This is my fourth review for a Ring Racers track add-on, of which I've ranked 8 individual custom tracks at this point, not counting this one. I'd been planning on writing this review for a good while but I got sidetracked with my own personal projects, least of which is a set of custom tracks of my own for release... hopefully sometime soon! This is all to say that I'm not one for reviewing things very often, but I felt committed to share my thoughts on this track. Which is a little bit tricky, given that it's been several months since this track was first released; individual tracks usually get downloaded less frequently compared to track packs, for reasons that I assume have to do with players looking for a particular burst of brand new tracks of similar quality to race in, among other criteria that I might be missing offhand; my hope is to kind of bring more interest into this, then. Nevertheless, a review is always of interest to just about anyone, so here goes!
For this review, I'll be categorizing my thoughts in three ways: I'll start with some general observations and thoughts, and then I'll dive into those further as I specify elements of tracks that I strongly suggest should be changed, and things about tracks which I find may be contentious among players. As it is, I'm ranking tracks based on how they would be perceived as natural extensions of the base game, and most importantly whether or not they would be fun for people to play in netgames, but I'll do my best to be fair to tracks that are looking to break out of this mold as well.
Without further ado, my thoughts on Maize Valley Zone:
This is a very solid track that I feel people should give a chance when hosting servers for Ring Racers with custom tracks on them. The theme is fun and the track plays rather nicely as well. There are some things that nag me about it, which I feel don't let me mark this as a 5-star track, but the extent to which it is close shouldn't really be ignored either. This track plays really well to Ring Racers' strengths, and I do hope to see more of you, if I'm allowed to be a little selfish here.
Recommended changes:
* The dash panel that leads you into the red springs doesn't work if you're under grow.
Things to consider:
* The track doesn't appear to have a consistent gameplay identity. I mean this to say that the layout feels very disjointed; there's no cohesion between the track's many setpieces, as you just go through disparate idea over idea until the track closes in on itself. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but I feel that the strongest tracks have gameplay mechanics and quirks of their own that span the whole track and see several variations of which as you race through the track, essentially forming the track's very own identity. This, on the other hand, feels pretty slapdash, though as far as I can tell this is also your first map so it's only natural to not get something like this down pat as you start.
* There's a tiny ledge right before the downhill curve at the start of the track that sends you flying off of the track. This makes the curve require an unexpectedly commital turn as it's impossible to see just by looking at the track since it appears as though it flows into the downwards curve. This is evil.
* The cave next to the trick panels is kinda misleading? It sort of looks like another part of the track. And the fact the trick panels have gaps in them that let you into said tunnel made me think it was an alternate path that you had to go out of your way to get into.
* The tunnel near the end of the track is so dark it's nearly just pitch black. There's Ark signs, so you're not entirely blind, but it's certainly polarizing to have a portion of track where you are indeed almost entirely blind.
* The section after the trick panel has this set of item boxes, surrounded by a cliff, that completely blocks your vision of the oncoming track. I've eaten that one turn so many times.
