How long should a Mario level be?

[Mariotroid]

I'm asking this cause the levels for Super Mario Holidays are rather large. Super Mario Bros 3 levels take 3 to 4 minutes. Same Super Mario World I'm fairly sure.

Aayway, on howlongtobeat.com, Super Mario World is listed at 7 and a half hours to beat, even though there' just 91 levels. I guess it does add up if you count dying.

Aayway, just a question I had. Also for you other developers, how long do you make your levels? I think keeping true to the same size as other Mario games makes sense to me.

[chucklehuck]

I'm asking this cause the levels for Super Mario Holidays are rather large. Super Mario Bros 3 levels take 3 to 4 minutes. Same Super Mario World I'm fairly sure.

Aayway, on howlongtobeat.com, Super Mario World is listed at 7 and a half hours to beat, even though there' just 91 levels. I guess it does add up if you count dying.

Aayway, just a question I had. Also for you other developers, how long do you make your levels? I think keeping true to the same size as other Mario games makes sense to me.

I'm fairly new to making mario levels so take what I say with a grain of salt. I think that playtime isn't something that is easily measurable, a completely new player could take a while to finish a level (he might also be dying a lot) while a speedrunner can finish it in a few seconds.

Maybe you should focus on how long a level is in a more literal sense, that is, how many pixels it is across from start to finish, focus on how many obstacles there are in the level and try to aim for somewhere in that ballpark.

[VinnyVideo]

It depends on the kind of game you're making - there aren't any hard and fast rules about how long a Mario level should be. If you're making levels that take more than a couple of minutes or so to complete, think about including a checkpoint system.

When I make levels in platformers, my levels are usually relatively compact - for horizontally-scrolling levels, usually a minimum of 4,000 pixels long, and seldom longer than 8,000 pixels.

There's a lot of variation in level length in SMB3 and SMW - some levels can easily be finished in just a few seconds, while some take several minutes for a typical player.

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[Mario]

Just long enough where it never feels like a drag to get through. There's a lot of factors that go into that and it's not just confined to the individual level's design- you gotta keep all your levels diverse and feeling fresh enough where they don't make each other feel boring.

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[СМБХфан]

Just long enough where it never feels like a drag to get through. There's a lot of factors that go into that and it's not just confined to the individual level's design- you gotta keep all your levels diverse and feeling fresh enough where they don't make each other feel boring.

Well, in some cases, the length of the level can differ in the player's perception. If the level is boring and is more of the same, it feels longer. Remember, time flies by when you are having fun.

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[GamerInGeorgia]

I really think it depends how far the player is in the game. Later levels tend to be longer than ones earlier in the game.