Postby Marina » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:39 am
Piranha Land (why exactly it is called that willl forever be an enigma to me)
Design: 2/10
This level got some poor design choices, both aesthetic and playability wise. Let's go over the aesthetics first.
The level changes themes about 7 times over the course of 3 minutes. It seems like the creator didn't really know what to do with the freedom of SMBX and just decided to put in everything.
This level is as consistant as the weather here lately. If you pick one level theme, please stick to it. Even if you try to make a level with multiple themes, please sort them into different sections. Also please try to not throw tiles from all games randomly together. Try to stick to one gamestyle in the beginning to avoid the chances of clash until you have a good sense for what works together and what doesn't. It wouldn't even be as bad if it wouldn't change every 2 meters you walk, I can clearly see potential here. Things like cutoff or anything weren't visible where it was avoidable. Kudos for that.
NPCs: 2/10
You threw in NPCs just as randomly as you threw the different gamestyles together. You sorta managed to sort them into the different level themes though, so I'll give you a point for that. It still didn't work very well though, because in the water section you mixed normal fishes with bone-fishes, in the castle part there were Koopas, Piranhas, Boos and other things that don't fit. As already mentioned before, try to tone it down a little. Variety is good, but not sheer chaos. Try to stick with maybe 3-4 different enemies in a level and then maybe varieties of these enemies (i.e. Para-Koopas, Fire Piranhas, etc.).
The powerups were in good places, and it was fair enough for the player.
There were barely any coins in this level, I suggest you also work on that.
The midway points were really messed up. You can't do multiple checkpoints in SMBX like that. There is a method around it that is a little complicated, and for beginners I suggest you only use one checkpoint in a level.
Gameplay: 1/10
This level was a clash of about everything SMBX has to offer on default. The level in itself was okay gameplay-wise. There even were a few good ideas like the moving platform part (that reminded me a bit of the one's in Subspace Emissary in Brawl to be honest), except for the fact that if you stood on the higher parts and came over the pipes, you glitched out and died. Besides that, there is also the fact that the level isn't completable. There is no exit. You come to the last room and then you're trapped there. Ok.
Things like this, and also the midway points show that you probably didn't playtest your level at all, or very badly. Playtesting is vital for any level in SMBX and you should always do it.
Over all, this level wasn't really good at all, but I see some potential. 1.7/10, moved to Trash Can.