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LB Advent Calendar 2011 - Crazy Town by masha

Diz 9 10 9 9
DJ Full 9 9 10 10
dmdibl 8 9 9 10
Drakan 10 10 10 10
High Priestess 10 8 10 9
Jay 9 9 10 10
John 8 8 9 9
Jorge22 10 9 10 10
Jose 9 9 10 10
Josey 10 10 10 10
manarch2 9 9 9 9
MichaelP 9 9 10 9
misho98 10 10 10 10
Phil 10 10 10 10
Ryan 10 10 10 10
Shandroid 10 10 10 10
TheStig 9 10 10 10
Torry 7 8 9 10
VampBunny 10 10 10 10
young Lara Croft 9 9 10 10
 
release date: 19-Dec-2011
# of downloads: 127

average rating: 9.51
review count: 20
 
review this level

file size: 72.96 MB
file type: TR4
class: Xmas
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
frenkel.masha@orange.fr

Reviewer's comments
"I remember trying this level when it first came out over a decade ago and trashed it then because it was so confusing and I have not changed my mind now. For such a short level it packs in very odd sequences that defy logic and pickups are not obvious. I spent hours looking for the last ingredient to the witches potion and nearly as long figuring out the trick to the falling shelves in the church. Then there is the torch which you use to melt the slippery ice and there is no way the raider can discern this without the aid of the walk through, hence my down graded game play score. Oh and the anti wind potion? Good grief, is there such a thing? Nice layout and pretty graphics but this one will have you pulling your hair out. This should take you 30 minutes or so according to the reviews but took me the better part of two days until I relented and pulled out the walk through." - Torry (13-Feb-2023)
"Not so much crazy town for me, more like quirky fun town is what i felt after finishing this level. The tasks and puzzles in this level are really up my street, i really liked the snowy atmosphere the timed platforms and the pipe puzzle along with the portal to the area with buildings with the boulders and fun platforming it was just so fun and original. i mean yes you've the standard collecting items and pushing objects around but its just so unpredictable and random for example with "untextured" areas that you see the workmen still working on what a clever idea! especially when its worked into a puzzle with a mirror room later on. The only thing i wasnt keen on was the obscurity of it all, i had to literally look at a walkthrough every few mins to understand what goes where and what is the next task as its really not clear a lot of the time like with the passageway with the wind and the invisible barrier that you have to light on fire but with great textures and music added on to such fun gameplay i know players will have a good time with this one!" - John (27-Dec-2021)
"I was delighted to chance upon this charming level during a random search. It boasts a charming little picturesque town whereby we see the usual wrench-yielding, orange-suited thugs harmlessly clearing the snow. There are no enemies and a few challenging, but not too hard puzzles and one timed run which is achievable once you learn not to jump the starting pistol, so to speak. The Church was particularly ambient as was the "Schindler's List-esque" orchestral in the Weather Centre. I admit I almost gave up in the Church so the trick here is to move two objects and place them below some higher trapdoors so that once the trapdoors are activated by a higher switch, they won't continue to lower and raise in a timed manner. Highly recommended!" - High Priestess (06-May-2019)
"This is a very fun level! One thing I love in Xmas levels is just a laid-back feel with a nice wintery backdrop. As a South Floridian, my winters never have snow. Which is one of the reasons I enjoy playing these (even more so in South Florida's blistering heat). The design was so cool and the entire level is very straightforward. It allows for a lot of imagining that you were in the level and enjoy some nice cold weather. The secrets were great (the cross was my favorite because that's my favorite Bach piece), the music was beautiful and I often found myself waiting in a room for it to play out entirely before I moved on with the level. But the ending? I literally laughed out loud! I was not expecting that great plot twist which made this Star Trek fan one happy camper! Can't wait to play it again in December!" - VampBunny (01-Aug-2018)
"Once you figure out the logic of the various puzzles (NONE of them are trial and error and most have a pretty ingenious solution), the net gaming time for this level can be surprisingly short. But this level is so faultlessly constructed in all categories that I wouldn't have minded staying there a little bit longer. The town and village areas are a sight for sore eyes and the puzzles and timed sequences are enough to present a challenge to everyone but not enough to make you give up in frustration. The highlight was probably concocting the witch's potion. I don't want to spoil everything in this review, so I'll just end it with my highest recommendations." - Ryan (26-Nov-2017)
"This level is immediately immersive, so I instantly ran to explore it and looked into every single corner. I found out it's apparently quite unfinished - there are still some missing textures so the builders are working hard to repair it. But they don't seem to progress well - apparently the Face Edit is turned off so all their effort is futile. However even in those textureless places the lighting is perfect and I don't know how it's technically possible - but it's here, an unusual thing for sure. The rest of the map looks great as well, the city is filled with life and some people even talk (Natla decided to stay silent instead and contemplate her dark deeds in church). But what differs this game from many of a kind is none of these people is a puzzle hole (so, for instance, don't count on giving the baugette to the poor guy). Also, we finally don't meet with Larson what I expected to happen, but his house appears deserted - that feels like something isn't right, so can it be open ending for a sequel? Unknown. Also, the builders never finish their work - the level stays incomplete till the very end, while I would end it all with the final flyby of some spanners put down under the fully painted building. The witch fulfills her task instead, as soon as she gets the necessary stuff. I tried to stand on her kettle in the meantime, and - wow, that was unexpected... That single thing is enough reason to play this game, but mind there are many more. SUMMARY: This is visually much like the same author's part from LMXA, but fully working as a standalone, so can be taken if You don't have a time for a full-scale epic. The mood contradiction, Xmas to evil, real to surreal, viewed through the mirror of Editor puns, puts all crazy content in the equal distance and makes it belong together. Highly, highly recommended." - DJ Full (03-May-2015)
"Loved playing this level by Masha, mostly because of its uniqueness! The atmosphere in the time of Advent felt right. I cannot rate this level lower, it's just way to good! There's some sheer brilliant and ingenious puzzles, easy/medium difficulty and still a fun factor, no matter if it's a pushable barrel puzzle or something else like a mirror room, I still had fun playing. My favorite part of the level was the untextured area with the workers in orange overalls on scaffoldings, how did the author think of that?! it's a great idea! I'll say nothing else other than download and play this level, I highly recommend it!" - young Lara Croft (01-Jan-2014)
"Maybe this seasonal level is just a bit overrated but what is there not to like when you explore around this nice little wintery town, solving creative and original puzzles along the way and even get a bit of a storyline with a twist at the end. From the little pipe puzzle, via the push buttons in sequence to release a boulder down its path puzzle to the cooking of the potion that allows Lara to pass a strong opposing wind, this is just great fun to play. Yes ok, some tasks may seem only logical once you know what to do and how to do it, but that is really only a minor gripe and surprisingly masha has refrained from including any overlay extensive pushing of objects this time, which is one reason why this adventure ends in less than an hour and hence way too soon, as it could have just gone on and on this way in my opinion. The one use of the transporter back and forth seemed a bit unnecessary and out of place, but I just loved the idea with the workers and the use of the editor textures. A wonderful raid, pretty much at any time of the year..." - MichaelP (20-May-2012)
"This talented builder never disappoints, and with this charming Christmas offering she once again hits a home run. The environs are stunning, the lighting is impeccable, and the tasks are varied, innovative and thoroughly refreshing. The game map is fairly compact, a welcome change from the sprawling Christmas release I last played, and there are some quirky touches that made me glad I had manarch2's walkthrough for guidance. For example, you pick up a hodgepodge of ingredients, combine them to make a witch's stew (or brew, or whatever), you embark on a button-pushing exercise in a snowy outdoors, and there's a timed platform jump that I solved in a way slightly different from the one suggested in the walkthrough. I could find no way to swing around the pole without jumping off, so I simply jumped to the first timed platform, waited a bit, then jumped to the pole so that I was jumping off as the second platform was rising. There are five secrets scattered about the area, and all told I spent a little more than an hour in this little village that was more quaint than crazy, enjoying every delightful twist and turn. Surely we have an instant classic here." - Phil (10-Feb-2012)
"Definitively I love the style from this author. Excellent architecture and design with a lot of work in the texturization, objects and ambience; well choosen musics and perfect cameras. You only can get disoriented 'cause the new objects and where to use them, but there are not impossible tasks or excessively hidden items (well, I get stucked a lot of time to discover the moveable block...). Even the secrets are not so difficult to find. Really a masterpiece. Hihgly recommended! Thank you, Masha!" - Jose (09-Feb-2012)
"You always get something special from Masha's levels and this one is no exception. CrazyTown contains plenty of fun and diverting gameplay to keep you entertained. Texturing, lighting are superb as always and I liked the teleportation sequence which took you to the tower puzzle section with the rolling bolder. Gameplay is perfectly balanced and provided you give the environments a good explore there shouldn't be anything that you'll come across to leave you significantly stuck (though you may need to give the timed platforms a go or two!). All in all I got 1 hour 25 minutes raid time for Crazy Town. Highly Recommended! Stiggy :)" - TheStig (23-Dec-2011)
"I just can't rate this level with something lower than 10. It's simply amazing, not too hard and amazingly built. The main puzzle was very interesting and the mirror room was impressive! Everything was very atmospheric and the music was awesome as well. Recommended!" - misho98 (23-Dec-2011)
"Masha just never disappoints and here is another totally fun, clever and gorgeous level for the Advent calendar. The village that Lara is visiting is just lovely and even has people! The puzzles are nifty and thought-provoking and there are great new objects that do new things. This is a level that no one should spoil in reviews, but all I want to say is that I didn't understand the construction until the end. The only thing that disappointed me was the short length, but honestly, an awesome short level is so much better than no level at all from the talented Masha. Highly recommended, even after the holidays!" - Shandroid (22-Dec-2011)
"Another great level of Masha, after The Princess and the nasty dragon that I loved, this is Crazy Town. I must say I like the style of Masha. The level is pretty simple but you have to think about what to do. The forum was useful to redo the level again and get all the secrets. The gameplay is simple enough, the textures are very well placed (it is a feast for the eyes). Masha has even placed workers to texture the forgot parties (lol). Recommended to all." - Drakan (22-Dec-2011)
"Another very unique and fun level. While the net gaming time is surprisingly short (35 minutes), you probably need more than double as much time to figure out the different puzzles in this level, and tasks are often not too obvious - a little hint would have been good. But what needs to be done is simply wonderful - the use of statues, the torch, wind machine, the brewing,... The scenery is quite convincing, but e.g. in the passage where you grab the torch and behind the church there could be a larger snow area behind to prevent the end-of-world factor. The sound was way too loud and I had to regulate it manually. Then, it was just decent and very well fitting. This level is meant to be unreal, and I loved the "editor touches", especially with the workers digging out the green and blue textures, and in the mirror room. There is a huge variety in object usage and there were several new animations, but there also were some bugs - some objects in the unaccessible editor room; you can push the button in the mirror room without approaching it; and doing a wrong order in the brewing sequence also can lead to a total stuck moment. The lighting was good, textures were very competently placed, with the exception of some white and orange textures that need some textures between them to not create such a contrast in texturing, and this level is one of those that didn't have more real mistakes, but I simply wasn't fully convinced by them. All in all a highly recommended game with lots of things to admire and play with." - manarch2 (22-Dec-2011)
"I simply loved this level. It is full of different things, and even forgetting everything else, it is worthwhile playing the level only for the rolling ball sequence that activates the transporter and gives Lara a handful of butterfly wings. Some players experienced some difficulties of the load/save type, or couldn't stir easily the witch's cauldron, but I had none of these. Well done, and thank you very much, Masha!" - Josey (22-Dec-2011)
"This is one of those wonderful levels where nothing should be taken for granted. It's difficult to pick out the most outstanding features without giving away their solutions - so I won't! Suffice it to say that there are plenty of them and the solutions are all different. Stunningly good areas, excellent lighting and great use of texturing make this such a professional looking level that is an absolute pleasure to play. Give yourself an early Christmas present and play it!" - Diz (21-Dec-2011)
"The author has produced another professional level, a delightful little Christmas village with clever and sometimes devious play. Yes, it looks wonderful. Yes, it's fun to play. If all goes well the tasks can be done in an hour, although it will be an astute player who gets through without having to spend long minutes over one or another puzzle. The timed trapdoors in the church are not just tricky but misleading, since it looks as though split-second timing by Lara is needed; Lara almost makes it across, so maybe a few more tries will do it. The witch's potion is a good concept, but then nothing appears in the bubbling cauldron, and instead Lara has to return to the apothecary counter for a bottle of what looks like patent medicine. By now players are used to making segues (i.e. if a machine spits out a ticket, it will appear on the ground behind Lara), but this outcome was a stretch, perhaps because I did not have a translation. Lara has to light ice with a torch. This point has been raised before, that ice doesn't burn, so it is better to have sticks or oil on it. In this context play isn't bad--I tried lighting the ice, even throwing the torch on ice. But it might have been better if there had been black gun powder on the ice to burn, to explain what does happen. I loved the ending, it could have been the ending for a wild and complex level. Yet despite the title, this little gem of a level just isn't crazy, not by Tomb Raider standards. A few untextured panels, colored as they appear in the level editor, aren't the best clues, since this has been done in other levels. Highly enjoyable, great to look at, a must play, but I defy anyone to foresee the ending." - dmdibl (21-Dec-2011)
"I wouldn't call it an anti-level but I admit it's a very unique Christmas level with loads of very fun actions and interactions. There is a huge save/load problem besides the smaller one mentioned in the readme file: one of my saves simply wouldn't work no matter how I did it and even after I renamed/renumbered it, so I had to go back and do it all in a row. It was worthwhile though. The different tasks, the guys working on completing the level that was still missing a few textures here and there, the rather original ending, all clearly seen it was well worth it. I'm going to have to lower one point somewhere on account of the aforementioned problem but other than that it's higly recommended any time of the year." - Jorge22 (21-Dec-2011)
"I really love this type of level, where the objects etc are completely unfamiliar so that one really needs to think laterally and everything feels fresh and exciting. There are some very clever ideas going on here and I could have stayed in the beautiful Christmas village for ever, but regrettably the level only lasts about an hour. It really is a fun-filled, wonder-packed hour though and you will certainly be full of admiration for some of the amazing animations. For one heady moment, I actually thought I might find all five secrets, but, me being me, I managed to miss one somewhere along the way. Wonderful festive fun." - Jay (20-Dec-2011)