I love Mario. Everyone knows that, or at least, they should by now. So I'm always on the lookout for a new Mario Hack to play. And I've played a lot of them....most of them ok. Not good, but not bad, just...ok. And I've played some that were just...oh, god, terrible. And then I've played some that were just so odd and inexplicable they left me staring at the screen in bewilderment.
It was nice to finally find one that did it right.
This game doesn't try too hard. It doesn't try to pack a lot of different Mario games into one and then blend them so they don't look strange. It doesn't amp up the difficulty to tear-your-hair-out range just so it can be 'different' than the other hacks. It doesn't just take a level and change the colors and call it a new hack.
What it does is take the familiar, time-honored elements of Super Mario World, mix them up, and add a few new, surprising twists. And what it gives you is a solid, satisfying, playable game who's only real problem is not being long enough.
The 'demo' only goes through castle 5. Which was really unfortunate; I would have loved to play more.
If you loved the original Super Mario Brothers, I guarantee* that you're going to enjoy this one.
*Not an actual guarantee. Just a very strong feeling.
ON TO THE NUMBERS!
Graphics: 10
True to the original game almost completely, with a few color-swap monsters and some color-tweaking on areas. Nothing too weird and in fact, in a couple of places, the color-swaps were actually pretty cool. (See: The lake of Hot Chocolate.)
Sound: 1
I hate to give this a bad score anywhere, but this demo has no sound? There is a version with custom sounds, but this is the one I started playing on. Not terrible, but I can't give it points for something it doesn't have. That wouldn't be fair.
Addictiveness: 8
I give this about the same rating I'd give the original game. Pretty fairly additive, and I finished the whole demo, which for me is pretty unusual.
Story: 7
I'm not sure I completely understand the story. Princess Peach is working with Bowser to princess-block Mario's old 'friend' Rosalina? Did Rosalina hit on Mario? Was Mario interested back? What does Bowser get out of the deal? Does he think it will help him with Peach? It seems a bit lacking, but then, we haven't gotten to see the end of the story yet either, so maybe that would fill it out a bit. It's not like Peach has shown much interest in actually having a date with Mario-anyone remember the scene from Super Mario Sunshine in which she pretty much says 'no but thank you' at the end there? ...or was that just my interpretation? ANYWAY...the story is a bit slapped on, but then again, this is a Mario game, so it's always a bit shallow. See Bowser, kick Bowser's tail is usually the general gist of things.
Depth: 8
Great depth. Secret paths, switch blocks, and a path to the star bridge (not finished yet, I assume, because you could open it but not actually use the star bridge). The secret ways are tricky to find sometimes but not impossible and the alternate routes are usually entertaining to find. Again, taking into account the general shallowness of Mario story lines in general, this game has a lot of play and even the shortish demo wasn't a quickie game-play through.
Difficulty: 8
On average this game is about the same difficulty as the original. Maybe a bit trickier in a few spots-there were definitely a few areas that had me going ARGH and having to stop and ponder my strategy. On the other hand, I had 99 lives fairly quickly, so it evened out. There are no impossible areas, no crazy pin-point accuracy jumps, and no monster-spam like I've seen in so many other Mario hacks, which is really nice. If you can play the original game you can play this one.
Overall: 8
Except for the music and the fact that it's not finished, this game really doesn't have any flaws. No bugs, no crazy moments of insane difficulty, no odd mismatched graphics issues, no hopeless hidden keys...if you were a fan of the original Super Mario World and you want something new but not new, I highly recommend this game. The twisty English can be a bit hilarious in spots, but that is just a cute dimple. Everything else is well-thought out, imaginative and highly enjoyable.
I love Mario. Everyone knows that, or at least, they should by now. So I'm always on the lookout for a new Mario Hack to play. And I've played a lot of them....most of them ok. Not good, but not bad, just...ok. And I've played some that were just...oh, god, terrible. And then I've played some that were just so odd and inexplicable they left me staring at the screen in bewilderment.
It was nice to finally find one that did it right.
This game doesn't try too hard. It doesn't try to pack a lot of different Mario games into one and then blend them so they don't look strange. It doesn't amp up the difficulty to tear-your-hair-out range just so it can be 'different' than the other hacks. It doesn't just take a level and change the colors and call it a new hack.
What it does is take the familiar, time-honored elements of Super Mario World, mix them up, and add a few new, surprising twists. And what it gives you is a solid, satisfying, playable game who's only real problem is not being long enough.
The 'demo' only goes through castle 5. Which was really unfortunate; I would have loved to play more.
If you loved the original Super Mario Brothers, I guarantee* that you're going to enjoy this one.
*Not an actual guarantee. Just a very strong feeling.
ON TO THE NUMBERS!
Graphics: 10
True to the original game almost completely, with a few color-swap monsters and some color-tweaking on areas. Nothing too weird and in fact, in a couple of places, the color-swaps were actually pretty cool. (See: The lake of Hot Chocolate.)
Sound: 1
I hate to give this a bad score anywhere, but this demo has no sound? There is a version with custom sounds, but this is the one I started playing on. Not terrible, but I can't give it points for something it doesn't have. That wouldn't be fair.
Addictiveness: 8
I give this about the same rating I'd give the original game. Pretty fairly additive, and I finished the whole demo, which for me is pretty unusual.
Story: 7
I'm not sure I completely understand the story. Princess Peach is working with Bowser to princess-block Mario's old 'friend' Rosalina? Did Rosalina hit on Mario? Was Mario interested back? What does Bowser get out of the deal? Does he think it will help him with Peach? It seems a bit lacking, but then, we haven't gotten to see the end of the story yet either, so maybe that would fill it out a bit. It's not like Peach has shown much interest in actually having a date with Mario-anyone remember the scene from Super Mario Sunshine in which she pretty much says 'no but thank you' at the end there? ...or was that just my interpretation? ANYWAY...the story is a bit slapped on, but then again, this is a Mario game, so it's always a bit shallow. See Bowser, kick Bowser's tail is usually the general gist of things.
Depth: 8
Great depth. Secret paths, switch blocks, and a path to the star bridge (not finished yet, I assume, because you could open it but not actually use the star bridge). The secret ways are tricky to find sometimes but not impossible and the alternate routes are usually entertaining to find. Again, taking into account the general shallowness of Mario story lines in general, this game has a lot of play and even the shortish demo wasn't a quickie game-play through.
Difficulty: 8
On average this game is about the same difficulty as the original. Maybe a bit trickier in a few spots-there were definitely a few areas that had me going ARGH and having to stop and ponder my strategy. On the other hand, I had 99 lives fairly quickly, so it evened out. There are no impossible areas, no crazy pin-point accuracy jumps, and no monster-spam like I've seen in so many other Mario hacks, which is really nice. If you can play the original game you can play this one.
Overall: 8
Except for the music and the fact that it's not finished, this game really doesn't have any flaws. No bugs, no crazy moments of insane difficulty, no odd mismatched graphics issues, no hopeless hidden keys...if you were a fan of the original Super Mario World and you want something new but not new, I highly recommend this game. The twisty English can be a bit hilarious in spots, but that is just a cute dimple. Everything else is well-thought out, imaginative and highly enjoyable.
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