impressive travels
through a level potpourri
thanks to the Central
Additional Comments:
Another year, another Vanilla Level Design Contest. After the well deserved accolades of the 7th, I couldn't wait for the 8th. Much like the 7th, I chose to distance myself during the contest and afterwards as much as possible so I could let the finished product sink in as a worthwhile surprise. Am I ever glad I did because there's some genuine jaw-dropping moments mixed in there.
Again, for those unfamiliar, the Vanilla Level Design Contest is an annual event held by one stop shop for all your Super Mario needs of yore, SMW Central. What's it say? 'The Super Mario World hacking site.' Fun. The point is to design a one off level using the primary tool used for slicing Super Mario World to pieces, Lunar Magic, and nothing else. And despite being the 8th in a long running series, this years entry is only the second to be plastered together as a singular game - a collaboration in some respects, but more precisely, a masterful compilation of ingenuity and creativity that can give the game's original level set a serious run for its money.
Truth be told, I paid little to no attention to the first six VLDCs. Scratch that! I paid literally zero attention to the first six VLDCs. To this day, I've seen maybe a small handful of levels scattered across YouTube from a smattering of links throughout SMWC used as reference points for level design theory, or standout entries for one reason or another - and not necessarily always on the favored side. I've seen a level or two that made me say, "Good job," but nothing ever grabbed me to the point that I wanted to go back and hunt down all the entries from a given year - if that's even possible anymore. I think a good number of levels have been permanently lost in the abyss of time since they were all presented as single .ips's as opposed to the now canon compilation ROM. Again, I'm unfamiliar with how the first six contests worked, but if there's one innovation the VLDC has seen during its tenure that I fully support, it's the compilation ROM.
The idea of bringing all the levels together into a single work helped to springboard my own efforts to actually have an interest in the contest. By interest, I don't just mean designing a level myself to throw out there and see how it fares with SMWC's fantastic cast of designers, but to envision playing a selection of high quality levels that had no worry of being burdened by superfluous "necessities" of modern gaming, that is plot, and cohesion, and the general gloss of paint and sparkle used to make games appeal on a more casual level. Here, the results, trimmed to the bare bones of platforming design theory, we're left with an almost more cerebral product as we experience a multitude of micro environments attempting to analyze why so many of us simply enjoy run and jump Mario mechanics, and how to best make use of them. Nearly everything else is thrown out the window; even difficulty.
As expected, VLDC7 did just that. Sure, there were a few pitfalls here and there, but that's to be expected, be it beginners to the scene, designers who just don't quite have the vision to put a cohesive, working design together, or simply trolls out for a laugh. But then you have those who know their craft and build some stunning levels. In many respects, VLDC7 exceeded my expectations.
Therefore, it's only natural to expect so much more with the subsequent contest. After all, we've had a chance to see what works and what doesn't in the collaborative, or compilation aspects of the hack. And designers looked to step up their game, whether it was to exceed their previous scoring, or merely outshine the best of the best from the previous contest(s). (For those interested, I was one of the few...eh, probably only, who didn't go into VLDC8 with that mentality. Well, I did at first, but decided to move forward with an extremely experimental concept which ended up ranking far higher than I expected. I was pleased.)
VLDC8 did not disappoint...that is, to a point, but more on that later. Some of the designers not only upped their game, but came out swinging. Akin to VLDC7, several levels managed a wow factor due to clever graphical manipulation. Cakewalk Cavern, Peachpuff Peaks, and Waterflow Temple come to mind. Waterflow Temple is especially noteworthy only because I felt it necessary to take a magnifying glass to the screen trying to figure out from where half the graphics hailed. Sadly, the level design didn't quite match the intricate detail put into the visual presentation, but then again, that usually turns out to be the case.
Regarding generally accepted level design principles, the usual suspects rose to the top. For me, the standout level was once again, Morsel's. Municipal Swimming not only proved to be a fun and exciting level to play through, but it stretched the boundaries of "vanilla" to the very edge. In fact, it was the only level that left me scratching my head wondering how he pulled off a single trick - the leftward autoscroll. All the other interesting tricks in the level I'm well aware of thanks to the VIP series, but before VLDC8, I had no idea that a leftward autoscroll was possible without resorting to external code. Then, to top it off, the level is an underwater level, the bane of nearly every gamer out there, yet manages to articulate general gratification at every turn to the point where you begin to forget you're having to tread water the entire time. Even Crystal Reef Garden proved that underwater levels need not be a chore, and much like Waterflow Temple, expounded wondrous atmosphere throughout. Maybe not through devilish MAP16 trickery, but through color and general level architecture.
Other than Municipal Swimming, I can easily find discerning issues in the other levels mentioned thus far; be it Cakewalk Cavern's incredulous length or Peachpuff Peaks' excessive sense of bombardment, but overall, these are the types of levels that put me in awe. These are the levels that made me believe VLDC8 took a victorious step forward from VLDC7, along with the game's marvelous post game content. Yet somehow, the remaining majority of the levels felt so blasé compared to the previous entry. Maybe it's that VLDC7 introduced me to the overall best of the best, regarding innovation and imagination compared to a lot of the stuff typically produced. Having been around SMW hacking for a number of years now, the sense of excitement has slowly dwindled. There's still some amazing stuff that comes along and completely knocks off my socks, but the frequency or amplitude of that feeling has become few and far between. VLDC7, for the most part, managed that with stuff like One Sunday Morning, Snake Eater, and the secret area of Cavern of Pandora, but even a good deal of the mediocre material gave me hope for a pioneering continuum.
Understand, mediocre material must always exist, otherwise, how would be ever spot the great or the terrible. There has to be a middle ground. Problem is, the middle ground of VLDC8 felt like it took a step backwards which in essence, felt like it made the project as a whole retrograde. Not significantly, but enough to be noticeable. It may be hypocritical to grouse over such a matter when my own level was, on the surface, an uninspired run-and-jump characteristic of those scattered throughout YouTube by Lunar Magic noobs further adding to the idea that so much of the game feels pedestrian. I'll accept such judgment, except under the condition that people at least understand the premise of the design.
Then there's the stuff that just makes you claw your fingernails into the arms of your chair. Sure, there's facepalm material, after all, that's the purpose of the Worst World. Scoop up all the garbage. But there's no point in ranting over any of that. The levels speak for themselves. It's the levels that honestly try, or so I hope they do, and somehow just fuck it up. Variety Path is that level. I found Variety Path to even outshine some of the idiocy or nonchalance running rampant in the Worst World. The level of frustration this one level gave me was unparalleled. Even attempting to tool run MarioYOLO's Adventure was more fun.
Second to Variety Path's total failure in design theory was free rein graphical insanity. This includes using foreground objects in the background in such a way that they can easily be mistaken as foreground. There were two or three levels that abused this and frustrated the hell out of me. I don't mind graphical trickery when it's relevant to the design, but it need to instill a proper sense of depth. Once the two layers become a disorienting mess, you lose all sense of confidence in any of the architecture. Needless deaths to pursue. And then there's the madness that is Fez 2. I understand the subject matter - it's just not for me.
But Variety Path, Fez 2, or any of the bottom feeder shit didn't fit the description of culprit when it came to why the game as a whole felt weaker than its predecessor. It was the middle ground. There was just way too much of it and somehow took a bit of a stumble in comparison to VLDC7's middle ground. That's not to say the game isn't amazing. It is, and compared to 99% of the SMW hacks floating around in internet land, it's a superior model of gameplay and level design and still exuded incredible amounts of fun and excitement. Despite my personal reflections compared to VLDC7, I'd recommend the game just as much as I would the former to anyone interested in seeing just how far vanilla hacking has come in the world of Super Mario World.
Nano-Controversy:
Just like VLDC7, I strongly disagree with the winning entry. Subterranean Canal is impressive - a definite top ten level - but it's not a winning level in my eye. As I already mentioned, Municipal Swimming should have nabbed that prize, but whatever. Opinions. We all have them. My issue with Subterranean Canal is after seeing some of the brilliant Kaizo-esque innovation in parts of Cavern of Pandora, as we all know worldpeace is more than capable of, Subterranean Canal felt a bit flat to me. Instead, it merely felt like a contemporary take on The Horrifying---- from the first VIP game. Didn't care for it much there; didn't care for it much here. Suppose the RHYTHM section's impressive in design, but even there, the execution feels off.
Rating: 3.5 P's in the swimming pool out of 5
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