(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In one of my previous posts, You must login or register to view this content., I mentioned Super Mario Bros. X, a fan made Mario game for PC which is like someone took the best elements of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario World, Legend Of Zelda 2, Super Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3 and merged them all together. I wanted to put my reveiw up here so people may have a chance to read it, for those who didn't check it out on my website at the end of my other thread.

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There's a contender to the throne for best 2D Mario game and ultimately best 2D platformer of all time, and it's NOT made by Nintendo.

Yes another Mario game exists, one that is almost entirely unknown and that you cannot play on any console or handheld at all. No this game is a PC exclusive. To top it all off, this game is completely FREE! (you can download from my website You must login or register to view this content.). All you need to play this game is a PC (which you have if you're watching this), and optionally, although I do recommend it, a controller of some variety. I prefer the wired Xbox 360 controller for PC as it simply works, but it has a poor D-Pad so you may want to find a better USB controller. Honestly you can use anything with buttons, even a keyboard if you're from the age of Commander Keen and can actually play platformers on a keyboard, something I honestly have difficulty with. But anyway, what is this game I speak of. Well, it's called Super Mario Bros. X and it is honestly bloody brilliant. The game is chapter based so many people would consider it multiple different games, but I don't I like to consider it one game as it's presented as one whole package. After all, you wouldn't call the battle mode on Super Mario Kart a different game from the racing mode would you? So I'll give a little run-down of the game which I honestly, although I'm still playing it, consider to be the definitive Mario experience.

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The game, as of now has 4 chapters. “The Princess Cliché”, “The Great Empire”, “The Invasion 2” and “Return To Yoshi's Island”. The first chapter “The Princess Cliché” is little more than the tech demo although by NES standards it could be considered a complete game in it's own right. It has a selection of 12 levels, a couple of which being RPG esq levels in which you talk to people. The aim of the game is to collect stars to open doors to the next few levels and eventually beat a rather challenging Bowser fight. It is well executed and feels like a 2D version of Mario 64, only good. This chapter took me a little under 2 hours to beat leisurely as I wanted to explore the levels and try out each of the characters. All the chapters in this game use a world map similar to what you'd expect for Super Mario Bros 3 or Super Mario World. On this map screen you can switch characters and play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, Daisy (although in the titles they call her Peach... clearly this cannot be the case though as Peach is the one kidnapped, and she wears pink, Daisy however wears yellow, which is the person you're playing here, but enough of my nit-picking), and the final character Link... yep, Link, as in Legend of Zelda, who somehow works really well in the Mario universe and controls like he does in Legend Of Zelda 2.

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Now surely with all these characters it'd be rather gimmicky I thought, but no. They complement the game well. Mario and Luigi play as they would in Super Mario Bros 3. with the same power ups and controls, however the screw-jump returns from Super Mario World as does Yoshi, but here it feels less unbalanced as the Shy-guys and other enemies from Super Mario Bros. 2, who are mixed in with the traditional Koopers and Goombas, are immune to the insta-stop of Yoshi and he no longer shits extra lives it would seem. Toad and Daisy (or Peach, whatever), play as they did in Super Mario Bros. 2, having three hearts as health only this time they're able to use the fire flower, super leaf and other power-ups. Toad being fast and the Daisy/Peach thing being able to float but they added a little more intrigue to the game as unlike Mario and Luigi these two are not identical. The fire flower is slightly altered too. Toad using the fire flower shoots really low to the ground making it easy to hit Goombas without it bouncing over them. Holding up on the D-Pad allows him to shoot in a slightly higher than normal arc. Peachaisy however shoots naturally slightly higher than normal, and by holding up, shoot diagonally up with the fire flower. This makes the characters a tactical choice for certain levels and not just an unused addition. There is a downside to these characters though, they cannot ride Yoshi... but the extra hit and speed/floating makes up for that I think. The last character Link is a bit of a strange one. He can use his sword as a weapon, can pogo with it similar to Scrooge in Duck Tales on the NES and if you pick link all the coins on the level are reskinned as rupies which is a nice touch. He can pick up the power-ups like everyone else but they work slightly differently for him. Again link can't ride Yoshi and he can't pick up enemies like Shy-guys or pull up plants and throw them like Toad, Peach, Mario and Luigi can (just like in Super Mario Bros 2), although he can kill them with his sword. These different styles of character truly come into there own in the two player mode though which makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii's multiplayer seem lacking. The smart camera is a welcome feature, and the ability to have any character combination thus allowing for Mario and Link together for example makes for an extremely interesting set up which greatly improves the replay value.

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“The Invasion 2” (the '2' stands for version 2, it's not a sequel), is the main chapter for Super Mario Bros. X, and it contains 50 levels. On average these levels are more challenging than those of the average Mario game, but not so tedious and unforgiving as the Lost Levels. This makes the game a real treat to play as for the experienced Mario player the levels are challenging without being ridiculous, and little tricks for lots of extra lives are easy to find. That said, even though amassing lives is easy, the game doesn't feel easy. Loosing a life means you restart the level, so if you get stuck, expect the lives count to drop rapidly. This does have the advantage however of making the game fun, as loosing a life is simply a little setback rather than the controller snapping frustration of having to start again when you run out of lives. It makes you more willing to run through the level when you have 50+ lives, but those 50+ lives won't last long in the last few levels unless you've developed some skill.

The other two chapters “The Great Empire” and “Return To Yoshi's Island” are created by the user community on the Super Mario Bros. X website, (so not the SMBX creator) and they're harder again, peticularly “The Great Empire” which rivals Ninja Gaiden games for difficulty, so are best left for when you've completed “The Invasion”. Both are well designed, although “Return To Yoshi's Island” is somewhat stingy on the power-ups. Each one has in excess of 30 levels each... I don't actually know how many they have in total as I've not actually completed them. Yeah, they're that challenging. Still, even if these two chapters are too difficult for you (and there's no shame in that), there's still plenty here for everyone.

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This game is quite definately the greatest platformer ever, however it's still being altered and changed to fix glitches and improve gameplay so it's hard to judge it because it may well change, but surely that means it can only get better. In all honesty I don't think it needs alterations as the gameplay is fantastic and I found only one glitch when playing where I accidentally got myself stuck in a space only little Mario could fit and then collected a mushroom only to find I couldn't get out... still a tiny blemish on an otherwise great game is no reason to dis it especially as it was made by two guys in there bedroom. To top this off, the game comes with a level editor so you can make your own chapter if you want (although it would take a very long time I'm sure). Super Mario Bros. X is in my opinion the best platformer ever.

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Well hopefully you guys enjoy this game. Tell me what you think, or just give me your opinions on the mario series in general. It's a great series... had it's ups and downs sure, but it's still going strong today so it's doing something right.

Um do you have a xbox still i added you when you get on would you be down for some black ops?

I don't think it's just your speed. I'm pretty sure the download froze at 96.6MB Time to restart it lol

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 PM ----------



Program is a .exe, it won't work on mac. I'm sure I can find a way around it later. Thanks though :y:

Can I get a IPS instead? I like emulators better than these built in games, I dont use my keyboard and the controls options never work with my PS3 controller. This is a hack of Super Mario Bros 3 right?

It's not a ROM hack at all, it is it's own program entirely. However it seems to be automatically configured to work with almost any USB controller I've tried including the wired Xbox Controller so I don't think it'll be too hard to get the PS3 controller running it.

does somebody know if there comes a new mario bros ...?

not fun i not like this is not food