Medium sized? Maybe. Really worth a download? The rating tells all.
GAMEPLAY:
This level has some flow but not much in it. At a glance it doesn’t look too balanced and after playing it for a little bit, it still looks unbalanced. Is there a way to get up on the left side of the level? It feels as if a spring is missing. If there’s a blue spring on the right side, why not on the left? There is one way up, and that’s by jumping through the bridge although it is spaz biased (I can visualize jazz players complaining about the unfairness at this very moment). And about that blue spring on the right side, if a player was to jump on that spring an go far left, he/she would have to double jump/copter to make the platform. The ground tiles at 66,35 should have been extented a few more tiles to the right (not that this alone would save the layout, but it’s the little things that help). Other than that, there’s the wide open area on the right side and the closed up area on the left. This isn’t the worst thing, but it certainly could take away from gameplay. Also, the bases seem to be placed too closely together. It feels like a dull dueling level. That means “medium sized” may be an inaccurate description of this level. But at least the start positions are better than the last time, except maybe for maybe what I presume to be a Jazz start position. Use only MP positions unless a neutral start pos somewhat in the center is desired (I really recommend this, though). Too bad that’s not the only problem. In short, general gameplay could be a whole lot better.
EYE CANDY:
The eye candy isn’t bad for a Diamondus level—four years ago. It’s decent, but after seeing like a billion Diamondus levels, it’s nothing too special. OK, little bit different (by the smallest margin), albeit not enough to make the eye candy above average. It may help to use top-notch tilesets.
CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:
The full energy carrot is placed closer to the blue base, while the bouncer powerup is closer to the red base (all in the bottom area). Could be worse, but I don’t like it at all. It unbalances the level a little bit. The ammo placement also isn’t as bad as it could be. I just don’t like it too much either. It also doesn’t look like it was distributed well enough. But do you know what I hate about this level the most? NO SEEKERS. What is with that? Too afraid of seekers? Are you worried that seekers are too hard to dodge? Wimp. The bouncer powerup was the only powerup once again. Nice variety. Not that a seeker powerup is really needed, but at least include seeker ammo. Sheesh (great… You just had to make me say “sheesh,” didn’t you?).
HOST THIS OFTEN?
Don’t, or else. My review tells all. 6.5 and thanks for trying.