Super Mario Bros: The Early Years - A slightly SMB1-like hack - Beta now available! - Works in Progress

Before anyone asks, let me say that Mario is Missing is NOT canceled. As is often the case when I go on resource creation sprees, I decided to start another hack.

This is a hack loosely based on the style of SMB1. The only thing it really has in common is that each world has 4 levels.

The last one will actually have 8.

Where is Mario's mustache? Well, he's supposed to be around 12 years old in this hack. What 12-year-old do you know has a mustache? Ehh...It was the best way I could think of, besides removing the gloves, which was done for me, to de-age Mario. Anyway, the plot is simple, as it always is.

WORLD 1

I'm going with a different style for the Overworld in this hack. World 1 is your typical grassland.

1-1

That Green Star is this hack's Yoshi Coin stand-in. Each level, besides the castles, has 3 of them. In each World, there's one level with a secret exit leading to World 9. These exits can only be accessed by collecting all 9 of that World's Green Stars.

That Koopa will either get fried or stomped.

Jumpin' Piranha Plants might be the toughest enemies in this level simply because you can't jump on them.

1-2

Like in the original SMB1, 1-2 takes place underground. It even uses the same music!

Going for a Green Star

1-3

It's an athletic level that introduces moving platforms.

It also introduces Parakoopas.

The Green Star Blocks in this game serve as the barriers to the World 9 warps. As stated earlier, you need 9 Green Stars to pass them.

1-4

Yep, it's a castle.

In addition to introducing castle stuff like lava and Podoboos, this castle also introduces Goomba-generating pipes, and makes pretty heavy use of them.

Watch out! A Goomba might just land on your head!

Here's the reason why there are so many Goomba-generating pipes in this castle. The boss is a giant Goomba, but he's not too tough. He IS a Goomba, and he IS the first boss.

WORLD 2

World 2 takes the Mario Tweens to a sunny beach.

2-1

This sure looks like paradise. The Koopas are enjoying themselves so much that they're jumping for joy!

FIIISH!!!

Can't wait until the shell hits that block on the left. BTW, this level is my entry for GeminiSunfall's Summer Level Design Contest.

2-2

Obligatory water level

One of these pipes may lead somewhere.

Uh-oh...Just woke Rip up.

VIDEOS

1-1

1-4

2-1

2-2

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

Yoshiatom's Post

I take you're on a mission to replace all of the Software Toolworks' educational games? ~~In that case I'm calling shotgun on Mario's Time Machine~~

It looks just as good as your other works, although Mario himself could use some work, it's looks like his mouth is non-existent.

It also looks fairly easy, but eh, it's only the first 2 worlds. Keep up the good work and such!

Layout by Koopster!
Same goes for titles, don't try abusing loopholes!

<DeputyBS> I knew it
<DeputyBS> alcarobot is taking over the world through his truck dealership franchise

i like the idea of mario being 12, but growing to the size of an adult kind of works against this idea. maybe keeping mario small and implementing a hit counter would work better. and yeah, he'll need a mouth.

I really like the overworld! I especially love how each area directly references the kind of level you'll be playing. I'm not a fan of the grassland > underground > sky level > castle layout though (it's honestly been done to death, it's beyond being a homage at this point it's just old).

I'm not too big a fan of the green star sprite. it just looks really out of place. might be the shading. i also dont think the question mark block flashing like that looks good. it's pretty hard on the eyes to see it, and a bunch put together would be awful. (also the cheep-cheep's mouth is looking a little off.)
other than that, I like the graphics!

the levels do look pretty easy, but not boring. I can imagine it feeling good to speed on through them. although hopefully it gets harder. keep in mind that you'll be making the hack for smw enthusiasts that are probably better than you think. ;)

ask me if i give a f*ck...

A game where Mario is 12 years old...

Cool. Though I do think Mario needs some work. Mainly that mouth thing that everyone hates. Also, I think you should redraw Mario. Having the SMB3 Mario just with no mouth seems really lazy. weird that I'm saying that considering I didn't even change the sprite of Mario at all for my hack.

Oh well. Maybe this is just me, but I think you should try to go for a different art style considering this is a prequel (i'm guessing) to the original SMB. That, and I'm kinda tired of seeing the same art style in every hack you create.

Either way, good luck with this.

@Gamma V: You've decided to use the Custom Composition "Boss Bash" for the Boss Battles of this hack, right? An excellent choice!
I also love the Choco Island theme that you used at the end of World 2-2!

I don't really have the patience to draw custom player graphics, but I could probably put draw in a mouth at least on the big frames. The Green Star sprite is pretty much a copypasta of the graphics for the normal Starman. BTW, I never saw Small Mario as being a childish state while Big Mario is adult. I always saw it as just Mario doubling in size, and the Mushroom would have that effect at any age. Maybe I could make the ? blocks not animate? *shrugs* I never could get a good "spinning" animation on a custom ? block, so I always make them glow. Besides, the glowing is more in line with SMB1. I won't be changing the graphics since part of what got me to do this hack is the graphics spree I went on for C3. I practically made enough graphics for a whole hack, so I figured I might as well put them to use.

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

That looks really neat. I like the art style, and the idea of a younger Mario is interesting.

I'll be looking forward to the final product.

I really like the new project, and I know this will be really challenging.

Who is your favourite player?

"Cristo Ronaldo, Suey!" - iShowSpeed

I really like the idea of this hack, though the name of it made me think it was gonna be educational. Also, I think you should redraw Mario, because he doesn't really look like a 12 year old. He still looks the same, but shaved. I mean you can keep Mario the way he is, but I'm not really a fan of it.

Formerly known as nick 139
My YouTube channel

Nice as always. Could you maybe like give me the details for the themes for each world that will be in this hack.

Is that the Megaman 3 gameover track I hear as the world 1 overworld music?

I'm working on Mario and the Goomba Isles.

@autisticsceptile1993:
WORLD 1 - GRASS
WORLD 2 - BEACH/WATER
WORLD 3 - DESERT
WORLD 4 - FOREST
WORLD 5 - MOUNTAIN
WORLD 6 - ICE
WORLD 7 - SKY
WORLD 8 - HAUNTED
WORLD 9 - DARK/FIRE/BOWSER STUFF

@SMWBetaHunter25: Yes, it is.

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

Time for the first double-post in this hack's thread. I just finished 2-3.

Dolphins and Donuts...

About halfway through the level, Porcu-Puffer shows up to make the water a bit more dangerous.

VIDEO

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

As always, good level design. But I think Mario should have his classic attire, because this hack is based on SMB.

BANANA SLAMMA.

You mean swap his pants and shirt colors? That shouldn't be too hard.

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

Yeah, that sounds good. I was also wondering, would you like me to give you a classic palette?

Where Mario has a brown shirt, instead of blue.

I'm curious what SMW, SMB2, and SMA2 Mario would look like without their mustaches.

BANANA SLAMMA.

No thanks, Pixel-Gon. I have considered changing Mario's shirt to brown, but I think I'll stick with the blue shirt.

Anyway, I haven't finished any new levels for this post, but I did do the maps for Worlds 3 and 4.

WORLD 3

These were taken directly from Lunar Magic. In-game, the sky won't be solid pure blue. It'll probably have an orange gradient like many of my desert levels.

WORLD 4

Again, the sky won't be that color. It'll use the same gradient as the sky in Worlds 1 and 2. This hack uses the Submap Split patch released during C3. UberASM is probably not affected by the split.

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)

Wow this looks really good. I like how you use your own graphics too, they fit right in.

Can't wait for it to be finished!

I haven't seen this type of Overworld much in hacks.
It makes a change from just using the Vanilla tiles.

I'm guessing parts of the scenery on the Overworld give some idea to what the levels will be like, such as that Beehive?

Yes, they do. 4-2 will be set inside a beehive, for example.

Here's another update for you all.

2-4

The tides from the last level are back for this castle.

Porcu-Puffer is a constant threat in the first half of the level.

In the second level, the water rises and falls.

These Cheep-Cheeps don't look too dangerous now. Just wait for the water to rise.

Giant Enemy Crab

Here's World 3's Map in-game.

Quintesson Judge: Silence, or you will be held in contempt of this court!
Hot Rod: I have nothing but contempt for this court!
- Transformers the Movie (1986)