Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
The whole video is done in chipmunk time? Oh, joy.
World 3-3
Hey, let's make every jump impossible by adding a Koopa to it! That makes perfect sense, old chap!
The boss battle is just as hard as last time, except if you can somehow get up to the platform above him, you have to deal with an exploding Koopa. Other than that, it's pretty much the same.
World 4-1
Despite all the enemies running around, it feels pretty much the same. Don't really have much to say about this one.
The parts with the set of tall pipes are pretty hard to get through, because off all the cannons and the jumping guys and the snakes that spit fireballs at you. Having the Fire Flower at this point makes everything a lot easier.
World 4-2
Taking the low road here will get you killed...if not by the Goombas and Piranha Plants, then by the fireballs that the snakes spit at you. They always come at you in twos here, so you'll definitely have to be on your guard here.
Also, who in their right mind would take a set of five bricks, put gaps between them, make them act like a bridge you can run across, and then put a Koopa on the fourth brick? Seriously, what the hell?
World 4-3
Stay to the left throughout the level. That way, you have as much time as possible to take care of all the birds and planes.
The part just before the coin room has enemies now. Whoo-hoo.
When you're about to come out of the corridors after the coin room, stay to the right and fly up when you can to avoid the Goomba, since you can't hit it with your machine gun.
The boss battle is about the same.
Enjoy your ending. Again. Also, when you beat the second quest, you can select any level you want until you turn off the power. Nice.
All these jumps are hard. I blame the exploding Koopas.
World 3-1
For some reason, it now rains Easter Island heads with wings whenever you take a platform over a long pit.
The spiders that drop down on you in World 3-2 also appear early here, even though you only see one.
The Panzers make an appearance a whole world early if you're playing the same hack Shagg/kuposan3 is playing. Fun.
World 3-2
This world has spikes that fall from the ceiling. They look just like the spikes on the ceiling that don't kill you, except the ones that fall overlap a little bit. You can still tell, but it's still a doozy.
There's also a spider at the exit. Standing in mid-air. What.
There's a robot on just about every platform! YAY ROBOTS
Anyway, there are a [b]lot[/b] of robots here. Your best bet is to take out whatever enemies you can and know where to stand to avoid the flying robot heads whenever necessary.
A seahorse pops out of the floor near the exit, so keep that in mind, too.
World 2-3
Start shooting. Start shooting the entire level.
There are now robots and rocks (Goombas in bubbles, whatever) in addition to more seahorses in this level. Also, when you reach the coins that spell out "MARIO" there are two salvoes of those fish that come in at you from the right side of the screen instead of one.
Also, there are now two spiked balls floating around the boss instead of one. Try moving around while shooting the boss now!
After you beat the game, press Start when it says "The End." The mushroom will change to a Mario head. Select "Start." Welcome to the second quest!
World 1-1
Spear-throwing bees and pirahna plants show up here now. Also, you'll start seeing Sphinxes and Bullet Bill cannons near the end. Plus, a Koopa blocks the top exit. Lovely.
Other than that, don't expect any geographical changes to the levels in Hard Mode.
World 1-2
There's a Koopa on every stationary platform. I don't even. Plus, there's a Sphinx on the top exit, so be prepared to dodge fireballs at the end if you want 1-ups.
Also, spears are not supposed to turn into bombs when you run into them in the real game. Good lord, this hack is random.
World 1-3
JUst like the last two levels, there's a crap-ton of enemies. If you somehow make it onto the ceiling, you'll still have to deal with Goombas and piranha plants up there. So much for safety.
Also, there are a lot more Sphinxes here. You'll be going through a maze of stompable Sphinxes and their fireballs. Be prepared to run.
The boss can be handled the same way, thankfully.
World 2-1
You'll be seeing three or four seahorses on the screen, as well as a ton of Koopas. Geez, does Tatanga like exploding Koopas?
You'll see some bubble Goombas near the end that'll make getting through the maze of platforms and Koopas a little more difficult and a little more interesting, as well.
There's also a robot at the end. Have a nice time not getting killed.
We finish the first quest off...as bad as it already is.
...
Snoopy nuts.
World 4-2
After the narrow maze part, you'll soon see a Mario game staple: that fireball that revolves around a block or a ball. In this case, it's a block. It's pretty easy to avoid.
After that, it's some platforms and a donut block that takes you to the exit. Just stand on it, and jump over the pit before the donut block falls into the pit.
World 4-3
Flying time!
This time around, you'll be shooting down bullets and other planes while destroying blocks and collecting coins.
Bullets are not supposed to freeze in place in the real game, but apparently they do in the hack. If you touch them after you destroy them, they'll die like regular enemies. (LOL, dying bullets.)
Avoid the sparks that float in the sky. They're indestructible and they will damage you.
Once you see lines of blocks making up walls, you're close to the end. You'll then see a room full of coins you can fly through...collect as many as you possibly can! After that, it's just some simple manuevering before you have to deal with fireballs revolving around blocks and indestructible fists coming out of upside-down pipes.
The boss here is Tatanga, and you will have to shoot him until he dies. He'll have two forms, and the first one is a cloud. This cloud spawns birds. (I don't even.) After enough shots, you'll meet Tatanga in his little spaceship. Avoid the fireballs as they both come out and split into three. If you shoot the fireballs, they'll turn into enemies (which includes pipe fists, dead Tweeters and Koopa bombs), unlike the real game where it does nothing. Also, unlike the real game, Tatanga doesn't go through the ceiling. At one point, it even glitches up and makes a half-clone of itself, which then proceeds to throw glitched tiles at us. I don't even. Once you shoot him enough times, he's dead. Enjoy your ending, complete with a heart stuck in the ceiling, half-finished clouds and a glitchy rocketship.
In this video, I find out this is a ROM hack. Goddammit.
World 3-2
The things that drop down from the ceiling are supposed to be spiders, but the hack makes them look like hornets for some strange reason. Stomping on them after they've come down will get rid of them.
There are quite a few narrow platforms around here, so be careful as you're jumping around in what happens to be the hardest level yet.
As for that part with the giant waterfall where enemies just randomly pop up...that's not supposed to happen. At least, not in the real game.
World 3-3
More Easter Island heads!
When you see the Koopa on a pipe, stomp the Koopa, take care of the spider while you wait for the Koopa to blow up, then go down the pipe. Leaving the secret room takes you to the boss's lair.
The boss is some guy with an Easter Island head for a head. (A mask?) You're supposed to use the rocks to get up to the platform below him if you don't have fireballs, but since they're now Goombas in bubbles, this becomes a hell of a lot harder. You'll have to wait for him to reach the edge of the platform he's on when he's trying to throw something at you and make a running jump so you land behind him. Hit the switch and it's over.
World 4-1
Okay, this is a fucking ROM hack. What the hell.
The jumping Chinese people that can only be killed with fireballs and can take a zillion bops on the head with Mario's jump attack are now Tweeters that can be taken down with one jump. Also, we now have Panzers from the American Super Mario Bros. 2. And they can be taken down with a jump. God what.
In this video, we tear a new one into World 2...or at least try to.
World 2-2
Remember, if you run across the gaps between bricks, you won't fall. It worked in the original Super Mario Bros., and it also works here.
Once again, enter the first pipe you see and you'll skip a bit of the level and get a bunch of coins at the same time.
You'll start seeing Bullet Bills near the end. Even if you stand on the pipe that the cannons come out of, the cannons will still come out.
World 2-3
Guess what? You go under the sea and shoot things!
Destroy blocks and enemies with your torpedoes (you can press either A or B to shoot) as you collect as many coins as you possibly can. This level is pretty fun, I'm glad they put such a concept in this game. The level automatically scrolls, so try not to get trapped between a block and the left side of the screen.
The boss here is a seahorse. If you want, you can avoid that huge mine that bounces around the room and take shots at the seahorse with your torpedoes. Touch the switch and it'll all be over.
Also, more fake Daisy.
World 3-1
Easter Island heads!
Here, we meet a whole bunch of Easter Island heads that run at us...as well as some in the background. At least Nintendo tried to make backgrounds for this game. Some will bounce around on wings as others will try to charge at us.
The ones that charge at you have a different animation in this hack. Looks pretty cool.
Spiders make a debut appearance here, but they'll be in full force in World 3-2.
Also, the bubbles with the Goombas are supposed to be rocks. I don't know how [b]that[/b] got screwed up. They also don't work like they're supposed to, for as soon as you stomp on the Goomba bubbles, they pop and you kill the Goomba. Anyway, these rocks help you get past the spike traps, which is actually pretty nice.
Also, Bullet Bill cannons are not supposed to turn into squished Goombas when you land on them. Ever.
Well, it's not the first time I've covered the Game Boy (anyone remember that TMNT game?), but it's about time I covered the system again.
And how else to do it than with the first Mario game for the system?
Actually, this is a color hack you can get via the Internet. Color = good. Unfortunately, quite a few things have changed in this version (the most notorious being everything turning into a squished Goomba when it dies, enemy sprites being edited to look better and the rocks turning into Goombas in bubbles), so if you're wondering why you're seeing the words "a hack" in the title, there you go.
I'll definitely cover the real version of the game if I ever find a decent LP of it, or if I get the resources to make my own (whichever happens first).
This is a pretty short game. There's four worlds with three levels each. Yeah, it's not very long.
World 1-1
This is a pretty easy world.
After the first tall pipe in the level, one of the blocks after it has a heart. Collecting these hearts give you a one-up. (Game Boy being in color was obviously unheard of way back in 1989, when we had other handhelds on the way such as the Atari Lynx and the Game Gear, which did it at the expense of battery life.)
The only power-ups you have are Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers and Starmen, just like Super Mario Bros. When you shoot a fireball, it acts a little different. When you throw one down, it bounces off the ground and goes into the air, bouncing off any walls or obstacles in its path. You'll have to be closer than in SMB to do any damage with them, but it's still a good power-up to have, as there's a new advantage to it: if you shoot a fireball and it touches any coins before it goes off-screen or disappears, the fireball collects them for you! When you pick up the Starman, the Can-Can plays while you're invincible. Yes. The Can-Can.
Also worth mentioning is that if you stomp on a Koopa in this game, it turns into a bomb. Stay away from this bomb, as it will explode. Goombas are here, too, as well as the little fly enemies from the original Mario Bros. At least you can stomp on the flies this time.
If you see a brick with a line going down from the center to the lower-right corner, it has something inside. Sometimes it's coins, sometimes it's a power-up. If you're playing in color, it's much easier to notice.
There is a pipe somewhere in the middle of the level that you can go through. Not only is there a lot of bricks and coins in here, leaving the room takes you close to the end.
When you reach the end, there are two doors: one on the upper-right and one on the lower-right. If you can make it to the one on the upper-right, you'll be able to play the bonus game. Press A to stop Mario, and you'll pick up either extra lives or a Fire flower. If the ladder happens to be in your way, you'll automatically take it on your way to the other side of the screen. The bonus game will definitely help you survive if you're not very good at the game, so get into it at all costs! It's easy to do now, but as you progress through the game...not so much.
World 1-2
Gee, I guess World 1-3 happens a little early this game. I'm guessing the game expects anyone who plays this to have played through a good amount of Super Mario Bros. prior to playing this.
New enemy here: the bees that drop spears from above. You'll have to clear a pretty good height to get to them without getting hit in the process.
Yet another 1-up lies in one of the ? blocks near the end. It's in a set of three seperated by bricks and it's in the middle one.
World 1-3
The first boss level. Here you'll be in what looks like some sort of dimly-lit pyramid, even though you can see everything. It's the original monochrome Game Boy, use your imagination.
Shortly after the start, there's a short pipe next to a tall pipe. Go down the tall pipe and you'll skip a little bit after the level. When you see a sphinx spitting fireballs after that, break the blocks between the ? blocks and jump into those spaces. You'll hit a hidden block that contains a platform. Jump on the platform and stay on it. You'll be raised to the ceiling. Walk on the ceiling and go down the pipe you see there. Hard-to-reach bonus pipe!
At the end of the level is a giant sphinx. Wait for it to stay on the ground, then make a running jump over it and land on the switch. Level complete! Also, if you have the fireballs, you can shoot fireballs at it and take it down yourself to make stuff easier.
You'll rescue Daisy (why they named the princess Daisy I'll never know), only to find out it's a monster in disguise.
World 2-1
Lots of platforms and fish jumping in and out of the water. Joy.
If you go down the first pipe you see, you'll find a big cluster of coins. This is really useful if you're farming on lives, since you'll need all you can get!
After skipping a bit of the level, you'll come across bridges and seahorses shooting fireballs as they jump in and out of the water. You'll also see what look like fish bouncing up and down afterwards. Shortly after this, you'll find another pipe that you can go down, find coins in and skip more of the level with.
At this point, you'll be at the end of the level. You'll find a robot you can stomp on. At the end, use the rock to get up to the platform and jump to the top door. (It's a Goomba in a bubble in this stupid hack, and guess what? Getting into the top exit here is virtually impossible now.)
