Sarasaland Adventure

Maybe it's because this is the first fan made Super Mario title I've ever played, either way, I found myself angrily heading to the store to buy a computer controller. (It didn't help, I still died a lot)

This will not be a terribly long review, as the core of the game revolves around the actual game play. So that is where my critic will be focused. I'll be paying particular attention to the following categories:

Use of Music
Use of Sprites/NPCs
Map layout
Consistency
Enjoyment versus Difficulty

Music:
To start with, the music in the game was well used. After playing through the better part of 20 levels, I cannot think of a single time where the music did not fit the map it was used in. Alternatively, I also cannot recall any special times where the music was incredibly noticeable (in a good or bad way). However, I did find myself humming along to the music that I still remember so well. I'm pretty sure that the designer also used a bunch of music that wasn't from any super mario titles... at least not that I recognized. The music fit the scene though, so I will not mark it down for that.

I would give this a 9/10 rating.

Sprites/NPCs
The "human" guards in the mushroom kingdom kind of bugged me. They just looked very out of place with the background and tiles used. Whether it was the color scheme, or just the style used, I cannot say. However, I'd request that you see if you can find a way to make them "fit" better with the surroundings. Or replace them with another model that would work better (It can't be that hard to find a toad sprite wearing full armor and hefting a spear...)

Outside of this, I saw that you used a lot of other sprites from various other mario titles. While this isn't a bad thing, it did clash somewhat with the tiles being used. I believe you could have accomplished what you were going for with sticking to just one chipset.

However, the enemies were well placed regardless. And you did make the most of their unique traits to utterly frustrate the player because they didn't quite time the jump right, or were off on their landing ever so slightly and got chomped.

I would give this a 6.5/10 rating

Map Layout
That mapping was well done in this game. The designer creatively used a large number of resources to maximize the different approaches needed to complete a level.
Some levels require speed and precision, others utilize a lot of jumping, you'll have some that make you use bounce blocks, trampolines, red flying turtle shells, moving platforms, etc. etc.

Earlier in the review I explained my disdain for his use of multiple NPC resources. Simply because they stuck out so badly for me. However, most (if not all) of the tilesets work well enough together that It's easy to ignore.

Not only that, but the variety is a wonderful thing. This game is not a quick completion if you're trying to get all of the stars. And some of the levels are downright aggravating to complete. So, if you're going to give this game a try. Be ready to invest a solid 8+ hours of game time at a bare minimum. If you're like me you'll be better off estimating at least 15+ hours, to account for the deaths and need to back track at times to get powerups / extra lives.

I would give this a 9.5/10 rating.

Consistency
Honestly, I've more or less covered this in the previous 2 categories. The designer used a conglomerate of resources together to create variety in a game that really doesn't have a whole lot of variety to begin with. There were some good and bad that came from this and allowed me to come up with the following score. Because the designer was going for enjoyment over consistency, I am going to adjust the score to reflect that. It's not exactly fair to deduct points on a title like this when resources are so few for each style.

I would give this a 8.5/10 rating.

Last but not least...

Enjoyment versus Difficulty

The gameplay was fun. I work about 70 hours a week, on average, and I was still able to clock almost 5-6 hours of gameplay time on this title. That should be considered a great compliment to the designer of this game. I felt though, at times, that the designer made some of the early levels harder than what was needed. Almost as though they were still testing their skills and hadn't quite settled into their own personal style yet. If they could back track, and rework those first 2-3 levels so that they're a bit more forgiving, I think I could give this title a review of 9.5/10 (It's not quite perfect. Some places just make me want to kick a puppy...)
For this review though, I'm going to go with an 8/10 for my review.

Overall, the game was worth downloading and I had a blast playing it.

It got a total rating of
8.3/10

Which translates to roughly 4 out of 5 stars for this title.

Great job, and I hope that you are able to get many more people to come along and try your title!