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[ON HOLD] "Quest on Full Moon Island" by Storm Kyleis

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A hack that doesn't rely on using a lot of different resources and yet it's one of the most entertaining and great-looking ones I've ever played.
The simplicity along with a different story from what you'd expect from a Mario game makes it a very enjoyable hack to play.

Aesthetics in general are great! Fitting music along with pretty scenarios which get better as you play which fit very well the level you're about to play. I really like that this hack manages to do something various people used to fail at; using icegoom's "redrawn"-styled graphics properly. They really made for simple, yet good-looking levels without the need of using too much decoration, or using graphics outside the main style often.

The levels are very fun to play. Very well designed and eventually with more creative use of some common enemies or obstacles that we've already seen in the original game, as this hack barely uses custom sprites. Along with the subject, the difficulty curve in the hack is consistent - no randomly difficult levels with easy ones afterwards.

Overworld is nice and it's there for its purpose.
The only disappointment I have is that the hack isn't very long and with a few hours you can be done playing it. The sequel is at the works though, so there's some hope!

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Overall a very fun experience, and somewhat memorable.
I say feature. What about you?

Deadline: September 26th (SAME YEAR AS OF THIS POST OF COURSE)
Update: have been informed that there's a sublevel in the that causes the music to crash, although it doesn't lead to a black screen and still remains playable.

I've tagged it with "fixme" and it won't be featured right away after the deadline if most reviews here are in favor of the feature. The hack needs an update and not have this kind of overlook.

Still post a review if you're still playing the hack or were already going to post here though, they'll still be considered.
Li'l disclaimer: I did not beat the final boss

Guess I was fortunate enough to not encounter the mentioned compatibility issue. I had already started playing this before the bug was mentioned so I decided I might as well finish it.

This hacks starts pretty mediocre and... honestly, stays that way. The level design throughout the hack actually feels less and less inspired as it goes. We start with levels with actually defined themes but then it just feels like the hack wants to fill up the worlds with levels and it just runs out of ideas.
This is actually super unfortunate because the fact the worlds ended up huge makes save points really far apart and I think that's also negative.

Some stages are really short, while others just go on for too long with no midpoints. I want to highlight the castles and also the final stage (is it the final stage?) which go on for way too long before their rather confusing and awkward boss battles. Special mention to the ON/OFF switch castle. The gimmick was not handled well at all - the level was basically a huge gambling and go back and forth stage... which I had to redo several times due to dying near the end or at the boss, which was super frustrating just for the blind drops you have to do if you forgot to memorize where the floor is.

I have a few other specific problems, like the unclear timing in a few sections of Magma Cave and I think the need of a magikoopa magic hop in Eternal Forest? Which felt super out of place.

When I was about halfway through I was already almost certain I would give this a nah, but I wanted to say that I would be a bit too harsh for what the hack deserved in my review simply because featuring a hack requires higher standards. However, I can't really say I enjoyed the second half of this hack by normal standards either.
However, I remember having seen pictures of the sequel and I honestly look forward to it. Hopefully it's a big step forward!
It's easily the best thing I've done
So why the empty numb?
Considering the hack was released in 2011 (by the title screen, it's a legacy one), it has good and bad points.
Its dificult curve is strong, and sometimes anoying, but the levels are a bit short. To compensate this, you can farm for lives easily in the game, especially in the first level of world 2.
I don't think the game does something really neat, although the story being quite interesting and after some progress, it gets more interesting.
The bosses are somehow good to deal with, but you may need to hit most of them six times or even more, making the battles repetitive.

So after all, I think I'd feature this hack, considering that it is hard enough to garantee a good challenge. The fact that it's short remember some NES games, that were hard to make them feel longer enough to entertain the player.
Hello I'm still working on reviewing this hack but the deadline has already passed. Could it be extended?
Originally posted by Torchkas
Hello I'm still working on reviewing this hack but the deadline has already passed. Could it be extended?

Granted. Moved from 22nd to 26th.
...and it's over.

According reviews, the hack will be FEATURED!
Although, since this hack has issues on accurate emulators, it won't be added yet. It will, once someone will fix the hack and will make it work on all accurate emulators.
Till then, the hack is on hold.
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