Super Mario Bros. X Forums

13. RhysOwens - The Pure Red Inferno (3.33/10)

The Thwomp King (2.5/10)

Seeing that background in the initial screen reminded me of an old level I made years ago. It’s a nice background, but it doesn’t really fit in with the graphics that well at all. Evidently enough it seems like you just went grabbed the next source of lava graphics you could fine. The recoloring of some of them is painful for the eyes as well. There are more than enough lava graphics out there, so this shouldn’t be too difficult to find fitting resources. Some stuff worked decently together, but overall the visuals need work in establishing a good volcanic atmosphere where the music is the only thing helping with that. Anyway there’s not too much that really makes this level too fun or unique. The gameplay is straightforward with nothing really there to keep the playing excited or trying to get ready for what’s to come. When you’re entering the caves, the section with the checkpoint doesn’t feel right with absolutely no ceiling there. The emptiness above the layer doesn’t make as much sense in an inside environment like a volcano or cave. You spam NPCs of every kind with too many fireballs, powerups, yoshis, etc. The length is also really short, but I guess that’s alright with what you presented right now. The level itself doesn’t have too many flaws in its gameplay, it’s more of lacking gameplay and therefore lacking hardly any difficulty. I hope you can rework this level.

PixelPest (2.8/10)

This level wasn’t very good. It provided way too many power-ups (including Yoshis) for its difficulty. Its enemies were also very easily avoidable with the way they were placed (which was furthered by the player having a Leaf and Yoshi) with the exception of the Skull Raft ride which consisted mostly of Podoboo spam. The BGOs were also recoloured poorly and hard on the eyes. Coin placement also wasn’t great. The layout of this level also seemed really unnatural.

PROX (4.5/10)

There wasn't much going for this level. It was mainly a straight path with a few enemies. It was decent, but nothing really stands out. It's not bad, but it's not exactly all that great either. There's not really all that much to say about it.

Linik (3.5/10)

It's an OK attempt at the most, but there's a bit of work needed on it. Sure, the level timer was a nice gimmick, but the level overall felt very empty and there isn't much variance with the landforms, thus they feel rather flat, and despite the background objects present the level also feels rather barren because of the choice of tileset used. The level also feels very basic and short, as it's largely just a straight run to the end with a simple raft ride between, and thus the level gets pretty boring at the checkpoint. I can guess that this level was either created in a short amount of time or was rushed. I know this review is short and basic, but it embodies the level that I just reviewed, and there's nothing more to talk about.

12. Yoshi021 - Bowser's Castle (3.55/10)

The Thwomp King (2.5/10)

Oh boy where do I start. Music was cool, but the graphics were mixed pretty badly. By that I mean the mixing of HD and non HD graphics. The level itself is a mess, poor coin and some bad npc placement, the lack of a true theme, the mixing of ghost house and castle shouldn’t even be in this either. You have so many great ideas, but implementing them all into one castle won’t help you. You could probably split this castle into like 3-5 different castles with their own unique theme. The level also dragged a lot as well with a lot of risks being involved too; leaps of faith, one podoboo shoe to work with in each moment it’s there, cramped space, and much much room for error where the player can’t be forgiven for one small slip up. As much of a mess as this level, I actually had more fun playing this than some of the other entries with higher scores. Despite that this level needs a ton of work put on it.

PixelPest (0.4/10)

This was really...awful. It mixed HD and non-HD graphics which looked really bad, had poor coin placement, blind jumps, cramped and overly tough areas, didn’t stick to the castle theme (added in a ghost house and an outside section), was too long, and had a downright insane boss battle with way too much bomb spam. I’m sorry, but to quote Wraith Adamknight: this isn’t a challenge contest.

PROX (4/10)

This level was very dragged out and if you lose your shoe at least once in this level, it is impossible to beat.
A red shoe generator would really serve this level well. There were some really weird jumps, and the npc placements in this level really need work. You had some clever ideas, but they weren't exactly executed very well. Also try not to make cramped areas. It really makes things unnecessarily difficult.

Linik (7.3/10)

I'm going to have to be honest here, castle levels that use the same music and have the same old Bowser boss are starting to get a bit stale now. However, this one strives to be different, and we can already see it in the form of the darker artstyle and restyled HUD, which seem to work very effectively. The major selling point of this level is the Podoboo's Shoe and how it is prominently featured throughout the level as a gameplay tool, weaving it in and out of other ideas such as raft rides, clambering over nets and jumping on springboards. The second checkpoint was very neatly done where the player is warped straight to the boss rather than having to go through the other rooms, and speaking of the boss, there isn't really much special to it: it's just a standard SMB3 Bowser battle, although with bombs dropping from the ceiling that can damage Bowser as well as the player, possibly shortening the battle considerably.

11. MECHDRAGON777 - Chireiden (3.95/10)

The Thwomp King (3/10)

I want to start by saying I appreciate the love and care put into this level. The aesthetics are great with solid music, but the wind doesn’t make much sense. But with the great atmosphere is a huge labyrinth with many errors and mistakes. There were some messed up death effects and the map honestly wasn’t that useful. The level itself became very confusing with what to do, and the beating a boss didn’t help much either considering I had no idea where to go next. NPCS were okay despite the death effects and coin placement was alright. As much as I love discovering new ideas and gimmicks, some things truly need some hand holding in this level. I’m certain the level isn’t even completed either, so hopefully whenever this level is done it’ll be much cleaner and more organized in its gameplay. Otherwise it was still kinda fun.

PixelPest (7.8/10)

Interesting Metroidvania level. It had a few interesting gimmicks, but also had a bunch of mistakes. There were a bunch of death effects missing and in some parts of the level it was just too unclear as to what the player had to do. The map on the HUD wasn’t very useful either. On the topic of the HUD, the player can’t drop their reserve power-up which is a big frustration at times. The boss battles were okay but not well laid out and a bit boring; they made the player wait for too long. It was a pretty good level otherwise but it also didn’t end in a star (at least the way I finished it).

PROX (2/10)

I can tell that this level had a lot of effort put into it. The aesthetics are nice and the music is pretty fitting for the most part, although I don't see how a wind sound effect fits in the interior of a volcano though. Anyway, this level was huge and a massive maze. Yes there was a map, but it was still incredibly difficult to figure out where I was. In the first boss area, you can get stuck if you lose your ice flower during the fight. I also had to wait quite a long time for the attacks to take place. Not only that, but the boss attacks had no warning whatsoever. I would get hit unfairly many times. The second boss was just a nightmare because you can't grab the ice blocks on the side due to those ice platforms that you used which made this fight a lot harder than it should. Also the attacks are relentless, so there is virtually no opening at all. This boss should have been tested better. Also the attacks don't stop after the boss is defeated as well so make sure you have "no more objects in layer" active after the boss is defeated. The level itself had a bunch of narrow jumps with lava at the top. It made things very frustrating. Another frustrating factor was the fact that you can only grab enemies at the top instead of the sides. I know it's because of the ice blocks, but don't use them. They only make things more of a hassle than they should. You tried, but the level needs a bunch of work. It mainly needs to be tested better.

Linik (3/10)

Oh my god...one can simply imagine how much love went into this level. Despite this massive dedication, it's pretty unreasonable and even despite the fact that there's a map to guide the player and it keeps track of defeated bosses, thus taking a load off the player, the level still suffers from "MECHDRAGON777 level syndrome" (which is fitting because MECHDRAGON777 most likely made this). It still demands everything from the player and doesn't explain any of the new gameplay mechanics, in particular the map subscreen - how are you supposed to close it? In fact, after the player defeats the first boss there is no telling of where to go next because it isn't explained properly, and thus I tried everything, wandered aimlessly around the level, and I was still unable to go further from the first boss, so I can't review any further than that. The uses of the Ice Flower though were interesting, so I can give you that. The rest of the points go into the hours poured into creating this level that I was sadly unable to complete.

10. dragonfan96 - Blargg Caverns (4.65/10)

The Thwomp King (4/10)

I like how you went to attempt to recreate a level with a full flat out smw atmosphere. Franky you did channel a lot of classic smw atmosphere with this level, but there was also a lot that needs fixing. The layout of the level was pretty good where the blocks you used are generally good. As a heads up never have the lava at the same level as the walking ground otherwise a player trying to walk to the edge will have a cheap death given to them. You should’ve left the Yoshis in their smw form as it fits best with the theme. NPC placement was pretty spammy with enemies being overwhelming at times, and you definitely over do it with powerups. I like the intention with the secret exit, but it’s too easy to mess up in this scenario. I bet you can make a brilliant level using the switches though. So anyway you should definitely cut your level. If the intention is to focus on the skull raft, then I think the first half is enough to be your level, maybe adding the falling block section as a midpoint with the checkpoint right before it. Otherwise what you have presented now is pretty dry, stretched too far, and overly decorated with bgos and npcs.

PixelPest (4.1/10)

This level had a pretty good layout in terms of block placement, coin placement was okay too, which made it feel very much like the levels from Super Mario World. This ended with the excessive spamming of cave BGOs and NPC spam which were both really unnecessary. There were also way too many power-ups for the difficulty this level presented. Another major issue with the level is the part right after the first secret passage: the Monty Mole is too far over so the player may have to lose a life to pass that area. One of the issues with the level’s overall layout is the blind jumps/falls in it. Overall, this level didn’t really have much to offer in terms of fun or interesting gameplay.

PROX (6/10)

The level was pretty solid. It had its share of challenges. I do think it was pretty dragged out though. The npc placement was ok, but everything was so clustered together. The area with the paratroopas over lava was a bit of a hassle and some of them kill themselves in the lava. I do think the amount of swoopers in this level were a bit much and there were a few that were pretty inconveniently placed. I like the fact that there were secrets in this level, and there was some decent npc variety. The blarggs were pretty relentless and there were some very cramped jumps, but overall, the level wasn't bad.

Linik (4.5/10)

If there was a big love letter to Vanilla Dome in SMW, this level would be it. This level appears to be heavily influenced by the Vanilla Dome levels to the point of recycling some of the level ideas straight from them. This level is almost built entirely off the Skull Raft and it features in nearly every section. It gets interesting to start off with but the fun factor dies off very quickly because it takes too much prominence. It's basically just raft, cool gimmick, another raft, cool gimmick, yet another raft repeated ad nauseum. There's a secret exit with a key about halfway through the level, requiring the player to toss up a shell to be kicked, but the way it's done is badly executed. If the player kills the Beach Koopa, or ends up in the same area, this renders the exit out of reach or traps the player in the alcove forever. The level continues as normal and it's quite weird how a secret boss fight is hidden behind the fake exit gate, and how we're suddenly in a castle. The transition, while a neat concept, wasn't executed pretty well because the castle tiles are much brighter than the cave tiles, and thus it looks odd.

9. Cloth pocket - Blazing Plains (5.03/10)

The Thwomp King (4/10)

The general music fits doesn’t fit well with the level. Some metroid songs really require the right environment for them to be used in, and the environment you created doesn’t cut it. I initially thought the color schemes you used were a little weird, but it grew on me more as I kept playing this level. The level looks nice overall, but this is a level that utilizes too many bgos. I understand you’re trying to create a more barren and uneasy atmosphere with this level, but what you use doesn’t fulfill that atmosphere completely. Going back to the cave section, it was pretty painful to look at with how vibrant the colors were. Coin placement needs some work as it’s inconsistent in some places. There’s an area where you can lead lakitu to spam spinies and they could get stuck in a diagonal dead end, so changing that little area would help out. The actual gameplay was pretty decent, and I still had fun playing the level; you have a lot put onto the table that helped keep me entertained. Unfortunately the boss was a bit of a let down too. So I think you have a lot here that can make the level great, but I don’t it all put together yet.

PixelPest (3.8/10)

This level had a good layout, but had way too much BGO clutter. NPC placement wasn’t great in this level either; it really lacked consistent coin placement and there was a Jumping Piranha Plant in almost every pipe which was really unneeded. The secret way was also disappointing (it just had a few coins) and the background was really hard on the eyes. The music choices for this level did not fit at all.

PROX (6.5/10)

I liked this level. It was very well designed. The aesthetics were great and the level never really got dull and boring. It had a decent challenge, especially for a lava level. I do find the mouser fight to be a bit of a letdown though. It was just a mouser in an empty room and nothing really happened. The level also seemed to just abruptly end as well. Also there was one room that hurt my eyes due to the vibrant orange. Aside from that, the level was great. It had decent npc placement and great gameplay. I do think that more could have happened though.

Linik (5.8/10)

4/20 blaze i...OK, enough with the weed jokes. It's a pretty decent level. It's a basic linear run, if only a little on the short side, with a Skull Raft ride near the start and a boss fight at the end, but other than that, there aren't any gimmicks that jump out at the player and make the level stand out. I do like the precarious platforming towards the end of the level, along with the decoration inside the tiles. Speaking of the tiles, the bright orange colours used throughout the level adhere very well to the level's name, and there is a bit of variety in the design. There is a secret room in the level as well, but it wasn't done very well because it only contains a bunch of coins that don't really reward the player, rather than a powerup or something. The boss at the end - a recolored Mouser - was quite fun to fight, but in the end it was too easy because the player is given the whole section to move around and there aren't any hazards.

8. Afraid of the Heights - Scorching Cave of Swoopers (5.65/10)

The Thwomp King (5/10)

So this isn’t a bad level. Music is a little irritating after a while, and graphics were pretty good. I think you were a little too lavafall happy though. I’m also not a fan of one area where the bill blaster placement felt awkward I also wish you could differentiate between still rafts and moving skull rafts more visually, but there’s not too much you can do there. So your coin placement was pretty inconsistent, but I like the use of blue coins; they really aren’t utilized enough so that made your level stand out a little. As far as enemy placement, some areas had too much happening. You have some poor placement of lotus and too many piranha plants; you can take some plants away since they don’t need to be in every pipe. Overall though the design was pretty good, there just wasn’t too much to make it stand out besides the coins.

PixelPest (5/10)

This level wasn’t too bad, except that the player has to commit suicide to finish it. (Hint: SMW Stars don’t end the level.) Other than that it wasn’t too bad, but it also wasn’t great. It lacked consistent coin placement, some areas were really well done but others had no coins at all. This creator also had “Plant in Every Pipe Syndrome” when creating this level; there were just too many Piranha Plants; one isn’t needed in every pipe. The idea of the Lotus Pollen spawning from the lava as if it was dripping was also an interesting idea and could have been used a lot more, although it was used in only one spot and wasn’t incorporated very well (there was an obvious pause in their motion as they spawned). This level just didn’t have a lot to offer overall although it was a pretty solid basic level except for the issue with the star.


PROX (6/10)

I love the level name. It's very original! Anyway, this level was pretty good. I can tell a lot of effort was put into it. The npc placement was good, the gameplay was pretty solid. What really bothered me was that some of those vines were climbable and there were times where I almost died because I thought it was a bgo. The level was mainly a standard level and things didn't really stand out, but it was a decent level nevertheless. I found it funny that you used a SMW star exit instead of an SMB3 star exit which made your level impossible, but I knew what you were doing and I know what your intention was, so I'll let it slide. Just be sure to change it to an SMB3 star exit if you happen to release this level.

Linik (6.6/10)

At first I thought this was just called "level" until I opened up the folder, and ate my words. This level has some otherwise rather good design, with otherwise moderate difficulty and really good decoration that brings out the SMW feel of the level. The non-moving Skull Rafts were an interesting level idea that was used pretty well, especially when combined with the moving ones towards the end of the level, and I liked the neat touch of the fireballs falling out of the ceiling lava. The only thing holding this level back was that the level ended with an SMW star as opposed to an SMB3 star, meaning that the level won't feel complete due to no end event, and thus the player has to kill themselves upon completing the level. The level was pretty short as well and could have seen some expansion.

7. PixelPest - Smoldergeist's Lava Torrent [Daredevil Run] (5.73/10)

The Thwomp King (4.5/10)

You take one of the hardest stars in SMG, and you do a nice job at revamping it. Bouldergeist was my favorite boss in that game, so I was excited to see this revival of him with lava. You have a nice palette choice with the graphics and a solid atmosphere overall. Using the dare devil music was smart as well as the Bouldergeist theme song. Coin placement was pretty solid. Introducing wall jumping was pretty creative, but it felt limited to what you could do; it was very unforgiving if you were next to a pipe or other object where you don’t need to wall jump. I personally found it easier to just wall jump on one side as well the whole time too. The gameplay was pretty smooth throughout besides the wall jumping. The level generates a good challenge for the player, but has its fair share of flaws. It was excessive having the three fireball snifits right in front of the door though; besides that most NPC placement was pretty good. The biggest issue with this level comes from the second half. It gets very tedious and frustrating collecting the launch star pieces to most likely die during the boss fight. The repetition gets very aggravating with the daredevil run, more than it should. The spikes blend to easily during the boss fight as well so it’s easy to overlook them as scenery when dodging everything. The boss itself was creative, but I found it kind of annoying when I died jumping on a boo to grab it sometimes. I assume they can’t be jumped on, so don’t let the jumping harm the player too. Overall a decent level with a handful of things that make the level too unforgiving and repetitive to the point of frustration.

ProngoKingdom (8/10)

Welcome to hell the galaxy! This level gave off some challenge especially in the first half. The sniper snifits were a creative idea and the enemy variety in general is neat too. Walljumping to collect star chips was also a pretty cool function with LunaLua, but what I really like with this level is the tension. The level was obviously made to resemble Super Mario Galaxy's Daredevil Comets and I think it does the job pretty well without going overboard. The boss battle on the other hand, isn't exactly what I'd say is the best thing about the level. Mostly because there's a spot you can camp out in between the boss and the wall which leaves you free from any dangers that appear, but I liked the concept of throwing the bomb boos at him like in SMG. I love the presentation for this level too, the forest and cave blend works very well and the SMW style never gets old. Overall, I found this level very enjoyable if verrrrry challenging. (Trust me, you won't actually believe how many times the first snifit killed me.)

PROX (4/10)

This level had its share of clever ideas. I liked the wall jump mechanic although it did cause some unnecessary deaths at times. There were times where I would hug the wall and completely forget about the mechanic and I would jump off and end up running into something. It's my fault though, so I won't take off for that. What really bugged me was at the end after you collect the pieces and die to the boss, you have to recollect the pieces all over again which is a huge pain. Especially since you can only get hit once. The boss itseld needs improvement. After hitting the boss once, the spikes that appear blend in to the BGOs making it really hard to distinguish between them. Also I would try to avoid the exclamation warnings by standing where the boss once stood and it spawned on me and killed me. Also before the checkpoint I would constantly have to select the star over and over again after dying each time which got old really fast. The intro was a cool feature, but it has its share of problems as well. This was a nice attempt, but this level was not only tedious, but incredibly hard as well. One thing that could fix this level would be having a second checkoint after the launch star piece section. Also those fire snifits were a massive
pain to deal with as well.

Linik (6.4/10)

Interesting. In this one, the player has to clear the level without taking any damage or they will die, and there are no powerups. This level appears to be built around this idea and the walljumping gimmick was interesting, but it's a bit annoying when trying to handle it because the player still sticks to the wall instead of bouncing off. The level, while a little on the short side, starts off with an OK-ish difficulty but as the player enters the cave it seems to spike considerably as there are unfamiliar enemies to contend with, and I liked the inclusion of the fetch quest, requiring the player to actually explore the section. The boss fight at the end was quite fun to play, having to actually grab the Boos to toss at the boss, but it's hard to see the spikes because they blend in with the background. But overall, the level was quite fun to play even though it borders on very difficult at points.

6. Camacho - Overheated Macabre (6.35/10)

The Thwomp King (4.5/10)

Wow this is a beautiful level! The graphics are astonishing and the music is excellent too. You really nail the atmosphere, but I’ll go to say you nailed it too much. By that I mean you over do it with too much decoration and some decoration that doesn’t make logical sense like having too many bushes and trees in a mansion for example; I think you could have some of them stay to show overgrowth, but don’t push it too far. I’ll kick this issue out of the way that I instantly noticed, you spoil a lot of what’s to come in the level through the sign in the beginning. This isn’t always a bad thing to do, but there other approaches to it, like maybe have an actual character NPC talk about how there are fake blocks to watch for. With the fake blocks, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change their color tone a little bit so they don’t camouflage perfectly; maybe have them be slightly lighter than the standard blocks. Anyway through my experience with games and many levels, part of the fun is discovering certain gimmicks on my own without being informed ahead of time, yet you feel you have to inform the player of each thing and that kills part of the fun. I appreciate the thought, but please consider trying this in future levels so the player can have as much fun discovering as they are traveling. You also continue generously giving the player too many powerups at once. It’d be okay if the powerups came gradually in the level rather than continuously slapping two or so at the player at certain points. The gameplay is nice, but this honestly feels like your other levels where you have miniature areas with gimmicks where they’re underutilized. This level would be much better if it had fewer gimmicks that the level devoted itself to rather than a dozen that last for a moment.

I know that’s a lot right there, so I’ll cut to the chase more. With you repeating so many things in other levels, I can’t have that really affect your score entirely because this is about the level you submitted. So the level is pretty fun overall, and you do a good job with some of the tricks and traps implemented that do make this level stand out from the rest of your levels. Some platforms are a little glitchy which can be pretty frustrating as well. NPC spam is there, and the fake blocks need more space since it’s way too cramped for the player to safely get past without narrowly dodging or getting hit every time. Overall the level had some brilliant ideas, but there’s a lot that prevents it from getting a higher score.

If I can make one more suggestion, READ THESE REVIEWS. I respect you as a designer and a friend, but seriously there are so many of us offering advice to you, and you continue to generally ignore most of it from what it feels like.

PixelPest (4.2/10)

I really did not enjoy this level. Although its length was good, it was a total mess. A lot of the BGOs didn’t make sense with their placement (bushes inside a ghost house, etc.) and the NPCs were a whole other issue. And it’s always the SAME ISSUES WITH THIS CREATOR EVERY SINGLE CONTEST: too many gimmicks that are rarely used, too many NPCs introduced at the beginning, and an overworked atmosphere. Specific to this level, the moving (bouncing) platforms were incorporated poorly and could kill the player if they jump at the wrong time which is kind of frustrating. Other than that, most of my other reviews for this user’s levels say the same things every time so I’m not going to go any farther with this review since it seems kind of pointless to do so.

PROX (8.5/10)

This level was beautiful! The atmosphere in this level was crazy. It wasn't really lava themed, but it had lava in it so I'll let it slide. The layer attachment gimmick was pretty clever and the lua usage in this level really made things unique. I did find some of the changes in the level to be a bit unnecessary such as the mushroom shrinking down, but for the most part, it really did wonders as far as a spooky atmosphere. The fake block gimmick could have been done better. It was really tricky to avoid, and it was super abrupt. Yes you told me it existed, but you failed to indicate it very well. Also when you go under it, you have very little time to react to it. I found myself having to go over it instead. There is another area where you have to wait for a platform to appear while constantly avoiding roto disks. It was pretty annoying to deal with. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this level. Very well done!

Linik (8.2/10)

OK, no words can help me now. This level was just amazing, and it was incredibly atmospheric, combining the lava setting with the ghost house setting. What I loved about this level was while it looked like and tried to be a ghost house level, it still retained its core as a lava level. As well as this, the level tried to be ambitious with its gimmick choices, because there are several different ones strewn across the level, such as Podoboo-controlled platforms and platforms attached to falling platforms that the player can "push" down. The sudden changes to things as the player approaches them were a neat concept (was this inspired by my CC11 level?) taken further with the static effect as the player travels between sections. However, certain problems are masked by the scenery and atmosphere. There are too many powerups given away, too many gimmicks in the level to the point it can get confusing, and certain parts are over-decorated. It's not about the custom graphics, it's about how you use them. But still, this level is really good.

5. YokoAnashiwa - Fiery Ruins (6.5/10)

The Thwomp King (6.5/10)

A nice attempt is made in establishing a great volcanic environment. However some graphics don’t fit into this level like the bone beetle’s effect when it gets hit and the spinies don’t fit in either. The fireball blaster is kinda messy when it spawns a rinka npc that chases the player. Instead the fireball should still shoot straight forward, or you could find another way to utilize the fireball. So the music is a nice touch to this level and the overall setting is pretty good. The general design of the level is pretty solid and there’s enough going on that keeps the player entertained while not overwhelming the player with too many gimmicks. The bonus room is a big letdown as there’s hardly anything there to get while you nearly die trying to get two coins. The climbing rocks were a nice touch, and I wish there was a way to make scaling down them more interesting. The boss was a let down as it was just a boom-boom followed by a boom-boom. Overall this is a pretty good level.

PixelPest (5.8/10)

Not a bad level, but it didn’t do much great either. One of the biggest issues with this level is aesthetics; it mixes some styles that don’t look good together, the Bony Beetles have the wrong effects, and the Fire Blasters are very poorly done (the palette for the blaster itself looks wrong and the spawning of them is very messy). This level also lacks good coin placement. The boss battle wasn’t anything special either: just a normal AI Boom Boom which really didn’t advance this level any further by respawning.

PROX (7/10)

The design was really solid. The difficulty was fine, and the level was polished. I also liked the npc variety in this
level as well. The level always seemed to introduce something new, and it really keeps the player interested. The atmosphere was fantastic and I really like the graphical choice. There were a few areas that I didn't really care for such as the bomb part. It involves waiting around and it really kills the mood in a sense. Thankfully it wasn't repeated, so that's not really a big problem. The dry bone part where you have to break the blocks confused me as well mainly because dry bones came out of the pipes rather than koopas. I realize that you recolored the dry bones red to help the player differentiate between the two, but it was still a tad confusing. It was mainly my fault though, so it's not that big of a deal. The boom boom boss was pretty repetitive and it really didn't need another form. At least there were hazards on the stage so it kept things a little interesting. Overall, the level was fun.
Good work!

Linik (6.7/10)

This had some pretty solid design, and a good layout to boot. There was some interesting ideas going for this level, such as destroying blocks with a Fire Flower and using Bob-ombs to destroy bombable blocks, and the fireball Bill Blasters are a great concept despite only replacing the Rinkas. I couldn't agree any more with your tileset choice and decoration, as it brings out the feeling of abandoned ruins very well. The boss at the end though - a standard Boom Boom fight - was a bit of a letdown though after such a good level and there doesn't seem to be a challenge aspect to it, even though it is fought twice, involves Rinka dodging and there are spikes on the battlefield. It thus seems as though it was only shoehorned in at the last moment just to lengthen the second half. That, plus the fact that the checkpoint is also placed too close to the boss, is a marker of how long and tedious the first half is in comparison to the second half. However, it still keeps its charm as a good level.

4. RudeGuy07 - lava ruins (6.55/10)

The Thwomp King (6.5/10)

This was a very aesthetically pleasing level. The environment is well-constructed together with great music to top it off. Or should I say should be great music because the music files were messed up! I had to look up the actual song online and play the level with that instead, and then the music blends in perfectly. I thought it was very neat having the flames as both obstacles and as part of the environment, it really enhances your level. So great job with creating a dangerous lava atmosphere. Gameplay was also pretty well done. You don’t do anything too crazy with gimmicks, but each one you use is utilized very well. You have plenty of common gimmicks in this level, but you add your own twist to each by using the environment to your advantage to add more fun to them. NPC placement was decent, but there were a couple slip ups scattered throughout. For starters you misplaced the first piranha plant in the level. Aside from that most NPC errors honestly come from spamming in very few areas. It’ll come to a point where the player has to keep watch for a lot of things to avoid getting hurt. Otherwise coin placement is pretty decent with exception to too few coins in the second section. The last two issues I’ve ran into were the random axes appearing and the rising lava being a little too fast. Otherwise I really enjoyed this level. Great job!

PixelPest (7.3/10)

I knew there would be at least one level named “Lava Ruins”. It had an okay atmosphere and some interesting gimmicks that were well-developed. At the beginning, I thought that the fire shooters weren’t incorporated very well since they weren’t really in the player’s path. The first Piranha Plant was also off-centered. The first section was very well-built overall and even though it wasn’t anything special and didn’t have any major gimmicks, the design of it was pretty solid in terms of NPC placement and layout. The second section took a really common gimmick (the downward moving SMW checkered platforms) but did some interesting stuff with it that was really fun to play. There was a good variety with the obstacles used, however this section could have used a few more coins. The axes going into the third section weren’t invisible which was a small issue, but not a big problem. Another overused gimmick was used in this section as well: using bombs to break through walls. However again, this gimmick was developed and used different obstacles of increasing difficulty to keep it intriguing. At the end of this section though, I thought that the lava rose unreasonably fast for the obstacles the player was required to avoid. I quite enjoyed this level due to its method of taking overused gimmicks and making them interesting, however the main issue I found throughout it was that there wasn’t a consistent spread of power-ups.

PROX (5/10)

To start things off, I will say that there were some clever aspects to this level. For one, that lava gimmick
at the end was clever after bombing the area and letting the area fill up with lava. I do think the lava
was too fast though. The level was great aesthetically as well. It really captures the atmosphere very nicely.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, the level was just insane. There was so much going on at once that it really
overwhelms the player. I found myself dodging 5 different things at once in certain situations. I would really tone
down the npc amount. The area where you have to move down a platform was especially difficult mainly because of how many hazards you have to dodge such as that one sparky area where you have to constantly avoid 2 sparkies while gradually letting the platform fall. There were some flame jets that were placed in really inconvenient places as well such as the one next to the bomb and the one next to the mushroom block. Also the music file didn't work at all so that kinda killed the experience for me as well. It was a good attempt and I can really see the effort being put in, but it needs a lot of work.

Linik (7.4/10)

I don't know if this is just me or not, but your music files aren't working. Other than that, this is a good level, combining the ruins and the cave tilesets in a lava setting, and the two actually work very well together. The lava spurts are an interesting concept maintained throughout the level, used in conjunction with other level ideas that I liked, such as the falling platforms and having to blast your way through walls using bombs; the former actually worked pretty well and required a bit of thought as to when to stop the platform. However, the Piranha Plants are a little off-centre, suggesting that the level was made only in PGE and not corrected in the legacy editor. You also forgot to make the axes invisible, and also, please stop using the SMW Bowser statues; they have a glitchy hitbox and you can get hit by standing on top of them.

2. bossedit8 - 7-4 Blue Lava Seas (7.28/10)

The Thwomp King (7.5/10)

This level reminds me a lot of the blue lava level in SM3DW, which I’m assuming is the level this level is based on anyway. I must say for being heavily inspired from it, it sure is well done in many ways. For starters the music and graphics help establish the dangerous lava atmosphere with the palette creating a more somber feeling to it.. The moving blocks that pop out of the lava were a solid gimmick, but I honestly thought there could’ve been more to them to keep them interesting. At the very least maybe make them go up and done a tad bit faster so the player doesn’t end up waiting too long. With the enemy killing segment, I honestly think you should either add more segments of this earlier in this level or take it out and use the gimmick in another level. It’s a good idea, but it feels unnecessary when you have it appearing once at the end of the level. NPC and coin placement was pretty good at least with a fair amount of difficulty thrown in there to challenge the player in a relatively fair way. The bonus room and green stars were also a nice touch to this level that helped enhance the gameplay which was great already. The only other issue I noticed was the use of giving the player leaves and tanooki suits. It’s too easy for the player to simply fly through a vast majority of the level where they could miss out on dealing with the gimmicks and such. Otherwise this is a solid level overall.

PixelPest (7/10)

This was quite a good level. It had a really nice atmosphere and the blue and gray palette used consistently throughout the level had a relaxing and somewhat somber effect on the overall mood. The gimmick of the moving platforms was coordinated quite well throughout the level and had some interesting variety as it was worked in with different lava shapes and an assortment of NPCs. Although the placement of enemy NPCs throughout the level was pretty good, I didn’t like the way coins were placed and thought that giving the player Leafs (and a Tanooki Suit in the secret area) was a very bad choice. The level’s layout is very flat and allows the player to soar over most of it without any resistance due to a high ceiling or none at all. I was able to bypass most of this level easily and completed it in pretty close to a minute because of this. Secret stars had excellent placement though and were a good extra challenge. One other thing I had an issue with was the enemy killing gimmick that was added right at the end of the level. It was a cool idea, but I thought it wasn’t really needed and kind of took away from the level a bit due to its brief and unneeded usage. I also didn’t think the music was a good choice.

PROX (7.5/10)

I really enjoyed this level. That rising platform gimmick was pretty clever. I also like the way you
incorporated the secret stars in this level as well. The level had loads of npc variety. It also had a very polished gameplay and always built up on the gimmick that the level was focused on. That last part where you had to dodge lava and navigate though those platforms was very entertaining. The level always seemed to keep me on my toes without it being excessively difficult. Great work with this one.

Linik (7.1/10)

Now this is a lava level we don't see every day. This time the lava is blue instead of our traditional red, and I enjoyed playing the level, somewhat reminding me a little of Lethal Lava Land from SM64 with the Bullies. The main gimmick with the rising and falling platforms and having to use them to proceed was neatly executed and featured throughout. The level was a bit overdecorated at parts though, especially at the end of the second section, as there are too many pillars, and enemy gauntlet at the end was a nice idea but it was placed too late into the level, suggesting that it was only done for padding. This therefore highlights a problem concerning the level's length, but it's still good nonetheless, it just needed a bit more expansion.

2. RoundPiplup - Further Into The Hatred Lavafield (7.28/10)

The Thwomp King (8/10)

Not a fan of the name honestly. You do an excellent job with a lot of your design in this level. The atmosphere was awesome with the music and graphics you utilized, there wasn’t much NPC spam, coin distribution was fair, and you distribute power ups fairly too. Layers were utilized well too. On top of that the length of this level was really great as well. Even though there wasn’t really NPC spam, some of your placement was questionable with the hammer bros and lotuses in particular locations that make it more difficult than necessary to get past. You kept the gameplay consistent throughout by keeping things interesting. The level never felt repetitive. For the most part I wasn’t bored at all, but there were a few areas that require some waiting which can be tedious. Otherwise the overall difficulty was fair, especially if this is a world 8 level in an episode you’re working on. Great job with this level!

PixelPest (7.4/10)

This level was quite well done overall. Power-ups were spread out nicely and it was a great length too. However, the first main issue with this level was how much it made the player wait. In some spots, I thought it was a little bit unnecessary since I was wondering, “Am I supposed to be here? Is something missing? Should I turn around...oh! There’s the platform.” The second issue was regarding the amount of moving space. It was a good challenge, but at some points there were just a few too many enemies for the player to get by. There could have been a few more coins as well. The atmosphere in this level was also great and wasn’t overworked which was nice to see.

PROX (7.5/10)

I liked this level. It had a perfect world 8 difficulty and the gameplay was very polished. I like the use of the moving layers in this level. The level wasn't repetitive at all which is awesome. I loved the variety of challenges. Aesthetically, the level is beautiful and the atmosphere is really fitting. I will say that this level did frustrate me, and there are some npc placements that I didn't exactly agree with such as a few hammer bro and volcano lotus locations. Aside from that, this level was really well done. Good work!

Linik (6.2/10)

Guys, it looks like Never Ending Snow Dream got a sequel...and this time, it's not a dream! But then again, we are seeing really good design, especially with the lava formations and the intriguing layout of the level, and the idea of a story being told through the level is great, but doesn't have any impact on the rest of the level. The rising and falling lava was a neat idea, as was hiding a bonus room above the section boundaries, only that it's not apparent to the player so they wouldn't expect to look up there. Unfortunately, the level still suffers from the same issues that its predecessor suffered from. This includes too much enemy spam, especially when movement is hindered due to lava being all over the place, and thus the level becomes a nightmare if you lose your powerup, which fortunately are distributed rather fairly for such a hard level.

1. litchh - Cool SMB3 Volcano (7.48/10)

The Thwomp King (8/10)

Wow what astonishing music! The music fits well with this level really adding intensity while playing through it. Some bgos would’ve been nice to make the level less barren, but the level remains visually pleasing on both hot and cold fronts. Hot and cold is a kinda common theme, but your idea with the freezing blocks is brilliant. More could’ve been done, but it all still works well. Coin placement was kinda inconsistent and NPC placement was pretty good. An issue running into this level is it can be pretty difficult with the amount of projectiles you have spraying all over the place at times. I’d add a little more time to generators and cut some of the projectile shooting NPCs. The rising lava section was pretty suspenseful too, so slow that down a tad bit as well. Otherwise this level was brilliantly designed with a great atmosphere, and overall fun gameplay. Excellent job!

PixelPest (8/10)

What a great level. This was definitely my favourite. It had a great gimmick which evolved a bit throughout the level, although I wish more had been done with it since it had a lot of potential. The layout was simple yet effective, however some places lacked coins. The one main issue I had with this level, besides coin placement, was the spawn frequency of some of the projectiles; it just seemed a little much. Overall this level was quite well done.

PROX (5.5/10)

I like the gimmick that this level uses such as freezing the volcano up to progress and collect things. It's a neat
idea. The gameplay is pretty solid and the npcs were placed well. The atmosphere was alright but I do find the level
to be pretty barren. There needs to be more bgos in this level. The music works I guess. Touhou music always seems to work lol. The level gets kind of tricky at the end especially that area where the lava rises.Not only to you have to
hurry, but you have snifits and hammer bros to deal with as well. There are also parts where there are projectiles flying all over the place. Yes you can avoid them by freezing the place up, but if you run out of time, it's very difficult to get through it. I would ease up on all the projectile enemies in this level. I found it incredibly difficult to navigate through certain areas such as the skull raft part. Aside from all that, the level wasn't bad.

Linik (8.4/10)

Despite the fact that there were barely any background objects, what it makes up for is in the masterful design and gimmick use. The level features its main gimmick which somewhat takes a cue from Dreamy Mount Pajamaja in Dream Team, where the player must hit switches to freeze the entire cave and solidify the lava, causing new paths to open or stop deluges of fireballs raining down on the player. While an interesting gimmick on its own, what made it shine was the fact it had a global effect on the level, instead of a section, almost encouraging backtracking at parts to see what is changed in previous sections. The miniboss "dodge challenge" is a neat addition, as are other ideas such as racing against rising lava and manipulating lava flows to open new paths, all while maintaining the main fire/ice gimmick as the main one so it doesn't take too much prominence. Now that is how you use a gimmick and properly feature it. Weirdly though, when the level is ice, the fire-based enemies are still there like the Pansers.