Favorite Levels

[bls1999]

What are your favorite PR2 levels?

(feel free to shamelessly plug your own here too)

[LuniFoxo]

Your Last Race Ever by M!nt and Artifact Location by Miniclp (wink)

[Northadox]

The thing is with PR2 levels it's really difficult to craft an identity for a level because it's nigh impossible to make unique gameplay elements with the limited roster of blocks. Levels in All-Time Best are not in there because of how they twist up the formula, it's because the art in the level is really pretty. My first Campaign of the Month winning submission was based on nice art, because that's pretty much the only way to have a level stick in your mind.

One more thing to note is that any level I will discuss here will be viewed as a single player racing through it, because let's face it, I don't have many friends and PR2's not as big as it used to be...

The best art I've seen in PR2 has to belong to The Descent by clairehof. One September night in 2009, my boy clairehof sat down, and with their artistic abilities sat down and rendered this freak monstering beauty of a hand with PR2's limited art tools. God. The patience that must be needed is immense. Me suggesting better art tools for PR2's level editor is a sign of weakness. I sourced levels from other users, like Rammjet, justinbob100, Shadow Z in that campaign because their artistic skills were also impressive. In particular, justinbob100's work is also really impressive. While not PR2, I think this is the most beautiful piece of art produced from the PR series as a whole, coming from Wild West by justinbob100 (in PR3R). Good lord. Someday I'll sit down and make an aesthetically pleasing level, but today ain't that day, especially with my limited artistic ability.

Let's talk gameplay, though. I did say that it is hard to craft an identity from a level's gameplay, though there are a few notable exceptions, mainly puzzle levels. These take PR2's limited roster of blocks and push 'em to the fullest with all of their quirks. One of my favorites of my Sir Sirlington in the Puzzling Campaign was Kwing's Airlock, which dealt with a unique mechanic of upside-down nets to create this cool button-pressing puzzle, ending in another section with pushing Push Blocks in water like it's one of those tile puzzles. You'll have to play it fully to understand what I'm yammering about, but I do appreciate it for having some fun little puzzles matched with a space setting. I also love levels that do investigate some of PR2's engine quirks, particularly ones involving art, such as justinbob100's Portal Temple or any other levels with giant blocks (like funblox's Buto (Giant)), mainly because it's funny to me. Other puzzling levels I love include vasalemma's Phantom Mirror or Karoshi 1/2.

Of course, good gameplay and art can coexist. Overbeing's levels, such as Luna Temple V3 or China give you a balance of both gameplay and art, offering nice visual treats as you race. But sometimes simple races just don't cut it! You want races that truly test your vigor and ability. Right off the top of my head, Treetopia by Tintin 101 is a brutal, but fair, and additionally themed level. I could probably say it's my favorite gameplay wise, because it's hella satisfying to get through without trapping you or requiring unfair amounts of precision.

We can't talk levels without the campaigns, however. By far the most played levels hail from the Original Campaign, and my favorites from that one include razor blade and Candyland. Storm is my favorite level from the Speed Campaign; the previously mentioned Luna Temple V3 for the Luna Campaign, Creataceous Race is the Timeline Campaign's hightlight, and lastly for the Epic Campaign, I have to tip my hat off for The Legend by nerdy by by being a level that is immensely satisfying to complete with its many perils of platforming. I did only beat it with the Cowboy Hat, though...
Oh, and you can't forget about YOSHI'S ISLAND from the same campaign keeping the fire of fun and simple platforming levels.

It's hard to pinpoint a favorite at the end. I've listed several. I think it's best just to name creators, because it seems like an impossible task to make a perfect individual level. What's more powerful to me is the creator's touch with their creations; having a style that draws you into whatever they've made. I've listed several of my favorites here with their levels; do some digging through their catalogs and you're sure to uncover gold.

Golly gee, I sure wish I could FAVORITE my levels so I could scroll through them and pick the cream of the crop. That'd be a silly feature to add though, right? Who would want that? Nobody, right?

[Lego-man945]

I enjoyed the Red vs Blue series.

[Camer the Dragon]

Out of Campaigns, my favourite has got to be the original an my favourite levels Soul Temple and Candyland. ATB has some great levels like The RvB Series. There are many other great ones but over time I've forgotten them

[TRUC]

Cliff Ranger by Jasking95

It's kind of a dumb answer, but a fair one I guess, cause as SmexxyPlunger/Vex/Dingdaga here above me stated, there are many potential ways to judge levels that could count as favourites. And this one particular level, while not being the greatest gameplay, showcasing the best art or being an accomplishment to finish, reminds me of the good old days back in 2008 where I'd log every week on the same day with my bud at school to play and enjoy some PR2 levels. And that's what it's all about, if I had to pick ONE level.

[JEEJAYEM]

Legend by nerdy
Redemption
Apocalypse

[Ashley766]

One of my favorite levels is unconsciousness by clairehof. That level has been around since 2014 and I remember that level because of the great artwork and arti was hidden there once. My favorite levels on campaign would have to be Candyland, Razor blade, and Cretaceous Race. I also have a lot other ones lol but these are just the few ^^

[AuraOfTheQ]

Deliverance by changelings definitely. Though... Destiny by AuraOpal is a close 2nd. ;3

[AspectZero]

Serpent[Frust] by Magniloquent - Insane difficulty, good game play, not too inconsistent.
Pure Skillz by Fran10 - Insane difficulty, excellent game play.
Dragon's Fortress by Fran10 - Hard difficulty, good game play.
Volcanic Inferno by Pounce - Medium difficulty, by far one of the best game play maps on Campaign.
Lightspeed 2 by Mapleleaf - Easy difficulty, this level has excellent game play and is good for speedruns.
Depression[VE] by Kwing - Hard difficulty, good game play.
Depression[E] by Kwing - Insane difficulty, good game play.
JIGGMIN by Kwing95 - Insane difficulty, very fun game play.
Frustration 145 by Firefight - Hard difficulty, yet this is an insane challenge, and a very good test of skill.
Hypertension by AspectZero - Insane difficulty, a good test of knowledge and skill.
Time Trial - Hard by Firefight - Medium difficulty, another good test of skill.
Obstacle Course by Fran10 - Easy difficulty, this level has fun game play and is good for speedruns.
Soul Temple by Julls - Easy difficulty, a fun old map with fun game play.

[Justinbob100]

I've always enjoyed Jail Break by The Racer. It's got a good combo of creative art and interesting gameplay.

[Acno]

I dont even remember my favorite level.
But i like most levels i have played except the overly broken ones. Perhaps levels that drag on forever without a vision.
Otherwise i think differences are great.

[AspectZero]

Flame Frustration by Flame God - Very good game play.

[Magniloquent]

Feint by --LMFAO--. The greatest trapwork ever made.

[Tejs]

Not really into racing, but Candyland and Razorblade are both amazing - Any map by justinbob100 or ezmeralda probably. As for traps, [God] Crescendo by Axe Revolution or [Epic] Season Traps by Diamond Fire. Challenging and fun maps that I always come back to.

[Emeiry]

these are a few levels that honestly made me gasp when i played them; 

Tree Houses DM by Campaigns come to my mind just because it just seemed so magical and so well done, everything in the level is in harmony and is honestly one of the best deathmatches in the game. 
CaioPasqualon and i used to be good friends (but he never logged back in  ) and i always admired how creative and complex his levels were, i obviously couldn't even attempt to play his frustration levels because they were extremely hard, but the mechanics used on them were just insane. if you're reading this, i miss you
Castle of Chaos by Juustokakku has always been a favorite of mine. i just can't get tired of this level. it's really fun to play and really balanced too
Apocalypse by Divinity is my favorite campaign level and i honestly consider it one of the best (if not the best) level in the entire game; that entire campaign is the best, and the one i have more memories from too

Dark Manor by se!tres, Egypt by Naterade, Crystal Moon by Arkanay, Luna Luna Realm by *Princess*, Celestial Palace by Campaigns, Castle in the Sky by Twilan, Grief by Acno...

this game is very dear to me since it made happy for most of my middle school, which was a very rough time for me; coming back from school and logging in to play was something i'd look forward to every morning. the concept of being able to make your own levels and pour your creativity on them was just amazing, and not only that, you could play them with a friend, or three! 

i don't know, this game is just very VERY good, and it's really hard to choose 1 favorite level

[Vaza]

As the type of person that loves well executed levels of original and new ideas, I've made many levels that do exactly that. I kinda forgot most of the other people who made good levels so I'll instead highlight all of my "Must play and see" levels that every person on PR2 should know about:

• Prop Hunt (1 & 2) by vasalemma - These are my proudest levels, as it even got a sequel. They're basically the perfect execution of what a "Hide n' Seek" map would look like.
  
• 1P Bane of PR2 by vasalemma - Once 'Art Later 0' came out, I was all over that idea, so I created the weirdest level that overthrows everything else in this game. I love it.
  
• Phantom Mirror by vasalemma - I wanted to expand the mirror idea from the previous level, so I made this.
  
• Evolve by ArtiContest - I think this is the best executed "0 to hero" type level in the game, I definitely think this deserves some highlight.
  
• Fate of Galaxy by VazaGalaxy - The final level of the longest running level series in PR2, ever. With 27+2 levels and made from 2011 to 2017.
  
• Touhou 1: The Imprisoned Santa by vasalemma - A map that reaches both the top and bottom boundaries in the level editor. You never thought you'd see bullet hell in a static platformer eh?
  

I'll also bring some lesser but still worthy of a mention levels:

"IWBTG by vasalemma" - The art limit is holding back its full potential, but I literally re-created the entire game of IWBTG in PR2. I am a mad lad and you know it.
"PR2 in 3D by vasalemma" - This was the first level that caused the 3D art level pandemic in PR2.
"Hurry Up! by vasalemma" - The arti was on this level once. Also my most popular level.
"Good Egg Galaxy & Honeyhive Galaxy by trapMaker" - I recreated Super Mario Galaxy (3D) in PR2 (2D).
"Odd One Out (1 & 2) by vasalemma" - I've never seen anyone else make this type of level.
"Chaos Puzzles by vasalemma" - I created the weirdest puzzle level with the most confusing solutions.
"Karoshi (1 & 2) by vasalemma" - It's fun. And I'm only mentioning it because someone else did as well.
"PR8-Bit by vasalemma" - PR2 but it's 8-bit.

I'll leave bringing out the best/favourite levels of other people to the rest of you. I'm bad at remembering them myself and I'm just a wacky woo who loves breaking the meta.
If you decide to play any of these levels yourself, I hope you do enjoy!

[tadtad]

So Much Fun by airha

[Janelle]

I'm not much of a racer but I really like the original campaign levels Candyland, Newbieland 2, and Soul Temple.

[LCPD]

hat factory