SMBX (2014 Yacht of Opinions): MaGL X - Whoohoo!

[MrDeePay]

I love the constant questioning of raocow's ability to make levels... okay yeah he made a lot of infuriating level difficulty levels, but... if memory serves didn't he at least make one reasonable level in ASMBXT?

Demoware was the reasonable difficulty.

Betrayal Rock could have been OK if he knew when to wrap the damn thing up.

[Sebby19]

Ms. Otane, I'm calling your bluff about raocow threatening your cat. He loves cats! You should see his farewell video to his last cat, Gaston. Its heartwrenching.

No, this contest was a sham!

[Slit08]

Horikawa are you by any means Asian? Not where you live but looks... or are you caucasian? I always wondered that?

Also man, most of these world 7 levels are super great.

[Slit08]

Ah good old Pakistan. :)
Also I will eat a broomstick if today's level won't be raocow's.

[BobisOnlyBob]

Ah good old Pakistan. :)

Sunari is in India, although Monan can refer a Pakistinian village or one of two Chinese towns... or a crater on the moon of Io. Horikawa, are you from space?

Edit: Oh god, "Part A" is up. That's ominous.

[SpoonyBardOL]

Yeah given the A-Style nature of the numbering on this vid, I'm guessing we're getting a second, B-style, one soon.

Whenever Youtube is done toying with raocow anyway.

[Unaniem]

Time to post a comment quickly before the b video goes up!!

I have kind of a throwback vibe to "I hate assassinating when it's so nice outside" (may have been slightly different but I forgot apologies), in that both levels used the concept of, well, assassination, and both did really give me a pleasant feeling while watching them getting played.

There's something about the rather minimal graphical design in this stage that is really done well. I already commented on Pheonix's thread on how I really like his NES renditions, the same goes here. Cute concept, solid design, good looking, clever gameplay. I like very much.

Now I'm SUPER curious what the monster level that video B will bring us is going to be like!

EDIT: Ometeotl's level most likely has my favourite graphical usage so far. raocow and Horikawa at the end basically took the words out of my mouth. The stage has so many cool things, from the brilliantly designed second star (no seriously, especially that 'given the option to leave the level without dying in case you already got the normal star' choice), from a (to me) well placed midpoint, again super awesome graphics, dynamic gameplay, good overall polish. Everything about it is cool aaa

It is another case where I don't want to judge whether or not the stage could really use some more let on the boss part without me actually having played it, so I won't.

It is this and yesterdays video where my great denial of my level being ranked higher got turned into just straight up bafflement.
Am I also the only one who doesn't find Ometeotl's username hard to pronounce?

[BobisOnlyBob]

Well, I'll set aside the obvious and blatant praise deserved for Ometeotl's level as I'm sure it'll be delivered in spades soon, but I will say that it's going on my imaginary list of levels which prove a second midpoint or "boss point" is something that would drastically improve a level, and I feel it improves the level more than simply removing the boss (which I suspect most level designers would recommend, but I feel it would spoil the pacing of the level).

The assassination level was... uh... I dunno, I wasn't feeling it. The graphics choices were neat, but it otherwise didn't do much for me.

[SpoonyBardOL]

Oh wow, that second stage. There's some incredible graphical flavor and clever use of reskinned NPCs (I think Blaarg was my favorite, was that sprite from a Breath of Fire game? It feels like it's from a Breath of Fire game), and it warmed my heart to see Zambabar used in the contest. But wow, that difficulty was cranked up. A single mercy power-up when the second phase of the boss fight started would've gone a long way.

I guess tomorrow I'll see whether I made it to the Top 10 or not. That last World 7 stage COULD be mine since my stage doesn't have a filter and raocow never passed over it to see how many stars it has, but I know I made it to at least 11th place. Oh man, anticipation.

[jayScribble]

One drink is short and sweet, and the other is a good experience, but there's too much to drink.

"Assassinate the Dudes" is one fun specific NPC kill level. The only thing that bothers me is the exploration of the interior due to it's confusing design, but also short if you know where to go, and at least before the midpoint. The graphic choice is certainly appealing.

"Dreamland's River of the Damned" is such an enhancing experience, but the level just lasts too long with tight spacing for error. If the boss just let one powerup before the second part, then it would allowed more room to spare. The first star really needs precision platforming on a time limit to get to, but the application of the time switch is exceptional to this level so far. The second star is just a lava corridor with a two phase SMB2 boss rush, both having the reason for both only Mario and Luigi due to their throwing angles. Basically, this level is telling you to be good at precision, timing, and patience: have all three, and the level is awesome to experience; anything short, and it's going to be a rough time.

[S.N.N.]

If anything, I really love the graphical attention to detail in the second level. The animation of those eyeball pedestal things is eerily fluent.

[Sturg]

It's true how bombs are really stupid in SMBX, more specifically the SMB2 bomb enemy guy. The explosion itself is a large hit-box of death and is just really unfair to the player. Another thing I think I'd mention is that it's particularly stupid how glitchy the skull rafts are in SMBX as well. They'll be instances where you get insta-killed from the lava when a skull platform is going up on a diagonal slope just because the rafts are set up in a way where each skull is one individual block platform set apart from each other by small space. I think that if these problems were fixed, it'd probably make the secret star for the second level a lot nicer.

That said, loved the atmosphere of the level although it was too long and things like the skull coins and background bones were a tad perplexing to follow. Also, was there any way to get past that "hidden thwomp" section without getting hit?

The 1st level was pretty neat as well, despite the fact that the palettes for the tiles were a bit confusing to follow at times similar to the second level.

[Willhart]

The first level had some interesting level design and use of graphics. It's great to see resizable blocks used cleverly. There was enought variety to keep the gameplay interesting.

I don't think the bosses in the second level were too reasonable, mostly because there were two of them in a row without powerups in between and the second boss being very undodgeable due to the placement of the platforms. Visually it was super original and I liked the story a lot.

Am I also the only one who doesn't find Ometeotl's username hard to pronounce?

That name is not too difficult to pronounce in Finnish, so I guess not.

[Unaniem]

You could technically dodge Cerebres Wart's flames if you take the stars to off the Podoboos on the right and stand under him, and after that take your time to get into the rhythm of cutting his flame spewing off. You'd have to be quick but it seems doable.

[BobisOnlyBob]

You could technically dodge Cerebres Wart's flames if you take the stars to off the Podoboos on the right and stand under him, and after that take your time to get into the rhythm of cutting his flame spewing off. You'd have to be quick but it seems doable.

This is what I did, actually.

I think I beat the boss on my second try or so? Really, the part that did me in was the bonus star and the bomb shooters. That's way, way, way trickier than raocow made it look.

Honestly, even when you two end up in the exact same state, you disagree on the specifics. It's kinda hilarious how contrary your commentary and his reactions are, even when they initially appear to line up. If it's not that, it's raocow doing exactly what you describe in your commentary and then being the contrary one and going "That wasn't hard! I super enjoyed myself! You're crazy!"

[Ditocoaf]

I probably wasn't the only one expecting an Eversion reference during that first part of Ometeotl's level. Actually, this is like the third time in this contest I've been expecting an Eversion reference, for some reason. Just have it on the brain, I guess? I don't even remember if raocow ever played Eversion on camera.

Ometeotl's name is really fun to say, assuming I'm pronouncing it correctly. "oh-mey-tey-oh-tl"? Basically whenever I encounter a word that doesn't make me instinctually pronounce it in a certain way, I default to the five-vowel-sounds-only rule (the same five vowel sounds used in Spanish and a lot of other languages). a e i o u, translated to english phonetics, "Ah Ey Eee Oh Ooo". Works most of the time, in my experience. Try This One Weird Pronunciation Trick

[sani]

my name is mario.

mario mario.

007: you only live 55 times

Assassination of Dudes had some really funky graphics, but they worked well in a weird slash interesting way. Russian buildings + dark and cutoff-y (??) governamental hideouts after traditional 8-bit landscapes? It's not something I see every day.

also those puns i don't even

Didn't expect to hear Shin Megami Tensei I music in the level. Seems like a 8-bit remix, even! ITS THE FULL VERSION OF EMBASSY I AM SO

This gave me an idea to make a mario level based around tetris mechanics, or something of the sort. But, I suck at Lunar Magic/SMBX thingies so eh.

[phencer42]

I feel like the boss at the end of the second level today was entirely unnecessary. I love the aesthetics of the level and really would love to play it myself, but I simply feel that the boss was just too much.

Why do so many of these stages end in bosses? Why is that so common?

[Ditocoaf]

I feel like the boss at the end of the second level today was entirely unnecessary. I love the aesthetics of the level and really would love to play it myself, but I simply feel that the boss was just too much.

Why do so many of these stages end in bosses? Why is that so common?

Because, when you're only making one level, there's a strong temptation to treat it as a full package to be played on its own, which you want to wrap up with its very own climax. It's hard to think of a solo level in the context of "just one level amidst others, halfway through a larger game", so instead people often think of it in the context of "a mario game that consists of a single level".

[Mineyl]

Heh, that final vertical section in Ometeotl's level reminded me of my VLDC entry this year. Also, that was the 6-2 music from Kirby 64 in that level, was it not? That might be the creepiest, most chilling Kirby music in existence, and it's such a departure from the series norm that I'm glad someone was able to make it work for them!

I don't think your bob-omb woes are your fault, raocow. Their hitboxes are ill-defined, they explode with minimal provocation, and one of SMBX's most-common power-ups is extremely easy to hit and explode them with. Having them at least behave more like SMW's bob-ombs where they die and fall off-screen upon collision with another sprite while being held would probably go a long way toward making them more manageable!

"Oh-meh-TEE-ah-tul" is how I pronounce it. A little Googling, however, reveals that the word is pronounced as in Spanish, so it should be "oh-may-TAY-ohtl."

[Isrieri]

Good job Ometeotl! A lot of it looked harder than it needed to be. Not sure about the placement of those thwomps. You probably could have given a bunch of things a little more leeway and the level would have been better off for it. Loved the aesthetics and the spritework, which are probably the best things the level has going for it. Well done.

I guess tomorrow I'll see whether I made it to the Top 10 or not.

You and I both know you made it to the top 10 ages ago. My money's still on Axon or Holy placing higher still.

[Leet]

woah both levels were amazing, and in that last one so many nice little touches on those graphics

[docopoper]

Aww man, 8flight gave the second level an 89.

Also I like the use of the Worms gravestones.

[GalaxyOfJ]

My eyes hurt after watching that last level, ow. Flashing background followed by bright red background. Doesn't help that I was painting something with very muted purples and blues on my other monitor while watching

[skyluigi2]

Wow, both levels today were pretty amazing! I think the second left more of an impression on me, probably because of all the Kirby enemies and Zbambabar and the fact that it was pretty difficult. The boss was nice though. Looked hard, but doable. That's definitely a good thing. Oh man, I wonder if we're going to see tenth place tomorrow? And what raocow was saying at the beginning of the video is exactly what I'd be thinking in his position. If my level hadn't been placed yet I'd seriously be thinking how it was better than the ones we've seen recently. I just think it's one of those things that you can't help but think. or something.