Flooded Mine Zone, 3/10
Having the level crash like that is an automatic four-point dockage from me. Nev3r’s SOC caused the zone to crash twice on me. Therefore, I made a personal copy for myself without the SOC data so I could actually complete this level (yes, I still have the broken one with me). The level design is solid and fun. FMZ’s main gimmick is really just its theme, which didn’t feel that awesome to me personally, but it was kinda cool. The stage needs even more gimmicks, though. Also, I hate how your elevator once crushed me unexpectedly. I went in there thinking there might be something in there, and I got crushed. Looks to me like you made them slow so this wouldn’t happen. Unfortunately… Perhaps some Intangible from Below platforms would help? That would give you a good reason to make the elevators faster. Though it’s not the highest-rated from me, it was the one that played the best. It also was the most fun. But you gotta make sure your levels work, dude.
Undersea Palace, 3/10
I like the theme of the level, but going back in this level reminded me how much utter fail there was at the beginning. At least it doesn't have fail around every corner like Moon Temple Zone has. First, a look in SRB2DB shows that the map splits twice, but I had a hard time trying to find those areas. Second, we’re supposed to use #0000FFJ. Not #0000FFP. I sometimes had to put face closer to the screen to see what was going on. Third, it doesn’t have the greatest sense of direction. I got lost a lot in this map. Fourth, you don’t have enough Air Bubble Patches. When one stays underwater for a while, there should be more of those. It was especially annoying at the part where I was supposed to hop from platform to platform underwater with Crawlas on each ledge. I would miss the last or second to last platform and I couldn’t get back to the springs in time. And then I’d have to start from the beginning because of your fifth problem, the lack of Star Posts. Sixth, the Skims. There’s an area near the beginning where I would hit a spring to get back up and hit a Skim on the way up or the way down. Seventh, the stage needs more rings, especially at the beginning. Putting them on the sides puts them out of view unnecessarily.
I really like the invisible wall thing to stop me from cheating as Tails to get to the first Star Post. The waterslide gimmick was sweet! The music was also pretty! Also, the bobbing platform crushers were sweet. A lot of the visuals were awesome, too, sans the colormap. This definitely isn’t the best stage in the contest, but it by far had the coolest gimmicks!
Triopolis Town, 0/10
This stage should be disqualified for breaking the rules. If it didn’t break the rules, my vote would be a 2/10. It’s straight and flat. All the effort was put into the scenery. I actually rather liked the scenery. It’s awesome how the framerate was still not bad considering the freakishly huge amount of scenery you put in there. But scenery isn’t what makes a stage fun. A stage with this much scenery should be a NiGHTS stage, not a regular stage. The gameplay is really lame. Run, run, run, run, run, run. That’s pretty much it. I don’t think this should be totally deleted, though. Turn it into a NiGHTS stage and it could be VERY good.
Metal Mechanism Zone Act 1, 6/10
While this caused me frustration, this one was quite good. The beginning area was simply awful as Sonic. I actually liked the THZ2-esque turret placement and terrain shielding. However, when you sprung up onto the platform to get to the button, it was hard not to get hit. When you did press the button, the turret could still hurt you. THZRAIL does not have properties associated with it. You must use invisible FOFs along with the THZRAIL to make it solid. Furthermore, to kill a turret, submerge it deep into a water block. The worst part was the slime pits that came packaged with the turrets. Some were too deep. The rings bounced high enough that you couldn’t pick them up. I had to go to the springs and I would die on my way up. Getting out of slime pits is one of my weaknesses in SRB2 gameplay, but it’s just really lame that I would die on my way up to dry ground. Also, trying to get the Liquid Shield resulted in HOM when coming out that room.
However, as Tails, I managed to just skip that part by flight and go to the THZ1 part of the map. The THZ1 part was a heck of a lot better, more fun, and more interesting. It managed to stay rather solid to the end of the map!
Green Hill Zone GG, 1/10
This is LAME. The gameplay is very boring; and I managed to run around in circles several times until I saw the red springs. Those springs, being crucial to complete the level as Sonic, were hidden. This is BAD. The Blue Emerald needs to be removed as well; I can tell that its presence means it was part of Green Hill Zone GG. Seriously, Glaber, stop porting stages. Find inspiration elsewhere, e.g., other OLDC maps.
Poison Prison Zone, NA/10
The GLASSTEX made it look really bad in OpenGL. Sigh. Well, I did get inspiration from other things while making this level. It wasn't totally created out of thin air. Also, you'll find other gimmicks in some of the secrets...
My beta tester did not see the lack of factory feel as a problem, nor did he notice it. Neither did I. So I left this as is. What kind of factory gimmicks are you looking for?
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Can't rate the multiplayer maps, but I did notice this:
I can tell that Barren Ambition is quite poorly designed. Its gameplay is so much like Slumber Circuit. This is bad. I don't know if it has that run-out-of-Drill-dash problem like SCZ, but it might; the lap time is just too long. 54 seconds for a lap? This does not have nearly enough obstacles. Also, when browsing through it, the camera got stuck at the finish line and I couldn't move. I couldn't get out. I did like the Bumper linking gimmick at the beginning of the level, and the scenery was just fine.