This level is interesting. I see that you were going for a marathon level, but most of the sections are too hard/frustating/poorly designed for that. This results in making the level not that fun to play, even though there are some sections which are enjoyable.
The password system is impressive, but having to enter the password many times can get annoying. This doesn't need to be a problem, but most sections are difficult, and people have to enter the password a lot. Also, sometimes the ball on the fifth x-coördinate just wouldn't "activate", but the others would, leaving me unable to enter the password and having to play the first sections again (or die and try again). In general you should also reconsider putting more powerups in the section, or giving higher tier powerups at the beginning.
Before I will get to each of the sections individually, I also want to point out that a thirty minute song of 28 MB is too big. I get it that you don't want the music to loop in the level, but 28 MB is pretty big. It also isn't a big deal (in my opinion) that the music loops, even if it doesn't sound that great.
I played each section individually (I cheated and gave myself warps to the start of each section to test them better), and gave myself two mushrooms at the start of each section. I managed to beat almost every section this way. Even when I played this level legitimately, I only managed to get to the first password (actually the fifth section), starting with tanooki suit and hammer suit.
The sections are numbered in the order in which they appear when you play the level.
Section 1, Grassy Grasslands:
It's pretty standard for the starting section. It's not the best but not the worst. There are a few things I like to point out:
- The lava lotus setup is still a bit annoying. Working your way to where Mario is in the picture is no problem, but the jump up there (indicated by the red arrow) is annoying. The hitbox of the lava lotus doesn't give much let, and you also have to simulataniously dodge the pollen.
I suggest that you move the left lava to a new platform above the last row.
A bit more minor:
- The shells in the beginning sometimes destroy each other, but other times they don't. I don't know what you where going for, but the shells in the beginning can be unpredictable (But nothing to worse that can't be learned with a bit of practice).
Section 2, Metroidville:
Even though I didn't experience much lag in this section, it still has some flaws:
- First look at this jump to the left:
The only way I could manage this jump was by spinjump on the spike top. While this is doable, it can be quite tricky. Also, the first time players come around there, they might not realise that they can't make the jump otherwise, and fall in the hole, having to start all over again.
- The section towards the locked door still feels a bit spammed with hammer bros. A few less wouldn't hurt.
- You could reduce the amount of spike tops in the rinka section. The structure of the level makes the way back already difficult, but the spike tops slow you down, as you can't get past them most of the time.
It might be an idea to swap the ON/OFF switches with invisible blocks that activate an event on hit that removes one wall. This way, it doesn't matter if the switch needs to be on or off. It's hit once, the wall dissappeared and the player can progress.
But I must say:
The switch above the bullet bill cannon was nicely hidden.
Section 3, SMW Castle:
This section was actually pretty alright. It was a bit cramped at places, and maybe a bit short (not that I'm complaining about that), but overall it was nice. But the Ludwig on the pipe was a bit random, and when you hit him once, you could easily defeat him by timing your jumps with his invincibility frames. I liked what you did in section 6 and 12 better. The Bowser was simple yet effective. Maybe you can use him here also and add an extra enemy in section 6 or something.
Section 4, Two Jumps:
I also enjoyed this section, once I knew what I had to do. The only real downside are the two ambushes of the buster beetles with shells. I mean, you just cleared the third section, are about to get your first password, when you get hit by a shell out of the blue and have to start all over again. That is not cool. You should remove the first buster beetle. You can also remove the second buster beetle, but you can also move it more to the right, so that it has to walk to the shell, which gives the player more time to react. It would also be nice if you gave the player a bit more room to land. I feel that the jumps have to be almost perfect at this point.
Section 5, Underground Bombardement:
This is one of the sections that gave me the most trouble. This mainly came because I had to backtrack to get the bomb to blow up the wall. It's a nice idea, but not very well executed. In order to bring the bomb to the wall, you need to destroy most of the plants, otherwise you're going to have to take a hit. The only way to destroy the plants is with the bombs (assuming you destroyed the shell and don't have any other powerups), which means you have to backtrack back every time to get a bomb. And if you die here (or later on), you have to do it all over again. This can get annoying really quick and kill the fun in a marathon level.
Some other, smaller things:
- When you start the section, you fall directly in a bomb generator. It would be better if you started on a platform somewhere safe.
- The shell from this buster beetle can be quite annoying and unpredictable. I would suggest replacing it with another enemy.
- The shell generator at the end isn't that great. You have to make speed for the running jump, but the shells get too much in the way, and there isn't much you can do about it.
On a more positive note, the poison mushroom section with the goombas was pretty nice.
Section 6, Fishy Castle:
This section was pretty good. Aside from the fish ambush in the beginning (although more easily avoided than the shell in section 4), it was pretty well designed. I really liked the Bowser on the end pipe.
Section 7, Albatross Heights:
This section starts out alright. The first jump is okay, and I like the stem gimmick. But from there it goes downhill:
- The ninji in the picture below is hard to avoid, because you can't see him before you make the jump. Especially for a first time player, but I never managed to get past it without taking damage.
I could have taken the snifit with me to protect me, but a first time player rarely thinks of that.
- The albatross part is pretty hard, and you only get one shot. If you mess that up, then you can't progress and have to kill yourself.
- I also didn't really like the bomb part, but I can't really pinpoint my problem. It might be that it came right after the albatross part.
Section 8, Digging Galore:
This sections wasn't as special. Just your standard digging section, with a bit of red snifit spam in the middle. Also this gray snifit glitches out:
It jumps into the ceiling, and gets propelled to the right. Also, its bullets keep looping, and possibly making you force to take a hit, if you weren't fast enough with the red snifits.
Section 9, Mouser's Castle:
This section feels pretty bland to me. Nothing to special is happening. And the Mouser Boss at the end is also trivial. You can just stand on the star, and grab the bombs to throw them back at him. You only have to watch out for one sparky. This section is just kind of
there.
Section 10, Venus Hills:
Again, we get amushed at the beginning. This time by a paragoomba. Although it isn't as bad as the shell in section 4, I still suggest removing it. Furthermore the section has potential, but doesn't quite get it. When you ride the airship, all the venus firetraps miss you. Your only enemies are the parakoopas. However, the fireballs become a problem when you want to jump of the airship. They may force you to take a hit (depending on the angle at which they are shot), especially when you haven't defeated the parakoopas yet. I suggest lowering the hill of the exit platform. This would also solve the following problem, where this cannon is just stuck in the wall:
There is also a ambush by a buster beetle after this bullet jump, but somehow I didn't have that much trouble with it. But you could move the buster beetle a bit to the right.
Section 11, Generator Madness:
This was the worst section in my opinion. It's just a bunch of generator pipes spawning too many enemies. It gets really crowded really fast, and the screen wrap makes everything even more unpredictable. The lakitus were especially annoying. You can stomp them, but if you miss them, they just create more havoc.
Furthermore, you have to swim for a part, and Mario becomes less mobile underwater. This makes dodging everything more problematic. There were also some fish underwater, which somehow got stuck in the pipes and were catapulting to the right for the rest of the time.
Section 12, Final Castle:
This last section was pretty nice again. The jumps were difficult, but interesting. Maybe a bit more room to land would be nice, but overall it was fine. A minor downside is the invisible maze. The maze didn't add anything. Apart from that the section was fine.
An overview:
Good sections with minor errors: 3, 4, 6, 12
Ok sections: 1, 9
Meh sections: 8, 10
Poor sections: 2, 5, 7, 11
Overall, some sections were nice, with some small things, but most of the sections were frustating. Which kills the fun in a marathon level. The fact that it takes some time to insert the password doesn't help if you die to one of the unfair ambushes. It might be a good idea to give some more powerups throughout the sections, and making them easier in general.
On a different note, Castle Rush was originally placed in the Bonus world because of its uniqueness, even though it would have been too easy for the post game.
I hope this review was helpful, and any comments and questions are welcome.