Super Mario Bash Review by: luigi25 - 5.8/10
Super Mario Bash for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Mario Bash is another ROM hack of the first Super Mario Bros. game on the NES. Almost everything about this game is identical to the original. Like with Sirius Mario Bros. 1, which I reviewed not too long ago, the only categories I would rate differently are the gameplay and the difficulty. The graphics, music, plot, and content are exactly the same. Mario Bash is harder than the original SMB and in my opinion, isn't as much fun to play.
Graphics 5/10: Graphically, Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bash are not good looking games. The blueprint for this hack is a game that was never known for its graphical appeal. These two games look dull and lifeless with ugly sprites. I've seen worse looking games, but both the hack and the original SMB do not look good. The backgrounds aren't very appealing either, but it was 1985, and Nintendo was still experimenting.
Music 7/10: I rate the soundtrack for Mario Bash the same as SMB. It is one with some good 8-bit NES music in it, but it doesn't include that much of a song selection. The problem isn't the quality of the music, it's just the quantity. I don't know how many tracks either game has, but neither one has that many. There are only 3 or 4 songs in the whole game, but they are fairly decent if not good in quality.
Gameplay 4/10: The goal of this SMB hack is the same as in the original. Mario has to reach the flagpole at the end of the level before time runs out while avoiding enemies and bottomless pits. In Bash, there seems to be a lot more of these to have to avoid, and Mario isn't given as much time to complete the stages like before. The challenge has been increased somewhat for this particular hack. The Mushroom and Fire Flower also make a return, but Mario can still only take one hit after getting either one, and after that, you lose a life.
Like with Sirius Mario Bros, this hack contains pipes that will take you back to the beginning of the stages and even some that will take you back to previous levels making players backtrack through the whole game! Mario Bash is bad with enemy placement, and some of the platforming is also very difficult. To make matters worse, the game only gives you 5 lives to start with and not as many chances to earn more. There are really not as many power-ups either, but it contains no less than what you got with the original game. Although, I was afraid to try and look for coins rooms because of the danger of having to go backwards after going down a pipe.
The level design follows the repetitive nature of Super Mario Bros. Worlds 2-2 and 7-2 are both underwater levels similar in design and worlds 1-3 and 5-3 are both athletic stages with a lot of similarities. Castle 4-4 is the same castle from SMB with some minor changes, same with castle 7, worlds 5-1, 5-2, and the final world 8 are all copied and pasted from the original game with very few changes. All of these issues make for a hack that feels pretty long and boring with many stages that seem harder than they should be.
Super Mario Bash has some pretty crappy level and game design. It is full of bad platforming and enemy placement, lacks originality with the stages, and some levels are just the same ones from the original game that were made unnecessarily harder without many opportunities to continue due to a lack of lives and power-ups. Even if you start out with more lives, you don't get to earn many more, and the ones you do earn, you won't keep for long. I don't know how many times I've seen the Game Over screen with this hack! Unlike with Sirius or other SMB1 hacks, I don't enjoy this one much.
Story 7/10: The story for Mario Bash is the same as in Super Mario Bros. King "Bowser" Koopa has taken over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapped its ruler Princess Toadstool. Somehow, the Mario Bros. fall down a warp pipe in Brooklyn and find their way into this new land. Mario sets out to rescue the Princess and restore peace to Mushroom Land. Most of us can remember the storyline to this first Mario game so well it doesn't even need an explanation. It's a good story but not all that wonderfully catchy.
Content 6/10: Super Mario Bash has the same amount of content like before. It contains 8 worlds with 4 levels in each. The player has 32 levels in total to complete, and they are not all that long. Upon finishing these levels, you have the option of playing them again in Hard Mode which isn't all that much different from Normal Mode. Like with the original, it only has about 35 to 40 minutes worth of content that isn't very fun or exciting.
Difficulty 10/10: The first SMB game on NES was pretty hard because it had no continues and very few chances to earn extra lives. Bash gives players the same amount of opportunities for power-ups and lives that you got with the original game, but the enemies and pits are harder to avoid. This hack contains long jumps, and there is always an enemy where you have to land. It reminds me of the Lost Levels where you'd have to jump, then jump again to keep from taking damage or dying. At least in that game, you were given unlimited chances. Here, if you die too many times, the game just calls you a loser and sends you back to the beginning to start again.
I still have a hard time finishing Super Mario Bash, and I feel like it shouldn't take an hour to complete. By now, it should be an easier game, but I still can't get used to some of the bad game design here. I also hate re-playing the same levels from Super Mario Bros. again and again. This hack isn't impossible, but it seems harder than what it should be, and it defiantly goes on longer than it should. It is not a challenging type of difficulty, it's just tiresome and frustrating.
Overall 5.8/10: Super Mario Bash is not a good hack or a good game. I didn't feel like Super Mario Bros. on NES was all that good to start with. Bash doesn't do anything to make the game fun or exciting. Seriously, many of these levels are just a rip-off of the first SMB! The difficulty really takes some getting used to as well. All the other categories such as: the graphics, music, content, and story aren't very strong to start with either. Throw in some bad game design, and players get a hack that is not much fun or memorable.
Graphics
5 Sound
7 Addictive
4 Depth
6 Story
7 Difficulty
10