Super Mario Bros.: Mushroom Journey
| Super Mario Bros: Mushroom Journey | |
|---|---|
| No image | |
| Developer(s) | Hello |
| Announce Date | Unknown |
| Release Date | April 19, 2007 |
| Genre | Platform |
| Players | 1 |
| Input | Standard keyboard |
| Medium | Game Maker 6 |
| Platform | Windows |
| Status | Finished |
Super Mario Bros.: Mushroom Journey is often considered one of Hello's worst games. By using his own engine, Hello responds to criticism that he too often used other premade engines (notably the Ultramario Engine) and was incapable of original programming himself. However, this particular engine contains many glitches that affect gameplay, and it obviously isn't the best engine Hello had to offer even at the time. The final Mushroom House is, inexplicably, impossible to reach. There are just eight levels and one world, much like Super Mario Bros.: Adventure Journey.
Story
The game has no story of any form. The final boss is a crude NES-style Boom-Boom, and upon defeating him the player returns to the map without anything special happening - just like the other early-2007 Hello games.
Music
SMB: Mushroom Journey is one of relatively few Mario-based fangames to use Yoshi's Island music in most levels. Using the readily-available MIDIs would have kept the size of the game down, but the executable file still tops eight megabytes because Hello chose MP3s instead, even though they sound almost identical to the MIDIs. Also, the castle music doesn't work very well on an airship level.
Reception
This game didn't win too many friends, despite competent level design, a good assortment of power-ups, and a save feature. For one thing, Mario always jumps the same height after stomping an enemy, regardless of whether the jump key is held down. Jumping while going down a slope seldom works, and solids (especially Bullet Bill cannons) in the fortress and airship are quite glitchy. Enemies commonly get stuck around moving platforms and will fall through solid-on-top objects. Worst of all, Mario drops too quickly when he hits his head on a ceiling, making certain levels, especially the difficult first fortress, profoundly frustrating.
