SMBX Level Contest 3 Results

Slippery Thrills, AndrewPixel -

Mario Kirby -
Design: 2/4
Aesthetics: ⅔
Creativity: 1/3
Overall: 5/10
Well, uh. It’s a penguin sliding level. While I personally couldn’t play this level the intended way (my keyboard won’t let me jump while penguin-sliding), I tried not to lower this level’s rating too much because of that. That said, the level is very short, and the second section has no music. The level looks good enough, and I really like the effect with the lamps in the first section. Oh yeah, and actual Ice Bros can be made in SMBX. Just thought I’d point that out.
Koops -
This level takes place inside of a icy ghost house, this level isn’t all that difficult but towards the end I died going down the hole you’re supposed to go down, I think the creator forgot to make the warp big enough to go down without dying. Towards the end of the level it isn’t that difficult. 6.5/10
Greendan -
This level left me feeling like it was trying to do something, but it couldn't for some reason. The visuals were just ok. The gameplay was straight forward and unengaging. I liked that this level had the penguin suit in it, but that's pretty much all. It didn't do anything unique with it. It felt short and it has some very weird design choices.
The first section ends with an instant warp that is one block in size and it is placed above a deadly pit, which makes it very easy to miss for the new players. And that leads to an instant death.
Overall, the level didn't have much of an interesting visuals and it didn't feel inspired either. It needs a lot more to even be near the high places.

Design: 1/4 points
Aesthetics: 1.5/3 points
Creativity: 1.5/3 points
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Score: 4/10

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Overall: 5.166667/10
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Floating Islands, Mystery Man Bro -

Mario Kirby -
Design: 0.5/4
Aesthetics: 0.5/4
Creativity: 0.5/4
Overall: 1.5/10
Oh man where do I even begin… First off, EVERY. SINGLE. WATERFALL. Is swimmable. This makes navigating the stage a pain in the ass, and this is not helped by the godawful music and complete lack of custom graphics, or even a central theme for the graphics. Like, seriously, is it that hard to add custom graphics, to at least make the stage *look* somewhat cohesive? And the scrolling part of the stage, at least from what I found, sometimes ends early and you have to stack vegetables to get to the next part. Overall, this level is just a mess. Try looking for some tutorials before you make your next level.
Koops -
Here’s another interesting level, this could be my bias towards SMB2 levels or episodes but I really like how the challenge is executed here. The main enemies are Tweeters and Volcano Lotuses with very good placements, Thankfully you have vegetables in the ground to help assist you through the level as the only power-up in this stage are mushrooms.The levels ends with a Birdo fight, This part is a slog because most of the time birdo gets stuck inside the waterfall, I just let the tweeters take her out. 8.5/10
Greendan -
(I think he forgot this one)

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Overall: 5/10
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Autumn Sundown, SMBXFanBoi2013 -
Mario Kirby -
Design: ¾
Aesthetics: ⅔
Creativity: 1.25/3
Penalty: Incorrect Format
Overall: 6.25/10, -1 Penalty
The level seems pretty well designed for the most part, if not a bit unoriginal. The falling leaves effect looks cool and there are no inherent flaws to the level design (aside from the occasional lag due to the leaves, and the fairly poor boss fight at the end…) The Toadette playable was pretty cool, and playing as (the equivalent of) Peach does change up the gameplay a bit. I’m gonna have to pull your score down a bit due to the graphics being in the same folder as the .lvl though.
Koops -
(I think he forgot this one)
Greendan -
The main issues I faced when I played the level, were the lack of an interesting gimmick and proper difficulty build up. The level felt generic, it didn't do much with what it had. The difficulty of this level is a bit on the hard side, mainly because of the unfair enemy placement and the foreground bgos. Just as Bowser Jr's attendance in this level, the inclusion of the foreground tree trunks was "for no reason". A thing like that adds to the aesthetics of the level when done correctly, but in this case, it only obscures the view and makes the level harder in an unneeded and annoying way. Speaking of Bowser Jr, his hitbox is larger than his actual body, which makes him harder to dodge. There also isn't any indication of whether you can jump on his head or not, which only makes the battle more unfair, since the players, who are not familiar with this level, will naturally jump on the heads of the enemies.
The visuals on the other hand, were on point. I liked the falling leaf effects, they really add to the atmosphere. The music, although not to my taste, fitted in the level quite well. Overall, the level certainly didn't lack in the visuals aspect. It doesn't feel like it was made for a contest, but rather for an episode. It is flawed in many important aspects. A contest level should have something unique and a story of its own to tell, in order to be entertaining as a self-contained one. And all this applies for each submission.

Design: 1/4 points
Aesthetics: 2/3 points
Creativity: 1/3 points
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Score: 4/10

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Overall: 5.125-1
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Small Inconveniences, 8luestorm -
Mario Kirby -
Design: 2/4
Aesthetics: 1.5/3
Creativity: ⅔
Overall: 5.5/10
I dunno what I was expecting when I heard the name Small Inconveniences, but it wasn’t this. That said, it’s a decent mini level, if not a bit short. The minisprites don’t look terrible, though the stage is somewhat lacking in the actual level design department. It’s not that the design is bad, it’s just that there isn’t much there.
Koops -
This Level and FLUDD House have competiton for uniqueness. The main gimmick of this level is that everything is mini-sized, I personally found this little gimmick charming and something different from Generic Grassland 2.0. Although I think this level’s gimmick is good, I do,However, wish the level used the gimmick of everything is miniscule more. This will get a solid 7/10.
Greendan -
I don't have a lot to say about this level. It has an interesting concept, but poor execution. The main gimmick with the small enemies and blocks didn't add to the gameplay in almost any way and it wasn't visually interesting either. The level is not challenging at all and it doesn't do anything interesting with what it has to offer. Overall, a very boring level.

Design: 1/4 points
Aesthetics: 1.5/3 points
Creativity: 0.5/3 points
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Score: 3/10

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Overall: 5.166666666667/10
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Unnamed Level, Rzmrx
Mario Kirby -
Design: 3/4
Aesthetics: 2.5/3
Creativity: 1.5/3
Overall: 7/10
Can’t say I was expecting much from a stage with no name, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations. The level looks and plays really well, amd overall feels like an official stage. While the Star Coin placement is… questionable, and the boss fight leaves something to be desired, overall this is a pretty well designed stage. I do have to comment on how the thorned vines in the background do sometimes look like they’re in your way, but this wasn’t a huge issue for me.
Koops -
This level is like a SMW castle but with an nice little twist,it’s overgrown with grass and plant life. This level poses the right amount of challenge, but one thing i did not like was how one of the checkpoints was right in front of a bowser statue. Other than that, nothing more to say. 7/10.
Greendan -
(I think he forgot this one too)

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Overall: 7/10
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Airhead, SetaYoshi
Mario Kirby -
Design: 1.5/4
Aesthetics: ⅓
Creativity: 2.5/3
Overall: 5/10
This level was an interesting one. While the stop mechanic was cool, I found it somewhat finicky and not very fun, due to how sudden the momentum restart is. I feel like this level could have seriously benefited from some custom graphics, as Peach feels quite out of place for the level and mechanic. Honestly, the level looks pretty bland in general. The worst part is that I can tell there was effort put into the main mechanic of this level, but everything else about it feels lacking.
Koops -
Now THIS is a challenging level with a good gimmick. You play as peach with a propeller helmet and your objective is you hit the switch blocks that are blocking the star. This level right here is DIFFICULT, the main enemies are thwomps, snifits and those jet engines from the airship. I’m not sure what to give this level but for it’s uniqueness I will give it a 8.5/10
Greendan -
I must say, this level has a very creative use of the propeller block and Peach's flying abilities. The red indications of the shy guys, thwomps and the other enemies was a very nice idea, too. But what this level lacks is personality. It also felt rather short and unfinished. The ideas were very cool but they could have been developed even more. The generic visuals didn't help either. The default music is alright, but custom music could have been better in my opinion. The level almost feels as if it was just a testing space for these anyways very cool gimmicks. The overall difficulty of this level was not that high, but there are a few instances, where the jumps have to be very precise in order not to get hurt. And that is a problem, because the level is too short for the gimmicks to be well developed and player to get used to the flying abilities. If each obstacle/enemy was introduced in a separate space of their own, the difficulty would have been more balanced. And after each of them is properly introduced, then you could start mixing them together and eventually increase the hardness. Overall, this level has some interesting ideas, but the way they were put together seems unpolished. It lacks in the atmospheric and visual aspects as well.

Design: 2/4 points
Aesthetics: 0.5/3 points
Creativity: 2.5/3 points
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Score: 5/10

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Overall: 6.1666666666667/10
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Woodies Woods, KesterTank
Mario Kirby -
Design: 2.5/4
Aesthetics: 2.5/3
Creativity: 1/3
Overall: 6/10
This level would have been higher, had it not been for one thing: Autoscroll. GODDAMNIT, I hate autoscroll. The main part of this level moves UNGODLY slow, and it’s really long. If this level weren’t autoscroll, I’d definitely be willing to give it a higher score than I did. Nothing else about this level is really that bad (aside from it being a generic woodland, but I digress), the graphics look pretty good and the level design, apart from the whole autoscroll thing, is pretty fun to play on.
Koops -
I think this level was pretty...Ok i guess. I liked the exploration and the obstacles but I wished this level tried to do something unique instead of being a generic Grassland level. The autoscroll section was found but in my opinion I was too long. I’ll give it a 6/10.
Greendan -
This level desperately tries to feel nostalgic by copying certain design elements from classic mario games, but fails at being engaging and fun. This feels like the "same generic grass themed level". It barely has anything really going for. There are some goombas, some koopas, some bushes here and there and that's it. I liked that the level tried to be original by including an autoscroll section, but it felt like it was just a filler. It didn't fit the pace of the level at all.
Although the graphics fitted the theme of the level, they are way too oversaturated. Instead of being colourful and cheerful, the graphics ended up bright and eye-burning. Seriously though, the colours pop so much, I feel like I am going to get epileptic seizures. Jokes aside, the style is neat, but the colours of the graphics - not so much.
In conclusion, the level is flawed in most of the important designing aspects, but it appears as if it has a good premise at first glance, because of the neat graphical style. It also feels uninspired and has an overused theme.

Design: 1/4 points
Aesthetics: 1.5/3 points
Creativity: 0.5/3 points
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Score: 3/10

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Overall: 5/10
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Mario World Yoshi’s Island 2, YoshiSuperstarNL
Mario Kirby -
Design: ¼
Aesthetics: 1.5/3
Creativity: ⅓
Overall: 3.5/10
How on earth did you screw this up? When I booted up the level editor, the stage looked amazing, aside from the random SMB3 Red Coins. But then I started the level, and the fire sound effect kept playing and just. Wouldn’t. Stop. So I played it with the sound muted. Stage seemed fine until some SMB3 Paratroopas showed up. Aside from the obvious case of style mixing, these guys were also friendly for some reason. Oh, and sometimes the dark effect just randomly, with no warning or transition, disappears. It feels like you went out of your way to make a level that was good, just really bad.
Koops -
I think something is wrong with this level, it’s a little confusing but at first glance you would think that the koopas can hurt you but they dont. But some other enemies can? Also there’s SMW koopas, SMB1 koopas, and SMB3 koopas all in one level,i don’t have much to say about this level other than how weird it is. 6/10
Greendan -
This level was aaagh very glitchy: It had this continuous fire sound repeated every frame and it was just so annoying; The level is dark in some areas, but all of a sudden it becomes bright at other... not sure if this was intended, but it looks glitchy nonetheless; Some enemies can hurt you, but others can't; The red coins can't be collected. And the list goes on and on.
Putting the glitches aside, (the MANY glitches...) this level actually looks very visually pleasing. I like the vegetation and the way the tileset was used. The gameplay side of the level though, needs a lot of improvements. Not only that the level was very short, but it also felt cluttered with enemies at times. I know that it is meant to resemble the second level of Super Mario World, but this is not nearly as well designed as the original.
At the end, this level tries to be nostalgic, but it fails because of its unpolished look and lack of a proper gameplay.

Design: 1.5/4 points
Aesthetics: 2/3 points
Creativity: 1/3 points
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Score: 4.5/10

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Overall: 4.666666666666667/10
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FLUDD House, Eri7
Mario Kirby -
Design: 3.5/4
Aesthetics: 2.5/3
Creativity: ⅔
Overall: 8/10
After going through so many shitty to slightly above mediocre levels, this was definitely a treat. The level overall is fun to play through, and doesn’t ever feel dragged out, but it also doesn’t feel too short. I especially liked the secret boss fight against the Phanto/Boo abomination, I wish people made more fights like that one. The only part I didn’t like as much was the part with the Turbo Nozzle, the Sumo Bros in that section were a bit unfair and most of the jumps could be completed without the Rocket Nozzle anyways. (Oh, and the Chain Chomp segment was a bit annoying due to the constant brick-breaking noises). Overall, a fun, cohesive level without any major flaws.
Koops -
Out of all of the levels in this contest I think I enjoyed this one the most. The way FLUDD is utilized in this level as a gimmick works really well,it was a challenging but not too difficult level.
I also really enjoyed the secret boss (which I will not spoil) and also enjoyed the section where you’re being chased by the giant chain chomp, I had so much adrenaline trying to run away from that thing. This level deserves a 8.5/10.
Greendan -
This is indeed one very cleverly designed level. The way the abilities of the npcs were used to create obstacles was very creative and smart. The difficulty of the level was getting progressively high, which is exactly the way to go. It first started by introducing you to the main gimmick - FLUDD, then it started with easy challenges that served as tutorial. And after entering the second room, things began getting more and more interesting. The hover ability of FLUDD was very well explored, almost to its full potential. But the Rocket nozzle was underused and its section felt too short. And the both Turbo nozzle sections are beatable with normal jumps.  Also, none of the checkpoints after the boss work, so every time I die after I have beaten the boss, the game returns me back to the checkpoint right before the it, which was very annoying. Speaking of the boss, the way it was hidden was very clever. And the boss itself was very challenging and fun. What I didn't like about it though, was the fact that you don't actually fight the boss at all. You just avoid a series of obstacles and then all of a sudden the boss dies telling you that he was defeated (I guess he died because he was so shocked to see that you are so strong, or idk).
The overall atmosphere was decent, though it could have been even better. The level tried to be scary, but at the same time it didn't take itself too seriously. The music fitted the level, though a more scary one could have been closer to the premise that was given at the beginning of the level by the small ghost. Despite not being that creepy, the haunted house looked visually pleasing and had very interesting and well explored gimmicks. Well done :-)


Design: 3/4 points
Aesthetics: 2/3 points
Creativity: 3/3 points
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Score: 8/10


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Overall: 8.16666666666666667/10
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Magma Mountain Zone, Ludwig Von Koopa
Mario Kirby -
Design: 2/4
Aesthetics: 1.5/3
Creativity: 1.5/3
Overall: 5/10
The level is honestly not a terrible level, especially for a Captain Toad level (seriously those are hard as hell to do good) but there are some glaring issues that I do have some problems with. The part where you have to dig up sand near the Snifit requires some rather fast reflexes, the part with the lift can glitch you into an earlier part of the stage, and Ghost Mouser phase 2 is just too hard to hit with Captain Toad (between no jumping, making it hard to throw the bombs at him and it being really hard to catch the bombs, especially on what are essentially Donut Blocks). The stage looks great, and has a cool concept behind it, but those key issues are just a bit too much for me to overlook.
Koops -
(I think he forgot this one)
Greendan -
This level had a very unique approach with the no-jump mechanic and it was well designed around that, even though I found myself dying a few times while trying to jump because I am so used to it. This level introduces you to the obstacles very well, while also teaching you the main mechanics. But one major issue I had with this level was the length. The challenges were so interesting, the level left me wanting more. This mechanic opens up so many doors of possibilities and ideas that it's a shame it was so short.
One thing that this level nails though, are the visuals. I like the style very much and the amount of detail put into it makes it look stunning. Even though the boss battle was just one default smbx boss, the no-jump mechanic gave a different flair to it and made it fun. The second phase was even more original but it felt a bit too short and easy. Overall, this levels succeeds in being creative and fun, but it doesn't last long enough.

Design: 2/4 points
Aesthetics: 3/3 points
Creativity: 2.5/3 points
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Score: 7.5/10

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Overall: 6.25/10
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