Weekly map discussion 1#: Above and below

This is a bit of experimental thing taken from TF2 mapping community but we will see how this goes. If people like it I will host it further on aswell.

So what is this? As title says, it's weekly map discussion or it can be better described as review. Every week I will be picking random map from PQ's map pool (excluding bonus and tutorial categories for now, custom levels may happen depending on how this goes), here you can share any opinions about the map or just point out pros and cons and express all the anger you have to the evil person who made the map

So lets get the ball rolling.

First map of the week is: Above and Below

Author: Seizure22
Category: intermediate
Level: 27
Desc:"When you're up, it's always easy. It's when you're down below that the going gets rough."

One of older levels of PQ, was first seen in the first trailer of pq.

Ill start

When it was first shown in trailer it looked spectacular, like big breakthrough of the MB franchise. But comparing to reality of game play it is conflicting.
I loved the first section, simple enjoyable and marble just wants to roll through the whole level on it's own, caves also have a good start. The worst section is moving platform that clips through everything in really bad manner (that easily could be fixed). Also getting stuck in between platform and block is not fun thing to have eater, something could've been done to avoid this issue eater with warning signs or just slanted platform. Other than ending is really nice and fun.

Pros:
+really smooth level
+Cave section was interesting and creative
+love the creative use of scenery at start of the level

Cons:
-Moving platform section could've used some more work and thought.
-Getting stuck in MP is bad.

solid 8/10 from me.

It's a fun level once you memorize what is in front of you. It flows nicely, but the MP (autoscroller) section feels rushed. The main flaw is the blind jumps which most 2D levels have.

I'll give it a 3/5 (okay).

I'd say this level is not that hard once you know what you are doing. I agree that the moving platform part is the most frustrating, but once you know how to time your jumps, you should beat the Ultimate Time fairly easy.

8/10

I havent read any of the other reviews yet but my opinion is that the level, like all 2D levels (save arkanoid), is totally ruined by 2D mode.

Above and Below was kind of a cool level. It was fun for me to be the first non-developer to discover the awesome time when I did a fluke edge hit off the platform floating on the water. Replicating the AT path, though, is really difficult, because you need to control your spin perfectly to do the edge hit in midair yet not hit the sides of the descent tube. So I guess it might be one of the toughest AT's out there...

The level design is relatively simple, but the start contains a lot of high-speed ramps that add to the fun. The tube was a bit interesting too, as the level breaks into the third dimension for a short bit with the grass ramp leading down into the vertical tunnel. The moving platform wasn't much of anything special, but it was kept short, so that the level was not platform-dependent and could remain competitive. The colored moving circles at the end were a bit annoying, since sometimes you would have to wait to jump from one of them to the other.

I guess this level makes an ok intermediate finale. It's not particularly special or memorable, but it does have a few neat and interesting challenges.

Hard to discuss any 2D level without going into a discussion into 2D mode itself, something initially i was not 100% confident that would work, as it takes away something thats basically integral to MB at this point, but I believe it a good addition, although much more difficult to implement to make it a successful level.

And this is where I think this level and other mediocre 2D levels suffer (generally, Orthogonality has a whole host of other issues). There are excellent examples of 2D levels (see Bubble Caverns, Minute Minute) but here I find the level to be percieved worse, by me, and others, simply because of the simple question "why couldn't have this been a regular level?" and instantly there's a negative strike against it. If this was created not with 2D-mode in mind, this would probably have been still an average level, but it being 2D inherently makes it feel less fun because if you're not adding in some other way where 2D mode takes away, its going to not be as fun as a regular level might have been.
Not going to bring this up for every 2D level, but its definitely worth keeping in mind, because I think there can be amazing 2D levels created, its just it needs to play to 2D mode's advantages (like Bubble Cavern, like Minute Minute, like Arkanoid). Just don't expect it from me

The level itself? It's average, it plays fairly well and there's nothing too awful gameplay-wise, but the MP clipping could have been fixed + the MP section itself isn't my favourite, and I'm still not really sure what to make of the ending. Starts off strong but trails off in quality.

3/5 or 6/10

The first "Above" part is done rather well save for the blind jumps, but the challenges don't feel particularly unique. The below part, on the other hand, was a nightmare to try and play through. I kept missing those finicky jumps and having to restart the MP section. After all that, I still had to avoid being pinned by the elevator portion. Not a fun combination to deal with.

Because of the "Below" section, this is one of the most frustrating levels in PQ for me. I probably restarted the MP section as much as some of the challenges in Manic Bounce, then having to restart the level entirely because of the par time. I rate it 5/10 since about half the level was fun to play.