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Needs extensive work, I'm afraid.

  • Decky
  • 01/26/2014 01:09 AM
  • 1332 views
I don't claim to be the ultimate expert on Mario around here. I think my levels are usually decent, if cluttered and claustrophobic. There are certainly better Mario designers on this website than me. Nevertheless, there are some basic and fundamental principals of level design that I've learned over the last 3+ years working with SMBX. I'm afraid this game breaks every single one of them.

The game starts off innocently enough, in a field with a mushroom house. You get a basic powerup and there's a cool pipe chimney...but there is also a ? mushroom that doesn't seem to do anything. And there's no NPCs, either. Okay...but the premise and the world map titles lead me to believe that this game involves traveling back in time.

Unfortunately, this game is all but unplayable after the first level. On the very first screen of 1-1, there is a pipe that can be tricky to enter because there is not a platform aligned with the bottom of the pipe. Then on the second screen, the waterfalls clash with the sizeable blocks, making a very tricky swimming segment:


Needs backgrounds and seamless waterfalls and less of a chore to get up to that platform. It's world 1-1, after all.


What's worse is these waterfalls are loaded with enemies, making it very tough to get that first powerup.

After this (and being unable to grab a mushroom from a ? block at the end of the screen because it floats off screen), you have to ride those bird things to reach the pipe. This is innocent enough, but the birds' patterns are lengthy, so if you miss you'll be stuck riding them for 15+ seconds. This kind of breaks the flow; early levels should be easy and fast-paced.


Wtf?


Once you emerge from that pipe, you are treated to an enemy ON THE PIPE YOU COME OUT OF. No matter what, you will be taking damage, and if you have no powerups, you die. If you manage to survive the mandatory damage, you're treated to a tricky lakitu-esque segment with floating platforms and plenty of other enemies to boot. This segment isn't terrible, but it belongs in a later World.

Unfortunately, that's the gist of this game. It needs extensive work in the difficulty balancing, level design, and enemy layout departments. It also needs some sort of brief exposition, preferably with NPCs at the beginning.

Best of luck honing this game!

Posts

Pages: 1
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
I want to play this game now.
Pages: 1