Well, tough contest this time around. All maps are at least some quality to them that makes them very impressive.
Nobody deserves to be in the lower half of the ranks, yet alas, some will have to be.
Let's just imagine there were anouther 30 contestants, all terrible and below these ones:
1.
Follow Your Rainbow by Rogerregorroger
Great, as usual this doofus is more concerned in turning the beloved Sonic Robo blast 2 into one of this cartoons rather then make a cohesive level.
Style over substance, flat overly detailed area's with barely any level design going on.
He still didn't learn to make some area's less cramped, does he ever learn?
The only one as stupid to make this level as this, is tsomeone who votes him number 1.
2.
Bricked Busted Zone by Mikhael Blur
Wow, usually you can tell from the start who the bigger winner is going to be, and huge chance it'll be this one.
The great landscapes, huge area's without any graphical glitches, lot's of different platform challenges.
Nice mix between nature and toyland to keep the visuals dynamic. Incredible stuff, this.
Only problem with these huge levels, they can be overwhelming a bit. Perhaps even over-staying their welcome.
As technically impressive it is to see the level just going and going, I have to admit I was a bit exhausted by the end of it.
Those might cause this level to lose the first spot. Shame, because other then that, this is very much head and shoulders above the competition in quality.
3.
Caustic Crater Zone by Seaballer
I love the aesthetic, the tech base in a coastal cliffside, that's great. Wonderful use of colors.
Very solid levle, has a nice pace, you keep moving, I know where to go, yet it's direct, with specific challenging set pieces and things you need to do.
Just really, really solid. I like it. Got nothing fancy to say, just one of the better level designs.
Kinda weird to have this one up so high, it just felt really pleasing to me for some reason.
4.
Invasion Zone by JABSphere94
Hot darn, these badniks. These badniks.
These are the coolest badniks I ever seen in SRB2.
Usually they're either a joke, or an obnoxious puzzle-esque challenge.
But these are straight up cool. I love them.
Using them in a fast paced City escape esque level design is great too, to keep the player busy during the stretches of road and give the badniks lots of space to manouver.
Intense platforming tough, these badniks can make it very hard.
Yeah, the scenery is very basic, that's a shame. Understandable, this level is huge, and surprisingly stable for it's size.
A super challenging boss on top of that makes it a bit of a bitter pill to finish.
Despite that, just for the cool badniks alone I'm giving this one a lot of points.
5.
Frozen Fissure Zone by Garrean
Now that's cool, a very open level with multeple paths that still retains a feeling of direction and purpose, very platform heavy gameplay yet still clearly designed around Sonic abilities. Very well done. Some cool moments too, love the part at the end, having to dodge incoming bombs on your platform.
Very good design. Level goes on a bit too long tough, with little change in the graphics and an increasing anxiety about the platforms I can't reach, I started to doubt more and more if I was going in the right direction or not. Fortunatly you do change up just enough tricks that I eventually regain confidence again.
Yeah, good intense stuff.
6.
Command Facility Zone by Twins'R'Okay
Hey, you can't do loops, I was doing that.
Eh, these are way better anyway.
Was so surprised to see the names of Doom levels randomly show up, that was random.
And then, wouldn't you know it, more and more of the rooms in this levels correspond perfectly with Doom's iconic level design.
Huh, so it's a huge tribute to Doom Episode 1 huh? That's a neat surprise, fun to see you translate it's more iconic rooms into Sonic gamedesign.
Some incredible technical feats, the waving slime, the winding slopes and loops. Nice pace and rhytm to this level.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Only nitpicks, if any, is that some area's feel a bit too big and empty for their own good, altough they were always just scenery you didn't have to explore.
Still, it makes gamers suspicious. Yeah, and one weird glitch where you can get trapped in the area where the hidden LMFAOOO trigger is.
7.
Nimbus Lake Zone by Yyeellooww7
Oh, very nice. Beauty in it's simplicity.
Well, simplicity, some effects still have a great impact, going underwater for the first time.
Changing the colormap for a bit can be effective.
Yeah, nice flow, nice gameplay, just plain got stuff, got nothing fancy to say. Pleasant aestetics. Even winter-ey without being an obvious snow level like most.
8.
Lucid Landscape Zone by Othius
Why is it the stones in the grass that impress me so much with the graphics? It's always these small weird things I like.
Yeah, impressively colorful and abstract level. Filled with complex slopes and a fun rollercoaster vibe to the whole thing. Surprisingly straight forward for a level that looks this intimidating and complex. Wish there was a bit more guidance for the player if they missed a ump and fall down, having to start over. With the room with the weird sideways jump you have to make to get to the next sloped area. Hate it when these punihsment routes after players missed a jump don't at least guide the player straight back to the start.
Some incredible technical feats, the wiggling giant platform is amazing in it's complexity. Well done.
9.
Grass Planet Zone by Voidy2246
Yeah, that's the problem being between all these big show off-ey maps while being a perfectly fine straight forward map, you get all the thunder stolen.
Points for using the rope transports, I rarely see them in levels and I know they're a pain to set up.
Solid platform experience.
Nice aesthetic. Not always immediatly clear where to go, tough.
10.
Botanic Space Zone, Act 2 by DeltaSanic
Wow, the moody USA Sonic CD tracks are a perfect fit here, real more atmospheric and surreal mood.
Was a little concerned with the opening area being a bit barren, but as soon as it was clear that was just the "prologue" to the proper level, that went way better.
Nice focused level design. Love the fact you can explode the consoles, get a monitor out of there.
The fact you NEEDED to do so to open doors was very unclear to me for a while tough, even tough you did set up a clean example right at the start. Guess I wasn't really paying attention what really set the door open.
Not helping is that it's a bit inconsistent, some consoles can't be broken, some doors open on their own.
Either way, small irritation, other then that, very good level, nice eye candy.
11.
Junkyard Jeopardy Zone by PhilJFou /// ChaRG
For technical excecution and creative level design ideas and platform challenges, I have to give you a lot of points.
The Mario esque "platforms move when you touch them" gimmicks gives the level a great platforming feel to it, so that's good.
A lot of neat tricks pulled off too, with the slanting platforms and everything. The 2d area was very creative and a satisfying puzzle to think your way trough.
Level can be punishing a lot too. Putting a teleporter to send you back to the early stage without warning is not a good move.
Not to mention the punishment routes, when you miss a jump and fall down.
That's already enough of a punishment, to fall down and work your way back up again.
But then make it a confusing labyrinth where I can barely tell how to get back up, that's a little overkill to punish players. Just kill them off straight then.
Yeah, high quality in creative original set pieces and having original level design ideas, but the execution can be a bit wonky and, tragically, in the end it isn't always fun to play. Would have been better if you focused on one concept, like the 2d area's, perhaps. Now it feels like it was too ambitious for it's own good.
12.
Lofty Woods Zone by Vixuzen
Woa, graphically the level immedaitly leaves a good impression. Rarely the realistic graphics look good in SRB2 instead of muddy and unpleasant, but you nailed it here. Having the bright blue backdrop helps offset the somber brown level textures I think.
Yeah, fun straight forward level. The upside down stuff feels a bit random in this envirement, but oh well. Magical forest, I guess.
The area inside the vertical cave where you have to platform up is neat, rarely see these vertical focused platform area's in SRB2.
Probably for good reason, it's a pain to do, but still impressive for you to pull it off.
I wish the punishment for falling off wasn't so severe, at the very least have a quick way to get back to the start. Just dropping the player in a confusing maze is a bit overkill in punishment.
13.
Pineapple Prairie Zone by SupaCustardbro
A very Nintendo-ey level, not just in aesthetics and music but level design as well.
And gains the advantages of those. Little to no messing around, pure design, pure platform challenges, giving the level a very tight and arcadey feel to it, which is nice. It's pretty solid and well done.
Only issue I might have, and this is nitpicking, is that it feels like this level should have just have 2 or 3 gimmicks or platform challenge styles at most.
Now the type of obstacle you're dealing with constantly changes, causing the level to lack some kind of coherent theme.
Usually I don't mind this that much when the SRB2 levels are more about being a vast experience, but with a very tight gameplay focused stage like this, it kinda sticks out.
Especially wish the Sonic Adventure esque moment with going trough obstacle filled tunnel was more of a recurring theme that kept escalating in challenge.
14.
Digital Deluche Zone by RoyKirbs
Unique level theme, great music.
A lot of incredible technical feats like the organic sloped floors. Lot's of nice designed platform challenges, while sticking to a theme.
I did get lost a few times tough, never a good thing in a Sonic game.
Hah, but that RPG battle in the end, that was a great surprise, and detailed too. Very impressive. Bonus points for that.
Can't always tell what area's are part of the level design and what are just background props or visual flairs tough.
Guess that's the problem with a level aesthetic as this.
15.
Rhyolite Ruin Zone by Radicalicious
Yay, NiGHTS. With multeple loops rather then just one straight levle, that's cool.
Pretty straightforward, but good stuff.
The way the difficulity works for the NiGHTS level is a bit weird tough, usually with NiGHTS, it's either incredibly hard to get all the needed blue chips in the first loop, or it's easy and the challenge comes from players re-doing the loop as many times as possible for the max amount of points.
Here it's super easy to get all the blue chips required to finish the round, yet the loop goes on for some long you probably can't do a second loop.
Then again, I guess that's the challenge right there.
Try finish the second loop.
Either way, yeah, good stuff.
16.
Blue Glacier Zone by BronsoKip
Shame you never got to finish it, there's some hints of brilliance here. Lot's of routes, using the classic upper-route lower route level design routine.
I love how the bridge looks like.
Always the dumb small things I tend to like the most.
But yeah, super short and funished, for obvious reasons. Still, what was there is pretty decent.
17.
Something Zone by Marcos
Cool idea to go trough a medley of all vanilla stages. Some cool twists on it too, love the look of futuristic daytime Eggcorp.
And fun with the axis camera giving the 2d a bit more of a dynamic feel to it.
Level design is a bit all over the place tough. The first area is amazing with the muteple paths and rich looking area's, later on it gets a little more stiff.
Also bit disorientating when the camera is right behind your character, yet the gameplay remains in 2d.
Still, no big deal, I had a good time.
18.
The Twins Palace Zone by Chaolino
Kinda cool when you have your own recurring theme in your levels in each OLDC.
These challenge buildings. I still prefer the Dojo for having a little more atmospheric touches and set pieces, but here having the constant presence of the Twins in the level design does lend it a bit of extra personality.
It's a decent level, some good platforming challenges. Sometimes a bit in lacking of direction tough, which interupts the pacing a bit.
And you always have this typical style of level design I can't quite my finger on why it kinda bothers me.
Too boxy? Not sure what it is. It's roomy enough, but yet never feels like Sonic levels. Hmm.
But that might just be me. Overall this level is pretty good, nothing wrong with it, and in fact a few very nice setpieces. Well done.
19.
Sunset Summit Zone by Entropy
Yet again a perfectly solid level suffering the tragedy of being surrounded by all the other show off-ey maps.
It looks decent, plays nice, it was fun enough to play. Just not too memorable. Altough the swirling skyportal at the last area was cool looking.
Great music. Love the use of balloons, even if they don't really make sense in the level theme. Eh, who cares.
Yeah, pretty decent. Nice warm level.
20.
Powder Park Zone by DakotaSpine
Great aesthetics, love the Sonic 3d blast ey look to it, with the clear path and all that.
Nice, open, smooth.
The problem, if anything, is that it sometimes felt like there wasn't really anything going on, just moving and jumping trough endless area's without their being much of a point to it. I don't know. Could have used more set pieces.
Shame really, it's a good level, as in there's nothing really wrong with it. Just missing a sense of purpose, if that makes sense.
Other then that, just great solid stuff.
21.
Iron Dominion Zone by MK.exe
Aw, I'm not a huge fan of this level aesthetic, the outside cyber area. Altough your color mapping gives it a nicer red/ pinkish energy to it that's nice.
Neat to have a central level gimmick, the pink gob, altough of course it is THE gimmick of the cyber levels.
Neat and clear level challenges, that's good.
I was lost a lot more then I like tough. Not always clear where to go or what to do, eventually giving me the old doom engine headache.
Alas, didn't quite enjoy myself here.
Nobody deserves to be in the lower half of the ranks, yet alas, some will have to be.
Let's just imagine there were anouther 30 contestants, all terrible and below these ones:
1.
Follow Your Rainbow by Rogerregorroger
Great, as usual this doofus is more concerned in turning the beloved Sonic Robo blast 2 into one of this cartoons rather then make a cohesive level.
Style over substance, flat overly detailed area's with barely any level design going on.
He still didn't learn to make some area's less cramped, does he ever learn?
The only one as stupid to make this level as this, is tsomeone who votes him number 1.
2.
Bricked Busted Zone by Mikhael Blur
Wow, usually you can tell from the start who the bigger winner is going to be, and huge chance it'll be this one.
The great landscapes, huge area's without any graphical glitches, lot's of different platform challenges.
Nice mix between nature and toyland to keep the visuals dynamic. Incredible stuff, this.
Only problem with these huge levels, they can be overwhelming a bit. Perhaps even over-staying their welcome.
As technically impressive it is to see the level just going and going, I have to admit I was a bit exhausted by the end of it.
Those might cause this level to lose the first spot. Shame, because other then that, this is very much head and shoulders above the competition in quality.
3.
Caustic Crater Zone by Seaballer
I love the aesthetic, the tech base in a coastal cliffside, that's great. Wonderful use of colors.
Very solid levle, has a nice pace, you keep moving, I know where to go, yet it's direct, with specific challenging set pieces and things you need to do.
Just really, really solid. I like it. Got nothing fancy to say, just one of the better level designs.
Kinda weird to have this one up so high, it just felt really pleasing to me for some reason.
4.
Invasion Zone by JABSphere94
Hot darn, these badniks. These badniks.
These are the coolest badniks I ever seen in SRB2.
Usually they're either a joke, or an obnoxious puzzle-esque challenge.
But these are straight up cool. I love them.
Using them in a fast paced City escape esque level design is great too, to keep the player busy during the stretches of road and give the badniks lots of space to manouver.
Intense platforming tough, these badniks can make it very hard.
Yeah, the scenery is very basic, that's a shame. Understandable, this level is huge, and surprisingly stable for it's size.
A super challenging boss on top of that makes it a bit of a bitter pill to finish.
Despite that, just for the cool badniks alone I'm giving this one a lot of points.
5.
Frozen Fissure Zone by Garrean
Now that's cool, a very open level with multeple paths that still retains a feeling of direction and purpose, very platform heavy gameplay yet still clearly designed around Sonic abilities. Very well done. Some cool moments too, love the part at the end, having to dodge incoming bombs on your platform.
Very good design. Level goes on a bit too long tough, with little change in the graphics and an increasing anxiety about the platforms I can't reach, I started to doubt more and more if I was going in the right direction or not. Fortunatly you do change up just enough tricks that I eventually regain confidence again.
Yeah, good intense stuff.
6.
Command Facility Zone by Twins'R'Okay
Hey, you can't do loops, I was doing that.
Eh, these are way better anyway.
Was so surprised to see the names of Doom levels randomly show up, that was random.
And then, wouldn't you know it, more and more of the rooms in this levels correspond perfectly with Doom's iconic level design.
Huh, so it's a huge tribute to Doom Episode 1 huh? That's a neat surprise, fun to see you translate it's more iconic rooms into Sonic gamedesign.
Some incredible technical feats, the waving slime, the winding slopes and loops. Nice pace and rhytm to this level.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Only nitpicks, if any, is that some area's feel a bit too big and empty for their own good, altough they were always just scenery you didn't have to explore.
Still, it makes gamers suspicious. Yeah, and one weird glitch where you can get trapped in the area where the hidden LMFAOOO trigger is.
7.
Nimbus Lake Zone by Yyeellooww7
Oh, very nice. Beauty in it's simplicity.
Well, simplicity, some effects still have a great impact, going underwater for the first time.
Changing the colormap for a bit can be effective.
Yeah, nice flow, nice gameplay, just plain got stuff, got nothing fancy to say. Pleasant aestetics. Even winter-ey without being an obvious snow level like most.
8.
Lucid Landscape Zone by Othius
Why is it the stones in the grass that impress me so much with the graphics? It's always these small weird things I like.
Yeah, impressively colorful and abstract level. Filled with complex slopes and a fun rollercoaster vibe to the whole thing. Surprisingly straight forward for a level that looks this intimidating and complex. Wish there was a bit more guidance for the player if they missed a ump and fall down, having to start over. With the room with the weird sideways jump you have to make to get to the next sloped area. Hate it when these punihsment routes after players missed a jump don't at least guide the player straight back to the start.
Some incredible technical feats, the wiggling giant platform is amazing in it's complexity. Well done.
9.
Grass Planet Zone by Voidy2246
Yeah, that's the problem being between all these big show off-ey maps while being a perfectly fine straight forward map, you get all the thunder stolen.
Points for using the rope transports, I rarely see them in levels and I know they're a pain to set up.
Solid platform experience.
Nice aesthetic. Not always immediatly clear where to go, tough.
10.
Botanic Space Zone, Act 2 by DeltaSanic
Wow, the moody USA Sonic CD tracks are a perfect fit here, real more atmospheric and surreal mood.
Was a little concerned with the opening area being a bit barren, but as soon as it was clear that was just the "prologue" to the proper level, that went way better.
Nice focused level design. Love the fact you can explode the consoles, get a monitor out of there.
The fact you NEEDED to do so to open doors was very unclear to me for a while tough, even tough you did set up a clean example right at the start. Guess I wasn't really paying attention what really set the door open.
Not helping is that it's a bit inconsistent, some consoles can't be broken, some doors open on their own.
Either way, small irritation, other then that, very good level, nice eye candy.
11.
Junkyard Jeopardy Zone by PhilJFou /// ChaRG
For technical excecution and creative level design ideas and platform challenges, I have to give you a lot of points.
The Mario esque "platforms move when you touch them" gimmicks gives the level a great platforming feel to it, so that's good.
A lot of neat tricks pulled off too, with the slanting platforms and everything. The 2d area was very creative and a satisfying puzzle to think your way trough.
Level can be punishing a lot too. Putting a teleporter to send you back to the early stage without warning is not a good move.
Not to mention the punishment routes, when you miss a jump and fall down.
That's already enough of a punishment, to fall down and work your way back up again.
But then make it a confusing labyrinth where I can barely tell how to get back up, that's a little overkill to punish players. Just kill them off straight then.
Yeah, high quality in creative original set pieces and having original level design ideas, but the execution can be a bit wonky and, tragically, in the end it isn't always fun to play. Would have been better if you focused on one concept, like the 2d area's, perhaps. Now it feels like it was too ambitious for it's own good.
12.
Lofty Woods Zone by Vixuzen
Woa, graphically the level immedaitly leaves a good impression. Rarely the realistic graphics look good in SRB2 instead of muddy and unpleasant, but you nailed it here. Having the bright blue backdrop helps offset the somber brown level textures I think.
Yeah, fun straight forward level. The upside down stuff feels a bit random in this envirement, but oh well. Magical forest, I guess.
The area inside the vertical cave where you have to platform up is neat, rarely see these vertical focused platform area's in SRB2.
Probably for good reason, it's a pain to do, but still impressive for you to pull it off.
I wish the punishment for falling off wasn't so severe, at the very least have a quick way to get back to the start. Just dropping the player in a confusing maze is a bit overkill in punishment.
13.
Pineapple Prairie Zone by SupaCustardbro
A very Nintendo-ey level, not just in aesthetics and music but level design as well.
And gains the advantages of those. Little to no messing around, pure design, pure platform challenges, giving the level a very tight and arcadey feel to it, which is nice. It's pretty solid and well done.
Only issue I might have, and this is nitpicking, is that it feels like this level should have just have 2 or 3 gimmicks or platform challenge styles at most.
Now the type of obstacle you're dealing with constantly changes, causing the level to lack some kind of coherent theme.
Usually I don't mind this that much when the SRB2 levels are more about being a vast experience, but with a very tight gameplay focused stage like this, it kinda sticks out.
Especially wish the Sonic Adventure esque moment with going trough obstacle filled tunnel was more of a recurring theme that kept escalating in challenge.
14.
Digital Deluche Zone by RoyKirbs
Unique level theme, great music.
A lot of incredible technical feats like the organic sloped floors. Lot's of nice designed platform challenges, while sticking to a theme.
I did get lost a few times tough, never a good thing in a Sonic game.
Hah, but that RPG battle in the end, that was a great surprise, and detailed too. Very impressive. Bonus points for that.
Can't always tell what area's are part of the level design and what are just background props or visual flairs tough.
Guess that's the problem with a level aesthetic as this.
15.
Rhyolite Ruin Zone by Radicalicious
Yay, NiGHTS. With multeple loops rather then just one straight levle, that's cool.
Pretty straightforward, but good stuff.
The way the difficulity works for the NiGHTS level is a bit weird tough, usually with NiGHTS, it's either incredibly hard to get all the needed blue chips in the first loop, or it's easy and the challenge comes from players re-doing the loop as many times as possible for the max amount of points.
Here it's super easy to get all the blue chips required to finish the round, yet the loop goes on for some long you probably can't do a second loop.
Then again, I guess that's the challenge right there.
Try finish the second loop.
Either way, yeah, good stuff.
16.
Blue Glacier Zone by BronsoKip
Shame you never got to finish it, there's some hints of brilliance here. Lot's of routes, using the classic upper-route lower route level design routine.
I love how the bridge looks like.
Always the dumb small things I tend to like the most.
But yeah, super short and funished, for obvious reasons. Still, what was there is pretty decent.
17.
Something Zone by Marcos
Cool idea to go trough a medley of all vanilla stages. Some cool twists on it too, love the look of futuristic daytime Eggcorp.
And fun with the axis camera giving the 2d a bit more of a dynamic feel to it.
Level design is a bit all over the place tough. The first area is amazing with the muteple paths and rich looking area's, later on it gets a little more stiff.
Also bit disorientating when the camera is right behind your character, yet the gameplay remains in 2d.
Still, no big deal, I had a good time.
18.
The Twins Palace Zone by Chaolino
Kinda cool when you have your own recurring theme in your levels in each OLDC.
These challenge buildings. I still prefer the Dojo for having a little more atmospheric touches and set pieces, but here having the constant presence of the Twins in the level design does lend it a bit of extra personality.
It's a decent level, some good platforming challenges. Sometimes a bit in lacking of direction tough, which interupts the pacing a bit.
And you always have this typical style of level design I can't quite my finger on why it kinda bothers me.
Too boxy? Not sure what it is. It's roomy enough, but yet never feels like Sonic levels. Hmm.
But that might just be me. Overall this level is pretty good, nothing wrong with it, and in fact a few very nice setpieces. Well done.
19.
Sunset Summit Zone by Entropy
Yet again a perfectly solid level suffering the tragedy of being surrounded by all the other show off-ey maps.
It looks decent, plays nice, it was fun enough to play. Just not too memorable. Altough the swirling skyportal at the last area was cool looking.
Great music. Love the use of balloons, even if they don't really make sense in the level theme. Eh, who cares.
Yeah, pretty decent. Nice warm level.
20.
Powder Park Zone by DakotaSpine
Great aesthetics, love the Sonic 3d blast ey look to it, with the clear path and all that.
Nice, open, smooth.
The problem, if anything, is that it sometimes felt like there wasn't really anything going on, just moving and jumping trough endless area's without their being much of a point to it. I don't know. Could have used more set pieces.
Shame really, it's a good level, as in there's nothing really wrong with it. Just missing a sense of purpose, if that makes sense.
Other then that, just great solid stuff.
21.
Iron Dominion Zone by MK.exe
Aw, I'm not a huge fan of this level aesthetic, the outside cyber area. Altough your color mapping gives it a nicer red/ pinkish energy to it that's nice.
Neat to have a central level gimmick, the pink gob, altough of course it is THE gimmick of the cyber levels.
Neat and clear level challenges, that's good.
I was lost a lot more then I like tough. Not always clear where to go or what to do, eventually giving me the old doom engine headache.
Alas, didn't quite enjoy myself here.
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