More Super Mario Bros 3 design lessons!

From an excellent blog post by Radek Koncewicz on gamasutra we have some more lessons on level design by deconstructing Super Mario Bros 3!

Still playing around with the map control at the moment - we have currently opted for a Pac-man style control system whilst moving around the map! This gives the map screen a nice responsive, arcade game-like feel. Perhaps we should add some enemies to avoid on the map?

Still busy working away

Hopefully we'll have some more screen shots and concept art ready to post up soon! Currently we're playing around with the layout and controls of the map screen for Gloop Troops 2. Each world map is currently fully accessible! The player can choose to play any level on the world map - only when they've defeated all that world's levels will they go to a show down with the island's boss. Control wise we have implemented something of a pac - man style control scheme. Pressing the joystick once will cause Pokey or Peeky to walk in the direction indicated. Our heroes will stop only when they hit a level or wall piece. Hopefully this'll feel just right :-)