What genres? Side scrolling action games with excellent design: Metal Slug 1/2/3, Ninja Gaiden 3, Castlevania Rondo of Blood. That's all I can think of at the moment.
Agreed on the first 3 Metal Slug games, plus 5 was pretty good (4, not so much, and forget about 6...).
Also, recently replayed Dungeon Keeper as well as the Deeper Dungeons pack. Good level design is in the main campaign - the pace is great, each level is extremely varied, and you feel sufficiently badass destroying the Lord and his retinue or other Keepers. By contrast, Deeper Dungeons levels change the formula enough that they're not as good. One wrong dig and you can unleash some nasty heroes way before you're ready to deal with them. On top of that, most levels remove the Sight of Evil which just means you have to save, dig, say 'ah, I better train some creatures up before I go there', and reload. Many of the Deeper Dungeons levels favor specific strategies to get through.
I guess that boils down to: In an RTS (single player), it's much better to allow the player to tackle a level in any way they please. Also, don't punish exploration (or at least give fair warning if there is danger ahead) and don't force players to rely on quicksave/load - it's tedious!
That may translate to other game genres, too. Freedom in regards to playstyle is always good, and having to constantly save-scum is usually bad.
Originally Posted by Phredreeke I like Scrap Brain Zone Act 2 in the Master System version of Sonic 1
YES! And didn't Act 3 have secret loops? Also the waterfall level, the hidden emerald in Jungle Zone Act 1, the amazing airship you can bypass almost entirely... Truly one of the greatest Sonic games.
My gold standard for vast, awe-inspiring level design is Jedi Knight.
seeing the star wars thing makes me thing of the first level of duke nukem 3d. hollywood holocaust.
just think of all the ways you can go and walk around and all the hidden areas you can only reach with a jetpack like the tiny room above the streets/cinema with a tv in it playing porn.
If there's any good example of intentionally bad level design, it's Mega Man X6's Ground Scaravich stage.
The game itself randomly generates a section of the stage, typically making it absolute Hell for the average gamer. It gets too difficult a bit too quickly.
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ive gotta admit it got the worst level design ive seen in a game.
Edited by Hermes