How would you rate the official levels? - Part four!

I agree with Cookie on the challenge stages. While Azure Temple feels fine without sloping and is one hell of an awesome challenge, Aerial Garden really doesn't hold up anymore. Even with the new enemies it's much more stale now that it used to be. Mostly because the initial awe of it being a super big stage doesn't mean much now that we have CEZ2, which barely reaches the linedef limit in Zone Builder.

That being said, I'm all for an Aerial Garden revamp.
 
Act 1: Rescue Amy.
  • Greenflower
  • Techno Hill
  • Castle Eggman
The theme of the levels is starting in nature and progressing further and further into Eggman's territory.

Act 2: Get something / destroy something at the heart of a volcano
  • Deep Sea
  • Arid Canyon
  • Red Volcano
Again, we get to end on a climatic "final level", in this case the classic lava level. I haven't thought of what the story goal would be, but the idea is similar to Lord of the Rings-ish "get to the volcano to do something".

The theming of this set of levels is the elements. You've got your water, ground, and fire levels.

Act 3: Defeat Eggman
  • Dark City
  • Grand Eggship
  • Egg Rock
The theme of this is "ascension". Start in a city, move to the sky, then move into space.
...you know, I actually like this idea a bit. I mean, I don't think there needs to be too much emphasis on story, but when you put it that way, it really does kinda work thematically. That said, I dunno how you would get from DSZ to ACZ in a feasible way(if we're bringing any kind of sense of overarching narrative into this, I mean.)
 
fashionably late opinions of all the stages

lmao enjoy my ramblings

Main Campaign:
Tutorial
I have no opinions on this except it does a decent enough job of explaining the controls for this game I guess.

Greenflower
An excellent introduction into an already pretty good game. Its playground-esque design gives plenty of opportunities to let the player mess around with the controls and get into the feel of gameplay. I especially like how the 2nd act opens up and gives the player a sense of speed and freedom.

Techno Hill
I have nothing bad to say about this. Open, freeflowing, good gimmicks, multiple pathways, secrets high and low, impressive sense of scale in the second act, what more needs to be said?

Deep Sea
Similarly fantastic, there's so many ways you could go in this stage and while they all lead to the same goal, each path feels fresh and exploratory, interconnects with one another at times, and is still freeflowing and good.
The only problem I have with it is that some areas need more bubbles and that's about it.

Castle Eggman
If you're a newcomer, this level is a bitch-slap and a half. This level harbors a deceptively high difficulty spike. There's spikes everywhere, bottomless pits, and sudden precision platforming. If this game wants a better difficulty curve, this level NEEDS to be nerfed in terms of difficulty; Spikes need to be toned down, or moved to better positions, and the platforming and enemy placement similarly needs to be nerfed. The bridge at the end of act 1 is a good example of this, every newcomer dies repeatedly to this section, and it's hard to not notice why, the spike placement is especially bad in this part, I've seen this part being compared, level-design wise, to Sonic World (the fangame that's infamous for its level design randomly plastering hazards everywhere, hmmmmmmmmmmm)
Otherwise, if you're a pro, this level is really good. It's sense of scale, verticality, and openness is extremely impressive and nice. I especially love flinging myself around in act 1. The amount of alternative paths (mostly in act 2) is astounding; I can never get old of this level, it's clearly one of 2.2's best, despite its performance issues.

Arid Canyon
This one, in terms of difficulty, is a nearly perfect mid-point, where things get hectic, but not too dangerous...........yet. It continues 2.2s trend of making vast, open levels with tons of alternative paths, secrets, and freeflowing level design. I especially like how, in act 1, a lot of the pathways loop back in to a central area, making you truly feel like you're traversing a tall canyon. The minecarts in act 2 are especially a nice change of pace, giving the level a bit of variety without going too overboard and gimmick with its uhhhhhhhh gimmicks.
My only complaint is that the badniks are kind of annoying to hit/dodge, otherwise, great level.

Red Volcano
This level is already a huge step up from the previous version, especially since the platforms were made bigger, the level more open, and the difficulty less awkward and jank. I especially like how each of the do-or-die sections were given alternative paths. However, the level still needs refinement.
I'm quite leery about the rings dissipating in lava, I can understand this to be an anti-cheese mechanic, but then again, people will come play this expecting classic sonic gimmicks/quirks from the get-go, and seeing the rings disappear like that when they didn't do that in the classics is uhhhhhhhhhhhh weird.
The enemies are mostly good, except the pterodactyl. It's zero-threshold dive comes out of nowhere, with the only indication being the SCREEEEE and the fact that they hover around perilous places beforehand. You can mash jump to escape their grasp and steer yourself back to safety, but there isn't any good indication that you could do that, leading to newcomers getting grabbed and then getting dropped into the f i r e w a t e r to kiss their rings goodbye. Speaking of newcomers, this level also represents a large difficulty spike, nerfing the difficulty on this level by a medium-small bit would definitely help, especially once the two remaining zones gets put in to fill the challenge quota this campaign needs.

Egg Rock
It's outdated, I know, but I'm gonna bitch about it regardless >:^( Every single gimmick, hazard, and idea this stage introduces each has potential, the problem is, none of that potential is fleshed out. Every single hazard, gimmick, and idea is woefully undercooked. No challenge introduces itself properly, so the player gets confused and dies. No gimmick fleshes itself out, so the player gets underwhelmed and dies. No idea is given the proper screentime, so the player forgets about it and dies. Now that I think about it, the player dies here alot, don't they. The obnoxious difficulty spike doesn't help either. I like it in a masochistic sense, but its clear that this level needs to be remade. As, in its current state, feels like a bunch of concept maps strung together haphazardly to make a "level"

Metal Sonic
I actually really like this boss fight. The race does a decent enough job of being this final bastion of pure skill and difficulty, but leaves a lot to be desired. The actual boss fight, while still better than its incarnation in 2.1, still needs to be refined. The part where you have to get close to it feels incredibly awkward, especially close to the edges of the arena, I prefer there be a different way to expose the boss other than to invade its personal space.

Brak Eggman

To defeat
the cybereggman
hit it
until it dies

But first, you have to lure it into some toxic goo, which never felt right and always killed the pace of the boss fight. Maybe make it vulnerable all the time, give it more hit points, as well as edit the arena to include many line-of-sight breaks, and maybe, just maybe, we could have a REAL cybereggman boss fight. DOOM-style~

Challenge Stages:
Haunted Heights
This is an excellent level. It restores and continues the open, freeflowing design of the main campaign except its actually challenging, sometimes difficult without being unfair or cheap. The distinct lack of bottomless pits during certain sections certainly helps with that too.
The only problem I have with it is that it's poorly optimized in some sections (particularly the beginning), otherwise, a great level.

Aerial Garden
Ah, to be outdated past its prime :^D. After having played the Mystic Realm, it's pretty clear that this level works better when split in chunks rather than one zone to rule them all. The precision platforming is actually pretty good and challenging (with some exception), but doesn't variate itself enough to be interesting for its whole runtime. ALL ~8 MINUTES OF IT. The bee enemies at least are well designed enough, although I'm kinda leery about them, especially since they were designed to be a "enjoyable (?)" variant of the jetty-syn spam from the early days.

Azure Temple
There is a difference between incompetent design, and deliberate evil. This level bounces back-and-forth between those things. Some rooms are well designed to the point where the underwater floatiness adds to the gameplay while others do not mesh well with srb2's camera and gameplay. The fan room in particular is a good example of this. You can't look down to gage where you are vertically well-enough, with the only indication being the fans that boost you upwards, and even then, getting through that room safely is a game of awkwardly backpedaling and boosting your momentum to get yourself in the general area of the fan. It's just not a good time. At least the gargoyle puzzle area was cool :>.


Bonus Stages:

Frozen Hillside
Okay enough level I guess. Nothing's particularly wrong with it and its heavy snow gimmick is okay enough I guess. It's still pretty open and full of secrets, not as open OR as filled with as many secrets as the main campaign tho. Something tells me, this would've been more highly praised/unique in the v2.0 days or somethin.

Forest Fortress
Not only a beta version of CEZ1, but a damn good level at that. Definitely continues the 2.2 trend of open, multiple pathways, and freeflowing design, except it doesn't have the jaw-dropping verticality of current CEZ1. Ya know, I think this level flows better in terms of difficulty from DSZ. It definitely gets more intense, but nothing too crazy compared to the last zone, if the hazards get moved, I'd rather it gets moved in reference to this as spike placement makes a lot more sense here.

Techno Legacy
tbh If you're gonna do this, I prefer you go the whole mile instead of just a single step. I would've loved to go through SRB2's earlier designs as an unlockable, and I mean EVERY level's earlier designs instead of just THZ2, it would've made more sense as an unlockable than this disappointment....
 
GFZ1 7/10
GFZ, as a whole, is a great tutorial level. The level is short, but, in a way, timeless. The music has been remixed! Woo! Great level, great music, Music/10

GFZ2 8/10
GFZ2 is awesome. Nuff said. It's a big level, but not really, but really, but not really! Oh, and the music. Must I say more?

GFZ3 6/10
Boss battle. Uh... cool.

THZ1 6/10
Banger. Banger, banger, B A N G E R. Oh wait, that's the music. The level? Cool, I guess.

THZ2 8/10
YO THIS SHIT IS FIRE! The level design? Great. The music? Give it to me. It's great.

THZ3 5/10
Uh... boss battle cool.

DSZ1 5/10
Yo they fixed DSZ. It's better now.

DSZ2 6/10
This is a good act. It has a lot of stopping to push a button or something. But the stop and go parts don't last too long, which is good.

DSZ3 4/10
mehhhhhh

CEZ1 5/10
Ok stage, online PTSD. This stage is big big b i g.

CEZ2 4/10
My PC knows it's fucked when I get to CEZ2.

CEZ3 no/10
God, I hate this boss. It's a good idea, but it honestly sorta sucks. I don't like it.

ACZ1 8/10
ARID CANYON ZONE

ACZ2 9/10
A R I D C A N Y O N Z O N E

Fang 7/10
Kinda iffy, but pretty neat overall.

RVZ 6/10
Fang: how about fuck you

ERZ1 7/10
I LIKE this level I LIKE it. Oh and the music is a banger, especially the piano solo.

ERZ2 7/10
Just as good as the first act.

BCZ1 HUE/10
HUE HUEHUE HUE, HUEHUE HUE, HUE HUE

BCZ2 H U E/10
H U E H U E H U E H U E , H U E H U E H U E , H U E H U E

BCZ3 brak/10
Meh

Yeah, that's all, folks
 
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Well, time to rate some levels!!!111!111!!! (Single player)
RANK S:
GFZ2: Hey bro wanna meet my GF? yeah sure. Who is it? GF2.
ACZ2: OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
ERZ2: Bro I love this stage pls help me.

RANK A:
GFZ1: Very naisu tutorial level. Very fun, and musek bee great.
DPZ2: How to make a very great water level 101.
CEZ1: Very well designed and fun. Also the end of the level be like H-H-HURRY UP!
BCZ1: HUE HUE HUE THIS IS AWESOME.

RANK B
THZ1: Pretty nice. A very good example of branching paths.
DPZ1: Look Gary! A good water level!
DPB: How a human being makes 2.1's shitty DP boss legitimately enjoyable is beyond me.
ERZ1: When you are a person who has beat the game WAY to many times, this stage becomes quite fun.
BCZ2: Hey, that's pretty good!

RANK C:
THB: Fun. That's all I got to say. Fun.
ACZ1: Kind of a guilty pleassure.
GFB: Eeh.
That final level I don't know the name of: Very nice. Brak eggman is definitely a pretty good challenge. Very poorly paced tho.
ACB: OK I guess.

RANK D:
THZ2: A little labyrinth-e, but still quite ok.
EZ2: Eeh for single, HORRIBLE for online.
ERB: Very eeh. I can definitely see why it was scrapped.


RANK E:
CEB: God why.
RVZ1: No. Just no.


Aaaaand that's my ranking!
 
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I'm quite leery about the rings dissipating in lava, I can understand this to be an anti-cheese mechanic, but then again, people will come play this expecting classic sonic gimmicks/quirks from the get-go, and seeing the rings disappear like that when they didn't do that in the classics is uhhhhhhhhhhhh weird.
Though lava destroying rings certainly threw me off at first, I think it makes sense because if lava didn't destroy rings, it would be functionally identical to other damaging floors like the Castle Eggman brambles. Lava destroying rings also makes sense with the game's difficulty scale. Consider the following damaging floors, listed chronologically by when they occur in-game:

  • Techno Hill electric floors - damaging unless you have an attraction shield or are invincible, both of which are easy to come by
  • Castle Eggman brambles - damaging unless you are invincible, which is a bit more difficult to come by
  • Red Volcano lava - damaging AND destroys your rings unless you have an elemental shield or are invincible, both of which are difficult to come by
 
I'll put in my crutches
Greenflower Zone act 1

This level can never look amazing, but I think he doesn't need it. This is a good teaching level. Unfortunately, this level has poor replayability.
I still don't like the "cave" that separates the level.

Greenflower Zone act 2

I don't like the top path at the beginning. It is difficult for a beginner to understand how to get there. I do not like that this level is poorly played by unlockable characters. Amy and Fang feel awful. Even towards the end, there is a stunning separation of paths showing the use of characters' abilities. But being Fang or Amy, getting to this path will be difficult.

Overall, I would say that both of these acts are very good. I still think it can be done better visually.

Techno Hill Zone act 1

This is a good level. I don't know what else to say.

I don't like some of the hills that are high. They are useless and have nothing on them.

I don't like the way of the Knuckles. He is boring.

Techno Hill Zone act 2

I don't like that there are very few goo-water tricks on this act. Haunted Heights Zone has more tricks!
But in general, I can't say anything more. This is a good and pleasant level.

Deep Sea Zone act 1

This level plays very well with water. I love that this level is short, but there are so many things on it. Definitely, a good level.

Deep Sea Zone act 2

I think this act is too overwhelming. There's too much on it. I believe that this act needs to be completely revised.

Castle Eggman Zone act 1

This is a very good level. He skillfully uses tricks and enemies.
I don't really like the end of the level, this crumbling bridge. I think it needs to be redone.

Castle Eggman Zone act 2

This is the best act in the game. No, not just because I like him. This is an incredible act. He is very adept at using tricks, enemies, textures. It is very well thought out in terms of game design.

I like the idea, "listen, man, you didn't get the upper path, so... you will fall on the lower path and continue your adventure.". That is, if you lose on other acts and the game says "try again", here you can continue on your way.

And something else! This is really a real castle. It's an incredible and huge act that plays very well. I really like how the designers tried to do it. Yes, of course it has problems. It slows down, and it is also incomplete. There are problems with polyobjects.

Arid Canyon Zone act 1

I love the tricks that this level uses. He uses them wisely. I don't really like the end of the level where you need to climb these ropes. It's dreary.

Arid Canyon Zone act 2

What I want to say is that this level is not good for using minecarts. Damn it, I finish the level for 50 seconds and I have no alternative! When I passed this level for the first time, I did not meet a single minecarts, and then I find myself here. I did not like it. I think this level needs some work.

Red Volcano Zone act 1

This is an enjoyable level and makes good use of the lava mechanics. I also like the moments when the player goes outside. This is a very beautiful act.

I believe that the enemies are not fully implemented here. Especially these flying badniks.

Egg Rock Zone act 1 and 2

Needs Rework.

Black Core Zone Act 1

I don't like that the game says "hey listen, come on... race with metal? Why not?"
There is no backstory. I'm just running... because...???

The act is not bad, but I think it needs to be done better by adding more interaction with the level.
I don't like bosses. They are too light and do not represent anything. I don't like acts, they look too simple and cheap. This addon demonstrates how you can do better (but not perfect either).

I want to highlight only some of the levels.

Castle Eggman Zone act 3

Hey, that's a good enough boss! He gives a challenge to go through.

Arid Canyon Zone act 3

I was very happy to see Fang in the game. This is amazing! I think the second stage needs to be reworked. If you are hit by a bomb, you are dead.

Black Core Zone act 2

I think this boss needs to be worked out. It's too simple and predictable.
Haunted Heights Zone

This is the next, best level after Castle Eggman Zone act 1. It's just a very good and difficult level. He uses tricks very cleverly.

I don't understand why this act uses goo water better than THZ

I don't really like the Knuckle part. This part is too cruel.

Aerial Garden Zone

Needs Rework. As if I entered minecraft (although I do not play minecraft).

Azure Temple Zone

Needs Rework.

Both levels above are headache. They have an amazing concept, but... they are just outdated. These levels need to be redone!
Frozen Hillside Zone

This level is old but enjoyable. He doesn't play well with new characters. But I can't say anything bad. Just a cute level.

Pipe Towers Zone

Sometimes it seems to me that this level was created in order to demonstrate the cons of the game. He collected all the most unpleasant in himself. I will not say that this level is bad. He's cute and well played, but has few tricks and only two enemies.

Forest Fortress Zone

I love that this level has been added to the game. This is a pleasant level.
I don't really like the ending. Is it kind of... too simple?
Well, I need to tell you a little about my experience with NiGHTS. I knew what the game was, and I even listened to the original soundtrack, but I didn't see a single frame of the game and I didn't know what the process was. It's new to me.

My first attempt failed, because I did not understand what was happening. I didn't understand by what logic I was flying. Why am I turning right here? It was only after two losses that I figured out how to play it.

I like NiGHTS. Now I have passed all 7 zones and BHZ to rainbow A.

Floral Field Zone

This is the first level, and as some people have notes *cough*, beginners cannot lose it.

This level lags terribly in software mode. It's frustrating.

I can't say anything about the level: this is just a standard training level.

Toxic Plateau Zone

This is one of my favorite levels. It's simple enough and doesn't give any challenges, but it's just nice. Of course there are no tricks at this stage: it's just a track.

Flooded Cove Zone

I don't really like this level because it is old. It's just bad.

Cavern Fortress Zone

This is one of the good examples of how to make NiGHTS levels. This is an enjoyable stage that challenges the player.

Of course, this stage could look prettier because it's a damn castle

Dusty Wasteland Zone

This is a difficult stage that an experienced player can go through. I like its complexity, but there are too few tricks at this stage and it is empty.

Magma Caves Zone

This stage is outwardly outdated and is just hell for the eyes.

Egg Satellite Zone

I don't like this stage because most of the obstacles are based on random. This stage looks bad in OpenGL, because the lasers is almost invisible.

Black Hole Zone

I have a mixed opinion. I think tricks need to be reworked a bit because they are unfair to the player. At the same time, this level can be passed from 1 time. I think there is a bit of work to be done on this level.
 
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WARNING- excessive use of the word "Damn" in this post

I guess I'll put my opinion here but I will warn you that it's mostly nit picking (except for DSZ)

act 1- (10/10) I've played the 2.1 version of act 1 and I feel like there is a lot of improvement made that we're much needed but I hate how the blocks you use to reach the spring which allows you to get the first token of the level is just high enough to where you can't just simply jump onto it as Sonic or Knuckles.

act 2- (9/10) my opinion is mostly the same as the first act but one problem that I have with it is that it feels too long in the beginning and another problem I have with it is that... *experiences visible rage* DAMN AMY ROSE EMBLEM, I spent 2 months getting that emblem and it pisses me off how enragingly difficult it is to find that emblem. Other than those two things I really like act 2.

act 3- (10/10) the buff was really needed in my opinion because... seriously... Circulating spike balls as a second phase, yeah the triple lasers is a lot harder to deal with and I think it was much needed.

act 1- (9/10) I like techno hill act 1 but I don't like the purple goop and nothing will change my mind about it *experiences mystic realm flashbacks*.
act 2- (7/10) there's more goop and I have a burning hatred for those detons and flying badnicks or whatever they're called.

act 3- (8... 9/10? eggmans got a new upgrade for his Uber annoying machine which makes it even more annoying which would normally make me rate it an 8 out of 10 but I think it was made intentionally annoying so I rate it a 9/10.

act 1- (OMG YES) the original deap sea zone was lacking in lighting and was painful to go through but 2.2 did something that only S3NK was capible of doing, making a really fun water level. Not only is it good but I think it feels better than even hydrocity zone which is obviously an impressive feat on its own but this act is exactly what got me into speedrunning srb2 because every route is so memorizable and... Sorry I had to stop myself from making a really long review but all I have too say is, it's perfection plus some.
act 2- (AAAAAAAA) srb2 development team Sega should hire you in the future because YOU DID IT AGAIN, the original act 2 was slightly worse than the original act 1... but in 2.2. Everything is so perfectly placed and don't even get me started on the speedrunner routes, this is one of the first levels I've ever speedran and enjoyed it all the way through. I seriously don't know how it can get any better when version 2.3 comes out but y'all at Sonic team junior better get an award for this good shit.

act 3- (god damnit even THE BOSS BATTLE) it's exploitable but but not exploitable, one things for sure it's definitely better than the earlier versions of this boss. At this rate all I can literally say is just see for yourself.

act 1- (8/10) I would normally rate it a 9/10 for being a lot better than the earlier versions but my main problem with CEZ as a whole is that it's too dark so I can't see anything.

act 2- (9/10) this zone is really good but still has the lighting problem, I don't normally talk about the music but -



Man the music's really good.

act 3- (8/10) yeah I like the whole mix up near the end of the boss but after what at least 5 years of the same thing it kinda gets boring but yeah just as good as always.

act 1- (don't you dare dis the music/10) just as good as every other version of this level, too many bottomless pits though.

act 2- (hey look a new act/10) I don't like the mine carts and the airplane badnicks sounds are too loud, chill music though.

act 3- (10/10) I love the fang character being playable in srb2 and his boss fight is perfect, the bombs are hard to dodge and his pop gun is almost impossible to predict. The best part is that afterwards you unlock one of the strongest characters in srb2 because G U N.

(7/10) I really don't like red valcanoe zone because it's overwhelmingly obnoxious for so many reasons, the badnicks,lava,and weird ball thingies slows you down to a snail's pace unless you're a professional,veteran,expert at all things Sonic speedrunner and will make casual players like me suffering in boredom.

act 1- (9/10) difficult yet exciting, egg rock zone tests your skill but not much changes from version to version so that's why I rated it a 9/10 instead of a 10/10.

act 2- (7/10) it's fun but disappointingly easy for a final act before the boss battles, it seriously should be made harder.

act 1- (8/10) it's fun the first playthrough but it's too easy and not fun afterwards, now it isn't just me being around since the 2.1 era thing but instead just the fact that it's kinda easy after the first time (also playing as metal Sonic makes this act too easy to speed through).

act 2- (10/10) peak metal Sonic, the most difficult boss in the game... But that isn't a good thing when you look at-

act 3- (8/10) abnoxiously long, kinda easy, and too many patterns. The one good thing I like about the final boss is the music but it's too easy even with the boss having piles if health.

alright so now with my revei- oh wait the special stages.

(10/10) perfection, nothing else.

(10/10) yeah pretty good, gotta love the music too.

(10/10) wow I'm noticing a pattern here...

(9/10) pretty good but when I played it on anything it would always crash out of lag.

(9/10) neat but there's a lot of annoying cactus's.

(8/10) there's so many things that hurt you making it in my opinion the second hardest special stage, it's not really fun for me.

(9/10) a little too hard but is really fun and extra rewarding for completing because it's the last special stage before you have all seven chaos emeralds.

I will not be reviewing Black Hole Zone because I've never gotten the chance to play it and my phone does not like special stages.

I might reveiw bonus zones and the challenge zones another time when I'm in the mood but for now that's my review of srb2's version 2.2 zones.
 
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I'll try rating the levels myself.

Singleplayer:

GFZ1 - 7/10
Greenflower 1's supposed to be a further tutorial level from good old MAPZ0.
Whilst it does well with some concepts (the Armageddon shield is introduced very well, alongside the concept of emblems and stuff being hidden around the place)... it doesn't do so well. For example, there's literally no introduction of character-based path splits at all in GFZ1. GFZ2 first introduces these, and it's not even really a tutorial level anymore at that point. GFZ1 doesn't even introduce the concept of a flying or projectile enemy, something the core trilogy of the Classic Sonic games did do.

Even with that, a good portion of GFZ1 from the bridge over the small lake to the cave is overly cramped.

Even with that, GFZ1 isn't horrible, far from it. It's just in need of a rework.

GFZ2 - 8.5/10:
GFZ2's a good level currently, even if it could be better (see: GFZ2pog). Whilst it shares some flaws with GFZ1 by nature, it doesn't have the issue of being cramped and actually has some interesting ideas hidden within.

Even though it introduces some concepts GFZ1 perhaps should have, it's okay, since GFZ2 uses the concept of a path split well, with the top path in the open ending area of GFZ2 having 3 different paths, crammed into a small space.

GFZ3 - 8.5/10:
GFZ3's in need of a visual cleanup, for sure. However, the boss, for a first boss, is actually decent and potenially challenging for a first time player.

THZ1 - 7.5/10 -
THZ1 currently isn't horrible, but it suffers quite a few flaws.

First of all, the Elemental Shield is introduced horribly here, since there's no way you'll find the GFZ1 Elemental Shield.

You find the Elemental Shield here above a floor flashing some of it's core colors. You'd think the Shield would make you immune if you are a new player, right?

WRONG! That's an electrical floor!

Alongside that, the Knuckles path is in need of polish severely or just needs to be scrapped or moved or something. As it stands, it's just a barren "Knuckles glides across goop" segment.

The texture set of THZ1 could also be tweaked somewhat to have a bit more color variety, but other than that, THZ1's decent.

And, oh look, flying enemies finally appear!

Though, maybe THZ1 could introduce goop's properties a bit more?

THZ2 - 7/10
There's several issues with this stage that hold it back, imo.

First of all, the Knuckles route at the start here is extremely unlikely to even be taken unless you know what you are doing, so it's effectively of no use as it stands.

The texture set of THZ2 is just entirely gray. This might make sense for a factory, but factories in the Classic games were often FAR MORE COLORFUL than THZ2 is. This would be great if addressed.

Goop itself as a gimmick currently doesn't offer much for a level designer in a situation like THZ2. One suggestion I've heard is to make goop stick you to ceilings you go onto when in it. This could potentially open the door for a lot more design opportunities in THZ2.

On top of that, THZ2 suffers from telegraphing issues for new players at times,

However, THZ2 is far from bad. If it was bad, I'd be rating it FAR lower.

THZ3 - 8/10:
Same as GFZ3. Could have some more visual polish but boss is fine.

DSZ1 - 9/10:
DSZ1's one of the best levels in SRB2 as of now. It's level design, even as a water level, is actually really good, it's enemy set (though needing tweaks) is decent, and the visuals avoid being just gray. It's decently colorful, with blues, browns, tans, and grays all over the place.

Now, I do have issues with some of the emblems being far too tedious. You know what I'm getting at.

Jet Jaws need some kind of sound cue. Seriously.

DSZ2 - 7/10 -
Going from Act 1 to Act 2 is a jump in quality, and this is in part due to the development of 2.2. The current DSZ2 we have was basically cobbled together using what they had at the times, it's a prototype.
It's lost much of the color variety in DSZ1, and some of the level design isn't the best.

Luckily, there's a later DSZ2 remake that's hopefully still underway that looks to add a LOT of color variety to the zone and add far more interesting level design, so it's luckily just a placeholder.

The ending is really good, though, hopefully it stays.

DSZ3 - 8.5/10:
Sea Egg's a good boss as of now. Decent challenge whilst still being fair. Again, visual polish.

CEZ1 - 9/10
This is gonna be an interesting exercept.

CEZ1 itself is well designed, with many paths, great enemies, and great atmosphere. I have come to love this act.

However, as a new player, there was a BIG issue. CEZ is a MASSIVE difficulty spike compared to DSZ for a new player in 2.2. Now, whilst I love CEZ, it needs to be addressed in a way that doesn't ruin CEZ.

CEZ2 - 10/10
Whilst sharing the difficulty issue of CEZ1, CEZ2 does even better with the atmosphere, sheer amount of paths, and just how impressive it is.

It's literally built like a castle.

What makes this even crazier is that it's not even finished.

The only issues are the shared difficulty spike issue and the lag, which hopefully gets addressed.

CEZ3 - 7.5/10:
Egg Colleseum is an... ok boss, I guess? It's a severe difficulty spike from Sea Egg, one which needs to be addressed, but it's certainly better than in 2.1.

I do like the ideas within, though.

Unfinished, I'll add others later and polish.
 
Hi, this is my first time playing this game and i loved it up until black core zone 1, usually the levels would be something you just run through and have fun with, even if it was tricky you get back up and try again, but black core zone is literally impossible if you mess up once due to the perfect nature of metal's route and how your literally timed otherwise you just die, it was just this huge, out of nowhere difficulty spike that prevents me from playing the game past that point, cant even cheese it with addons cuz it wont save progress, and it only scares me more that theres a act 2 of this hellhole, i wish they would just nerf it so that you could attack metal sonic or maybe even have it function like the sonic generations metal fight, where your primarily fighting him and you cant just be left in the dust, black core zone is just WAY too stressful and needs to be nerfed ASAP, another thing with black core is its heavy hatred for sonic, im currently on a save with sonic and tails, and i just CANT platform at all! it literally says for sonic that he has a hard time with obstacles, so its kind of stupid to make an entire level where you have to flawlessly complete back to back obstacle challenges, and then make it required for sonic with out any kind of heads up on the character selection screen, its just a really dumb level that needs a major nerf or even rework as soon as humanly possible, literally cant play the game past that point now, guess ill start a new save from ground up
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Though lava destroying rings certainly threw me off at first, I think it makes sense because if lava didn't destroy rings, it would be functionally identical to other damaging floors like the Castle Eggman brambles. Lava destroying rings also makes sense with the game's difficulty scale. Consider the following damaging floors, listed chronologically by when they occur in-game:

  • Techno Hill electric floors - damaging unless you have an attraction shield or are invincible, both of which are easy to come by
  • Castle Eggman brambles - damaging unless you are invincible, which is a bit more difficult to come by
  • Red Volcano lava - damaging AND destroys your rings unless you have an elemental shield or are invincible, both of which are difficult to come by
but my question is why it eats rings but doesnt let the player pass through, it functions like a wierd wall-gate thing that only lets rings through, when youd think itd be a viscious, more deadly version of water, kinda like the child of damaging floor and mud, but no, you can walk on top like its a solid object, but rings just dissapate into nothing when they so much as touch the lava, its just a really wierd way to introduce lava, id expect it to function kinda like terraria lava in the way it destroys objects and damages the player, but it just lets them float ontop and damages them, wierd lava
 
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