Postby Chad » Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:32 am
Boom-Boom's Gray Dungeon: Official Review
Put simply, not the best level I've played. You've got a good start in the first area with good attention to block placement and a decent arrangement of enemies. The spacing gets really narrow halfway through and a Birdo AI is a poor choice for a semi-standard enemy, but otherwise not much to complain about in the first room.
The spike room however is, frankly, much worse. It's a series of single-block jumps that are incredibly precise and sensitive, which include extremely sudden falling spikes that are identical to the rest and are impossible to anticipate. Some of the platforms are actually placed directly alongside the spikes, which means one foot out of place and you're dead. There isn't nearly enough space around the platforms for the momentum demanded, whether you're landing or taking off. The construction of this area is very minimalistic too, with everything thrown about seemingly randomly while everything else just appears flat and open. Even if this level was intended to be ultra hard, that's asking way too much and isn't fun.
The level from here on out is a considerable improvement, but still has some issues. The vertical section containing the midpoint is designed relatively well and the block arrangements are solid, but enemies are a little weird because the Thwomps can trigger before you know they're there and the Chomp falls off the moving layer. I'm not sure why you didn't just go with standard note blocks here instead of the orange Springboard ones, because then the player could be forced to stop safely next to the Thwomps and watch them fall before acting. Section 5 is better, because there isn't really anything wrong with it besides some slightly narrow spacing and crowded enemy placement, but those are minor. It functions fine for what it is and returns to the original quality offered by Section 1. The level as a whole would have benefitted largely if the other areas were more like this.
Boom-Boom is rather underwhelming, and is actually the easiest part of the level by far. Yeah, you put a spike on his head and have to throw a generated block at him, but the "fight" is really just you camping out on the right side and occasionally jumping over him when he comes close. You have a concept, but that's about all it is. Boom-Boom may be hard to make interesting, but this is a battle where you don't really have to stray far from one spot once you reach the generator.
I'm also not a fan of how you handled bonuses, because two of the Dragon Coins want you to repeat the room you're in (one being in the spike section), and another is placed next to a 3up. The location of the 3up is actually difficult enough to deserve it because of that hyper-precise donut block jump, but an object representing 1/5th of a single extra life does not belong there and is made somewhat worthless by the adjacent item with literally fifteen times the value. The warp to the Ice Flower isn't very good either, because it doesn't stand out as something that's safe and the return trip can place you right in the Piranha's jaws.
As far as this level's presentation goes, it's fine. Standard, but good graphic choices for a castle. The decoration's a proper amount and variety, Not too many or too few of anything in any area besides the spike room. Boom-Boom's room needs some help in this department though, because while I like what you tried to go for with the object arrangements beneath the bridge, they seem really random and cluttered with the way they overlap. 1x1-pixel stuff doesn't really work because of how differently the outlines and shades of color interact with each other compared to their 2x2-pixel surroundings, and are as unfitting as an enlarged super-blurry pillar background being used alongside everything else. Beyond that though, you did a fine job with the level visually and the music choice is standard for a castle.
Overall, this level does have potential, but it needs some serious ironing. The difficulty is not at all what "World 2" would imply, and is way too early to require a lot of precise and tricky interactions. Some of them are good for an intentionally hard level, but for an earlygame castle it's not at all fitting. It needs to be widened up throughout, enemies should be carefully adjusted and/or reduced, the spike section needn't exist at all, and Boom-Boom could be made more fun and interactive. This level has some decent ideas and okay design other than that, but the bits of good are unfortunately overshadowed by its flaws. Some practice with easier design and more forgiving obstacles can go a long way. Design and test levels from the perspective of an unfamiliar player as best as you can, because the person who made the level is going to have a very different experience.
I give it a 3.5. Average.
