Battle, by 
This particular level comes from 2006, which was the year of many releases by many prolific JCS people. Even if it wasn’t released until now, it competes against other popular releases (can they be called “classics”, if it’s only been 4 years?) from back then: namely, Helldome, The Chasm, or the IC releases (sorry for being so self indulgent, but come on, those were pretty damn good levels).
This is a mostly vertical battle level, and a unique one at that. The layout isn’t anything revolutionary – it’s basically two towers intersecting at the bottom with surprises at the top – but it utilizes its space well, and it allows for fast action in what may seem like a huge level (100×200). I did wish for a slowly respawning copter, though, for one more fast route from the bottom to the top – useful when you’re chasing your prey. There’s a couple of death pits (one of the first levels utilising them!), they’re nothing to worry about unless you’re really careless. Getting the Blaster powerup (one out of five) may be tricky though.
There’s another powerup that could prove tricky to get. The Seeker powerup requires 100 coins, which may be a little annoying to do with a lot of people in the level, even with the sheer amount of coins in this level. If you get 200 coins, you’ll be awarded with a Water Shield and a whopping 70 seconds of shield time – a definite game changer if there ever was one. With 5 powerups, 4 carrots, and the lingering thought that someone can appear with the shield and dominate everyone, will make playing this level online quite an experience.
While I’m not a huge fan of the Dreamland tileset, I do find this level a very good piece of eyecandy. The background is the highlight: a starry sky behind a series of cascading clouds that feels like taken straight from a Windstorm Fortress level. The upbeat Super Mario RPG music sets the atmosphere – themewise, this level is a 180 turn from the violent and brooding halls of EvilMike’s Evil Fortress, which was a top notch looking (and sounding) level itself. I didn’t get the sequel vibe myself though; if anything, it felt much more like a sequel to the untitled desert level (olcbat03), with its big open spaces and plenty of action (and a coinwarp with a shield :P)
Summing up, this is a very good “forgotten” battle level, and there’s no reason to not download it. It’s big, it’s fast, it looks good, and it’s got the letters MIKE on it. It’s not EM’s best level, or my favorite one, but it deserves a high mark. I give this an 8.2, you should give this a go.
Fun Fact: When EM showed me this level back in 2006, something glitched and all items appeared as double. The image of double seekers in the tunnel at the right was what inspired me to put (deliberately) double ammo in An Uninspired Psych Level. So know you know that it’s not all that uninspired of a level after all.
