games with the best level designs

[orthicviper]

I still sometimes think about Duke Nuke'em 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood and how good the level designs were in those games. These guys weren't just doing a job to get paid but you could play it and tell they really enjoyed their job and wanted to make their levels fun. And when I play the levels in Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Little Big Planet games I wonder if the kind of creativity I see there is possible without drugs! I think for SNES the best level design was in Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda: LTTP which was just one big area leading to other areas that created a very fun world to explore. Maybe for Sega Genesis I'd give the best level design award to Shinobi 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Chemical Night Zone and the Casino levels were really cool. 

[aloram]

Super Mario Bros., Level 1-1.

 

http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/08/08/anatomy-of-super-mario-xi-learning-the-ropes/

[Areala]

Super Metroid on the SNES is a master class in 2D level design. Actually, I'd argue it's a master class in game design period.

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's level design comes off initially as well done, then swerves over into 'mind blowing' once you realize they turned the entire castle 180 degrees for the second half of the game, and therefore the level designers had to take that into account for every room they built. That's dedication, right there.

 

Silent Hill 2 is another example of epic design, with its levels that go from creepy and unsettling at the start to downright horrifying by the end of the game. Silent Hill 3 also does a fine job in this area. Basically, "Team Silent" rocks.

 

*huggles*
Areala

[fousekis]

I like Duke Nuke'em 3D level design as it id RE2 and ofc the epicness of ocarina of time dungeons except the water temple

[orthicviper]

Super Metroid on the SNES is a master class in 2D level design. Actually, I'd argue it's a master class in game design period.

 

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's level design comes off initially as well done, then swerves over into 'mind blowing' once you realize they turned the entire castle 180 degrees for the second half of the game, and therefore the level designers had to take that into account for every room they built. That's dedication, right there.

 

Silent Hill 2 is another example of epic design, with its levels that go from creepy and unsettling at the start to downright horrifying by the end of the game. Silent Hill 3 also does a fine job in this area. Basically, "Team Silent" rocks.

 

*huggles*

Areala

 

I didn't think of it that way, that they made C:SotN's levels designed from the beginning to properly suit the upside down variation but instead I just figured there were small changes on top of the reversal to make it work right. But your comment makes me want to play it again and see if it really is mostly or completely the same except just flipped upside down.

 

I like Duke Nuke'em 3D level design as it id RE2 and ofc the epicness of ocarina of time dungeons except the water temple

Those RE games do have good levels.

I didn't find the water temple annoying I thought it was fun but especially the one on Twilight Princess was fun for me.

[Areala]

I didn't think of it that way, that they made C:SotN's levels designed from the beginning to properly suit the upside down variation but instead I just figured there were small changes on top of the reversal to make it work right. But your comment makes me want to play it again and see if it really is mostly or completely the same except just flipped upside down.

 

When you play through again, take a look at the structure of the levels, especially the placement of some staircases or platforms that don't seem to do anything or serve any purpose in the normal castle. Even before I knew about the second half of the game, I can remember thinking in some areas (Clock Tower especially) that, "The only way that design element makes sense is if you flipped everything upside down. What was the area builder thinking?"

 

The levels aren't 100% mirror image inversions, and there are a couple of places where things were tweaked slightly, but 99% of the rooms in the second half of the game are perfect 180-degree clones of the original area.

 

*huggles*

Areala

[te72]

Silent Hill 2 is another example of epic design, with its levels that go from creepy and unsettling at the start to downright horrifying by the end of the game. Silent Hill 3 also does a fine job in this area. Basically, "Team Silent" rocks.

 

*huggles*

Areala

Rocks the unemployment line, you mean? Sadly... Loved SH1 and SH2, never played SH3, and The Room just seemed... odd. Not sure why, but I didn't enjoy it as much. Shattered Memories would have been fantastic but for the repeated cry of, "Cheryll?" every time you try to investigate the surroundings...

 

The levels aren't 100% mirror image inversions, and there are a couple of places where things were tweaked slightly, but 99% of the rooms in the second half of the game are perfect 180-degree clones of the original area.

 

*huggles*

Areala

Curious, I've played that game quite a few times, all the way through, and yet I don't think I noticed any such shenanigans. Anything specific come to mind?

 

 

As for me, I'd say that pretty much any Mario core game, as well as the Mario Kart games, has excellent level design. I'm a big fan of the levels in MGS as well, as they were designed by none other than Kojima himself, using my favorite toy as a kid, Legos! Also, I could probably draw you a map from memory of the Spencer Mansion in the original version of Resident Evil. I have a blueprint of our house that I intend to hang above the fireplace someday, as an homage to the 2nd floor map puzzle.

 

That, and if I'm ever so fortunate as to win a stupid amount of money on a lottery (so much that I ran out of ideas on how to give money away), I would commission an actual real world, to scale, version of the Spencer Mansion, textures and decor included. I know this would cost probably somewhere between $20-50 million, but I have a plan... turn it into a haunted house during October. Or July, to be more appropriate to the game. Yeah... I know it's never gonna happen, but it's fun to dream.

 

Another one I personally find that has great level design is the Gran Turismo series. Sure, some of you might think race tracks aren't "levels" and you might be right to an extent, but... I learned car control on some of those tracks. What I wouldn't give to drive them in real life...

[orthicviper]

Good idea but it feels incomplete without planning to hire Monsanto or someone to do some genetic research on leeches and viruses and such.

[Data]

Maybe I could invent a toilet in the name of Canada for our endevour. 

 

[te72]

Good idea but it feels incomplete without planning to hire Monsanto or someone to do some genetic research on leeches and viruses and such.

Part of me laughed at first... then I realized that they would be at the top of the list of who you'd want to be doing that sort of work. Fun (and terrifying) as that sounds, I think I'll just hire the folks who do the makeup for the Walking Dead show.

[daven000]

I think any open world, explorational, non level-based game like Metroid or Zelda tend to have the best level design. These games not only have to be fun and interesting for a more standard playthrough, but also take into account all the crazy ways in which players can sequencebreak the game when gaining new abilities from items.

[te72]

Daven000, you bring up open world designs, and that kinda makes me realize that I really enjoy the worlds in the GTA series. They may not entirely consist of "levels" in the traditional sense, but when you're playing them, there is a fluidity of the experience that would be hard for another player to replicate. Some of the "did you see that?!" moments that happen in these sorts of games are riotous.