Postby PixelPest » Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:34 pm
Review of Cntrhammer
Level Design and Gameplay (weighed 70%): 2.7/10
This level wasn't very fun to play. It was overall very slow, long, and the sheer number of NPCs was just too much. The first section was really bland and lacked coins and any real decorations. It wasn't very appealing and was very cramped, especially towards the beginning. There was also a pipe (that only had the top piece) that the player could use to exit the level about 30 seconds in which didn't make sense. The brief transition to a Zelda-style area for about the length of two screens was very sudden and sadly uneventful. A sudden change in style was kind of interesting, but the section was flat and too short to be worth the additional style change, making it look messy. Furthermore, there were a few too many NPCs in that area as well. The change from there to the sewer seemed to transition a little better, but still didn't really make too much sense. Although the decoration in this section was a bit better and the overall feel of the sewer was pretty good, it was another area that was just too short to really serve any purpose. It also lacked good coin and NPC placement/variety. The transition back to SMB underground was okay, but again was just awkward in its making and concept. The checkpoint in this level was put in a good place, however everything after this section was just pure madness. The amount of NPC spam, clutter, and the lack of coins and power-ups was overwhelming even with a Billy Gun. The area with random NPCs spawning out of nowhere from the top of the screen was also nonsensical and just too much to handle. The Wart reskin as a boss at the end seemed kind of redundant as well with the Billy Gun. You could just kill all of the spammy NPCs surrounding it and then it only took a matter of seconds to kill it. Kind of disappointing and too fast, especially with a Billy Gun at the player's disposal.
Graphics and Sounds (weighed 30%): 3.5/10
As I mentioned above, a lot of elements from different games were mixed into this level that made it seem really messy. Sometimes the small areas would have only NPCs and other elements from a single game before it moved on to the next idea, however towards the end this level seemed to lose all concepts of aesthetics. It mixed so many styles that it looked very unnappealing. The styles used did not mix well together. I also didn't really like the musical choice, since the overdriven-rock SMB underground theme just droned on and on for too long, even when it could have been changed at a few points that it would have made sense to do so. Although it did somewhat fit the overall tone and attitude of the level, it was just too much.
Overall: 2.94/10 (The Trash Can)
