If this keeps up I may start attacking Dx due to his bad reviews… All he’s been doing is pointing out things with no explaination… This level deserves higher than a 1, period.
First impressions:
First of all (that goes especially for you, Dx) there are two kinds of warps in racing levels: normal warps, and warps with SetLap = 1, which I’ll refer to as lap warps. Each race should only have one lap warp and there is one, I’ll get to that in a minute.
That aside, one thing immediatly comes to mind when completing a lap: this race level is short, you can complete a lap in under 10 seconds if your an experienced player. The obstacles are standard, but that’s not the biggest feature of this level: it’s deception, you can go the “wrong way”.
Layout:
Nothing special to say about the lay-out. It’s decent, but really straight-forward: it basically goes from left to right. I mentioned “deception” as the greatest feature of this level, but that only goes to a very smal extent: there are roads away from the main route, but they come to a dead end (with a warp) rather quickly. I’d personally like to see those dead end warps removed. and speaking of dead ends, I found a big bug at the part with the vine and the exit sign: if you head to the left you’ll fall… endlessly, no warps to catch you. It’s to easy to avoid, but it’s still quite disturbing. Also, the swinging vines hang one tile or two too low: you can see Jazz or Spaz go through the platform.
Gameplay:
Spazie tried to make it a little bit different making these little off-roads, all with goodies to make you take them. He even went this far of making a “fake exit”. It’s an intersting idea (I dunno if it’s old), but it’s poorly done. It has potential tho, and it’s worth experimenting with.
Tileset use and Eye candy:
The eye candy’s decent, but standard. I’m guessing spazie took this right from an official level, which is acceptable. However, there are some tile bugs, but they’re very minor, and focussed in the trees and the bamboo. It gives the level a somewhat newbish look which is OK in his case.
Ammo, candy, stuff that’s good:
You’ll only see one major pickup in this level, and an effective one in races: ice. Since they’re off the main road they may be worth picking up if you’re in the lead. I wouldn’t advice it, since the level is so short. You also see a few bananas, but they’re mere decorative: a sugar rush won’t help you in races.
Verdict:
Unlike Dx claims, this is by no means a total disaster. It’s no masterpiece either, but it’s worth trying at least once. It’s short (therefor fast and somewhat fun), has interesting ideas…but it suffers from flaws a lot. A 5 for the effort. Next time, make your levels longer and interesting, it’ll do good on your ratings.
- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3
[edit: it seems I overlooked the missing next level setting, which is totally unacceptable, especially for such a smal level. Half a point has been subtracted]
[edit: now the author is fixing the bugs… Next time, have a tester first point out the bugs before you upload levels. Saves us a lot of editing ;p][This review has been edited by JelZe]