http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale#Richter_magnitudes
BEFORE ANY OF YOU START TEARING ME APART: 5 is average, so stuff above it is notable. To avoid any kind of bias, I decided to read the topic after writing my stuff in notepad, so if you see any retarded line breaks, you know who to blame.
Dark Forest Zone:
This seems as the result of somebody trying to strip down platformers to their very core.
Have platforms and make some obstacle force you to keep jumping. It's a commendable task, if I didn't feel the guy here completely misunderstood platforming, and wouldn't surprise that this ain't platforming but an albino rhinoceros wearing a Beatles trenchcoat.
Needless to say, short, bland, boring.
1/10
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Cloud Cradle:
hoooo boy
So yeah, this level also tried to pander to the very basics of platformers, and it
seems MUCH better than dark forest zone. But that isn't too high a bar to jump...
This level is mean and horrible to you. The gimmicks are unfair. This level will treat you like ****, and it hates you, it would punch you in the face, kick your corpse, and leave without paying his part of the tab.
Maybe I'm just terrible, but it took me about 5 replays to finally beat this.
So, on to some actual criticisms, this map is very bland when it comes to landscape design. They are just floating cubes! (And to add insult to the injury, for decoration, there are floating bloacks simulating buildings or something). It all lacks detail and seems lazy.
But the gameplay will make up for it, right? Not really. There are gimmicks that are a good idea, but were executed bad. For example, there's a wall of jetty sins covering the entrance to a hallway. A snail kills them with a laser from behind, playing a mock Breakout. What's the point? Since to get to the entrance covered by those jettys, you'll have to jump. And jumping kills them. There is no real necessity for the snail killing them, or they being there at all. They are just cannon fodder.
You can fight a recolored jetty that shoots Bomb rings.
Really? Why is it always the same enemy with a different shot? I mean, I liked this one, but everyone just recolors a preexisting enemy and adds in preexisting ammo to use on a preexisting behavior.
Moving on, you can choose the teleport or go behind it for EXPLOURAISHIONS. It's not really fun because there is nothing to explore but a building that will kill you if you go its sides thanks to some cleverly placed springs. Or you can jump down to a giant metal platform, which seems to contain a very bland room with lasers for walls.
Maybe it's an alternate path! Hahaha no, you're stuck now. Kill yourself. (No really, the only way to get outta here, is to kill yourself.)
Later on, there's a conveyor belt with lasers. Seems pretty goo- oh **** another turret, ok I'll just move along. Got hit by the last laser, don't freat, while invincible I'll hit those springs. And then in the very top of the arch of the springs, I realize:
"You have to hit the springs at top speed".
MOTHER******! Game over. This is a problem that repeats through the level a lot.
There are springs you have to run at full speed to progress. Why not just a diagonal spring?
The part in which you have to crawla-bop those jettys is bad too. The camera won't help you much (read: won't help you at all) and there's the chance of you falling between the grid of jettys. Tough luck!
The grab-rope-thingy-from-ACZ-but-with-different-graphics also outright SUCKS thanks to the camera. This idea is great (Hell, a lava level by blade used it and flamethrowers for great effect.) Here, you won't be able to see ****. And if you can see the rope you're hanging to, it's impossible to know what the others have in store. I say "**** it" and go with a single rope. If you get hit once, get ready to plunge. Finally, we get to the boss, which is eggman using multiplayer rings to hurt you. And it's actually pretty cool, but it's hard and you don't have much rings left, and there are none in this arena. Hit him with temporary invincibility and he's gone. And so is this leve- wait no!
A teleport! you go into it, and you get the most unrewarding feeling ever:
A very bland room with lasers for walls.
Sound familiar?
Bland decoration, unfair gimmicks, and horrible linearity. new enemies aren't that original, but the most annoying Bomb Jettys are sparse and well used.
3/10
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Fire Flight:
My god...
This is amazing. Like, it's honestly mouth dropping. NiGHTS mode was put to well use. Even though it could certainly have been better, this level is almost an experience. The detail, even though not too complex, just works due to the wonderful textures, and the thoughtful usage given here. I really felt like I was flying through a volcano filled flaming field. During that moment I was just mildly amused.
And then I entered the volcano.
My mouth dropped. The transition. It was almost too perfect. This simply couldn't be! Having played only the maps up until this point of writing (last three reviews counting this one) I can safely say this moment was the highlight of the show.
How it shifts to black while going in, changing the atmosphere, serving as a great transition to a new area, the insides of these volcanoes. This was just amazing, I honestly felt like I was discovering a hidden palace.
Gameplay wise, there are many moments in which you're doing nothing. But the
object placement is done well. The part in which you surround those pillars and grab the items with that hoop thingy was nice (although a bit overdone nearing the end).
Another criticism point is that, sometimes, the flamethrowers will do nothing to Super Sonic. You can also dive into lava unharmed. Hell, you're the freaking Super Sonic.
The problem though, is the collision detection seems to fgsfds up with flamethrowers (You can even thok through them as Sonic, sometimes) and it made me think I was invincible up until a very unfortunate part.
The palace part of the level got very long, very fast. The part with the staircase (which should have been missing chunks to make it cooler) was a fun way to integrate gameplay and looks together, but after that, the whole thing felt pretty bland, which is quite a contrast with the beautiful scenery preceding it. Also, too much flamethrowers.
And that's about it. There are far too many moments in which you do nothing (collecting items, evading obstacles, whatev) some bland areas, glitchy flamethrowers (you aren't to blame for this one) a bit overuse of flamethrowers (this one, you are). But other than that this level is one of the closest things to an experience I had to play in SRB2.
Good job.
7/10
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JadeFlower Zone:
Nice try. I'm not saying it in the nasally jerk-like voice, but nice try. It's still horribly linear, even though you tried to split paths. That part in which you put a lot of FOFs to make that floating path that twists and turns and has springs. I liked that. But still, there is little to do. Little decoration, little to do. At least you got a semi-working waterslide.
I think I've told you all I can on IRC.
1/10
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Moonlit Mountain:
Pretty nice map, well done mood, but there was something definately off here.
I don't know, it felt like a pretty "by the book" level, if you know what I mean. The platforming's there, the enemy placement is fine, and there's the waterslide. It could have used some other gimmicks aside from the fountain thingy.
I liked feeling like I was going through the infrastructure of the zoom tubes. But really.
Other than gameplay that is, I liked how the little details add up. I saw that stalactite and was like, "haha, that might explain why there are Ice zoomtubes." The place was a partly frozen mountain. Maybe Blue Mountain zone can take some cues from this level regarding atmosphere.
I can't say a lot. I really really can't. It's above average, but not by much.
(BTW, that waterslide with the crushers? That was fun stuff. Needs more interesting stuff like that).
6/10
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Lava Rock:
Hands down. Competition winner. I pity whatever level I play after this one, because it won't be able to live up to this greatness, and will be forever under this level's shadow.
Ed Wood...
this is your Bela Lugosi.
Joking aside, bland level, some stupid stuff (Making the lava instakill? Really?), complete lack of sense (Why the hell is eggrock music playing now).
About that part in which the level changes the music, I almost **** myself. It felt
like some kind of filter: "Only wusses will quit due to the level sucking. Here's your reward for not falling for them". I was honestly expecting the level to suddendly become complete badass platforming with jaw drapping awesomeness.
Well, it wasn't exactly that, but the latter half felt much more solid. There was this part in which the crushers from ERZ1 left path appeared, only that they were much faster, and I was "HOLY CRAP AAAH". I skillfully jumped over some lasers after blazing through the crushers in a rush. It was exciting and awesome. It's a shame that was the only good point and that it lasted less then 6 seconds.
2/10
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Water Works:
I was having enormous amounts of expectations and...
they were mostly met.
The level is fun and it looks nice. Great platforming, an almost constant stream of good action, well done decorations (I've always wanted to do some sort of hanging garden and this looks much better than I could have ever thought. Purple is such a beautiful colour and I would've never fathomed of mixing it with green to create such an effective look.)
Another thing I loved were those "Ecosystem rooms", in which you have these stalactites connecting floor with roof. I wish you could've done more stuff with this design other than some isolated rooms to take a break (look, don't touch). The snails on a later one of these were well put.
The level feels great, like you kinda are in a water station. Pumps, pipes, machinery... lasers? What? (They were well done and fun to avoid).
Oh no! Not the bad points!:
An annoyance is how horribly linear the paths are and how little exploration there is.
The most exploration there is is when you go to that broken tube and you fall into a water filled room with death pits (which, coincidentally, was the most annoying due to the little aerial control you have and the goddamn enemies). Seriously, eemies were a ******* pain in this place.
The only real way to get past this part is to play as if you were time attacking and thok like the MOTHER******* FIST OF THE NORTH STAR YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
There is little incentive to be in this room more than 20 seconds because the exploration in there was just jumping to some raised sectors.
Also,
snails, god ******* **** **** the ******* but ****ting and ******* ****ing
snails. (Dunno, they get old kinda fast and were more a pain than a nice challenge.) Oh and there's a waterslide that leads to a pit, and feels kinda sudden and hard to avoid.
Fun and good looking. Yet linear and short.
7/10
OK, that's all there is. Multiplayer, as always, will not be rated by me, oh supreme kamisama. (We don't have fast connections up there in that sky dome thing).