Note: I didn't chose the awesome grodog's Castle Greyhawk for mere reasons of easy comparison. I know his dungeon is probably the best available representation of how a megadungeon should look (in terms of notes and overall organization). So, here we go.
Castle of the Mad Archmage is really a bigass dungeon. With 13 levels and one sub-level, an average of more than 100 keyed rooms per level (except the very last one). With dozens of new monsters, magic items and spells, not to mention maps, it presents like a fucking heavyweight! I don't really know about the level span, but I think such a product can keep the characters busy from levels 1 to 15, or so. Yet, it is unlikely that characters will manage to "level in the dungeon", for the encounters are generally not worth enough XPs to attain third level when reaching "The Dungeons" (level 3). This is really an interesting feature to me, since I've always figured that a megadungeon, as the key feature of a campaign, should be the source of enough or "nearly enough" of the XPs needed to level up.
Rappan Athuk Reloaded is definitely a different creature. With its 15 levels and 16 sub-levels, an average of 15 keyed rooms per level, dozens of new monsters, NPCs and Magic Items, it presents like some sort of weird-weight. From a certain point of view, Rappan Athuk develops more "vertically" than "horizontally", while not being suitable for a complete campaign (an average level of 4 is suggested for a party entering Rappan Athuk). In this way, the "level number = monster level" rule of thumb is lost, and the encounters are scaled about right. Still, you have a wide range of encounter levels on each given level, which makes perfect sense from a relatively Old School point of view.
All in all, I think the real difference between Rappan Athuk and Castle of the Mad Archmage lies in the emphasis on themes. In Castle of the Mad Archmage, you have this labyrinthine dungeon with (literally) a thousand encounters, spread here and there with no real concern about "consistency" (please, don't take this the wrong way, for it's evidently perfunctory to my point). On the other hand, in Rappan Athuk you have a lot less encounters, each carefully placed and giving a lot of attention to the theme and ecology of the (sub-) level.
Given that both these dungeons were first designed for First Edition, it is obvious (at least, to me) that the Rappan Athuk approach works better with third/fourth edition rules. It's a fact that under that ruleset, encounters (and especially combats) tend to be way longer to handle, even at low level, and you need tons of information to run them. Still, I feel it lacks the "freedom of choice" approach of Castle of the Mad Archmage, in that you have more of a pre-written path for a) a general lack of connection between very high and very low levels (such as passages from first to sixth level) and b) the only choices you have are to explore that area/level/sub-level or not (in other words, to embrace a pre-ordered quest or not). In some ways, Castle of the Mad Archmage is more of a sandboxish environment than Rappan Athuk (of course, this is true only if you don't care about the wilderness surrounding the dungeon, which is well presented at least in the Reloaded version). The Mines of Khunmar by Stefan Poag also seems to follow the same method as Rappan Athuk, with lots of levels/sub-levels relatively small but written with a strong link to the theme that characterize each of them.
To conclude, my initial thought were that probably The Perfect Megadungeon would need both these elements (a link to the theme and a disturbing mazy look). At this point, however, I'm more inclined to consider the possibility that maybe an initial choice is necessary, whether to go one way or another. In most cases, I think the personal tastes of each Dungeon Master should be enough for him to make a decision. Aside from that, here is a list of features that I feel every well designed megadungon needs:
- Lot of empty space, serving two purposes: a) thrill the players ("What was the scary noise? There must be something here!" or "This room contains nothing? Are you kidding me? We must have missed something") and b) avoid the Continual Rolls gaming style;
- Massive connection between areas/levels/sub-levels of very different levels of difficulty;
- Wide range of encounter difficulties, for the players must never be cool thinking that you are not going to send a HUGE RED DRAGON against their shiny new first level characters;
- Room for freedom of choice, which makes the megadungeon really a sandbox. Perhaps the players may decide to help the goblins on level two to defeat the Mummy that hunts the lower chamber in exchange for some magical stuff, or maybe just because they are that way inclined. Perhaps the players are kidnapping the princess imprisoned by the ogres on level four just to ransom her to the king and finally have enough money to build that fucking stronghold. Note that alignment should have little to nothing to do with any of that.
- A living place. The players must learn quickly that those chambers they have explored and than not returned to for a long time (or even a short time) are going to be re-populated by even weirder creatures. Also, they should learn that their map is of little help whenever they return to a level, for new rooms may have been added, or perhaps the old rooms lost forever. Maybe the staircase that once led from third level to the first have been walled, and now the only way to get out is to take a long detour through the Labyrinth of the Mutated Minotaur on level four, or reopen the way with nothing more than the strength of their arms.
- Things that make no sense at all, for even if you are running your megadungeon with a strong link to the overall themes of each area/level/sub-level, you don't want your players to be aware of what they are likely to find in the next few rooms. Also, lots of wandering monsters tables may serve the same purpose.
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