Since I was a judge on CLDC 2018, I figured it would be cool for me to play entries and evaluate them as if I were judging this contest, too. I take this as a lesson to improve my reviews and scoring, so whenever I evaluate something, be sure to give feedback on what you agree/disagree and stuff. This is important in case I am considered to judge any future level design contests.
By the way, expect me to be somewhat more nitpicky than I was in CLDC 2018, in which my methodology was to deduct points from the total score depending on flaws and issues weighed according to their impact and just that, which led to a few ties and overall high average scores. This time I intend to judge according to my concept of ideal levels, too, which may or may not weigh heavily, but certainly reduces the chances of giving a perfect score in specific categories.
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User: Mandew
Entry name: MURAMUR
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: A simple rompy level which is pretty straightforward. While kinda easy, it's pretty engaging, and that's also regardless of how stuff was set up. Enemy placement is alright, and it's obvious for the player to know what to do and to see where is safe. It's too linear, though. Using some extended level shenanigans could spice up the layout significantly.
Design points: 32/60
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Creativity: There was nothing particularly memorable here, but I thought it was a good take to have Reflecting Podoboos always follow a same pattern. I've never seen that in any other levels I've ever played, so this is good. While not really innovative, it's unique. I'm only a bit disappointed with timed lift setups - while I know it's hard to work with them for interesting setups, most patterns there were average ones, as seen in various other levels of this kind. I hoped for more in that regards.
Creativity points: 18/30
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Aesthetics: No tileset mixing and straightforward usage of tiles, which is good - nothing is confusing. There were no cutoffs or glitches that I could have spotted. Pure vanilla palette-wise, as well, which bothered me because of the grey lava. You could have this recolored to something else (any color besides grey - or better, besides the same color of the ground), or could even get rid of it. Let's be honest - that lava is useless. Played on safe ground, but I'd have appreciated a small change at least in palettes.
Aesthetics points: 5/10
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Total score: 55/100
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User: Young Boi
Entry Name: Lime Green Lane
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: Generic and bland. It didn't feel empty because enemies were always there, but Monty Moles rarely provided me any kind of challenge because they take longer to spawn (this is a property of Yoshi's Island submap - if you place your level in the main OW map, for example, Monty Moles will jump faster). The other enemies, on the other hand, were more threathening, and they managed to slow me down and hit me when I was running around carelessly. Still, the level wasn't engaging at all - all I wanted to do was to get to the goal as soon as possible, and that led to "glitching" the level end scorecard - the time limit is too big for a level that is short like this one.
Design points: 14/60
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Creativity: Nothing stood out in my opinion. I could try and look harder for different setups in there because my run was rushed, I admit it, but it wouldn't affect the score here. Again, if Monty Moles jumped faster, you could have benefitted here for more clever obstacles, having sections in which require more patience and so on.
Creativity points: 5/30
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Aesthetics: There was no tileset mixing but you made use of custom Map16 shenanigans to spice up decoration, but in my opinion, these half-buried blocks on ledges always looked odd to me. Bushes and skinny pipes were okay, on the other hand. Palettes are okay for the most part, but everything is greeny greeny - FG, BG, and even the back area color - which made it look monotonous. I'd prefer using default BG palettes in this case over the currently chosen ones.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 23/100
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User: enan2017
Entry Name: Vanilla Plains
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: Like the name says, it's vanilla. I just can't say it's pure vanilla because SA-1 but that's besides the point lol. Anyway, the level had several flaws, while the most notable one is the jumps. Lots of gaps are too large, making jumps extremely demanding to clear. The other issue is technical, but you should always put something to block access below the slanted pipe, or else the player can pass through it. Plus, you could have used coins more as indicators for safe ground, as in a rush, most jumps are quite blind. Other problem: the time limit. The level has 600 game seconda but it could have only half of that, plus take in mind that such time limit wouldn't cut here - 500 seconds is the maximum limit for this contest. Quirks aside, I liked the usage of Banzai Bills, except for the last one - the player has little to no time to react properly after clearing the insanely large final jump.
Design points: 7/60
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Creativity: Nothing stood out in my opinion. Enemies were just... there. I didn't feel engaged in gameplay with any section. There weren't any clever setups, which could have been done with some more thinking out of the box. Examples like using Banzai Bills and having the player to dodge while swimming, or making the player wait for a Banzai Bill to pass before a jump can be cleared, and so on. Simple ideas are the starting point for more interesting setups as you grow used with all features SMW and LM provide.
Creativity points: 3/30
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Aesthetics: Pure vanilla appearances. No tileset mixing, no custom palettes, no custom Map16 tiles. No cutoffs or glitches, though the midway point wasn't attached to the ground even though it still was touching it, and that looked off. Decoration was okay. Took no risks to try and make something different so I can't rate it higher, really.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 14/100
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User: TheSpeedyJay
Entry Name: Sunny Shoreline
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: It's a pretty basic level. A consistent set of enemies, though with not much interesting usages aside from the traditional. There's a water tide, and it didn't add much to design as well because there were really few fishes and little to no swimming areas. Actually, if you fall in a gap made of high ledges, you're forced to backtrack. It's not as punishing as death but it's still somewhat boring. There was a small water section containing a Yoshi Coin, and there wasn't much going on here as well, not to mention a small technical nitpick - buoyancy is disabled. This is noticeable whenever you hit an enemy with a fireball - the coin will have gravity as if it wasn't underwater. Difficulty was okay, on the other hand.
Design points: 23/60
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Creativity: It lacked. There weren't any memorable sections or obstacles, nothing that would make the player think out of the box or leave the comfort zone. As mentioned in Design category, more could have been done with tides and enemy setups. Jumping fishes could have been used in more interesting ways, too.
Creativity points: 1/30
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Aesthetics: The custom palettes are decent. However, tile usage and decoration was flawed. Bushes seemed floating over horizontal pipes, looked a bit weird over arch ledges (but in this case I'd be more lenient because it reminded me of SMB1 and that's good I guess), and the cement blocks used as pipe corners caused minor cutoff. There are lots of better replacements. Plus, the midway point also looks odd because it's not attached to the ledge even though it touches it. And the grass/dirt ledge transition in screen 04 was poorly made, too.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 28/100
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User: Green Jerry
Entry Name: Rocky Forest
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: Decent overall. It's not unfair, despite the usage of tree trunks and layer 3 bushes with priority. I also liked the enemy choice for this level - Dino-Rhinos and Dino-Torches, not seen so often in forests, were used for the first section, but I expected to see more of them in different ways (more covered in Creativity category). The timed lift usage was pretty good while not being the main attraction of this entry. In general, I had a fun time with this even though it was simple. Nice job.
Design points: 42/60
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Creativity: Given the rocky forest theme, I expected to see cave enemies or stuff related to rocks like Diggin' Chucks, but I was surprised when I saw Dino-Rhinos and Dino-Torches, in a good way. The problem, though, is that they weren't used to their full potential. All Dinos can jump, and Dino-Torches can breathe fire, and so much can be done with these things in mind. The positives were the timed lifts in the second section. While used in regular ways, these weren't repetitive, and felt fun and challenging at the same time. Still, I'd have loved to see something more astonishing overall.
Creativity points: 19/30
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Aesthetics: Pleasing. Custom palettes were used, but vanilla colors were preserved. The forest and cave tilesets went well together, and the layer 3 bushes also added to this. My only small complaint is that you didn't check 'fix layer 3 scroll sync issue with status bar' so, while moving, layer 3 wouldn't move at the same rate of layer 1. I get that it's probably meant to simulate a "topmost layer" of some sorts, and it should by default scroll even faster than layer 1 considering depth, but there's no real option for that in LM so I'd check the scroll sync option. I'd also make tree trunks with priority go above ledge/etc like Nintendo originally did for extra consistency. Quirks aside, I liked the visuals.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 68/100
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User: Infinity
Entry Name: Mushroom Lange
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: A nice mix of calm and athletic elements make this level pretty fun and interesting, and reminds me of Nintendo's level design concept of nowadays. Enemies were well-placed, as well as powerups and Yoshi Coins. Difficulty and length were spot-on and extremely well balanced. While not going into the experimental side of level design, this level was catchy.
Design points: 50/60
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Creativity: The enemy setups overall were traditional ones, making the level not memorable in terms of innovation. But they were nicely varied, making it never feel monotonous. I can't say much beyond that, and can only recommend experimenting more with enemy behaviors and such in order to make something even more engaging and memorable.
Creativity points: 15/30
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Aesthetics: Very good. Pleasant, vivid colors, with good use of custom tiles. The graphics mix was awesome and made the level look cute. No cutoffs and glitches were seen, but I was a bit sad with the cave section. It could have used some mixing, different palettes and decoration, too, in order to look more polished and appealing.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 72/100
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User: N450
Entry Name: Sky Castle
Playthrough date: 2019-02-16
Design: The design is a tad flawed due to technical reasons. While the level itself is okay gameplay-wise, there are instances worth revising, such as the invisible 1up block in the beginning. If you are big and go into the small area between the block and the ceiling, you may die crushed. There's also the fact that in SMW you can slide-kill nonsense like the Reflecting Podoboo and the statue flames (present in the third section), which results in glitched GFX for the death frame. Grinders can be killed, too, but these don't glitch. Best solution for this is avoiding the usage of slopes. As for sections themselves, they aren't very engaging. Almost all sprites from the castle set were used without consistency (as in, it feels everything is changing every time or looks way too mixed at certain parts), and the obstacles and lesses puzzles aren't so well-thought, especially to get the first invisible 1up and the 3up moon. Something better than spinjumping flames in obvious patterns could have been built. There was no need to make stuff like invisible question blocks extra obvious, too - using them naturally is what gives meaning to them. Doing this is more for levels that rely on them most times, being required for the player to progress. All in all, this entry could be better.
Design points: 14/60
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Creativity: There was lots of potential given the usage of various different sprites. However, the most creative setup I can instantly remember is the statue flame corridors, present in the first section, regardless of its simplicity. And that's all. The rest of stuff was just there to annoy the player with little to no reason besides that. Perhaps using the sky theme to your advantage, using more platform action with a real creative variety of obstacle patterns could have granted you a better score here and in the previous category.
Creativity points: 10/30
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Aesthetics: There were some minor palette issues, most notably the mismatched tone of grey in bullet machines, and the way too dark shade of grey of the BG clouds. I know you probably went for something like rain clouds but the palette choices aren't smooth. The second section was untouched palette-wise, and still looked better than the custom palettes in other sublevels. There is some minor decoration in the castle ground of the first section like small corner/edge tiles, but these didn't look really good, honestly. There was no cutoff at all, but there was the oddly positioned midway point. The base isn't attached to the ground, even though it's touching it. Lastly, no tile mixing was used, but that's okay because nothing felt out of place graphically. Overall, questionable palette and decoration choices weighed this down a lot.
Aesthetics points: 3/10
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Total score: 27/100
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User: Manofer
Entry Name: Get the mushroom!
Playthrough date: 2019-02-16
Warning: 'R' tile from LM's interface used for GFX - worth revising, probably not allowed.
Design: Interesting take on experimental design there. The level is easy but challenging at the same time. I'd complain it's a bit linear, but since it's puzzle-based this is not much of an issue. You don't simply run from one side to another - you have to think before doing so, you have to get the mushroom. Its straightforward nature also made me enjoy this a bit more, but I'd argue some places were a bit empty, though. I know that the primary focus is getting the mushroom in order to progress, and to keep it until reaching the necessary spot, but you could also made it so in the mushroom getting phase the player would also be challenged (for example, dodge enemies while moving the mushroom to its exit).
Design points: 42/60
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Creativity: It is creative, given the fact that every single section is particularly memorable. Every section felt unique while using the same gimmick, progressively adding more difficulty. However, as said in the previous category, you could also have had obstacles during the mushroom getting phases at some spots, making this a much more interesting, challenging, and less empty entry. Anyway, you did a great job with the few resources used. Less was more.
Creativity points: 23/30
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Aesthetics: Nice palettes, though I'm a bit unsure about SMWR palettes for vanilla sprites - it's probably because their borders aren't black. Mario, especially, looked weirder than everything else. GFX choice was good for most part, and I liked the BG, except it looks a bit empty. Maybe adding some clouds, farther towers or stars could spice up the environment? As for decoration, the Mechakoopa wind tiles look out of place in my opinion. I liked the animated Grinders on ground, too. There's no cutoff, but the note block bounce sprite is glitched. The 'R' near reset doors also looks pretty strange (this one is from LM, right? You'd better use SMW's, you can recolor 2BPP to 4BPP, too).
Aesthetics points: 6/10
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Total score: 71/100
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User: MercuryPenny
Entry Name: Plumbing Job
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: I like it. The usage of enemies was pretty varied but consistent, and the layer 2 water sections were fun to play, especially the second one. It begins fully submerged, then when touching the block in the end of the room, the water level decreases and everything plays significantly different. Yoshi Coins were well placed, even though the first one was "free" to get. The "hidden" 1up and flower were cool, too, even though the powerup is too generous for players that die and start from the midway point. Anyway, there was nothing unfair, no difficulty peaks or major design flaws here.
Design points: 51/60
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Creativity: Very nice. As mentioned previously, you did a wonderful job with sprites. Cheep-Cheeps and Urchins were used in a pretty good way while taking advantage of moving layer 2 water. The moving water itself also added a lot to the entry, giving variety to gameplay as well. I'd only have changed the sinking layer 2 block in the second area to something else but I have no idea of what (but I mean, making something more "obvious" to step on in order to make layer 2 sink).
Creativity points: 29/30
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Aesthetics: Average, but there were some issues. Minor cutoffs can be seen in several places, like the cement blocks as pipe corners in the beginning, passable castle ledge edges with small empty holes, question blocks against columns near the midway point, and the layer 2 dirt block against the water in the end of the second section. Palettes were mostly okay, but I think that the layer 2 water is a bit too bright for my tastes. The tileset mixing was good, even though I also find it weird that cave slopes placed over castle ledges look passable (and would be in SMW) when they aren't, really.
Aesthetics points: 5/10
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Total score: 85/100
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User: Hayashi Neru
Entry Name: The red ghost house
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: Decent, but too long. In a normal run for the 5 Yoshi Coins, I reached the end of the level with less than 100 seconds. There were a couple sections that felt a little filler and could have been cut out, like the rising Layer 2 one and even the "quick route" with the on/off layer 2. Speaking of this section, it felt kinda unfair whenever I reached the first jump. The ceiling was too low for me to pull a jump that long, and I'd have never made it the first time without a cape. As for the rising layer 2 section, it was specifically pointless whenever I had a cape, too, as I could fly directly to the door location. As for the rest of the level, basic enemy and obstacle usage, pretty much the average level design. I liked the small rooms for Yoshi Coins, although they were too simple.
Design points: 31/60
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Creativity: There weren't any particular sections that were memorable creativity-wise. I do remember well the rising layer 2 section, but in a bad way. It had some good potential for real puzzles but the room was plain filler. You could also have made more clever usage of all other sprites and layer 2 shenanigans, making this level more explorative or whatever else. As it stood, it didn't feel engaging at all. You've also used various different sprite types but didn't explore their true potential. The best sections in my opinion were the Yoshi Coin rooms, and I'd love if challenges were just a little bit more complex for them.
Creativity points: 6/30
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Aesthetics: I really liked the first screens with layer 1 and layer 2 in the FG, and layer 3 in the BG. Nice colors, graphics and decoration. The Ghost House entrance, on the other hand, had some problems like the door with minor cutoff due to mismatched tiles, and the random high priority tiles past the door which causes "depth" cutoff. The No Yoshi sign colors are a bit odd, too. As for the inner sections, no problem. Only the BG was recolored to red, and I liked its smoothness. The FG palette was vanilla, but alright, too.
Aesthetics points: 6/10
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Total score: 43/100
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User: Kit
Entry Name: Deep Soda Sea
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: A pretty decent level. Underwater levels tend to be slower compared to regular romps, and this can make some stages feel boring. Not the case here - the level was packed with some action despite being located underwater. Throw blocks in some areas have helped in terms of pace. The exploration factor was nice, too - some Yoshi Coins were placed quite well to encourage this. Only nitpick of mine is that it's like most water levels with nothing too innovative going on. Don't take this too harshly, though - the level is still fun to play.
Design points: 44/60
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Creativity: What has weighed down design a bit has weighed down even more here. While I appreciated the exploration for some Yoshi Coins and the enemy/obstacle usage, I felt that more could be done. For example, Throw Blocks could have been used more often in more ways, making them not only usable to clear sections faster, but also hit certain enemies out of the way. You could also have used wall-detecting Urchins in-between places blocked with Throw Blocks, so you need to get rid of them in order to proceed while also avoiding the Urchin. These are just some small ideas, and I'm sure it's possible to come out with even more.
Creativity points: 13/30
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Aesthetics: Nice palettes, and nice mix of water, underground and ghost house tiles. I'm not a fan of half-buried blocks as decorations, though, but this is due to personal tastes. There were no glitches, but I also have to complain about the layer 3 goldfish that cuts off due to the status bar when moving vertically. Sure, it's also present in SMW but it's still an imperfection. I'd rather not use layer 3 there unless working around with the goldfish layer 3 tilemap.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 64/100
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I'll review levels in order of submissions - I'm not taking requests.
By the way, expect me to be somewhat more nitpicky than I was in CLDC 2018, in which my methodology was to deduct points from the total score depending on flaws and issues weighed according to their impact and just that, which led to a few ties and overall high average scores. This time I intend to judge according to my concept of ideal levels, too, which may or may not weigh heavily, but certainly reduces the chances of giving a perfect score in specific categories.
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User: Mandew
Entry name: MURAMUR
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: A simple rompy level which is pretty straightforward. While kinda easy, it's pretty engaging, and that's also regardless of how stuff was set up. Enemy placement is alright, and it's obvious for the player to know what to do and to see where is safe. It's too linear, though. Using some extended level shenanigans could spice up the layout significantly.
Design points: 32/60
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Creativity: There was nothing particularly memorable here, but I thought it was a good take to have Reflecting Podoboos always follow a same pattern. I've never seen that in any other levels I've ever played, so this is good. While not really innovative, it's unique. I'm only a bit disappointed with timed lift setups - while I know it's hard to work with them for interesting setups, most patterns there were average ones, as seen in various other levels of this kind. I hoped for more in that regards.
Creativity points: 18/30
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Aesthetics: No tileset mixing and straightforward usage of tiles, which is good - nothing is confusing. There were no cutoffs or glitches that I could have spotted. Pure vanilla palette-wise, as well, which bothered me because of the grey lava. You could have this recolored to something else (any color besides grey - or better, besides the same color of the ground), or could even get rid of it. Let's be honest - that lava is useless. Played on safe ground, but I'd have appreciated a small change at least in palettes.
Aesthetics points: 5/10
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Total score: 55/100
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User: Young Boi
Entry Name: Lime Green Lane
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: Generic and bland. It didn't feel empty because enemies were always there, but Monty Moles rarely provided me any kind of challenge because they take longer to spawn (this is a property of Yoshi's Island submap - if you place your level in the main OW map, for example, Monty Moles will jump faster). The other enemies, on the other hand, were more threathening, and they managed to slow me down and hit me when I was running around carelessly. Still, the level wasn't engaging at all - all I wanted to do was to get to the goal as soon as possible, and that led to "glitching" the level end scorecard - the time limit is too big for a level that is short like this one.
Design points: 14/60
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Creativity: Nothing stood out in my opinion. I could try and look harder for different setups in there because my run was rushed, I admit it, but it wouldn't affect the score here. Again, if Monty Moles jumped faster, you could have benefitted here for more clever obstacles, having sections in which require more patience and so on.
Creativity points: 5/30
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Aesthetics: There was no tileset mixing but you made use of custom Map16 shenanigans to spice up decoration, but in my opinion, these half-buried blocks on ledges always looked odd to me. Bushes and skinny pipes were okay, on the other hand. Palettes are okay for the most part, but everything is greeny greeny - FG, BG, and even the back area color - which made it look monotonous. I'd prefer using default BG palettes in this case over the currently chosen ones.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 23/100
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User: enan2017
Entry Name: Vanilla Plains
Playthrough date: 2019-02-14
Design: Like the name says, it's vanilla. I just can't say it's pure vanilla because SA-1 but that's besides the point lol. Anyway, the level had several flaws, while the most notable one is the jumps. Lots of gaps are too large, making jumps extremely demanding to clear. The other issue is technical, but you should always put something to block access below the slanted pipe, or else the player can pass through it. Plus, you could have used coins more as indicators for safe ground, as in a rush, most jumps are quite blind. Other problem: the time limit. The level has 600 game seconda but it could have only half of that, plus take in mind that such time limit wouldn't cut here - 500 seconds is the maximum limit for this contest. Quirks aside, I liked the usage of Banzai Bills, except for the last one - the player has little to no time to react properly after clearing the insanely large final jump.
Design points: 7/60
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Creativity: Nothing stood out in my opinion. Enemies were just... there. I didn't feel engaged in gameplay with any section. There weren't any clever setups, which could have been done with some more thinking out of the box. Examples like using Banzai Bills and having the player to dodge while swimming, or making the player wait for a Banzai Bill to pass before a jump can be cleared, and so on. Simple ideas are the starting point for more interesting setups as you grow used with all features SMW and LM provide.
Creativity points: 3/30
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Aesthetics: Pure vanilla appearances. No tileset mixing, no custom palettes, no custom Map16 tiles. No cutoffs or glitches, though the midway point wasn't attached to the ground even though it still was touching it, and that looked off. Decoration was okay. Took no risks to try and make something different so I can't rate it higher, really.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 14/100
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User: TheSpeedyJay
Entry Name: Sunny Shoreline
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: It's a pretty basic level. A consistent set of enemies, though with not much interesting usages aside from the traditional. There's a water tide, and it didn't add much to design as well because there were really few fishes and little to no swimming areas. Actually, if you fall in a gap made of high ledges, you're forced to backtrack. It's not as punishing as death but it's still somewhat boring. There was a small water section containing a Yoshi Coin, and there wasn't much going on here as well, not to mention a small technical nitpick - buoyancy is disabled. This is noticeable whenever you hit an enemy with a fireball - the coin will have gravity as if it wasn't underwater. Difficulty was okay, on the other hand.
Design points: 23/60
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Creativity: It lacked. There weren't any memorable sections or obstacles, nothing that would make the player think out of the box or leave the comfort zone. As mentioned in Design category, more could have been done with tides and enemy setups. Jumping fishes could have been used in more interesting ways, too.
Creativity points: 1/30
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Aesthetics: The custom palettes are decent. However, tile usage and decoration was flawed. Bushes seemed floating over horizontal pipes, looked a bit weird over arch ledges (but in this case I'd be more lenient because it reminded me of SMB1 and that's good I guess), and the cement blocks used as pipe corners caused minor cutoff. There are lots of better replacements. Plus, the midway point also looks odd because it's not attached to the ledge even though it touches it. And the grass/dirt ledge transition in screen 04 was poorly made, too.
Aesthetics points: 4/10
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Total score: 28/100
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User: Green Jerry
Entry Name: Rocky Forest
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: Decent overall. It's not unfair, despite the usage of tree trunks and layer 3 bushes with priority. I also liked the enemy choice for this level - Dino-Rhinos and Dino-Torches, not seen so often in forests, were used for the first section, but I expected to see more of them in different ways (more covered in Creativity category). The timed lift usage was pretty good while not being the main attraction of this entry. In general, I had a fun time with this even though it was simple. Nice job.
Design points: 42/60
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Creativity: Given the rocky forest theme, I expected to see cave enemies or stuff related to rocks like Diggin' Chucks, but I was surprised when I saw Dino-Rhinos and Dino-Torches, in a good way. The problem, though, is that they weren't used to their full potential. All Dinos can jump, and Dino-Torches can breathe fire, and so much can be done with these things in mind. The positives were the timed lifts in the second section. While used in regular ways, these weren't repetitive, and felt fun and challenging at the same time. Still, I'd have loved to see something more astonishing overall.
Creativity points: 19/30
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Aesthetics: Pleasing. Custom palettes were used, but vanilla colors were preserved. The forest and cave tilesets went well together, and the layer 3 bushes also added to this. My only small complaint is that you didn't check 'fix layer 3 scroll sync issue with status bar' so, while moving, layer 3 wouldn't move at the same rate of layer 1. I get that it's probably meant to simulate a "topmost layer" of some sorts, and it should by default scroll even faster than layer 1 considering depth, but there's no real option for that in LM so I'd check the scroll sync option. I'd also make tree trunks with priority go above ledge/etc like Nintendo originally did for extra consistency. Quirks aside, I liked the visuals.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 68/100
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User: Infinity
Entry Name: Mushroom Lange
Playthrough date: 2019-02-15
Design: A nice mix of calm and athletic elements make this level pretty fun and interesting, and reminds me of Nintendo's level design concept of nowadays. Enemies were well-placed, as well as powerups and Yoshi Coins. Difficulty and length were spot-on and extremely well balanced. While not going into the experimental side of level design, this level was catchy.
Design points: 50/60
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Creativity: The enemy setups overall were traditional ones, making the level not memorable in terms of innovation. But they were nicely varied, making it never feel monotonous. I can't say much beyond that, and can only recommend experimenting more with enemy behaviors and such in order to make something even more engaging and memorable.
Creativity points: 15/30
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Aesthetics: Very good. Pleasant, vivid colors, with good use of custom tiles. The graphics mix was awesome and made the level look cute. No cutoffs and glitches were seen, but I was a bit sad with the cave section. It could have used some mixing, different palettes and decoration, too, in order to look more polished and appealing.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 72/100
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User: N450
Entry Name: Sky Castle
Playthrough date: 2019-02-16
Design: The design is a tad flawed due to technical reasons. While the level itself is okay gameplay-wise, there are instances worth revising, such as the invisible 1up block in the beginning. If you are big and go into the small area between the block and the ceiling, you may die crushed. There's also the fact that in SMW you can slide-kill nonsense like the Reflecting Podoboo and the statue flames (present in the third section), which results in glitched GFX for the death frame. Grinders can be killed, too, but these don't glitch. Best solution for this is avoiding the usage of slopes. As for sections themselves, they aren't very engaging. Almost all sprites from the castle set were used without consistency (as in, it feels everything is changing every time or looks way too mixed at certain parts), and the obstacles and lesses puzzles aren't so well-thought, especially to get the first invisible 1up and the 3up moon. Something better than spinjumping flames in obvious patterns could have been built. There was no need to make stuff like invisible question blocks extra obvious, too - using them naturally is what gives meaning to them. Doing this is more for levels that rely on them most times, being required for the player to progress. All in all, this entry could be better.
Design points: 14/60
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Creativity: There was lots of potential given the usage of various different sprites. However, the most creative setup I can instantly remember is the statue flame corridors, present in the first section, regardless of its simplicity. And that's all. The rest of stuff was just there to annoy the player with little to no reason besides that. Perhaps using the sky theme to your advantage, using more platform action with a real creative variety of obstacle patterns could have granted you a better score here and in the previous category.
Creativity points: 10/30
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Aesthetics: There were some minor palette issues, most notably the mismatched tone of grey in bullet machines, and the way too dark shade of grey of the BG clouds. I know you probably went for something like rain clouds but the palette choices aren't smooth. The second section was untouched palette-wise, and still looked better than the custom palettes in other sublevels. There is some minor decoration in the castle ground of the first section like small corner/edge tiles, but these didn't look really good, honestly. There was no cutoff at all, but there was the oddly positioned midway point. The base isn't attached to the ground, even though it's touching it. Lastly, no tile mixing was used, but that's okay because nothing felt out of place graphically. Overall, questionable palette and decoration choices weighed this down a lot.
Aesthetics points: 3/10
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Total score: 27/100
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User: Manofer
Entry Name: Get the mushroom!
Playthrough date: 2019-02-16
Warning: 'R' tile from LM's interface used for GFX - worth revising, probably not allowed.
Design: Interesting take on experimental design there. The level is easy but challenging at the same time. I'd complain it's a bit linear, but since it's puzzle-based this is not much of an issue. You don't simply run from one side to another - you have to think before doing so, you have to get the mushroom. Its straightforward nature also made me enjoy this a bit more, but I'd argue some places were a bit empty, though. I know that the primary focus is getting the mushroom in order to progress, and to keep it until reaching the necessary spot, but you could also made it so in the mushroom getting phase the player would also be challenged (for example, dodge enemies while moving the mushroom to its exit).
Design points: 42/60
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Creativity: It is creative, given the fact that every single section is particularly memorable. Every section felt unique while using the same gimmick, progressively adding more difficulty. However, as said in the previous category, you could also have had obstacles during the mushroom getting phases at some spots, making this a much more interesting, challenging, and less empty entry. Anyway, you did a great job with the few resources used. Less was more.
Creativity points: 23/30
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Aesthetics: Nice palettes, though I'm a bit unsure about SMWR palettes for vanilla sprites - it's probably because their borders aren't black. Mario, especially, looked weirder than everything else. GFX choice was good for most part, and I liked the BG, except it looks a bit empty. Maybe adding some clouds, farther towers or stars could spice up the environment? As for decoration, the Mechakoopa wind tiles look out of place in my opinion. I liked the animated Grinders on ground, too. There's no cutoff, but the note block bounce sprite is glitched. The 'R' near reset doors also looks pretty strange (this one is from LM, right? You'd better use SMW's, you can recolor 2BPP to 4BPP, too).
Aesthetics points: 6/10
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Total score: 71/100
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User: MercuryPenny
Entry Name: Plumbing Job
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: I like it. The usage of enemies was pretty varied but consistent, and the layer 2 water sections were fun to play, especially the second one. It begins fully submerged, then when touching the block in the end of the room, the water level decreases and everything plays significantly different. Yoshi Coins were well placed, even though the first one was "free" to get. The "hidden" 1up and flower were cool, too, even though the powerup is too generous for players that die and start from the midway point. Anyway, there was nothing unfair, no difficulty peaks or major design flaws here.
Design points: 51/60
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Creativity: Very nice. As mentioned previously, you did a wonderful job with sprites. Cheep-Cheeps and Urchins were used in a pretty good way while taking advantage of moving layer 2 water. The moving water itself also added a lot to the entry, giving variety to gameplay as well. I'd only have changed the sinking layer 2 block in the second area to something else but I have no idea of what (but I mean, making something more "obvious" to step on in order to make layer 2 sink).
Creativity points: 29/30
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Aesthetics: Average, but there were some issues. Minor cutoffs can be seen in several places, like the cement blocks as pipe corners in the beginning, passable castle ledge edges with small empty holes, question blocks against columns near the midway point, and the layer 2 dirt block against the water in the end of the second section. Palettes were mostly okay, but I think that the layer 2 water is a bit too bright for my tastes. The tileset mixing was good, even though I also find it weird that cave slopes placed over castle ledges look passable (and would be in SMW) when they aren't, really.
Aesthetics points: 5/10
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Total score: 85/100
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User: Hayashi Neru
Entry Name: The red ghost house
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: Decent, but too long. In a normal run for the 5 Yoshi Coins, I reached the end of the level with less than 100 seconds. There were a couple sections that felt a little filler and could have been cut out, like the rising Layer 2 one and even the "quick route" with the on/off layer 2. Speaking of this section, it felt kinda unfair whenever I reached the first jump. The ceiling was too low for me to pull a jump that long, and I'd have never made it the first time without a cape. As for the rising layer 2 section, it was specifically pointless whenever I had a cape, too, as I could fly directly to the door location. As for the rest of the level, basic enemy and obstacle usage, pretty much the average level design. I liked the small rooms for Yoshi Coins, although they were too simple.
Design points: 31/60
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Creativity: There weren't any particular sections that were memorable creativity-wise. I do remember well the rising layer 2 section, but in a bad way. It had some good potential for real puzzles but the room was plain filler. You could also have made more clever usage of all other sprites and layer 2 shenanigans, making this level more explorative or whatever else. As it stood, it didn't feel engaging at all. You've also used various different sprite types but didn't explore their true potential. The best sections in my opinion were the Yoshi Coin rooms, and I'd love if challenges were just a little bit more complex for them.
Creativity points: 6/30
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Aesthetics: I really liked the first screens with layer 1 and layer 2 in the FG, and layer 3 in the BG. Nice colors, graphics and decoration. The Ghost House entrance, on the other hand, had some problems like the door with minor cutoff due to mismatched tiles, and the random high priority tiles past the door which causes "depth" cutoff. The No Yoshi sign colors are a bit odd, too. As for the inner sections, no problem. Only the BG was recolored to red, and I liked its smoothness. The FG palette was vanilla, but alright, too.
Aesthetics points: 6/10
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Total score: 43/100
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User: Kit
Entry Name: Deep Soda Sea
Playthrough date: 2019-02-18
Design: A pretty decent level. Underwater levels tend to be slower compared to regular romps, and this can make some stages feel boring. Not the case here - the level was packed with some action despite being located underwater. Throw blocks in some areas have helped in terms of pace. The exploration factor was nice, too - some Yoshi Coins were placed quite well to encourage this. Only nitpick of mine is that it's like most water levels with nothing too innovative going on. Don't take this too harshly, though - the level is still fun to play.
Design points: 44/60
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Creativity: What has weighed down design a bit has weighed down even more here. While I appreciated the exploration for some Yoshi Coins and the enemy/obstacle usage, I felt that more could be done. For example, Throw Blocks could have been used more often in more ways, making them not only usable to clear sections faster, but also hit certain enemies out of the way. You could also have used wall-detecting Urchins in-between places blocked with Throw Blocks, so you need to get rid of them in order to proceed while also avoiding the Urchin. These are just some small ideas, and I'm sure it's possible to come out with even more.
Creativity points: 13/30
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Aesthetics: Nice palettes, and nice mix of water, underground and ghost house tiles. I'm not a fan of half-buried blocks as decorations, though, but this is due to personal tastes. There were no glitches, but I also have to complain about the layer 3 goldfish that cuts off due to the status bar when moving vertically. Sure, it's also present in SMW but it's still an imperfection. I'd rather not use layer 3 there unless working around with the goldfish layer 3 tilemap.
Aesthetics points: 7/10
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Total score: 64/100
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I'll review levels in order of submissions - I'm not taking requests.