Original Topic:
Okay, so I've seen many people fail at actually making levels that are meant for Link use, so yeah, here's the guide.
Guide's dictionary
upslashing = holding up while jumping; attacking up.
downslashing = holding down while jumping; attacking down
Fireshot/Iceshot/Magicshot = link's projectiles corresponding the power up we will be speaking of.
Platforming
- Spoiler
- First off, 2 of the most important factors, and the most obvious ones:
1. link can't "spinjump" jump on enemies such as the thwomp or the boos,
2. link can jump on spike tiles, by downslashing on them.
Okay, so, here are some suggestions:
Large pits.
link can't excactly instantly run like the other characters, so he would have to take a quite annoying running start to get across these pits, unless the pit is on a landscape that isn't excactly decreasing link's speed, don't put these, just put regular sized pits.
Knockback
one of link's overlooked handicaps is knockback, he usually get's knocked 2 blocks back, you can use this for difficulty, but be aware of always taking it into account, nobody likes fighting Flying chasing enemies while riding a platform and then instantly get killed in one hit.
Spike tiles
(Taking fact 2 into account) Link can pretty much pass through spiked floors without effort, this can get gimmicky though, since he has to hit the spikes with a downslash, so, if he has to focus on killing an enemy AND he has to focus on spike jumping, spikes can make a good challenge (also, the height of link's spike jumping is almost the same as Mario/luigi/toad's spin jumping height)
Combat
- Spoiler
- NPC placement
Since link is basically an enemy obliterator, the enemies need to be placed smartly, link's nightmare mostly consists of flying enemies, due to their chance to knock you back and the fact they're hard to hit, a single chasing enemy on an empty enviroment, could mean a nice challenge.
you need to think out places where the npc would be strong (but not impossible to kill), like, putting a hammer bro across a pit that link has to get through, can mean a good challenge, placing the hammer bro in a straight line would just be pointless since link can block the hammers and just attack the hammer bro to kill it.
Rupees and 1 ups
if you're making an episode, don't place many rupees and 1 ups, heck just place rupees as an extra reward, why? because, when link kills an enemy, it has the chance to drop rupees, they can even drop 10 this is very important to take account of, because link would just wrack up 1ups easily and make dying just a nuisance rather than a punishment for example, when i was playing through the invasion 2 as link, when i got to level 2 i had 18 fucking lives.
Powerups
the tier of powerups link can use in a level are pretty twisted compared to the other playables, as the hammer suit isn't completely broken like mario's or toad's, use the ice flower wisely though, link can get a huge advantage in platforming, though, his combat with it is a bit weak (unless he's against smb2 shit), the fire flower is pretty balanced, link can also be a "bullet magnet", wich means, according to your level, he might need a bunch of hearts scattered arround the level (don't put them really often, and try to make the place a bit challenging to get to), the leaf and tanooki suit's fairy form are overlooked by many people, even though, if you get hit while in that form, it doesn't take your hp nor powerup, and it's flying status, is slower than the others, but has pretty high mobility, also, the tanooki suit is extremely useful on link due to the addition of mobility, survivability, strength (statue form can kill enemies you can't even kill with the hammer suit).
Enemy choice
as i said before, link is an enemy destroyer, so he needs a good enemy placement, one of the advantages of link being an enemy destroyer though, is the fact that the tier of enemies you can put in a level is a bit more free, birdo and mouser can be a common enemy, (don't overuse them) (also protip: put custom graphics that aren't recolors on those enemies, so people don't go "omg ur just spammin bosses"), minibosses has a wide variety (almost every boss that isn't smb3 bowser can be used as a miniboss), so yeah, try to upgrade the tier of enemies in your level, but don't skyrocket the difficulty (boos are also a challenging enemy, as link can't possibly kill them unless he has a tanooki suit or sends out a tile projectile like the smb3 blue brick)
also, putting wart in a high spot that link can't reach by jumping but can reach with his weapons, is a good choice, he also makes a good combo with mother brain)
SMB3 bowser fights
this is a bit obnoxious to set up, bowser fights need to have a challenging enviroment, why?, here are the reasons:
-link can just downslash the shit out of bowser until he's dead
-link's shield can block the fireballs
-bowser is also easy to hit from the front
basically, make the roof a bit dangerous to touch (don't overdo it), and try to make a stage with a bit of spiky pits (not botomless, nor lava pits, since you could just lure bowser into falling and dying)
