Industrial Valley Zone Act 1 by Zipper - 6/10
Very solid entry with some great music. There were a few things that annoyed me, though.
First off, in the first cave with all the jumping puzzles, I thought the second piston you come across was moving way too fast, such that there was too little margin for error in clearing it. I also didn't like the "don't jump here" pillar. Yeah, you warned me not to jump on it, but frankly the warning didn't really click, and instant death (more or less) isn't exactly a fair punishment considering this is the first time (and, if I recall correctly, the
only time) you stumble upon this particular trap.
Second off, I hate hate
hate the big slime lake. It'd be one thing if it were just that and I could quickly grab my rings and be on my way, but no, it's a
current, as well, so as soon as I land from my pain state, I'm stopped, and thrust down a path, away from my scattered rings, that was frequently too long for me to properly recover from. I couldn't reach a spring before my flashing state ended, and died several times.
Not to mention, the path isn't particularly clear. There are two red diagonal springs that, while their purpose is clear
after you drain the lake, only serve to launch you headfirst into the slime otherwise. The actual path forward is obscured by the fact that, at that level of sector brightness, the platforms you're supposed to jump onto are the same shade of gray as the walls behind it, effectively camouflaging the way forward. Not good.
Lastly, the last room seems to have
Drawseg overflow issues (
Doom wiki entry). I'm not sure what's causing it, but I believe this is what happens when you have too many linedefs visible in the same angle; the excess ones are simply not drawn. Seeing as it would appear a sector far off in the distance is getting rendered, you might double-check that this room is entirely sealed off from the rest of the map with single-sided linedefs (barring the actual entrance/exit to the room, of course).
That's not to say that this level was all bad, though. I really loved the pulley gimmick near the end; that was incredibly inventive. The bouncy platforms were nice, too, but they were only used once that I could tell, which was a bit of a shame. I kind of wish you used more gimmicks like these, as otherwise the thing's a bit too generically THZ.
Azure Temple Zone by Mystic & Prime 2.0 - 8/10
I absolutely and utterly despise the beginning. Jumping onto really tiny platforms with only a split second to jump off of them is only marginally better than jumping out from atop platforms before they crush you, but both really, really suck.
However, I really liked the rest of the stage. Even knowing about the enemy beforehand based off your discussions in #srb2dev, it's pretty nifty how you two managed to get that working. Also, the puzzle room was great - required me to think a little outside the box to figure out how to arrange those guys, but nothing too mind-bending.
I had to abuse DEVMODE and SETLIVES just to see the level through, and that's
with the 15 life bonus. :I
Sonic's Schoolhouse by Boinciel - 7/10
This is an in-joke you either get or don't.
Considering the evidence, it would be apparent that I'm in the group that do, which earns you a few points. Gameplay-wise, though, it's a bit bland, and there's nowhere near enough of it; it ends way too abruptly. It'd be nifty if there were some way to randomize the questions you get or something...
Frozen Hillside Zone Act 2 by Blade - 8/10
Aaaaah pony songs
Anyway, this stage is a pretty good followup to Act 1 (although you probably should've found another remix of "Winter Wrap-Up", since this is the exact same one from Act 1). Doesn't really do anything the first didn't, that I can immediately think of, but it's been a good while since I played it, and it's still a fairly solid gimmick anyway.
Also, this map has the dubious honor of being the only one (aside from Boinciel's easy-as-heck
Sonic's Schoolhouse reference) to not require me to use DEVMODE and SETLIVES 99. I guess I really suck or something.
Chemical Facility Zone Act 2 by CoatRack - 6/10
I really like the design/theme of the stage, as well as the gimmicks used to that end (but as has been mentioned,
blue should be bouncy and
orange should be speed, not the other way around). I wasn't expecting the SOC'd enemies, and they were pretty inventive, all things considered. Still, three things brought this stage down for me.
Thing numero uno: The room with the timed doors. I swear, that timer is
just too short; like, maybe a second or so. All the annoying columns in the room mean it doesn't have any particular shortcuts to assist with this, as well. I had to attempt this several times in order to make it work, each time I reached it.
Thing the second: The right path from said room has an orange bouncy gel column that immediately turns you upside-down. I was able to clear this room exactly once (but regrettably couldn't finish the stage thereafter, bringing me back to it); every other time, I somehow clipped through the gel and died, either on the bottom end or the top end. If this was intentional, then let me note that there was no visual indicator that this part of the gel was any different from the others, which were all entirely solid. Not really a fan.
Thing Type 3 (Player 3 Start): The
left path from the room delineated in the first grievance was no better. I go through this white water that makes me fast for some reason, climb up out of it, and find a waterfall with rings indicating I should go up... but no means of going up it, as well as no other area that is accessible with my jump or thok. Dead end, in other words. A monitor on the ceiling would imply that I'm supposed to flip gravity here somewhere, but I saw absolutely no location around that would let me do so. This meant the only way to complete the stage was either
not be Sonic, or noclip my way through. Either one's inexcusable.
I see a good stage here, but as it is presently, a great deal of the map, starting from the timed room, needs addressing before it can reach that potential.
Also, minor niggle, but
you have a small graphical issue right about here. I forget where exactly this is, other than it being outdoors.
Lightless Labyrinth Zone by ShadowHog
Yeah, I kind of expected this would be love-it-or-hate-it. Wasn't expecting quite so many hate-its, but eh, what can I do. Definitely working on improving it, though, as some of the feedback gotten here has actually been quite informative.
Also kind of wonder how many people found the secret room...