Featured
9
I had great fun betatesting this, and it really deserves more reviews than it currently has, so I feel as I should repay my enjoyment of this with a review.
Shade Castle is a really enjoyable level that I haven’t really seen coming until just a day or two before it was released. It’s fairly small, but still takes a while to finish as there’s quite a lot of exploration and revisiting areas in this level due to it being on the other side of the spectrum from linear. You’re free to travel wherever you want and don’t really have to complete most of the objectives in any order. This enhances replay value by quite a bit since you’re not forced down the same road each time you play and you get to decide what you want to do and when you want to do it.
Tileset use is really awesome. The eyecandy just radiates creativity and is really a pleasure to look at things. The tileset chosen is a very underused one and it’s great to see people using different sets instead of making the same repetetive Swamps levels. I particularly loved the “Invisible Tiles” platforms, those were ingenious and made me put on a smile the first time I saw them. However, because you used tiles in ways they certainly were never intended to be used, some things got slightly confusing for a bit, as sometimes I wasn’t able to tell what was solid and what was for show, or if that pole tile actually had an event on it or not. Although not really your fault, the spikes in this tileset are really hard to notice. Most the damage I took in this level came solely from them =/.
The layout of this level is awesome. Non-linear, and very creative. Coins and crates are placed in amusing locations and not just floating around in a random part of the level. The level was challenging, and it was enjoyable yet agonizing to see all the different and wonderful ways you made spaz take damage. The level was also pretty difficult, mostly from the hurt events and certain evil placement of enemies in walls or near poles ;P.
However, the area which this level really shines in is event placement. A variety of tricks were pulled off in this level which made it all the more fun. Using events such as spike platforms to increase the difficulty level is a nice alternative then just stacking enemies everywhere.
The level does feel noticably more empty in the open areas then the caves. The backround is pretty typical in eyecandy terms especially compared to the rest of the level, and there’s not much layer 5 eyecandy to obstruct the view. The caves are really well done, however.
Aside from the annoyingly small spikes to constantly harm you, Violet also took the liberty to place dragons into walls, lizards under vines and demons near poles. This does make the level considerably more challenging (and the lizards under vines thing was a creative trick), however nothing screams pain like getting hurled into a wall dragon by an h-pole while being at one heart.
The level was rather short (provided that unlike me you don’t receive a game over from constantly running into sharp objects), however each and every part of it is definately worth playing. The level is fun, creative, and inspiring and was really a pleasure to betatest. It’s too bad it won’t be in FSP2, though ;(.
Overall rating 8.8. This level looks like the author had a fun time making it and really shines in several categories, however it’s only a single level with no real storyline (as it is a preview) and could have been a bit bigger, as well as the exterior parts of the level possibly more visually pleasing. As a stand-alone, this is definately among the better levels uploaded on J2O.
9
It’s been quite a while. I enjoyed FSP, and while I wasn’t able to finish that (yet), I was even more encouraged to find all the coins in this level.
Shade Castle, by the name of it, doesn’t look like a castle a lot. If I had to describe it in two words, I’d probably pick “creepy Bizarroworld” or something like that. The concept is as usual, finding the coins to exit the level, but the whole level design is pretty inventive. The ten coins needed are hidden all over the level, but you get to choose which you want to collect first. This makes the playing experience very refreshing. Along the way are several challenges and traps, along with lizards, demons, hardly noticable spikes (argh) and some clever puzzles. The level itself is kind of small, but it’ll take a while till you figure out how to get that annoying little coin that’s hidden behind the trigger blocks. And where to find the appropriate crate to smash. And the meaning of Eva’s hint. That, and the many sharp objects and baddies contribute to a high difficulty level. To finish the level successfully, the player has to use his reflexes and think at the same time. There were enough carrots and ammunition to keep you alive throughout however. Maybe even too many RFs. Once the money is collected, you’re transported to the big boss. I expected an interesting boss fight, but the outcome is kind of weird. Instead of using the copters to avoid the spikes, I pretty much spent my time standing on the edge and killing that devil guy with bouncers and RF-ammo, dodging the occasional attack and winning pretty easily. Dissapointing.
The eyecandy is simply awesome. It just looks like from another dimension, all the tiles have been used in a very creative way. To add to that, I just love those scream-like guys standing all over the place. Love them.
There wasn’t any kind of story involved, but this is just a preview, so it doesn’t matter.
I’m also babbling far too much here.
Let’s just say that I give out an 8.5 rating, and a download recommendation here. Have fun!
~LF
Awsome. If every one of the levels in FSP2 is like this, I will give you a 10 without a doubt. I would recommend adding more carrots to hard mode, though. I never finished the level, but it was worth dying three times :3
Edit: The other serious flaw in the level is areas where v/h poles throw you into an enemy that you can’t avoid.
Actual rating prompted by Cooba >_> :
Eyecandy 3/3: Excellent. You threw all kinds of tiles into areas where there would otherwise be plain-colored walls. I can’t think of any complaints at the moment.
Gameplay 3.5/4: The gameplay was great, and challenging. The only trouble I had was getting thrown into enemies via a pole. That just frustrates the player. Also, I would have provided a save point for the boss or at least made it slightly easier. Copters tend to be frustrating on the player since you can’t change the direction you’re facing. The wide variety of events you used was amazing. You’ve inspired me to use a similiar method.
Item/enemy Placement 1.8/2: Wonderful. I just would have wished for a few more carrots. Some of the enemy locations were frustrating sometimes, but I enjoyed the challenge (examples: lizards 1 cell under vines, baddies that poles throw you into). Otherwise, it was very good.
Originality 1/1: Granted, the coin collection concept has been used many times before, but the level itself was quite original. The eyecandy was used in a very different way, and you used a tileset I had never seen before (until I searched the database for it =p).
Slaz
26 Sep 2023, 20:50
9
An enjoyable non-linear level for the experienced player. Some creative enemy placement such as dragons in walls and lizards under vines. Sometimes it's a bit unclear what path a crate opens, and masking isn't always obvious. There's more ammo than you'll ever need, and the boss gave a decent challenge until you find out where to camp.
My first review here…
I did play the game and it was pretty good but i didnt get all the coins maybe it was beqause i played Lori.
Visuality: It looks good nice layer work and tileset placement but sometimes i dindt see if it was ground or not and things are a little bit vage 7/10
Gameplay: I did play a few minutes on normal, but restart at hard, that was not easy at all so hard=hard=good!
I cant get ride of the last 2 coins i saw them but cant get them i run away the whole lvl but no succes at all.
And when i did shoot on te enemy’s i hit the spring crate and cant get above anymore. Killing some enemy’s is was sometimes very hard and u walk in some enemy’s to in some case.. 6/10
Fun Factor:
No waste of time, but not a level to play again & again. 6/10
Orginality:
The coin system is well known by me, but there were some nice actions thats you need for getting te coin. 7/10
Music:
Thats fitting the game, but isn’t very outbalanced. 6/10
A give u this points beqause i am a critical person. Succes!
Single player, by 
