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STORY: No story.
TILESET/TILESET USE: The author uses automasked versions of Muckamo and Deckstar, and neither are used incredibly well. Muckamo fits together, but there’s no background eyecandy, and the levels are sparse enough it ends up looking really dull. Deckstar isn’t really used correctly, and it comes off way too boring. The author could have at least used conversions (NeW’s Mayhem has both of them.. or he/she could have used Haze’s Muckamo Day), but he/she didn’t, so the slopes in Deckstar don’t work, but the windows are masked, while in Muckamo you stand on top of stars in the background.
Pros: Muckamo fits together.
Cons: Very plain, masking difficulties.
Rating: 3.0
WEAPON/ITEM/ENEMY PLACEMENT: There are actually quite a lot of weapons. Mostly Bouncy, but towards the end you get some Toaster, Ice and Seekers, while at some points there’s TNT to blow open a secret. It isn’t placed with too much care, but there is enough of it, to be sure. In levels 1, 2 and 4, there are 100 coins scattered about the level. Collect them all, and you get some sort of reward at the end. This is interesting, but the coins are all a bit too out in the open (in fact, they’re on the linear line of gameplay, for the most part), so they could be done better. The other various goodies are placed ok, with the notable exception of the Gem Rings, which are placed directly next to the ice powerup (!). As for enemies, I can’t say too much about them. They seem to be placed basically where there’s room, though some places show a bit of thought (like the dragon flies).
Pros: It’s decent.
Cons: Ice + Gem Stomps = No.
Rating: 5.2
ORIGINALITY: These levels are, to put it bluntly, not very original, with the notable exception of the final level, where you fight Uterus on either swinging vines or a bridge (your choice!). This surprised me in contrast to the previous levels, which were very linear (except for the maze in the first level) and (for the most part) uninspired. Muckamo, overall, came out tops in terms of originality in this pack.
Pros: Some originality.
Cons: Not too much, and the Deckstar levels are just dull.
Rating: 4.5
DIFFICULTY: These levels are, for the most part, not hard at all. It’s a little challenging to remove the orbiting spike balls from around Uterus, but other then that, there are enough carrots and weapons to get you to the end of the level basically (if not completely) intact.
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 2.7
REPLAY VALUE/FUN FACTOR: These levels (again, with the exception of the last level) are not paticularly entertaining. They consist mainly of walking through the enemies, jumping up and down a little to collect the coins, and reaching the exit with not too much thought required. There are one or two trigger crates, but they are not incredibly interesting (though they did help the first level out).
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
Rating: 3.0
OVERALL (not an average): The author shows promise, but the fact of the matter is, these levels are not all that good. The eyecandy is plain (try to use conversions, and not the original things, next time), the gameplay boring, and the difficulty low. However, if he/she tries a little harder, I can evision better levels coming our way.
Pros: Levels 1 and 5 are ok, Muckamo fits together.
Cons: Nothing too interesting, gameplay poor.
Rating: 3.2