Mega Man Intro Level v1

For this assignment, we were tasked with creating our very first video game level in the style of the Nintendo Entertainment System MegaMan games. These games are 2d run and gun platformers where the player is put up against enemies and obstacles in order to get to each level's end. We used MegaMan Maker to create the levels, which made it more fun in my opinion, because the UI is very simple and easy to get ahold of. For our first-ever level, we made basic intro stages with a Western theme and an approximate time goal of around 10 minutes. Below is the beginning area of my own stage:

My level begins open without any immediate danger to allow the player to grasp their surroundings. From there, an above-ground section is strewn with enemies and small jumps. The player then goes into a cave section where they fight more enemies, parkour through two platforming sections, and blast through boulders and pile-ups to escape the mines and get to the end of the level on the surface.

My playtesting group was made up of myself, Martin, Mario, and Jonathan. Overall, my level did very well during the playtest with very few minor difficulties. Everyone seemed to get through the above-ground section with very few deaths. Once they got into the mine sections, there were some areas where the players had more noticeable difficulty, such as making some of the jumps in the second parkour section (shown below).

This section and the section with the large boulder towards the end are probably the two most difficult areas in the level, as they require precision and quick thinking. Other than these two areas, there weren't any overtly difficult sections that players had to redo more than a couple of times in order to get past and make it to the next area. I can think of a few areas in the map that could benefit from reworking, such as the pit-jump area in the mines. With that area, I would probably change some of the enemy placements to be a bit more spread out, with slightly less enemy variation in such a tight space. I also would consider reshaping the platforms to be a bit easier to stand on. Something else I would want to work on is the first platforming section. There was not any player difficulty with it, but I would like to see if I could make it look a bit more aesthetically pleasing, so it blends better with the level.

I think the challenges that I presented were pretty on par with the skill levels of the players. The shortest completion time was around five minutes, though I believe that player had prior experience with the Mega Man games. Nobody got stuck at any point in the level, and even when one of them died in an area, they were able to quickly learn from their mistakes and redo the section with little to no issue. (Shown below is one of my favorite sections, I dubbed it "the cave-in" section):

The critical path was very easily followed, with no issues on where the player needed to go next, and the overall flow in my opinion was very good. I did my best to make the enemies spread out just enough, to make fun platforming sections, and to make the level visually interesting to the best of my ability. I believe I was at least somewhat successful in that, as my playtesters remarked that the level felt "almost like an official level" and that it seemed like it was made by a professional. I am very proud of my design, as it is my first time ever designing a 2d level like this and I haven't played much Mega Man previously.