MaGL X2 - Cat Planet × Pokemon OTP

[Lejes]

Back in My Day They Apologised in the Mushroom Kingdom didn't seem lacking in gameplay at all. If dashing under Thwomps, navigating firebars, hopping between small platforms over a bottomless void, and a timed Mouser battle don't count as gameplay, what does?

[King of GETs]

The only controversy I can see here is that of all the levels to NOT have a Big Boo resprite...

If there was a "Best Boo + Big Boo Resprite Contest", I'm pretty sure I would have won that one.

[Ivy]

i hope my boos won

[CloudyCloud]

Another unpopular opinion:
So I cannot help myself but wondering about the choice of hub and stuff.

As in, why is the hub for the top 11... well, "not amazing" is not a good choice of phrase to describe how I feel.

Just let's say I am more expecting something gigantic for the hub for the tops.

World 19 looks better: The festival feeling is more suitable for top few.(In this case, top 11 + top 2 bosses)
World 20 is fine, but slightly lackluster for top few, compared to world 19.
If there is separated world for top 3, then it is still fine to have 4~11 in the Luigi Farm.
But seemingly it doesn't feel so. Erm...

Or the cows for top 3 are handled by Mario/raocow instead?

[S.N.N.]

stuff about the hub

I think it's better than last year's top ranking hub (which was literally just you going down some generic stairs to the winner), but I do agree that it leaves a bit to be desired.

[Sturg]

I think I was more trying to say that the stars become hard to notice once the level gets rather hectic, specifically in the 2nd half. I found it easy to confuse them with coins and/or the yellow bats and the background didn't help a lot (for me at least).

[Sniggerb0bble]

I think I was more trying to say that the stars become hard to notice once the level gets rather hectic, specifically in the 2nd half. I found it easy to confuse them with coins and/or the yellow bats and the background didn't help a lot (for me at least).

The level did also look like it was creeping into slightly spammy regions towards the end, especially with the addition of the Lakitus, so I can see why some of the less visually striking elements would become more of a problem for you. It did look like it was difficult to focus on the various different obstacles all at once, which I imagine would be even more difficult with some of the more awkward airship variations.

That would be my only complaint from what was presented here though, I really enjoyed seeing a level like this, and it's super neat to see a level made in SMBX with replayability in mind. I feel like it'd be the kind of level I'd try multiple times just to see how it felt all the way through with the different airships.

[FluffyMeatloaf]

The Flying Space Fish
This looks really cool. It's nice having the different ship options, and as an escort mission it isn't too bad since most of the things that can harm the glass come from the player's actions, not the enemies', (save for the Bob-omb) so there's a bit more control to the situation. (does get a tad hectic in the second half, though, ha) The only thing about the level that mildly bothered me was the starry BG, which seems to have some sort of.... blurriness about it? It became a non-issue as I watched, but it was one of the first things that popped out at me.

Oh so that's a question. What is your favourite boss of them all?

I can't say if I'd ever be entirely sure on this, given all the cool choices, but I think I'm going to go with Urza's Power Plant On Magic Mountain.

stuff about the hub

I think it's better than last year's top ranking hub (which was literally just you going down some generic stairs to the winner), but I do agree that it leaves a bit to be desired.

This is just the start of the fields, though, it might change the further out the placements go. If not, then insert analogy of choice about journey > destination :P Music's also nice.

[Jesuiscontent]

That was a pretty neat idea but again, why those infinite powerups? Because of it (or vice-versa) the whole level was random muncher spam bar a few good setups like the falling rainbow shell. Cool mario party music though.

[Grounder]

carrykawa strikes again!

[raocow]

I've been told that's kind of a theme for the early finalist, but I was GARANTEED that there would be no complaining about the top three.

[tirakai]

little note since I haven't seen it mentioned, that 'exact center of the universe... give or take 50 feet' line from the first level is a joke from ratchet and clank

[Le Neveu de Rameau]

Wait, you can tail-whip disco shells in SMBX? My mind is blown.

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

Just a note before this commentary resumes... I'm grading these levels on their own merit, not based on how much they match a particular placement. Doing that would introduce unnecessary bias into the reviews, which is strictly unwanted territory.

(9th) gameguy888: The Flying Space Fish

Well, it appears that I was wrong. Not too surprising.
Really good work on making the name work in a way that actually makes sense! (And we know Mario can breathe in space)
Choosing your ride is really neat, and you did it better than Pimp Your Ride from AMBXT. ...Jeez, that was quite a while ago. Both stars are pretty nice to get, and don't feel too overwhelming to obtain. Stars being enemies here is a cool idea. I also like how the Hammer Suit is arguably the worst option. You did really well, and I hope all 888 Game Guys double your money so you're filthy rich.

[churine]

I'm disappointed we didn't get to see what happens if you hammer the fish! The level needed more dangers to your tank I think.

It's kind of intetesting because like while it is basically a similar gimmick to Pimp Your Ride, its execution makes it all about balancing your own survival and surroundings. Also I there's sort of an adaptive difficulty tier deppending on which you choose, which makes sense.

[TaviTurnip]

I like this overall more than Pimp Your Ride, it's less spammy and a lot more sensible, but the actual challenges presented just seem a lot more fun also. I'm actually disappointed that the fish was in a lot less danger than the player, something about the difficulty balance just felt off in that regard, Fish-chan could have made it all by themselves :( Still, everything was awesome overall and I really did love the variety in each airship. I'm starting to wonder if this concept can be applied to other level types, where you can play the same level with a different tweak of advantages, without it being an autoscroller + vehicle level.

Great stuff <3

[Draexzhan]

Well Game Guy, congrats on making it this far! I'm probably a bit biased here (He is the reason I even started watching MaGL X2), but I really liked this level. The jokes made me chuckle, and the level had a genuinely neat gimmick. I loved the concept of helping set a world record by an unnecessarily large margin. I feel like the second half could have used a few less stars and koopas, and maybe another laki or two, but that's mostly personal preference.

Also, now I have Eternal Star stuck in my head.

[CloudyCloud]

MAGL, 9th place, Bowser's obese car.

MAGLx2, 9th place, same idea.

[Crow]

i thought it was a little spammy but overall that was a cool level, the red coin challenge was a pretty good extra star thingy too

[raocow]

HEY

GUESS WHAT

THAT'S RIGHT

CALLING OUT ALL THREAD REGULARS

'CUZ ONE OF YOU IS FEATURED TOMORROW!

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I'M AN EVIL JERK

NOW GET SWEATTIN' !!

[gameguy888]

So disappointingly close to 8th place... >.<

Wowsers! My level sure did make it a lot farther than expected. I was expecting it more around top 50 to be honest.

My intention was to make a dev commentary video thing after my level showed up, but I'm fighting off a cold right now, so it might end up being tomorrow or something. We'll see if I have time later today, I dunno.

The one thing I wanna say right now is that it's really surprising to me is how raocow was afraid of the hammer suit when I always felt it was the best thing for this level. If you stand on the front of the ship and toss hammers at everything, you won't ever hit Chester's tank unless you turn towards it.

I think I was more trying to say that the stars become hard to notice once the level gets rather hectic, specifically in the 2nd half. I found it easy to confuse them with coins and/or the yellow bats and the background didn't help a lot (for me at least).

This is something I was worried about but never got a chance to fix. I had a friend of mine testing the level, and he never had issues with noticing various yellow objects, so I had hoped it wasn't too much of an issue. Truth be told, most of the coins were last minute additions I probably could have done without (especially with various 1-ups littered about).

The level did also look like it was creeping into slightly spammy regions towards the end, especially with the addition of the Lakitus

This, especially, was why I was anticipating my level showing up much sooner. Though, I never considered the Lakitus to be an issue. They throw prone Bob-ombs, which are easily kicked away, or could be used as a projectile to kill the Lakitus even.

That was a pretty neat idea but again, why those infinite powerups? Because of it (or vice-versa) the whole level was random muncher spam bar a few good setups like the falling rainbow shell. Cool mario party music though.

It's hard to find a balance with stuff like this, and I certainly can't say mine is perfect. Each powerup is on a different timer, and some will respawn faster than others. Also, each one spawns in a place on the ship that isn't exactly ideal. Like I mentioned with the hammer suit being useful on the front of the ship, it spawns on the back instead. The stars weren't explicitly random (a lot of them got moved around over the course of making the level due to some being harshly placed), but certainly could have been toned down a bit.

I'm disappointed we didn't get to see what happens if you hammer the fish! The level needed more dangers to your tank I think.

I'm honestly surprised this never happened. If you break the tank at any point, the ship "explodes" and you fall to your death. Another regret I have about this level is not introducing more dangers to the ship itself. At the same time, the tank only has... I think 5 hits? If I throw too much at it, it would make the level far more hectic than it already is. The issue I had, mostly, is that there aren't a lot of ways to harm the tank. Moving shells, bombs, player hammers, and anything the player throws at it is pretty much it.


Anyway, I'm glad that people overall seem to like my level. I had fun making it.

[Ometeotl]

HEY

GUESS WHAT

THAT'S RIGHT

CALLING OUT ALL THREAD REGULARS

'CUZ ONE OF YOU IS FEATURED TOMORROW!

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I'M AN EVIL JERK

NOW GET SWEATTIN' !!

There's only a few of us left at this point, you monster.

[TaviTurnip]

srsly "thread regular" is like 2-3 of us at best

Um, I-I'LL EAT A SHOE???

[Ivy]

there is literally nothing wrong with being 8th place, so your scare tactics are fruitless

[Nathan the Talkmaus]

I've recently turned possum too