Stijn
11 Apr 2007, 17:02
Featured
2
“Singing in the rain”, a classic song. The level clearly reflects the last part of the title, as it’s raining indeed. In combination with the “Night” version of BlurredD’s Psych edit, this makes the beginning of the level look kind of ominous with the lonely tree and the sign apparently signed by “Wabbit”.
So far so good. However, the level’s layout is not that interesting. It’s basically a giant “S”, with the start position at the bottom left and a Schwartzenguard at the top right. In between you’ll encounter some dragon flies, a few hatters, and surprisingly enough a pair of floating suckers. The hatters are walking around on the bottom part of the big S which is nothing more than a one tile high platform at the very bottom of the level. Flat platforms are pretty boring and I’d have liked to see some variety here. The least I’d expect are some slopes.
Food is clustered in large groups, which are impossible to miss and serve no other purpose than decorating, which doesn’t work too well because a big group of two food types is just not pretty. Apart from food the only pickup is a single green gem, which is kind of strange too. I liked the “Deactivated Bonus” though.
Another major problem is that part of the level lacks a bottom, allowing you to get stuck in the void at the bottom. This is a serious issue and in future levels I hope the author at least includes a proper bottom. Some more eyecandy would be nice too, because that’s seriously lacking here. No other layers except 4, 7 (the rain) and 8 (the textured background) were used and in combination with the one-tile platforms this makes the level very boring.
It’s also WAY to short. Basically it’s just a matter of jumping up twice with a short run in between and the epic fight with Schwartzenguard can begin. No obstacles at all, except for the tree and bonus warp which are exactly the things you do not expect to be obstacles. I expect a level to take several minutes at shortest, not several seconds.
Eigus, it would be a good idea to take a look at other popular single-player levels uploaded here. Draw some inspiration from it, add your personal twist and your levels will doubtlessly become good in the end. But this level is just lacking too many important characteristics of a good level for me to give a download recommendation.
That level reminds me of the first one I ever uploaded to J2O.
WEAPONS
Just blasting around. Toaster would be more appropriate for Psych.
PICKUPS
Just some chocolate at the beginning and some other food, no gems or anything.
ENEMIES
A total of four hatters at the beginning, some annoying dragonflies, and a boss at the end.
EYECANDY & LAYERS
You just used layers 4, 7, and 8. The rain was good. The whole level looked like a storm. The position of that tree in the beginning is almost identical to my #$%&@ “Rabbit in Wonderland”. I hate the climbing area with the dragonflies, they almost killed me. And next time place some spikes on the bottom of the level, or at least make a line of warps, if a hole is necesarry.
GAMEPLAY
Nothing really. The boss isn’t really that useful in a level like that.
OTHER
At least music was good. I like the ‘broken’ bonus warp. But the level is way too short.
Final Rating: 2.5
Download Recommendation: Only for reviewing.
Final Comments: Don’t stop making levels. Always experiment with new things. There are many articles on J2O about levelmaking, check out the JCS section.
1
Not that good
Eyecandy: Only layer 8 and 7 were used. One for the background and the other for the rain. Theres no foreground and nothing in layer 4 to make the level look interesting.
2/10
Gameplay: All there is are 4 hatters and 2 dragonfly’s and a swertangaurd at the end. That’s basically it. Nothing that makes this level fun or challenging. But one thing that makes this really bad is that if you fall off one of the platforms then you have to kill yourself and restart the level.
1/10
Pickups: There’s 4 candy bars. That’s all. No ammo, carrots,gems or other pickups
1/10
Replay: Trust me your not going to want to play this level again. It’s juast plain boring and it’s to short.
Good things: Music was ok..
Bad things Everything else!
Rating/1/10
DR/ What do you think?
This is weary interesting lvl for me! Its good to hear that new people is interested in lvl making.
The only problem was for me is its TOO EMPTY. No eyecandy! Putting a good look for a lvl highly increase it’s score. You don’t put too many enemy on the lvl and thats a pretty good thing coz most people allergic to lot of enemy, and by the way don’t make to dark lvls too. Make your lvl’s creative with cool ideas like bosses which can be only defeated with some trick. You should go and search for lvls with high score(I recommend from 7score), you can learn from them manny things. You should look at some of the articles too!
And don’t worry about if you get small score, I start with 1.7 and today I get 7.7
Single player, by 
