Postby Suckerman7 GM » Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:46 am
All right. After playing this episode yesterday and today, I am finally ready to give my review: (I only progressed up to World 4, I'll explain why below)
PROS:
- The tileset usage and visual care is done well, I appreciate it.
- Some levels had interesting gimmicks which are used surprisingly well.
- Story is quite promising.
- Boss battles against Koopalings are done well by adding subphases/obstacles to increase the challenge.
CONS:
- First red flag for a level: Enemy spam. There are an absurd amount of enemies in a single level, giving you more room for error, and you die a lot. (Unless you spam Tanooki Statue, there is no way you can pass the enemy spam areas unless you get hit. (The most obvious display of this is at Cheep Cheep Bridge and Bowser Jr's Airship.)
- There is a serious lack of powerups and coins in some levels. Either you have to beat a previous level, or go right back to the beginning to get two powerups from the Star House. (You can add a Star House every 2 worlds to make the powering up less tedious.)
- Some Star Coins are impossible to get without getting a hit. (For example, the second star coin in Wendy's Castle. It's located right on top of a Skewer, which you cannot get without touching the Skewer once.)
- Checkpoint of Cheep Cheep Bridge has a goomba next to it, so you get spawnkilled everytime you enter the level, unless you are powered up.
- The first level and the fortress of World 3 are the same level.
- You are softlocked when you attempt to enter the warp pipe to World 4. (You used the character select level for it, you end up in the map but the paths don't open, so you are stuck.)
- Some levels have misleading gimmicks. (In Ghost Ship level, there are Bullet Bills and other basic enemies where there should only be ghosts. This is an excuse to spam enemies so the level can be tough.)
- Some jumps are difficult to perform due to either: There is a long distance in between two spots, or there are a lot of enemies/NPCs that can damage the player.
- There are powerup filter blocks in some levels: I understand your episode is at a beta state, but I suggest removing them in place of ? blocks.
- Add more checkpoints, especially at castle levels and airship levels. (If you didn't know, you can add endless checkpoints in your levels as of X2 Beta 4)
- In Cheep Cheep Bridge, (This level was a nightmare for me) you should remove the Venus Fire Trap in the moving pipe. Because even if the plant is not outside, you get hurt thus you have to be at a precarious position to avoid both cheep cheeps and the plant as well as not fall to your death at the same time.
- In many levels, Hammer Bros are placed in abrupt spots. (Either place them above blocks, or far from the edges because getting hit as you jump from a spot to another due to a hammer is annoying.
That is all from me. I suggest making your levels less punishing by paying attention to my criticism, ok? Thanks for the episode, I hope you can make it more enjoyable to play for everyone!
