DeppySlide VLDC3 Rankings

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
1	Title	Author	Entry #	Difficulty	Tier	Personal Ranking	Contest Ranking	Comments
2	Mario’s Travels	mariofan1000 (now blank the blank)	1	Easy	Dishonorary	96	91	Kinda see what you were going for in the first half, but the puzzles are too basic to be interesting and it just feels repetitive repeating the same bits over and over. Incredibly flat design as well, there’s not a lot for the player to do other than walk right and occasionally jump. NOTE: Full title is “Mario's travels through a previously addressed land which hack players have known for a long time preview”. Level is taken from their hack of the same name (minus the “preview”).
3	Star Cave	10204307 (now Delta)	2	Brutal	Upper-Mid	19	91	I appreciate seeing a level that makes significant use of the P-Switch and Spring but in service of tricky, fast platforming rather than slow puzzle solving, like The Pit from last contest. A midpoint would’ve been nice, though, and there’s at least one moment I wouldn’t hesitate to call cheap. Still, a pretty solid, difficult level. NOTE: Level is a reused entry from both Nimono’s “Vague Gimmick Contest” and blank the blank’s “Linear Level Contest”.
4	Majestic Hills	SomeGuy (now Ignoritus)	3	Easy	Vanilla Dome	64	48	Pretty typical grassland level. Not sure what’s up with the some of the ugly-looking ground tiles, though. The design is simple but at least passable, just nothing that really stands out.
5	Shine Forest	Brad172	4	Medium	Vanilla Dome	59	35	Okay level, but nothing particularly interesting about the design. The level ends in a Switch Palace, but the blocks you activate just immediately take you to the key, so there’s no replayability to the level either. Overall, nothing special.
6	Water Island	super pokemon world	5	Easy	Dishonorary	102	97	Way too short and way too simple. Not really worth submitting a level so early if you’re not gonna do much with the design.
7	The Grassy Hills	Master S	6	Easy	Vanilla Dome	55	30	It’s not bad. Other than some slowdown spots the level is decently designed, and I had an alright time with it.
8	Subaqua Adventure	Tails_155	7	Easy	Lower	80	25	The design itself is pretty standard water stuff, if fairly bare-bones. It also looks pretty ugly with the really weird rock formations, and even starts being an issue in the design when I can’t tell what’s part of the background or the foreground. Not terrible, but very generic water level. NOTE: According to author, level was reused from their hack, “Super Mario World Hacks 101”.
9	Travel to the Bottom	jur132	8	Medium	Vanilla Dome	52	49	It’s an okay level. It’s a nice theme but it feels like a pretty abrupt transition to the bottom, like there was an extra cave/”descent” segment missing. It plays fine but definitely could’ve been developed further.
10	Chalkroad Quarry	RedToonLink	9	Hard	Upper-Mid	13	8	It’s a good example of a nonlinear level; though the later two sections break away from the theme a bit, they are pretty well thought-out. Unfortunately the presentation makes it look really cluttered, especially in the later sections to where it starts getting disorienting. The pipe room also feels a bit jank due to how the pipes are set up. Despite that, it plays pretty good, and there’s some nice challenges and puzzle levels mixed in, so it’s worth checking out if you don’t mind the aesthetics.
11	Pirate Ship Dip	sky_blue_wiggler [user id 4127]	10	Easy	Upper-Mid	18	72	The design is simple, but pretty effective at what it’s doing. There’s definitely some janky parts and obstacles, but it’s a pleasant and focused level. NOTE: According to intro, level was/was planned to be part of author’s hack.
12	Late Evening Stroll	Z. Raffle tikt	11	Easy	Lower-Mid	42	34	It’s a standard mountain level. Lot’s of places to explore, though the design itself doesn’t really get past the basics. Nothing crazy going on but it’s fine for what it is.
13	Sunset Fortress	Neutron (now leictreon)	12	Medium	Lower-Mid	50	20	Decent level, but while there’s a few paths you can take it’s pretty linear. There’s a few technical issues, too; it’s pretty easy to go through the ceiling slopes and there were a few sprite issues (including the key and keyhole disappearing). Other than that, it’s a pretty playable level.
14	Elemental Adventure	Senjan	13	Medium	Upper-Mid	20	12	It’s a Gauntlet level, but since there’s an Elemental theme going on I’ll give it a bit of the pass. The levels aren’t complicated but nicely laid out, and there’s some nice puzzles like the skeleton raft in the fire section to get the Moon. Overall, it’s solidly made.
15	Splash Castle	LuigiPikachu	14	Easy	Lower	76	75	Pretty flat level design for the most part, and there’s some ugly Cement Block architecture used. I kind of like the idea of the player having to swim under the fortress to get into it, but otherwise it’s pretty forgettable.
16	[Untitled]	DragonManGuyDude	15	Easy	Joke	114	109	...yeah. Given the author’s posting quality, this really seems like a legitimate joke submission, and should be treated as such.
17	Up or Down	Toad8642	16	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Unplayable due to bad patch. Author requested entry be removed from contest.
18	Bianco Hills	BBkaizo	17	Medium	Lower	78	[n/a]	The design is pretty bland, honestly, and too reliant on invisible blocks; they’re not really used to troll the player or anything, but it’s just repetitive. The palettes also look pretty ugly, and while I’ve been lenient on a lot of these graphical edits, I feel like these are overstepping the contest guidelines somewhat. Overall it’s not that bad, but I don’t really understand a lot of the choices the author made. NOTE: Level was disqualified for using custom ExGFX.
19	Some Random Level	jallerman	18	Medium	Worst	108	106	Sorry, there’s just way too many problems with this level. Stacks of munchers in several places, a lot of cheap tricks or annoyances everywhere, and really unpolished design. Everything feels sloppily done, and it would take a lot of work to fix all the issues in this level.
20	NO EXIT	Hebesphenomegacorona (now Darkbloom)	19	Glitch Abuse	Lower II	86	62	On the one hand, the visual style is unique, and there were a few obstacles I thought were cool. However, the main puzzle in the first segment, while maybe not Kaizo, requires knowing a specific glitch that most players, especially if they aren’t avid ROM hackers, would not know existed. This really puts a halt into the level, and either means the player has to trial and error their way through the level or seek help elsewhere. Also, the level admittedly does boil down to carrying objects from A to B, which gets old pretty quick. The Big Boo fight had a nice twist to it, but it’s bogged down by dealing with the ridiculous amount of Eeries. It’s a very flawed level, unfortunately. NOTE: Potential epilepsy warning.
21	Super Marathon Mario	Lunar Rico	20	Easy	Dishonorary	100	77	Another really short, far too easy level. Thought the marathon idea might’ve been interesting, but nothing’s really done with the concept; you don’t have to go particularly fast or anything, it’s just some very basic platforming and a very simple P-switch puzzle.
22	Dust World	DemXiX	21	Easy	Lower	81	[n/a]	Very, very yellow. Other than that, nothing really of note; just the basics pretty much. NOTE: Later version of level had a bad patch, thus causing the level to get disqualified.
23	[Untitled]	joeblevins123	22	Medium	Dishonorary	97	87	Really don’t see what the point of the Blargg memory puzzle was, other than to artificially increase the length of the level. Otherwise, very unremarkable and bland design.
24	Subliminal Messages (aka Opticallity)	fakescaper (now Chdata)	23	Hard	DQ	[n/a]	[n/a]	I gotta say…..I think the author was on frickin’ drugs!!!!!! O_o xD NOTE: Level uses custom ASM to create new physics, so disqualified by myself and the judges. Also, epilepsy warning.
25	Luna Bridge	Darkdata	24	Easy	Dishonorary	92	49	While the level looks nice and distinct, it feels like the author spent far more time on aesthetics than on the level itself (and even then, the Fire Mario palette looks pretty screwy). It’s playable, at least, but very flat and ends quickly. It would’ve been nice to see the design integrate with the aesthetics somehow, or really just any variety to the level.
26	Multi-Colored Castle	Miguel20	25	Brutal	Lower II	87	78	Unfortunately, this one felt like a real slog to go through. There’s no midpoint at all, and the time limit is so tight that for the first time I actually ran out of time on a VLDC. And while I was able to save much more time on my next attempt, it really feels like the issue was the level making me waste time, between having to wait for the Magikoopas to open up paths (which wasn’t easy given enemies were very prone to despawn) and having to go through the autoscroller. The layer 2 scrolling spike pillars were pretty neat I guess, though it made it tricky to jump over a few of them. If the level was more polished or the difficulty was toned down, it’d be easier to recommend, but as-is, play at your own risk. NOTE: Epilepsy warning.
27	SMWShadow	ShadowMarioGalaxy64	26	Hard-BL	Worst	111	[n/a]	A lot of flat/lazy design, numerous cheap tricks and blind jumps, and worst of all a Throw Block maze where you just keep breaking blocks to go right. Really, really bad. NOTE: Submission not included in results for unknown reasons.
28	Pika Plains!	Doownayr89	27	Medium	Vanilla Dome	62	[n/a]	Not going to disqualify for the Pikachu, but even besides that the level’s just okay. For whatever reason there’s no midpoint or power-ups, and the second half has a really odd puzzle; it’s weird to have to force the player to give up Yoshi, and not clear that the P-switch is gonna be used to a mega mole shortly after the vine segment. There was probably a better way to do that section. Otherwise, it’s an alright level to play. NOTE: Level was disqualified for using custom ExGFX.
29	Colorful Castle	cyphermur9t	28	Hard	Upper-Mid	14	18	Very solid design, and while the level starts running long in the second half, I had a pretty enjoyable time with this level. It also had some really nice palettes for the castle. My only issue is some of the segments feel too derivative of the original game; I know the level was trying to do as many kinds of castle segments as possible but a few that really feel too close to SMW could’ve been cut. Other than that, though, a very good effort.
30	Mystery Mine	Chikane	29	Medium	Middle	29	13	Liked the theme, though I felt it should’ve built up a little bit more to the ghost section. The secret exit also felt pretty tacked on, and even though the disappearing block section was neat, it also felt like it came out of nowhere. Other than that though, it was a pretty interesting level.
31	Cherry Blossom Ruins	Immortality	30	Easy	Worst	107	98	Design-wise this level already isn’t that good; far too short and nothing interesting going on really. But what really sinks this down is the searing palette choice and the blaring music that for whatever reason only comes out of one ear. Seriously, this was may be the most painful level I’ve had to play aesthetics-wise.
32	Crumbling Defeat	TiersWTF	31	Medium	Blatant Edit	116	101	I appreciate that the author was trying to do a puzzle/maze level, but unfortunately I couldn’t really get into it. There’s a bit too many blind jumps for my liking, and I feel like the maze aspect just added to the tedium more than anything. NOTE: As noted by judges, level is a blatant edit of Chocolate Island 4.
33	Overgrown	dottedgirl	32	Easy	Upper-Mid	17	36	The design is nice; there’s not much change over the course of the level with the vine mechanic, but I appreciate how laser-focused the theme and design is. It also has one of the better secret exits I’ve seen used in these contests, tricky without being obtuse and not feeling tacked on towards the end of the level. Maybe not the most exciting level, but I found it to be pretty enjoyable, and it’s really nice to see how much the author has improved since VLDC1. NOTE: According to author, used in their hack “The Unworld 2”.
34	The Lost Land	TOS (now Tahixham)	33	Medium	Lower-Mid	40	15	It’s an alright level, but some of the design felt sloppy. The beginning line guide has an issue with despawning platforms, and later it felt like areas just sort of stopped; other than the line guides and the ending airship, a lot of the segments were very short. There’s some nice touches to the design, though, and while it lacks a midpoint it’s not too big a deal.
35	A Mario Game About Weed	bokobono	34	Hard	Joke	115	[n/a]	The joke is the level, the punchline is we still haven’t legalized weed ten years later. NOTE: Submission was removed as judges/staff considered it a joke entry.
36	Mystery of the Green Switch Palace	TRS (now Noivern)	35	Medium	Lower-Mid	43	16	Thought the level was glitching at first, until I realized the blue tiles were meant to be the placeholder graphics rather than the Blue Switch tiles. Design is pretty good for the most part, but the path found right at the start of the level is one of the weaker ones, which might sour the experience for those playing the level the first time. The split paths make it feel less like a Gauntlet level, but since they’re only in the first half it’s not really worth repeatedly playing the whole thing over.
37	Foresty Forest	LunarYoshi (now NoelYoshi)	36	Medium	Middle	27	26	Basic level, but pretty solid design. I liked the use of the Blue Koopas in the P-Switch cave section. It looks nice and I had a good time with it, though admittedly I thought the ending was kinda corny.
38	Scaling the Icy Mountain	ZMann	37	Easy	Upper	9	26	Really solid ice/mountain level. Doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but it’s very well-executed in what it’s trying to do.
39	Beetletarian	booblock	38	Medium	Lower-Mid	44	69	Not a bad level. Having to go through separate sublevels to progress was kind of interesting, though all of it boiled down to your basic cave sections. Probably could’ve used something to make it stand out more, but it’s a perfectly fine level.
40	Mountain Fortress	superwiidude	39	Medium	Honorary	3	2	I really enjoyed this level; it gives me flashbacks to Mountain Heights, which is always a good thing. It’s more varied in theme, given the castle/airship ending, but it never feels spread thin; it’s paced very well and always fun to explore the level for secrets. It also looks really nice without showing off too much. Maybe it’s not reinventing the wheel, but it does a great job being a Mario level, which is all I really want.
41	Super Mario World 2	Playnoweverybody	40	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Bad patch. Plays up to introduction screen with garbled graphics, then crashes.
42	The Invisicave	Best Video Gamer (now Dan Maku)	41	Hard-BL	Lower II	85	90	I mean...I just don’t think it’s fun, sorry. While it’s not impossible, it just feels really tedious to try to figure out what the correct platforms are. It feels like a level for designers rather than players (or maybe for an audience to watch players fail at a lot). Maybe others will appreciate more than me, but I didn’t really care for this level. NOTE: According to author, level was made before the contest and improved for entry.
43	Mario’s Adventure	Wizard the Wizzisential	42	Easy	Worst	112	102	First two sections have no enemies (and “secret” is just a pipe next to the stack of clouds that leads to a 3up moon and then the castle section) and the castle section you just fly over everything with the slightly hidden feather. And then the Bowser fight. I’ll pass.
44	Misted Mountain	DarthYoshi492	43	Hard	Lower	75	56	A bit too chaotic for my liking. Some spots get particularly bad, either due to slowdown or despawning or the Sumo Bros having a freak-out. It was also kind of annoying to have to take the P-Switch back through the level, and the secret exit really felt tacked-on here (a Yoshi Coin would’ve been much better). Far from the worst-designed level, but not really fun to play at all.
45	Mario’s Endless Adventure	Ddoomm10	44	Medium	Middle	25	4	While my overall impression is positive, the level design really felt all over the place. Some segments, like the ending escape sequence and the mushroom maze were pretty cool, and I thought the secret bonus area was done well. Others, though, feel pretty barren or underdeveloped; the “spooky” area in particular felt a little sloppy compared to everything else. It also feels too generous in the first half; a lot of times I just stumbled on 1UPs, and I don’t think all those help markers were really that necessary, unless you just wanted them for story. In the end, though, it’s paced pretty well, and as far as these long Gauntlet-type levels go it never feels like a slog.
46	Temple of Time	Time Traveler	45	Hard-BL	Honorary	4	56	Very nicely done level! It does a great balance of having to dodge obstacles while speeding through the P-switch platforms. I was a bit worried that I wasn’t given enough time in the second half, but once I figured out the intended solution I also really appreciated the puzzle-solving that had to be done. Really my only complaint, other than some slowdown, is with the ending boss battle; there’s already been quite a few Wendy fights this contest, and here it felt really tacked on. Other than that though, this was a great level.
47	I R Maek Levl 1337	HuFlungDu	46	Medium	Lower	73	60	Feels more like an experiment rather than a coherent level. The layer 2 and reverse ground sections are cool in theory, but you don’t actually have to use those gimmicks except for Yoshi Coins or the secret path. Speaking of which, it’s pretty ridiculous how it’s set up, as there’s not really any way to tell how you’d find any of the parts to it without guessing or looking it up in Lunar Magic. The rest of the level is fine, but pretty basic, and the ending layer 2 section goes on for a while. An interesting level, but not one I’d really want to play again.
48	Whatever the Weather!	boredman	47	Easy	Dishonorary	103	81	It’s kind of weird to me that the message block at the beginning of the level makes a point of telling Mario to “go fast” when the level is almost entirely a slow autoscroller, and one where it’s pretty easy to bypass all the obstacles with the Lakitu clouds. It also ends pretty abruptly, only a few screens after the midway point. Pretty poor effort overall, honestly.
49	The One Level Challenge	Diddy Kong	48	Easy	Lower	83	79	Pretty undercooked level. Kind of Gauntlet in nature though probably too short to fit the mold; the first section is two paths but both lead to the same section anyways. Nothing else worth mentioning.
50	Midnight Canopy	Desert-Fox	49	Easy	Middle	26	[n/a]	It’s a nice little level. The beginning is a little too generous with the 1UPs and Yoshi Coins, but I thought the net and cloud sections were pretty neat. Nothing special, but a pleasant experience to play. NOTE: Level was disqualified for using custom ExGFX.
51	Exploring the marsh	CCF9Unite	50	Easy	Vanilla Dome	63	71	There’s some slowdown in parts and pretty bad palettes in the underground area, but otherwise it’s about as standard as a level can be. Perfectly playable but nothing new to add.
52	A Normal Day for Mario	Dotsarecool (now IsoFrieze)	51	Medium	Lower-Mid	39	9	Pretty decent level, though a lot of carrying items around. Plus it ends with a completely unnecessary Bowser fight. Still, it’s paced well, and the design is fairly solid; also, I thought it was pretty clever to use the VLDC3-style décor to hide the key. Overall, I had a decent time.
53	Topsail Havoc	vindew332	52	Easy	Dishonorary	99	95	I thought the theme could’ve been neat, but instead it’s just a bunch of the same platforms for a few screens and then the level ends. What a shame.
54	Strange House	randoguy101	53	Medium	Lower-Mid	48	43	Was expecting something a little different given the framing, but instead it’s just a splitting paths Gauntlet level. All the segments are decently designed, but nothing (save maybe for the first one) really stands out to me. Honestly, I think it would’ve been more interesting if you committed to the Saw bit.
55	Mario Takes a Stroll	Zildjian	54	Medium	Upper-Mid	12	4	This feels like the yin to Forever Factory’s yang; much brighter in palette and tone, not quite as hard, and a more typical story. I think it’s a bit more fun to play, but it isn’t quite as ambitious; this one suffers more from the Gauntlet issue of design being spread too thin, even though it has that neat Bowser “fight” at the end. Still, it’s a very memorable entry and a nice one to play.
56	A boy and his boo	kurosaga	55	Medium	Dishonorary	104	104	Pretty boring unfortunately. You pretty much spend the whole level flying on a cloud through tight passages. There’s one bit I have no idea how you beat without getting super lucky or just flying under the obstacle (unless that’s the intended method?) Maybe it could’ve been interesting, but it ultimately feels really bland.
57	Super Happy Fun Time	Mariowings77	56	Medium	Vanilla Dome	61	64	It’s a serviceable level, though it starts breaking a bit towards the end if you take (Baby) Yoshi into the final section. Nothing terribly remarkable with the design.
58	Tundra	GoldRogerPirateking	57	Glitch Abuse	Dishonorary	95	98	Very basic and annoying level, as the player has to jump single icy turn blocks constantly. The secret exit is particularly bad; you have to jump on some winged ? Blocks you can’t see unless you run jump on the highest hill, and then the area with the P-switch (and all five Yoshi Coins for some reason) aren’t even accessible from what I can tell. [Sidenote: According to judges, the secret exit required using a glitch to enter.]
59	Acacia Valley 2	Snowshoe	58	Easy	Vanilla Dome	66	81	Very simple level. Nothing about it really stands out to me, just a playable, decently designed but uninspired level. NOTE: Patch submitted for entry is the author’s hack “Super Mario World: Moving Day”, with the submitted level accessible from the start.
60	Cave Escape	MarioFan22	59	Hard	Lower	71	56	This level feels more at home in VLDC2 than 3. For the most part, the design is pretty alright, though there’s a lot of focus on item swapping. The main issue is the level feels way too long; since both exits are required to finish the level, it really feels like two levels stacked together. And the design doesn’t really have enough going on for it to keep being interesting, especially with segments lie that water autoscroller. Not that bad a level, but really should’ve been cut down some.
61	Muncher Sphere	Darky	60	Medium	Middle	22	9	Pleasant enough level. First half is nice and rompy, second half more of an item swap puzzle, but not a bad one. Doesn’t have the magic element to really make it step up, but on the whole it’s a pretty good time.
62	Isle of Confusion	Pikerchu13	61	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Unplayable due to bad patch.
63	Vile Volcano	E-Man	62	Easy	Lower-Mid	45	53	Pretty passable volcano level. Looks a bit flat in some parts but it’s made up for by some nice bits of exploration. Overall it’s not a bad time.
64	Shoot the Bullet	neosaver	63	Brutal	Lower II	89	107	Not my thing at all, and not really the best fit for this contest. I’m not really an expert, but this doesn’t seem like a good Kaizo level, though not terribly designed either. Maybe it could’ve looked better though. There’s possibly an audience that would enjoy this, but personally I found it to be too much of a hassle. NOTE: According to author, level taken from in-progress hack, “Super Benji World”.
65	Element Castle	GanonTEK	64	Medium	Dishonorary	93	85	Another elemental level, but this ones a lot sloppier. While it’s clear what each segment represents, it all feels like generic castle platforming rather than any attempt at theming; things like the grass section having green lava and the fire section just having random fireballs are good examples of this issue. Really needed a lot more thought put into it.
66	Blocks of Chaos	Smallhacker	65	Medium	DQ	[n/a]	103	NOTE: Technically not breaking the rules, as it’s exploiting a bug in Lunar Magic 1.0 to cause the blocks to randomize. But frankly that’s nowhere near the intent of this contest so I’m giving it the DQ anyway. Punishing levels for being smarter than me? You better believe it. (Also, it’s not that fun anyway, unless you like jumping around random cement blocks.)
67	Yoshi’s Back Yard	mootbooxle	66	Easy	Lower	79	81	It’s a simple level, but really ugly looking at parts. Lot’s of brown block stacks and I don’t know what’s going on in the cave BG. The design isn’t terrible, though, but on the generic side and a little reliant on simple item puzzles. Definitely needs work.
68	Island of the Damned	HighVoltageGamer	67	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Bad patch, as it does not make any changes to the original ROM.
69	The Castle Raid	K3fka	68	Medium	Lower-Mid	51	66	Bordering on a Gauntlet-level, but it’s got okay design. Nothing out of the ordinary but all of it (except the dodgy shell race, maybe) played fine.
70	The Haunted Church	Elite Goomba Hacker	69	Easy	Dishonorary	98	84	Another level that felt really reliant on invisible blocks; at least not in a really annoying way, but not in any challenging way at all either. The level design is basic but playable enough, but the level is much too short. Really forgettable.
71	Cerulean Cove	Snifit	70	Hard-BL	Middle	35	62	This was a really frustrating level for me. The last section of the level is very well done; it’s a cool gimmick and presented nicely, and the different variations of the section are all unique enough to stand out. There’s also a lot of interesting graphical edits to the blocks and enemies; I particularly enjoyed how the key and secret exit was changed up. Unfortunately, this level feels way too long, particularly the slow autoscroller at the start. Even worse, there’s no midway point, making this a brutal level to complete without savestates. If that was added, and maybe the level was cut down to focus on the ending section more, it would’ve been a top contender for sure.
72	Volcanic Grassland	xman0444	71	Medium	Lower	84	96	I think the camera wasn’t set properly, as it never scrolls up even if the player is climbing a vine or run-jumping. Otherwise, pretty basic level.
73	The Swamp Demon’s Lair	Hadron	72	Medium	Upper	7	11	On the long side, but it plays very well. Lots of secrets and exploration without it being too easy to get lost. Also some decent variation on the obstacles in each segment. It’s a nicely done level on the whole (though some of that custom music is pretty overbearing).
74	Jungle Labyrinth	---smwExpert-- (now uyuyuy99)	73	Hard	Lower-Mid	47	53	While it’s expected with a title like “Jungle Labyrinth”, a lot of the design feels really cramped to move through, which can be a little frustrating. A midpoint would’ve been nice, as would some cleaner aesthetics. It plays decently at least, which is what counts in the end.
75	HAUNTED UNDERWATER VOLCANO	MajorasMask9	74	Hard	Upper-Mid	16	39	Despite the unusual premise, it ends up being a very nice level. The presentation is nice, and the design is tricky but solid; even though there’s a lot of carrying items around, most of it is fortunately optional. My only issue is with the difficulty, mainly in the tunnel area with the Diggin’ Chucks. It starts to get a little too tough to avoid getting hurt, and that final screen is just overkill. Still though, I enjoyed the level quite a bit.
76	Mouldy Mansion	RealLink	75	Medium	Middle	31	41	It’s a decent level. Nothing too out-of-the-box but the design is solid, and it’s a slightly different take on the Ghost House than usual. A midway point would’ve been nice though, and the Big Boo boss is one of the weaker ones I’ve played, but besides that it’s pretty good.
77	Get Out of my Face Mario	Posiedien3	76	Hard	Worst	109	105	Even besides being a Gauntlet level, it’s a pretty big mess. It’s functional and technically playable, but those are about the only nice things I can say.
78	Mystical Orb Search	reghrhre	77	Hard	Best	2	4	It’s long, but a very well-paced level. I thought there was some great atmosphere, particularly in the graveyard-ish segment towards the end. It plays well, tough but mostly fair and the challenge never feels tedious. I think the switch palace and following segment could’ve been cut, though. It’s got a lot of those bizarre VLDC3-style aesthetics, but it never hampers the quality of the level at all. What counts the most is that I had plenty of fun with this level.
79	Ghost Ship	Losoall	78	Medium	Lower-Mid	41	53	I don’t think I understood the P-Switch puzzle. Most of it I could just assume I use one switch to get the next switch, but there were a couple times I had to rewind because I apparently used the switch at the wrong spot. The beginning Message Block wasn’t that clear, either. Otherwise, it’s an okay puzzle box level, if a bit repetitive, and it had a good Big Boo fight.
80	Vanilla dome level	masterdud	79	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Unplayable due to bad patch. Author may be rereg of other entrant, swamp cecil.
81	The Great Dimensional Rift	Akhenderson	80	Hard	Dishonorary	94	94	Feels like someone’s first time in Lunar Magic than anything. It’s not terrible, but there’s not really any appeal to the level. Just a very basic Gauntlet experience, albeit with some annoying design occasionally.
82	Climb To The Clouds	Kristian	81	Medium	Middle	34	22	Goofy aesthetics again, but it’s a fine level nonetheless. I liked making the secret exit an optional harder path at the end. Decent overall.
83	Azure skyland	Creatorofchaos	82	Easy	Vanilla Dome	58	60	Not the most interesting level, but it’s serviceable. Nothing else I can really add.
84	Cleft Cliff	swamp cecil	83	[n/a]	Broken	[n/a]	[n/a]	NOTE: Unplayable due to bad patch.
85	CASTLE OF DOOM	LaularuKyrumo	84	Brutal	Lower II	88	[n/a]	I marked this DNF originally, but trying it again it’s pretty beatable; I just screwed up on a later section originally and had other priorities at the time. There’s some okay setups in here, but it feels to reliant on either trial-and-error (again, for that segment I got stuck it wasn’t really clear what I was supposed to do), or very precise jumping (mostly in the beginning part). I can see this level appealing for some, but I found it too frustrating to be worth it. NOTE: Author used level 101 (#1 Iggy’s Castle) for their entry, but did not edit the overworld to adjust for that, so you have to play a few levels before getting to the actual entry. Because of this, judges assumed entry was a bad patch and disqualified the level.
86	SS Castle	arnpoly	85	Hard-BL	Upper-Mid	11	56	It’s a nice change of pace. Plain-looking but more than makes up for it in tight, tricky design and a very fun difficulty. Some spots feel a little cheap, though, either due to weird timing or requiring a bit of memorization. But overall, I had a lot of fun with this one.
87	Cookie’s Fortress	Dashie	86	Medium	Vanilla Dome	54	73	It’s okay. Some of the design is kind of basic, and the second half drags more than the first, but there’s nothing really wrong with it. It’s a passable fortress level.
88	Volcano Fortress	ToasterTank	87	Medium	Lower	77	68	Really generic and blocky-looking. Not a slog to play but doesn’t really do anything interesting.
89	Lava Rush	everest700 (now Everest)	88	Medium	Dishonorary	101	93	Design is way too flat; aside from the beginning, and a little bit towards the end, it felt like I was just walking in a straight line and occasionally jumping. Needed much more work done.
90	Volcanic Valley	MoogleEmperor	89	Hard	Middle	24	32	One of the better lava/volcano levels of this contest. Really enjoyable first half, though a little janky at parts. Second half was alright but became more annoying than fun at parts; a little too reliant on Pitchin’ Chucks and Lava Lotuses for difficulty. Otherwise, it’s a pretty fun level.
91	Magic Forest	DaxterSpeed [user id 5544]	90	Hard	Lower	74	30	Not bad, but there’s a lot of annoying design. The opening forest canopy in particular blinds the player way too much, making it really not that fun to play. Other than that, though, it’s okay, if a little generic.
92	Castle Ruins	Hach	91	Medium	Middle	28	38	Hits pretty much all the beats of a decent VLDC3 level; fun to jump around, decent amount of exploration, nice decorations (none of the really bizarre aesthetics at least), but no groundbreaking design. Fun but maybe not memorable.
93	Iron Grotto	Lu-kaz	92	Medium	Lower-Mid	36	49	I think it’s a really interesting level, but it took me a few tries to really understand what I was supposed to do. Part of the issue is the paths to either exit are a little short, but more importantly don’t need any items (save for one P-Switch for the secret) to reach, making it kind of disorienting the first time you play the level. I think having all the more interesting setups and exploration be reserved for the Yoshi Coins is a risky move; I can only speak for myself, of course, but I feel collecting all five (or in this case six) coins is not a priority, so after my first couple attempts I don’t really bother. Maybe that’s not something I should fault the author for, but I feel better integrating the goals with the level and exploration might have been better. Either way, however, this is a pretty nice level if you really give it a chance.
94	Re-Embodiement of the Scarlet Devil	PwndGames	93	Hard-BL	Worst	110	100	Sorry, but I have no idea what the author was trying to do here. I’ve seen an attempt at a shmup section before, and even just a projectile-based level I would’ve understood. Here it’s just spamming a whole bunch of sprites, which makes the level feel especially broken as there’s slowdown and disappearing sprites everywhere. Really, really not fun to play, even taking the author’s suggestion to use savestates.
95	Tech Support vs WWSPA	MalcolmBellman38	94	Hard	Worst	113	108	Uhhh….wow. I don’t think I’ve played an entry like this before, and honestly hope I don’t play one again. NOTE: Level has glitched music, so it’s recommended to play the level on mute, if at all.
96	Death Mountain	mrwannabe	95	Medium	Vanilla Dome	65	[n/a]	It’s okay, but felt a little sloppy at parts. Nothing specifically wrong with it, though, just not really anything special. NOTE: Later version of level had a bad patch, thus causing the level to get disqualified.
97	Oasis Isle	PowerStrike	96	Easy	Vanilla Dome	67	45	Painfully generic. Nothing else needs to be said.
98	Chrominus Castle	Riolu180 (now Nimono)	97	Hard	Lower	70	26	There’s a lot of effort into the level, and the design is solid, but there’s just too much tedium in the level to make it enjoyable. The normal exit has a lot of waiting around for either autoscrollers or layer 2 platforms, and the Magikoopa autscroller in particular feels like it takes a long time to end. The secret exit is also pretty tedious, though at least a bit creative; I think with some reworking it would’ve been really cool. Also, at first I couldn’t figure out how to get to the secret path, due to how the Koopa you need spawns in the first section. I wish I liked this level more, but unfortunately it ends up being too slow to be fun.
99	Forever Factory	Lynnes (now allowiscous)	98	Brutal	Upper	6	1	As far as presentation goes, this level is one of the very best. The cutscenes are pretty overbearing, and it could’ve maybe used some more color, but otherwise it’s a pretty stunning-looking level. The design is cool; there’s a lot of gimmicks that I’ve seen before but used to much better effect here. I feel that the level isn’t quite as fun as it could be, though. Some of the design feels deliberately annoying, either due to cramped areas or enemy placement. Also, while it’s not the hardest nor longest level I’ve played in this contest, I could not imagine doing this level without savestates after cutscenes, especially considering the player doesn’t get a midpoint. In the end, though, while it isn’t my favorite level of this contest, it’s a standout entry for sure.
100	Larry’s Volcano	GN (now Incognito)	99	Hard-BL	Lower-Mid	37	20	It’s good for the most part, though pretty frustrating. I don’t mind authors reusing ideas from previous contests, but did you have to pick two of the most annoying volcano segments from VLDC2? (Specifically, the Muncher/Line Guides from YCZ’s entry and the Flying ? Block platforming from Aquamentus.) There really should’ve been a midpoint too, not really sure why that was omitted. That being said, it’s a pretty good volcano level, tricky but usually fair.