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[REMOVED] "XCity" by Mario3andU

The title screen uses unedited movements but places Mario off-screen. You can hear him jumping. The level scrolls slowly and shows Lakitu throwing Spinies around. There are sprite tile memory problems as the cloud loses priority over Lakitu's body.

The overworld is unedited.

Yoshi's House is also unedited, as expected.

XCITY 1 has a few problems with the bush overlap and having been placed on the edge of some platforms, there are some gaps between the bushes and the ground. That's the least of the level's worries - the autoscroll doesn't fit the layout and creates and awkward-feeling level that is both slow and uneventful. The level feels like every obstacle is too spaced out for its pacing. Some enemies are placed too far off for them to be threatening. Towards the end the platforms become smaller and you jump a bit more but not enough happens.

Switch Palace! is an edit of the original with another P-switch tacked on and some cement walls to create a need for jumping and some kind of want to touch the obvious dead ends. There's one point the wall is too large for you to return, so get your fill of coins there. Still, it feels too much like the original level.

XCITY 2 is an incomplete level which is seen in the title screen as well. It's beatable without the Yellow Switch but easier with it. Again, some enemies are placed very threatlessly, flying too high above the land for them to be dangerous unless you're trying to jump into them. The design overall doesn't feel terribly different from the first level, except for not having autoscroll and instead having a Lakitu to harass you.

Overall, this is a hack that's too short and bare-bones to get much enjoyment out of, and the fact that one level is a minor edit of an old SMW level hurts substantially. More new content is needed for the hack to attract interest.

Base score: 1
Verdict: Reject
Difficulty: Easy

Scoring:
Wakana (+2)
Wormer21 (+2)
Everest (+2)

Nice reviews guys and congrats Mt. Everest for attaining the summit of yourself

Just look above you...
If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!
Attempting a Counterfeit-styled review, since this hack is extremly short.

Titlescreen
The chaos created there was fancy I must say, but maybe the Lakitu could've been more visible, since it's hidden behind the layer3 tiles. Too bad that, since you didn't disable Mario's movements, you can still hear his jump SFX.

Overworld
A big minus for the unedited SMW Overworld. Atleast, it doesn't have any perspective errors.

Yoshi's house
Same as the OW's threatment. Even the message box is unedited.

XCITY1
A medium speed autoscroll level. The player immediately gets a fireflower in order to deal with enemies easily. I must say, though, that it felt extremly linear and neverending. In terms of difficulty, for a first level it could go, but the autoscroll makes it slower than how it is already. There are also present small cutoff caused by bad bushes placing.

Switch Palace!
A small edit of the original SMW, I must admit that, even for a level based on the original, it was pretty nice. Nothing more to say, except that a player may be expecting something a tad different from what the original did. That's why starting the designing from scratch assures you big chances of making a great level, sometimes, even better than what Nintendo did.

XCITY2
Less neverending than the first level, but still flat as hell. It feels like the enemies have been placed without thinking twice. You could've placed them in more strategic places. The level ends suddently with a message box. Disappointed: this hack has 3 levels; I was hoping that these 3 levels were full atleast.

This hack is extremly poor: the design isn't as bothering as the lenght of the hack, which is the main thing here. You must be sure to submit a decent lenghted hack, and 3 exits aren't a reasonable lenght at all. The aesthetics are mostly vanilla, but they aren't well used, especially in the first level, which, as pointed out, has small but noticeable cutoff.

Difficulty is easy, difficulty curve is too much of a parallel line to the x-axis for me (aka there is no development in it, all the levels have the same difficulty setting, which, for a 3 exit hack, could be justified).

I'd reject this hack, mainly for the lenght. While you're at it, be sure to improve your design, and also start from scratch when designing.
I see you're new, at least it shows it. It's not bad for a beginning, but it's way too short I think.

Your hack starts with a simple title screen. It scrolls slowly and shows some random Bob-Ombs and a Lakitu throwing spinies. The amount of spinies causes small sprite memory glitches with the cloud. It's minor though.

We start on an almost unedited map of Yoshi's Island with revealed paths and a destroyed castle. It looks a little strange that the player can't go anywhere, even if the paths are revealed.

XCITY1 is pretty much an autoscroll level with simple, linear design and some enemies around the landscape. While it doesn't have any major bugs and flaws if it goes with graphics, the autoscroll makes it feel slow and not very interesting at all. The terrain does vary a bit in progress, but it still feels quite repetitive (some Rexes, flying Koopas, normal Koopas, a few Banzai Bills, a Goomba). Your obstacles (enemies) are easy to avoid and the Fire Flower makes it even easier. I suggest getting rid of the autoscroll and I think you should add some more obstacles and vary the terrain a bit more.

The switch palace is a simple level based on the original level. Some cement block walls, two P-switches and a bunch of coins around the player. Very similar to the original palace.

XCITY2 looks like the title screen level. Some jumps may be a little threat if you don't press the switch before, but the level is pretty much easy. There are some random placed Bob-Ombs, spinies and a Lakitu chasing you through the level. It was extremely short and it ended with a message box telling the player it's a demo. It's okay, but this level looks kind of unfinished. The flying Koopas were pretty much useless, because they were flying too high, mostly above the screen. Still better than the first one, but very linear and without many obstacles.

Overall, it's a very short hack with very simple design. I didn't enjoy it very much, it was very linear and nothing happens too much. I suggest you to play some hacks and get some inspiration about level design. It lacks any obstacles and it's very easy to beat. I think it's also too short, because you can beat this hack in about 2-3 minutes. I suggest to finish at least one world to give the player at least 10 minutes of actual gameplay.

Well, I think the verdict is obvious. I vote for rejection, because it's very short and linear. You can try again if you create some more levels. Good luck!

Difficulty: Easy.
The shortest of the short!

Due to its length, this hack deserves to be rejected merely on that basis, but it is worth pointing out already existing issues or give suggestions as it seems this hack is going to be expanded in the future and it is good to take some advice before doing so. Seeing as this hack is so small, I might as well be specific in this review. Starting with the level design as I usually do in my reviews, I can say that overall the levels are nothing special and will not attract much interest if you continue to design levels like the two main XCity levels you have designed. Looking at each level specifically, I can say that leaving Yoshi's House unedited is a big mistake. It gives the impression that this hack isn't meant to be taken seriously as many hacks that leave the message purposely unedited tend not to be serious. That said, seeing as this is a review, I decided to play more. XCity 1 is where Yoshi's Island 1 used to be and when I entered it, it does give that vibe of the original level though now it is an autoscrolling level now. The level has landforms that are not really interesting along with the sprites such as banzai bills that are placed every now and then for the sake of things. It is quite uneventful and uninteresting. To spice it up, you could make it a little more challenging to keep the player on their feet although do not make it unfair especially seeing as this is an early level in game. Moving onto Switch Palace!, it is similar to the original level except it has more cement blocks in more complex placements which is acceptable enough though a completely different challenge would be nice as it would dissociate it from the old level (not that the original concept is bad in itself though the context in which it is made slightly matters in this case). The final level XCity 2 seems to be slightly more challenging and a bit more interesting now that there isn't an autoscroll. The lakitu is the only main challenge and the yellow switch blocks aided me in "completing" the level which ends on a notice that it is unfinished. I would advise you to finish your levels and avoid being lazy when designing them. A final piece of advice: while switch palace blocks do help the player, please do not paste them all over the pits in general as it can ruin the intended difficulty of the level. I guess that is all.

This is a purely vanilla hack so nothing to say about the palettes or graphics here. The title screen is edited to show XCity 2 which presents an interesting view of the hack for a first time player although the jumping SFX can be annoying - you should disable Mario's movements or add actual movements if you want to keep this hack vanilla. The overworld is unedited except for the fact that you revealed all of the paths and destroyed the castle on the submap for some odd reason. I wonder why? Curious indeed. That is it for this part of the review.

Difficulty: Easy pretty much.

I will go with rejection due to the length of the hack and the uninteresting level design would put this hack on the road to rejection anyway. Play some of the accepted hacks here to get a good idea of what good level design is. Gregor's recently accepted demo is an excellent example of good level design so I would suggest trying that to give you some ideas.
Sorry. I trying really hard. My next ROM Hack will be MUCH longer than XCity, and should be more entertaining.
This is temporary