An Ice Level UPDATED

[thenintendobros]

Pretty self-explanatory. Kind of a for-fun level I was working on for the past couple days on my own free time. I have a credits notepad in the folder.

Updated level!
http://www.mediafire.com/download/lm2tl ... +level.zip

Screen:

Spoiler: show

[bossedit8]

My Level Playthrough:



Original YouTube Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQTTjzbZfwc

[Sig.Cell]

The structure is simple, but well made. Great job! I have already downloaded!

5:33 (video) -

[silent_]

[center]An Ice Level - by thenintendobros - Reviewed by Kep[/center]

Does this red coin madness have what it takes to become a superstar or be a downer? You're about to find out.

I jump right on into this level, thinking it's extraordinarily desolate and generic. I get onto the first platform, but initially realize that the platform ends clash with the SMB3 palette; use the spinning wheels in the backgrounds section of SMB3. Either way, I collect the first red coin in mid-air and greedily grab four more regular coins, and the next moving platforms contains a Koopa Troopa. From that platform, I move onto the next ledge thinking these should be some pipes/Piranha Plants/scenery hanging from the ceiling as it's bland. Regardless, the next ledge had two Goombas, two plain bricks, and a question block containing a fire flower. I advance onward, keeping my eyes open for red coins.

The next three ledges had a green and red Koopa hovering up and down in between them, attempting to prevent you from jumping. Each ledge was two solid ice blocks with an individual coin above them. I head right to the next ledge, and then there's two coins with a red coin in the middle of them and a red Koopa Troopa. The additional green pipe on the ground had a Venus Fire Trap, and on solid ground below that particular pipe lied two Goombas at the end. I, from the pipe, jump onto the platform you ride containing a Goomba on top. The platform ends yet still clash, and will remain that way until you reconstruct them. Anyway, I don't go through the pipe above me yet.

From the platform, I head left where I discover a useless green pipe with a hidden block 1-up above it I accidentally stumbled upon. The next two ledges were two solid ice blocks again, with the original Koopa Troopas hovering up and down trying to annoy you but it can't work for me. I kill them off, hitting the question block above the first ledge containing a fire flower. To the right of that block lies a single coin, and then the next ledge has a higher up coin above it and lying patiently in the middle of both is a red coin that's rather complicated to jump up to.

The ledge after that has four pipes, the second from the last from the left being one you can go down. However, I still am not acknowledging that and shall continue leftward. Though, above the pipe you frankly can go down, it lies four coins. To the left of the final pipe on the left is a question block with a fire flower, and jumping upward and to the left there's two Goombas with three coins above him. I continue leftward yet again, pass by two pipes containing Venus Fire Traps, and then drop down an arrow indicating a red coin. So I got all of the red coins thus far in this section.

I climb back up, and go through that pipe I mentioned in the last mini-paragraph, as it was the second to last from the left. Section two contains eight red coins, and you see one in the glimpse of the eye right when you exit that pipe; it's below it a bit to the left. After getting that one, as it was the fifth, I head right. There lies a question block with another fire flower (you put WAY too much power-ups in this level; points will be taken off for this), I see eight coins, a red Koopa Troopa, and enough Goombas that if you stomp on all of them in a streak you'd gain a 1-up. Above those potato heads lies nine additional coins. Following the linear pathway, eventually there are two more coin blocks (coincidentally containing coins =P) and above them four more coins. You have already given me twenty-three coins in this section, what the heck do you expect?

I avoid two jumping Koopa Troopas, and go across the repetitively bland path and then jump to collect five more coins. That's twenty-seven, and then you get ANOTHER power-up in a question block and then two more coins to the right of that and to the left of that question blocks lies another question block containing a coin. That's a astonishing number of thirty. Now, there are seven pipes with all but two having Piranha Plants lying in them. I then get ten more coins (forty) from pipe to pipe. And then, above the pipe you're forced to go down, lies a red coin which equals six and the overall coin total of section two is forty one. That's candidly enough to last you an entire long level by Chad.

Exiting the pipe, before you know it you're below two bridges. The middle bridge has a red coin in it, which is seven total and forty-two coins overall in the level. Jumping up to the final upwards bridge, there's three Goombas and five coins yet above them. Instead of the right route, I take the left again and on the first ledge there's two Goombas, two question blocks. I have decided not to summarize the next route because it is linear, straightforward and such, however I will remark that you added another power-up at the far end. Otherwise, the conclusive red coin is above a stationary Para-Koopa, so I collect that, and go to the right.

I think the reward should be a secret star, personally. You basically got a new sign that says "you found the secret!" above this green pipe you can go down. It is a bonus room with
-no scenery
-clashing rainbow shell (PM me or download Legend-Tony's GFX pack to get the SMB3 version of it)
-clashing ramps (same thing regarding that GFX pack I was talking about).
Anyway, it wasn't the best you could do but I'll accept it exceptionally.

The ending pipe is located in a reddish-orangish pipe at the very end of the top route of section two. I enter that, and then go to section four two Goombas and a Koopa. I hit the ending goal and conclude off the level. It definitely could use some work, I must say.

Overall Score...

6/10

Approved - Moved to Pretty Good Levels

[thenintendobros]

I kinda actually like the bonus room tho lol.
Anyway I fixed most of the errors that you stated, but I'm not entirely sure how to add scenery to the bonus room, so I just added a couple lamps.

[silent_]

I kinda actually like the bonus room tho lol.
Anyway I fixed most of the errors that you stated, but I'm not entirely sure how to add scenery to the bonus room, so I just added a couple lamps.

That's perfectly fine.
Just update the thread's title or contact me when you release the updated version. Basically what I'll do is remove it from Pretty Good level and put it back in regular Levels again so another judge can review it and see if you reach a higher score. Of course, good luck not to get a strict judge, 'cause I can be generous at occasional times. I usually give extra credits to those who I've never played a level from and have splendid designing skills. =P

EDIT: Also, I never really noticed this, but you should make the ceiling icy, too, just like the tileset ground itself. That will make it more realistic. You could recolor it if you like.

[Valtteri]

EDIT: Also, I never really noticed this, but you should make the ceiling icy, too, just like the tileset ground itself. That will make it more realistic. You could recolor it if you like.

I think he didn't make the ceiling white essentially because it's more realistic that way. You could say it's ice but to a lot of people it looks like snow and usually snow doesn't attach to ceilings.

[thenintendobros]

I updated this a couple days ago, can someone re-review it please?

[silent_]

I updated this a couple days ago, can someone re-review it please?

I'll move it back to Levels and I added to your title (NEEDS RE-REVIEWED) so others are aware of such.

[Firespike33]

When you start this level, Mario is in the bonus room. You should fix that.

Sound/Visuals/Story
The graphics in this level were good and portrayed the "cold" theme pretty well. I think there should have been at least a thin layer of frost on the bottoms of the blocks, and maybe some icicles as well. The bottoms of the wood blocks are completely flat--some upside-down diagonals might make it look better, and scenery (like icicles) would make it look better. I don't like how the pipes are just normal pipes. I think they should either be bluish (frozen) or have a layer of frost on top, and be slippery. The same goes to the two white sizables, one of which goes into a wall. You should fix that. I'd also add railing to the bridge pieces. The level's graphics weren't outstanding, but there was little clash and they fit the theme well enough. The music fit the level pretty well, sounding Christmas-y. It gave the level more of a snowy feel than a frozen feel.
6/10

Design/NPCs
The NPCs were mostly well-placed. I think the red Koopa Troopas on the platforms at the start should move, personally. There's also a part after you exit the first pipe where there's a bit of enemy spam (3 Koopas, 2 Goombas). The fact that the frosty blocks were slippery made it challenging, but not cheap. I think the pipes should be slippery too, as metal would likely be frozen in such wintery conditions. The level's design is pretty good too--balanced enemy placement, fair jump challenges--although short if you don't try to find the secrets. There weren't too many coins to be found. You might consider adding more, actually. Anyway, it was pretty good design.
6/10

Gimmicks/Secrets/Originality/Boss
The level's main gimmick was "collect the red coins" which was pretty well-implemented. I didn't have to try too hard to find them, but it was still fun, and I like how you did the secret area. Anyway, the level was a pretty normal snow level, with no real other gimmicks, so it didn't feel too original. The part where you can kick the Koopa shell into the Goombas for a 1-UP was fun, and it was easy to screw it up by hitting the Koopa with a fireball. You can still jump on the Goombas, though. Maybe you could switch them out with Spinies. There WERE a few secrets, and the red coins made me replay it a few times, so the replay value was decent. It still could have been more, and it's not a very inspiring level, but I still had fun playing it.
6.5/10

OVERALL SCORE: 6/10 (Pretty Good)
It's an ice level (see what I did there?), with a bit of replay value, but unoriginal, and the graphics weren't too fancy. Sorry I didn't give it a higher score than Kep did. It's hard for everyone to rate everything on the same scale. =P