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| Details for SMW2+3: The Essence Star |
| Hack Name: | SMW2+3: The Essence Star - 1009.5 KB - 33775 downloads.
Added: 2009-06-26 06:06:03 AM |
| Rating: | 0.0 (0) |
| Reviews: | 26 (jump to reviews) |
| Length: | 42 levels |
| Author: | Golden Yoshi - Submitted by: Golden Yoshi |
| Description: | The Essence Star...it was sent to Mario's realm from the heavens above with one purpose- to benefit the world through the actions of kind people. However, if it falls into the hands of evil, the complete opposite will occur. What fate will result when the likes of Golden Yoshi and Kamek all want to get their hands on the sacred star?
Find out all of this and more...in SMW2+3: The Essence Star. |
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| Screenshots |
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| Review by Nesquik Bunny | Story: 10/10
The story was pretty great and unique with an added twist at the end. Nice usage of the VWF cutscene tool to make fantastic dialogues too.
Overworld: 4/10
It's not that good at all, to be honest. You have perspective errors in many places, missing tiles at other places, a lack of events and it just feels like hardly any effort was made into making a good OW. There's no interesting features at all, the palettes are mostly unoriginal, the tile placement of some objects aren't that good and I feel there's some graphic clashes too (like the YI volcano with the SMW land).
Level Design: 6/10
Levels are mostly simple, linear, boring and repetitive. To me, a lot of the levels are simply "keep going to the right, jump over a few enemies and obstacles, eventually you'll get to the exit". Some puzzles were a bit creative but apart from that I feel the level design isn't that strong. It feels like not much effort and care was put into making good levels, really.
Music: 8/10
Meh, I'm neutral on this. The tracks used were alright and suitable, I guess. None felt overused or repetitive but they weren't that special either.
Graphics: 6/10
Most of the graphics are from other games and there's little original graphics here. The graphics of the game don't really go together, if you get what I mean. There were many FG/BG clashes and none of the graphics stood out to me.
Gameplay: 7/10
There are some small bugs, but one game-breaking one I found was being able to get to the last ship on the OW without even collecting all of the shards. Apart from that, there were some nice elements in the game, like the side-quests and secrets. I didn't encounter any major bugs apart from the aforementioned one.
ASM: 7/10
- A few nice, new powerups.
- Some clever usage of blocks and sprites.
- Extremely poorly designed bosses. They're simple, boring, repetitive and most consist of just throwing a block at them. The final boss was too easy and disappointing. None of the bosses are challenging.
- There aren't any good level gimmicks in my opinion.
Overall: 48/70 ~ 7/10. | | Posted by: Nesquik Bunny - 2012-06-29 02:54:43 AM |
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| Review by mathelete | I applaud you for finishing up what Nintendo forgot to finish (I really wanted Super Princess Peach to finish Perry's story).
Anyway:
Story: 10/10
I like how every character had his/her own nature. Definitely the best storyline of any hack on this site (sorry SMWCP, but your storyline cannot beat this one).
Overworld: 12/15
While I like how you can choose which world to go through in which order, the paths were nonexistant.
Music: 9/10
Perfectly fitting music, and the smb3 underground theme with the smw one remixed into it made my day! However, it started getting repetitive, and it would be nice to also hear a bit of SMW music (the castle theme, specifically)
Graphics: 15/15
No complaints. Love how the custom sprites use custom graphics, while smw sprites use smw graphics. That keeps things consistent.
ASM: 20/20
What can I say here? You added an RPG factor into a platformer so that you are never really "done" with the hack.
Levels: 29/30
I loved how the difficulty was exactly on par with SMW's difficulty, as well as the difficulty of most Nintendo games. Most of the hacks I find on this site have a higher difficulty curve than SMW. You used perfect difficulty. But you lost 1 point due to the Pyramid Panic level. The color puzzle was far from obvious, and I had to look it up on youtube just to figure it out. But aside from that, this is the type of hack that would appeal to people who hate even THINKING of tool assistance.
Overall: 95/100=9.5/10
If the rating system gets implemented again, and it does not allow for non-integer options, this will round up to a 10. This is a hack that would have been a legit SNES game if the SNES was not outdated (blame the "graphics-over-gameplay" nerds for being blind to the fact that the best games were actually SNES games). | | Posted by: mathelete - 2012-04-20 04:16:40 PM |
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| Review by StuffwellandStarlow | My first review.
Story: YES! It doesn't involve saving Peach! Instead, Mario has to get 5 shards of essence star, to save the world. I also liked Kamek's quest, and Perry's story was also intresting. This gets a perfect score! 10/10.
Graphics: Better than normal hacks. It has many different custom graphics, and background was amazing! However, enemy sprites were not changed, except for enemies you made. Though, still great. 9/10.
Music: The musics here really match the themes in the levels. I really love the music in this hack! And, you must like Mario and Luigi series a lot. Again, a Perfect score. 10/10.
Level Design: The level designs are great and challenging here, but I hoped that there was some easier levels. Also, I really liked where you fly a plane, ride a sub, go on a text adventure, and much more. Because of that one con, I will give it 9/10.
Replay Value/Extras: Fantastic. There are plenty of games in Euphoria Festival, there are lots of Character Cards, lots of sidequests, and lots of secrets to find! Of course, games are not as fun, if it fun, so I detucted some points. Also, I wanted to visit MK again, after I clear the game. 8/10.
Overworld: Only part that is not excellent in this game. Overworlds are not connected to each other, but rather than visited by ships. Of course, this overworld is better than bland overworlds. 7/10.
Total: 53/60 = 8.83 = 9. Overall, this is an excellent hack. Keep up the excellent work!
| | Posted by: StuffwellandStarlow - 2011-10-27 12:16:47 AM |
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| Review by KilloZapit | Most overrated hack ever. Though still not bad, is no where near perfect.
Story: 5/10
Self insert Mary Sue "Golden Yoshi" reveals some silly retcon backstory and sends you on a quest for macguffins. Uh huh. Why are people rating this so high for story?
Graphics: 8/10
Fairly good graphics, if a bit unremarkable. Only real negative is they lack a unique charm or style, making them look rather uninteresting compared to some other hacks.
Music: 9/10
Honestly I don't really have that much to say about the music, and I don't remember much about it, but since it seems quite good overall. It has a good music selection that seems to do a good job of choosing a mix of well known and more obscure tracks and isn't too repetitive.
Level Design: 8/10
Level design wise, aside from the existence of sidequests, the levels seem quite linear and simple. They also seem quite repetitive and boring to me.
Overworld Design: 7/10
I like the idea, don't much care for the execution. For one thing having a boat for each world arranged in lines is ugly and silly, and times should have been taken to have one boat take you to multible places using a VWF tool menu or some other way to travel. Other then that the overworld is functional but lacks a lot of interesting features.
ASM: 8/10
The hacks central gimmick is it's VWF tool, which hardly even counts as it was designed as a tool by someone else, even if it was made mostly for this hack. And this hack DOES make very good use of it, actually using it for more then just cutscenes (although it does do that too). But other then VWF tool, all we have is some (admittedly mostly clever) minigames and shops. Actual gameplay alterations and level gimmicks are almost nonexistent.
Extras: 10/10
By far the best part of the hack. In fact this is the only hack I know of that even has this category, unless you count secret levels. The hack is packed with minigames, collectibles, sidequests, extra levels, and has shops and lots of NPCs as well. But this sadly has little impact on the majority of the game.
Overall: 7/10 (I guess)
The problem with SMW2+3 is simple. Although it has a lot of fancy extras and cool stuff, the majority of the actual game is not very interesting. Even so I would hesitate to say it's bad. It seems to me like a very old vanilla-style hack that got padded with tons of extra content stuff at the last moment. And while old vanilla-style hacks can be good for what they are, I expected something more of a chocolate hack with this much ASM behind it. | Posted by:  KilloZapit - 2010-12-06 03:07:01 PM |
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| Review by Legretta The Quick | this hack is un-frickin'-believable. i absolutely love it <3
story: 10/10. i like the concept of the essence star's role, as well as kamek's backstory. overall, it was a perfect mixture of seriousness, intrigue, and comedy. i laughed, and i literally cried during the ending sequence. bravo.
music: 999999/10. i LOVE how the MOTHER and MOTHER 3 remixes go so well with where you have placed them, and the super mario land music was also a great touch. all of the music is great, but these stood out to me.
graphics: 10/10. very well-done, and it was nice seeing old paper mario characters pixellated ^.^ all of the different terrains were smooth and natural, without that blocky MSPaint look a lot of hacks tend to have.
level design: 9.5/10. the pyramid stage took for-freakin'-ever to complete, but i thought the puzzles to open the doors were very creative, so it kept me from raging ^_^;; i like the fact that you actually purchase keys, so you don't have to go on a wild goose chase through the stage to find the key and keyhole. the npc quests were pretty spiffy; not too hard, but not super-easy. and, of course, big thanks for not having a timer.
overall: just about as close as you can get to a perfect-ten hack. | | Posted by: Legretta The Quick - 2010-11-06 07:15:55 PM |
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| Review by Re1Mu2R3 | WOW. A great hack and game. It has pretty much everything a gamer could want in a game. Good story, a few lovable characters, indifferent characters as well, Loved the shop and currency system, the whole Euphoria festival idea was BRILLIANT. This hack is without a doubt one of the best I've ever played.
Story: 9/10 for me.
I LOVED the cutscenes. Very effective delivery of plot. It's great how you used everything in the Super Mario universe, characters, monsters, places and all. Good how you redeveloped existing characters although, I don't think Luigi deserved to just be an NPC though. But that's not the reason I gave you a 9.
I gave you a -1 because by the end of the game you went a little too "anime-like" for me. Some people might like that but it's just not in my book. By anime-like I don't mean animation lol but how by the near end of the game you suddenly introduced a bunch of new characters and didn't give them the chance to develop a little throughout the game. Also, the revelations in the end were a bit too much and too sudden. Like in a lot of anime...
Gameplay: 9/10.
As mentioned, the shop system was brilliant. The key system was great as well. A lot of secrets to discover. Real rewards for your hard work. Money is actually useful and not overflowing by the end of the game. The only bad thing here is that the levels are a little bit linear and this game could use more puzzles.
Customs and added Features: 7/10 for me.
Money, shop, festival, cutscenes Great. The Pyramid and Tower were BRILLIANTLY designed!!!
I think the heart or HP system would work great for this game though since you have only one storage box and you have to purchase powerups.
The reason you got a 7/10 is because although you made a lot of custom bosses, they were very boring fights and provided no challenge at all. I was excited to fight the final boss of the game and after about 3 tries trying to time blowing up the Bob-omb on the boss I noticed he doesn't get hurt. It was pretty disappointing when I found out you only had to through the bob-ombs on him. Although he does speed up after a few hits, he is still easy for a final boss.
Also you introduced a lot of characters in the near end of the game, I thought I was going to fight them all but I was disappointed again when I didn't have to.
Music: 10/10! Great choice! Glad you didn't pick the SMB3 overworld theme that has to be the single worst track in Videogame History!!!
Overworld: 9/10. A lot of levels had boring backgrounds. Mostly average ones. The final dungeon has to be the best without a doubt!
Replay Value: 9/10. I will be playing this again over and over again but I'll still be disappointed by the lack of challenge with the bosses... kinda like playing the original SMW over and over..
Overall, a highly deserved 9 for you friend!!!  | | Posted by: Re1Mu2R3 - 2010-09-30 02:29:02 PM |
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| Review by Qundon | This Game is awesome heres review
Story 9/10
The Story was funny and sad when it needed to be but there was to much story for a Mario game it was annoying to have to read text for like 10 minutes just telling me about the back-story OF A VILLAIN
Graphics: 9/10
The Graphics were cool but not perfect with Perry in the end he looks kinda ugly and also Mario does not have custom graphics but Luigi toad and even the princess do why no Mario ?
Music 10/10
Perfect choices for music and are cool to hear
Add ins 9.5/10
The Add ins are really cool like the flying level it reminded me of super Mario land and also the extra quests to get through the level are also cool except It gets annoying going back to the level and redoing the extra level quests also I liked how the text boxes were
Over-World 10/10
The Over-World was awesome small but had shops,the main castle,the town and it was cool how you could go to any world you want in any order (Mainly because I could go to the desert world last)
Level Design 8/10
Levels were cool but some of the problems from other parts of the review took place but it went from easy to hard if you do the worlds in the right order but if this is supposed to be a sequel to super Mario World It did not have the run through the level feeling like your playing a slow sonic game also you do not get a cape only fire flower
Bosses 10/10
The bosses were awesome and weren't the original bosses from Super Mario World
Overall 9/10
The game is great and worthy of being called a sequel to Super Mario World it has some errors but fun theres multiple things to do after you beat the game the author worked for a long time on this game and it shows.the final score is 9/10 | | Posted by: Qundon - 2010-05-16 02:43:56 PM |
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| Review by cheat-master30 | I usually don't play English Mario World hacks, but I might as well review this one as it was very well put together and rather enjoyable.
Graphics: 8/10
It generally looked very nice, and some of the levels looked spectacular, just a few dull Ex GFX choices in some levels. Characters looked nice too, although some could have possibly been a bit more detailed.
Music: 10/19
Excellent. No bad songs, and it was all extremely fun to listen to.
Characters: 10/10
The Paper Mario and Wario Land characters were a really nice touch, and the original characters were well designed and written to. Probably the only hack I'ved played where the characters didn't seem too out of place in the Mario series.
Level Design: 9/10
Excellent. Each level was well designed, and I was impressed at the sprites, blocks and cut scenes used in them. However, the only reason it gets a 9 is because a couple of the levels like the Pyramid were very, very poorly hinted about, and you pretty much had to rely on trial and error there.
ASM/Blocks/Sprites: 10/10
Very good, and the sprites and blocks were well used. Indeed, I might as well give full marks purely for the awesome power ups you collect, the whole cut scene thing and the character cards and what not. The Star Shard system too, that was well designed, and the Chuck Quizmo part in the final level was a nice touch.
Bosses could be better though. Apart from the three custom bosses (Blurp, Fry Guy, Roth), the other three were kind of just poorly designed and used the standard 'everyone uses these guys' boss sprites from the sprites section, with the Mouser, Thwomp Boss and Fishin' Boo bosses.
Overworld: 7/10
Fairly good, but rather limited in the amount of levels and such like. The final submap only having the tower meant the final section felt a tad anti climatic too.
Story: 9/10
Very well done, and the reveal in the final secret level was a clever idea. | | Posted by: cheat-master30 - 2010-04-29 11:21:29 AM |
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| Review by Kimimaru | I have to say that I was very impressed by the work and effort put into making this hack!
Storyline 10/10 - Great storyline with suspense that makes you want to keep playing!
Music 10/10 - The music fit perfectly everywhere! I'm not sure what some of the songs you used were called, but they still set the scene for the levels!
Graphics 10/10 - Great presentation, text, and tilesets! Some levels just looked so good! The other characters looked great as well.
ASM 10/10 - Amazing custom blocks and features! I really enjoyed the level that flipped when you hit the flip block!
Level Design 10/10 - Great balance in difficulty with well-thought out levels. Each level was unique in its own way. I would like to say, however, that I was disappointed that I am able to destroy a platform intended to help me in Feathered Funtime! when I hit the POW block near it.
Overworld 7/10 - My least favorite part of the hack. Some overworlds looked nice, but others were pretty bland and didn't offer much to look at. If you're thinking of releasing another version, I'd gladly help you change some of the overworlds.
Replay Value 10/10 - I thought that putting in those bonus levels and character cards was a great idea! Also, I liked that you find out what really happened to Perry's Grandpa; it gave me a good feeling knowing that everything was okay!
Overall 9.6 - rounded up to 10 - One of the few Super Mario World hacks I've played, but it was very impressive! I had a lot of fun playing it, and it really made me want to create another hack! | | Posted by: Kimimaru - 2010-03-27 03:53:18 PM |
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| Review by Bird0 | Best hack that I have played yet:
Storyline 10/10 - This has one of the best storylines yet! It is very different from the same old Mario rescuing the Princess from Bowser.
Music 9/10 - Very well suited music, but the Fire Emblem Theme got annoying after awhile. You used great music in cutscenes. Please PM me if you can tell me the music in the cutscene when Roth and stuff appears right before the final battle.
ExGFX 9.5/10 - Almost perfect, some ExGFX wasn't great, but you nailed it with the BG and FG. The ExGFX for the chucks and koopas, such as underwater and snow, was excellent. Mario in a submarine was awesome!
Sprites 9/10 - Nice sprites, very different to most hacks. Some were from other websites, which was an excellent idea to use them. The NPC's were also a bonus.
Blocks 8/10 - There were some good blocks in the hack, with their own GFX which is cool, but some were over used a little.
Level Design 10/10 - The best part of this hack is the Level Design itself. The creativity of it was amazing! The objects and sprites were balanced evenly, with some secret exits chucked in.
Overworld 6/10 - Not the best part of the hack. The overworld was alright, a 5/10, but the custom sprites, such as the airship got it a 6/10. The overworld music was good though.
Other 8.5/10 - The cutscenes were used effectivly, the Status Bar was cool, and the Title Screen was pretty nice.
Overall ------- 8.75/10 - Probably the best hack I've played. This hack has inspired me to make a great hack too.
--END OF REVIEW-- | | Posted by: Bird0 - 2010-02-20 05:12:17 PM |
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| Review by Darkark | Ok let me just say it was great playing this hack! Everything is edited just like you said and it actually has a good storyline that is consistant throughout the game.
What's good is:
-the inclusion of RTC's -no spelling or grammatical errors
-the ASM hack for that sub
Not to mention this hack was not to hard or easy and was extremely fun to play through.
I also liked how the game took a long time to beat rather then skipping in the original SMW. However there are some minor things I can point out that needs improving.
First off I would like to say the beginning is perfect but when you get on land, you can go to every single stage. This is fine exceptfor the fact going through them gets you nowhere. It took me a little while to figure out but please next time could ya just give the player a little hint on what you have to do? Moving on...
On top of finding that out I cgose iceland to go to and it was fine until I got to the Mouser boss and he was really hard to beat.
The Reason? He was throwing bombs at you from a higher ledge then you and he threw them down a water pit. It annoyed me but I finally beat him.
Other then that there seemes to be no trace of any original SMW music which is very good and the songs fit the stages perfectly. This is also my second favorite hack because Your level design was spectacular. Almost not anything repeated! I also liked the addition of some paper mario characters like Goombario and Bow.
This hack gets a 58/60 from me(not 60/60 because there were still a few SMW graphics in the game) other than that, this is a must-have! | | Posted by: Darkark - 2010-01-20 08:20:31 PM |
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| Review by Aura | This was one of my favorite rom hacks I've ever played.
Story 10/10: Who wouldn't rate it this? This game has one of the best storys ever. And it isn't just one of those predictible plots:
Bowser kidnaps the princess
Mario goes on a quest to save her
Mario gets to the castle
Mario fights Bowser
Mario gets a kiss from peach.
It's not that!
Level desighn 9/10: There were a few levels *points at the level in the beach that was mostly in the dark* that I got extremely annoyed by! But most of the levels where very great and I loved them...for the most part >.>
Sprites 9/10: Most of these Sprites where VERY original but some just looked like they where just thrown in the rom and didn't fit in with the other sprites. (like the goombario and lakiluster sprites)
Music 10/10: I absolutely loved the music like the treasure trove cove theme on the boat in the beginning and the fire embilem theme in the boss fights.
Overworld 7/10: I personally think there wheren't enough custom sprites in the overworld and that most of them where the exact same or similar to the SMW sprites.
Overall 44/50: This rom hack is so good it's almost like a whole sequal. | | Posted by: Aura - 2009-12-30 10:47:21 PM |
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| Review by Aiedaiil | Well... Wow. Where do I start with this hack?
Storyline: 10/10
The Best storyline out of any hack I have ever played. You really give life to the characters in the hack, which is not exactly easy to do. The cutscenes are necessary for the story to progress and don't take away from the gameplay at all.
Graphics: 9/10
The graphics were great throughout most of the game, though there were a few places where the custom graphics clashed with the standard SMW ones. It doesn't detract from the level that much, though, so I give this a good 9/10.
Level Design: 10/10
This (along with the storyline) is where your game really shines. All of the levels are non-linear, fun to play, and unique. You seem to introduce something new nearly every level. Great job here!
Overworld: 8.5/10
The overworld definitely wasn't bad, but it could have been better. There were some parts of the overworld that just seemed a bit bland to me. The OW was better than in most hacks, however. It's just not that great compared to the rest of the hack.
Music: 10/10
The custom music used is really cool and fitting. I really like the large range of tracks used in this hack.
Replay Value: 9/10
The storyline may get old after a few times playing through this hack, but this hack remains one of the funnest ever, so I will definitely play this again.
Total Score: 9.416666666666667 = 9.4
One of the best hacks I have ever played. Your creativity shines in every aspect of it, which is saying something. Kudos to you, Golden Yoshi (Steven), you have made a masterpiece here. | | Posted by: Aiedaiil - 2009-10-27 05:04:23 PM |
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| Review by 7260 | This is really the best Hack I ever played! I like the non-linearity of the five worlds and the fact that every boss (except Big Boo) Is custom. The Idea with the Character Cards and the Mini-Games was also great!
I very liked Professor Frankly quarelling with his wife and Fawful's Fortunes, and the music in the Ghost House is really scary.
The only thing that I don't like very much is that it's way too short and quite easy. I only got troubles with The Iceberg Boss and the Pyramid (because I wasn't able to figure out how the coloured blocks work).
And I think the Hack's Final boss is a bit too easy, but I miss Kamek appearing in a world and shooting magic blasts at you, like he did in Yoshi's Island.
All in all, the Hack gets a 9,5 of me. When you make a Hack that is as good as this one, but a bit more challenging, than we will have the PERFECT Hack! | | Posted by: 7260 - 2009-09-10 01:02:21 PM |
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| Review by Kyuutoryuu8 | *-Warning!! Review contains spoilers!-*
Well. This is my first review. But I have to say; this is an INCREDIBLE hack. The storyline is very good and deep for a romhack. The level design was good with the overworld themes and difficulty. I like how you have to buy the key in order to get through a secret exit. I also like how sometimes it was puzzling to find the second exit in the red square levels. The character card system was amazing, and I loved your descriptions. I also liked your items, like the fighters glove, sand rinng and such. Even though it wasn't exactly "equipped", it all worked. I also like the You VS Boo, (although with savestates, it's a little of a pushover, albeit, but whatever. I never used savestates on those just for the enhanced gameplay). The shop system was all well-priced. However I think 1-ups should be 100 coins as they "cost" in the real game. Also, I think the key should be about 500 coins as it can open treasure chests too for character cards. But that doesnt hinder the score, just a personal opinion. I also liked how you used Doopliss, the Golden Yoshi (your name lol), and Kamek and Roth. I thought the storyline was very intriguing and at some points, hard to follow. Another thing I liked was the fact that you used a lot of music from most other mario games, (I was extremely surprised and happy at Mario Kart DS' Waluigi Pinball theme in a certain level  ), and the Fire Emblem music for the boss battles. Custom blocks, enemies, music, (custom as in not in the original), I loved it all. I loved the extra levels the green Yoshi had to offer. I couldn't understand why level number 4 was locked until the end. Ha. But I liked them. I enjoyed the Inventory system and the "help people" thing. And the very last level in itself was amazing. Long level too. The celestial tower has 5 trials, and those trials indeed matched what was required. I was simply amazed at how detailed it was! All in all, I loved this hack. Now let's check out the scorings.
Storyline - 10/10:
Absolutely amazing. So much better than Nintendo's "Help me Mario! I've been captured for the (insert 100 digit number here) time!"
But seriously, it was very deep and I liked it. Very intriguing. This may even be considered an actual game-storyline that would sell.
Overworld - 9/10
The overworld. I like the 5 ship idea, the Chateau, and everything basically. The only thing I didn't like was the ship next to Franky's Villa. I couldn't understand what that was, and I think you should only reveal that after you get to that part...
Level Design - 10/10
Ah the level design. Simple yet so fun. All towards the theme to each place's surroundings, custom music, enemies, moderate and increasing difficulty; The level design was amazing. I liked the submarine and airplane levels. Very custom. The red square areas that needed more searching were cool too, and leaded to some great secret items and CC (character cards). And I liked the fact where you had to BUY your key to get past the second exit in the red dot areas. Also, you had a little bit of Super Mario World, The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros 2 and 3. Now those levels, were truly "Lost Levels"!
Graphics - 10/10
Kid you not, I was really shocked (in a good way) when I realized all the enemies were dressed up to their surroundings. Sunglass Koopas, parka-wearing chucks, Aztec Koopas (lol), all fitting. Absolutely amazing. Not to mention the backround and all.
Music - 9/10
Bringing all the music from most of the Mario Games (and one from the Cloud game and one from Fire Emblem; if I'm missing any, forgive me) is just such a good memorable time for me, being an old Mario player. Nice overworld music too. Very fitting. The only thing I didn't like was the repeated use of that soundtrack in the Jungle and Beach. Other than that, it was really good. Again, the Waluigi Pinball music bumped the score on this one up high.
Overall - 48/50 (Approximately 9.5/10)
As an overall hack, I like it. As all hacks, it's not "flawless" or "perfect". But its the greatest hack I've played, and it has the well-deserved "Number 1" hack title. Thank you for making this hack. | | Posted by: Kyuutoryuu8 - 2009-08-27 07:05:11 PM |
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| Review by Kristian | I don't usually review hacks, but, hey, I might as well.
Level Design: 9/10
I really liked all the level design in the game, it was all non linear and very interesting. The sprites were placed well and there was little to no slow down. There were no sprite limits also. I REALLY liked all the end of world castles. I played the game without save states, and the end of world castles were intense for me. I was REALLY glad you put a mid-point before bosses.
Music: 9/10
All the music was picked out really well, and suited the level. I really liked the Forest Interlude during the cut scene.
But the song that REALLY got the score up is the Chrono Trigger song near the end. It's arguably the best CT song, and it was made perfectly. I just sat there and listened to it for a while.
Overworld: 7/10
Meh, it wasn't the greatest. Some of the maps could have used more ups and downs, and the level paths for the most part were straight. There were some areas that could've used more decoration also. That being said, I still really liked the overworld, hence the 7/10.
Graphics: 8/10
Mostly rips from games, but nothing clashed. I would've liked to see more custom made stuff though. Still, nice selection of graphics.
Story: 10/10
Real awesome story, probably the most intricate storylines I've seen. This was definitely one of the best parts of the hack.
Fun: 10/10
Everything you did all came together nicely. I had A LOT of fun playing through the hack. And you would have no idea how happy I was to complete it without save states. All the secrets were fun to look for and all the levels were great fun to play. Not to mention wondering what would happen next in the story. Great work on this Steven.
Score: 53/60
or: 8.8/10 Rounded to 9/10.
Nice work. | | Posted by: Kristian - 2009-08-25 01:43:21 AM |
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| Review by Shinnok | This is the SMW 2+3, so expected from people here. Let's make a review of it:
Level Design: (9/10)
The design of all levels are excellent. This is one of the few hacks I couldn't spot cutoffness. And I tried to found it, becuase there's always a cutoffness here and there. Well, I haven't found it, but that does not mean there isn't. Things that weren't so good was that the hack was too short. In one day, I've beaten the game, found all cards plus discovering the four easter eggs. There were also small issues, like the angry sun going behind the quicksand for a few time, which was sufficient to be hit.
Overworld Design: (8/10)
I honestly think it could be better. It was a bit plainy, with a lack of height variation. The overworld paths weren't unexpected. Even the secret ones! There was a lack of "wacky paths", which makes the overworld a bit more boring. At least the palletes weren't eye-searing and there was minor cutoffness, that happens when using the blocky cliff corners above cliffs. It is a 1x1 pixel cutoffness.
Story: (10/10)
I guess this is the most awesome point on the game. Cutscenes, plot twitsts, everything that makes a story in a game excellent is present on SMW2+3. Not another "Peach has been captured by Bowser" plot! Well, I don't have more words to describe the awesomeness of the plot of this hack.
ASM Works: (9/10)
The bosses were okay, except for the final one, which was surprisingly easy. After all, it's the final boss, I expected something challenging. Well, the lack of ASM knowledge can enter here, but for one who has these awesome cutscenes, shards, inventory and etc, I guess it wouldn't be that hard to make the final boss a bit more hard. There's another thing which contribuited to this rating: ASM bugs. I was able to go to the final level without collecting a shard, just beated some levels. One other thing, when I hit a secret goal block in a stage (which I don't renember the name), my game freezed up. Luckly I saved the game before this happened. Other people have seen another weird errors, but these ones I mentioned were the only ones which I saw playing the hack.
Graphics: (9.5/10)
They were good, few BG/FG clashes. These happened usually when SMW's original BGs were used. They rarely work well with ExGFX, unless if this ExGFX is SMW-ish, which wasn't the case.
Music: (10/10)
Excellent choice of musics that suited well every single area I was. There isn't much to comment here too.
Overall Rating: (9.25/10)
A bit off-review: The same rating of Noob_in_box.
So in overall it was an excellent, and definitively worth playing. You may want to replay it, as it's very short and you can find everything, or almost in one day. | | Posted by: Shinnok - 2009-07-03 12:15:17 AM |
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| Review by jopomeister | Ok, I just made this account PURELY to review this GREAT hack. My favourite hack so far, no doubt about it.
Gameplay: 10/10
I finished it in one sitting, although it took me a while, it was well worth it. Also, I like the fact that there's still possibly room for a sequel, & if you ever got round to it, I'd love to play it, although grinding for money won't be as easy, due to the fact lava & spikes were mentioned by lady boo U_U
Story: 10/10
Great story, completely different to the everyday &, frankly, dull "Bowser got Peach" storyline.
Level Design 10/10
Every single level had a different theme to it, keeping in line with the island your on theme, absolutely fantastic.
Graphics 10/10
1- You did not make the mistake of using SMB3 graphics mostly
2- Easy to understand what is background & what is an actual enemy.
3- Just amazing.
Music: 10/10
Oh. My. God.
Is that Crash Bandicoot Music I hear?? WOOHOO
Yes, as I said before, I created an account just to review this hack.
That is one of the main reasons
Overworld: 9/10
Imaginative, due to the use of boats to travel to the different places!
I also love the way you marked the two different types of secret levels & how you had to buy the key to be able to access new stores for little upgrades, like the truth orb
It was marked down a bit due to the lack of splendor, you'd expect it to have shining lights & what-not, you know?
Overall: 10/10 | | Posted by: jopomeister - 2009-07-02 01:07:18 PM |
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| Review by ketten_12 |
PLEASE HELP!!! I'M ONLY MISING CARD 10 HAS ANYONE FIND IT YET COULD YOU TELL ME WHERE TOFIND IT PLEASE?
What a wonderful hack. One of the special things I liked was how you koined Super Princess Peach's Story and Yoshi's Island story with the one in ypur hack. Super princess
Peach's Story + Yoshi's Island Story + Steven's Imagination= An absolutely amazing story. Although I Liked Super princess Peach and Dislike Yoshi's Island and only play Super Princes Peach liked two times I got bored pretty fast with it: very easy and a bad story with no ending and only stayin in the point tha t Perry was kidnaped (it wold've been great that Nintendo finished it, which you did greatly and ina amizingly perfect way). However I liked how you finished Perry's story by adding why he arrived with his Grandpa, why kamek attacked him and turned him into a parasol and why kamek kidnapped all kids in Yoshi's Island story. I liked that you finished the story of Perry by turning him into a boy again and reunited him with his Grandpa in the a bonus level of the carnaval/fair/party despite what appeared in the story told at the end of the final "nornmal" level. In the other hand the racing boo minigame was fabolous and was prettty well based on Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. I liked how you made me remeber when
I used to read the Goosebumps Series from R.L. Stine in wich you choose you own story picking from some options and your Mario and Luigi looking for Peach story was great and the various endings were great and fun too.
The things Fawful said were really hillarous!!! I laughed for so much time that it was the reason I spent like the double time I would've taken finishing your game if I only have played the levels and read the story. I liked a lot to read and see movies and shows that make me laugh!!! Thanks for the good time you let me have with this!!!
The submarine and airplane features were amazing. I liked how I could hit a multi-coin block by firing at it!!! The special on/of blocks wich I've never seen then before wich put the lava at a higher or lower level, Put the things that let you run up a wall happy so you could use them to climb a wall (It was funny to watch them gray and sad)and the blocks wich turned water into solid ice so you could walk in it were really amzing. I liked how you could get fros Captain Syrup from Wario Land A glove that let you replay bosses by pressin up in the controls as soon as you enter the level, the hidden ring that let you walk in quicksand without snking and the potion that let you read a ghostg's mind so you could read Lady bow's mind to find her card. Those things were really amazing and haven't see those ideas of power on any other hack. I'm a very obsesive person and whenI can't complete a game fully at 100% I never play it again but in this case although I couldn't find all cards I possitively planning to play it a lot more times in the future. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT A LOT IF YOU COULD LIST FOR US PLAYERS OF THIS GAME THE LOCATION OF ALL CARDS. I would love to be able to complete this game fully at 100%. THANKS FOR THIS MARVELOUS GAME AND THE MEGA FUN TIME I HAD WITH IT!!!!! | | Posted by: ketten_12 - 2009-06-29 10:00:33 AM |
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| Review by LMM | Warning: This contains very minor spoilers... if they can be considered spoilers.
This hack is the best of all I ever played, best of all time probably.
Story 10/10
A new story far from the Bowser takes Peach story. You go deeper into the story than just the present. Everything is explained and it all comes with a surprise twist; but that is all I will say.
Level Design 10/10
The levels are well thought out with some having higher difficulty as you progress through the current area, as you can choose the order of the areas, instead of the difficulty being all over. The puzzle levels were the best of any of the levels. At first you may struggle to figure it out but when you do, you feel good you did it. As for the hidden sruff, I was amazed on how clever you hid the BITE THE BULLET hidden exit.
Graphics 10/10
The graphics are amazing. With tons of new backgrounds it is a better sight than the old ones. 1 or 2 were the same but who gives a care? Now for enemies, I loved how the Goombas and Koopas changed with the area. Examples such as Koopas having helmets in the forest area or bandanas in the beach area.
Music 10/10
The music was my favorite part of the game. The tracks were put in the correct levels, and the boss music is epic. I always loved that track and wish I could remember it.
Overworld: 10/10
With 5 seperate paths which you can do in any order, it is one of the most amazing overworlds I ever saw.
Overall: 10/10
A must play hack with a compelling story line. | | Posted by: LMM - 2009-06-28 10:09:29 PM |
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| Review by Red Chameleon | After playing through this hack, I was honestly amazed, shocked, and thrilled at the suspense in this hack. This hack is one of those hacks that really give you a wonderful feel - it is the most fun, well designed, and amazing hack of all of the hacks that have been submitted to the site since it contains a very nice plot and many other things in the Euphoria Festival. By far my most favourite Super Mario World hack in existence, GoldenYoshi has really caught me onto this hack with its wonderful and gripping plot.
Level Design:
The main thing you need to come down to when making a hack is how well designed the levels are rather than patch up terrible levels with ASM hacks and such. Was this hack one of the one that pulled it off without ASM? Definitely. The levels in this hack were designed very wonderfully and were not linear at all. They all gave a really great experience and anyone who has played this hack would have known how amazingly put together everything is. What I really liked were the levels with the shards from the Essence Star and Celestial Tower only because of the maze-like and puzzling way they all are. They give quite a challenge, especially the pyramid. I really thought these levels were really great to play, although I did not find all the exits, I still intend to since the exits are really well hidden and are hard to find.
(incomplete review - will finish sometime) | | Posted by: Red Chameleon - 2009-06-27 07:04:32 PM |
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| Review by Alcazar | Wow, didnt expect the full version so soon.
And yes, its-a-me your old beloved "friend" :-)
As SuperTails said, its one of the best hacks not only on SMW Central, but maybe worldwide and truly featured.
The Story is nice and humorous, not following the standard "Bowser kidnaps Peach" Plot.
Although it reminds on the Triforce of the Zelda Series and getting a clue about the main villain (looking at the shadow in title screen and at the end of the festival) its good and keeps the whole thing going.
Also, getting or buying special items and cards is something new and funny, as well as the tons of extras like:
* the text adventure bonus level
* including a sub-marine and air-flight like SML 1 had
* the rpg like subquests
* the sokoban style level in the final tower
Theres nothing more to say about overworld and level design, exept, the last good Mario game with free playable worlds was SML 2 - 6 Golden Coins.
All in all a very good hack (as said above) and one of the very few that have a high fun level and replay value.
Rating: 11/10 | | Posted by: Alcazar - 2009-06-27 12:28:55 PM |
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| Review by Lynnes | Okay, normally i don't reveiw hacks, but this one definately needs one...
Overworld 6.5/10: Sorry, your overworld was just not that good. There were some perspective errors, and some missing tiles. But the names were just awsome.
Graphics 9/10: Well, i loved your graphical choices, just some of the backgrounds did't really fir the level. Like Lake Fidgity. Most of the time, i thought it was a blank background because the trees were so low...
Music 10/10: Loved the music, theres nothing to else to say about that.
Level design 9.5/10: Most of the time, your levels were really unique and just plain awsome. But sometimes they were pretty easy. Or really hard. For the pyrimid, The room with the nine, you had to hit the blocks to make it add nine, correct? Because the only one that worked was 3+3+3... Which was not the only answer.
Story 10/10: Easily the best, i doubt that anyone wasn't "wowed" by the ending, or some even inspired. I made me feel that i need to make my story more solid, and better.
Bosses 9/10: (I love bosses, so i always rate them) anyway, even though the only bosses that you really thought up of was Fryguy and the Giga Blurp, the terrain for them were actually, pretty good. They each had a unique challenge to them.
Overall 9/10: Not perfect, but quite near it if i do say so myself.
| | Posted by: Lynnes - 2009-06-27 11:26:47 AM |
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| Review by GoldenSonic15 | Steven... You are the greatest SMW hacker ever, and this is the greatest SMW hack of all time!
Story-10/10 The story was amazing. I liked how the story progressed, even for an open-ended hack! And the ending was a big surprise! I also liked the fact that there were cutscenes with Kamek before bosses, like in SMW2. And I loved that extra tidbit of story after defeating the game in... Well, a secret area.
Level Design-10/10 The level design is amazing! I loved all those unique gimmicks in levels, and I love the extras, such as the trading cards, the bonus levels, and extra little secret areas, such as the one in the jungle.
Overworld-10/10 Well, the overworld was very well decorated, but there are no pathways, so it could get kinda confusing. That isn't a big problem, so I'll still give it a 10.
Music-10/10 The music is AMAZING. I especially loved the fact that almost all of the songs are replaced. The only SMW song that remains is the starman song
Graphics-10/10 The graphics were amazing. Some SMW backgrounds remained in a few levels, but that wasn't a real problem, since I have no real problem with them.
Overall-10/10 No hack is perfect, but this is SO close to being it, everything gets a 10/10! I love this hack! | | Posted by: GoldenSonic15 - 2009-06-27 08:27:31 AM |
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| Review by Artsy2 | This is easily the most incredible hack I've ever played, maybe even the best one the site! I'm going to rate this on what it should be rated on.
Story 10/10: I honestly think this was better than the levels in general. I liked that you could choose from any of the ships, but the story seemed confusing in the order I did it, I was like, oh noes! But then when I got to the point to view them in order, I was like, this is the best story out of any Mario hack. The end of the hack and the secret of the final bonus level just blew me away! Very well put-together.
Level Design 9.5/10: Amazing job on the levels, they were amazing. At some parts it seemed on the easy side, but it was balanced out by the puzzling Pyramid Panic and the final story level. The only thing that bothered me occurred in several spots: Bloopers out of water, kind of odd, but it was no big deal.
Overworld 10/10: Very good overworld, it was surely very well-done. I also made it a 10 because of the fitting level names and the land features. Good job.
Creativity 10/10:This...the...amount of creativity put into this hack is unlike any ROMhack I've ever seen and probably will see. Things that stood out were the You vs. Boo, the main enemy, the tests of the final level, and the secrets! (Character cards, easter eggs) I only found one Easter egg and only about 10-12 of the cards, I'm going to go back and find them sometime. In the least amount of words possible: Unbelievably exquisite usage of incredibly insane implements throughout the hack.
Overall 39.5/40 = 9.875/10: Nothing is really perfect, even 10/10's, but let me tell you, this is as close to perfect as I think anything could get. Brilliant work! | | Posted by: Artsy2 - 2009-06-26 07:23:49 PM |
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| Review by Supertails | ***WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS***
When SMW2+3 was first announced, it certainly impressed. All the novel ideas it presented, such as character cards and even a mini-game, along with a level of authenticity rivaling Nintendo itself drew users in and made an upcoming demo very anticipated. The demo itself exceeded expectations, presenting a great taste of what was to come, and remained one of the most well-received hacks on the site. Now that we've finally got a chance to play the final version, how does it fare? Thankfully, once again, it only exceeds expectations previously set.
One of the things that really stands out in this hack is the story. It's a shame that many hacks just present the story in the beginning, then pretty much ignore it for the rest of the hack. Not the case here. From the introduction forward, it's interesting and draws the player in. What's more, it manages to avoid the cliche "Peach is kidnapped by Bowser" scenario. It was great to see Bowser not the main antagonist this time around.
What helps make the story so effective is the characterization. Mario's speech is limited to "It's-a me!" and the like, but other characters speak in their own voice and have clear personalities that are accurate to themselves from other games. The dialogue after finding a shard, too, is interesting and helps lead up for the events that follow.
Speaking of said shards, one of the things that's great about SMW2+3 is the way the hack feels so open. You can go to any of the five worlds right from the get-go, as well as hang around, buy items at the shop, play an excellently-done mini-game, and even play some bonus levels. The open-endedness can keep a player going even if they're slightly frustrated with a certain section.
As for the levels themselves, they're all designed very well and revolve around interesting and unique ideas, such as an icy mountain and a puzzling volcano. The levels themselves never draw on too long, and while a few seem somewhat short, there are plenty to play.
Each of the worlds contains a dungeon at the end, and with one exception, they are all done extremely well and require some brain power. The volcano level I mentioned before contains switches that raise and lower the lava, with changing between them at the right places the key. Another has four important items to gather in a creepy and literally thrilling mansion. The one exception I mentioned earlier was the level "Pyramid Panic." One of the rooms required a number to be reached from other blocks to be opened. It became very frustrating to complete, and I had to completely stay still and press up to get through. Even then, when I had tried the puzzle in many different ways, it sometimes didn't work. A later puzzle there required different colored switches to be pressed, and while I had less trouble, it was still somewhat confusing. If you're planning on a newer version of the hack, I hope it's something you'll consider improving.
SMW2+3 is extremely unique for its excellent cutscene system, which allows for plenty of text without having to constantly teleport between scenes. It even allowed for very clever sections, such as a text-based level. Romi certainly deserves a pat on the back for this, and while other hackers will certainly use it for themselves, you have to remember where it started.
The main draw of this hack is certainly the level design, bonuses, and story, but the graphics aren't bad either. Steven has used plenty of rips here, and the FG's and BG's never clash. The palettes also remain high quality. My only gripe is that styles occasionally feel inconsistent. The graphics for the last level are excellent and very well drawn, but they seem different compared to the rest of the hack. Characters, too, feel a little this way, with some seeming more detailed than others. Peach and Perry, for example, seem quite a bit different in terms of their graphical style. Still, I'm a fairly picky person about graphics, and most people should certainly like them, as they are chosen well overall.
It was also great to hear this hack retained no SMW music. The ports chosen are appropriate and well-suited for the areas, and certainly help to accent the theme. I especially liked the use of Forest Interlude for some of the cutscenes, and the musical changes within them were effective. At the same time though, I wasn't a big fan of all the music choices. A couple of the jungle tunes, including the volcano, got a little grating after hearing them for a while, and I didn't think they suited the levels as well as they could have. The Pleasant Path music's low xylophone was somewhat hard on the ears as well, though this was an issue with the port itself instead of the original song.
SMW2+3 offers a healthy dose of levels, and while it is possible to blaze through the hack in a couple hours or so, the player is rewarded for going back and finding secrets. There are plenty of character cards, bloopers, easter eggs, and even some powerups to find, and all of them really add replay value to the game. While I've found many of these, a few still elude me as of writing, but I'm eager to go back and find them.
Few SMW hackers are able to say they created a full hack. Even fewer can say they finished making a good one. Steven has joined the likes of FPI and Reading thanks to excellent organization and clear, steady progress on his hack. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with it, and went through with style. With it's excellent level design, intriguing story, and good graphics and music, and plenty of goodies, it's hard to imagine someone wouldn't enjoy this hack. At this point, I would go so far as to say it's the best hack on SMW Central. Incredible work.
10/10. | | Posted by: Supertails - 2009-06-26 06:35:07 PM |
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