Jukebox Jam! An Ever-Increasing Level Collection Fit for an Emperor

[TLtimelord]

Ahhh welcome welcome welcome all too... A level thread from myself. This is where I am going to drop standalone levels.


Here's my first level, "Lonely Chain Chomp Flyer", or other working titles: "My Honey's Flying High Above" or "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" or "Forested Flight the Sequel." It's not a particularly remarkable level, but my biggest influences included SuperMario7's older levels and Emral & Waddle's Chocolate Contest 2023 level. The idea was to feature some of my favorite Mario level things: Sky/Forest aesthetic, chain chomps, and spikes! It's about 4ish minutes long and a relatively difficult romp.

Spoiler: show

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1za88O2 ... sp=sharing

Here's another one, "Mirage City" named after my favorite song off the new king gizzard album. Level doesn't feature the song tho. It's really just a level idea I'm trying to get out of the way, it's a short and challenging romp.

Spoiler: show

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QECtkv ... sp=sharing

[Alagirez]

Played the level, really enjoyed the romp despite it's difficulty. Wish it had more checkpoints tho o.o

[Ness-Wednesday]

Well, this was a delight.

The level nails the best parts of older CC levels—the variety of enemies, the sky grass theme, the massive use of slopes, and the wide-open space. It's a fun romp where you can run around and destroy enemies, especially with the Ice Flower! Turning off your brain to freeze and defeat every enemy in sight is extremely satisfying. My favorite was this kill combo using the Chomp Generator next to the sloped cloud. I also loved the Mushroom Post in the final section. I'm surprised there aren't many secrets. When I first saw the coin paths leading down between some blue pipes, I didn't think they were part of the main path. There could've been a few spots where the player found neat bonuses. It's not that huge of a deal.

Nice, romp adventure that's great for when you're in the mood to go on a murder spree. Very nice!

[TLtimelord]

I got a new level out! "Mirage City", named after my favorite song off the new king gizzard album. Level doesn't feature the song tho. It's really just a level idea I'm trying to get out of the way, it's a short and challenging romp.

Spoiler: show

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QECtkv ... sp=sharing

[cold soup]

played both levels so here's a double review

Lonely Chain Chomp Flyer
romps typically get a bad rap. but if it's just a term used for levels that don't have any real platforming gimmicks, then this is a very well executed romp. making a level's substance come from the enemy placement works when the enemy placement is really good. i like how all the enemies chosen have a specific role. there's a lot of enemy types used here but none of them feel redundant. the use of galoombas in particular stood out to me. you can't kill most enemies in the level with a stomp, so the fact you can use them as projectiles is really valuable. never appreciated them as much as i did playing this level. the mushroom post chain chomp romp was a good way to cap the level off. good time

Mirage City
i have most of the same notes i had for Lonely Chain Chomp Flyer. the enemy placement is again really good. in particular i like how the albatosses act as constant pressure. some generator vases felt a Little too overwhelming but they didn't hurt the overall experience. generally i feel mario 2's gameplay works really well with romps since it's the only 2D mario with anything close to interesting combat, and this is very expert use of the game's enemy roster. the lack of vegetables makes the combat even more interesting, it makes it so you have to earn each "attack" you get. and of course visually it's a slam dunk, the blue-and-gold palette is really pleasing and of course any level with sednaiur's SMB2 expanded gfx is gonna look good

as for general notes i gotta complement the music choices. using Real Music™ will always make a level memorable on its own, but i love how much the music choices add to these levels in particular. the fontaines D.C. song really fits Lonely Chain Chomp Flyer's sky setting, and the king gizzard song in Mirage City complements the level's pace and general gameplay surprisingly well. kinda torn on which level i prefer. i'm partial to Mirage City's gameplay but i find that LCCF is a bit more impressive due to the fact that it makes a gameplay style without much combat work in a level more focused on enemy placement