Cobrat Desert

[HenryRichard]

So, rather recently I saw Sednaiur's SMB2 Extended GFX Pack, and it inspired me to make a level using it. I worked pretty hard on this, so I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Screens:

Spoiler: show

Graphics Credits:
Sednaiur
HenryRichard1234
legendtony-980

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[FutureNyanCat]

Legendtony987 is Legendtony-980. Squishy Rex accidentally did a mistake with naming Legendtony.

[HenryRichard]

*Bump*
It's been what, two weeks, and still no review? I'm sad . I fixed legendtony's name BTW.

[zioy]

Cobrat Desert by HenryRichard
Reviewed by KoolKat

Gameplay
When I first played this level, I died from the first Cobrat since I didn't expect its speed, but I won't take off for my own ignorance . This level is a unique type of switch level which involves the player ascending an outdoor tower of sorts in a desert. Usually switch levels get boring real quick since it's constant backtracking, but in this level, the gimmick was expanded on in a way that seemed truly innovative, involving the player running around the area killing Switch Goombas until they unlocked a new area to explore. It felt really maze-like, and in a good way, too. It didn't feel like I was backtracking very often since I couldn't remember the exact structure of the level well enough to remember exactly where I was. I definitely got a feel for the nifty non-linearity, though, especially from the constant exploration that is required to complete the level. Usually I'm not a fan of exploratory levels since they're made by newbies who literally just place random switches at the dead ends of tunnels and require the player to backtrack the whole way, but this one revamped the concept and made it feel very professional. Good job on the innovation (sorry if I was just rambling there lol).

Design/Placement
So the design of this level was really well thought-out, as I briefly mentioned in the Gameplay section of the review. The level felt like a desert maze, and I wouldn't be surprised if it had originally been a pyramid level. The overall design kept me on my toes the whole time. My main concern with the placement was that a few of the Snifits are badly placed, causing the player to have to word pretty hard to avoid the bullets. The main example of this is here:

Spoiler: show

As you can see, the Ninji is blocking the way to the switch Goomba, which wouldn't be a problem, except that the two Snifits are constantly shooting at you. What this forces the player to do is time the grabbing of the Ninji perfectly enough that they can escape damage from the Snifits, but that's not that big of a problem, as most players are skilled enough to do this easily. I'd recommend removing the blue Snifit and you're good to go there.

Atmosphere
I really liked the gameplay and design of this level, so how did the atmosphere stack up? Well, let me say that the SMB2 style was a really good choice for this level (the name implies that anyway). Doing this in SMB3 style just wouldn't feel right, plus this was made when SMB2 levels were just about to hit their high point. The graphics mostly fit together, although in the nighttime section with the red switch Goombas, the tileset and enemies felt too bright to be honest. I know it wouldn't be possible to make a darker recolored version of every graphics used and have it fit in the level here, but you could always just use the normal desert background over the nighttime one. The one area I disliked in this level was the boss fight area. It just felt too bland, plus Birdo+slopes=glitches (bolded because it doesn't really belong in this section). The music in this level didn't seem to fit at first, until I got into it and the exploration factor started to kick in, and this is when the music really started to fit. To be honest, I sort of like it that way, but I still think there were better music choices available.

Overall Score: 7.9/10
Wow, this level was really good. Fix up the minor flaws I mentioned and this is a seriously awesome level!

[PersonNamedUser]

This looks like a good level!
Because of the scenrey and varitey