Super Mario Bros. X Forums

ElectriKing (3/10)
So this level was not very consistent. I felt there were too many ideas being put in for 1 level and that none of them get to mature. There were also some really unfun sections in the level. The area with that grey circle was just trash thanks that thing. It just comes in out of nowhere and returns without warning. Often I will jump and he moves and kills me in an unfair manner. Then there is that are where you have to stomp falling goomba like things with the shoe to make fireballs that melt the ice. This is not clever at all and just annoying. And then there is that flying shoe section with the snowflakes. It is just a pain in the ass to get through, especially the part with the nipper plants who send you up towards the flashing snowflakes. The level has creative concepts within it. However the fact you use so many of them meant you did not use them creatively and to their full potential. It is often a bad idea to cram so many mechanics into 1 level as it causes confusion and they are just wasted. It is often best to use only 1 or 2 ideas in a level and use the level to explore these. Often with lots of mechanics and concepts in a single level, the level ends up being a mess like this one. The level’s aesthetics are OK. There are no cut-offs and I don’t have an issue with BGO placement however I dislike the GFXs for the hammer bros and coins, as they clash with the SMW tileset. And the level is like nothing like the original. If I played the original then this, I would have no idea that this was supposed to be a remake.
Quality = 3/7; Similarity = 0/3; Total = 3/10

Pixelpest (4.1/10)
This level didn’t really stick to the feel of the original level and went off on a lot of random tangents by making the player go through various sections with different boots; it just wasn’t fun though. There really wasn’t anything good memorable in this level and it wasn’t enjoyable as it dragged on for a long time without having much to offer. Not all of the graphics fit very well and there were a lot of random difficulty spikes, including somewhat blind precision jumps and tight passageways. The flow of the level was also broken up frequently by a large number of warps. Although it was much less linear than the first level it was about just as engaging as overall it just dragged on for too long and didn’t have any creative ideas/gimmicks going on. It more played as an elongated tutorial on how to use boots.
Quality = 2.6/7; Similarity – 1.5/3; Total – 4.1/10

S1eth (1/10)
This level plays very differently from the original, and the only elements it shares with it are block and tree sprites. What I noticed very early is that pipes don't lead to where you would expect them to.
The top left part of the first section is revealed a little bit right at the start with the shoe jump, and another time near the pipe leading into the coin cave. It looks like a secret area, but there is no way to enter it from any wall, ceiling or warp close by. Instead, that part is shoved "inside" the long pipe leading to the underground checkpoint, which makes very little sense.
The first cave you enter is a typical SMW cave decorated with bushes and trees and has a single friendly Koopa walking towards you, however, the second cave with the same appearance has a single enemy Dry Bones walking towards the player. I almost got hit trying to talk to it.
The "Angry Moon" enemy in section 3 is bugged. It won't move vertically while on screen. Instead, it moves to the right, off screen, and pops back in just to sit in the middle of the screen for a few seconds.
The huge difficulty spike after the second checkpoint was unexpected.
I wasn't sure what the secret "Shadowstar" sign was supposed to mean? Do you want the player to cheat? And if yes, to skip the rest of the level? Or go through the wall to the left where an invisible Link block is hidden? I would have never found that block without the help of the editor, because you cannot even bonk invisible blocks while in shadowstar mode.
That said, I figured it out, and I am very relieved that "Upset Stomach Diarrhea ;3.ogg" does not actually exist in the level folder. That said, I did not appreciate that section's vivid background and deadly level exit.
Minor nitpick: The black nipper sprite is a blurry mess without eyes.
Quality = 1/7 ; Similarity = 0/3; Total = 1/10

TheDinoKing (3.5/10)
Very different from the original, and even got rid of the ice physics. This level has the opposite problem that the original had. While the original level was very rompy and boring, this level had lots of ideas that wasn't executed well. For example the angry moon felt like it was there just to have a gimmick. There's plenty of moments that should have been removed, such as the spin jump on the jumping piranha plant or melt the ice block parts. These parts aren't interesting challenges and can be an unwinnable situation depending if the player has the fire flower or not. The shoes are the only parts the level that isn't a one off thing, and the level doesn't do much with them. The secret exits need a mention for being utterly pointless.
Quality = 2.5/7; Similarity = 1/3; Total = 3.5/10

Overall: Quality = 2.28/7; Similarity = 0.63/3; Total = 2.9/10

Mr Briney (6.5/10)
It's a ghost house, so it would be better to add a puzzle in it. You still retain the straightforward gameplay of this. But you manage to make the Dragon Coins collection a little bit harder to make it rewarding to risk.
You just remove some unnecessary blocks and NPCs, move the Dragon Coins, and made it less cramped. So, I recognized it easily.
Quality = 3.62/7; Similarity = 2.88/3; Total = 6.5/10

ElectriKing (6.7/10)
The level was not really special. It did not really try anything new. It was a rather challenging level regardless and it was fun. I did not find any cheap deaths or unfair traps etc. There is not really a huge amount of creativity. I already said that it did not do anything new. It felt like a normal level skinned as a ghost house. You could have added a few maze elements within the layout given or as an added section within or after what was already given, for example, which would make it more like a true ghost house. There are no cut-offs but The level felt empty at times. There should have been more BGOs to fill the level in. Yes, there were some nice use of BGOs but they should be a bit more of them. And the layout of this version almost matches up perfectly with the original, but you have stilled made the effort to change a few things up.
Quality = 3.7/7; Similarity to the original level = 3/3; Total = 6.7/10

Pixelpest (4.1/10)
Barely different from the original; congrats! You copy and paste! If anything it’s probably worse as well. Not only is it more bland but it’s less visually appealing with the same unfitting BGOs and more clumped coins than the original. Its also very tight, from the low ceilings, and the placement of enemies is relatively unintuitive. Absolutely no creativity or effort was evident in this and while at the same time as not fixing any of the flaws in the original it added more.
Quality = 1.1/7; Similarity = 3/3; Total = 4.1/10

TheDinoKing (4/10)
This level does do a good job of showing what's wrong with my rubric. While this level does have some minor improvement in level design and BGO placement, it's just as repetitive as the original. It ignored the main issue with the level but focused on the minor details, which is a shame since just cutting the level's length in half would have been a major improvement.
Quality = 1/7; Similarity = 3/3; Total = 4/10

Overall: Quality = 2.36/7; Similarity = 2.97/3; Total = 5.3/10

ElectriKing (5.9/10)
This was an average level at best. The level was fun but it was only a generic level overall and it did not really do anything new. There were moving parts in the level but they don't really do anything to innovate the level, and the first moving part at the start felt pointless to me. In terms of creativity, the level did nothing special or original that stuck out to me. The moving parts were the most attention grabbing aspects of the level but you did not try much to innovate or use them in creative ways. There is not much else to say about creativity. Aesthetics were not exactly good either, and were probably worse than the original version. The first thing I notice is cut-offs. They are everywhere. They are found at all the corners of the ground and ceiling, which makes it look bad. BGOs are OK. The level does resembles the original and the layout is mostly the same, with the notable differences being the moving parts and the removal of blocks as well as a ceiling. However, the ceiling gave me a hard time trying to make out that the improved level was simila to the original.
Quality = 3.4/7; Similarity = 2.5/3; Total = 5.9/10

Pixelpest (6.1/10)
A pretty boring level that tried to do some interesting stuff with moving layers...that just really wasn’t that interesting. The level lacked polish graphically and its feel was significantly different than the original level despite its few references in terms of its design to it and the fact that it was also a wood level. It seemed to grind on for a very long time and not try to do anything valuable with the gimmick it kind of had, which was investigated in a pretty shallow manner overall. Placement of the dragon coins wasn’t very good as they were very easy and pretty much in the player’s line of movement, except for the first one which as Mario required the player to get a mushroom and then backtrack. Overall there wasn’t anything outrageously bad about the level, just nothing very memorable or enjoyable.
Quality = 4.1/7; Similarity = 2/3; Total = 6.1/10

TheDinoKing (6.5/10)
This was an okay level. I liked how you attempted to make this level more interesting with the moving layers. Unfortunately, you don't do much with it and the level design is kinda generic. Dragon coins placement was decent as it rewarded players who wanted an additional challenge without making it tedious. Overall, the biggest problem with this level is the lost potential as it could have done much more with its gimmick.
Quality = 4.5/7; Similarity = 2/3; Total = 6.5/10

Overall: Quality = 4/7; Similarity = 2.27/3; Total = 6.2/10

ElectriKing (6/10)
So the level in general was fun, and the circling fireballs are unique to the level and help add an extra challenge to the level. Sadly the level is just too short. When I reached the end, I thought is that it? It really needs to be longer. The dragon coins do add an extra layer of challenge and the star being surrounded by the firebars make it a conclusion to the circling firebar concept. This is really creative in the way that you used a level to create a new theme and new concepts with it. The circling firebars are currently something you don’t see often in SMBX, so this does great experimenting with the mechanic. The level generally looks great except for a single bush just before you use the propeller blocks. The level unfortunately strays too far from the original due to the way the layout has changed to go upwards rather than staying at the same level of elevation like the original, and the layout is mostly different even if changed to match the new direction of the layout. However there are still several parts reminiscent of the original, but it would be hard to recognise the level as a remake of the original at first glance.
Quality = 5/7; Similarity to the original level = 1/3 ; Total = 6/10

S1eth (6.5/10)
Big departure from the original level, retaining enemies, but changing the theme radically (darker, grey-redish sky, volcanic), short and sweet, leaves you wanting for more cramped near the end (ghosts, thwomp + fire wheel) flame-thrower propeller block -> changed to propeller block original: just go through and kill all.
This is a big departure from the original level's themes. I wouldn't be able to tell that this is a based on the original Sandy Mountain level. We went to a darker, volcanic environment and switched from a flat area to climbing a mountain/volcano. I will, however, still award this a point for similarity for the use of the propellor block. You went from a fire-shooting-weapon to fire-based hazards in your level. It's a stretch, works well. Some jumps around the contracting and expanding fire wheels felt very scary, but never caused me any issues. Little things such as these jumps that were easier than they look, or just killing some fire-empowered spinies with the shell from above made me enjoy the level quite a bit. My main complaints are just that it ended so quickly, and that the area around the thwomp is pretty cramped. I wasted time luring the boos out to the left because I really didn't feel like dealing with them, the thwomp and the fire wheel at the same time.
The level feels unfinished, and I would've liked to see more done with the fire wheels, since the few jumps around them that did exist felt very rewarding.
Quality = 5.5/7; Similarity = 1/3; Total = 6.5/10

Glitch4 (7.5/10)
It is a mountain level that includes fireballs that spinball around. For additional, they can move forwards next to emeny when it moves. The level starts with an easy challenge, dodging the spinning fireballs. Later there's propeller blocks that used to progress the level. In that screen, where there's fireballs, 2 boos and a Thwomp is kinda hard to pass through, especally when attempting to avoid as small. The dragon coin is also nearly difficult to get, since there is a spiny with spinning fireballs that can likely hit a player when you don't count timing. Overall, this is a good mountain level with some neat fireball concept.
Quality = 6/7; Similarity = 1.5/3; Total = 7.5/10

TheDinoKing (6.5/10)
Here's a level that manages to get a lot of things right. Most of the challenges revolve around the orbitting fireballs and getting more challenging keeping things fresh. Dragon coins placement is good except for the last one. The level has jsut the right length for what it tries to do. My biggest complaint would have to be the pinnacle challenge with the thwomp, it requires such precise timing that it feels unfair not to mention that the boos were uneeded. As for similarity to the original, it does use the propeller block and has the same tileset but that's it. Overall, a fun level.
Quality = 6/7; Similarity = 0.5/3; Total = 6.5/10

Overall: Quality = 5.63/7; Similarity = 1/3; Net Total = 6.6/10; Late Penalty = -0.2; True Total = 6.4/10

Mr Briney (8.1/10)
I love how you made the level full of goombas! Frog Goombas, Lakitu throwing Goombas, and also Hammer Bro that throws Goombas. I also like the goomba sign. But it felt redundant after passing several similar signs. Maybe 2 or 3 is enough. And the mixture of Galoombas and Goombas doesn't look good to me.
The original level has three or more NPCs in it. But in your level you removed the koopas and filled it with Goombas. But you still sticked to the grassland theme.
Quality = 5.87/7; Similarity = 2.23/3; Total = 8.1/10

ElectriKing (7.4/10)
The levels gameplay was pretty good. However nothing special happens. The Lakitu at the end of the level adds an element of surprise so it has that going for it. But otherwise it felt like a standard Mario level, so not there was not really a great amount of creativity. The level in general was fun and did not have anything unfair in it. The aesthetics seem to be perfected. I do not see a single cut-off anywhere and you have not put in too many BGOs and they are not too dense or too sparse. The level has been extended with new areas but the parts in the original very closely resembles the original and it would not be too difficult to see the similarities.
Quality = 4.4/7; Similarity = 3/3; Total = 7.4/10

Pixelpest (6.8/10)
This level thought outside but pressed right up against the box. It took a simple aspect from the first level, Goombas, and went wild introducing a bunch of random types of them. Although they were introduced at good intervals (not all at once) their placement was somewhat unintuitive and seemed very random. It captured the feel of the original level quite well with multiple references to it however it did end up feeling a bit cluttered at times. A few more coins would have made the level feel less bland in other parts. It wasn’t very exciting but it did beef up the original level, only a little bit though.
Quality = 3.8/7; Similarity = 2.8/3; Total – 6.8/10

S1eth (6/10)
Very faithful to the original level.
The original level was a very plain grasslands level with the same platform layout repeated about 6 times in a row, featuring some goombas and koopas as obstacles, with the only real threat being the lakitu at the end, which can either overwhelm you with spiny eggs, or gets killed instantly by a shell. You gave the level an identity by focusing on the goomba enemy type, and at the same time, fixed the problem with Lakitu. Since there are no koopas, he cannot be easily killed, and replacing the spiny eggs with thrown goombas makes him more manageable and matches well with the level's theme.
However, by staying very true to the original, you also kept some of its flaws. Mainly in the second section, platform patterns repeated and level started to drag on, to overstay its welcome. A problem the original level had was the abundance of coin blocks with nothing in them, which left me pretty disappointed. Your level had these blocks filled. With enemies.
After a few of those, I just thought "why bother"? I am being punished when I expected a reward, and as result, I stopped hitting blocks altogether. As for the enemy types, some of them are nicely color coded. You start of with the brown and red goombas, which don't do anything special apart from cliff turning. The jumping rabbit goombas have a nice grey color, and the frog goombas are green, which makes them easily recognizable. On the other hand, the spike goombas were not so obvious, the look the same as the brown/red ones from the start of the level, except they have a green spike which is obscured by the green background.
There is also a small secret cave in the level, but it rewards the player only with 20 coins for finding it. What makes it worse is that those 20 coins are only accessible to Big Mario, so finding that cave did not feel very rewarding.
Quality = 3/7; Similarity = 3/3; Total = 6/10

TheDinoKing (7/10)
An attempt to bring some life into this level with some lively NSMBU music to compliment it. This level does try to use the goombas in many different ways such as a goomba throwing hammer bro. Unfortunately this level does somewhat drag and kinda feel repetitive, but given the source material it was a good try.
Quality = 4/7; Similarity = 3/3; Total = 7/10

Overall: Quality = 4.21/7; Similarity = 2.81/3; Total = 7.0/10;