Mario's Wild Ride

[Laughing_Lyric]

Vaguely inspired by the creepypasta of a similar name...
MARIO'S WILD RIDE!

• Lava!
  Boos!
  Switches!
  Frustration!

Screenshots below!

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: show

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Spoiler: show

Download
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h2scw39pk9y7c ... 20Ride.lvl

[RoundPiplup]

This level is somewhat short and not too tough to beat. I only died once in this level(because I attempted to get my extra slot item and died). There aren't any decorations(such as backgrounds), just plain blocks and lava. There is a point where a spam load of NPCs comes up through. At the end... You can get the exit NPC, but you fall to the lava and die.

Suggestions:
1) Try to add some backgrounds(decorate it to make things more lively)
2) Try to erase some of the NPCs where there is a big load of them.
3) Make sure the player can finish off the level(not to die in lava at the end of the level).

They can improve your level and possibly get an better rating when it comes to judges judging your level, but my suggestions would only slightly improve them.

[Laughing_Lyric]

I'll definitely revise it with your input. The death at the end was really just for fun, I had intended it to have an actual end until I realized that that happened, at which point I kept it as a joke.

[HeroLinik]

You are lucky, Laughing_Lyric...you are one of the select few to get a review from me. I'll probably get back into level reviewing with this review - here goes:

Level Review #14: Mario's Wild Ride by Laughing_Lyric

Reviewed by castlewars.

Level Design: 3/10
This is a fair attempt for a first level, to be honest. The whole idea of the level being a Skull Raft ride is a rather unique idea for a person's first level, and it's not just a plain ride but it's got a layer of difficulty thrown on it. Having to deactivate switches to allow the Skull Raft to come through is rather unique, but this is pulled off even further by the fact that switches must be reactivated at some points as well to clear a path to powerups. However, the lava landforms are really flat and barren, for the most part and the ride gets boring after a while because there are no special gimmicks aside from the switches. True, but it's better than a plain old Skull Raft ride with nothing but the background, the Skull Rafts, and lava, but overall, the level looks kinda empty. The top half of the sections is nothing but an empty space because of the fact that too many lava blocks were used - to save up on blocks - it's better to get rid of blocks the player can't see as there's no point in keeping them, and speaking of ceilings, there is a ceiling at the end, but trying to get into the instant warp inevitably gets the player hit by a Blargg because there's so little space, particularly if they're upgraded. This is one hint that the level wasn't tested properly - aside from the obvious one at the end, there's a long drop as soon as the player starts section 2 and if they lose the Skull Raft then they're dead.

Music: 4.8/10
I found the Metroid track both fitting and unfitting at the same time. The music's supposed to give a surreal feeling of emptiness, as if it's a near-empty void being pictured, and this would probably fit the empty mood of the level with the lack of a ceiling and nothing but lava and a few blocks, but it's then again a bit too seduced for the lava ride. It would be best if you picked a track which is a bit faster paced but still feeling surreal and empty.

Graphics: 3.12/10
Rather vanilla, in terms of graphical choices. There are no custom graphics being used, and if you think about it, this feels like a classic SMBX level done before 1.2. No problems with that, but again, this level is really empty. Earlier it was with the design, but now it's with the decoration. I can see where you're coming from - it's actually really hard to find the perfect graphics to go with the lava as there aren't many actual lava-based BGOs around, and then decorating a level with nothing but lava and a few blocks is really difficult on its own. You could add the occasional cobweb at corners or banisters on the flatter parts of ground for better decoration, but decoration aside, look what I found:

Spoiler: show

Yep, you've got it there - it's a cut-off. The fact that you forgot to put in another pillar will give this feature a really strange look in that it appears to "float" above the lava when there's actually a tiny gap, so it looks odd. There's cut-off with the SMW Jumping Piranha Plants as well, and they don't look good in a Ghost House, so they clash pretty badly. What's more, remember this advice: don't put Piranha Plants, regardless of their kind, into anything but pipes, otherwise it will cause a cut-off like you've just caused here. Also, try and extend the fade to black at the end of the level towards the top because if the player jumps they'll find an unsettling cut-off between the main BG and the BGO. There's no need to feel bad about it, though, there is still decoration with the pillars, and the level isn't totally bland, but it feels as if it can still go that bit further with the decoration.

NPC Placement: 3.11/10
I wasn't impressed with the NPC placement, to be honest. It was mainly just NPC batch after NPC batch at a time, and a few of them, particularly the Roto-Discs swarming the area around the blue switch, are unavoidable as there are too many of them, and they all appear to just be placed here and there because there appears to be no thought put into where they were placed - they just go in the same direction, and it's not easy to avoid them as it leaves almost no room. This is also the case with the Eeries at the end of the level - if the player is unlucky enough to land into the path of an oncoming Eerie as the Skull Raft touches down they'll get damaged or die. However let's get the cons out of the way and talk about some of the pros - I liked how you spelled out a whole message with the coins (The ride never ends) and the way that they're placed, particularly with the abundance of Super Leaves in this level - they're actually almost needed, in a way, to get through this level as jumps often need to be sustained across long distances in the level, often to clear out large batches of enemies, but also to try and pass the time for the Skull Raft to come by.

Overall Result: 3.5/10 (Level Status: Average)
You just came out with a rather average level for this kind of thing. Keep up the good work because it shows that you've got the potential to become a regular level designer when you get ahold of the basics and then move on to the advanced stuff such as custom graphics and layers and events, but just fix the flaws when you release your second version, now that you have my criticism as well as that of RoundPiplup.