I was thinking about making a topic similar to this, pointing out maps of others that I personally like. Off the top of my head I can name at least a half-dozen regular mappers and game map sets that I particularly like from each of them. But it'd be fun to see what everyone else thinks.
Though I'm mostly unsurprised by what has been said so far, and if a few other people comment, I can guess what they'd probably say is their best work.
But many of the achievements are hard to sum up properly in a "Maps Of The Month" feature as it doesn't seem like the most fitting way to acknowledge them. Some mappers are fans with the apparent dedication to a certain series or to a certain platform. Some go above and beyond what is expected when they map a particular game. Then there are the technical achievements by some to make mapping tools to help others or they map a game that requires new techniques to do so.
Perhaps I will consider a new front-page feature spotlighting these people and the maps they've made, if they don't mind the limelight, though perhaps I should wait until hits go back up (they've dropped significantly this past half-year) or after the revamp (if it ever happens >_>).
Anyway, to answer your question,
last year's April Fool's joke is currently my favourite. It's probably because it's the one I spent the most time on (obviously), required some creativity, and one that I can see the effects of (people still email me about it, being fooled, impressed, or inspired to make a fan game)...
As for maps of real games, everyone already knows I love my first map, the Light World from
The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, and so much that
I got it printed and framed it. Probably because it's from one of my favorite games, is my first map, and is colourful and a neat square, and has its own little quirks (like how Death Mountain is separated from the rest of the world and yet not). Unfortunately I never got around to mapping the Dark World or the dungeons, which have since been covered by Alex Foster and Iron Knuckle...I still love the maps (if only because I love the game), but they're not mine. >_> Sometimes I hear Revned's voice (even though I don't know what he sounds like) telling me I should map a real game (and fully) sometime. That being said, I think the last REAL game I FULLY mapped (sheesh, this was four years ago now) was
Maniac Mansion, a game I love despite the clunky interface, and I also like because of its layout (just as TerraEsperZ said about the Japanese one). Though without size limitations it could have been stretched out to fit the rooms a bit more logically, but there's something neat about having it all fit in a compact rectangle. (Apparently I love colourful quadrilaterals without any wasted space.) Also, shortly after,
Ron Gilbert himself linked to VGMaps from his "Grumpy Gamer" blog specifically because of this map, which was around the time VGMaps was posted to BoingBoing and Slashdot and subsequently led to the largest influx of visitors ever, and a permanent increase in traffic. That's another reason to like it, from my perspective, anyway. >_> Though perhaps I'm assuming it all started from Grumpy Gamer and maybe it hadn't...
And though I ended up not doing quite as much as some others, the group mapping of
Super Mario Bros. 3 is something I'm very happy about too. We had a lot of discussion about it beforehand to make sure things were consistent despite (or because of) us having six pairs of hands in it. I keep having this nagging feeling that I'm supposed to recheck the palettes on them, but other than that, those are great maps for a great game and I believe the teamwork in mapping this game is a crowning achievement of VGMaps.
(And in case anyone was wondering, I'm the one editing the links into your posts, even if you don't have the item that grants that ability.
)
