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Favorite Video Game Levels?

Favorite Video Game Levels?

  • Fields/Plains

    Votes: 9 23.1%
  • Deserts/Arid Landscapes

    Votes: 4 10.3%
  • Urban Areas/Cities

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Icy/Snowy Areas

    Votes: 10 25.6%
  • Caverns/Temples/Dungeons

    Votes: 10 25.6%
  • Space/Cyberspace/Unusual Areas

    Votes: 16 41.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 8 20.5%

  • Total voters
    39

Sonic Boom

@JohanSSB4 Twitter
Nearly every game that isn't a puzzle, music, sport, or arcade game has a multitude of terrains that make the levels unique and fun to play. Which kind of levels do you like the most?

I personally enjoy any levels that relate to icy areas, such as snowy mountains or the frozen north. It creates a barren appeal that makes anything to do with mystery or secrecy much more pronounced than usual. A good example would be the Crystal Palace in Paper Mario. I also enjoy levels that lead up to the final battles, something like dungeons and caverns, since they create the suspenseful feeling that needs to be there for the player to enjoy the ending. Finally, simple field levels are great to just run around in.

EDIT: Ah, forgot to include "Forests" as a choice. I guess that could go with the "Fields/Plains" option, since they are usually considered together.
 
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Selfdestruct Togepi

Fangirls Beware!
Space/Cyberspace/Unusual Areas gets my vote.

stages like Galaxyman's stage on Megaman 9.
 

Dread Advocate

†Stay Metal†
it really just depends on what game it is. if its a futuristic war game, then i prefer urban combat and being inside an installation. if its a Tolkein-esque fantasy game, i prefer all kinds of natural environments. and if its a gothic fantasy i prefer dungeons.
 

cascade88

< go ask alice >
Well overall, I like space type levels, all extra-terrestrial. But for other games, like Silent Hill, of course the setting of city streets mixed with creepy houses/buildings/hosptials works better and I love it. But then again I also love ancient city/earthy type levels, like those I remember from my N64 Turok game... was nice.
 

Charizard Champion#06

Spiral Warrior
Not a fan of gaming cliches with the overused theme levels. Forest, Desert, Ice, Volcano, etc. have all been done to death by most series. Sometimes they can be done really done well when it makes you forget that you're in the cliche. Most RPGs or Adventure games have had a cavern/temple/dungeon so they can get boring as well.

Notable levels I really like:
-The cityscapes in Assassin's Creed, jumping along the rooftops was pure joy.
-The Tanker in MGS2
-And the jungles in MGS3
-The aftermath of Test Chamber 19 from Portal
-The final Colossus in Shadow of the Colossus, the battle was almost RELIGIOUS it was so intense
-The drive-the-Warthog-or-die-moments from Halo 1 & 3.
-The Citadel in Half-Life 2 when you have the Godly Gravity Gun. ^_^
-The Fortress from Metroid Prime 2
-The island in Resident Evil 4
-Tower of the Gods in Wind Waker
-Above, the Ocean
-The first stages of Mario Galaxy

Mmm, that's all I can think of that come to mind.
 

Cobalt_Latios

Well-Known Member
Recreated Japanese shopping districts.


Other.
I'm not going to comment, but...

First let me get this out of the way: I simply hate ice levels (damn hard to control yourself due to the slippery ice. Really aggravates me). Jungle levels aren't so bad either, but they tend to be... tough to navigate through.

So really, Just about anything that doesn't fall into either categories is fair game for me. I actually kind of like the urban areas the most. I don't mind rocky terrain areas that much either (actually, I usually prefer them).

My personal favorite areas are stuff like an water type areas (except for the times when your under water... damn difficult to navigate). Also, water levels have that nice little advantage where falling from god knows how far won't immediately kill you (assuming you fall into the water that is).

So, any area that has water that you can swim in that won't kill you instantly and that gives you access to other areas via underwater passages and said character doesn't require to "surface", then that's the type of "level" I like.

And for the record, this title should be renamed: "Favorite Video Environments". Because... levels has an entirely different meaning for me.

edit:
-The Citadel in Half-Life 2 when you have the Godly Gravity Gun. ^_^
I'd like to point out that it doesn't really qualify considering the nature of this "poll". However, it does seem like you understand the meaning of the "level" as I did. Actually, even though I did enjoy that segment (a weapon that pretty much allows to grab and throw just about anything, along with nigh invincibility), the fact that you can "toss people around" near effortlessly sort of threw any challenge that area might have had. Thankfully, it throws a somewhat decent challenge just before you go and fight the final "boss" so it's not so bad (I'm of course referring to the Striders... I really hate those things).

*C_L*
 
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(s.i.e)

★skydragon★
i don't mind going through any of them. the fun would be gone fast if there wern't many different types of levels.

however i personaly love the city & forest best in shooters. the city garantees much cover and the forest.. well i sorta grew up in the middle of forests i feel comfy there whether there are explosions and dead people littering it or not.
 
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NPC

sleep researcher
Slick said:
Yes...
YES...
YYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

But fhqwhgads means The World Ends With You.

Yyyyeah, that was the joke, seeing as he's recently been pushing TWEWY even more than normal.

The worst levels are probably desert and underwater ones. Deserts tend to be long, difficult, and monotonous to the point where you may get lost simply because everything looks the same. Don't think I need to explain why underwater levels are aggravating.

I'm a big fan of abandoned structures as well, and locales that seem haunted. Of course, they don't make sense with every game.
 

Yonowaru in Chaos

gaspard de la nuit
It usually depends on how the game executes the levels. I can't really say which one, because I've seen the best and worst of all the level themes. Levels that involve architecture are usually nice if well executed, but can become boring quickly if its rooms are repetitive (sometimes this applies to natural levels as well). Natural levels most of the time aren't 'natural' in the sense that you're allowed to go anywhere you want, but if it allows a decent amount of exploration (yet isn't easy to get lost in), then it's fine as well.

As far as scenery and all's concerned, I hate forest levels where the background is either on a wall (as if it was architecture) or there are hills blocking the way. Looking at it from a 2D perspective, forests never really tend to be very exciting as there's usually nothing as far as the y-axis is concerned (i.e. one-dimensional). The forest and swamp levels from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is a fine example of this (though it can be said that those levels did incorporate aerial-combat).

Deserts and other expansive areas in general tend to be annoying without a good mapping system, so it's usually bad if an expansive, free-exploration area is used as a Point-A-to-Point-B level. For example, the Calm Lands (thank god for Chocobos) and certain parts of the Sanubia Desert in Final Fantasy X. And it's bad enough that monsters randomly appear from time to time.

Levels that involve water (as well as other...movement-hindering liquids that the character submerges themselves in) may be justifiable because they're good tests for the player when confronted with drastic speed loss, lowered dropping (sinking) speed and improved jumping ability, but I've yet to see a well executed underwater level. I think it's because combat has never been quite a focus in (2D) underwater levels, but rather, the strategic hindrances when underwater. Another thing is that some underwater levels (like Kingdom Heart's Atlantica) allow full control of all three axes, lending to some interesting combat and movement possibilities. Using the previous example, it can be said that Atlantica has a high or low difficulty due to the altered combat, depending on the player's skill. As a final note, many underwater areas tend to be dull and boring (like Atlantica) with a monotonous blue hue; most players who don't like the gameplay offerings of an underwater level would probably hate everything to do with underwater levels.

Urban areas can fit in the category of architecture, or expansive areas. That said, a free-exploration urban area can be considered better than a natural free-exploration one, since there'd be more obstacles (that make sense) and less monotonous.
 

TurtwigFan1

burning it down
I like the Space themed areas in games, like Super Mario Galaxy.
 
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