Story of the Door

[MacheTheFerret]

When we last left our hero, PaperPlayerX, we found him indefinitely procrastinating on a project he made two months ago, and not making any posts whatsoever. However, when a random though occurred in his mind for him to finally do something forum related, he did. This topic was what he did. It proceeded as follows:

So, yea, I finally made a new level that I wanted to share.

Anyways, this is (and most of you at this era should enjoy this) an SMB2 styled level. It has a few differences from the average SMB2 level, such as:
-Higher quality music from the default tracks in SMBX. When you listen to it, you'll feel like you're playing on the SNES again!
-Graphics from the one and only SMB2 Extended Graphics Pack by Sednaiur.
-A talking pokey!
-Bullet spam! Easy and challenging areas, a few secret areas, and a classic-ish boss.
-And even a...a...umm...uhh, that's about it really.

Screenshots:

Spoiler: show

What's an SMB2 Potion Door doing in an SMB3 area? Let's find out!

Reminds you of the good ol' days doesn't it?

Ah, butt-sliding power triumphs again!

Mario waits as the ladybug slowly climbs the tallest tree in the land.

What an interesting room! What could be beyond that door other than...

...a lazily created totally re-imagined version of the Subspace dimension!

This is the interior of a vase. It's a thing.

The cliff-side (where I totally absolutely did NOT use god mode to get a screenshot of)

Remember the bullet spam easy and challenging sections I was talking about? This is one of the challenging ones.

Another Subspace world (but with more coins).

Did you know? Turnips come in small, medium, and extra large!

A mysterious door surrounded by Phantos...where could it lead?

Trivia:
-The name of the level is a reference to the name of the first chapter of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a book by Robert Louis Stevenson.
-Unlike the original SMB2 Subace areas, these Subspace areas are not mirror images of the original areas. They also do not contain super mushrooms, but rather 1-ups. However, like their inspired predecessors, pulling up turnips within these areas make potential coins disappear. This also applies with cherries and even a certain POW-block. Also, the special yellow blocks can appear or disappear out of nowhere between the normal and Subspace worlds.
-Red Yoshi is in the credits file on accident. Not one of his custom graphics appear in the level, but he's in there anyways. Of course, it's obvious that a few of his graphics that he made when he was helping with SMBX are in there (maybe).

Download like:
Story of the Door

[MacheTheFerret]

It's been long enough to the point where I think I need to request a review for this level. Please?

[HeroLinik]

Level Review #16: Story of the Door by PaperPlayerX

Reviewed by castlewars.

Level Design: 8.2/10
This was quite a nice level, and it captured the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 very well. I also liked the way that it started out like a decent SMB3 level but then the player drops into an SMB2 platformer where the remainder of the action takes place. The level was designed very well for the most underused level style and it feels really casual, and there are no sudden peaks for nonlinearity and puzzle-solving, feeling as though it actually did come out of SMB2. There is variety as well, including the player going into a cave and then coming out on a mountain-themed area, as opposed to just plains, which would get boring. The cave section were a bit cramped though, especially at the end as there are two Shy Guys and a Snifit, making the area deadly, but in the overworld this was not the case and the player has a lot of room. The moving clouds in section 7 were quite a nice touch and so were the vases, although one of them at the end of section 3 appears to be out of sight at first, and it's only able to be discovered by a random jump, which can bring about certain death if not done properly. It isn't also clear either that in the same section that there is a sizable directly next to standard blocks and that the player is meant to jump through it, and the area above that is impossible to reach. Even so, if the player finds out and enters the door, they are greeted with a Subspace section, and each one of the Subspace sections looks really authentic and nicely decorated, so well done with that.

Music: 8.85/10
Very authentic music. You can't get any better than this...even the boss battle music stands out as well. It doesn't look promising to start with but it soon becomes epic and surreal to capture the true Birdo boss feeling. However for the other tracks you could have just used the default SMBX music instead of downloading extended versions off the internet. Extended tracks take up too much space and especially in this case, they are direct duplicates of default SMBX music which do nothing but make the folder bigger.

Graphics: 8.3/10
This level is screaming out signs that there's some excellent graphic mastery that's been applied to it, and that is right: you did a very excellent job with the graphics. As stated earlier, this level captures the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 really well, and the graphics have helped with that. The first section, tying in with this, also captured the essence of Super Mario Bros. 3 very well despite being the prelude to the level. It appears as though no other game styles or non-overworld graphics that would clash terribly have been used, so that's a nod to no clashing. The level was really well decorated as well and no sections appear to be really bland to the player, especially section 2, and I liked the use of the tree BGOs to spruce up the sizables area while at the same time not clashing, just like how the first section uses only SMB3 graphics, and this is a sign that the level doesn't have a severe lack of BGOs either. As for cut-offs, there were none in this level whatsoever, even with the heavy decoration, and not too much have been used either to stop the level getting too artificial. The water was a nice touch to the level as well, and I liked how it was coming out of the vases and seeping into another, like the pipe levels of Super Mario Bros. 3. In the boss area the Phantos provided a nice touch as well although not doing much to harm the player, like they did in SMB2. This matter will be further elaborated in the next part of the review.

NPC Placement: 7.25/10
I may be a bit harsh here, but I hated the enemy NPC placement in the level. In many areas it was often overcrowded with Snifits, and I'm especially pointing the finger at where the checkpoint was placed. I wasn't happy with the fact that it was placed right before a hail of Snifits. If the player dies and restarts it will be nearly impossible to get past the Snifits, especially if they wait for too long. In other places enemy overuse becomes a problem as well, especially with the Tweeter overuse in cramped areas. The problem with Tweeters and cramped areas is that the player can be insta-killed if they stand on the Tweeter as it makes its leaps, and one of them hits the ceiling. Despite that, the Shy Guy use is quite all right, and the placement of the vegetables is brilliant. Once again, the way they were placed captures the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 very well, and I liked the fact that 1-Ups were the Subspace reward instead of mushrooms as they're really cheap in SMBX, which plays by SMB3 physics, not SMB2's. Especially, I liked the fact that when the player digs up a coin in Subspace the corresponding vegetable disappears, just like in SMB2. The boss fight was rather classic and reminiscent of the SMB2 boss fights as well, but the Snifits are dangerously placed. They often hinder jumps right when Birdo spits the egg, but if the player isn't upgraded they can just grab the Snifits and toss them at Birdo, making the fight easier and quite short. I would have liked it if Birdo respawned but the Phantos started generating projectiles like Shy Guys and other SMB2 enemies.

Overall Result: 8.15/10 (Level Status: Pretty Good)
Brilliant level, if a little on having too many Snifits. Cut down on the amount of Snifits, spruce up the boss battle, and ease off on the cramped parts of the level, but other than that, you have a really cool level which plays just like SMB2. Good work.

[MacheTheFerret]

Level Review #16: Story of the Door by PaperPlayerX

Spoiler: show

Reviewed by castlewars.

Level Design: 8.2/10
This was quite a nice level, and it captured the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 very well. I also liked the way that it started out like a decent SMB3 level but then the player drops into an SMB2 platformer where the remainder of the action takes place. The level was designed very well for the most underused level style and it feels really casual, and there are no sudden peaks for nonlinearity and puzzle-solving, feeling as though it actually did come out of SMB2. There is variety as well, including the player going into a cave and then coming out on a mountain-themed area, as opposed to just plains, which would get boring. The cave section were a bit cramped though, especially at the end as there are two Shy Guys and a Snifit, making the area deadly, but in the overworld this was not the case and the player has a lot of room. The moving clouds in section 7 were quite a nice touch and so were the vases, although one of them at the end of section 3 appears to be out of sight at first, and it's only able to be discovered by a random jump, which can bring about certain death if not done properly. It isn't also clear either that in the same section that there is a sizable directly next to standard blocks and that the player is meant to jump through it, and the area above that is impossible to reach. Even so, if the player finds out and enters the door, they are greeted with a Subspace section, and each one of the Subspace sections looks really authentic and nicely decorated, so well done with that.

Music: 8.85/10
Very authentic music. You can't get any better than this...even the boss battle music stands out as well. It doesn't look promising to start with but it soon becomes epic and surreal to capture the true Birdo boss feeling. However for the other tracks you could have just used the default SMBX music instead of downloading extended versions off the internet. Extended tracks take up too much space and especially in this case, they are direct duplicates of default SMBX music which do nothing but make the folder bigger.

Graphics: 8.3/10
This level is screaming out signs that there's some excellent graphic mastery that's been applied to it, and that is right: you did a very excellent job with the graphics. As stated earlier, this level captures the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 really well, and the graphics have helped with that. The first section, tying in with this, also captured the essence of Super Mario Bros. 3 very well despite being the prelude to the level. It appears as though no other game styles or non-overworld graphics that would clash terribly have been used, so that's a nod to no clashing. The level was really well decorated as well and no sections appear to be really bland to the player, especially section 2, and I liked the use of the tree BGOs to spruce up the sizables area while at the same time not clashing, just like how the first section uses only SMB3 graphics, and this is a sign that the level doesn't have a severe lack of BGOs either. As for cut-offs, there were none in this level whatsoever, even with the heavy decoration, and not too much have been used either to stop the level getting too artificial. The water was a nice touch to the level as well, and I liked how it was coming out of the vases and seeping into another, like the pipe levels of Super Mario Bros. 3. In the boss area the Phantos provided a nice touch as well although not doing much to harm the player, like they did in SMB2. This matter will be further elaborated in the next part of the review.

NPC Placement: 7.25/10
I may be a bit harsh here, but I hated the enemy NPC placement in the level. In many areas it was often overcrowded with Snifits, and I'm especially pointing the finger at where the checkpoint was placed. I wasn't happy with the fact that it was placed right before a hail of Snifits. If the player dies and restarts it will be nearly impossible to get past the Snifits, especially if they wait for too long. In other places enemy overuse becomes a problem as well, especially with the Tweeter overuse in cramped areas. The problem with Tweeters and cramped areas is that the player can be insta-killed if they stand on the Tweeter as it makes its leaps, and one of them hits the ceiling. Despite that, the Shy Guy use is quite all right, and the placement of the vegetables is brilliant. Once again, the way they were placed captures the essence of Super Mario Bros. 2 very well, and I liked the fact that 1-Ups were the Subspace reward instead of mushrooms as they're really cheap in SMBX, which plays by SMB3 physics, not SMB2's. Especially, I liked the fact that when the player digs up a coin in Subspace the corresponding vegetable disappears, just like in SMB2. The boss fight was rather classic and reminiscent of the SMB2 boss fights as well, but the Snifits are dangerously placed. They often hinder jumps right when Birdo spits the egg, but if the player isn't upgraded they can just grab the Snifits and toss them at Birdo, making the fight easier and quite short. I would have liked it if Birdo respawned but the Phantos started generating projectiles like Shy Guys and other SMB2 enemies.

Overall Result: 8.15/10 (Level Status: Pretty Good)
Brilliant level, if a little on having too many Snifits. Cut down on the amount of Snifits, spruce up the boss battle, and ease off on the cramped parts of the level, but other than that, you have a really cool level which plays just like SMB2. Good work.

Thanks for the review! I do have a few things to say abut it however:
The overwhelming load of Snifits in the cliff section was done on purpose so that the player had to be strategic with their throwing of the giant vegetables, though I do agree that there are too many. I don't really know what you mean when you say it's impossible to get past the Snifits if you die, if you wish to elaborate, please do so. I put the checkpoint right before the Snifit bullet spam area because that part was the hardest of the whole level, and I didn't want to be mean to the player and have him/her have to redo easy parts just to get past that really hard part. The cave section being cramped I agree with, and I may just fix it right now! The reason for the music thing is that I wanted it so sound more like the real soundtrack, rather than a rip placed into SMBX. I made this level without version 1.3.0.1, if you hadn't already figured that out.
I didn't think to have the Birdo respawn or have the Phantos create enemies at the time of creating this level, but IMO it wouldn't have the same original SMB2 boss feel to it. And besides, the Phantos creating enemies would look rather strange, don't you think? Also, the floor you can go through for the Subcon door in the plains section was done that way on purpose. It's a secret after all. Also, which area did you mean to say was impossible to reach? The Subcon door part? Or the secret above it? If you meant the secret ABOVE the Subcon door part, you need to ride the bug/spider things coming out of the vases.
Also, when you mentioned the vegetables and the corresponding coins, you got it mixed up. In SMB2, digging up the vegetables causes corresponding coins to disappear, not the other way around. Digging up the corresponding coins did not affect the vegetables at all.

Again, thanks for the review, castlewars!