MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	MugenMidget's Mario Paint, by MugenMidget
Review Author	Q-Nova
Created	Jan 30 2020, 3:52 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

Does anyone remember Mario Paint? I only played that SNES game a few times, but when I have, it's so much fun! Sure, it may not replace GIMP, Photoshop, or whatever art program you use, but I don't think that was the point. Instead, I see it as a game that just wants you to doodle and have fun with it -- like you're a kid again -- and it succeeds if you think of it like that.

Oh yeah, apparently MugenMidget remembered that game. He even made a PC version of it (the drawing portion, actually, since the original game lets you do other stuff like making music), which is going to be the subject of this review!

Pros	+Fun to use +Three songs that you can pick
Cons	-Lacks most of Mario Paint's charm -Stamps look crude -Editor has annoying issues -You could virtually get the same experience from MSPaint

Impressions

Gameplay 5 / 10	I'll admit it, I had fun playing with this. It's so fun to draw whatever comes into your head without getting too bogged down into the details! I love that you can select a background to draw stuff, like moustaches, over! It's not as fun as it was on the SNES, though. What made the original Mario Paint so fun is its quirky personality and limited tool set. MugenMidget's version copied-and-pasted the limited tools part nicely, but it sadly erased nearly all of the charm. I know this is from an era when people didn't care much about fangames 1:1 recreating the official games, but there could've at least been a few funny easter eggs. Without the magic, it just feels like a soulless Mario Paint clone. Considering that this was made with an old Clickteam tool, the painting is more functional than I expected, but it does have flaws. You can do black if you're using extremely tiny RGB values, but not if they're all zero, and the fact that the game registers your keyboard commands even when you're doing something else has led to the loss of a few paintings of mine! Honestly, you might as well use MSPaint, run a Mario MIDI in the background, and it'd be a similar experience, but more stable!
Graphics 2 / 10	Sure, you might say that the graphics are more about the art you create when it comes to paint programs, but a fun GUI is one of Mario Paint's strong points, and it paints a disappointed face on me when I see that MugenMidget did the bare minimum here. The stamps are the only fun thing, despite looking rather shoddy. (Also, if you want to use the Luigi stamp, you better use it the moment you pick it, because it'll otherwise turn into a baby Yoshi!) I'd like to note that according to the MFGG wiki, there was an older version with a different GUI, one that looks more Mario-ish. However though, that one has went overboard with the details, to the point where it looks hard to use! I think MugenMidget should've aimed for in-between.
Sound 6 / 10	You start out with silence, but you can choose one out of three songs. There are some interesting choices, although I think the Gourmet Race song is a bit too fast to be suitable for doodling. I wish there were sound effects, though -- they really add to the Mario Paint experience.

Final Words

It borrowed the tools from the art portion of Mario Paint, but lacks that magical touch.

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