Introduction
The All Your Base phenomenon, while short-lived, embedded itself permanently in not only popular netculture, but culture in general. The badly-translated Japanese-to-English video game sequence has, in all accounts, became an Internet legend. While most everyone has, by this point, grown tired of the various catch phrases of the All Your Base fame, it is still always fun to occasionally poke fun at the oddly-crafted Engrish which made the rare successful migration from so-called “geek culture” to the general public. Somewhere, out there, a level celebrating the joy that is All Your Base and its various lines and stupidity was waiting to surface. This is not that level. Instead, what you get here is an excellent example of a space-themed Capture the Flag level with a creative title. This level – I repeat – has nothing to do with its name. In fact, the closest it gets to propegating the All Your Base legacy a few weeks, months, or perhaps years beyond its life time is one simple text sign reading “How are you gentleman?”. That is it. Perhaps that is a good thing, though, as it avoids it becoming a gimmicky level with absolutely no quality. And that is definitely not what this level is.
Eyecandy
The level itself uses Blade’s excellent Space tileset. Blade’s work in this tileset is, as it always is, not extremely flashy. The tileset is not quite borderline cartoony, but does look nothing near realistic. This quasi-cartoon methodology definitely works for Blade in his tilesets, and it worked for CelL in this level. CelL, a true eyecandy master, is at his best here. The eyecandy, from the vairous pipes that wind throughout the level to the control panels, background, and everything, is well-done and without any major deficiencies. This, however, brings me to my first complaint. Either my eyes have not adjusted after a long time without reviewing or there is something odd about the scroll rate in this level. The way the background was moving in proportion to the sprite layer gave me a slight headache, but was not too much to bare. Turning on low detail helped this a bit, but it was not way too significant, and since I have no way of knowing whether it is just me or the level, I will not subtract for it. One thing about the eyecandy – and a minor one – did, however, bother me either way you slice it. The little animated microchips that read what looks like graphs and wavelengths changed in a very unnatural way. It looked like they were meant to stay as the same tile instead of be animated, and this bothered me. Plus, their attachment to the pipes seemed a bit artificial, and the surroundings just looked unfit to place that sort of tile there. Other than that, however, eyecandy was what everyone has came to expect from CelL.
Gameplay
While CelL may excel eyecandy, that does not mean by any measure that this level is a slouch in gameplay. Flow was, as it generally is with CelL’s levels, quite good. This level is, however, a bit on the small side, notably when going from base to base. The average start-to-base time is about three seconds while the average base-to-base time is around seven. This does not allow for time to pick up ammo or to plan strategy before getting the flag as it does in other levels. Instead, the player must get the flag and then think. This might be a challenge in larger games where the other team can spare enough base guards to shoot the player down to two lives while getting the flag and then just hunt the flagholder down and “do away with him.” Layout was good, although it takes some getting used to. As with any level with a playing area of this size, it is somewhat difficult to distinguish the various “layers” of the level. However, the author has made them significantly distinct. The only part of this level I object to is perhaps its linear qualities. There is one route to the base which is fastest. The others are less so. Along the fastest route is a seeker powerup. Where is the fun in that? This is a fun level, although there are a few layout quirks.
Item Placement
I have a few problems here. The first of them is the placement of the seeker powerup. It is positioned in the middle of the level, but it is also positioned on the shortest route between the bases. Other than to get a carrot, the player would not at all have to stray off of the original route for most of the game. Dying is quicker than getting a carrot in this level, anyway, other than the loss of the flag if applicable. The second problem is that the red team gets RF missles while blue only gets pepper spray. Do not get me wrong. Pepper spray is an increadibly versitile weapon – just not in this level. The long-range effects that lend pepper spray so well to chases are completely useless in a level like this, being that there are often walls and many other weapons (like RFs) would go just as far while doing more damage and being more likely to hit the opponent. This is somewhat uneven placement and, while it is not a huge problem, it is significant, since this will probably be the second most-used weapon behind seekers. For that matter, seekers are not all that hot (no pun intended) in this level, because of their sluggishness. Otherwise, however, powerup placement is fantastic. Basic weapon placement is a completely different story. Everything is placed very well and there is a good deal of strategy. Effort was definitely put into this level in that respect. The same goes for carrot placement.
The Enigmatic Fun Factor
This level is enjoyable to play. However, it is not all-out fun. The trouble is, while this is a high-quality space level, there is not much that revolutionizes much of anything. I am sure that this level will see a good deal of play and admiration, but it just does not interest me all that much. There have, over the past year, been a great number of solid capture the flag levels. This one is yet another one. And perhaps that is the root of the problem – there are too many solid capture the flag levels out there. After a certain amount of time reviewing CTF levels, I have found that these days, the best you get is a solid level with nothing new. Unfortunately, there are only so many solid levels one can play before solid starts feeling a lot more antique. Still, this is what it is billed as – a good capture the flag level that is enjoyable to play. Ho-hum.
Summary
There is really no other way to say it. This is a fine level. In fact, it is a great one. Unfortunately, the only thing that is really creative about it is some of the eyecandy and the name. After about a year of very nice capture the flag levels, it takes a good deal to distinguish a level, especially one using one of Blade’s excellent, but unfortunately not extraordinarily versitile, tilesets. It is difficult to complain about this level. It is excellent in nearly every single respect. And that is really all I can ask. Still, I feel as if there was some creativity missing from it. Not that this level lacks any kind of creativity. The eyecandy does, in fact, push Blade’s tileset beyond what it is normally used for. However, the gameplay just feels the same. There is no new spin on it. It is just, in every way, a solid capture the flag level. Not, of course, that there is anything wrong with that.
The Report Card
GAMEPLAY: A
Flow: A
Layout: A
Creativity: B+
Bugs: A
EYECANDY: A
Tileset use: A
Eyecandy look: A
Creativity: A
Bugs: A
PLACEMENT: A -
Weapons: A -
Carrots: A
Enemies: N/A
THE FINAL GRADE: A
THE FINAL RATING: 8.0
PROS: Great level. Creative eyecandy.
CONS: Not much creativity other than in the eyecandy field. Annoying background scroll rate.[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]
Capture the flag, by 
