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Mario's Response to this game: "Mama-Mia!"

  • Ratty524
  • 10/22/2010 06:22 AM
  • 1629 views
Despite what others are saying, I think Super Mario Bros. X is one of the best game development programs for Mario-type platformers out there. Yes, it has many limitations and it's still not quite up to the standards of the actual games, but it has an easy learning curve, creative possibilities that weren't in the SNES Mario games, and ultimately, the levels you can make feel so much like the real thing that it's hard to gain a sense of disbelief when playing this maker. The common problems with easy makers, however, is that they are prone to falling under the wrong hands.

Super Desmo Bros., a Super Mario fan game made with the SMBX, is a group project that seemed to be directly inspired by RMN's community project Super RMN Bros. Now with Super RMN Bros., it was interesting to see an RPG-focused community get together to make Mario-esque levels. However, there were so many problems, mainly in people making ridiculously hard and untested levels, that brought the game down. Super Desmo Bros. experienced the same problems, but this time it's at an all new low.


Wut...


To start, there are countless bugs in this game. The most glaring one is with the HUB world created for this game. The way Mario, or any character you play as in this game, leaves a pipe after competing a level is incorrect. You get to constantly see strange instances where mario appears to be exiting a world pipe from the air instead of the pipe itself.

In addition, very few of the levels featured in this game show any knowledge of good game design, or even testing for that matter. Despite the option to change characters in this game to either Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach or Toad, it seems obvious that each author of this game failed to take into account of each character's differences, and some levels are simply impossible to complete with the "wrong" character.


Are you kidding me!?


Aside from the bugs of this game, I could not see any level that demonstrated good choices. A number of levels in the game are only one section long, and they are way too short. Even levels rated about 5 out of 10 in their difficulty were so short it was ridiculous. There was also some misuse of tiles going on and imagery that looked completely abysmal, namely in the level called "Jordan's Level" in the desert world, in which the creator obviously put no effort into even making the level look good. The main puzzle in the HUB world was okay to a certain extent, I just couldn't understand why you would put an entire room of lava for your last world. Lava instantly kills you, no matter what power-up you have or what you are riding on, and if you die in the HUB world, you have to start from the very beginning and solve the puzzle to get back to that world over again. This part grew quite annoying rather fast. While I can name some Mario games where it's possible to die in the HUB world, none of them were done to such a ridiculous extent. At this point, if I name the other examples of the poor decisions made with this game, I would go on forever.


What a nice level this would have been, had it been tested with all possibilities.


Needless to say, there is a reason why I am giving this game a 2 out of 5 for its final score instead of a 1. Amongst the pile of feces that are the levels of this game, there are actually a few levels that stand out as being well-made. Surely, none of these creators had any intent on making these levels terrible, and some demonstrate some wit and time investment. I especially loved the "Super Sliding" level found in the HUB world. That level was a good example of a fun, well-tested Mario level. Had most of the game been something like that, I actually would have overlooked some of the flaws and enjoyed my playing experience.

Finally, the game ended where I reached the secret bonus levels, to which most of them were surprisingly well-made. I got to the final boss, to face the dreaded Bowser himself, and I beat him through more of an unconventional strategy... I see the princess... I take her star and... WHAT!? The prissy little b**tch decides to kill me. At first, I thought I missed one detail and needed to go back in order to fully complete the level, but as I soon found out from the creator of this game, that was it. There were no credits, nothing that even felt like it was an ending, it felt really cheap and left me feeling absolutely empty and spiteful for even touching this game. Essentially, this game ended on a bad note, and it did nothing but fill me with even more frustration than I was already experiencing.

On that note, here is my final verdict:

Story:
N/A

You are a fat plumber trying to save the princess from an evil, fire-breathing turtle. It's a Mario game, so it's the least of your concern.

Graphics:
3/5

Mostly just a mismatch of various Super Mario graphics. Some of the visuals look pretty, while others tend to look like a jumbled, nonsensical mess.

Gameplay:
2/5

The abundance of bugs, lack of playtesting, and other poor decisions made throughout this game has unfortunately brought this down to the ground. While there are a few exceptions, there were only a few...

Sound:
3/5

Nothing truly spectacular here. It's just the common Mario sounds and they seem to fit well with the environments they were placed in. No complaints here.

Overall:
2/5

Honestly, if it weren't for the few redeeming qualities of this game, I would have given it a much lower score. Next time, when you make a community project with this maker, please set some standards and create an approval system. It would serve as a nifty crap-filter and ultimately help your game. Also, please, please, please test your stuff before release. Don't let any game-breaking bug out of your sight, spend some actual time with your project!

And to that, I conclude this review.

Posts

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I understand that a lot of these levels weren't there best, especially the ones by Mich656 and Dell2005. This was our first try with the program and we plan to clean everything up in the sequel. "Jordan's Level" was created by a psychotic ten year who I found I my computer one day after coming home from school. (A friend of our family) I fixed it up as much as I could, while still leaving her odd designs and included in the game just for fun. I expected this response, but I made her the happiest girl in the world. I agree that this is a more than fair review. I probably did deserve a 1 or even 0.5. Next time will be better, just wait and see!
Screenshots say it all.
author=ShortStar
Screenshots say it all.


Now watch me write a review without screen shots.
author=Ben_Random
author=ShortStar
Screenshots say it all.
Now watch me write a review without screen shots.


Really??? :D
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