Mario vs. The Moon Base

So, I'll put this out front before I begin. I love 2D Mario. I've even played the horrible (but awesome level designed) Super Mario Special. I will say I was pretty disappointed by the New SMB on the DS, but that's for another topic.

This game however, wow!

Level Design

Getting into the most important part, the level design. I like how the focus here is on fairly long levels with lots of little hidden things, something I've found lacking in a lot of fan Mario games.

I should also say something about the uniqueness of the levels. Some levels use the Mario Bros style wrap around screen (play it and you'll see what I mean), and some of them have you racing against something, in one case an avalanche. Then there's the moon levels, which have some of the most interesting, and probably innovative level design of virtually any Mario game.

The best part though? There isn't a deluge of super power ups left and right. There's still a lot of them, but they're not nearly as commonplace as in other Mario X games. If you get that hammer bros suit, you had better take care of it, otherwise it'll be difficult to get another one. Likewise with one ups, though not to quite that degree. It's still easy to build up lives, but part of that is Mario X's fault for making it so easy to get a large number of lives in the first place. On that note, at the end of the game I had ~57 lives, while in many other Mario X games, I'm at a solid 99.

On that note, I should also say I appreciate the difficulty. There's definitely some levels that get pretty hard, but all in all, it stays around the difficulty range of Super Mario Bros 3/Super Mario World. The funnest part though, is that you just can't tear through the levels doing a run and jump. There's quite a few levels here that really make you think of how to proceed.

Graphics

There isn't much to say here, since it's Mario X, but there are a lot of things here and there that I really liked. The best is probably the Lunar Eclipse level. Yes, it's simplistic, but it's very effective at making you think differently on how to progress, something that graphics are not used for very often.

As for the rest of the levels, I appreciate how elements are combined. There's nothing that clashes with the rest of everything. I'm not one really to complain about elements looking out of place though.

Sound

Once again, there's not a LOT to say, since most of us know the Super Mario X music/sound effect set pretty well. There are, however a few extra songs in the game, that really add to the atmosphere.

DUCKTALES MOON THEME REMIX

'nuff said.

Anyways, like I said at the top, this is probably the best Mario X, or for that matter, Mario fan game I've ever played. There are a few odd things here and there, but that's mostly Mario X's fault (suck as sliding under blocks as big mario). I only wish it had been longer (6 levels of amazing levels is great, though!).

Can't wait to see if you guys make another one in the future!