Clockwork Catastrophe

[MarioWorker12]

so this is actually third time I'm posting this one because the staff apparently messed up once Since this level got into pretty much all sorts of trouble with the approval system I guess it's time to release this again (yay for me being a pain in the ass for staff). So I tried to make a mechanical castle sorta level but it turned out more like a World-8-kinda-lava-fortress but I still guess this is a pretty decent one. Hope you like it too! But please note that I haven't designed anything for one and a half year before making this so don't expect it to be perfect - but I still think it's pretty fun.

Screenshots:

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Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download/i178j ... trophe.zip

Credits:

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Redigit for SMW Black Castle Tiles, SMW Bullet Bill Launcher, Venus Fire Trap's fireballs and SMW Black Pipes
SilverDeoxys563 for SMW Grey Koopas,
Red Yoshi for SMW Black Thwomp and SMW Grey Door
zephyr for SMW Black Bob-Omb, SMW White Rexes and SMW White Platform Lines
Valtteri for SMW Grey Castle Platform and SMW Podoboo
Xionix for SMW Brown-Green Piranha Plants
Tonberry2k for SMW Bullet Bills
Chad for SMW Purple Switch
ultamario for SMW Black Fortress Background
supercomputer276 for WL4 Conveyor Belts
megamario for SMW Red-Gray Platform
Supah Luigi for SMW Styled Brown Boom - Boom
vinny for SMW Larry Koopa
The uncredited recolors are all by me.

[Enjl]

Dangit I wanted to review this and when I hit "Preview" it logged me out.
I'll re-write my review tomorrow but so far I can say that I liked this level quite a lot.

[BMV]

i was the first to review the level but it disappeared from the forum for some reason, just know that i gave it 9/10 because boom boom can spawn on the player (which is unfair) and there's just two powerups in the beginning of the level

[Enjl]

Review: Clockwork Catastrophe
Aaah it feels good playing a level from a person who has been in the community for a rather long time. I can feel the difference.

The first thing that struck me was the music. Graphics... fit, nothing special, but MUSIC, DAMN, that almost sounds like Metal Gear Solid and fits amazingly well. The boss music is good, too. Good choice on both.

I have a feeling this review will be rather short because your level is the kind of level I like to play most and everything else will be just design-wise nitpicks, though.

Anyways, on to the praising:
I loved the events. Many people say that switch blocks are overused and should be banned. I don't think so. As long as the creator of the level provides a visible explanation to why the switch is crucial to hit, it's fine by me. And you did that really well. You showed the player a glimpse of where he'd have to go next every time he comes to one of these locked-away ways, which is great.

The switch puzzles themselves were also fun to play and not repetitive or just the same section back and forth (well, kinda), because you introduced a path locking behind you or an entire section changing, which adds so much to the gameplay!

The bosses were nothing too special. I don't like the colours of BoomBoom, but I think that's just me.

Here's the nitpicking I've talked about, since I didn't really find anything negative in this level except for these few things:

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These saws tend to go crazy when not connected to an actual line and you get hit. I suggest you give them a set path, since, although it is rare, it is weird and with a path to follow they're not less of a threat. You could also make immobile ones but I don't know. Would kinda kill the flow, don't you think?

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The podoboo effect goes in front of the lava fill tile. It's a minor complaint and always happens when podoboos are on slopes. The only way to fix this would be to move the slope or podoboo, but since it's a really minor thing, and it doesn't affect gameplay in the slightest, I don't care whether or not you'll change it.

Anything in the following spoilers is related to sizeables.

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Checkpoints below sizeables put you on top of them upon respawning. If used the correct way, this feature is pretty useful. This is actually kind of a big deal because I don't know how you didn't notice. I suggest you move the sizeable a bit to the right. Then all this madness is fixed.

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Just make the sizeable a bit shorter on both sides

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And this one, which goes offscreen, a bit higher. This screen was taken in-game and I'm standing kiiinda out of bounds.

Yep, that's it.
I think we can go to the scores now:
Graphics: 3/3, just because it all fits.
Music: 2/2 Same reason.
Gameplay: 4/5 You can fix a few things here, especially the checkpoint. Please do that and I have nothing to bicker about. Then it'd get a 10/10.
BoomBoom spawning on the player wasn't an issue to me, but I think it wouldn't drag a full scorepoint off the review either. I didn't experience a lack with powerups either. The difficulty was perfect for me. You'll get
9/10
points, which brings your level to the BEST section, congrats.

People who like industrial levels, or at least levels themed after a factory-ish environment, and SMW levels, will surely enjoy this level. Recommendation given!
That's it from me. (whydidineedtomessupthefirstone)

[MarioWorker12]

It's good to finally receive a review for this one and apparently I got 9/10 from both judges - which was actually a way higher score than my exceptations so yay!!! Anyways, I also noticed the checkpoint issue but I never figured out why, thus couldn't fix it. For the music, yes, it's also one of my favorite aspects in this level (In case you're wondering, they're both from Ratchet and Clank 2 soundtrack, the main theme of the level is Protopet Factory and the boss theme is Maktar Arena Boss).

So yay, thanks for all the comments and glad you liked this one! :')