Minis March Again 100 Gold Stars

FUN

This $8 DSi Ware title proved to be worth its value many times over. I just managed to beat all 100 levels with all gold star! Sounds like a remarkable achievement, doesn't it? But really, the levels are well designed so that you don't really have to work all that hard. Just keep an open mind of different approaches. About the only "tricky" level to do is the last basement level where you get to split the Marios so they come into the exit at the same time. Took me a few tries to get it right. Shows you that this isn't a hard game at all. But it sure is fun.

Lots of people are complaining that the game is too easy. I don't think that this game should be played as twitcher game. There's one user level, Metroid3 by metroid, that is almost impossible to play just because you have to start it right in the beginning by exact timing. Since I only managed to do it less than half the time, I don't play that level anymore. I think the basement levels provide just the right amount of challenge. Not too easy, but not too hard.

Speaking of difficulty levels, I have nothing against autos. Some of these levels are pretty neat, and it's fun to watch them run around the levels. But it's pretty hard to see which ones are good and worth the download, and which ones are a waste of time. Regarding normal levels, I can usually solve the level just by looking, and end up not downloading any of them.

There's a message of getting a minitoys at the end of the challenge. You can get it at the Option-Showroom-Character. Very interesting. I'm not too sure what it does, though. It seems to vary the characters in the main levels to include Toad, Peach, and DK.

It's nice to see a star saying "Clear" on the level. I still have 49 life left.

Now on to the level designs! I have to stop playing the Pyramid level and make new ones! Note to budding level designers: Don't make the levels so hard that it stops being fun. That was a rookie mistake I made and wondered why nobody would play my hardcore levels. Concentrate on the fun factor and try to polish the levels beyond what is reasonable. That means putting different play styles onto one level design and try to accomodate all styles. It's fun trying out different combinations trying to do one better. You can't really do that on a 1-solution level design.