Here are my reviews. Note that I did not use many technical terms so try to bear with me as this is also my first time judging. (It took me FIVE HOURS to do this, and I used Word.)
Scores: (look down for extended explanations)
Match
Map 01: Shortcake Mountain: 8.5
Map 02: DK-64 Battle: 5.0
Map 03: Glaber Base 3: 6.5
Map 04: Desert in the Sky: 7.5
Map 05: Winter Forest Zone 2: 9.0
Map 06: Ivory Square: 9.5
Map 07: Plughole: 8.5
Map 08: Central Control Center: 7.0
Map 09: Volcanic Cavern: 6.0
CTF
Map 10: Magma Cavern: 9.0
Map 11: Azure Frost: 7.0
Map 12: Card Carnival: 7.5
Circuit
Map 13: Sunset Garden: 7.5
Map 14: Mario Circuit 2: 2.0
*Scores are NOT determined by on color, texture, music, eye-candy, cool effects effects, slopes, etc.
Shortcake Mountain: Overall, I really enjoyed this level. The only problem I see here is the number of rings in this stage. You put a large amount of rings in this stage, so large, that you could probably cut the top half of the stage off and you would have two stages! The hidden area was a nice surprise to me when I found it. In addition, the slopes were a nice part of this level, but bear in mind that it does not affect the level’s score. In conclusion, this makes a better Tag/Hide-and-seek map than it does Match, but still I think it is a great map. One thing I must warn you about is the automatic-bomb ring combination, which crashes SRB2. 8.5
DK-64 Battle: When I first entered this map, an unpleasantly bland red wall greeted me. This will not affect your score, however, but bear in mind that people prefer levels that are not so much of an eyesore to them. The arrow-formations of rings had too many rings in them. This level has excessively many rings for its size, meaning that it will take a long time for players to get killed. A good thing about this level was how the special rings complemented its size. If there were to be a match here, I would see countless amounts of rings spilling everywhere. The stairs leading up to the floating platform have a problem, the third stair form the top in each set it too big to cross without jumping, which annoyed me somewhat. This level could actually be excellent with a few adjustments. There can be massive chaos in this level, which calls for a great match. Even still... 5.0
Glaber Base 3: This map is also small and cramped, but its special ring weapons complement its size. This stage has too many rings, not to mention that some of them are not even deafed. I also noticed that this map has the Homing-rail combination, which is the most powerful two-ring combination ever. I saw absolutely no point in the ring/item box display rooms, other than the point of just being there. I did like the fact that there were TWO random boxes instead on one, meaning that they would be hard to take control of them. One thing about this level that I also do not particularly enjoy was the maze-like narrow passages, which are death traps for countless victims of bomb rings. You also have to decide whether to take out the rail rings or the homing rings, because you cannot have both in one level. 6.5
*invalid report*Desert in the Sky: This level is unique in a way, as it gives Tails and Knuckles users an advantage in the sense of the bottomless pit that Sonic cannot get out of it. The only flaws in this stage are the fact that there are so many rings. I also dislike the fact that this stage is so bland. A few mountains and a pool in the center….no special rings (impossible to get for sonic)….where is the variety? 4.5
Winter Forest Zone 2: This zone is great, and I especially like the fact that there are not too many rings in it (although, it is kind of pushing it)! This zone has a perfectly constructed building with a creative interior, plus the fact that this zone’s most powerful ring requires some skill to get as Sonic! The only major flaw this zone really has is its TWO semi-random item boxes RIGHT next to each other in the house. This can cause a major unfairness when a player is twice as likely to get a great power-up (invincibility, armageddon, attraction). This is overall a great level for match, due to the mix of a cramped and a wide-open playing field. 9.0
Ivory Square: Another incredible map, I truly see no flaw in this one. The amount of rings is just right, the random item box is fairly placed, having easy access to, and the ring weapons are spread out. This level is so good; I have to be precise on its tiny details. My first piece of advice is: do not place so many rings on the “shelves” (I do not know what to call them) above the streets. My second piece of advice is to make sure the ring weapons are placed on opposite sides of the field to discourage control takeover. Adding a few bomb-rings in it would make this level better as well. My final suggestion is to “open” the “shops”, which will provide shelter from the rail rings, meaning this map will not turn into a snipe-fest. This map is superior for match, and it deserves a 9.5.
Plughole: This map is outstanding, but I must point out that only one type of ring weapon (infinity does not count) means limited variety. I suggest adding rail rings to this stage, mainly because this stage has some very good sniping points, and the fact that rail rings go nicely with bomb-rings (firing rate down, accuracy up). This stage has a nice network of passages in the center, so matches do not get boring. On the topic of the passages, lighten up the ring count a bit. 8.5
Central Control Center: This level has some issues in the ice/river area, such as the “false” areas of land that I continuously tried to thok onto for about a minute. This level is very creative, using a variety of geography to a certain extent. The special rings complement the small size of this stage, although the massive number of rings in the beach area calls for a long match. This small and simple stage is quite enjoyable. 7.0
Volcanic Cavern: A highly symmetric map that becomes boring somewhat quickly. It also has too many rings in the center room. This map has little variety due to the 4 bomb rings placed in the lava and its symmetry. Other than that, no level design flaws whatsoever, and good job putting the one random box in the center of the stage. This is more of a “King of the Hill” type match compatible map. 6.0
Match Level Summary: Although some of these stages are ingenious, others need a bit of adjustments made to them. The main problem was the fact that most stages had too many rings, which leads to endless fighting. No-one’s going to die with all those rings in a stage, and someone’s going to get an attraction shield and sit in those areas with a lot of rings and suck the field dry while getting seemingly infinite ammunition. Other than that, some of the “cramped zones” could expand a bit, but just a bit. My overall rating (not necessarily an average) of the match maps is a 7.5.
Magma Cavern: This map is an incredible CTF zone. My advice on the lower secret route is to make the patches of land high enough so a person cannot escape from the lava merely by jumping. I also advise you to take out all of the rings in that passage (or greatly reduce the amount of rings in it, to reduce its usage even more, but have it so that it will be used occasionally (for variety). That route will be in use most of the time in the stage, due to the low level of risk it presents. My other word of advice to you is to put a second fire shield in this level, but hide it well. Overall, this is a great CTF zone. 9.0
Azure Frost: This level is somewhat hard to play in. There were so many times that I fell into a bottomless pit (more than 20), and it took more than 13 minutes for me to score five times. The connecting room has too many rings in it as well. On the other hand, this level has rings suitable for both sniping and close range, as well as complexity, although I did not like the fact that the flag was only accessible from only one direction, meaning there will be “flag guards” in this level. Due to the hard-to-notice bottomless pits and the fact that there was only one clear path to the flag in this map, I will give it a 7.0
Card Carnival: This zone…well, this zone was interesting. One thing I noted is the fact that you used the bounce and speed pad effects (which I have never seen in any CTF zone before). This stage had a clever setup to me. I could not find the flag until after three minutes of searching in this stage. One thing about this stage is the fact that it uses the auto-bomb ring combination. When thrown, these rings cause SRB2 to crash, so you have to take at least one out. I was a bit disappointed to see no rail rings in this stage; for there were great sniping points here, (the middle level in the buildings next to the bouncy rooms, for example). In all, I would give this zone a 7.5
CTF Level Summary: Thankfully, these stages were better overall than many of the match stages. I am still seeing too many rings in some stages, although that is the only problem I see. I like stages that make it a chore to get to the flag base in CTF (being my favorite and best gametype), because if a flag is too easy to get, it turns into more of a match then a Capture the Flag game. Overall (not necessarily an average) I give this set an 8.0
Sunset Garden: This stage was somewhat…dull to race on. I understand that circuit maps should be short, but maybe making it a little longer and/or a bit more challenging would make this a fun map. I also noticed that there were only two item boxes in this stage that I could find. This presents a problem in normal races, because if there was a slower character, that person could get both boxes and easily win that category for the race. That same person could also get all the rings in this stage, winning two categories of the race. One suggestion though, put at lease two more springs next to the one yellow spring in the final segment of the map. Compared to the circuit maps in the normal game, this one compares quite nicely to them. 7.5
Mario Circuit 2: WOW…this circuit is…flat, boring, and…messed up…Where do I start? Okay, in my opinion, Mario Kart Maps are thok-fests. This map was one giant plain with a little hill halfway through. No item box was far out of the track, and there were no alternate paths, and no challenges whatsoever. 2.0
Circuit Map Summary: There are too few maps to make a summary
Would I use this pack in a netgame? Maybe...maybe not.
**Extra Note: All results are NON-Biased. I did not look at the author’s name while grading these, so I have no idea who made what.
***All Judgment to the maps has been made alone playing as SONIC. Nobody would come on my netgame anyway…I'll come back and edit them after I try them on JTE with bots
****I can't wait until the next contest, this was actually quite fun!
*EDIT WITH BOTS* (scores updated)
Map 01: Everything was alright, No problems here.
Map 02: I did some more exploring and I found some design errors: falls through stairs, platforms....also, some rings aren't deafed
Map 03: Everything was alright, but you've gotta take out the homing-rail combination...
Map 04: Please excuse my inaccurate report, this level is actually quite nice with 2 ring weapons, although the rail ring can easily be controlled.
Map 05: Everything is alright, no problems here
Map 06: Everything is alright, no problems at all...(except I lost....)
Map 07: Everything is alright here.
Map 08: the battle was at the beach the entire time...
Map 09: everything that I said above = everything is alright
...and because JTE's bots are useless in race and CTF...I'll have to finish this some other time.
