Bad2Good Level Contest (RESULTS!)

[wyldstrykr]

to whoever played my bad level, whats bad about the original level?
also i dont need to click to see the comments. nice

[TDK]

Anyway, the level pack has been updated to fix some minor issues.
Do tell me if you found any other issues.

[Dr Wally]

It was fun to try this contest and I learned something: "Warning (!) signs on windy areas are more than an useful tool, they're your friends". Btw i'll try the level pack later and congrats to Airship's mountain level.

[TDK]

Pinging Contestants: show

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I should have mentioned this before, but you can post your levels in the level subforum.

[King Mario]

18. Desert Castle Adventure by King Mario (22.5): show

Fun & Design: 12.5 / 30
Isomorphism & Creativity: 8 / 15
Polish & Aesthetics: 2 / 5

Original: beach level

For a level about exploring/backtracking for collectables, I don’t understand why there’s a time limit. The level seemed rather disjointed in that you’re searching for red key coins, then swimming for regular red coins to get to the other red coins (coin-ception…), then climbing fences, then you’re in a lava-filled castle that suddenly becomes a pyramid with a boss fight.
That was a pretty big oasis for a desert. Too bad most of the time it was either waiting for the urchins to collect coins or damage-boosting through them using the power-up generator. Little known fact…you can swim to the top of the sizable which causes you to have to slowly walk or swim back to the left.
After having collected all the stars, you’re treated to the best part of the level in the castle portion, having to dodge the falling spikes and ball & chains. Like the house star before, you have to backtrack if you want the boot and some tier 3 power-ups. Also, it can be difficult to jump off of skull rafts on a downward diagonal slope, leading to easy deaths near the last pipe.
Unfortunately you then have to contend with the boss. You’re facing Bowser who has to smash through 2 sets of blocks, then be block-killed if you lose your hammer suit to the myriad bullet bills flying throughout the arena. On a timer.
After the victory, you’re treated to a bonus room of sorts; though I don’t understand the power-ups AFTER the end of the level.

Fun & Design:14/30; Isomorphism & Creativity: 9/15; Polish & Aesthetics: 2/5
Total: 25/50

The problem with the original level is that it's too short so it's difficult to expand on it.
The sections you added made it feel like it's an adventure since you multiplied the playtime by a lot.
Since the original level is too short, I can't judge on how the new sections feel from the original but it's all right.
Some setups are fun but since the premise of the level is an adventure, the level is unfocused. It would work very well if it's a minisode with 3-5 levels though.

Fun & Design:18/30; Isomorphism & Creativity: 10/15; Polish & Aesthetics: 4/5
Total: 32/50

Here we have a exploration level. The level design has some interesting concepts of exploration, starting with a red coin + key coin hunt, and in this case the hud shows the player which red coins he has already collected, as without it, exploration would be much more difficult. It is interesting the small challenges that involve the locations of the coins, but it ends up becoming just a vague navigation in a water section, with random placement of enemies, with the exception of the urichins, it would be interesting to focus on setups that involve them in this section, as you did with those that protect the red coins. The placement of checkpoints is well positioned and fair, I like the idea that the player can go back and forth to the previous section, activating the checkpoint they want. The second part involves collecting stars to enter the castle, but these are sections that do not have any connection with the previous setups, and it becomes just break sections, and seems very random. Finally, the castle section, which has some puzzles, but they are random or pretty simple. In addition, it is interesting the concept of finding secrets in the section to receive power-ups as a reward, but unfortunately the use of them does not become so useful in the rest of the stage, since in the next section involving SMB3 Bowser as a boss, it already offers power ups to the player. I liked the idea of creating an exploration stage, but in the end the sections do not become connected to each other in terms of details, such as common setups that allow the player to have a sense of growth during gameplay. A stage with interesting concepts, but that are lost in execution.

Fun & Design:10/30; Isomorphism & Creativity:4/15; Polish & Aesthetics: 1/5
Total: 15/50

This level has an interesting concept, but it was worked out in a bad way. In the end, it didn't make that much difference whether the collectables were key coins, red coins, or stars, just a different way to clear a path. In the water section the jelectros was just randomly positioned, such as urchins that was underused. The coin hunt was meaningless, I don't have the sensation of a new obstacle to pass through and wait one more challenge to advance out. They was just dropped out my face along randomly positioned NPCs. The level has serious structural and enemy distribution problems. The battle with bowser was not exciting, in fact, it was even frustrating at the end, with the attempt to get a hammer suit. All in all, this level needs a lot of work to improve.

Fun & Design:8/30; Isomorphism & Creativity:9/15; Polish & Aesthetics:1/5
Total: 18/50

Thank you all for your constructive criticism! Much appreciated! I agree with you that the timer was rather unnecessary. I don't even know why I did it in the first place. Rather pointless, isn't it? Also I added the warning signs in an attempt to help the player navigate through hazards, which I hope helped you out somewhat. But then the boss fight... it really is pointless, isn't it? Really no need to add Hammer Suits right at the boss battle after already making the player backtrack to get special powerups. Also I had an awesome idea at the end, where your trouble would be well-rewarded with every single powerup and mount, as well as an extremely generous life farm, as well as the ability to hear all three music tracks in full, for anyone who wants it. But in retrospect to everything else, it does feel rather bittersweet, not gonna lie. And now, if I decide on doing the Contest-A-Thon, I'm gonna have to play it... *face palm* well, it's a well-earned consequence. This is why I don't usually make levels, unless it's a test arena, or a simplistic hub to play other people's levels in. But whatever, that's beside the point. I'm willing to hold myself to the same standard that I do for other level creators on my channel, whenever necessary.

Apologies to the judges who had to play and suffer through this level. I thank you all for your well thought-out and honest criticisms and wish you all a good rest of the month.