Author: Steven Wakeman
Year: 2000
Genre: Single Player
Filename: dinostat.j2l
Download: J2O
I started this blog with a review of Wakeman's first two single player levels, so I might as well revive it with a review of his third, and as far as I know, last level.
Out of all three levels that Wakeman made, Dino Station can safely be called the best one. It has a very unique feel to it, with a layout that is very puzzle-oriented. It's simply impossible to beat this level without thinking, and if you're not good at finding secrets you will have a lot of trouble here. Luckily, the layout is quite non-linear, and it basically impossible to get lost. This means you won't have to comb over a gigantic maze where all the rooms look the same, looking for the one tiny secret needed to progress to the next area.
At some points the level might be a bit too confusing. There is a lot of scenery in the foreground which tends to obscure the view, and there are a few places with invisible barriers that are somewhat unintuitive. Thankfully, the smaller than average size of this level means that you will never get too frustrated, since once you learn the overall layout (and it really doesn't take that long) you can focus on finding all of the necessary secrets. The confusing aspect of this level actually is a good thing, in some ways. It's very rare for a level to pull that off and still be fun.
The difficulty here is pretty high. I recommend saving frequently, and only playing on hard mode if you are up for a real challenge. The level is never unfair with the difficulty however, and in one particular area it is actually quite diabolically creative. This area has you climb up a shaft where the only platforms available are covered in spikes. There is health along the way, but that's only good the first time you run through the area. You will have to visit this place at least twice, and maybe a third time if you can't find everything. Eventually, the carrots will run out, and going through this area will mean serious damage. I thought that was a pretty clever way to put pressure on the player, and it is definitely something that I have never seen before or since.
The main portion of Dino Station has you searching for trigger crates to open up the path to the next area. After that comes a boss fight. The boss isn't terribly difficult if you have found the powerups, but it isn't a total pushover either. There also isn't a checkpoint before fighting it, which is a bit problematic. Also scattered throughout the level are ten coins, which are required to access one of the trigger crates. It is possible (albeit unlikely) to miss some of them and render the level unwinnable, so be wary of that, especially at the start.
There is one fairly annoying bug in this otherwise solid level: it is possible to get stuck in the wall lining the sides of the tunnel to the boss. It is pretty easy to get stuck here if you aren't careful, so it would be good to keep that in mind. Thankfully, it is a very minor part of the level and you only have a high chance of encountering this bug if you hit the crates in a certain order.
Even if the gameplay here doesn't suit your tastes, this level looks really, really good. The attention to detail here is extensive, with great use of the tileset and a heavy focus on lighting effects. Some of the foreground does get a bit obstructive, but in single player that's not such a huge problem. The music selection is also great. This, along with the level design, combines to give the level a totally unique feel, which is an important characteristic for standalone levels to have. Since story is not something that is normally present in standalone levels, something else is needed to make it memorable and interesting. Dino Station accomplishes that.
Good:
- Unique layout
- Requires more thinking than most levels
- Excellent eyecandy and music
- Never gets boring; stays good all the way through
- A bit too short
- Eyecandy can be a bit obstructive
- Sometimes confusing (e.g. invisible walls)
- Easy to get stuck in a wall
