Depths of the Jungle (Update 3)

[Chip Potato]

legendtony's SMB3 recolor pack has a recolored Hoopster and vines for you to use.

[Man1234FK]

legendtony's SMB3 recolor pack has a recolored Hoopster and vines for you to use.

Oh it does? Well, i'll check that later. I just recolored the hoopsters but thanks for letting me know!

[Imaynotbehere4long]

-The jungle goombas no more have 1x1 pixels in them.

Spoiler: show

LIES!!The Goombas' bandanas are still 1x1! Speaking of sprite errors, the Koopas don't have mask sprites, meaning their bandanas are transparent.

Anyway, my review:

So the level starts off well enough decent sprite swaps and fitting music, but then you have harmful brambles in the level. Not only do the brambles blend in with the scenery too well for the player to really notice them (they don't even look hazardous; the brambles just look like flower buds), but you also never place them in spots where it's obvious that they're supposed to be a hazard; they always just seem like decoration (even LFFTMK knew not to do that!). Until further notice, every single bramble placement in this level is terrible and they should all be removed or turned into decoration. As a side note, I noticed that you used normal blocks to swap the platforms with bramble-bottoms and swapped an invisible Jelectro for the harmful parts, and it's this that caused Choco's glitch. I recommend having the platforms sprite-swap downward-facing spikes instead, assuming you can find a way to make the brambles intuitive (if not, just remove the Jelectros).

Speaking of unintuitive things, the only thing in this level that I could legitimately call a gimmick are the blocks that disappear and reveal a secret when the player gets near them. However, there's hardly anything to differentiate these areas from normal walls/ceilings, so the player has no way of where these secrets are, or even that they're there in the first place (especially if the only way to reach it is by activating and jumping on otherwise unindicated invisible blocks). I recommend taking a page from Yoshi's Island and making sunken, jagged versions of the tile-set's border.

Also, like Choco mentioned before, the pipe next to the Venus Fire Trap is positioned so that when the player exits the other side, it can be difficult to avoid the fireball. On top of this, the only point to that area is to get a key, which can then be taken into the other pipe in that room which practically leads straight to where the key-wall is. There's so little required of the player to bring the key to the key-wall that the pipe next to the Venus Fire Trap might as well lead straight into the cave section. If you want to have a part where the player needs a key, you need to make sure that the part of the level where the player brings the key to its necessary location actually adds something to the level; otherwise, it's pointless.

Lastly, the midpoint is placed a bit too far into the level. It should be right before the cave section instead of about three screens afterward (just rearrange where the warps lead and remove that wall between warp 4 and 7).

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphics aren't terrible.
-Music fits the level well.
-General block and NPC placement is okay.

BAD:
-Relatively unintuitive secrets.
-Extremely unintuitive brambles.
-Erroneous claim that 1x1 pixels have been removed from the Goombas.
-The Goombas have 1x1 pixels.
-The Koopas' transparent bandanas.
-Pointless key sequence (the room that the key is in is also pointless since the NPCs that are there can easily and quickly be killed with the key, not that it matters since the player can get the key and enter the pipe just as quickly).
-Venus Fire Trap's fireball trap.
-Misplaced midpoint.

In conclusion:
Just like Choco before me, the previous reviewer missed a few problems with the level. However, despite the numerous flaws with the level, it's still enjoyable. I'd say this deserves a 6/10.

[Man1234FK]

Spoiler: show

-The jungle goombas no more have 1x1 pixels in them.

LIES!!The Goombas' bandanas are still 1x1! Speaking of sprite errors, the Koopas don't have mask sprites, meaning their bandanas are transparent.


Anyway, my review:

So the level starts off well enough decent sprite swaps and fitting music, but then you have harmful brambles in the level. Not only do the brambles blend in with the scenery too well for the player to really notice them (they don't even look hazardous; the brambles just look like flower buds), but you also never place them in spots where it's obvious that they're supposed to be a hazard; they always just seem like decoration (even LFFTMK knew not to do that!). Until further notice, every single bramble placement in this level is terrible and they should all be removed or turned into decoration. As a side note, I noticed that you used normal blocks to swap the platforms with bramble-bottoms and swapped an invisible Jelectro for the harmful parts, and it's this that caused Choco's glitch. I recommend having the platforms sprite-swap downward-facing spikes instead, assuming you can find a way to make the brambles intuitive (if not, just remove the Jelectros).

Speaking of unintuitive things, the only thing in this level that I could legitimately call a gimmick are the blocks that disappear and reveal a secret when the player gets near them. However, there's hardly anything to differentiate these areas from normal walls/ceilings, so the player has no way of where these secrets are, or even that they're there in the first place (especially if the only way to reach it is by activating and jumping on otherwise unindicated invisible blocks). I recommend taking a page from Yoshi's Island and making sunken, jagged versions of the tile-set's border.

Also, like Choco mentioned before, the pipe next to the Venus Fire Trap is positioned so that when the player exits the other side, it can be difficult to avoid the fireball. On top of this, the only point to that area is to get a key, which can then be taken into the other pipe in that room which practically leads straight to where the key-wall is. There's so little required of the player to bring the key to the key-wall that the pipe next to the Venus Fire Trap might as well lead straight into the cave section. If you want to have a part where the player needs a key, you need to make sure that the part of the level where the player brings the key to its necessary location actually adds something to the level; otherwise, it's pointless.

Lastly, the midpoint is placed a bit too far into the level. It should be right before the cave section instead of about three screens afterward (just rearrange where the warps lead and remove that wall between warp 4 and 7).

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphics aren't terrible.
-Music fits the level well.
-General block and NPC placement is okay.

BAD:
-Relatively unintuitive secrets.
-Extremely unintuitive brambles.
-Erroneous claim that 1x1 pixels have been removed from the Goombas.
-The Goombas have 1x1 pixels.
-The Koopas' transparent bandanas.
-Pointless key sequence (the room that the key is in is also pointless since the NPCs that are there can easily and quickly be killed with the key, not that it matters since the player can get the key and enter the pipe just as quickly).
-Venus Fire Trap's fireball trap.
-Misplaced midpoint.

In conclusion:
Just like Choco before me, the previous reviewer missed a few problems with the level. However, despite the numerous flaws with the level, it's still enjoyable. I'd say this deserves a 6/10.

Oh god i didn't even realize that about the goombas or koopas! I guess i'm still a noob at making graphics. I'll fix most of the flaws ASAP, and i'll probably ask for a re-review after that since i really like this level myself. Sorry for the false claims