Vanilla Level Design Contest X - 1he First place entry...well d0ne to all.

[S.N.N.]

play BROS in all four sides

[CrappyBlueLuigi]

play BROS in all four sides

please do this. please do this. please do this.

[Sugar]

49th: Missing Cleft by Prizm

Koopster
DESIGN: 24/50
CREATIVITY: 23/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 61/100

This level becomes better when you figure out what the gimmick is, and it honestly wasn't clear at first to me. I missed everything on my first run and started incidentally bumping my head in note blocks in my second run (I was annoyed cause they seemed random), and it took me a bit to realise the blocks could be seen when overlapping with the clouds. A few of them are pretty tricky to find, and I'm not even sure if you can line up the one that hides the fourth dragon coin with a cloud. This gimmick asks for an easy level and that's what you have here, but the level ended up quite uninteresting on its own. I think the idea is cool but it should be complementary and not the main thing going for the level imo, and it had to be presented more clearly and perhaps be executed better (put more clouds in the sky?). Cute little level still.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 25/50
CREATIVITY: 16/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 58/100

Calming, yet unimpressive. At most I'd say it's above average.

Noivern
DESIGN: 35/50
CREATIVITY: 18/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 69/100

The main problem with this level is that it doesn't really build on its design. The second half of the level plays much like the first. But for what it's worth I enjoyed playing it. The hidden note block gimmick is introduced rather well and, despite blending in with the background color, were never hard to find. Love the palettes and music.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 25/50
CREATIVITY: 14/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 54/100

Short but sweet. It's nothing stand-out, but it's a fairly enjoyable level. The noteblock bouncing does get repetitive, though, and there could have been more variety (as well as length! A second nighttime part of the level would have been perfect).

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 37/50
CREATIVITY: 20/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 71/100

A pleasing, early-game style level. Although the setups veer toward the simpler side (as is to be expected), they're still engaging and well-constructed, and the level flows nicely. The clouds in the upper section are consistently used for bonuses, in a manner reminiscent of the coin heaven sections from the NES SMB games, but the manner of accessing this part of the geography varies throughout the stage, shaking things up a bit. I also found making the clouds pass-through a small but positive touch, reminiscent of how the smaller cloud blocks are handled in game (and in contrast to how larger cloud masses are more usually handled).

The æsthetics are similarly unpretentious but well-done, relying mostly on a well-chosen palette to create a distinctive feel. The level all comes together fairly nicely on the whole without aiming for too many bangs and flashes.

+ Simple yet well-constructed obstacles
+ Simple yet tasteful æsthetics
- Just a wee touch of envelope pushing could have made things still better.

Other: Clefts are apparently a running theme this year.

48th: Luminous Hollow by Teyla

Koopster
DESIGN: 29/50
CREATIVITY: 20/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 62/100

The tileset you created is interesting, but the often wacky usage (zig-zaggy line guides for no reason) and sometimes use of too many different elements in a single screen hurt the looks of this level a lot. The level has a lot of gimmicks that aren't developed that much or merged together that well (the falling platforms are very underused for example), giving place to a lot of basic arrangements instead. A few setups are quite tricky to time in comparison to everything else (in particular a few ones in the middle of the second half), and seem to favor running past them as fast as possible and punish waiting for the timing of all the elements to line up, which is what you'd usually do in your first run. Also there are really lots of enemies that aren't well placed and will almost never be a menace.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 26/50
CREATIVITY: 15/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 55/100

[22:23] FrozenQuills: there was very subtle development of the yellow platforms but that was it

Noivern
DESIGN: 37/50
CREATIVITY: 22/30
AESTHETICS: 18/20
TOTAL SCORE: 77/100

Loved the atmosphere, though I think it would have been slightly better if the glowing animations were slower, not alternating, and didn't effect the grass. The second half was really cramped, and the line guide sections with saws and rocks to avoid were considerably harder then the rest of the level. I really like the change in focus to the brown platforms in the second half.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 29/50
CREATIVITY: 15/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 60/100

This is a solid level, with a pretty nice atmosphere and some decent setups, though I think the ideas could have been executed a bit more smoothly and developed a bit more. Most of the rock/Diggin' Chuck placements are reasonable outside of a few instances where they are more annoying than enjoyable. The saw arrangements are often too tight for comfort, especially when in combination with the moving platforms and other hazards on top of that, and none of them feel particularly interesting (though not necessarily bad). The large overlaid crystals aren't super appealing to look at either.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 30/50
CREATIVITY: 18/30
AESTHETICS: 17/20
TOTAL SCORE: 65/100

A quietly pleasing-looking level, and obstacles start out in a way that seems to match this atmosphere, though things start to (rather suddenly) get more hectic towards the end of the first section. The geography changes rather suddenly around this point as well, going from fairly open and multi-tiered to rather cramped and more straight up horizontal, point-A-to-point-B in structure. That the tone shift/difficulty jump also takes place at precisely the point where the player may be starting to feel they've gone a little too far without a midpoint also adds to the feeling of an initially promising section wearing out its welcome.

The second half continues the bang-your-head, metal-health-will-drive-you-mad theme, but perhaps a little better executed, and the change in sublevels and switch to a darker and more mysterious, elongated horizontal shaft makes the shift to a cramped and more dangerous environment seem more natural than at the end of the first section. and the length seems to be just about right. That the spinning platforms cease to exist when they go off-screen could have benefited from a less deadly introduction, however.

Generally, the level looks good. The first part seems peaceful and softly inviting, which at least suits everything before the final 25% of this sublevel. The switch to more man-made structures in the center seems natural, giving the impression of a central mining depot. The second half, as mentioned above, has a more mysterious and dangerous air after the calm of the first, but not without that since of wonder. The Stuck Chuck Dope-on-a-Rope at the end is a silly but amusing final touch.

+ Pretty glowing lights.
+ Nice start and decent second half.
- The sudden switch to the more linear headbanger's ball is jarring

Other: Well I'm an axe-grinder, pile driver, Mama says that I never, never mind her...

47th: Thwimp Spiny's Trees by JeanOliveira

Koopster
DESIGN: 45/50
CREATIVITY: 20/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 78/100

Props to you for making an extremely well designed SMW-like level. The flow and progression are in point, the bonus at the top is a really neat touch and works as a nice reminder of how SMW wasn't afraid to make a lot of itself optional. The level doesn't do much new, but what it does it does greatly. I have a beef with the secret exit though. I had way too much trouble to find it since it's in a pipe with a plant in it. The pipes around the top of the level (that can be reached with the balloon if you think about it) are so much better options... the secret path itself also has very little to do with anything else in the level and felt much weaker. Not too big on having to do it twice for the moon, either. As far as looks go, I'm really not a fan of teal for a forest.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 48/50
CREATIVITY: 25/30
AESTHETICS: 17/20
TOTAL SCORE: 90/100

It's in a traditional format, but it's quite well done. It feels like a remix of a certain
Forest Of Illusion level in SMW. It doesn't overstay it's welcome. Even if it's not as vibrant than
the other competitors.

Noivern
DESIGN: 35/50
CREATIVITY: 14/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 61/100

Reskinning thwimps to use spiny graphics is cute, but there is some slight dissonance to reskinning a sprite that can't be killed with fireballs to spinies, which normally do, then using them with spinies in the same level. The small moments of nonlinearity within the main path is welcome, but they're mostly concentrated in the first half of the level, and taking the p-balloon path means you get some dragon coins but you don't get the midpoint.

Though you do provide two powerups in the secret exit sublevel, gating the exit behind both a p-switch race and being big is kinda dumb. The secret exit area has nothing to do with the level, and feels like part of another level entirely. How to get the moon was super obvious (didn't count off for this).

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 22/50
CREATIVITY: 6/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 41/100

It's decent to play, but it's not interesting at all. Outside of the simple Thwimp retexture there's nothing new or exciting. and while the design isn't -bad-, it doesn't pose many challenges and doesn't really develop its ideas. The P-balloon side segment is a chore (long and boring with no challenge at all). The secret exit is probably the most interesting part of the whole level, but even there it's nothing special. æsthetically it's nothing new, and the palette is not the best.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 28/50
CREATIVITY: 18/30
AESTHETICS: 10/20
TOTAL SCORE: 56/100

I will admit, Thwimps and pipe Lakitus are not a combination I would immediately think to base a level around, and I must say, they work better together than I might have guessed! There are some reasonably interesting setups here, and the moving pipes play an effective yet understated role. On the other hand, the level does have a certain tendency to lean towards the spammy side in terms of enemy number and placement, which detracts rather than adds to the proceedings. I applaud the use of the P-balloon purely for bonuses, though that segment does drag on a bit without really going anywhere, as the X-tendo blocks, which are supposed to provide most of the entertainment in this bit, are sort of super-easy to avoid to the point where they might as well not be there. Having the secret path be in an inconspicuous unmarked pipe in a level full of inconspicuous pipes was also a touch silly. The midpoint was also somewhat curiously front loaded, to the point where I thought the level forgot to add one at first.

+ Unusual yet effective choice of primary sprites
- A bit spammy in the execution of some setups

Other: Calling an entire forest a "tree" is taking understatement to a bit of an extreme.

[AUS]

yo. music request on Missing Cleft. as in. someone tell me what that was. it's good
USER HAS BEEN ANSWERED IN DMS and it's Moonsetter from Homestuck and is awesome

[Daizo]

Right, let's overhype ourselves and set unrealistic expectations. What we've seen was nothing yet folks, cuz we've officially past 50th! What will the levels be like? What dangers will raocow have to traverse?! Well, let's find out throughout this next month...

[Implo]

I remember Missing Cleft. It's a good level, but I didn't like dragon coin run. To get to them you need to bop into blue lines block (like the first block raocow bopped). Problem is on blue background it's not visible. You are supposed to use L and R to move background, so blocks will be visible on white clouds. But this solution slows this level down, so I didn't like it and decided to just blindly jump into air to find these blocks.

[FrozenQuills]

wow I forgot I wrote that for Luminous Hollow way back when in lolyoshi's stream chat.

There were several times in lolyoshi's judge streams where I was helping lolyoshi summarize his thoughts on the level. So I guess some of those chat messages just became the judge comments.

[FPzero]

I'm glad we haven't really allowed judges to leave comments of that nature going forward. It's really disheartening to get no, or joke feedback on a level, especially if you were scored low-to-average.

Full disclosure, I helped Teyla/Tyty with his level though I never put my name on it since I didn't think I played a significant enough role in its design. By our current standards though, we should've treated it as a partnered level. Regardless, we had fun working on the level for sure. I think the problem is just that Diggin' Chucks take too long to become dangerous. You really need to delay the player for them to have any effect, which is why the line guides were zigzagging a lot in places. That was all to attempt to get the chuck rocks to be a threat.

The second half came about because we were trying to figure out something different to do with the level while remaining semi-related. The brown platforms attached to the bottom of the screen was something we discovered on accident and thought it'd be neat to try out. This segment definitely got reworked multiple times, as I remembered making setups that don't appear to be in the final level any longer. I think we removed some of them for having their timings be too frustrating.

In the end, it was a nice experience, and I really enjoyed working with the pretty tileset Tyty came up with.

[TiKi]

play BROS in all four sides

my favorite part of that game is how the programmer never bothered noticing that loading the coin sound messes with the collision detection for the coins

[Tyty]

I really enjoyed working with the pretty tileset Tyty came up with.

Honestly half the time I feel like that's what I should stick to, lol. And yeah, with how we do contests today both of our names would've been on it. The design process was something like I made the level, sent it to FP, and then he sent me back his "cut" of it, which I then reverted like half of the changes like poorly-done superhero movie to the final cut. With the judge comments I don't think any of the versions of the level would've done any better though.

Those brown platforms are actually a pretty big pain to work with. Even with SA-1 they tend to cause a lot of problems with sprites just not showing up. I think the "chains" eat up a lot of sprite slots?

[Sugar]

46th: Sweet Tooth by Pseudogon

Koopster
DESIGN: 32/50
CREATIVITY: 18/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 64/100

Other than the banzai bill before the midpoint and a few setups with note blocks, I think a lot of setups here have some potential but give too much leeway. Like the chucks that are supposed to break the blocks where you're stepping on, I think it's almost impossible for them to be a risk if you're not a super slow player. Some of this level is clever, but a lot of it is very basic platforming action and just waiting for the chuck on the other side to open the way. Solid, but could've done a lot more! Also the palette is sweet as is the BG, but I personally think SMW's cloud FG is very bad.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 34/50
CREATIVITY: 15/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 63/100

You have a nice central idea, but you take too slowly to develop it. In the end,
you didn't do much with it (lacked a combination of other sprites and you just kept repeating the
same setup near the end).

Noivern
DESIGN: 37/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 69/100

The gimmick is introduced right off the bat, which is good (the message block msybe isn't necessary), but it means getting the very first powerup is difficult, which is bad. I like the way the chucks were handled, especially towards the end where you can't just wait for them anymore. Great dragon coins. A lot of the banzai bills were placed very inconveniently.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 32/50
CREATIVITY: 12/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 56/100

The excessively bright palette hurts my head, but designwise this isn't bad. That being said, I think you could have done a lot more. The Chucks seem to be the main focus of the level, but I wonder if they really add anything to the gameplay other than a bit of extra waiting around, aside from the few spots with muncher traps. It would have been much more impressive to see them used in ways that couldn't necessarily be easily replaced with simpler enemies or obstacles. It's still not a bad experience, but it could have been much more.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 38/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 71/100

A pleasant level in terms of both appearance and gameplay. It doesn't try to do anything all too wacky on either front, but what it does it does well, and the Chucks switching from purely opening paths to also destroying them in the final third was a nice development. If I had one gripe, it might be that the Chuck/block setups get a little -too- frequent and repetitive towards the end, without anything new being done for the final few. But on the whole it's a solid level.

Æsthetically, it looks good, the palettes are nice, and everything looks reasonably fresh despite there not being all too many crazy repurposings. The only odd thing is that the "sweet tooth" idea doesn't really come across very well--indeed, if not for the mention that the blocks the Chucks break are supposed to be chocolate (which they don't especially look like, to be honest), it wouldn't come through at all. Which is all the odder considering the level works fine as just a pleasant Kirby-esque cloudscape. Still, pleasing to look at nonetheless

+ Nice palettes, well-crafted yet moderately restrained æsthetics.
+ Solid and engaging design without any crazy repurposing.
- Could use a little extra oomph near the end.

Other: I, too, eat chocolate with my elbows.

45th: CLAUSTROPHOBICLIMB by Hobz

Koopster
DESIGN: 25/50
CREATIVITY: 24/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 64/100

It's a risky gimmick. It feels weird to control cause Mario just goes so slow when he's climbing in comparison to his normal running speeds. I don't think it was introduced very well (kinda rough start), but I got the hang of it after a while. I think the key point that makes this level... not all that fun, is the contrast between segments of high precision and segments that you can (or that it seems like you can) just run through fast. I even almost out of reflex would just bruteforce a couple of setups because taking the time to do them seriously didn't feel like it was worth it. It was mostly fine during the first half (though the timing of the third dragon coin is ridiculous), but the second half got pretty tight here and there. Reflecting fireballs were super annoying and I don't think a water segment was very necessary. I don't think the level is terrible though, it's quite interesting. And it's kinda cute

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 38/50
CREATIVITY: 24/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 75/100

Interesting gimmick, though I found the obstacles (or even just the gimmick) to be awkward to do
and not that fun at several points. I'd say the rest is alright.

Noivern
DESIGN: 43/50
CREATIVITY: 23/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 79/100

Super fun. This is a glitch level done right. It got a bit samey after a while, and I'm glad you added the water section to shake it up a bit towards the end. If you jump off of the rope quickly after you get on one, the glitch won't take effect, and once I managed to jump back on the first rope and it took me with it to my doom. I like the method you used to make sure players can go under the level, but you can still skip the first section this way.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 17/50
CREATIVITY: 23/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 54/100

The name is fitting. While the idea of using the rope glitch as the core of the level is interesting, the majority of the level is way too cramped with little room for error, which is especially bad when the main form of movement is as awkward as it is here. There are a lot of creative arrangements but they're unfortunately hard to properly appreciate because of that, and it becomes more annoying than fun rather quickly. æsthetically there's not much to comment on, but the palette is nice.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 21/50
CREATIVITY: 24/30
AESTHETICS: 9/20
TOTAL SCORE: 54/100


I've got to say, this is certainly one of the more original concepts I've encountered! Exploiting a glitch to make for an free-climbing level is certainly an inspired notion, though I'm not so sure the actual execution makes for the most exciting level. It's...really just dodging a bunch of Fuzzies, isn't it? The first half is literally just climbing past normal Fuzzies, and once you get over the initial amusement at the concept, it gets a bit stale, and it starts to feel as though the joke is being a touch overextended. The second half throws in some other folks disguised as Fuzzies, which helps make things slightly more interesting, and it also has the weird complicating factor of the water, but ultimately, the end result does seem to suggest that maybe an all-climbing level is not the most fruitful format after all. Still, it's a hilarious idea, and kudos for having the gumption and vision to try to make it work.

+ Hilarious and original concept
- Maybe an all-climbing level isn't a great idea in practice

Other: I found Fuzzies vaguely disturbing as a child, to be honest. I tend to opt for Sparkies, myself.

44th: Ball Breaker by Luks

Koopster
DESIGN: 23/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 55/100

Not sure if it's right to try to summarize this in a single word, but it felt... dry? Chained platforms are cool and they have lots of potential, which you did explore a bunch actually. But the level was just it - a sucession of setups with falling chained platforms. They don't feel like they are in the right order either, I didn't really sense progression. Level could've had a lot more meat - a secondary gimmick and a few breather segments inbetween would do it good. It turned out to be very short and a little... pointless? if you can catch what I mean.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 35/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 67/100

The level's a bit awkward and unpolished sometimes, and the central idea isn't consistently well
executed.

Noivern
DESIGN: 28/50
CREATIVITY: 14/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 58/100

A lot of the design boils down to "stand on this platform and wait until it rotates" It's not particularly creative, and it gets bad towards the end, where you have to somehow dodge floating rocks, which is incredibly difficult. The highlight of the level is the aesthetics, which are actually quite good.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 32/50
CREATIVITY: 24/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 71/100

Very creative use of the pendulum platforms. I think in some parts it might have come out a bit more frustrating than intentioned, though; the placement of rocks and Diggin' Chucks throughout is often more annoying than necessary, and took away from the real focus and enjoyable part. It's certainly on the path to being great, but needs a fair bit of tweaking.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 37/50
CREATIVITY: 20/30
AESTHETICS: 16/20
TOTAL SCORE: 73/100

Normally I'm not a huge fan of manipulating the spinny momentum platforms, as precision instruments they most certainly are not, but this level seems to recognize precisely the point it can be taken to before things start to get janktastic. There's still one or two weird spots (the jump right before the pipe leading to the goal are being a good example), but for the most part the level sticks to a (fairly unexplored) theme and executes it pretty well. On top of that, it looks pretty nice as well. Sounds pretty good to me.

+ Surpringly non-janky execution of an idea that ought to be jankotronic
- Still a weird jump here and there

Other: (Insert pun about rocks here)

[Veruchai]

Ok, so; regarding the chucks.
I liked the switch from break wall to break the floor stuff.
However those breaking the wall charlies, basicly didnt need to have those walls to break right?
Like, everytime you walk up to the "chocolate" and then jump up to evade the charging chuck coming at you.
But even if there was no "chocolate" wall you would still need to jump to evade the chuck. So the wall is superfluous right?
I understand it's a wacky sprite effect and it's fun to focus on that, and I liked the ending, but most setups could have been koopas.

I remember something about apart from 1F0 also there being lots of charlies in this contest.
And this felt like an example of forcing a gimmick where it wasn't needed for the level design.

On rereading the judge comments, I guess I agree with Sinc-X.

[Reecer7]

there's a lot of charlies in every contest, isn't there?

a little disturbed by the fact that this sun has shading on it

[Sugar]

43rd: Balloons! by ToxicRave (lolyoshi's judge favorite)

Koopster
DESIGN: 23/50
CREATIVITY: 28/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 65/100

I have to admit this level is extremely clever in a lot of what it does, but I have a few very important problems with it. I should mention right away that a lot of the enemies in the ballooning segments aren't really dangerous, in particular the fish bubbles - they won't hit you if you pop them. Right, so my main gripe... is how confusing this level is, ESPECIALLY in your first try. It doesn't help how some of the balloons in the first half are completely redundant (the balloon I thought was necessary for the sublevel challenge isn't cause there's one just before the pipe). In the second half (much longer than the first by the way), it wasn't really clear that mushrooms were to be avoided, and that's because in like, half of the setups where using select to cancel the balloon is suggested, it's possible to just wait for it to run out instead.
I also didn't know you could stomp on enemies while ballooning and that made me need to use the duck glitch to get through the first lotus setup in the second half. It's still kind of annoying to manage to stomp on them without getting hurt.
The level is... really broken all over the place, and that didn't help its lack of intuitiveness in the slightest. My first playthrough felt extremely wacky and that can't mean anything good.
Also, the outer segments felt quite disjointed from the main theme of the level, when I feel they could've been used to help it - perhaps little "tip" rooms?
Level looks alright but erasing the status bar was a weird choice to be honest. Couldn't even keep track of my dragon coins.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 48/50
CREATIVITY: 29/30
AESTHETICS: 20/20
TOTAL SCORE: 97/100

Excellently crafted with an invigorating atmosphere. Second half has minor issues
with conveyance though. it's confusing when you should be pressing select, kicking, and what not.
It's also possible to skip most of the obstacles when you're small & balloon'd up.

Noivern
DESIGN: 30/50
CREATIVITY: 22/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 65/100

This feels like a level that should have a 1up checkpoint. I know exactly where I have put it: directly after the first "select" puzzle. What I'm trying to say is that it's too long. It annoys me that some of the best designers feel that they need to include every possible iteration of their gimmick in their level. I'm not really interested in taking 40 minutes to play a level that isn't even that difficult because it doesn't know when to end.

The insults my intelligence as a player, not only because the things it says are easy to figure out on your own given a few retries, not only because I don't want to be told how to play the level, but because it feels like a purposefully-made anti-frustration feature when you could instead make a level that doesn't need that.

Rant aside, what is here is good. I'm not quite on board yet with this whole "making levels out of glitches" idea, but I love levels where you want to avoid mushrooms. I'm torn on only using balloons for bonuses in the first area; on one hand I think it's a neat usage, but on the other hand I think it should be required at some point to guarantee the player is introduced to the concept before the midpoint. Mario reacts unfavorably with walls when moving at high speed after collecting a balloon, which caused a few deaths.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 7/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 40/100

I was hopeful after the first half that this would be a decent level. Unfortunately, the second half brings everything to the bottom. I think you could have done this well. You could have made fun and interesting challenges with balloons and powerups. You had the foundations for something new and good, but the execution is clunky, cluttered, and just overall disappointing. It's a big mess of unclear and precise "puzzles" that require painful amounts of trial and error to overcome. Just cool ideas won't win you the prize in a level design contest.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 31/50
CREATIVITY: 26/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 70/100

Phun Phact: When I first saw this level's title, I immediately thought of those large, smiling balloons you can stand on and give a migraine in Yoshi's Island. "Hmm," I thought to myself, "How could you replicate that in vanilla SMW? Indeed, what is there at all that resembles a balloon in Super Marioooooooh, crap."

Fortunately, things weren't as bad as they seemed at a glance. Indeed, you seem to have made quite an effort to make the balloon something other than a thing of hate and poor controls. For the most part, I like your concept, which is undeniably creative, but it's a fairly unorthodox one, and I think you could have done a little more to ease the player in to the idea. At first, I honestly thought this was a straight-up ballooning shaft, but then it slowly dawned on me that you could actually complete most of the first section (aside from getting the dragon coins) in a non-balloon state, though a balloon made it a touch easier (which is a very pleasant change of pace!). Only when I reached the weird Bob-omb/statue bit at the top did I realize you were actually expected to -switch- between states, and that this would go on to be the central conceit of the level.

Honestly, the whole "press select" thing (and which powerups allow you to deflate at will) probably could have used a message block explanation, as it's sort of a weird thing to figure out in the field. Having the concept be introduced via a fairly complex, multi-part timing-based setup was probably not the best idea either, especially considering simpler variants appear later on which would make for a better introduction. Some of the setups in the post-midpoint area can also described as either "breakable" or "decidedly varying in how strictly they expect you to obey the commands provided", depending on your perspective. I'm of mixed opinion on the secret exit; I liked the idea of the path being accessible to those who showed some optional champeen ballooning skills, but the extra room itself honestly felt sort of weird and curiously executed.

Æsthetically it's nothing crazy, but it does the job. The arrangement of bricks is nice and different from the default sets. The switch between interiors and exteriors adds some nice variety. Nothing to write home about, but by no means boring or displeasing.

+ Super creative concept
+ Makes you not completely hate the P-balloon
- Some weird and janky execution at points
- Select gimmick could be better explained

Other: Hast du etwas Zeit für mich? Dann singe ich ein Lied für dich von 99 Luftballons auf ihrem weg zum Horizont...

[Implo]

I did not enjoy this one. First half was really tough for me. Maybe because I went after dragon coins from the start. And then 2nd half happened. Out of nowhere level changed into puzzle level. SELECT room is something that I couldn't beat it. I overthought here. I remembered gimmick from JUMP about using L and R to go through walls, so I expected some crazy interaction happen after pressing SELECT. Like maybe it could spawn baby Yoshi, because I did know that baby Yoshi can eat statue. This gimmick was well presented in JUMP. But I had no idea that statue can die from explosion. How should I know about that? It's not a common knowledge. And yes, I searched internet for this information and found nothing.

So my guess was baby Yoshi just didn't spawn and I checked in Lunar Magic for it. But no, it's not present and there was more to this level afterwards. I assumed that author just forgot to put baby Yoshi and level can't be finished. While looking in Lunar Magic I found randomly placed key in 1st half and only thanks to that got secret exit.

Author really should put info about statue interaction with explosion or at least present at the beginning of 2nd half that bomb can destroy statue. So in current state this level is for veterans with huge knowledge about SMW mechanics.

[Ashan]

I think the reason there was double balloon in the second SELECT puzzle is because you weren't necessarily supposed to wrap around through the reset zone to get a flower + cape combo. You could go up in the first balloon, get the cape, come back down, and thwack through the turn blocks to get the other balloon

That was a neat idea, although I don't really understand the point of the first area before it became a puzzle level

[Daizo]

although I don't really understand the point of the first area before it became a puzzle level

I think the point was to introduce the gimmick and let you play around with the water/wall interaction when it comes to using balloons before actually "testing your knowledge". I think the level would've been more awkward if it started out with the puzzle, and the player has absolutely no clue how the balloon physics work in this context.

[Ashan]

But the balloon didn't seem affected by the water at all? The water seemed to just be used as a platform you could go through from the top or bottom

[Daizo]

But the balloon didn't seem affected by the water at all? The water seemed to just be used as a platform you could go through from the top or bottom

It's good to make sure the player knows how the balloon behaves in water tho, even if it's just "hey this isn't at all different". I still think the Layer 2 thing is important tho.

[Sugar]

42nd: Faux Water by Sixcorby

Koopster
DESIGN: 29/50
CREATIVITY: 25/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 67/100

A level with really awesome concepts and an alright execution. The first half is mostly fine, although it makes a few weird decisions (second dragon coin/pre-midpoint setup are just boring/annoying, the first powerup is weird to get) and it felt quite short and underdeveloped seeing the gimmicks it had. I like the concepts of the rooms in the second half, but they're quite long and slow, especially the vertical room. Not a fan of how the two autoscroller rooms are the second half, making it much longer than it had to be. The secret exit room's concept sadly wasn't executed very well at all, message boxes have really "friendly" hitboxes and some setups don't take that in consideration - very picky jumps here and there. If you ignore the message box gimmick it's also quite unfocused and misdirected in design. I think the puzzle to reach the secret exit is clever, took me a while to figure it out; but it also takes a while to reach that room, not a fan of that since it can be risky and require resetting several times (I actually died of timeout in my first secret exit run). The tileset of the level is alright but I'm not big on the palettes.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 42/50
CREATIVITY: 21/30
AESTHETICS: 13/20
TOTAL SCORE: 76/100

The level is fun and cute, though I feel it drags on a bit, and the design doesn't feel polished.

Noivern
DESIGN: 23/50
CREATIVITY: 22/30
AESTHETICS: 9/20
TOTAL SCORE: 54/100

This is a fun take on the fake water glitch. The interaction between fish in bubbles and the glitch is really cool and makes for good design in the first half. Unfortunately cheep cheeps don't act like other fish in that they are not spinjump-able. Things not working exactly like you'd expect is common when using gimmick glitches like this one, but it's still your responsibility as the level designer to make things as coherent as possible.

The secret exit is where everything goes wrong. It throws the gimmick out of the window entirely and feels like it's made by a different person, and is worse for both. The sudden shift to fish ghosts (also present briefly at the end of the normal exit) kills the subterranean aesthetic of the rest of the level. Spikes and message blocks used incorrect graphics and just looked all around ugly. The buggy layer 3/message block schtick is a poor gimmick poorly implemented and then you used a fishin boo fjdghsdfklgdg.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 35/50
CREATIVITY: 23/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 72/100

Very clever use of floating platforms. The vertical section is really great, with the falling rock bits reminding me of DKC2 (a very good accomplishment!). I'm not a fan of the one part in the first area where you're making the pletforms go down, as it's just tedious, and you may have gone a bit overboard with the fish in the last area, but otherwise it's great. The secret exit is pretty weird, but also interesting; I greatly prefer the main level gimmick, and this part was not executed as well as it could have been, but it's still fairly solid.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 31/50
CREATIVITY: 25/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 68/100

The first half of this is super-neat! Having water physics apply to sprites but not Mario gets you to think quite differently and generally makes for a weird, fun level, and the platforms and fish balloons take on a very different role than in normal levels. My feelings about the second section are slightly more mixed; the use of the platforms is expanded upon and they are employed in a very unique way, though I feel that the ease with which one can get stranded, have to use a reset pipe, and in turn repeat half the section adds a touch of repetitiveness which spoils the pacing a bit. The final section is solid as well, though by this point the level is starting to overstay its welcome a bit and the player is likely more concerns about not dying and having to repeat the vertical section to properly enjoy things. The goal screen makes for some sweet revenge, though.

As far as the secret exit is concerned--again, very creative, but it suffers from similar flaws to the vertical section, only amplified. Figuring out how to reach the secret path (then executing it) is a challenge in itself (if a creative one), and one one has to repeat every time one dies on the secret path (a 1-up checkpoint could have helped here). As for the path itself--using the layer 3 message box issue as a genuine obstacle was certainly creative, though the ease with which it can be triggered can be quite grating, and the player will likely have to repeat things a -lot-. Add to this the fact that dying legitimately is still a very real danger, as is, above all else, the time limit, which is likely running a bit low at this point. That the level should then decided to throw in none other than a Fishin' Boo in a section requiring precision precisely when the player is in danger of a time-out just seems cruel. That all said, actually having to remove the layer 3 water at the end to achieve your goal was an inspired touch. I simply wish this path had a suitably satisfying conclusion like the main one, instead of merely warping you back to the start of the section with a key in hand. We earned our ending here, goshdarnit!

+ Fun and creative gimmick
+ Good horizontal sections
- Vertical likely to feel repetitive in practice
- Secret path likely to feel -very- repetitive in practice

Other: I do so wish the Fishin' Boo replacement were itself a fish and not just a dopey skellington head.

40th: Hop-On, Hop-Off by Mad Lad (PuzzelBreaker)

Koopster
DESIGN: 31/50
CREATIVITY: 18/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 61/100

Pure platforming levels are always quite nice and energetic, but the execution of this one leaves a tad to be desired. This level doesn't flow very well, for sometimes slowing down awkwardly (suddenly you stop to wait for a carrot lift to line up), but especially in development of gimmicks and difficulty. A saw hop would've been a nice way to end the level if that hadn't already been done somewhere in the first half. The enemy placement is not always used very well in advantage of making the design more interesting, many setups of the level are very easy to just spin jump over. The second and third dragon coins are pretty rough to get in the first try.

lolyoshi
DESIGN: 39/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 14/20
TOTAL SCORE: 72/100

It's an alright "quick time event" level. Some setups were neat, but the flows doesn't feel
right at times, due to some hiccups. I don't think it tries hard enough to make more creative
setups though.

Noivern
DESIGN: 40/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 15/20
TOTAL SCORE: 74/100

Really good fast-paced level. I think a few of the setups, particularly in the first half, are too precise and difficult to do without foreknowledge. Things get really hectic in the second half, and it could have done without some sprites that are only used in one area. Regardless, it's really fun and looks great, with really good dragon coin placement.

Sinc-X
DESIGN: 33/50
CREATIVITY: 19/30
AESTHETICS: 9/20
TOTAL SCORE: 61/100

Some interesting concepts here, some of which are executed better than others. Most of what is laid down is enjoyable, though the idea of essentially nonstop platforming doesn't really appeal to me--it would have been nice to have more time to catch your breath in some spots, especially since there are some pretty tricky arrangements to get through. Some parts are a bit too tight for my liking, in particular the Banzai Bill setup and the saws around the falling platform. Visually it's very simple, which is alright, but the pink in the background is distractingly unappealing to the point where it almost starts to detract from the experience.

Rameau's Nephew
DESIGN: 38/50
CREATIVITY: 20/30
AESTHETICS: 12/20
TOTAL SCORE: 70/100

A fun, fast-paced and energetic level. The level creates a nice feeling of constant moment (while still keeping that movement largely under the player's control), and each obstacle tends to flow nicely into the next. That said, there's one or two spots where it seems as though the player is expected to react to an obstacle before they can entirely parse what the nature of the obstacle is (the switch from jumping on the falling platform to spin-bouncing off the Grinder near the second dragon coin stands out particularly). Still, this wasn't a huge problem, and for the most part the level is quite enjoyable.

+ Fun, well-crafted and energetic level.
- Occasionally demands the player switch gears before it's immediately clear which gears need to be shifted.

Other: I'm a bit puzzled as to why the ?-blocks were edited to give only mushrooms, though--a fire flower makes essentially no practical difference in this level. Maybe their greater ability to be bounced from below makes them intrinsically hoppier than flowers?

[Le Neveu de Rameau]

Since raocow invoked a metaphor for farting in Mad Lad's level, I can only assume he hated the level on account of its dystopian setting.

[raocow]

can confirm

[SAJewers]

[raocow]

so, uhm

no, no, I've decided not to say anything

[BobisOnlyBob]

so, uhm

no, no, I've decided not to say anything

what a foreboding thing to say