Tightfisted Temple

Tightfisted Temple is a Make a Good Level X3 contest entry, submitted by TheTrueMarioMaster. The player is automatically filtered to Mario at the start.

Sturg
As difficult as this may seem, I had a rather fun time with this level. There was something about methodically strategizing my way here that made this rather enjoyable. I think the chocolate statues (which were such a neat idea) were the only "semi" random obstacles, but even then, mostly everything was formatted in such a way that I never felt cheated if I died. There was one really tight spot in the 4th section that was pretty sketch due to how the choco statues had spawned in, and I probably would not have liked that section more had I not managed to slip by it somehow (1st try doing the whole 4th section, btw! :D). I'm a little sad that you chose no terms, moreso because it currently feels like it *was* influenced by terms like "tightfisted", "temple", and "bowser statue" or something along those lines. Like, I could see you making a level using the gimmick and scoring pretty alright (at least on my end). One of my main issues was that fireballs fired from previous sections would stay on screen due to their nature, which repeatedly forced me to wait for those projectiles to fly off screen. The level also tends to be cramped, making for some rather awkward jumps, though I wouldn't be surprised if that was intended. Lastly, the lack of mid-points between sections really hurts the level. Having one at the beginning of each section really would've helped this a lot, more than likely. Overall, I believe I had a much better time with this than I think most will, one of the big reasons being that I first-tried the 4th section.

Or maybe I'm just a masochist idk don't shame me

Zatsupachi
Four, long stetches of difficult terrain. Pretty much describes this level. The fire breathing sound is now etched in my head, thanks. Anywhoo, this level was pretty difficult with the cramped spaces, the difficulty suddenly spikes whenever you had the vertical columns and projectile stacking happens quite aplenty here. Could've used more checkpoints really, and this'll much more bearable. The checkpoint placement here was kinda bad since you immediately have to walk forward or be murdered immediately by a hopping Bowser Statue.

Rameau's Nephew
This is sheer misery. At turns boring and frustrating, the level consists of little more than a cramped, monotonous corridor with a bunch of Bowser statues randomly strewn about. This goes on for some time, before it eventually devolves in to a noxious cloud of fireball spam. One iteration of this would be unpleasant enough, but for some reason the level feels the need to repeat this formula *four times*, adding only an additional statue variant, or a death wall and a few bowling balls in the last variant. This level has barely enough material for three screens; there was no reason it needed to be dragged out as long as it was, repeating the same uninteresting setups again and again. There's a custom NPC and a plot, but they don't amount to much. The director commentary shows a distressing lack of self-awareness.

+ There is a custom NPC and a plot

- They don't amount to much

- The level is an interminable, boring, frustrating slog.

Other: "I've spent a long time on this level" [...] "I spent close to a week working on this level"

Author's notes
no terms chosen