ABSTRACT
The intercepts theme is the simplest theme in the game from a design point of view. Donut Plains 2 introduces the intercepts theme in a controlled way, by slowing the scrolling of the level screen down significantly. Vanilla Secret 2 works as an effective counterpart to Vanilla Dome 4, as it tackles the same design ideas in a different way. Cookie Mountain introduces ground-based intercepts. When intercepts are mixed, the player has to choose which enemy will cause Mario to jump, and which enemy becomes the modifying intercept; sometimes this choice is ambiguous. Forest of Illusion 1 begins to mix ground-based intercepts with enemies of other kinds. Forest of Illusion 3 is the purest example of the intercepts theme, and yet it doesn't feel like most intercepts-themed levels. Outrageous is the climax of the intercepts theme and it delivers on its climactic potential much like the other pinnacle levels, while at the same time doing something totally brilliant and unique.
