The level design in Subarashï - Level 1 / 5

There are a lot of things that can break or make a game. Music, graphics, controls, and so on! Your opinion what the most important in a game, might be very different from other people, but I think level design in one of the more important things of a game.

Today I will take the first 5 levels of my game Subarashï and introduce their meaning to the player. All levels are imaged here, so you don't have to play the game first (but it's recommended).

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In Micro Massive, the level order was well thought of. Blue platforms, followed by red planets where you could platform through. Next, you had to climb down a yellow tower, collecting coins on the way down. Actually, the meaning was to make the player choose what to do after clearing the yellow tower: to keep above the ground in Platform Paradise, of go underground. Everyone who finished Micro Massive will know that the final idea was a mix of both.

If you want to see it, the map of Micro Massive is right here.

But with Subarashï, it was different. That was because of a very simple fact: it was a puzzle platformer. In 20 levels, I had to take out the very most of the game's idea and show the player the power of the game. Therefore, I made a list. A list of ideas for the 20 levels, and some harder variations for the bonus levels. I even had planned a Micro Massive bonus level, but the idea never got in the game.

Now for the levels...

Level 1 is, as you might have guessed, purely for story purposes. The player meets the nameless ninja, finds out why he is even here and even tells where the player is: a cave. As the player walks to the crystals, the second character pops up, introducing himself and his power, and gives the new player some help.

Level 2 is a very short tutorial. Whats interesting about this level is that the player can't fail this level. It's meant to be, because it will only chase the player away from continuing the game if he fails on a tutorial level.

Once you understand the gimmick of the game, the explosion, you can play level 3 with two toes in your nose. (On a second thought, that sounds pretty weird.) The rocks are also introduced to gameplay and the player will notice that rocks aren't affected with gravity, but sand is! If the player want a hint how to beat the level, they have to select 'Yes' in the dialog. The player is also told R will reset the level.

The same with level 4, actually. If the player now wants help, they have to ask for it themselves (by clicking the ?-icon).

In level 5, the purple crystals appear in the game. The player will see the new stuff and click on the ?-icon, of find out what it is by themselves.

I hope I wrote an interesting piece! The very reason why I'm doing this is because I found some work from another guy, who wrote about Wario Land 4 in detail. He wrote a piece about every level, bosses, the use of the bonus chambers and more stuff like that. You can see that all here: 
Starting at the oldest posts:
http://danielprimed.com/tag/wario-land-4/page/29/
Starting at the newest posts (about the game design)
http://danielprimed.com/tag/wario-land-4/page/2/
He also included level maps in his research, definitely stop by to see that.

Sabonaya!
Amazingcookie