What's your favorite level theme?

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-05-2011, 12:09 PM

Games have done a lot. I'm probably most partial to the styles of the Metroid series and a few stray adventure games, like Curse of Monkey Island and Quest for Glory IV.

I tend to think Shivers takes the cake, though, with its creepy museum and the Twilight-zone style voice clips. I love weird tribal masks, myths about terrible monsters, strange south american artifacts, egyptian artifacts, and that game is made ENTIRELY of them.

A new contender for the top has to be Fallout 3, though. I love detritus, wreckage, and historical sites. The ruins of DC set to Threedog will take a LOT of effort to top, although it's not quite at Shivers levels for me. Having been to the important monuments in DC, it was very entertaining to see them in-game.

Dizzy · 06-05-2011, 08:53 PM

I love anything underwater, be it the sea bottom, caves, or even Atlantis-type places.

Also, treetops are an interesting feature to me, so something like over a jungle looks good.

**Valigarmander** · 06-05-2011, 09:19 PM

I usually like factory-themed levels. Not necessarily for atmosphere, but because they tend to be cool.

I also like alien worlds if they're done well enough. What I mean by that is places that really look like they're from another planet, rather than typical Earth-like jungle or typical Earth-like desert, etc. Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime games were pretty good at this for the most part.

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-06-2011, 02:41 AM

^ The DKC factory, Killer Instinct factory, and Mega Man X factory were all awesome. Good point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plant Man

I love anything underwater, be it the sea bottom, caves, or even Atlantis-type places.

Also, treetops are an interesting feature to me, so something like over a jungle looks good.

I'm not normally big on water levels, but... Well, the Blast Octopus level in MMX was so pro. Damn, that was some awesome level design.

Why can't more levels be so rad?

***Marilink*** · 06-06-2011, 06:37 AM

Water levels are usually my least favorite, actually. I hate how the entire game slows down sooooo much. (AI's right though, Blast Octopus is good.)

I'd have to say my favorites are sky-themed levels like TP's City in the Sky or SM64's Rainbow Ride, or SMG's Gusty Garden Galaxy. And, of course, my favorite level in any game of all time is Skytown from Metroid Prime 3. Something about flying in the clouds is really cool to me, especially civilizations that live in the clouds like Bahamut Lagoon.

Second favorite would be desert levels. Arbiter's grounds, the deserts in SMB2 and 3, Overdrive Ostrich's stage in MMX2, are all sweet. Something I've always appreciated is the music always being so mood fitting.

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-06-2011, 08:50 AM

^ The steampunk/clockpunk theme from Skytown was seriously tight. I'd be surprised if anyone ever does it so well again.

If you liked Arbiter's Grounds, you should play Diablo II. Seriously, the vibe is like a rip straight from that game.

Dizzy · 06-06-2011, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by People of the AMS

^ The DKC factory, Killer Instinct factory, and Mega Man X factory were all awesome. Good point.

I'm not normally big on water levels, but... Well, the Blast Octopus level in MMX was so pro. Damn, that was some awesome level design.

Actually, Launch Octopus' level annoyed me. It was all those mini-bosses.

But Flame Mammoth's stage was uber-fun, along with Storm Eagle's.

Gol-goroth · 06-06-2011, 12:03 PM

I'm quite partial to factory levels and anything steampunk as well. They're just cool. I generally like snow and ice levels too.
I like the idea of sewer levels, but I don't think they're usually done very well.

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-06-2011, 12:36 PM

There's a few level themes that stand out in my mind:

Gerudo theme. It sounds so badass, and I've been looking for a good remix of this song.
That Castlevania Song - It's either Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears. Maybe both.
Katamari Damashii - NA NAAA NA NA NA NA NA NAH NAH, KATAMARI DAMASHII

Dux is not you · 06-06-2011, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ace Mercury

There's a few level themes that stand out in my mind:

Gerudo theme. It sounds so badass, and I've been looking for a good remix of this song.
That Castlevania Song - It's either Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears. Maybe both.
Katamari Damashii - NA NAAA NA NA NA NA NA NAH NAH, KATAMARI DAMASHII

I though we were talking about level motifs.

But I also hoped we were talking about level music. At any rate, DKC2's Stickerbrush Symphony is the undisputed winner in that.

My kind of level are the Super Mario Sunshine secret levels that are just a bunch of platforms floating in the middle of nowhere with the insanely awesome remix of the SMB theme.

Me and my brother tried humming the part where the first few notes repeat over and over. We couldn't. We burst out laughing every single time.

... wait, I thought we were talking about level motifs.

Microphone_Kirby · 06-06-2011, 11:42 PM

Caverns, Water Worlds, Ice Worlds, Factory Areas, and anywhere dark.

**Valigarmander** · 06-07-2011, 07:44 AM

I thought we were talking about level motifs too.

Either way, my post remains unchanged. Just add "snow areas" to it.

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-07-2011, 09:06 AM

It's okay, I'm just confused. Carry on. =\

Luigiman7 · 06-07-2011, 06:14 PM

casino and industrial type stuff

06-05-2011, 12:09 PM	#1
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	What's your favorite level theme? Games have done a lot. I'm probably most partial to the styles of the Metroid series and a few stray adventure games, like Curse of Monkey Island and Quest for Glory IV. I tend to think Shivers takes the cake, though, with its creepy museum and the Twilight-zone style voice clips. I love weird tribal masks, myths about terrible monsters, strange south american artifacts, egyptian artifacts, and that game is made ENTIRELY of them. A new contender for the top has to be Fallout 3, though. I love detritus, wreckage, and historical sites. The ruins of DC set to Threedog will take a LOT of effort to top, although it's not quite at Shivers levels for me. Having been to the important monuments in DC, it was very entertaining to see them in-game.

06-06-2011, 12:36 PM	#9
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,274 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	There's a few level themes that stand out in my mind: Gerudo theme. It sounds so badass, and I've been looking for a good remix of this song. That Castlevania Song - It's either Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears. Maybe both. Katamari Damashii - NA NAAA NA NA NA NA NA NAH NAH, KATAMARI DAMASHII

06-07-2011, 06:14 PM	#14
Luigiman7 ヽ(◔ ◡ ◔)ノ.･ﾟ*｡･+☆ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: ~)´◡｀(~ Gender: Posts: 17,605 Thanks: 1,134 Thanked 1,012 Times in 713 Posts Blog Entries: 8	casino and industrial type stuff __________________ ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ＷＯＮ’Ｔ　ＹＯＵ　ＢＥＣＯＭＥ　Ａ　ＭＡＧＩＣＡＬ　ＧＩＲＬ？

06-05-2011, 08:53 PM	#2
Dizzy Podiaphobe Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Posts: 19,359 Thanks: 1,764 Thanked 1,161 Times in 804 Posts Blog Entries: 116	I love anything underwater, be it the sea bottom, caves, or even Atlantis-type places. Also, treetops are an interesting feature to me, so something like over a jungle looks good.

06-05-2011, 09:19 PM	#3
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	I usually like factory-themed levels. Not necessarily for atmosphere, but because they tend to be cool. I also like alien worlds if they're done well enough. What I mean by that is places that really look like they're from another planet, rather than typical Earth-like jungle or typical Earth-like desert, etc. Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime games were pretty good at this for the most part.

06-06-2011, 06:37 AM	#5
*Marilink* Gotta catch 'em all! Supermod! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Location, Location. Gender: Posts: 29,118 Thanks: 2,535 Thanked 1,822 Times in 1,007 Posts	Water levels are usually my least favorite, actually. I hate how the entire game slows down sooooo much. (AI's right though, Blast Octopus is good.) I'd have to say my favorites are sky-themed levels like TP's City in the Sky or SM64's Rainbow Ride, or SMG's Gusty Garden Galaxy. And, of course, my favorite level in any game of all time is Skytown from Metroid Prime 3. Something about flying in the clouds is really cool to me, especially civilizations that live in the clouds like Bahamut Lagoon. Second favorite would be desert levels. Arbiter's grounds, the deserts in SMB2 and 3, Overdrive Ostrich's stage in MMX2, are all sweet. Something I've always appreciated is the music always being so mood fitting.

06-06-2011, 08:50 AM	#6
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	^ The steampunk/clockpunk theme from Skytown was seriously tight. I'd be surprised if anyone ever does it so well again. If you liked Arbiter's Grounds, you should play Diablo II. Seriously, the vibe is like a rip straight from that game.

06-06-2011, 12:03 PM	#8
Gol-goroth Newbie Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Scotland, och aye. Gender: Posts: 9 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I'm quite partial to factory levels and anything steampunk as well. They're just cool. I generally like snow and ice levels too. I like the idea of sewer levels, but I don't think they're usually done very well.

06-06-2011, 11:42 PM	#11
Microphone_Kirby Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: None of your business. Gender: Posts: 7,155 Thanks: 559 Thanked 225 Times in 181 Posts Blog Entries: 6	Caverns, Water Worlds, Ice Worlds, Factory Areas, and anywhere dark.

06-07-2011, 07:44 AM	#12
Valigarmander The Bee's Knees Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: The land of rain and trees (Oregon) Gender: Posts: 29,755 Thanks: 1,649 Thanked 5,700 Times in 2,580 Posts Blog Entries: 20	I thought we were talking about level motifs too. Either way, my post remains unchanged. Just add "snow areas" to it.

06-07-2011, 09:06 AM	#13
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,274 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	It's okay, I'm just confused. Carry on. =\