What Makes a Good Snow Level? | Loading Zone Podcast Ft.

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What Makes a Good Snow Level? | Loading Zone Podcast Ft.

Рет қаралды 434

7 ай бұрын

Snow levels are some of the most diverse areas that video games have to offer. On one side of the coin, you have the beautiful winter wonderlands, defined by their cozy feel and gorgeous visual style. On the other, you have the frigid icy tundras, which serve as a means of ramping up difficulty through mechanics such as slippery floors and reduced visibility. These frozen landscapes vary greatly in their presentation, from Banjo-Kazooie's Freezeezy Peak, to Metroid Prime's Phendrana Drifts, to Twilight Princess' Snowpeak Ruins, to even Mario Kart Wii's DK Summit. Thus, one question remains: What Makes a Good Snow Level?
Check out our special guest ‪@Wolfkaosaun‬!
- The Magic of Snow Levels: • The Magic of Snow Levels
- Twitter: / wolfkaosaun
- Twitch: / wolfkaosaun
Music:
- Staff Roll [Mario Kart DS]
- Snowhorn Wastes [Star Fox Adventures]
- Click Clock Wood (Winter) [Banjo-Kazooie]
Social Media: ‪@Fobb‬
- Twitter: / fobbean
- Discord: / discord

Пікірлер: 22

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

Thanks a bunch to Wolfkaosaun for joining me in this episode! - Link to his channel: kzfaq.info/love/coAH0iwgjxlwI_F5v-0FYA - Be sure to check out his video on The Magic of Snow Levels too! Here's the link: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qMx9naSBt57RmnU.html

@Wolfkaosaun 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for letting me be a part of this! Was a lot of fun to reminisce on some these games

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

The pleasure's all mine, thanks so much for joining me!

@shadow-scope-fsm7165 7 ай бұрын

I've always had a soft spot for snow/ice levels, because they often have the potential to be the most visually appealing levels in the game, as well as having the best atmospheres. Another couple of snow levels I like are Freezeflame Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, for once again blending fire and ice so well, plus it's fun to make Mario ice skate. Also White Park from Sonic 4: Episode 2, because each act feels unique, and it's a winter wonderland theme park. Who wouldn't want to visit there?

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

The Freezeflame Galaxy is one of the levels from Mario Galaxy I remember the most, it was a lot of fun! Haven't played that game in years, so it has some real staying power as well, haha

@JustThatFinley 7 ай бұрын

Great stuff Mr Bean, can't get enough of these podcasts! I'd say the standout snow level for me is the whole of Metal Gear Solid 1's setting: Shadow Moses. The atmosphere is top notch especially for a PS1 title and there are even gameplay elements that arise from it such as your footsteps being left behind in the snow which guards will notice.

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your continued viewership Mr Finley! The use of footprints is really clever, that game seems like it was very ahead of its time!

@RealChaseman17 7 ай бұрын

Great vid. See ya next year Fobb!

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

Much appreciated, hope you have a great 2024!

@MysticMidna 7 ай бұрын

freezeezy PEAK... everfrost PEAK...... such accurate names tbh

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

Nobody does it like n64-era Rareware

@Scrubber89 7 ай бұрын

I didn't realise snow levels were so controversial. I love them. Underwater levels on the other hand 😒

@Fobb 6 ай бұрын

The view on snow levels is pretty mixed, as most people tend to get annoyed by ice physics and the puzzles that go along with them. I'm also in the camp of people who loves them, but water levels are a different beast haha! Generally I'm not the biggest fan of them, although there are some exceptions like Jolly Roger's Lagoon from Banjo-Tooie!

@Scrubber89 6 ай бұрын

@@Fobb Jolly Rogers Lagoon is a treat compared to most water levels.

@user-it8re8jv2l 6 ай бұрын

2 words Ice physics

@Fobb 6 ай бұрын

The bane of every platformer fan's life 😂

@qwertykins76 7 ай бұрын

I don't think DK64's Crystal Caves are full of ice crystals. It's a gemstone cave. Although admittedly we know the Ice Key was supposed to be associated with Crystal Caves, so there's that.

@Fobb 7 ай бұрын

Oh, that's an interesting tidbit about the ice key - I didn't know about that, but it makes a lot of sense!

@qwertykins76 7 ай бұрын

@@Fobb Yeah there's a whole complicated story about that. In short, Stop N Swop wasn't intended as just a Banjo-Kazooie thing, the plan was that a bunch of different Rare games would exchange secret mystery item data. But they only ever developed it for BK and DK64. Stop N Swop died a mere 1 and a half months before DK64 came out, after they got a letter from Nintendo demanding the feature be removed. So they had to quickly scramble to remove Stop N Swop from DK64. So in DK64 there's leftover data for an Ice Key in the game code, and there's also a scrapped Crystal Caves/DK's treehouse cutscene. From it, we can reasonably conclude that you would send the Ice Key from Banjo to DK64, then a cutscene would play where the Ice Key would cause a refrigerator in DK's treehouse to open. Going inside the fridge would warp you to Crystal Caves, where the scrapped cutscene shows the camera zooming into that one suspicious wall that everyone thought was weird. And then......we don't know really. And thanks to a European magazine we found out that that one pillar room in Hideout Helm that everyone thought was suspicious was in fact going to contain a collectable giant golden bust of DK's head, which was a Stop N Swop item we have no idea what it was for. :/