Like the title says, I kinda wish this series had two profiles so they don't have to be lumped together. From what I've seen, people have been aching for a review of this series, but I think I get why one hasn't come yet. You can't just review TT Bros. 1 or TT Bros. 2; they're a package deal, plus the modifications to SMBX's core resources and whatnot. It's like two and a half reviews for the price of one! Or the effort of two and a half reviews for the makerscore of one.

I played TT Bros. 1 a while back, and I'd been meaning to check out the sequel for the longest time, so here it is: TT Bros. long-awaited review. It may seem odd, even improper, for it to be coming from me, given my relationship to this series and its unofficial rival. However, I assure you that I've done my best to put my feelings aside and see the series for what it is. I even replayed the original in its entirety, just to make sure I was up-to-date.

But before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the games themselves, let's talk about those SMBX modifications first.

The Talking Time Conversion

This edition of the SMBX engine has some souped-up resources to give it a unique feel for the Talking Time series. These include some sprite edits, a new title screen, replacement music, even different sound effects. I found some of these additions more fitting than others.

The sprite edits for the playable characters are decent, for the most part. Mario and Luigi both look much better with their touch-up. Toad looks good, but Peach, not so much. Using the darker grey color for her outline was a nice idea in theory, but that charcoal shade ended up in the folds of her dress, and it stands out in an ugly way.

Most of the new music was cool, but I was put off by some of the selections. The most welcome one by far was the replacement victory theme for collecting a star. Mario Galaxy's fanfare really makes you feel like you accomplished something, especially compared to SMBX's usual lackluster ditty. While most of the program's music remains in-tact, some songs were upgraded to their versions from later in the Mario series. Bob-Omb Battlefield's remix from Throwback of Galaxy 2 was an excellent choice. However, the use of the remix in place of the Ghost House theme kinda bothered me. The remix is nice and all, but it doesn't give off the same creepy vibe as the old one. The most obnoxious replacement was that of SMW's Athletic theme. The song's intro is practically explosive compared to the program's other music, and the rest of the track isn't too great either.

While we're on audio, I was also split on the sound effects that were replaced. Most of the new ones are actually the originals from back in the day, such as the pipe-entering and fireball-throwing sounds. They're a nice touch, but in a way they only add to SMBX's usual hodge-podge. Since the sound effects are no longer from the same game, they have their own brand of style clash with each other. It's only a minor issue, though.

That's about all I have to say regarding the changes to the engine. Let's get to the games!

Super Talking Time Bros., The First

It had been a while since I last played this game, and...I can't say it aged so well. Having advanced my critical eye to the point of being neurotic, there are many little flaws I noticed across the game. However, they are indeed very small and easily forgiven.

It's difficult to say what I spotted most, since I got a mixed bag of everything in general. I can say that the more severe problems were the rarest. The most common problems were mere aesthetic issues. Mismatched sprite styles, misused tile sets, cutoff, etc. These sorts of things only impact how the game looks; not how it plays. For the most part, it played very well.

There were some issues of design, though. I noticed several occasions where ? blocks were just out of reach to make a normal jump on top of. I know that sounds like such a nitpick, but when your power-up's a flower in the middle of a trio of blocks and you have to do a running jump to get it, it's kind of annoying. Of more concern were stages where power-ups were of unhelpful types, like fire flowers in ghost houses where nothing is vulnerable to fire.

1-up mushrooms are placed everywhere; some of them practically handed to you, so risk and reward may as well not even exist. Inconsistency with dragon coins is rampant, with some stages having more than the standard 5, while others have none at all. There are also many places where wall-zipping is possible, though only a few have potential for disaster. Several of the bonus stages are too gimmicky for their own good. The only serious problems were things like being able to die after collecting the star, or exiting a warp to find yourself surrounded by enemies. However, game breakers were so uncommon that the few I saw were usually single instances.

This begs the question, since all these issues are so minor, why bother to mention them? Well, individually, these are small problems that can be easily ignored. Their significance lies in their frequency. On the whole, the game is well-designed and enjoyable to play, but these small issues do exist, and they pervade almost every level in the game. To me, it's like a fine portrait that hasn't been dusted in a few years. You can see the dust, but you can still appreciate the picture behind it, too.

The game's strongest feature is the one that counts the most: the fun factor. It's very enjoyable to play, which is a testament to its generally sound design. You're unlikely to get all the in-jokes, but if you have any affinity for SMBX or older Mario titles, this is a game you'd have fun with. In spite of its lack of polish, it is indeed a good game.

Were this standing alone, I'd have given it 3.5/5.

Super Talking Time Bros., The Second

This game...I went into this with some pretty high expectations. Ever since its release shortly before Super RMN Bros. 3, people have been holding it up like a standard for comparison. After my disastrous handling of SRB3 and hearing its criticisms versus TT2's praises, I intentionally abstained from playing it. Even RMN All-Stars and RMN World have been measured up against it. It's completely understandable since the original RMN Bros.' awfulness was what inspired TT Bros. in the first place, but I can't deny that it bothered me to a degree. I waited until RMN World was finished to see for myself; I didn't want to develop that game under the pretense of topping this one. Whether it did or not doesn't matter. What does is that I've become a huge hardass, and if this review sounds at all unfair, that's probably why.

As for my expectations, well, they were mostly met.

This game shows significant improvement over its predecessor. Talking Time's greater familiarity with the engine shows itself in their fancier, clever stage design. The introduction and end credits were expertly choreographed. Everything in between, being made by a variety of developers, had varying amounts of greatness. To me, there were a handful of really excellent levels, a vast majority of well done levels, and another handful of ones that could've been better.

I noticed a lot of the same issues that I did in the first game, but where the original had a large smattering of them, this game had remarkably few. If the first TT Bros. is a picture with a layer of dust, then this is a portrait with dirty corners. It truly shines, and I can see why everyone regards it so fondly.

But it's not without its flaws. A few stages bothered me more than others. "Shell We Dance" comes to mind as a particularly random level whose overall theme cannot be determined. The snow mountain stage with that random Star Trek song gave me lots of grief. Those slippery slopes forced me to re-ride that boring ski lift intro soooooooo many times. >_<

As with the previous game, 1-ups are f#$%ing EVERYWHERE to the point where the life system is completely arbitrary. There's no incentive to look for secrets or try to get dragon coins because you're more likely to get killed doing so than grabbing the abundance of freebies. I think it was the cloth cutter stage that had two alternate main routes, one of which had two 1-ups and the other three. I don't think my life count ever dipped below 80. Hiding special suits around instead would've been greater motivation to explore.

However, it's not to say the game doesn't have good secrets, because the one area in which those do succeed is with the red stars. Every non-green star level has one, and they are generally hidden quite cleverly. The more of them you amass, the greater rewards you can access in the game's underground tunnel hub. The game uses a world map (with some sweet tunes that put SMBX's usual crap to shame), but it's dotted with red pipes all over the place that connect to the underground hub. Travel between worlds is easy there, and as before, more stars = better items.

Although, with a world map, there's no way to tell if you have the stars in a stage or not, a Star Sanctuary is included at the end of every world. From there, you can see what stages you have stars in, as well as who created them. This was a brilliant inclusion and whoever thought that up deserves a round of applause.

If finding red stars wasn't enough to make up for secret searching, every world has at least one stage with a secret exit. These lead to alternate paths with different levels, and usually work as shortcuts toward reaching the bosses. As with the red stars, these are all cleverly hidden and feel rewarding to find...save for one of them.

In world 5, there's a stage with a secret hidden in its orange tree tops. The key to this secret is an invisible block, but the block is in the middle of a gauntlet of bill blasters. The only indication that this block exists is in the trees above. I had to look in the editor to find it, because I dismissed the trees' clue as a weird visual choice instead of recognizing it as an anomaly. Besides, I was being shot at. But even if you do find this block (which requires an awkward, deliberate jump to hit), you mustn't stop paying attention! The secret exit is hidden within this secret section! It's a double super-secret! I wasn't impressed. Quite irritated, actually.

Barring these specific mentions, I found the stage design to be generally sound, so it nails the playability and fun departments square on the head. Visual consistency was much better this time around too, though there were still some levels I felt could look more consistent. Some of the custom sprites don't match SMBX's resolution, so they look really out of place. However, these instances aren't frequent. Most custom stuff is used to wonderful effect. The bosses are especially nice. Almost all of them are Mother Brain in disguise, but they replaced her death cry and put her to some very creative use. Meta Knight...how could you let yourself slip so far...?

I gave this game a full clear, even taking down the secret final boss and everything. I was glad to find the secret stages a little more up to scratch than in the first game. Some were still too gimmicky or bizarre for my tastes, but even the worst was at least tolerable. The Sprite Sprint level didn't have a BGM playing, even though the file path was correct (I checked in the editor). I dunno what's up with that. ._.

On the whole, this game is remarkably well done. It's not the unstoppable force some people make it out to be, but it is an excellent title that any old-school Mario fan would enjoy. Were this game standing alone, I'd have given it a 4.5/5.

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And so, taking all these things into consideration, I give the whole package a 4/5. Go stomp some goombas.