MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	Super Mario Bros: Ztar Turmoil, by Hello
Review Author	VinnyVideo
Created	Nov 25 2012, 10:02 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

SMB: Ztar Turmoil is Hello's latest attempt at the 2-D platformer/shooter genre. Hello is no stranger to this sort of game - in fact, it's the fourth related game he's made. Hello's last platform shooter from 2009, SMB: Bloody Battles, was actually a pretty good game. Can Hello improve on his last work? Or is this another stale, unoriginal attempt at a Mario fangame?

Pros

+ Some levels are fun
+ Nice shop system
+ Good sound effects
+ A few new enemy sprites

Cons

- Many levels are tedious and frustrating
- Guns are ridiculously underpowered, often making it easier to stomp enemies than shoot them
- Sloppy, imprecise mechanics
- Running and shooting are assigned to the same key
- Puzzle elements are often clumsily implemented and are rarely original
- Repetitive boss fights
- Some glitches, like the tendency to slide off the back of the skull raft
- Darkness makes enemy gunfire hard to see
- Dated backgrounds and tilesets
- Background music is a mixed bag
- Secrets are extremely hard to find and offer limited rewards
- Dark, gloomy tone is unfitting for a Mario game and has grown annoying

Impressions

Gameplay 5 / 10	SMB: Bloody Battles is a 2-D platform game with shooting and puzzle elements. Mario can still stomp on enemies if necessary, but the game is designed so you'll rely on the guns found lying around the barren landscapes (and swiped from the hands of defeated enemies) for eliminating meanies and passing certain obstacles. The foes you'll encounter are typical Hello Engine enemies, although I'll give Hello credit for coming up with a few new innovations and a handful of new weapons, as well as a handy shop system. The action sequences are interspersed with various simple puzzles - pipe mazes, or areas where you're required to manipulate a springboard or P-Switch. Puzzles don't usually work very well in a gun-based action game, and besides that, most of these puzzles bear an eerie similarity to the same gimmicks Hello has been using for the past six years (in fact, Hello's trademark "find the springboard and move it somewhere" trick appears in practically every level in this game). There are a few fun moments - like most of the airship level, and portions of the ice world and the (glitchy) volcano raft ride - but more often than not the game screams, "Been there, done that." The game's mechanics are often problematic - in particular, the long distance you skid when reversing directions. Another annoyance is that accelerating and shooting are assigned to the same button, so running while holding an automatic rifle will automatically deplete your ammo, regardless of whether enemies are in the vicinity. Worse, if you're walking at normal speed and want to begin running without shooting, you'll have to drop your gun, hold the run button, and then pick up the gun again. You'll do this a lot in this game, especially with the rocket launcher. Contrary to what Hello tells us, SMB: Ztar Turmoil is a step backwards from SMB: Bloody Battles. Believe it or not, Bloody Battles was a very good game. Its nonlinear map screen consisted of short, easily digestable levels with many branching paths you could explore. You could only take a few hits before perishing, and likewise, the enemies would be wiped out in a single hit from a stomp or a bullet - and it was up to you how you'd approach a dangerous section. Ztar Turmoil goes in a different direction. There are only nine levels, but each one is LONG (and by long I mean each level takes at least 20 minutes to complete, and the finale is even longer). Moreover, you're forced to finish each level in sequence, and there are no secret exits or other hidden goodies. While each stage has frequent checkpoints, it's impossible to save your progress in the middle of the level, and it's cumbersome to return to a particular section of a completed level to look for the reputed secret areas. The HP system is also a decline from Bloody Battles. In Ztar Turmoil, the enemies take many, many hits to defeat, even on the lowest difficulty level (which makes little difference regardless of the setting you choose). Because the guns are pitifully weak, it's often easier to stomp repeatedly on an enemy's head instead of exposing yourself to enemy gunfire. The lone exception is the rocket launcher - this weapon is so powerful that it'll eliminate most enemies in a single shot, and makes the bosses shamefully easy to defeat. Hello compensates for the bulletproof enemies by granting the Mario Bros. a massive healthbar. Because of your own high HP, and the frequent checkpoints, you'll rarely run out of energy unless you fall in a pit (and yes, there are more difficult platforming sections than ever before). And with the high bullet resistance (except for enemy rockets, of course), you can charge through a section full of enemies without taking much damage. As you might be able to guess, that's often the best way to play, since the high HP eliminates the need to fight normal enemies and to conserve ammo. Compared to his earlier games, Hello makes a greater effort at fleshing out the story. In spite of the cutscenes in the final level, however, the story remains flat and unsatisfying. Why is Bowser taking over the Mushroom Kingdom? How did his army acquire deadly weapons? What's the backstory behind these accursed stars? None of these questions are answered, and the story tends to be depressing without offering any substantial emotional or artistic appeal. Furthermore, the game dialog is uninspired, and you realize that none of the characters act the way you'd expect a Mario character to behave. I am by no means advocating the use of the exaggerated Italian accent found in so many Mario fangames, but the characters lack anything resembling personality and individuality. In fact, you could swap out Mario, Luigi, and the Toads with original characters or characters from other franchises, and you wouldn't notice a difference. Sure, the "Mario with guns" gimmick had some shock value and a certain dark, ironic charm the first time. But after this many renditions, it's grown stale - and then some. The dark themes just don't fit with the vibe of a Mario game. I'm not saying you can't plop Mario in zany situations - Kommandant Dragmire's game, for example, explores themes like official corruption and police brutality, yet still feels thoroughly "Mario-ish." SMB: Bloody Battles, on the other hand, doesn't even feel like a Mario game. I'd highly advise Hello to start collaborating with another member or to make a new type of game (perhaps one that's not a Mario fangame) so he can continue to use his strengths while mitigating his weaknesses - that is, if he's interested in people enjoying his work.
Graphics 6 / 10	At first glance, the graphical quality is better than anything Hello's done before. The dark veil hanging over the game is occasionally illuminated by torches, fireballs, and other beacons of light in this dark world. Unfortunately, the darkness grows less impressive as the game goes on, because the lack of contrast (even with my display's brightness and contrast turned up to the max) frequently makes it impossible to see the enemy Koopas' bullets, which camouflage against the dark backgrounds. And as I stated earlier, the darkness feels gloomier and less atmospheric after prolonged exposure. The dim lighting is great for caverns and dense forests, but just as endlessly gray FPS titles become tiresome after a while, you find yourself longing for a brief glimmer of light to counteract the game's endless pall. If you can look past the lighting effects, you'll find - wow, what a surprise! - lots of recolored tilesets from Black Squirrel, and ordinary SMB3 backgrounds and sprites. In that respect, the game doesn't offer much new. Also, it's good that Hello's made the blood effects optional, because the new blood effects look awful - another place where quality has declined since the aptly-named Bloody Battles. Worse yet, the return of the disembodiment effect when you lose a life is just cheesy.
Sound 7 / 10	The background music in this game is a mixed bag. Some songs, like the music in the first level, work well. Others, like the ice world theme, aren't particularly well-suited to a game of the 2-D platformer/shooter genre. Worst of all, some tracks are just plain awful, like the music in the haunted forest. Overall, the soundtrack is below the quality of Hello's last guns 'n' gore game, SMB: Bloody Battles. While the music doesn't shine, the sound effects are quite good. They're high-quality and aren't overused like the sounds in most fangames. Hello is also wise to limit the use of voices - I've never been too fond of Mario shouting "Yahoo!" or "Just what I needed!" in 2-D games, and the official voices would sound ludicrous in a dark, gritty Mario game.
Replay 3 / 10	This game underperforms in the replay value department. There's two different playable characters and three difficulty levels, but changing these settings fails to makes a noticeable impact on gameplay. Hello claims there are some secrets in the game, but they're extremely difficult to find, and you won't find any clues hinting at their locations. The only secret passage I found led me to a powerful-looking gun, but within about 10 seconds I'd run out of energy and lost my chance to use this super weapon. The pause screen boasts the same Star Coins arrangement used in SMB: Restless Reality, but unlike that game, I didn't find any during the game. If there are a lot of secrets, the game's long levels and linear nature would undoubtedly discourage me from trying to find them.

Final Words

The worst good game on MFGG, or perhaps the best bad game. There are many ways this particular game could be improved, but instead I'll emphasize that it's high time Hello tried something new.

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Comments

	Syr Nov 28 2012, 7:51 PM
Dude, you pretty spilled everything I wanted to say after giving this game a try; however, I didn't play it all the way. No man... this was just... eh.


	Dim_Yimma_H Dec 4 2012, 11:40 PM
I'm only on level 3 so far since it's really hard for me, but I like the game as long as I use the rocket launcher. For me the gameplay revolves a lot around making those rocket arcs hit dead on. I think that's more fun than the plain platform jumps that we are used to in Mario games. There are several things like the run button I could complain a lot on, but have to say I had fun though!

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