Super Mario Bros. X Forums

Hello there! This is my first time to post a level on these forums. It is an old and cracked temple with no outstanding puzzles.
To finish this level, you'll need to press a switch, a key and to collect a highly valuable crystal ball to end the level.
With no further details, here are some screenshots and the download link!

DOWNLOAD:
SHOTSCREENZ:
As for the custom graphics, I collected all the images from different graphic packs such as The SMBX GFX Pack, Sednaiur's SMB3 Expanded GFX Pack and many others (I can't remember xD)
That's all for this level. Have fun!
Any kind of feedback will be fairly appreciated.

The SM Redrawn stuff clashes with the SMB3 stuff, but aside from that, it's ok I guess.

Nickname wrote:The SM Redrawn stuff clashes with the SMB3 stuff, but aside from that, it's ok I guess.

Well I couldn't find anything that could contrast a little better with SMB3 tiles & objects, but I'm glad you've pointed this out. I'll try to plan this better in the future.

Level downloaded, review should come later today.

Turtwig wrote:Level downloaded, review should come later today.

Alright. Enjoy the level.

This level is in a .rar file. I have no way to open these

Very nice level. Looks cool.

Turtwig wrote:This level is in a .rar file. I have no way to open these

I can make a zip download for you.

Turtwig wrote:This level is in a .rar file. I have no way to open these

Get WinRAR or 7zip.

Also in the third screen the Bullet Bill launcher at the bottom has an odd color to it compared to the rest of the launcher.

8bitmushroom wrote:

Turtwig wrote:This level is in a .rar file. I have no way to open these

Get WinRAR or 7zip.

Also in the third screen the Bullet Bill launcher at the bottom has an odd color to it compared to the rest of the launcher.

That... I wanted the bullet bills colour to match the atmosphere's. xD
But I see your point.

dagget10 wrote:Very nice level. Looks cool.

Turtwig wrote:This level is in a .rar file. I have no way to open these

I can make a zip download for you.

That would be nice

MarioMaster7771 wrote:That... I wanted the bullet bills colour to match the atmosphere's. xD
But I see your point.

Generally you should have blocks that connect like that match in palette entirely.

8bitmushroom wrote:Generally you should have blocks that connect like that match in palette entirely.

Noted. The thing is, I did think about doing that but Paint-NET doesn't work on my (crappy) computer. On the other hand, I'm not very comfortable using MS Paint to do this job. :\

My review of Abandoned Desert Temple:

Wow, this is a really good level. Not only is the block placement well done, but NPCs are also varied and placed well. The level design has a small amount of variation and the enemies are placed so that the player has to think about how to proceed, especially the Venus Fire Traps in Section 5. The position of the first Ace coin makes the player think about how to get it. On the other hand, the Ace coin in Section 4 is unintuitive because the player won't think to intentionally sink down into a quicksand pit, especially since you have a sign earlier in the level basically tell the player not to do that. I recommend having a small coin arrow (~6 coins) instead of the coin floor that you have now. Also, the fourth frame of the Ace coins is inaccurate.

Speaking of the signs in the level, they're both pointless. The one that says the player can't swim in quicksand is pointless because the player can jump into the quicksand safely, and the one that says that the door is heavily protected is pointless because the player can easily see that (plus, it lies and says that the player has "quite a way to go" before unlocking the door). Even the message box in Section 6 is pointless since the player can easily figure out that he/she has to kill the enemies in the next section to proceed (plus, it asks if the player wants "to seek salvation for granted," which doesn't make sense).

Speaking of Section 7, that part was quite a let down. Even without the message block, the challenge in Section 5 and the emptiness in Section 6 makes it seem like there's going to be some kind of boss fight in the next section, but no, it's just a Hammer Bro. and a giant Piranha Plant that can both easily be taken out by staying by the entrance and throwing blocks at them from afar. When they're defeated and the quicksand lowers, the level again implies that there's going to be a boss fight, but all that's beyond the final door is the level's end. On one hand, not all levels need to have a boss, especially since most bosses are lazy or poorly made. On the other hand, the level seems incomplete, especially after the message box's buildup.

Also, like 8bitmushroom mentioned earlier, the bottom tile of the Bullet Bill launchers looks awkward and doesn't really fit with the rest of the level. I recommend replacing it with the standard Bullet Bill launcher vertical tile.

Summary:
GOOD:
-Graphic choices aren't terrible.
-Music fits the level well.
-Block placement and NPC placement are well done.
-The way the player is supposed to get the first Ace coin is clever.
-The Venus Fire Traps in Section 5.

BAD:
-Block-37 doesn't really fit with the rest of the level (and it's rarely used, anyway).
-Block-76 looks awkward.
-Pointless messages.
-The warp to Section 4 is unintuitive.
-The end of the level had decent buildup, but then it just ended.

In conclusion:
Although this level has some minor flaws, it's still a really good level. I'd say it deserves a...7.5/10.

Yeah this level wasn't meant to be any kind of special but your suggestions may be helpful to me. The quicksand had only one row of swimming area instead of covering the entire quicksand which made it a "mini-gimmick".
But thank you very much for reviewing and for the high score, Imaynotbehere4long!