I started from Garden Garrison. I like the multiple paths (found the upper path immediately and didn't try the lower one). Rewarding exploration is always a plus in my book. Upper path is a little too cluttered and hard for a 1-1 level, but its great for a regular level.
For the others who commented in Miiverse, I commented in Miiverse too. Post here if you want an extended review
I think people think 1-1s should be easier than actual 1-1s. The first 1-1 was made with the intent that players would die on the first goomba and then, after learning to jump and kill it, run away in fear from the super mushroom that looks similar to the enemy. I used fewer enemies than SMW (26) and NSMBU's (30) 1-1s. Even SMB3, which as the smallest levels with 1-1 being half the length of SMW's has 13 enemies crammed into that space. The goal of 1-1 is not to keep the player safe but to teach basic mechanics like jumping or to showcase a new powerup/mechanic that is central to the game assuming players don't need a refresher. Generally the only hard rule seems to be that they need to be able to be completed without needing to dash.
SMW's 1-1 features banzai bills, rexes that take 2 hits to kill and get faster after the first hit, jumping piranha plants, and a chargin chuck guarding the goal. It also features new concepts like flying blocks (the first super mushroom is inside one) and cannon pipes that shoot you into the air.
NSMBU's features waddlewings, goombas, koopas, and piranha plants. It also introduces moving semisolid platforms, which I'm sure throws people off, and is about 50% longer than SMW's.
Most of the enemies in my level are monty moles, but I provided plenty of platforms to stay above them. They give a visual and audio warning before they come out and take a long time to do so, and I made all of the areas they would pop out obvious so the player knows well ahead of triggering them where they are.
Let me explain the course a bit:
The first enemy you encounter is a goomba trapped in a pit. Even novice players know what a goomba is and the concept of jumping is already enforced at the start of the level. I assume most players will run over to it and try to jump on it. Even players that don't know it's an enemy will run over to it like the first goomba in SMB1. Even without dashing, the player will get there before the mole pops out and, standing atop it, the mole will kill itself. This teaches players that they can kill the moles as they spawn by standing atop the holes they come out of. Maybe they don't get there in time, or maybe they spawn the next mole before they get on top of it. Well if they run away to the left and then jump over it they will trap them since they can't jump up steps. If the player does die, that's fine too. The point of a 1-1 is not to be easy but to teach basic mechanics. Death is a part of that just as it was in SMB1's design.
Following that, you come to a section with a row of coins leading over a mole hole. Again the player should have learned that whenever they see these moles will pop out, so they can just stop and stand there to kill them. If they haven't figured that out and let the moles pop out, they land on a platform above and the player can run under them or jump to the platform above them. They should be Super Mario, so they can take a hit without dying. Above is a brick block with a ? block above it containing another super mushroom so players can power back up.
Past that you encounter winged moles that up the difficulty a bit since they can jump, however you can stay above them via the mushroom platforms or kill them as they spawn easily.
Next is a Yoshi and a pipe leading to a bonus room where the player gets a fire flower and the first of 3 hidden 1ups. If they take the lower path they encounter more winged moles, but they have mushroom platforms to stay above them with and a lot of powerups to deal with them. Then they encounter a mega mole that they can just kill as it spawns. No wings. Past that is a mushroom ? block.
Past that is another mole spawn below a mushroom platform with a red koopa on it. Players can kill the koopa and in doing so will be standing above the mole when it pops out and kill it. If they kick/throw/spit the shell to the right they set up a monty mole slaughter similar to the koopa thing in SMW's 1-2 and a similar monty mole thing in one of NSMBU's first world levels. There is a bridge above a long segment of ground that 5 moles will come out of designated by skulls. Players can stay above it all by stay on the ? blocks above them and watch the shell do its work or lead them off a cliff or just kill them with the fire flower/yoshi or jumping on them. One of the ? blocks contains a fire flower. Players can take a lot of hits with the generous powerups.
Next is a section that attempts to teach running jumps, but the pits are full of safety platforms in case of failure. A winged mega mole is in this section, but I put it as far down as I could to give it the longest amount of warning possible. If players run they probably won't even see it pop out, and if they're slow they have plenty of time to prepare for it and kill as it spawns. Just past it is a ? block they can stand on and it can't reach them, and then it will kill itself in the pit below. The ? block contains a super mushroom.
Next is a staircase to the fake exit. A regular mega mole can pop out of the top. Players that know how to dash can get to the top before it pops out and kill it. Slow players can run away from it. It gets trapped between the ground and the pipe and can't jump. And again, it's okay for a player to take a hit. They're supposed to be learning, not having the goal handed to them. I felt this was similar to SMW's chargin chuck guarding the goal.
Backing up a bit, there is an upper route for veteran players from the yoshi spawn. I trail of coins attempts to teach flutter jumping, which leads to a platform with a ? block containing a propeller mushroom. The trail of coins continues to the right and past the top of the screen to suggest players should attempt to jump as far as possible. A flutter jump, yoshi bail, and propeller spin will get players to a floating island containing one of the 3 hidden 1ups of the level.
Past the staircase is a fake flagpole and a fake fort. Standing atop the fort a tank driven by a rocky wrench fires a winged bob-omb at it and blows up the fort. The player is completely safe. The jump to the tank is very easy, and just past it is a bill blaster that fires infinite super mushrooms.
The only somewhat complex part of the level is when the player encounters a giant fort that has winged bob-ombs being launched at it. This looks scary, but the player doesn't actually have to do anything. The bob-ombs will automatically break open the fort and give players access to the exit pipe take them to the elevator leading to 1-2. The bob-omb that blew up the fort earlier teaches players what to do here. There they were completely safe but here they face a little danger.
The course has been completed by 166/208 players, averaging about 2 attempts per player. That's probably about on par with actual 1-1s; not including games like SMB2 (JP) and NSLU. The bob-omb part at the end is probably the only real barrier, but the point was to make a
new Mario game and it only made sense to up the difficulty a bit from previous games as 1-1s get more complex/difficult as the series progresses. Plus I wanted my Mario game to feature more puzzle elements.
Aaaaanyway. Sorry for the long post. I'm glad you enjoyed the level and I hope you enjoy the rest of World 1
