Super Mario Bros. Dimensions

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GotMAward.png Super Mario Bros. Dimensions was named Game of the Month in February 2015.
Super Mario Bros. Dimensions
SMBDimensions.png
Developer(s) LangtonLion64
Announce Date December 23, 2013
Release Date February 22, 2015
Genre Platform
Players 1
Input Keyboard
Medium Game Maker 8
Platform Windows
Status Finished

Super Mario Bros. Dimensions (originally known as Super Mario Bros. 4) is a fangame made by LangtonLion64 using DragezeeY Engine VII. It features 8-bit graphics, mostly taken from SMB3. What sets it apart is that the player has the ability to switch between two different "dimensions" of a level, which changes the level's layout and appearance. It also allows you to tackle its worlds in any order (except the first and final worlds), and you are able to save records for time taken and coins collected in a level.

Power-Ups

  • Mushroom (Super Mario)
  • Fire Flower (Fire Mario)
  • Laser Flower (Laser Mario)
  • Jetpack / Super Rocket (Jetpack Mario)
  • Frog Suit (Frog Mario)
  • Super Bomb (Bomb Mario)
  • Laser Rocket (Laser-Jet Mario)
  • Nokonoko's Tank
  • Hyper Mario (final level and arenas only)

Story

Taking place days after the events of Super Mario Bros. 3, Bowser is lost around the outskirts of the Mushroom Kingdom, where he finds a mysterious flashing ring. The ring can allow one to travel to an alternate dimension, one that is much less developed and a lot gloomier than the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser comes up with a plan to build an empire in this strange new dimension, where nobody, not even Mario, can stop him! After months of progress, Bowser's empire begins to get larger and larger, and he starts using the power of the ring to "upgrade" his minions. But during the process of mutation, a single Hyper Boo freaks out and escapes the castle and back to the Mushroom Kingdom. There it crashes into a wall, which causes amnesia onto itself. Soon after, Mario discovers the lone, green Boo. Luckily, all that it remembered was Bowser's plans. It ends up being rechristened as Polter, who has the ability to switch between the two dimensions at will, and joining Mario's side to stop Bowser's plans once again!

Spoilers! Plot/ending information may follow (highlight to read):
Part way through their adventure, Princess Toadstool is kidnapped by Bowser's minions. After collecting 7 keys from 7 different boss battles, Mario and Polter gain access to World 8. They soon come across Bowser, who flies in on a hoverboard, and shows them the captured Princess before fleeing to his new castle. Mario and Polter reach the castle and are able to beat Bowser, however he then reveals the ring to them. He uses the immense power of the ring to transform into Hyper Bowser, and then takes off into the skies. Knowing that they have no chance of stopping him, Polter transfers his powers over to Mario, so much so that Polter faints. Mario transforms into Hyper Mario and proceeds to battle Bowser again.

Mario successfully defeats Bowser, who crashes down to the ground somewhere, and retrieves the ring. He re-energises Polter with the ring, and rescues the Princess from her cell. The three then travel back home.

Once the player beats The True Arena, it is revealed in another cutscene that Bowser had landed in Dinosaur Land, thus prompting the events of Super Mario World.


Worlds

There are 8 main worlds in the game, with 7 levels each. The seventh level of each world is an "Enemy" level where you must defeat all the enemies in the level in under 100 seconds. Worlds 2 to 7 can be completed in any order, afterwards World 8 will be available. World Star is unlocked after beating World 8.

World 1: Goomba Greens

A fairly generic grassland world, largely inspired by SMB3's Grass Land. The fourth level takes place at night and has you collecting 100 purple coins, like in Super Mario Galaxy. The world's boss is Robo-Bowser.

  • 1-1: Pipe Plains
  • 1-2: Cavern of Goomba
  • 1-3: Sky High Mushrooms
  • 1-4: Purple Coin Night
  • 1-Fortress: Lethal Lava Fortress
  • 1-Secret: Super Mario Bros. 3 1-1

World 2: Hot Hot Hills

A desert world with cacti, pyramids and... tanks?! The world features the first of many "Polter" levels, where you can control said character! The world's boss is Brick-Boom.

  • 2-1: Tyke's Terrain
  • 2-2: Cactus Hills
  • 2-3: The Rocks Deep Below
  • 2-Polter: Polter's First Flight
  • 2-Pyramid: Perplexing Pyramid
  • 2-Secret: Super Mario Land 2-2

World 3: Koopa Troopa Beach

Not to be confused with the Mario Kart 64 track of the same name. As you can expect, the world is littered with marine creatures, in particular Cheep-Cheeps. The world's boss is Star-Dragon.

  • 3-1: Seaside Tide
  • 3-2: Reef of Cheep-Cheep
  • 3-3: Deep-Shallow Cave
  • 3-4: Purple Coin Forest
  • 3-Aquarium: Aquarium Invasion
  • 3-Secret: Super Mario Bros. 4-1

World 4: Cool Cool Coast

As cold as the name suggests! You'll find plenty of snow falling from the sky. Beware though, because the snow becomes hot lava in the alternate dimension! What a spicy twist. The world's boss is Fry Guy from Super Mario Bros. 2!

  • 4-1: Frappe Snowland
  • 4-2: Hot and Cold Cave
  • 4-3: The Icy Journey Down
  • 4-Polter: Polter's Blizzard Bash
  • 4-Palace: Frosty Thwomp Palace
  • 4-Secret: Super Mario Bros. 3 6-9

World 5: Mushroom City

A world set in an urban area! The city is bustling with life... bustling with Bowser's minions, that is! One minute you're running up the side of a building, the next swimming through toxic water in a sewer! The world's boss is Excellass.

  • 5-1: Surrounded Suburbs
  • 5-2: Bridge and Buildings
  • 5-3: Toxic Water Sewer
  • 5-4: Purple Coin Sunset
  • 5-Tower: Tremendous Tower
  • 5-Secret: The Lost Levels 7-3

World 6: Forest of Nightmare

Spooky, scary, and purple! A haunted forest filled with Boos, Eeries, and the rare Hyper Boos! The third level sees the forest covered in lava! The world's boss is, unsurprisingly, The Big Boo.

  • 6-1: Lavender Toxic Forest
  • 6-2: Boo's Noir Lair
  • 6-3: Indigo Inferno
  • 6-Polter: Polter's Ghostly Gush
  • 6-Mansion: Monotonous Mansion
  • 6-Secret: Super Mario Land 3-2

World 7: Sugar Sky

A world set high above the Mushroom Kingdom. They'll be plenty of storms about, so watch out! Common enemies include Lakitus and Sparkpuffs. The world boss is Lakithunder, returning from New Super Mario Bros. DS.

  • 7-1: Cloudtop Calamity
  • 7-2: Stardust Towers
  • 7-3: Lunatic Lightning
  • 7-4: Purple Coin Storm
  • 7-Airship: Arcane Airship
  • 7-Secret: Super Mario Bros. 3 5-7

World 8: Bowser's Stronghold

It's the final stretch to the King of the Koopa's castle! While there is plenty of lava in this world, you should also be careful with the conveyor belts in Mechanical Mayhem. You can probably guess who the final boss is...

  • 8-1: Crimson Lava Lake
  • 8-2: Deep Dark Chasm
  • 8-3: Mechanical Mayhem
  • 8-Polter: Polter's Fiery Frenzy
  • 8-Castle: Pyroclastic Castle
  • 8-Secret: Super Mario Bros. 8-1

World Star

Got through the final level and beat the final boss? Well... it's not over yet! There are 8 main levels in this world, which have to be unlocked using Star Coins. There is also The Arena, where you can take on all the game's bosses one after the other! Finally, look out for a secret final boss...

  • Star-1: Autoscroll Attack
  • Star-2: Burning Subzero
  • Star-3: Wacky Walrus World
  • Star-4: Star Maze Marathon
  • Star-5: Purple Coin Flood
  • Star-Polter: Polter's Cannon Cluster
  • Star-Enemy: Enemy Ensemble
  • Star-Final: Climactic Cosmos^
  • Star-Arena: The Arena
  • Star-Arena2: The True Arena

^Misspelled as Climatic Cosmos in-game.

Development

The game started development in August 2013, and was brought to life using Dragezeey Engine VII. Because the dimension-switching took a while to implement, by the time the first demo was released on December 23, 2013, only 6 levels were created after roughly four months. In April the following year, a second demo was released that fixed a few of the original demo's problems, in particular with how glitchy the dimension-switching gimmick was at the time (since you could warp anywhere in the level, and therefore into walls and enemies). This demo was uploaded on April 26, but was not made available until May 14, and contained 21 levels. A third demo was released in August with 35 levels, 14 new, and featured more cutscenes and the medal system. The game was shown off and live-streamed at NCFC 2014, but the demo available was a tweaked version of Demo 3. A trailer was uploaded to the NCFC YouTube channel, which was created by LangtonLion64, and showed off some new gameplay of World 6. The full game was originally slated for December 2014, but was pushed back due to LangtonLion64 having things in his life that were getting in the way of development, as well as some lack of motivation. In late February 2015, the full game was released.

Reception

The full game has received eleven reviews, all of which were positive and gave the game a score of at least 7, resulting in an average score of 9.1/10. Things that were commonly praised included its dimension-switching gimmick, large replay value, level design, the use of DragezeeY Engine VII, and original power-ups. Flaws that were often noted were that the dimension-switching gimmick can sometimes result in unexpected deaths, and some of the custom graphics clashed with those from the official Mario games. The game also was seen as one of the most original games to use an open-source engine to date.

Earlier versions of the game were less well-received, with most people giving them 6, 7, or even 4 out of 10.

Sequel

A sequel to the game, which is simply named as Super Mario Bros. Dimensions 2, is currently being developed by LangtonLion64. It is currently on progress, and has one demo released. It takes a more linear approach of the levels, still contains the dimension-switching mechanic, and uses a more generic and detailed art style, compared to the 8-bit style of the first game. The plot is confirmed to revolve around the origins of the "energy ring".

Before a demo was released, hints of the possibility of the game being made was posted in various topics on the forums. LangtonLion64 showed off brief footage of it in the W.I.P. topic in the form of a GIF, on September 19, 2015.

Download the game

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Download Super Mario Bros. Dimensions from MFGG's main site

File Size: 38.55 MB