In the previous post, I criticized the forum's official contests. I promised that I'd write a review of DarkYoshi's contest winning level; but before, let's see what a judge said about this level:
This level is my personal favorite of this contest, and I'm literally totally amazed of it. The atmosphere was wonderful, and it was designed amazingly. The graphics and music were fitting awesomely together. The concepts of this level were unbelievably creative and innovative, and in terms of keeping me interested is this level an absolute masterpiece. I liked those massages and Toads, and I have to mention it again, I love the atmosphere and these graphics. Wait, I literally love everything about this level. These stars in the clouds and ground, that tileset mix and choices, the mysteriously sounding calm forest music, the occasional occurrences of Dark Yoshi and the boss of course. I personally disliked the minions, though. First off, they shouldn't appear all over again in the level, and there shouldn't appear so many in the boss fight. The boss fight itself was awesome, though. Also, if you go into the first tree appearing in this level, and come out, you'll eventually, and most likely get hit because of the enemy that's next to the exit. If this and the minions weren't there, I'd probably give this level a 20 out of 20, thus, the maximal score. Also, I remember how you released screenshots of this level, DarkYoshi, luckily you didn't get disqualified. It would be a pity, because this level is so awesome. I also love the meteoroids, they look really cool and I like how you used my glitter effect. There was barely anything I could complain about in this level. You did a wonderful job with this level anyways. ~ Kyo
Right off the bat, there's something a little bit concerning about this review. This review barely comments on the gameplay, but rather keeps stating how the graphics are good. It kind of proves my point when I said that the graphics are the most important factor if you want to have your levels approved. This kind of judging is what led to DarkYoshi's victory.
Before we start reviewing the level, let's take a look at its files. When I was downloading the .zip file containing the level, it was named 'Tournament IV' and weighted 18MB. At this point, I thought the .zip file contained all the levels submitted into the tournament. When I opened the file, I realized that it only contained DarkYoshi's level. The level has in total 504 graphics files which sums about 11MB. Both songs bundled within the level surprisingly weigh less than all the .gif files combined.
What the fuck is this shit?
What the fuck is this shit?
We're finally going to play the level, but wait a minute. No wonder this level induced orgasms; everything is styled Smb3. So, the gameplay is simple; you jump on stars, kill goombas and then Dark Yoshi appears, fires a few lightning bolts and disappears. For some reason, one of the level judges thought that Dark Yoshi was creepy. No, he isn't. Let's talk a bit more about Dark Yoshi.
For such an overly praised level, you're going to think that this level is actually good. But when you play it for the first few seconds, you'll surely become pissed off when you realize that this level is an attempt of propaganda of the authors character, Dark Yoshi. (who is a Yoshi recolor) |
I played the level for the first 30 seconds and already found something that pisses me off. This annoying-ass rhino is 2 feet tall, extremely fast and is invulnerable to jumps. He is all over the place and often spawns at higher piece of land, falling on you or making it impossible to jump over them. You can't run either, because the rhino is faster than Mario and turns instantly without any momentum. As a result of the level's slope abuse, it's almost impossible to jump over these guys. This problem was mentioned by only one judge out of four. |
Another problem in this level is that there are small trees placed in the bottom of the level. I automatically assumed that there would be a piece of land holding it; I was wrong. The tree was being held afloat by thin air, resulting in an unfair death. This problem was not mentioned by any judges. |
After avoiding a few enemies and jumping on (more) stars, I was teleported to the top of a tree, only to find absolutely nothing of value, but a conspicuous star; which I couldn't reach. It's like the level is deliberately teasing you so that you'll keep playing it. This isn't really a problem, it's just unethical. |
This is a minor flaw, but although there is a Koopa behind the sign, it still hurt Mario who is in front of the sign. That doesn't make any sense. This problem was not mentioned by any judges. Also, have you noticed something? Yes, this level has ruins. The contest winner level has ruins and pillars. Good job. |
After playing for a while, guess what you'll find? Switches! Yay! You have to hit a switch and backtrack to further progress into the level! Isn't that awesome? (it isn't) And again, the level has another enemy problem. This bandit-yoshi hybrid is as fast as the rhino, but not as tall. But how can it be worse than the rhino if it is not as tall? Well, it jumps! All the jumps are random, so you can't predict it. Even so, the enemy is so fast it doesn't give you time to think. Look at the situation Mario's in. Also notice how the enemy is coming from a higher piece of land. This problem was not mentioned by any of the judges. |
These pillars are supporting absolutely nothing and don't need to be there. However, you should consider yourself lucky since this is the kind of bullshit that helped your level be approved. No offense. Also, there is only one propeller block. Not everyone is as lonely as you are; stop ignoring the second player. (although you did place the Player 2 object in the editor) |
Now we're finally at the boss fight. If you're going to make a 'badass' boss fight, at least give him proper grammar. Please check your spelling before submitting any levels. Basically, Dark Yoshi replaces Ludwig Von Koopa. He fires lightning bolts, jumps and then tries to ram at you. After boringly bouncing at Dark Yoshi three times, he disappears and sends you his 'minions'. Not to my surprise, pipes come out of the ceiling and dropping yoshi-bandit hybrids. |
After defeating his minions, he returns and you must repeat the boring process. After killing him (again), he respawns on top of the room and starts shooting lightning bolts at you. The problem is: he is so high up, that the lightning bolts won't be able to reach you. After he's done with his crap, you must repeat the process again. After killing Dark Yoshi for the third time, he'll finally be dead and the level will be over.
So as you can tell now, this level has problems that were ignored by the judges.
The level is certainly good, but I can assure you that it is not worthy of receiving such a high score.
I can imagine DarkYoshi's endeavor and dedication to level designing and I congratulate you for winning the contest. Please be aware that this post's intent is not to insult you, nor your level, but to prove that the judges paid little (if any) attention to the gameplay and weren't objective enough.
Thank you for reading this post. Next post will be about SmbX 1.3.1.
The level is certainly good, but I can assure you that it is not worthy of receiving such a high score.
I can imagine DarkYoshi's endeavor and dedication to level designing and I congratulate you for winning the contest. Please be aware that this post's intent is not to insult you, nor your level, but to prove that the judges paid little (if any) attention to the gameplay and weren't objective enough.
Thank you for reading this post. Next post will be about SmbX 1.3.1.