Okay, I just played through the whole game, and I’m pretty confident 4-2 is the weakest level in the game. It’s not “bad”, it’s just really boring! It uses a slight water rise/fall mechanic, but that had been used twice already in better levels. 3-3 and 3-8 both have rising water and feature a big fish. 3-8 is the most interesting, because it incorporates vines and the water goes much higher.
4-2 is pathetically easy, has basically no secrets, doesn’t introduce anything new, and doesn’t even look that great. In general, I think world 4 was weaker than I remembered. In context in the 90s, those large sprites were really cool, but they just sort of look cheap now.
Other than 4-2, I basically like all the other levels. The platforming starts to get satisfyingly difficult around world 5, and doesn’t let up in subsequent worlds. World 5 might be the best world in the game, because it has a very strong theme (climbing a tower to get to the sky), and all the levels there are pretty damn good individually.
Also, I think I overstated the effect of the wrapping in 7-1. It didn’t really use it much, and was more of an intro to vertical levels. 7-6 refines that concept, forces you to the use the wrapping, and the platforming is more engaging too. I think it’s the better level of the two, but they work well in tandem.
7-Fort1 was a standout level that I’m pretty sure I always skipped as a child cause I couldn’t figure it out. It’s one of those levels that essentially loops until you figure out which way to go, but the really cool part about this level is that there isn’t a single enemy, except for the boss. The second area really sells this, because there are ghost platforms without ghosts, candles without flames, and the rotation ball for fire bars without the fire itself.
It’s spooky running around an abandoned fortress, with little idea of where to go. Mixed with the puzzley nature of the level, it almost feels like a proto-ghost house.