My Review:
Atmosphere [0/5]
So, this is a castle...and...? This level is clearly supposed to be Bowser's castle, yet you didn't even use the BG that signifies it was castle, but instead went for a generic castle background. Second, why are the SO many floating pieces of land, or even a tower designed specifically for Bowser to kill himself in? I will touch more on this fight later, but seriously this made no sense from a villain's point of view.
A completely detached, claustrophobic castle filled with randomly distributed enemies and a Bowser doesn't establish atmosphere. Especially considering the beginning of the level uses Super Metroid music despite having custom music files anyway.
Level Design[0/5]
There is just so much you did wrong here, so we will go in depth here quite a lot. Be mindful, because I don't in depth by-section for levels since it takes so much time.
Section 1:
Why is this bridge so broken? If it was Bowser's work, then why is it both incomplete and still functional for Mario. Either break it apart and give Mario something to really platform with, or have a complete bridge. While I liked the touch of using SMB1 in a strictly SMB3 themed level, I would say using fences on a bridge broke all form of immersion this section has. Take for example the reason why ropes are placed on bridges: adds support and keeps people from falling off. So, logically speaking, the fences didn't do their job if this bridge is in ruins and the play can still fall off. I highly recommend just removing them since they clash anyway.
Section 2:
A claustrophobic tower with floating blocks and screen wrap, this started off wrong to begin with. For one, I liked that the screen wrap was established visually, but you did nothing with this actual gimmick other than make the level horribly linear, in a vertical sense. Roto disks being spammed almost at every corner isn't fun or challenging, its annoying as hell. There is no need to spam these things in order to kill the player, that role should be upon the design themselves to think creatively, no just place randomly.
Next, why does the player need to be in such a tight and compressed area? The portion where the player needs to activate, wait and then pass thwomps would incredibly irritating. But not because it is bad design in its own right, but because you have to do it FOUR times. I honestly can't grasp how this was considered a good design choice: waiting to do something that requires more waiting.
Then we have random pools of lava. Why? Who put these here? They served no purpose other than to exist. I was literally in no danger whatsoever when trying to platform over these, so it is more useful to just get rid of these pools of lava. In addition, on the top-left pool of lava I can see you didn't design the pipe to coexist with the lava correctly. This created what I can only assume I could call reverse-cutoff since it technically fits in the level graphically yet still doesn't look right. To resolve this issue, either remove the lava pools or make them big enough, at least 5-10 blocks wide by 3-6 blocks deep, to make them an actual piece of the level.
Section 3:
So here we have random donut blocks over a .....ok a pit? Why is there a giant pit and how is this tower floating exactly? This make no sense whatsoever. Not to mention, apparently we are both inside and outside, as dictated by the BG you chose. Also, a chasing goomba just "there" randomly is incredibly uncalled for; especially since the player didn't encounter these things anywhere else before and after this point.
Then here comes the world's easiest gauntlet. Fire Statues and Bullet Blasters strewn across flat ground. This was no challenging other than to test the players patience.
Here's why:
1- Fire statues fire in one direction.
2- Fire statues take a while to shoot, making them useless if you can't slow the player down.
3- Bullet Bills are useless unless they are on the same horizontal plane as you.
4- Bullets can't hit you if you can't hinder or distract the player long enough to make them an actual obstacle.
Lastly, what is the point of an invisible block if you are going to scream its location to the player?
Section 4:
Ok so now we are near volcanoes now, that was suddenly a thing. Next, we are floating...why? Clearly the level was supposed to extend below the player's view-able screen yet you did absolutely nothing to fill in this space. Tilesets have a block called "filler" for a reason, which is to fill in empty space. This entire level fails in this field, as the only blocks that exist are the ones you physically interact with, which is both lazy design and visually unappealing. Then there is the repetitive walk up a dangerous, seemingly, path up to Bowser himself. Mind you, this level sports a boss fight and gives you a check point an entire section BEFORE the boss fight. And, also, doesn't give you powerups before the fight itself.
If you are going to make a boss, make the level short. Nobody wants to play a typical level's length of level AND fight a boss. Pick one of the two, not both. Not to mention, make things fair for the player. This isn't Super Mario Maker, don't throw a player at a END GAME BOSS with no powerups.
Boss Fight:
Ok, so this is technically End Game boss recycled from SMB3. So, in a sense, you are not being original in this custom boss fight. Let alone, you have to do the typical "make Bowser fall through the floor" THREE times. Repetition isn't fun, it is tedious and annoying. Not to mention, still claustrophobic and with no powerups what-so-ever. If you are going to throw the player into END GAME boss environments, give them the ability to actually do something. Add a single mushroom per layer would suffice.
-Note- I found your Shy Guy NPC. The fact you said this took you twenty tries to beat only reinforces my point that the boss is rather unreasonable in difficulty.
Not to mention, and this is only advice and doesn't play into the review itself, SMBX community has been spoiled by custom bosses. Meaning, simply taking the same boss fights from old games generally gives you, as the designer, the reputation of being lazy and original. I highly recommend testing out layer attachments and events and see what type of bosses you wish existed in SMBX but just don't yet. LunaLua is a great thing to get into, as it opens up a giant door of opportunities.
Graphical Continuity [1/5]
I give you points for effort. For one, your tileset clashes with your NPC choices.
HOWEVER:
Blocks= SMB1
NPC= SMB3
From what I viewed, you were consistent in your decisions, but the fact these clash horribly doesn't excuse anything.
I say this to anyone's levels I judge, I value consistency in everything. especially graphical choices. I don't care if "clash" isn't a word people want to here. SMB1 is SMB1, and SMB3 is SMB3. Don't mix elements just because it looks good. MAKE it look good by copying the graphical style and recolor it, don't just mix genres.
BGO Placement [0/5]
You used fences in the first section, that's it. I checked, and double checked...you used nothing else in the level aside to scream an invisible coin block's location.
For one, I detest floating pieces of land. Make support beams, add propellers, add columns or anything else. You had so much at your disposal but didn't use any of it.
NPC Placement [0/5]
Every NPC was either randomly distributed, in a claustrophobic area or completely avoidable. NPC placements, while I admit does take a lot of skill to do, requires more planning other than "how can I kill the player."
You clearly know how to manipulate generators to adjust what pipe spits out what enemies, but you never did anything else after that second section.
I could continue, but a majority of my comments have been said in "Level Design" aside from two comments.
1- Add coins into the level. Your coins were hilariously unavoidable and were so few and far in-between that they served no purpose whatsoever. My rule of thumb for levels, have 100 coins in the level at least. I don't care if it is in a block or floating randomly, place 100 into the level at least.
2- Be more creative with enemy placement. Try using layer attachments on koopas to have flying platforms, or make the player ride a spiny to cross spikes. Theres a lot more you can do with NPCs other than killing the player.
Difficulty / Replayability [0/5]
Level was incredibly difficult, but in the wrong ways. You inhibit the players ability to platform or move, which makes them impatient and rush. Or, which is ironic, the level does absolutely nothing to kill the player at all. Some people like a challenge, as myself, but be creative outside of forcing the player to deal with said challenges: i.e. forcing the player to wait on a thwomp.
On top of this, I can clearly say I would never play this level again, especially due to the final boss. A level which incorporates a boss fall into one of two difficulty strains:
1- Make the level hilariously easy, but immersive. This means the player won't actually die but they still have fun traversing all of your obstacles.
2- Make the level hilariously short, to conserve time. Someone doesn't want to have to player a section and a half just to get back to your boss and die all over again.
However, this level is a full blown level (which is trying to kill you) and places the midpoint in a weird spot. While technically the middle of the level, which kudos there, it is still so far away from the boss that it is practically useless.
Final Note: Play some levels in "The Best" section to get a good grasp for some key-level designing aspects. I highly recommend Shinbison's style, as he can make a level long but immersive in its obstacle design. To grasp how a level should be if it has a custom boss I highly recommend playing Darkonious's levels. They are incredibly easy and have a fun boss at the end, which falls in my explanation above of how a level should be easy if it wants to be long.
Overall Score: 1/30
Final Score: .33/10
Judgement: Trash Can
Video:
(It can't be accessed via normal gameplay, you must delete some blocks in order to get to it)
