again: adventure...
through individualized
interpretations
Additional Comments:
Unlike most of my commentaries, I have a sneaky suspicion this one may fall on the short end of the spectrum. Why, you may ask? Well, this game, er...hack of Super Mario World is more a collection of 80-some odd levels designed by 80-some odd individuals for the purpose to be judged in an annual contest held on SMWC. Ah! But there's a unique difference between this contest, and the six that proceeded it; that difference also being the reason why my first and only entry in the Vanilla Level Design Contest series is lucky number seven. SMWC's 7th Annual Vanilla Level Design Contest was proposed as a contest in which the entries can be combined together to create a single collaborative hack - or perhaps compilation hack is a better term. For the first time, instead of fishing through a sea of .ips files and patching countless .smc's, every single entry can be played as a single ROM under the guise of a completed game.
Still, it seems to be a rather silly entry for Beat All Games, but then again, the credo for Beat All Games is to beat all games, and it's hard to deny this particular title's credibility as a game. But unlike every contest in the past, I had a keen interest in playing this hack. For one, I enjoy collaboration hacks, especially more of the compilation style hacks such as the VIPs where there is a wide selection of level design philosophies present: from the brilliant, interesting, and out of the box ideas, to the horrible, boring, and dickish. Everything imaginable, but more so, the unthinkable, has the potential of making an appearance. And for me, that's the joy. It's like taking a ride on the wild side; playing rebel to all of the conventional gaming ideologies.
But there's more to my own VLDC playthrough wishes. For the first time, levels offered by a number of SMWC's esteemed designers could be found on a single ROM. In some respects, the hack could be treated as a sampling of a fair cross-section of competent level designers within the SMWC community without having to play an equivalent number of hacks. Not to say that's a bad thing, but I don't exactly have the desire to play nothing but SMW hacks. Been there, done that.
And finally, perhaps for a more sinister, albeit personal, reason, I can enjoy a game in which I had a tiny hand in helping create by being a designer of one of the 82 (not counting Switch Palaces) levels. Consider it thinly veiled self promotion. Eh, call it opaquely coated, as I'll purposefully neglect to mention which level is mine - we'll say for intrigue's sake.
To comment on the game though is difficult as best. It's a fabulously put together hack, and despite the game being completely open from the beginning, feels like a cohesive product. For obvious reasons, the difficulty scaling is absurd, but that can be and should be overlooked. Otherwise, the game comes together nicely, as though it truly is a grand adventure through some mysterious land that would easily ring familiar with our audacious hero, Mario. Be it an inviting forest, a mystical desert, or a perilous climb into the sky, there's more than enough of the usual fare to keep the more absurd level ideas grounded without discouraging the player. Yet, there's just enough levels seeded in madness to keep the player on their toes - from a cave that's inside-out to an epileptic's worst nightmare.
Depicting a long list of arbitrary levels thrown together in a hodgepodge of organized chaos seems hardly a case to call this a proper game though. But then you have the icing on the cake: a beautifully designed overworld and a fantastic soundtrack consisting largely of remixes on original Super Mario World themes created especially for the hack by some of SMWC's top composers. A couple favorites include the Here We Go! (Abstract Remix) (it's so non-Mario-esque, yet carries enough of the original melody to alleviate any fears that the game's deviated too much from the norm) and the Athletic Remix (somehow, this version conveys the intention of the original song better than the original song). Meanwhile, original compositions such as the Mountain Map and the Worst Map (believe it or not, I find this to be the best piece in the game as it accomplishes its desired mood perfectly) bring the game to further astonishing heights. It's wonderful details like this that helps blur the line between design potpourri and conscientious work, yet still maintaining its roots as a platform for showcasing entries intended solely for a contest. If it weren't for a few of those one levels and an open world, you'd swear the hack fulfilled aspirations originally intended from the very beginning as a proper Mario adventure. Then again, in a way, it did exactly that.
Rating: 4 unscrupulous number jokes out of 5*
*Hmm...another SMW hack with yet another pointless marijuana reference. Should I be surprised? I don't know. I'd think a simple 404 or BRK equivalent would be more appropriate. Though BRK's hex of 00 would be lost on all but the very few. Fuck it! Sex and drugs? Why not?
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