Bowser's Fortress!

[Flamehawk33]

I'm happy to present my third level posted here on the forums. I present, Bowser's Fortress.


It's a kinda difficult level that isn't very long, but isn't very short either.


Download it, play it, give me some feedback, positive or negative, either one helps, and have fun!


Thanks!


Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download/kxq2y ... rtress.zip


Screenshots:

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[CopyLeft]

To be honest, this was worse than the last level of yours I played.

Firstly, cutoff.

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Secondly, Boswer's Fortress is a really generic name. Try for something more original.

Thirdly, the platforms to the left in the first section are a bit over rewarding. Just the leaf would have been fine.

Fourthly, the first section is bland. You just go from platform to platform with some koopas here and there. Maybe some Paratroopas, other enemies, or other obstacles would have helped?

Fifthly, your powerup to enemy ratio is really off. You give a lot of powerups and there aren't many enemies.

Sixthly, your coin placement is bad. It's just on the ground. It should be in the air, y'know?

Seventhly, the vine in Section 3 should be growing out of a block, for aesthetics sake.

Eigthly, the first part of Section 4 is bland and boring.

Ninethly, the orange vine should be going up until the top of the screen like the green vine was, or should be stopped by a block. Not like this!

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Tenthly, why are the bullet bills standing on SMB3 Tube-NPC-block whatever-you-call them instead of on the regular bullet bill stands in the Misc. section of SMB3?

Eleventhly, why does the sign in Section 6 tell you to go left instead of right?

Twelvethly, the checkpoint is placed too early.

Overall, this level is pretty bad. It wasn't very enjoyable, and there wasn't anything special about it. It had plenty of flaws. I say this should go in The Trash Can or a low Average.

You should figure out everything in SMBX, including all the blocks/backgrounds/npcs and what they do, Layers, Events, and Graphic Swaps. YouTube and the forums will help you there. Then, look at levels from The Best and see what they do and why there are good.

Remember, quality > quantity.

[Reiuji Utsuho]

Review: Bowsers Fortress! by Flamehawk33
{Gameplay: 10Pts | Scenery/Music: 10Pts}

Gameplay:
1 out of 10
Protip: Think of the name of your level carefully. There are a lot of Bowser's Fortress's already. ~

Anyway, moving on. I have to say this level is actually worse than your first one. Also you posted this one ... a little under 5 hours later on the same day, quite soon I have to say for a level of this length. Quality always over quantity is an important lesson in SMBX level design and in life. ~

~ The first three sections are the same thing. Jump platforms to get to a door. Nothing really special there.
~ Fourth section is climbing a really long vine only to be met with several almost barren airships.
~ Fifth section is power-ups essentially.
~ Sixth section is boss.
~ Seventh section is an end goal with a poorly done background.

Hn. I don't understand. The first level you made was at least creative. Yes there wasn't a ton, but it offered challenge, it was a bit clever, and it was actually a little enjoyable and this.. isn't. Overall this level is empty feeling as well and really unenjoyable.

Next, there are too many power-ups in this level. You're really generous and offer up too much. I would assume a fortress is challenging although cutting out power-ups would not make this much harder, because of the lack of enemies. You need to add more enemies, maybe even flying ones since a lot of time is spent off the ground in this level.


Scenery/Music:
2 out of 10 {0Pts Scenery | 2Pts Music}
I think this is only the second zero I've handed out on scenery, because while you do have backgrounds, like almost every level does.. every section feels just as empty as the last. Sparse use of BGOs is not a good thing. Also section 7 helped contribute to this score as the cut-off of the background you tried to add and the actual background still being able to be seen is something that should not have been overlooked. The only kind of levels I see that don't take this into account are ones that don't care or ones that don't try.

Music is fine though. While I don't think your tracks fit in some sections that is hardly the main issue with this level.


Conclusion:
3 out of 20Pts {1Pts Overall {Rounded from 1.5}}
Compared to your last, that one would be in Pretty Good, because this level is bad. It's rushed and clearly not much effort was stuck into it. EpicMarioBros detailed issues he saw too, and in all honesty I have to agree with some of those issues. This level needs a complete reworking before anyone should play this further.

*Moved to The Trash Can