The Lava Level Contest (The Thwomp King Contests 2016-2017)

[HeroLinik]

8 reviews down so far.

[PROX]

Just submitted my reviews. There were a lot of good levels in this contest! I had fun playing most of them. For the ones that I didn't have fun playing, at least they put effort into making their levels.

[RoundPiplup]

Just submitted my reviews. There were a lot of good levels in this contest! I had fun playing most of them. For the ones that I didn't have fun playing, at least they put effort into making their levels.

Glad to hear that, which makes me feel more interested into seeing how the contest ends. Though I hope my level was fun at the very least.

[RhysOwens]

I can't wait any longer.

[dragonfan96]

Off-Topic, but I thought the deadline was extended to August 21st but then I noticed I was on the wrong contest.

Your thinking of the Downards Contest Thomp King Made

[RhysOwens]

Off-Topic, but I thought the deadline was extended to August 21st but then I noticed I was on the wrong contest.

Your thinking of the Downards Contest Thomp King Made

I know that.

[HeroLinik]

My reviews are done.

[RhysOwens]

My reviews are done.

Good to know, sir.

[The Thwomp King]

Results are coming soon.

[Yoshi021]

Hype!

[bossedit8]

I'm so prepared... I probably gonna be far in this one...

[RoundPiplup]

I'm so prepared... I probably gonna be far in this one...

I'll probably hit the average ranks with the level I made.

[bossedit8]

RESULTS

Places 13th - 9th

Spoiler: show

13. RhysOwens - The Pure Red Inferno (3.33/10)

The Thwomp King (2.5/10)

Seeing that background in the initial screen reminded me of an old level I made years ago. It’s a nice background, but it doesn’t really fit in with the graphics that well at all. Evidently enough it seems like you just went grabbed the next source of lava graphics you could fine. The recoloring of some of them is painful for the eyes as well. There are more than enough lava graphics out there, so this shouldn’t be too difficult to find fitting resources. Some stuff worked decently together, but overall the visuals need work in establishing a good volcanic atmosphere where the music is the only thing helping with that. Anyway there’s not too much that really makes this level too fun or unique. The gameplay is straightforward with nothing really there to keep the playing excited or trying to get ready for what’s to come. When you’re entering the caves, the section with the checkpoint doesn’t feel right with absolutely no ceiling there. The emptiness above the layer doesn’t make as much sense in an inside environment like a volcano or cave. You spam NPCs of every kind with too many fireballs, powerups, yoshis, etc. The length is also really short, but I guess that’s alright with what you presented right now. The level itself doesn’t have too many flaws in its gameplay, it’s more of lacking gameplay and therefore lacking hardly any difficulty. I hope you can rework this level.

PixelPest (2.8/10)

This level wasn’t very good. It provided way too many power-ups (including Yoshis) for its difficulty. Its enemies were also very easily avoidable with the way they were placed (which was furthered by the player having a Leaf and Yoshi) with the exception of the Skull Raft ride which consisted mostly of Podoboo spam. The BGOs were also recoloured poorly and hard on the eyes. Coin placement also wasn’t great. The layout of this level also seemed really unnatural.

PROX (4.5/10)

There wasn't much going for this level. It was mainly a straight path with a few enemies. It was decent, but nothing really stands out. It's not bad, but it's not exactly all that great either. There's not really all that much to say about it.

Linik (3.5/10)

It's an OK attempt at the most, but there's a bit of work needed on it. Sure, the level timer was a nice gimmick, but the level overall felt very empty and there isn't much variance with the landforms, thus they feel rather flat, and despite the background objects present the level also feels rather barren because of the choice of tileset used. The level also feels very basic and short, as it's largely just a straight run to the end with a simple raft ride between, and thus the level gets pretty boring at the checkpoint. I can guess that this level was either created in a short amount of time or was rushed. I know this review is short and basic, but it embodies the level that I just reviewed, and there's nothing more to talk about.

12. Yoshi021 - Bowser's Castle (3.55/10)

The Thwomp King (2.5/10)

Oh boy where do I start. Music was cool, but the graphics were mixed pretty badly. By that I mean the mixing of HD and non HD graphics. The level itself is a mess, poor coin and some bad npc placement, the lack of a true theme, the mixing of ghost house and castle shouldn’t even be in this either. You have so many great ideas, but implementing them all into one castle won’t help you. You could probably split this castle into like 3-5 different castles with their own unique theme. The level also dragged a lot as well with a lot of risks being involved too; leaps of faith, one podoboo shoe to work with in each moment it’s there, cramped space, and much much room for error where the player can’t be forgiven for one small slip up. As much of a mess as this level, I actually had more fun playing this than some of the other entries with higher scores. Despite that this level needs a ton of work put on it.

PixelPest (0.4/10)

This was really...awful. It mixed HD and non-HD graphics which looked really bad, had poor coin placement, blind jumps, cramped and overly tough areas, didn’t stick to the castle theme (added in a ghost house and an outside section), was too long, and had a downright insane boss battle with way too much bomb spam. I’m sorry, but to quote Wraith Adamknight: this isn’t a challenge contest.

PROX (4/10)

This level was very dragged out and if you lose your shoe at least once in this level, it is impossible to beat.
A red shoe generator would really serve this level well. There were some really weird jumps, and the npc placements in this level really need work. You had some clever ideas, but they weren't exactly executed very well. Also try not to make cramped areas. It really makes things unnecessarily difficult.

Linik (7.3/10)

I'm going to have to be honest here, castle levels that use the same music and have the same old Bowser boss are starting to get a bit stale now. However, this one strives to be different, and we can already see it in the form of the darker artstyle and restyled HUD, which seem to work very effectively. The major selling point of this level is the Podoboo's Shoe and how it is prominently featured throughout the level as a gameplay tool, weaving it in and out of other ideas such as raft rides, clambering over nets and jumping on springboards. The second checkpoint was very neatly done where the player is warped straight to the boss rather than having to go through the other rooms, and speaking of the boss, there isn't really much special to it: it's just a standard SMB3 Bowser battle, although with bombs dropping from the ceiling that can damage Bowser as well as the player, possibly shortening the battle considerably.

11. MECHDRAGON777 - Chireiden (3.95/10)

The Thwomp King (3/10)

I want to start by saying I appreciate the love and care put into this level. The aesthetics are great with solid music, but the wind doesn’t make much sense. But with the great atmosphere is a huge labyrinth with many errors and mistakes. There were some messed up death effects and the map honestly wasn’t that useful. The level itself became very confusing with what to do, and the beating a boss didn’t help much either considering I had no idea where to go next. NPCS were okay despite the death effects and coin placement was alright. As much as I love discovering new ideas and gimmicks, some things truly need some hand holding in this level. I’m certain the level isn’t even completed either, so hopefully whenever this level is done it’ll be much cleaner and more organized in its gameplay. Otherwise it was still kinda fun.

PixelPest (7.8/10)

Interesting Metroidvania level. It had a few interesting gimmicks, but also had a bunch of mistakes. There were a bunch of death effects missing and in some parts of the level it was just too unclear as to what the player had to do. The map on the HUD wasn’t very useful either. On the topic of the HUD, the player can’t drop their reserve power-up which is a big frustration at times. The boss battles were okay but not well laid out and a bit boring; they made the player wait for too long. It was a pretty good level otherwise but it also didn’t end in a star (at least the way I finished it).

PROX (2/10)

I can tell that this level had a lot of effort put into it. The aesthetics are nice and the music is pretty fitting for the most part, although I don't see how a wind sound effect fits in the interior of a volcano though. Anyway, this level was huge and a massive maze. Yes there was a map, but it was still incredibly difficult to figure out where I was. In the first boss area, you can get stuck if you lose your ice flower during the fight. I also had to wait quite a long time for the attacks to take place. Not only that, but the boss attacks had no warning whatsoever. I would get hit unfairly many times. The second boss was just a nightmare because you can't grab the ice blocks on the side due to those ice platforms that you used which made this fight a lot harder than it should. Also the attacks are relentless, so there is virtually no opening at all. This boss should have been tested better. Also the attacks don't stop after the boss is defeated as well so make sure you have "no more objects in layer" active after the boss is defeated. The level itself had a bunch of narrow jumps with lava at the top. It made things very frustrating. Another frustrating factor was the fact that you can only grab enemies at the top instead of the sides. I know it's because of the ice blocks, but don't use them. They only make things more of a hassle than they should. You tried, but the level needs a bunch of work. It mainly needs to be tested better.

Linik (3/10)

Oh my god...one can simply imagine how much love went into this level. Despite this massive dedication, it's pretty unreasonable and even despite the fact that there's a map to guide the player and it keeps track of defeated bosses, thus taking a load off the player, the level still suffers from "MECHDRAGON777 level syndrome" (which is fitting because MECHDRAGON777 most likely made this). It still demands everything from the player and doesn't explain any of the new gameplay mechanics, in particular the map subscreen - how are you supposed to close it? In fact, after the player defeats the first boss there is no telling of where to go next because it isn't explained properly, and thus I tried everything, wandered aimlessly around the level, and I was still unable to go further from the first boss, so I can't review any further than that. The uses of the Ice Flower though were interesting, so I can give you that. The rest of the points go into the hours poured into creating this level that I was sadly unable to complete.

10. dragonfan96 - Blargg Caverns (4.65/10)

The Thwomp King (4/10)

I like how you went to attempt to recreate a level with a full flat out smw atmosphere. Franky you did channel a lot of classic smw atmosphere with this level, but there was also a lot that needs fixing. The layout of the level was pretty good where the blocks you used are generally good. As a heads up never have the lava at the same level as the walking ground otherwise a player trying to walk to the edge will have a cheap death given to them. You should’ve left the Yoshis in their smw form as it fits best with the theme. NPC placement was pretty spammy with enemies being overwhelming at times, and you definitely over do it with powerups. I like the intention with the secret exit, but it’s too easy to mess up in this scenario. I bet you can make a brilliant level using the switches though. So anyway you should definitely cut your level. If the intention is to focus on the skull raft, then I think the first half is enough to be your level, maybe adding the falling block section as a midpoint with the checkpoint right before it. Otherwise what you have presented now is pretty dry, stretched too far, and overly decorated with bgos and npcs.

PixelPest (4.1/10)

This level had a pretty good layout in terms of block placement, coin placement was okay too, which made it feel very much like the levels from Super Mario World. This ended with the excessive spamming of cave BGOs and NPC spam which were both really unnecessary. There were also way too many power-ups for the difficulty this level presented. Another major issue with the level is the part right after the first secret passage: the Monty Mole is too far over so the player may have to lose a life to pass that area. One of the issues with the level’s overall layout is the blind jumps/falls in it. Overall, this level didn’t really have much to offer in terms of fun or interesting gameplay.

PROX (6/10)

The level was pretty solid. It had its share of challenges. I do think it was pretty dragged out though. The npc placement was ok, but everything was so clustered together. The area with the paratroopas over lava was a bit of a hassle and some of them kill themselves in the lava. I do think the amount of swoopers in this level were a bit much and there were a few that were pretty inconveniently placed. I like the fact that there were secrets in this level, and there was some decent npc variety. The blarggs were pretty relentless and there were some very cramped jumps, but overall, the level wasn't bad.

Linik (4.5/10)

If there was a big love letter to Vanilla Dome in SMW, this level would be it. This level appears to be heavily influenced by the Vanilla Dome levels to the point of recycling some of the level ideas straight from them. This level is almost built entirely off the Skull Raft and it features in nearly every section. It gets interesting to start off with but the fun factor dies off very quickly because it takes too much prominence. It's basically just raft, cool gimmick, another raft, cool gimmick, yet another raft repeated ad nauseum. There's a secret exit with a key about halfway through the level, requiring the player to toss up a shell to be kicked, but the way it's done is badly executed. If the player kills the Beach Koopa, or ends up in the same area, this renders the exit out of reach or traps the player in the alcove forever. The level continues as normal and it's quite weird how a secret boss fight is hidden behind the fake exit gate, and how we're suddenly in a castle. The transition, while a neat concept, wasn't executed pretty well because the castle tiles are much brighter than the cave tiles, and thus it looks odd.

9. Cloth pocket - Blazing Plains (5.03/10)

The Thwomp King (4/10)

The general music fits doesn’t fit well with the level. Some metroid songs really require the right environment for them to be used in, and the environment you created doesn’t cut it. I initially thought the color schemes you used were a little weird, but it grew on me more as I kept playing this level. The level looks nice overall, but this is a level that utilizes too many bgos. I understand you’re trying to create a more barren and uneasy atmosphere with this level, but what you use doesn’t fulfill that atmosphere completely. Going back to the cave section, it was pretty painful to look at with how vibrant the colors were. Coin placement needs some work as it’s inconsistent in some places. There’s an area where you can lead lakitu to spam spinies and they could get stuck in a diagonal dead end, so changing that little area would help out. The actual gameplay was pretty decent, and I still had fun playing the level; you have a lot put onto the table that helped keep me entertained. Unfortunately the boss was a bit of a let down too. So I think you have a lot here that can make the level great, but I don’t it all put together yet.

PixelPest (3.8/10)

This level had a good layout, but had way too much BGO clutter. NPC placement wasn’t great in this level either; it really lacked consistent coin placement and there was a Jumping Piranha Plant in almost every pipe which was really unneeded. The secret way was also disappointing (it just had a few coins) and the background was really hard on the eyes. The music choices for this level did not fit at all.

PROX (6.5/10)

I liked this level. It was very well designed. The aesthetics were great and the level never really got dull and boring. It had a decent challenge, especially for a lava level. I do find the mouser fight to be a bit of a letdown though. It was just a mouser in an empty room and nothing really happened. The level also seemed to just abruptly end as well. Also there was one room that hurt my eyes due to the vibrant orange. Aside from that, the level was great. It had decent npc placement and great gameplay. I do think that more could have happened though.

Linik (5.8/10)

4/20 blaze i...OK, enough with the weed jokes. It's a pretty decent level. It's a basic linear run, if only a little on the short side, with a Skull Raft ride near the start and a boss fight at the end, but other than that, there aren't any gimmicks that jump out at the player and make the level stand out. I do like the precarious platforming towards the end of the level, along with the decoration inside the tiles. Speaking of the tiles, the bright orange colours used throughout the level adhere very well to the level's name, and there is a bit of variety in the design. There is a secret room in the level as well, but it wasn't done very well because it only contains a bunch of coins that don't really reward the player, rather than a powerup or something. The boss at the end - a recolored Mouser - was quite fun to fight, but in the end it was too easy because the player is given the whole section to move around and there aren't any hazards.

[Alagirez]

lol top 8

[The Thwomp King]

lol top 8

I'll admit it, I cheaped out today. I have the remaining results. I just need sleep. Expect more tomorrow!

[MECHDRAGON777]

Sorry for not getting my reviews done, I guess that is what I get for sitting at a game recording a few days straight. At least I beat the level I hated most in the contest. I still hope boßedit8 beats Adialifbatara in the contest. I have recorded 9 levels of this by the way. Sorry I could not send in any reviews. Good job to the remaining nine. I guess I should have not tried as hard and listened to everyone's advice about "No Bosses in Contest Levels" but I have to question Catlewars.

Oh my god...one can simply imagine how much love went into this level. Despite this massive dedication, it's pretty unreasonable and even despite the fact that there's a map to guide the player and it keeps track of defeated bosses, thus taking a load off the player, the level still suffers from "MECHDRAGON777 level syndrome" (which is fitting because MECHDRAGON777 most likely made this). It still demands everything from the player and doesn't explain any of the new gameplay mechanics, in particular the map subscreen - how are you supposed to close it? In fact, after the player defeats the first boss there is no telling of where to go next because it isn't explained properly, and thus I tried everything, wandered aimlessly around the level, and I was still unable to go further from the first boss, so I can't review any further than that. The uses of the Ice Flower though were interesting, so I can give you that. The rest of the points go into the hours poured into creating this level that I was sadly unable to complete.

Yes I am sorry for the amount of effort with lack of time.

What level Syndrome?

How does it demand everything for a near end game area of an episode?

What mechanic was not explained?

You would close a pause screen the same way you open it.

Beating a boss activates a permanent switch. {Blue-->Red-->Green} where Purple is unlocked upon beating the first phase of the secret boss, which was so buggy, (Because I misspelled her name on one of the image files) and the like.

Interesting Metroidvania level. It had a few interesting gimmicks, but also had a bunch of mistakes. There were a bunch of death effects missing and in some parts of the level it was just too unclear as to what the player had to do. The map on the HUD wasn’t very useful either. On the topic of the HUD, the player can’t drop their reserve power-up which is a big frustration at times. The boss battles were okay but not well laid out and a bit boring; they made the player wait for too long. It was a pretty good level otherwise but it also didn’t end in a star (at least the way I finished it).

Why did you give this a 7.8?

Sorry about the death effects, but since three of the four of you found them, what broken death effects?

Besides the five broken screens, (which I never found the lua error) how is the map unhelpful?

The Reserve item is locked on purpose.

The level ended in a star. It automatically adds it to your global counter upon beating a boss (excluding the mid boss, and the broken boss) (Broken, so the star is not given either. Only two of the three stars are obtainable as a result, sorry)

I want to start by saying I appreciate the love and care put into this level. The aesthetics are great with solid music, but the wind doesn’t make much sense. But with the great atmosphere is a huge labyrinth with many errors and mistakes. There were some messed up death effects and the map honestly wasn’t that useful. The level itself became very confusing with what to do, and the beating a boss didn’t help much either considering I had no idea where to go next. NPCS were okay despite the death effects and coin placement was alright. As much as I love discovering new ideas and gimmicks, some things truly need some hand holding in this level. I’m certain the level isn’t even completed either, so hopefully whenever this level is done it’ll be much cleaner and more organized in its gameplay. Otherwise it was still kinda fun.

Thanks for knowing it was incomplete.

I can tell that this level had a lot of effort put into it. The aesthetics are nice and the music is pretty fitting for the most part, although I don't see how a wind sound effect fits in the interior of a volcano though. Anyway, this level was huge and a massive maze. Yes there was a map, but it was still incredibly difficult to figure out where I was. In the first boss area, you can get stuck if you lose your ice flower during the fight. I also had to wait quite a long time for the attacks to take place. Not only that, but the boss attacks had no warning whatsoever. I would get hit unfairly many times. The second boss was just a nightmare because you can't grab the ice blocks on the side due to those ice platforms that you used which made this fight a lot harder than it should. Also the attacks are relentless, so there is virtually no opening at all. This boss should have been tested better. Also the attacks don't stop after the boss is defeated as well so make sure you have "no more objects in layer" active after the boss is defeated. The level itself had a bunch of narrow jumps with lava at the top. It made things very frustrating. Another frustrating factor was the fact that you can only grab enemies at the top instead of the sides. I know it's because of the ice blocks, but don't use them. They only make things more of a hassle than they should. You tried, but the level needs a bunch of work. It mainly needs to be tested better.

What wind?

Coming from a Metroid Expert, how did the map not help?

I thought I fixed that. Who did you play as to get stuck?

I thought I made them short enough if you forgot to hit the boss...

The coins were the warning^_^

Rin's remake was difficult on purpose, sorry for the lack of time to test.

The attacks stopped for me upon defeat, I wonder why not for you?

The narrow Lava jumps were made less narrow in the version I sent The Thwomp King!

Only Ice blocks can not be grabbed from the top, other NPCs should be able to be grabbed from the top just fine.

---

Anyway, thanks for the feed back on something I should not have attempted yet. At least it taught me how to make Metroid maps in SMBX/Lua!

[RoundPiplup]

lol top 8

I'll admit it, I cheaped out today. I have the remaining results. I just need sleep. Expect more tomorrow!

Can't wait to see how far I went with the level. (Hopefully high middle ranks)

[MECHDRAGON777]

lol top 8

I'll admit it, I cheaped out today. I have the remaining results. I just need sleep. Expect more tomorrow!

Can't wait to see how far I went with the level. (Hopefully high middle ranks)

Maybe 2nd or third if I remember your level correctly.

[Emral]

And if Wraith Adamknight isn't a judge review scores are often within 1-2 points

I find it funny how you're quoting him in a review of a level and in the next review fall right out of the range.
Having played mechdragon's level and knowing its flaws and strength, I'm curious as to where the 7.6/10 comes from. You only jump on the level's flaws and judging from the text in your review I'd have expected you to give it a 4 or 5.

I would like to give mechdragon some feedback in that regard, too:
You REALLY need to work on conveying concepts to the player. A lot of levels you made suffered from the player being confused about the integral concepts of a level. DO NOT just throw a wall of text at the player explaining everything. Ease them into the concept and, where necessary (this is easy mode), drop something which clears up a questionable concept.
Taking stars in your level for example: I never noticed when I collected one because there is no cue or indication of the player receiving it, leaving me confused after each boss fight becase to be honest, they're all rushed messes that shoot lasers sometimes.

[PixelPest]

Although there were some critical errors, I found MECHDRAGON777's level really fun to play actually. The whole layout and design was really cool too. I also purposely over-scored a bit because I knew all the other scores would be much lower