Re: Koopa Troopa Mountains
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:49 pm
Level Review #7: Koopa Troopa Mountains by LukasSMBX
Reviewed by castlewars.
Level Design: 7.5/10
This level had a really nice feel to it, in my opinion. It was a nice casual level without any dynamic layers or events, and the gameplay was fairly nonlinear. The level was just the right length, not too short or too long, and in fact, the level feels like it's something out of SM3DL, as it revolves around the properties of the Propeller Block, so it feels like the player has to do a bit of exploring in order to uncover the level's secrets, and I liked how you had to use its "floating" properties to get coins which are actually below a platform by bouncing off an enemy's head - the gimmick was quite nicely executed, but it's so hard to get right because there's the risk of death. However, a flight-based level complete with Super Leaf powerups wouldn't be complete if it didn't have a very glaring error which can be exploited: the ceiling edges haven't been made two tiles higher and it isn't good when you're dealing with Propeller Blocks, because there was one part in which the player was supposed to use a Koopa shell to knock away a column of Brick Blocks (or use the Super Leaf) but a player can just jump to the ceiling and walk across it (by jumping on the nearby Paratroopa and using the gained momentum to reach the ceiling), bypassing the entire obstacle altogether. It's strongly recommended that all ceilings are made two tiles higher at the edges to prevent this problem. That aside, the way the level has been designed with all its ups and downs actually makes the level feel like a mountain. A few "mountain" levels I've reviewed in the past seem to have the problem of being too flat and resembling more grasslands, in fact. Your style of designing this level actually made it feel more naturalistic, which is good.
Music: 7/10
Yeah...the music you used has this "hiking" feel which can make a mountain level become more of a mountain level, as if the player's a mountaineer hiking up a mountain. However, in my opinion, some of it seems to be a bit too laid-back and sedate rather than convey this true hiking feel, but the instrumentation used can still convey a sense of this hiking feel, despite not being the true one.
Graphics: 8.2/10
The graphics used were quite nice, and the rocky style conveys the spirit of a mountain level, so it doesn't feel too artificially-designed. Everything styled well with the SMB3 style, so I didn't see any problems with clashing, and because of the tileset you used, cut-offs would probably be next-to-impossible - they usually occur with tilesets that are jagged, such as the SMB3 grass tiles. The level's aesthetics are great, in my opinion - the level is really decorated as there is decoration on nearly every platform. Same goes for the level's background, it's actually blending well with the tileset and with the BGOs. Yet unfortunately, the upside-down tiles of the rocky tileset seem to be showing their mask. This usually occurs when a straight-edged tile has been made jagged and the mask hasn't been replaced - I would say you need to fix this by masking those tiles. Another criticism I am going to make is that I would probably say that the grass graphics give off too much of a sunny feel, in my opinion, which would be OK fitting with a grassland level, but it's unfitting for a mountain. If you use the rocky tileset palettes to recolor it then it won't stand out too much (but don't make it too light as it won't be seen!).
NPC Placement: 7.3/10
When I'm going to start talking about NPC placements in this level, the first thing that comes to my mind is the fact that there is no checkpoint in this average-length level. Typically, levels of that length would require a checkpoint, but here, a death near the end of the level will cost the player dearly unless they move their start marker to where they died. The next issue I found was the fact that you were being too generous to the player - there are 4 1-Ups in the level, and add that to the potential 228 coins that are in the level, and you're in for some serious lives (6 of them). If this level were in an episode, it would probably be the one players would return to to stock up on lives. However, cons aside, let's look at the pros. The fact that this level's enemies were entirely generic species strengthened the idea that this level felt like it would belong in SM3DL (minus the Biddybuds) and the Koopa Troopas really gave the level its moniker. You also seem to have been quite helpful and provided Propeller Blocks at regular intervals throughout the level, so if the player loses their block, they can get another one, and at a convenient spot as well. Also, the concept of pulling up grasses is seldom used in levels, particularly as it's from SMB2, and SMB2 levels are very rare, so that was more of a nice gimmick to have in this level. However, I was playing through this level and I was collecting the Dragon Coins, until it was realised that there's 7 of them rather than the expected 5; 7 is quite a weird number and you can actually get 6 extra lives, strengthening the argument that a player can just use this level as a means of stocking up with lives.
Overall Result: 7.5/10 (Level Status: Pretty Good)
Good level conveying the truth and spirit of a mountain, although you seriously need to fix the ceiling issue if you want to continue making future levels because it destroys most of the gameplay of the level. Add a checkpoint, reduce the number of 1-Ups, reduce the Dragon Coin amount to 5 and you're good to go.
Reviewed by castlewars.
Level Design: 7.5/10
This level had a really nice feel to it, in my opinion. It was a nice casual level without any dynamic layers or events, and the gameplay was fairly nonlinear. The level was just the right length, not too short or too long, and in fact, the level feels like it's something out of SM3DL, as it revolves around the properties of the Propeller Block, so it feels like the player has to do a bit of exploring in order to uncover the level's secrets, and I liked how you had to use its "floating" properties to get coins which are actually below a platform by bouncing off an enemy's head - the gimmick was quite nicely executed, but it's so hard to get right because there's the risk of death. However, a flight-based level complete with Super Leaf powerups wouldn't be complete if it didn't have a very glaring error which can be exploited: the ceiling edges haven't been made two tiles higher and it isn't good when you're dealing with Propeller Blocks, because there was one part in which the player was supposed to use a Koopa shell to knock away a column of Brick Blocks (or use the Super Leaf) but a player can just jump to the ceiling and walk across it (by jumping on the nearby Paratroopa and using the gained momentum to reach the ceiling), bypassing the entire obstacle altogether. It's strongly recommended that all ceilings are made two tiles higher at the edges to prevent this problem. That aside, the way the level has been designed with all its ups and downs actually makes the level feel like a mountain. A few "mountain" levels I've reviewed in the past seem to have the problem of being too flat and resembling more grasslands, in fact. Your style of designing this level actually made it feel more naturalistic, which is good.
Music: 7/10
Yeah...the music you used has this "hiking" feel which can make a mountain level become more of a mountain level, as if the player's a mountaineer hiking up a mountain. However, in my opinion, some of it seems to be a bit too laid-back and sedate rather than convey this true hiking feel, but the instrumentation used can still convey a sense of this hiking feel, despite not being the true one.
Graphics: 8.2/10
The graphics used were quite nice, and the rocky style conveys the spirit of a mountain level, so it doesn't feel too artificially-designed. Everything styled well with the SMB3 style, so I didn't see any problems with clashing, and because of the tileset you used, cut-offs would probably be next-to-impossible - they usually occur with tilesets that are jagged, such as the SMB3 grass tiles. The level's aesthetics are great, in my opinion - the level is really decorated as there is decoration on nearly every platform. Same goes for the level's background, it's actually blending well with the tileset and with the BGOs. Yet unfortunately, the upside-down tiles of the rocky tileset seem to be showing their mask. This usually occurs when a straight-edged tile has been made jagged and the mask hasn't been replaced - I would say you need to fix this by masking those tiles. Another criticism I am going to make is that I would probably say that the grass graphics give off too much of a sunny feel, in my opinion, which would be OK fitting with a grassland level, but it's unfitting for a mountain. If you use the rocky tileset palettes to recolor it then it won't stand out too much (but don't make it too light as it won't be seen!).
NPC Placement: 7.3/10
When I'm going to start talking about NPC placements in this level, the first thing that comes to my mind is the fact that there is no checkpoint in this average-length level. Typically, levels of that length would require a checkpoint, but here, a death near the end of the level will cost the player dearly unless they move their start marker to where they died. The next issue I found was the fact that you were being too generous to the player - there are 4 1-Ups in the level, and add that to the potential 228 coins that are in the level, and you're in for some serious lives (6 of them). If this level were in an episode, it would probably be the one players would return to to stock up on lives. However, cons aside, let's look at the pros. The fact that this level's enemies were entirely generic species strengthened the idea that this level felt like it would belong in SM3DL (minus the Biddybuds) and the Koopa Troopas really gave the level its moniker. You also seem to have been quite helpful and provided Propeller Blocks at regular intervals throughout the level, so if the player loses their block, they can get another one, and at a convenient spot as well. Also, the concept of pulling up grasses is seldom used in levels, particularly as it's from SMB2, and SMB2 levels are very rare, so that was more of a nice gimmick to have in this level. However, I was playing through this level and I was collecting the Dragon Coins, until it was realised that there's 7 of them rather than the expected 5; 7 is quite a weird number and you can actually get 6 extra lives, strengthening the argument that a player can just use this level as a means of stocking up with lives.
Overall Result: 7.5/10 (Level Status: Pretty Good)
Good level conveying the truth and spirit of a mountain, although you seriously need to fix the ceiling issue if you want to continue making future levels because it destroys most of the gameplay of the level. Add a checkpoint, reduce the number of 1-Ups, reduce the Dragon Coin amount to 5 and you're good to go.