Postby HeroLinik » Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:16 am
Level Review #5: Arctic Athletic by ZoraSphere
Reviewed by castlewars.
Level Design: 4.5/10
This is really more of a test level, which you admitted in the first post, than anything else, but I'm not going to reject it because it feels like an actual level that could be in an episode, and it feels like it's straight out of SMB3 as well. There weren't really any cool gimmicks or items that affected the level, it was just a simple linear run 'n jump level which was mainly platforms. Despite this, the autoscroll actually gave the level some more oomph, even if this was made to test autoscrolling, and it acted as a kind of gimmick in its own right that underpinned the level. The level also felt fit for purpose as well, and there were no quirks that made the level feel too weird or bad on the player. Well, there were, but they were actually flaws that you might need to consider fixing or avoiding in future levels. First of all, the platform just before the P-Switch (where the coin block is) is horribly cramped, and I'm not a fan of ducking in order to jump, and only Raccoon Mario can make the jump successfully. You might want to remove that platform entirely because it just makes the level harder. I'll talk more about this issue later on in the review. The layers and events, on the other hand...I can suggest that they were going to be used but were eventually scrapped because I couldn't see any "gun" layers in the level. I would say delete any layers and events you don't need, even if it will take a long time.
Music: 7.5/10
The music, in its shortest, fits with the level. For starters, the upbeat nature of the Cool, Cool Mountain remix reflects the nature of the main section and it can also give the player some kind of hope that they can still do it, despite the massive number of NPCs that try to make the level harder. The other music, on the other hand, might seem a bit too regal, just because Peach is there, but it can suggest some kind of triumph that they've finished the level.
Graphics: 5.2/10
Remember ZoraSphere, it's not about the custom graphics, it's about how you use them. There weren't really many custom graphics, it was just the odd recolored background or two to prevent clash, and this can suggest that you could have been inspired by TI2's levels when you were making this. Having nearly no custom graphics isn't necessarily bad, a level without them feels more like a "classic" SMBX level made before the days of custom graphics. You should feel good about this as well: the level's aesthetic features were good; the level was nicely decorated using very fitting graphics, and there were no cut-offs or clashes that make the level feel weird. However, there were some graphics in the folder that weren't used in the level (background-9 and background-10). This isn't necessarily bad, but it is when a level is large, because it increases the loading time of the level. Aesthetic features aside, I would say that adding some more sizables such as block-240 can actually help decorate the level while providing a platform for Mario to jump on - a lot of autoscrollers in SMB3 started on a platform with a sizable or two on it.
NPC Placement: 3.8/10
In terms of NPCs, they seem to be decorating the level more than actually providing its difficulty markers. Brown Paragoombas seem to be the predominant enemy in this level, and while some were placed in good positions as to aid difficulty, a lot of them, particularly those hovering sideways around the coins, were placed pretty badly, in my opinion. It's really difficult to actually collect all the coins without either killing the Paragoomba, ducking, getting damaged by it, or doing all these at once. I would seriously consider changing your Paragoomba placements in this level and your future levels. However, to complement this, there seems to be a lot of powerup variety throughout this level, but I felt that the level would be very difficult without a Super Leaf, because as I stated earlier, there's a cramped part of the level, and only Raccoon Mario can get across it. This helpfully brings me onto the P-Switch issue once again: the Brick Blocks around the 1-Up block, in my opinion, really shouldn't be there because it's very easy to get the 1-Up by just using an upgraded Mario for an easy life. To amend this, I would say just make it a 10-coin block, get rid of the Brick Blocks, or do both. In fact, the P-Switch isn't really necessary to complete the level. Ice Blocks are another attraction as well, and they come just after the P-Switch. I would say that although Ice Blocks would do well for an ice level, they can work elsewhere without clashing, so I would say remove them entirely, in particular the ones at the end, because they serve no real purpose.
Overall Result: 5.25/10 (Level Status: Average)
Quite a nice averagely-ranked level, even if it's meant for testing purposes. However, despite this, and that some people would say that posting test levels would be a bad idea, I would actually say posting test levels would give insights for the community to give criticism to and see if it can be improved, like the problems I mentioned throughout the review that need fixing.
