Type: Adventure, Puzzle, Link
Where I would put it: Middle game or bonus level

This one was fun. Not too difficult, sort of puzzling and adventuring around.

Good things:
Zelda 2!!!!! YAY!!!! (nostalgia)

Exploring - there is a lot to look at in this level!
mountains to climb (although I wish there was a reward up there...)
underground palaces
towns
forests
mountains
a boss fight


Good for secret stars - this is the type of level you want alternate exits in and the like. I normally hate the idea of playing a level twice or three times to get all the stars, but here it works.

Puzzles!
The forest maze was a little annoying but not enough to be bad.

Secrets!
Again, exploring and finding secrets is fun, very true to the Zelda feel

Issues:
SEVERITY 6 - Lots of lag. I'm suspecting it is caused by the grass. I don't think the level would hurt if you took the grass out.

SEVERITY 7 - No one playing Zelda 2 ever once thought to themselves "hmm... this game needs a water section!"
Link swimming in the water is laggy, weird, and no fun. Maybe keep this part very short and have it turn into a cave or something.

SEVERITY 2 - This is not a Zelda game. This is a Mario game.

SEVERITY 80000 - not finished?

Also thinking about how to fit link levels into a mario game. Are we just going to plop them down randomly again? Maybe some kind of Link Zone... I don't know

Verdict: DENIED until you finish it :P

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Next is the knetaona leevls and then Goomba Caves. I think I'll skip the tutorial and the pre-approved levels (short answer: they are good).
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16903
from AncientNoob
I think I'll skip the tutorial...they are good).

Not necessarily! I need feedback just like everyone else. The preapproved's are untoouchable, but anything you can say about the tutorial, I'll listen to.