Sinking Sand Land

[Bowser is ded]

this level is a desert level that have quicksand,,sinking pipe,bullet bills and stuff

Screenshots

Spoiler: show

credits

Spoiler: show

Squishy Rex - Graphics
Nintendo - Music and characters

DOWNLOAD

Spoiler: show

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9mumd ... d+Land.zip

[LordYoshi999]

UNOFFICIAL REVIEW OF SINKING SAND LAND. (what I meant is that it should be yellow, like the falling quicksand, which replaces the waterfall background.)
Looks decent, but the gimmick of GRAY PIPES, AND GREY CYLINDERS, or whatever they are is not really fitting for a desert.
Also, by the screenshots, I see no powerups, and a few coins. Also, boo's should now be in a desert.....
Overall looks okay.
SCOREZ:
5.5

[Imaynotbehere4long]

My review of Sinking Sand Land:

Having the player jump across deadweight NPCs as they sink into sand is a really clever idea, and I don't think I've seen it done before. You even did a good job of introducing the gimmick and slowly expanding upon it, but the gimmick's expansion is a bit too slow. Aside from some areas where the player needs to make a running jump to avoid falling into the quicksand, the third section didn't really do anything to differentiate itself from the first section. It wasn't bad, per se, but it got a bit repetitive. I recommend adding some more variety regarding NPCs to the third section; maybe have some Para-Koopas, Nipper Plants, Fighter Flies, or even Hammer Bros on the path instead of just Bullet Bill Cannons, Bowser Statues, Boos, and walk-left-or-right-AI NPCs (don't get carried away, though; make sure each NPC matters). As a side note, the part with the sinking Bullet Bill Cannon tower was also pretty clever.

However, this level also has some rather annoying parts. In both Section 1 and Section 3, you have the player run across an empty bridge of doughnut-block sprite-swaps. Both of these parts are completely pointless since there's nothing the player has to do except run forward; no platforming is required and there are no enemies to dodge. I recommend removing both of these parts entirely. Also, near the end of the pointless doughnut-block sprite-swap bridge in Section 3, you have a giant wall of bricks with some grab-able bricks in between, but on top of the fact that the level never had grab-able blocks before this point, they're sprite-swapped to be a color very similar to the non-grab-able blocks, so the player won't realize it until after he/she has fallen down to the point where he/she can't jump back up and will fall down the pit and die unfairly. Plus, the level never uses grab-able blocks again, making that part just as pointless as the doughnut-block sprite-swap bridges. I recommend removing that part as well. Lastly, not far into Section 1, you have an area where the player has to jump into quicksand to reach a pipe in order to progress. This just makes it seem like you were trying to pad out the level, as the quicksand slows the player down (a drastic change from the fast-paced nature of having to jump across the sinking deadweight NPCs before they sink too far), and the pipe just leads past a wall that only exists to make the player go into the pipe. I recommend removing the exit pipe and the wall so that the player can just jump right to the next part of the level instead of having to deal with quicksand physics. You may leave the entrance pipe, but if you do, make sure it just leads to a secret as opposed to being a requirement for progressing (you may even want to make it a yellow pipe to help hide it since it will be a secret rather than a requirement).

In conclusion: I'd say this level deserves a 6/10. The idea was clever and the execution was okay, but there's still plenty of room for improvement.

[Black Mamba]

UNOFFICIAL REVIEW OF SINKING SAND LAND. (what I meant is that it should be yellow, like the falling quicksand, which replaces the waterfall background.)
Looks decent, but the gimmick of GRAY PIPES, AND GREY CYLINDERS, or whatever they are is not really fitting for a desert.
Also, by the screenshots, I see no powerups, and a few coins. Also, boo's should now be in a desert.....
Overall looks okay.
SCOREZ:
5.5

Yeah, you cannot judge a level without playing it.

[TheKingOfBoos]

UNOFFICIAL REVIEW OF SINKING SAND LAND. (what I meant is that it should be yellow, like the falling quicksand, which replaces the waterfall background.)
Looks decent, but the gimmick of GRAY PIPES, AND GREY CYLINDERS, or whatever they are is not really fitting for a desert.
Also, by the screenshots, I see no powerups, and a few coins. Also, boo's should now be in a desert.....
Overall looks okay.
SCOREZ:
5.5

Yeah, you cannot judge a level without playing it.

Oh reeellly? Cuz he just did. Get rekt! :p

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Yeah, you cannot judge a level without playing it.

Oh reeellly? Cuz he just did. Get rekt! :p

No, he judged the screenshots and pretended that he was judging the level; there's a difference.

[LordYoshi999]

Yeah, you cannot judge a level without playing it.

Oh reeellly? Cuz he just did. Get rekt! :p

No, he judged the screenshots and pretended that he was judging the level; there's a difference.

I can see enough of the level to judge it.

[TheKingOfBoos]

Yeah, you cannot judge a level without playing it.

Oh reeellly? Cuz he just did. Get rekt! :p

No, he judged the screenshots and pretended that he was judging the level; there's a difference.

I was joking, I know he didn't actually judge it

[Mable]

I can see enough of the level to judge it.

But judging by screens doesn't count. You have to actually play the level to judge it.

[ShadowStarX]

Sinking Sand Land review

Design & Gameplay: 5.5/10 (counts 70%)
I liked the overall concept of the level, it's pretty creative and I don't see it used very much. Aside from the level's laws that I'll mention later, it's an enjoyable level. (true not the most fun but still) The difficulty is p. fair, the curve is good and the level isn't too long or short. The quicksand gave a fair amount of challenge here.
The powerups however could've been placed more frequently in the level instead of just putting them in pairs but it's still okay. The general placement of NPCs and blocks is not that good but still not bad either, it's acceptable.
The level doesn't have replay value, it's fun just for the first or the second time. The amount of coins is also a bit low and their placement isn't good either. Also, you shouldn't force the player to walk in the quicksand TO COMPLETE the level. (it's a bad idea for the secrets too but still acceptable) There are some unfitting enemies too but I'll mentioned them in the atmosphere.

Atmosphere & Visuals: 3.5/10 (counts 30%)
The music fits the level very well.
The amount of BGOs is pretty acceptable in the level.
There are smb1 blocks and bullet bills in the level for no reason, they weren't too clashy just weird. Also, there are some cutoffs with the BGOs and blocks. Also, boos and bowser statues don't really fit in an overworld desert level. Overall, the atmospheric feeling is under average but still not that bad.

Score: 4.9/10
Despite its flaws especially in the visuals, it's an average level
Moved to 'Average'