| Name: | Invictus |
| Author: | juzcook |
| Added: | |
| Demo: | No |
| Hall of Fame: | Yes |
| Length: | 22 exit(s) |
| Type: | Kaizo: Intermediate |
| Description: | Invictus is a chocolate kaizo hack with a touch of vanilla charm that will challenge even the most experienced players. It aims to be fun, whilst remaining difficult albeit fair. It took the entirety of my free time over the course of nine months to learn and build. Good luck, and enjoy! This hack features: - 20 individual, challenging levels with instant retry - An impressive coded-from-scratch final boss (courtesy of Kaizoman/Thomas) - A fine assortment of custom assets, including a bangin' soundtrack - NO hidden blocks. Studies claim fun has increased by 200%! - Loads of secrets for those who explore a little deeper... Special thanks to Nexus15, Freakin_HA, HmWhyNot, ChrisG___, White_Moth, Hiro_sofT, DanTheVP, LadiesMan217 and Kaizoman for all of their assistance, patience and hard work in helping me to make this hack a reality. This game wouldn't exist without them. Official Invictus Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lRFlsPE5sg |
| Tags: | asm bosses chocolate gimmick music |
| Comments: | 70 (jump to comments) |
| Rating: |
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1.47 MiB | 34,617 downloads
Comments (70)
It was clips of this, the reaction compilation, the GDQ run, that first put Kaizo SMW on my radar all those years ago. I didn't start playing Kaizo until a year back or so, but a seed was planted that day in 2019. Two nights ago I rolled credits on Invictus, after 33 grueling, intense, wonderful hours. This game that seemed impossible to me, and I did it. Somehow.
And what a ride it was. Some levels I loved, some levels I loathed, but I will never forget a single one. You know a hack is special when you can spend 2 hours or more grinding your thumbs to stubs, finally get the clear, and think, "...maybe one more level." Or, perhaps, that's when you know you've got the sickness.
Invictus gave me the sickness 6 years ago. I didn't fully realize that until Kamek fell. Thank you, juzcook.
GLHF
Invictus Clear
Invictus - 1
Invictus - 2
Invictus - END
Thank You
SMWC was under DDOS protection at the time you attempted the download, so would it be possible for you to try again?
Overall, a really fun and creative hack, definitely a must play.
In terms of level design, if Nintendo were to put out an official Kaizo Mario game, this is how I imagine it would be. There's so many creative ideas and setups, but also not a lot of traps out of nowhere like invisible blocks. Instead, there's a lot of ways the game allows you to troll yourself even when you have warning. A lot of the traps are avoidable in ways other than just having godly reflexes, and some just involve not being stupid. There's also a good balance between faster paced levels that flow, and slower paced levels where you need to find timing and figure stuff out. Overall, there's a lot of variety and great level design here.
But yeah, this hack is an experience I'll never forget. It pushed me to my limits in terms of skill (at least for now), and I can remember every single level. This hack is a must-play for everyone into Kaizo, whether it's your hardest hack or not.
Overall: 10/10
Nevertheless, through patience and persistence I was able to get through it in a weekend. Make no mistake, it is very difficult. Sewer Smashin' was probably the biggest roadblock for me, but this hack is so FUN and well crafted (the music!) it made retrying difficult sections more of a fun experience than a frustrating one. Lake Bodom felt unusually fun to play for a tight water level. The artistry and aesthetics of Frostbite was absolutely beautiful, and it was really fun - something ice levels don't always pull off. The Difficulty really ramps up with Stellar, the first level to
I had seen so many comments about the Kamek fight, but for me personally the Boo fight before it was sooo much more difficult. The Kamek fight was
Creative level design, custom mechanics, and a lot of tight but fair spaces, with the end of Sewer Smashin' being a possible exception. In short, everything we've come to expect in a modern hack.
This was a shell jump away from expert difficulty, but don't let that discourage you. Get some Kaizos under your belt, and then take the journey and claim your rite of passage. The legend of Invictus awaits. 5/5
Looking forward to your next one, Juzcook.
After playing it myself, I felt it was very well made, and is instantly in my top 3 Hacks. I feel this is a great test for players to see if they’re ready to make the cross over from Intermediate into Expert difficulty hacks.
Final Rating = 5/5 - A Must Play
After a few more traditional levels that serve as appetizers, including the incomparable One By One, things slowly but surely get tougher. With Built To Fall, we realize that we will be dealing with long technical sections, but always really pleasant to play and showcasing a surgically thought out flow.
Then come the big guns: Lake Bodom (a water level whose slower pace is really interesting) and Cemetery Bloom (a super tight ghost house with trolls that make you question your interest in kaizo). There we realize that we are in the highest shelf of the intermediate category and that even if we shout loudly, our mother is never gonna come pick us up.
After that there's a good old skytree level (Die-Tree) and when we finally reach the H, things seem to want to calm down a bit. Until Rise Again, where the chocolate part of Invictus begins to assert itself in this level which features "double jumps".
Chocolate is also in Biohazard: vertical screen wrap and sawrfing are on the menu. I hope you sharpened your fingers. Kamek Woods sets the stage for the grand finale with more classic platforming and a super tight blind finale which is, let's face it, a little frustrating.
The progression continues with Stellar which introduces a new gimmick: you can activate and deactivate blocks with the L and R buttons.
Absolute Power more than deserves its name. We are introduced to motor skills (we can change the nature of the jump during the jump) and when we finally overcome this big piece of meat, we are really sated and we feel absolutely powerful!
Koopa Road, which I loved, with its perfect homage to the 8-3 level of SMB1 is a kind of warning: from now on it's going to be seriously tight and hard. Continue at your own risk.
Then the final castle, Invictus. 3 delicious sections that bring together the previous gimmicks, namely motor skills and L+R to activate or deactivate blocks. All at the same time, a melting pot for the fingers and the brain.
But that's not all. You still have to beat Kamek. A LONG, very long, boss that challenges you to survive its various attacks and phases for ~90 seconds and then - finally - gives you a tiny opportunity to defeat him.
An incredible hack that allows you to perfect and hone your skills while giving you a lot of self-confidence. When you finish certain levels, it feels like you could do ANYTHING! Almost.
Would recommend.
100% clears first playthrough video : https://youtu.be/KyLZJUNX6r4
One day..
I've uploaded a video showing just a clean, no-commentary clear for each exit here.
Quality: 5/5; Difficulty: 8/10
The only bad things I have to say about it are: There were a few "oi" moments,
Overall, Invictus is my favorite Kaizo hack for not only being fun, but it feels like an approachable game for even the worst of Kaizo players. I recommend it highly!
(rip grammer)
https://discordapp.com/invite/juzcook
While I've greatly enjoyed this game, I hope at some point you will upload a version with a checkpoint saver. Losing your progress on a long level with multiple sections is absolutely brutal for a noob like me.
5/5 absolutely amazing! <3
Favorite levels were Built to Fall and Absolute Power. Everyone and their mother now seems to have a motor skills level in their hack thanks to Invictus. Thanks Juz?
Thanks for all the hard work that went into this.
5/5
this awesome asm stuff too. I can definitely say a must try
hack, definitely.