Skyward Platformer - Update, Version 1.2

[m4sterbr0s]

Hey guys

This is a level I recently updated, especially for SMWCX, entitled "Skyward Platformer." The first section is autoscroll, while the third section is more of a vertical-type. The way the level has been designed has two stars.

Here are some things that you should note:

1. Any of the sizables seen (green, blue, and red) are movable layers. They are triggered by an axe (which I've made invisible).

2. This is how to get the extra star (if you're stuck):

Spoiler: show

There is a P-Switch that's hidden near the end of the first section. You obtain it by jumping on the right side of the last block when the autoscroll stops. To access the higher level pipe, you need to hit a hidden note block which lies above the second/middle block in the same area where the P-Switch was obtained.

3. Changelog

Version 1.1:

• The normal SMB3 exit is now replaced by a SMB3 star.
• The secret exit (key/keyhole) is now replaced by a SMW (collectible) star.
• Slight modifications with graphics.
• Changed the "Moving Platform" to a series of blocks cleared by a switch (in order to obtain the 1UP mushroom.
• Minor toning down of enemies.
• Small changes in level design.

Version 1.2:

• Edited placement of first red pipe, avoiding death if the player enters the pipe early.

Credit goes to the SMBX GFX Pack and especially Squishy Rex for his Super Mario 3D Land Sky Tileset.

Updated screenshots below. Hope you enjoy!
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ydxed ... on+1.2.rar

Spoiler: show

[Enjl]

Seeing that nobody gave a shit about this level yet and reviewed it, I'm gonna do that now.
Review: Skyward Platformer
Platformer is the perfect way to describe this level. At least in the first half. There you have an autoscrolling section with multiple, cleverly intigrated, gimmicks like the blocks that move when you step on them. The music's instantly put a smile on my face since it's one of my favourites from 3D World, Double Cherry Pass. While I didn't like the tileset for the level when I first saw it in the graphics forum, the fact that it's an autoscrolling level and the 3D World music made it fit perfectly. I especially liked the different colours the top of the tileset had. But that's graphical stuff and doesn't really help that much at making a good level. It's the gameplay where it's at.
And the gameplay... yeah. The gameplay. The first section is, gameplay wise, next to perfect. You got plaform rides, a good bunch of secrets you can hunt for and an alternate pipe near the end which I don't know how to acess (meaning that I just looked at the level in the editor and found out that there's a P Switch in the beginning of the level. How clever.). But there are also some flaws with this part. I often found the autoscrolling to be way too fast. Maybe it's just me being rusty, but when I tried to get the Dragon Coins and as much from the ?-Blocks as possible, I found myself stuck at the left edge of the screen, which is really bad when I'm about to go on a vertically moving platform. Slowing down the autoscroll would really help players explore the level a bit. Yeah, it'd make the secrets a bit easier to grab, but not being able to grab them at all without risking death by scrolling isn't really good either. For example, the first time I got to the 1-Up I hit the switch, got the 1-Up and ended up trying to get to the Hammer Bro's platform because the switch to change the path was already off-screen. I ended up dying to the Hammer Bro.
Other than that, Section 1 is totally fine and I really enjoyed playing through it. But as you hopefully know, that's not all of the level.
To be honest, I did not legitimately finish this level. I died to the last hammer bro in Section 3 due to some random lagspike just as I tried to jump on him. I don't know how much longer it'd have taken me if I tried to run through the section over and over again, since, I have to admit, it is fairly tough. The concept of having a downwards sections with (non-edible) wrap is greatly implimented for the most part. You used enemies which could still be a threat after you got past them like Hammer Brothers, Venus Fire Traps and Volcano Lotuses. The thing is: You used a bit too many. It felt like I was constantly surrounded by a bunch of Hammer Brothers, Cat Goombas or horizontally flying Venus Fire Trap balls, and trust me: You don't want them to fly horizontally. What adds to this is the fact that there's a serious lack of powerups going along with it. At least it felt like it. I counted 2 powerups per half, which is fine, but not in a claustrophobic area with a bunch of hammers and fireballs. Alright, that may have sounded a bit harsh, but I seriously think that you went a little overboard in terms of NPCs. You might want to consider removing a few, like, 1/3 of the npcs in section 3.
Yeah. That's everything I have to say about your level. Atmosphere's great, gimmicks are well implimented and fun, but you still got this difficulty forced by a missing balance between powerups and enemies, making the secret exit even harder to get, since you gotta do that all in one perfect run.
For graphics I give you
3/3 points.
Your music choice was perfect,
2/2 here.
Gameplay wise you can still improve on this level. Only
2/5 here, leaving you with a 7/10 score, which is fairly decent.

Let's see if others start giving a shit about this level now, since it's definetly worth checking out.

[Darkonius Mavakar]

ain't this level sexy?
Emral was right this was worth downloading
(Imo emral for judge, i'm fucking serius, because there are like 3 levels that need to get reviewed as i heard, including mine, and emral is pretty fair with judging)

[m4sterbr0s]

Spoiler: show

Seeing that nobody gave a shit about this level yet and reviewed it, I'm gonna do that now.
Review: Skyward Platformer
Platformer is the perfect way to describe this level. At least in the first half. There you have an autoscrolling section with multiple, cleverly intigrated, gimmicks like the blocks that move when you step on them. The music's instantly put a smile on my face since it's one of my favourites from 3D World, Double Cherry Pass. While I didn't like the tileset for the level when I first saw it in the graphics forum, the fact that it's an autoscrolling level and the 3D World music made it fit perfectly. I especially liked the different colours the top of the tileset had. But that's graphical stuff and doesn't really help that much at making a good level. It's the gameplay where it's at.
And the gameplay... yeah. The gameplay. The first section is, gameplay wise, next to perfect. You got plaform rides, a good bunch of secrets you can hunt for and an alternate pipe near the end which I don't know how to acess (meaning that I just looked at the level in the editor and found out that there's a P Switch in the beginning of the level. How clever.). But there are also some flaws with this part. I often found the autoscrolling to be way too fast. Maybe it's just me being rusty, but when I tried to get the Dragon Coins and as much from the ?-Blocks as possible, I found myself stuck at the left edge of the screen, which is really bad when I'm about to go on a vertically moving platform. Slowing down the autoscroll would really help players explore the level a bit. Yeah, it'd make the secrets a bit easier to grab, but not being able to grab them at all without risking death by scrolling isn't really good either. For example, the first time I got to the 1-Up I hit the switch, got the 1-Up and ended up trying to get to the Hammer Bro's platform because the switch to change the path was already off-screen. I ended up dying to the Hammer Bro.
Other than that, Section 1 is totally fine and I really enjoyed playing through it. But as you hopefully know, that's not all of the level.
To be honest, I did not legitimately finish this level. I died to the last hammer bro in Section 3 due to some random lagspike just as I tried to jump on him. I don't know how much longer it'd have taken me if I tried to run through the section over and over again, since, I have to admit, it is fairly tough. The concept of having a downwards sections with (non-edible) wrap is greatly implimented for the most part. You used enemies which could still be a threat after you got past them like Hammer Brothers, Venus Fire Traps and Volcano Lotuses. The thing is: You used a bit too many. It felt like I was constantly surrounded by a bunch of Hammer Brothers, Cat Goombas or horizontally flying Venus Fire Trap balls, and trust me: You don't want them to fly horizontally. What adds to this is the fact that there's a serious lack of powerups going along with it. At least it felt like it. I counted 2 powerups per half, which is fine, but not in a claustrophobic area with a bunch of hammers and fireballs. Alright, that may have sounded a bit harsh, but I seriously think that you went a little overboard in terms of NPCs. You might want to consider removing a few, like, 1/3 of the npcs in section 3.
Yeah. That's everything I have to say about your level. Atmosphere's great, gimmicks are well implimented and fun, but you still got this difficulty forced by a missing balance between powerups and enemies, making the secret exit even harder to get, since you gotta do that all in one perfect run.
For graphics I give you
3/3 points.
Your music choice was perfect,
2/2 here.
Gameplay wise you can still improve on this level. Only
2/5 here, leaving you with a 7/10 score, which is fairly decent.

Let's see if others start giving a shit about this level now, since it's definetly worth checking out.

Thanks for the review. I'll probably lessen the NPCs in Section 3 and hopefully will have an updated version out soon.

[m4sterbr0s]

Bumping this because of an update and because it need a re-review from a current level judge. Thanks.

[Beyond]

I will review that.

Spoiler: show

Really interesting sky/platform level. The first section is really good (since I think you have to decrease the autoscroll speed, but ok). I really liked the system and how you structured all the level. The vertical sections are really acceptable too. It's a really unique level with good vibes. I just think you can decrease the autoscroll speed and delete some enemies (we have a lot of Hammer Brothers) in some parts. In vertical sections, we have cramped areas (a lot of them) and this really add some difficulty in this. But it's a incredible level, from my perception.

Gameplay - 3.85/5
Magnificent gameplay. The autoscroll system in the first section and the vertical section after the checkpoint. A really acceptable level with a really enjoyable system. I think you just can decrease the level difficulty. We have a lot of hard parts, and we have a lot of Hammer Brothers in some parts. I think you should remove some enemies, decrease the speed of the autoscroll and remove some enemies in the cramped areas in the vertical section.

Design/Placement - 3.20/5

Design:
We have an acceptable design, but some things can be improved. You can fix some very cramped areas (or just remove some enemies, c'mon). I think the first section autoscroll speed can be decreased and the first Dragon Coin placement can be more easier to catch (you can expand the platform line). At least it's a level with a very good system (autoscroll + vertical with switches). It's creative, I can say.Good job with that. Just one more thing: The automatic red block in the first section kill me during all the time (probably).

Placement:
Some parts need a smaller number of enemies (the cramped areas probably). I think we have a good distribution in the entire level, I just think you can put the Hammer Brothers in better places, don't put the enemies near the "blind jumps" after the switches activations. I think we can remove some Piranha Plants too. We need a better number of enemies in the cramped areas and a vertical system who don't kill you without changes to avoid. I think we can put some power-ups in better places too. I really liked the idea of the Poison Mushrooms (I've losed my mushroom three times with this, but it's because I can't expect for that, it's not a problem)

Atmosphere - 4/5
Excelent ambient. It's a graceful level, with an interesting aspect and I think we can say that is a really original and good structured level. The custom graphics gives a pretty vibe to this. Lovely music who matches with this. The system is really good to the ambient too. Really good job.

Aesthetics - 3.75/5
Good structured level, but we can fix somethings (less enemies in the cramped areas or less cramped areas; decrease speed of the autoscroll section and improve the automatic colorful blocks system; expand some level's areas; put the Dragon Coins and some coins in better positions and better amount). At least it's originally and good structured. Good work!

Overall - 14.8/20 ou 7.4/10

Moved to: Pretty Good