User blog:Cavia porcellus/Big Wave Beach review

This is the first time I've ever done a review for a world, but seeing as opinions for this world are quite 'polar' (love or hate), I might as well try to give a more neutral point of view on it.

New Plants
Lily Pad - Necessary in regular levels, not as much in Tiki-Torcher (at least the early levels). Not as useful as before, and it can't be planted in Pirate Seas (which is actually understandable), but it retains its increased health as in the first game. Grade: 4/5

Tangle Kelp - An okay instant kill, but it's only used in BWB. Potato Mine is better, but the beach lawn is not its environment. Plant Food is not AoE which says enough. It does have a nice role in the Zomboss Battle. Grade: 2/5

Bowling Bulb - It was perfect before it was nerfed, but the nerf was just too much. Also, it's kind of unreliable, at least in Bulb Bowling - sometimes it'll kill a zombie, sometimes it won't. Grade: 3.5/5

Chomper - I haven't bought it, but it's useless in BWB. Useless anywhere. Nothing's changed. The faster chewing means nothing if the zombies are faster in this game. Just... Grade: 0.5/5

Ghost Pepper - Technically didn't came with BWB, but I'll count it anyway. This is the first plant in a long time that is EZ-quality. It's OP and I love it. Grade: 5/5

Homing Thistle - I originally thought this would be terrible, but it's actually pretty good as long as you plan on using it in regular levels only. The recharge is annoying, and the Plant Food effect is terrible. Grade: 3.5/5

Guacodile - I was excited for this plant, but not so much anymore. As I've stated already, it should've been the counter for Octos. Octopi shouldn't trap it, it should trigger its attack, which should be strong enough to kill an Octo. I wouldn't mind an upped price. The seed shooting is unnecessary and the animation of it is questionable, the PF sucks. Grade: 3/5

Banana Launcher - I thought this would be horrible, but it's actually pretty good. It has EZ-quality, and the recharge is pretty good. Plant Food effect is expected, but it's okay. Grade: 4.5/5

Sweet Potato - Horrible, horrible, horrible! The range is terrible, which makes it useless for Gargantuars, and it doesn't even attract all zombies. I was planning to pair it with Banana in EZs, but it's too bad. I don't mind the high price, because it's only meant to be planted 2-3 times. Plant Food effect is how it should work normally. Do not buy this if you have to choose between Homing Thistle and... this. Grade: 1/5

Overall grade: 3/5

Zombies
Normal Zombies - Though it's nice that we have double variants of normal zombies (and female zombies finally!), I fear that this what PopCap considers under "new zombies" from now on. Plus, I don't like it how the buckets and coneheads are dumped on the head, it's not like in the other worlds where the zombies is actually wearing it. Grade: 4.5/5

Snorkel Zombie - Meh. Not a very special zombie, but a nice weak special zombie. Like Swashbuckler! Or Jetpack! Grade: 3.5/5

Surfer Zombie - Very annoying, and quite illogical if I may add. QUITE illogical. I have many issues with how this zombie works. Grade: 2/5

Octo Zombie - A slightly different Wizard. Even in few numbers it can do a lot of damage to your defenses. If it had a reliable counter, it would have a better grade. Grade: 3.5/5

Fisherman Zombie - Infi-nut, and bye-bye! Grade: 4.5/5

Zombot Sharktronic Sub - I really like this Zombot. I don't know why, but it's a relaxing time fighting him. Grade: 5/5

Overall grade: 3.8/5

World
Art Style - Excellent as usual. Grade: 5/5

Time period - The weakest out of all six worlds. I guess they wanted a pool-like world, so they forced a timeline on it. Very few 60s themed zombies. Grade: 3/5

Lawn - I don't like gimmicks where you need to waste a seed slot for a plant that you'll constantly have to place. The lawn IS nice though, and the graphics are excellent. Details matter here. Grade: 4/5

Levels - Interesting levels. I don't mind that there are 32 levels (you get enough regular plants and gem premiums), but it's the lack of new zombies that gets to you. The levels are okay, a little bit of everything, though some Special Deliveries are redundant. Grade: 4/5

Difficulty - Decent difficulty. A lot of complaining in this field though, which is understandable. Day 16 is pay-to-win most of the time, which even PopCap admitted with that ad... Anyway, there are some really fun levels. The best level is Day 13, you can experiment with it a lot. Most levels require a strategy, some have a pay-to-win aspect. BUT EVERY LEVEL IS BEATABLE WITHOUT BOOSTS, POWER-UPS, PREMIUMS OR LAWNMOWERS LOST. Grade: 3.5/5

Music - No mini-game music is unacceptable. The other music is okay, but I can't forgive PopCap for the earlier. This isn't China goddamit, where you can pull that off, PopCap. Also, barely original Zomboss music, unless it's completely copied off AE. Grade: 2.5/5

Zomboss Battle - My favorite Zomboss battle. It's quite noisy, the shark sound effects are missing and the music is just copied from AE, but I still love it! Grade: 4.5/5

Special Mini-game - Bulb Bowling is quite underwhelming. The second one is a bit pay-to-win, the first one was more fun. But, more importantly: '''PopCap, you had 32 levels. Why didn't you add another Bulb Bowling level, and instead added half a dozen Special Deliveries. This is like Dark Alchemy in Dark Ages.''' Grade: 3/5

Dave, Penny and Zomboss - Solid dialogues, as usual. There is good humor, as always. Grade: 5/5

Overall grade: 3.8/5

OVERALL WORLD GRADE: 3.5/5
'''A nice world with many nice details, but quite a bit of issues as well. Generally, it's a good world... but nowhere near as good as Far Future was.'''

Note: I did not grade the Endless Zone because they're all pretty much the same.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I MISSED SOME IMPORTANT CRITERIA