*slipping past WillFlame* Yes, I am not dead. Sorry for not responding to the first ping. I am waiting for jackattack's review, but I should have wrote one sooner. Anyways, splitting into gameplay and decoration...
Gameplay
I would say that the gameplay is not really that impressive. Sure, I can finish this level properly, but it still lacks a bit of dynamics, a bit of variety. Sync also fails a bit here and there, and overall while the gameplay is still okay, I don’t think it is an attractive point either. The song is really upbeat, but the level does not seem to convey that high spirits well in the layout.
Here are some more specific comments.
- 8%: I cannot quite see the top, but I am given enough time to react. Though this can be bad for some so I recommend you not placing the top platform too far from the player’s view.
- 11% to 21%: This section does not sync so well. It is especially apparent in the UFO section, where you have sharp jumps. It feels like playing a level with a random song. Also, the coin seems to use touch-triggered triggers instead of the pick-up function of the coin itself, causing a minor bug where the coin registers even if it is not collected.
- 21% to 34%: A steady robot section. However, the use of the normal speed portal is a bit questionable. The song is still in the build-up, and has a similar mood seconds before this. This is why I think this section should be kept as slow speed.
- 34% to 42%: This wave section is not great. It is basically spam across a tunnel, then again with dual. (I don’t mean the mail or message kind of spam, just in case you are confused) I know it’s really tempting to insert spam for this song, but there are many possible workarounds that can still retain the rhythm and not feel boring. Something such as breaking up the spam into two smaller ones will already feel better. Which leads me to…
- 42% to 52%: A long spam section. The UFO is spam and the cube is spamming with orbs. Spamming disconnects you from the song, because many players can easily spam at over 400 CPM, while I think most songs has at most 200 BPM. You cannot possible sync inputs into the song if you add spam sections, unless that is a trill. Still, workarounds exist, and you should only add spams when it is entirely necessary and fits into that segment.
- 52% to 66%: The ship and the wave segment is quite nice! The wave segment is what I think is possible for syncing the tempting section of spam. You don’t need to sync every beat and skipping a couple beats can give a sense of variety. Skipping a lot of beats also gives a feel of slowing down, which is perfect in here.
- 69% to 80%: Though the boss is not very interactive, the ship section is quite cool. Nothing to nitpick here.
- 80% to 100%: Isn’t this orb section too long? Well yes, the player landed on ground in the middle, so it should be safe from player input error, but this makes the layout has less variety. There should be a good mix of platforms and orbs, usually with platforms predominating. Orbs are just assistance for movement, and usually feel weird when chained. Sidenote: the black orb suffers from a similar readability issue of being placed too far up.
DecorationThe decoration around the blocks and hazards are quite nice! I mean, 2.0 kind of nice. True, this kind of deco looks coherent, but 2.1 offers a lot more in the editor, so the standards are also very high. In other words, the deco is simply not enough. The game demands more detailed work into the level. I can see that blocks are simply using the bricks given in the editor, the background is not completely filled, and there are a lot of room that you can slip air deco into. There are still a lot of place to work on, which makes the deco feel sub-par.
Here are some more specific comments.
- 5%: The particles seems to be floating, which does not look nice. You can consider to add another particle object that shoots sideways, or move it near the wall. There are also other animated objects you can use, which is in the Orbs tab.
- 11% to 21%: Try to mix half-height and full-height spikes to make it look more natural. Also, you don’t need spikes in pillars and they actually don’t look good as edge decoration anyways. There are many other available options for decoration pillars. You can look at other levels and see what I mean.
- 40% to 42%: Spikes that are floating don’t look nice. It is necessary to compromise gameplay for decoration here, and the shorter hazards can be used to maintain the width of the tunnel.
- 69% to 80%: The fireball spit by the monsters seems to move a bit too slow IMO. Obviously the fine tuning of the speed is ultimately your choice, but I think you can just speed it up a little bit faster to make it look more like a fireball. Also, I think painting the eyes red does not give a good contrast, and the eyes would look better if left white, despite this level being coloured mainly in red.
- You seem to use a lot of pillars in the level. This is not nice, because it leaves little room for decoration, and it fills the level inefficiently. Try using wider platforms, or even simulate ground by building a long horizontal line of blocks.
VerdictLow Decent. The decoration is not up to rating standards, and the gameplay does not save the level either. Still, I think this is a great level to try to beat. Although this does not meet the high standards for rates, this sure has its place in the game.
Jackattack If you still want to write a review feel free to add it below.
>>> Moving to Decent.