Rakugaki Mario

The difficulty of this hack is interesting. There are some sections of levels (including a few of my favorites) that have a modern Kaizo or setup-based feeling to them. While the difficulty is mostly manageable, a lot of it comes from a combination of lengthy sections and a lack of powerups. Rakugaki is almost never outright evil in its design, but it is almost never forgiving either. Given that a lot of different people worked on this hack, I wonder how many different understandings there were regarding the difficulty of old hacks.

I have not played many hacks from the era this work is inspired by, so maybe what I'm about to say doesn't make sense. I feel that Rakugaki Mario's core flaw is that it sometimes thinks that the limitations old hackers faced aided them in the level design process rather than working against their design intentions. What results is a hack that perhaps misunderstands the unique character of its inspirations and where it comes from.

What made these old hacks special? Is there anything of value that should be taken from playing them, or have they been outdone by modern works? Speaking from my limited knowledge of old hacks, I believe VIP 2 (and maybe the series as a whole) is noteworthy for its charm and the simple, subtle ideas that some levels focus on. Although I enjoyed Rakugaki, I seldom found it to be charming (although there are bits of it here and there, mostly in World 2). This project felt kind-of cold in its execution, which is not necessarily bad, it's just different from what I was expecting.

Although the idea of using old tools and resources for authenticity's sake is neat, I feel that this adds little to the hack itself. These old tools help define Rakugaki, but do those same tools help define the hacks from the 2007-2009 era? I don't really know enough to say, but I think the draw of old hacks goes beyond the technical limitations of old tools. If the creators of those old hacks wanted to create another hack in the present day, would they use old tools? I think newer tools would allow those creators to expand upon or develop ideas they could not before, or at least allow them to better implement something.

What the old tools end up doing for Rakugaki is make the process of hack creation feel authentic and accurate to the time period but not the end result. When you strip away the lengths taken for maximum authenticity, some of the levels were designed with an intent and precision that felt quite modern. A large amount of Rakugaki's authenticity and the depth of its appreciation of the 2007-2009 era is therefore not immediately apparent to the player. How differently would people feel or think about this game if it had not been advertised as a love letter to old hacks? Some parts definitely feel old-school but I don't know how well I could pin down this hack's goals if I didn't know them.

To sum up what I have said: Speaking from an outsider perspective, I think Rakugaki successfully captured the feeling and experience of creating a hack in the 2007-2009 era but was less successful in making the hack feel like it was from that era. I'm not sure exactly what this hack wanted to achieve, whether it was both of those things, one of them, or something else entirely, but that's what I could take from it.

I really appreciate the fact that a hack like this was made, regardless of its flaws. I still had a pretty fun time with it overall. There are a number of levels that feel specific to the 2007-2009 era or are close to it. An OSE version of Rakugaki would be a great opportunity to fix some of its issues. If there were ever plans to make an OSE version, I would be happy to help if it was needed. Maybe a hack in a similar vein or even a sequel could help realize Rakugaki's potential and make something really special.