Official Level Design Collab 2023: Round 2 1.1

It's a Metal Sonic race. It can definitely make you tense at points, but it's not a bad level. In fact, it can actually be quite fun. That is, until you get to the last section...

This might just be a lack of skill on my part, but I do not like platforming on fans. Especially not while there are EIGHT Metal Sonics firing at me while doing so. I ended up completing the stage as Tails because I was so frustrated by this section. My suggestion would be to either completely rethink this section, or simply remove the Metal Sonic clones and replace the fans with groups of springs.

It's a Metal Sonic boss fight. The circular arena kind of makes it hard to tell where Metal Sonic is going to end up, but it's not a big issue. If I could suggest anything, it would be to make the flashing red lights less flashy. While they are a nice touch for when Metal Sonic is in his pinch phase, they can be quite disorienting when you're trying to focus on him.

This level seems to be focused more on atmosphere and aesthetic rather than gameplay. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind. Apparently, this level was also left unfinished, so I guess that's something else to keep in mind. There's not much more I can really say about this level.

First off, I love the build-up of the music during the intro and the escape sequence. The music overall was pretty good.

Secondly, I'm not a big fan of hi-res textures being mixed in with low-res textures. It might just be a nitpick, but it ends up making the whole level look inconsistent.

Third, the level design itself can be confusing on a first-time playthrough. Some examples include the gravity flip section, and the section immediately after where you have to break the wall with a sky texture. At first, I thought it was just a wall I couldn't get past until I accidentally bumped into it. I'd suggest putting a crack in the texture to better telegraph to the player that it can be busted through.

Finally, the boss. It can be incredibly frustrating due to one problem: collecting rings after getting hit is a chore. This might just be another lack of skill, but I had a really hard time trying to grab rings while on a spinning PolyObject in the boss arena. Trying to hit the boss also didn't feel quite right since the spinning PolyObject had a chance to throw off my jump arc.

Overall, it's a pretty good level, but it could use work in some places.

This is a pretty basic level. It has some enemies and some platforming, and that's about it. The only two things I see really going for it are the theme and the art direction. The fact that this level is so simple certainly isn't a bad thing, but I do think keeping the player engaged could go a long way. Maybe add some more platforms here and there. Maybe you could also expand on the concept of the lab with the capsules, and make the one that got away a boss, or something.

(Also, nice B3313 reference with the music)

This is very obviously a joke map, which isn't a bad thing, but it somehow feels less polished than act 1. For me at least, it feels just like a repeat of the first act's joke, but now it's Mystic Realm. Maybe you could play up some of the aspects that made Mystic Realm so infamous (enemy spam, precise platforming, etc.). That's just my opinion anyway.

One criticism I have with this level is that some sections are confusing to navigate, specifically the Flame Rift section, and Trayaurus's Lab. For the former, it's not obvious that you have to do a sort of strafe jump towards the metal structure. As for the latter, the teleport immediately puts you right in front of the entrance to the lab, making it seem as if the signpost is in the lab, when it's really outside it.

I didn't really like this level. The enemy placements are incredibly annoying (the Dragonbombers especially), and the amount of fire all over the ground makes it hard to even traverse the level without constantly taking damage. The rising and falling lava section doesn't make a whole lot of sense since you would expect the lava to spill onto the platforms due to gravity. I would suggest only making some parts of the lava come out of the ground instead of the whole sector. The Fang boss fight at the end was a unique twist, being a dodging game. However, it's not a very hard fight, and it gets stale rather quickly because of it.

I enjoyed this level. It had a clear theme and good pacing, and was overall pretty solid. My only gripe with it was the music. While I do really like it, I don't think it really suits the level. It feels more like something that would play during a boss fight or an escape sequence.

I thought this level was really well done. It had a nice challenge, decent pace, and the custom enemies really sold the theme of the level. The music also really enhanced the atmosphere. The only thing I would change is maybe making it more obvious which doors can be opened without a button.

Another Metal Sonic race level. This one is interesting since it acts as a circuit map of sorts, kind of like the relay races in SRB2TP. However, the time limit is incredibly strict. The large half-pipe structure at the beginning is a huge pace-breaker after the first lap. As of writing this, I have only been able to finish it with Super Sonic and Metal Sonic. I did not have a fun time.

There's not a lot to this level, since it's mostly just minecart riding. As a result, this level comes off as kind of boring to me. Personal opinions on Sonic Forces aside, this level does seem pretty faithful to what I remember of the original level. Plus, the visuals are pretty good for SRB2.

In terms of using the same gimmicks, this does a pretty good job at extending upon the Blue Mountain Zone concept from 2.0 as a proper second act to Red Volcano Zone. For the most part, this level is fun to play. However, the second rolling rock section can be absolutely frustrating, mostly because getting the rock to go under the platform feels based purely on luck. The level also felt a bit short in comparison to RVZ1. Overall, not a bad level, but it has some flaws.

I really enjoyed this level! The main gimmick of jumping on clouds is extremely fun and can lead to some incredible speedrun strats. The visuals are also amazing and go hand-in-hand with the level theme. And the music; Oh, the music. Hearing Fearofdark's "Rolling Down the Street, In My Katamari" was an unexpected but very welcome surprise.

My only gripe is that the palette shenanigans don't work correctly in OpenGL, which is a shame. I won't blame the level for that since it's a hardcoded issue rather than a mod issue.

This was an alright level. It was rather simple and it didn't have any gimmicks to speak of besides a health bar, so it didn't really keep me engaged that much. Of course, a level doesn't need gimmicks to be engaging, but there wasn't much of a hook either besides the Rayman 2 inspiration. The forest setting is nice at least. I don't really have anything else to say.

This was a pretty good level. It had a clear theme and a neat gimmick. I especially like how the dust devil and water were combined to create the water gushers. The tornado sections were really cool, and they reminded me a bit of Windy Valley from Sonic Adventure. The intro cutscene was also a nice touch.

I'll be honest: I did not like this level. It's not too hard once you know what's coming, but that right there is where the problem lies. The gameplay relies on trial-and-error, which very often leads to frustration. The most obvious example is when you're launched out into space after pressing a button with little-to-no time to react.

The lava rising section doesn't properly telegraph to the player that the room will fill with lava, mainly because the player's camera is most likely facing away from the glass window where they see lava coming out. You could try adding a grating in the floor where you can see the lava coming up to better let the player know that they have to go up.

The enemy placement is also very annoying. Dodging sharps while being shrunken down is not fun. Placing a bunch of enemies down a hallway is not so much of a challenge as much as it is just irritating (especially when you can barely see the enemies).

It's clear that a lot of effort was put into the technical and visual side of things. The unique use of PolyObjects is very impressive, especially the turret that fires at the part of the ship you're currently in. However, visuals don't make much of a difference if the level isn't fun to play.

Overall, this feels less like an official 2.0 "what if" level (like the creator intended) and more like a brutal fan-created level.

I don't really have a lot to say about this level. It was pretty solid for the most part. There was one section that tripped me up since the entrance was blocked by a waterfall (or "sewagefall", I guess). It's not really clear that there's a path behind the waterfall, so I completely missed it on my first playthrough. I would either move the waterfall or get rid of it entirely.

While a custom NiGHTS mode stage is cool in concept, this could use a bit of work. Trying to figure out which axis you're on can be confusing since the axes often intersect with each other. For example, I was able to paraloop a circle of rings and spheres on a different axis than the one I was currently on. I would suggest doing something like what Dream Hill Zone does and putting the different tracks on completely separate paths.

The level could also use some more varied texture work, specifically for the palace structures. Try using a texture that doesn't tile so much, or even use different textures for specific parts of the structure(s) so it's not all just one texture.

I do like the idea of a NiGHTS mode boss stage, but putting Brak in such a stage is not a good idea. It certainly doesn't help that Brak can freely roam the stage while the player is stuck on a set axis. I'm sure the super paraloop powerups were placed to help alleviate this, but it doesn't help much.

I have mixed feelings about this level. On one hand, it has a consistent theme and interesting gimmicks (ice springs from Sonic Mania, sinking snow). On the other hand, the enemy and spinning mace placements can be obnoxious. The Dragonbombers in particular are an absolute nuisance as they can drop bombs on you while you're desperately trying to jump out of the snow and getting sprung backwards by horizontal springs. Not a bad level, but it could use some work to really make it shine.

This level was pretty good. I liked the theme of a temple filled with traps and enemies. The music was also pretty nice. The only thing I didn't like was how dark some areas were. It became difficult to distinguish what was an enemy or an obstacle and what was safe ground or not.

I cheesed this level with Tails. No further comment.

Seriously though, this level is HARD. It at least looks nice visually, but it is not fun to play at all. Mace balls + ice physics = one frustrating level.

I actually liked this level quite a bit. Unlike many of the creator's other levels, the length was just right, and the enemy placement was pretty fair. I also liked the music. One gripe I do have is the grass midtexture used for the edges. With how tall it is, it makes it difficult to see what's behind it.

I enjoyed this level. It had a great theme and an interesting gimmick (invisible platforms with green flames on the edges). I'm usually not a big fan of 2D sections in SRB2, but the ones in this level were alright, and they didn't overstay their welcome. Using Mario mode was also a nice touch, considering the abundance of pipes in the level.

This level was kind of a mixed bag. It is visually pretty nice. In terms of gameplay, the first half of the level wasn't too bad, but the second half was a bit of a nightmare. It feels way too punishing, since the lava instantly kills you. The beginning of the second half especially feels like it doesn't let the player familiarize themselves with the landscape before giving them a jumping challenge just ahead. Also, I felt like I could barely make some of the jumps this level expects the player to make.

This level was a bit of a slog. It just felt way too long. Making it maybe 1/2 or 2/3rds the length it currently is would go a long way to making it more enjoyable.

Some other criticisms I have are regarding the huge blocky textures and the underwater areas. For the textures, I just don't think they look good blown up like how they are. It ends up making the level look inconsistent. I would either replace them with higher resolution versions, or just use different textures entirely.

As for the underwater sections, they are way too dark. I get that they're supposed to punish the player for falling into them, but they really don't need to be so dark that you can't see anything (at least in Software).

On the plus side, the level does have a clear theme and interesting obstacles (the fire bars). The enemies are also pretty fairly placed.

Overall, though, this level wasn't great and could be shortened.

I don't have too much to say about this level. It's a pretty standard level with a consistent theme and nice music (wish I knew what the name of it was). There doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on, though. It's mostly just a bunch of Spring Shells and trees with barely any platforming. One thing I didn't like was the swinging mace timing puzzle at the end. There's no build-up to it at all, so it can catch the player completely off-guard. Not to mention, it can also be quite frustrating trying to get the timing right.

Technically speaking, this is definitely a well made level. The visuals were top notch, the flow was great (if you take the right path), and it was fun to play (for the most part). However, there are a number of issues I have with this stage.

For one, the underwater sections can be a bit frustrating. It feels like they don't give you enough time to get air bubbles before you drown (or freeze to death, I guess).

Second, the constantly fading light section can make it really hard to see where you're going. The springs being in the dark also threw me off.

Third, the music doesn't loop right. This is more of a nitpick, but it's really distracting.

Overall, this had great visuals and a clear theme, but there were just some things that bogged it down a little.

This level is incredibly short. It feels like it would fit more as a hangout map than a singleplayer map, what with the NPCs roaming about. This could also work as an intro map to a level pack.

One problem I have with this level is that it's not immediately clear where you're supposed to go. At the end of the big road, there's an opening to what looks like an ACZ-esque area, but you get blocked by an invisible wall.

I can't really think of anything else to say about this level.

I enjoyed this level. The theme was interesting, and I liked some of the gimmicks (automated spirals). The only two things that really irked me were the music and the water.

The music became annoyingly repetitive after about a minute and a half of hearing the same loop over and over again. This is just my opinion, though, so don't take it to mean you have to replace the music.

The water just looked a little strange, mainly due to the apparent lack of a colormap below the water.

Other than that, I thought the level was relatively fun.

I have mixed feelings on this level. It has a lot going for it visually. The jungle aesthetic is nice to look at, and the scenery and gimmicks really sell the theme of this being a casino. However, I did not like actually playing the level.

My main problem is that it is really easy to get lost. There are tunnel warps to try and solve this problem, but they don't help that much, especially when you're just trying to beat the level. It really doesn't help when many of the areas are too dark to see where you're going. I would suggest lighting up certain areas so you can actually see where to go in the level.

One thing I do like about this level are the addition of gimmicks like the slot machines and the cards that give you certain rewards if you match two or three.

Overall, the concept of this level is good, but the execution really needs work.

(By the way, excellent music choice (flourish.mid FTW))

THE REVIEWS:

Pump Sewers 1:
+ Level is open, nice to play around
+ Texturework is clean, paths never get confusing
- Level is TOO open, not much to do other than run on flat ground
- Most of the level involves going straight, with the one exception being a weirdly hidden jump near the start

Fortune Forge:
- Bad sense of direction despite the HUD showing me the location of the statue
- Requiring rings to unlock "mandatory" powerups feels like a risky move (I don't know if they're actually mandatory I felt like I needed the Elec shield)
- Stumbled into the rest of the level after finding the quiz by total accident
+ Visually great looking
+ Nothing too difficult, just hard to navigate

Totem Tombolo:
+ Great usage of spin mechanics. A bit simple, but that's alright for Stage 1 difficulty
+ Good enemy variety, keeps you on your toes
+ Pink rings that collect all the rings around them should really be in every Sonic game
+ Great verticality, level never feels dull or stunted
- Some hallways are a bit claustrophobic
- The corkscrew climb zoomtubes aren't very necessary and break the flow

Blossoming Brushes:
+ Good aesthetics
+ Not very annoying, coherent badnik usage
? PINBALL was funny, it was just placed in the most awkward spot imaginable
- Not much to do other than run and jump on flat ground
- Decorative slopes sometimes throw off your jumps

Chemical Base 1:
+ Surprisingly good flow, none of the button "hunts", if you can call them that, took too long
+ Good enemy placement, none felt too abrasive but they couldn't just be ignored
+ Captures the THZ aesthetic perfectly
+ Second half had lax and enjoyable platforming
- Going from 2.0 corridor level design to 2.2 Big Fat level design gave me mental whiplash, something inbetween would be perfect in terms of width
- Hurtwater hurts me emotionally

Twilight Hill 2:
+ IMMACULATE set design in the first half, visually delivers a real sense of urgency
- There is no real sense of urgency, the tornado is harmless
+ The inside of the tornado is very visually appealing even if it's just an enlarged ACZ tornado
? Continuing with a normal cheery level after an extremely threatening looking area gave me mental whiplash
+ Thankfully, the level still looks visually appealing and the level design actually improves
+ Water gusher gimmick is nice, poison puts a simple yet effective spin on it
- Thorn floors being harmful is fine, making them the same height as the floor around them is not

Doomship 2:
+ The idea of challenge rooms is nice, and sector-based decoration is welcome
- Literally none of the gimmicks are fun
- Killing enemies to advance is okay, but doing it every time you die, with enemies that can be invulnerable for 5+ seconds if they attack, isn't
- Fans give you approximately 0.2 seconds to react, with instakill as punishment
- Precise movement areas (dodging flames, dodging enemies in the dark) are not enjoyable or interesting
- All the bad parts of 2.0 (bad/unfun enemy AI, irritating gimmicks), not that I think there were any good parts in 2.0
- Most of the challenge rooms were "touch button, get screwed over"
- Not much else going on in the level
- Level design as a whole is fundamentally flawed, even 2.0 didn't have paths this cramped and ceilings this low

Hexacolor Heaven:
? Should've used the Skip Intro door
+ Six colours and they all complement each other perfectly
+ Shrooms recovering your ability and putting you into jump state helps the flow immensely
+ Very solid level design, good difficulty curve, never became too overbearing
- Shrooms sometimes blended into the skybox

Sapphire Twilight:
+ Killing enemies to gain life back is genuinely a super good idea
- The community is in remiss, they had never seen a level as Sonic-unfriendly as this
- Genuinely the worst ice physics I've ever encountered
- Restarting a challenge if you fail is fine, hurting you if you fail is fine, doing both is not fine, especially considering your health is non-replenishable in that area
- Schmooving between giant spikeballs is not enjoyable considering they have a single rotation sprite and jank hitboxes
? Final downhill area had potential, hampered by the absolutely atrocious ice physics

Temple Trek:
+ Great aesthetics, mixing temple and cave
+ Spatious and forgiving level design, no one area overstays its welcome
- While the individual areas don't drag on, the level itself sorta does
+ Good enemy placement, complements the level layout which enables tricky movement
+ Many paths to explore, and none of them truly get you lost, plenty of rewards to be found

Colorvoid Chasm:
? It's just a lightly roasted memory
- Feels like the music is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of theme
+ Overall idea is nice, areas repeating and deteriorating gets the message across pretty well
? Inoffensive platforming but not much else

Snow Skies 2:
+ Level has constant flow, never gets dull or staggers
+ Usage of springs helps the player stay on pace
+ Not too hard but not a freebie either
? Aesthetically pleasing though some color combinations are rough on the eyes
- That one slope near the force shield that terminates early is on my hitlist

Vermutlich ne Insel:
? Is in fact an island
+ First part is very enjoyable, Green Snappers force the player to stay on their feet
+ Great verticality
- Second part immediately throws you into a timing gimmick with no prior introduction, with failure causing instant death
? Though it's right after a checkpoint so I suppose it's fine
? Second part is okay, encourages some awkward slope launches even if they are not mandatory

Hanging Illusion:
? Any music other than Hang Castle or Mystic Mansion would've been a mistake, good choice
- Not much illusion or hanging in the first half
+ Still does play nicely with good platforming
? 2D sections are nice but drag on for a bit too long, the whirlwind shield area can get annoying if you overshoot
+ Level REALLY picks up on the final room, with the fake pathways, circular climbing and reverse gravity
? Why Mario mode? Shooting fireballs isn't really needed in the final room to proceed

Metallic City:
+ BCZ3 capsule was cute
- Literally nothing else in the level, it's a straight line

Arctic Summit:
? if you die from frostbite God himself shows you a SIGSEGV before sending you through the pearly gates
+ Excellent level design reminiscent of classics, higher and lower paths flowing differently
+ Genuinely somewhat challenging
+ Aesthetically very pleasant
- Excessive decorative sector usage almost makes it confusing to see which platforms I can stand "comfortably" on
- Cave with the glowing crystals was painful on the eyes

Ground Veil Z:
+ Nice open fields to run in, if a little bit too wide
+ Sand gimmick is VERY interesting, encourages running + spindash over jumping
+ It interacts PERFECTLY with the Bubble Shield due to the height of the sand pits, you can make a challenge based on that alone
? Enemies are fine if a bit unthreatening
- Long stretches of nothing happening, overstays its welcome
- Later sand pits suddenly becoming death pits isn't good

Zaxel's Garden:
? Who's Zaxel, does the map creator know them?
+ Wide and open, nice to thok through
+ Low gravity underwater is a bold move, yet strangely, it works. I dig it
+ Lot of pathways to take, high and low, speed boosters complement your choices by trekking you along
- Not much to do other than run, the only real threat is spikes
- Split paths sort of bleed over each other, risking accidental backtracking
- A bit too long
? 9325732493 years of UZB yet no real-world use case found for enemy size scaling

Mount Majesty 1:
+ Excellent difficulty curve, level really picks up the pace on the second half
+ Good use of flings and maces, enemies are placed well
+ Good aesthetics
- Death Pit (Camera Modifications)
? Never encountered it myself, but does the level become unbeatable if you fail to utilise a frozen spring?

Blue Mountain:
+ Honestly makes me wish we did get BMZ in the vanilla campaign
+ Builds well upon RVZ1's gimmicks
+ Appropriately challenging
- Did not think ALL water would be hurtful, chalk it up to user error but water's usually consistently safe in SRB2 lore
- Doesn't really utilise the ice part of the theme other than bustable FOFs

Circuit Rush 1:
? What is happening
+ Sightreadable, not horribly unbalanced
+ Air rooms having giant fans is the funniest thing
- Too chaotic, but it's the level that needs to breathe, rather than the player. The gimmicks come and go too fast

Circuit Rush 2:
- I'm glad Clone Metal Sonic is exactly as irritating as the real thing
+ Convinced me to make my own Metal Sonic fight someday

Palace of NiGHTS:
? Wow I COMPLETELY forgot you can do multi-mare NiGHTS maps
- Some obstacles trick you into thinking you can interact with them, especially near the start, since the paths are so close together
+ Overall very calming experience, easy yet fun
+ The addition of a powerup for each path helps, wish Super Paraloop had more potential

Spleenik the Game 2:
? This will be MRCE in 2025
+ More of a musical shitpost than a level shitpost
- Hard to gauge what parts are intentionally bad and what parts are just bad design
- I'm not a huge expert on map size limits, but surely you could've made each section much wider?
? Oh brother, this guy SINKS!

Magma Mountain 1:
+ Very hectic level, never lets off pressure
+ Flows very well if you know what you're expecting
- Crushers are a bit too sudden, and the rising lava around the circular platforms is difficult to sightread
- Fang "boss fight" really does not need to exist

Rainy Foliage:
? Crazy difficult on your first few attempts
+ Ring gates giving you ridiculously good powerups is actually surprisingly enjoyable
- Could have been portrayed better, basically have to sightread the existence of the Speed Shoes gate
+ Basically the revival of the Circuit gamemode with none of the bad parts... like needing to play against other people

Null Space:
- The problem with long hallways is that the character can't render half the time
+ Oh it's the WHOLE PACKAGE not just "Null Space" Null Space
+ Second half is a cute recreation of Forces gameplay, but obviously better since you can actually control Sonic this time
- Minecarts just don't have the same thrill that grind rails have
- Most of the level is automated and the rest isn't very engaging

The Nightmare:
+ *Happy Peach looking to the right* Cool idea!
- Honestly just kinda awkward

Windy Forest:
+ Sonic Runners music is kino
+ Fun romp level, wide open space and enjoyable to thok through
- Not much of importance going on
? Clearly designed as a score attack level, but it's a bit too long for me to care about trying to get a high rank (also placed in a level pack where I'll probably only play each level once)