Aquatic Castle

[underFlo]

A level about a fortress. Didn't saw that coming, did you?

GFX credits to Emral for the Rainy Afternoon Plainlands tileset and me for everything else and extensions to Emral's tileset.

Spoiler: show

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Music Credits:

Another DImension - Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Rainy Area - Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Underwater Area - Kirby's Return to Dreamland

[Waddle]

Well, from the screenshots (and what you sent me for my episode), this looks way better than anyhting i've ever done. There's also an outside section, which I honestly wasn't expecting. I'm gonna review this tomorrow. I promise.

[Marina]

This looks really good, I might give it a playthrough tomorrow, keep it up Nicky

[Black Mamba]

Why does this look so pretty?
Really!

[underFlo]

Why does this look so pretty?
Really!

Since you're most likely talking about the outside part, the reason is Emral.

Oh, and I just realised I had Dry Bones by Valtteri in the GFX folder. I don't think it'd satisfy reuploading the level though, I'll remove them incase I ever give this level an update.

Btw, to make something more clear: The only things outside I made was the castle stuff, all NPCs, the checkpoint, the underwater parts of the ground, the recolored SMB1 grass and I think that's it.

[Marina]

Aquatic Castle

Design: 6/10

This was a very cool castle/courtyard level! I enjoyed the gfx of the NPCs, as well as the overall color scheme of the level. Even though I liked the SMW Rom hack-like use of the background castle tiles, I found it a bit irritating, and I would suggest you make them at least a little darker than the blocks, just to give the player at least a general clue of what is solid and what not. I liked how the water surface in the outside section was moving, but it kinda raised the question to me why the water on the inside doesn't do the same. I also liked the slightly darker colored enemies on the outside of the castle, and of course the rain. Another complaint I have is that in one section it looks like you're on land, but it's actually an underwater section. It's nothing big, but I think it would help if you used a background in the section that had a blue-ish touch to it. And while I don't want to sound cliche-ish here and tell you that you need to use more BGOs, the inside of the castle kinda DID look a little bland. Maybe add a few lamp BGOs or something.

The music choices were overall fitting for the inside of the castle and the secret star underwater part, I didn't think the outside section music was fitting though. I agree that it is music that can go with a rain level, but not if it is a greyish level that seems rather melancholic. I suggest going for music that is less cheery in this section.

NPCs: 7/10

As for the NPCs, there is not much to say, they weren't set in any annoying places (even the blue shell koopa was reasonably easy to dodge). I liked the idea of two different kinds of Mecha-Koopas, of which only the red one exploded.

The powerup placement was a-okay, there is really no complaint about it. I don't know, but I feel like the midway point was placed somewhat late in the level, but that could be just me. I would've said maybe place it a little earlier, but it was set in a good spot so I'm gonna leave it there.

Gameplay: 6/10

This was a fun level to play through. Some of the jumps seemed kinda large at first, but it was definitely makeable. And while the background objects and the blocks all looked the same, it wasn't all that confusing and actually quite fun to navigate through. The dragon coins where placed cleverly and there were some hidden goodies like 1-ups and hidden coin blocks and a secret star. The level was relatively linear and straight-forward, but it wasn't bad at all, it was a really nice classic regular platforming level, like you'd expect it from an actual SNES Mario game without all the extra gimmicky stuff. This is what makes it solid: fun to play through without all the paraphernalia.


Over all, this was a nice play, I recommend everyone who enjoys the simpler platforming levels to check it out, this gets a 6.3/10, which makes it Pretty Good, once this review is approved.

[bossedit8]

Since this Level already has a review involved, it gains a playthrough only by me at this Level:



Original Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNP-iUikvjE

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Adding on to what GMarinaX wrote, I felt that the NPC placement was fairly sparse, but the biggest issue I had with the level was when you put fish in small corridors (the three near the top-right of Section 2) which forces the player to wait for them to pass since there aren't enough power-ups before that part to get a weapon to kill them with. I don't know how many times I'm going to say this, but waiting = boring = not fun; it always has and it always will. Also, your "secret" star is placed in an extremely obvious spot, even if it weren't for the star-carvings practically screaming "THERE'S A STAR HERE!"

--EDIT--
Not to mention the fact that it's just as easy to get the star as it is to figure out where it's located.
--END EDIT--

Also, I think that the invisible coins are a bad idea. Finally, there are only four dragon coins in the level (I triple checked).

You were lucky that GMarinaX got to this level before me, else this would be in Average (~5.5). I highly recommend that you update the level.

[underFlo]

Adding on to what GMarinaX wrote, I felt that the NPC placement was fairly sparse, but the biggest issue I had with the level was when you put fish in small corridors (the three near the top-right of Section 2) which forces the player to wait for them to pass since there aren't enough power-ups before that part to get a weapon to kill them with. I don't know how many times I'm going to say this, but waiting = boring = not fun; it always has and it always will. Also, your "secret" star is placed in an extremely obvious spot, even if it weren't for the star-carvings practically screaming "THERE'S A STAR HERE!"

--EDIT--
Not to mention the fact that it's just as easy to get the star as it is to figure out where it's located.
--END EDIT--

Also, I think that the invisible coins are a bad idea. Finally, there are only four dragon coins in the level (I triple checked).

You were lucky that GMarinaX got to this level before me, else this would be in Average (~5.5). I highly recommend that you update the level.

Wait there were only 4? I think I counted 6 the first time and then remived one for this release. Also, not everything has to be super hidden, if it's maybe World 1 or 2 you can't expect the player to have incredible puzzle solving or platforming skills that early on and it can be used to show the player that they are secret stars in an episode. But yeah I'll update this at least with the Yoshi coins if there really are too few.

Also lol @ "You're lucky GMarinaX already reviewed this"

[Imaynotbehere4long]

not everything has to be super hidden, if it's maybe World 1 or 2 you can't expect the player to have incredible puzzle solving or platforming skills that early on and it can be used to show the player that they are secret stars in an episode.

You know what? You're absolutely right about this.

However, this is a standalone level, not part of an episode. Therefore, it is held to a different standard than episode levels. If you have a Kirby's-Epic-Yarn-easy secret early in an episode, that may be okay depending on how the episode is made. However, having the same Kirby's-Epic-Yarn-easy secret in a standalone level is basically equivalent to not having the secret there in the first place because of how little effort it takes to get the secret.

Also, when you update the level, I recommend that you fix the other problems pointed out as well (moving the midpoint to the middle of Section 3, making the corridors in the top-right of section 2 taller, etc.).

[underFlo]

not everything has to be super hidden, if it's maybe World 1 or 2 you can't expect the player to have incredible puzzle solving or platforming skills that early on and it can be used to show the player that they are secret stars in an episode.

You know what? You're absolutely right about this.

However, this is a standalone level, not part of an episode. Therefore, it is held to a different standard than episode levels. If you have a Kirby's-Epic-Yarn-easy secret early in an episode, that may be okay depending on how the episode is made. However, having the same Kirby's-Epic-Yarn-easy secret in a standalone level is basically equivalent to not having the secret there in the first place because of how little effort it takes to get the secret.

Also, when you update the level, I recommend that you fix the other problems pointed out as well (moving the midpoint to the middle of Section 3, making the corridors in the top-right of section 2 taller, etc.).

ofc. But for now, CC10 has priority.