Please note, that this level does not use LunaLua.
Screenshots:
Spoiler: show
Spoiler: show
17. Reign - Blockbuster Bastion (7.34/10)
- Chad (8.5/10)
- Okay, this is a seriously good level. The Goomba blocks are an incredibly useful gimmick. They appeared to be nothing more than visual flare at first, but soon enough they turn out to be really fleshed out and create a wide variety of puzzles out of a simple enemy and block. They introduce themselves very smoothly, take a little bit of thought to solve, and function great! The skull blocks are similarly nice, because they're easy to read but present a fair challenge. I expected them to be instakill but was pleasantly surprised that they aren't. I also admire the tricky use of line platforms, generators, and creative grabbable NPCs for progression. The level does well on relying on these consistent gimmicks and giving them full and imaginative purpose. Every area is clearly built with a strong sense of effective placement in mind, as well as a solid idea of how much space each spot needs. Obstacles that require a lot of room are given it, and hazards that work better with smart use of narrow spacing do exactly that. The second star is intelligently placed as well, because getting to the section isn't difficult and neither is the puzzle, but it does require some thought! The execution of nearly everything is really impressive, and are often unique tests of the player's timing. It's a fairly difficult level, but good warning is given to everything. The only things that I didn't care for much would be the Rotodisc skull blocks and the really fast stop-and-go platform. The blocks aren't really included too consistently, and when they are they're either mostly insignificant or excessively in the way and tough to get around (especially underwater). As for the platform, the gimmick in itself is great, but it's the speed that I don't care for. Even when you know it's coming, the inertia is so sudden and extreme that you might still die anyways, and the movements needed don't come intuitively.
- Considering that there is a Readme file included that lists the designer's name as "Reign," I am going to review this on the assumption that you won't get disqualified. Now, firstly how the hell do the green spike blocks work in the first section? Because I couldn't get through without cheating myself a Lakitu's shoe. This occurs within the first 30 seconds of you entering the level, and the fact that you explained almost everything else mkaes the absense of an explanation seem bizarre. Which is a shame as the level is graphically and audially perfect, and there are multiple challenges throughout which are fair and designed in a nonlinear fashion. The only issues I had with the other parts of the level is that the secret star challenge is perhaps a bit hard, considering that if the player gets the order wrong, they will have to restart the level. Also the Bullet Bill spawner in the penultimate section should be removed as it's extremely hard to dodge.
- Man, this was super neat. The gimmicks present here were really, really cool. I loved this level a lot. The only real downside is that its pretty lengthy, but every section is kept fresh so I never really got bored. Overall though, fantastic job!
- I guess this level is designed in a puzzle style. It's interesting. When you kill an npc and active the switch the level continues. This sometimes causes a glitch and the player needs to commit suicide if they want finish the level. For the red blocks that disappear and appear, it would be cool if you could display a warning when they change because these parts are dangerous. The graphics were well selected. The shade of brown mixes well with the level, especially with the goomba switch. The level comes to be repetitive sometimes, because several parts are based on killing an npc and activating a switch, but the level has cool items like the floating block.
- This level was okay. Every enemy acting as switches is something I haven't seen before. The level was maybe a little too long.
