Review Information
Game Reviewed Toad Strikes Back, by Thunder Dragon
Review Author Black Squirrel
Created Oct 30 2007, 4:52 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview
9.6. 16 reviews. Second highest game rating on MFGG. If you've no clue what a "Toad Strikes Back" yet have been here for at least a month prior to this review then quite frankly, you're a disgrace. In all the time I've been here that game's been sitting below Pipe Network in the second place position, regardless of the fact technology has vastly improved since 2003. Super Mario Bros. DDX - loved by many (and for good reason), didn't knock TSB off it's post. Even the fantastic Super Mario Stardust which I think is underrated even with a 9/10, didn't affect TSB's position in any way. Only person who beat Thunder Dragon in his quest for fangame dominance was Anther. Now, nearly half a decade TSB has, in my opinion, taken the gold.
 
Pros - The mix of SMB2/SMW gameplay still exists
- Every level is different. No Mario game has ever accomplished this.
- It's finished. After such a long time you begin to have doubts.
 
Cons - MIDIs have not aged well in some cases.
- Amazing for 2003, not quite as amazing in 2007, but you would expect that I suppose.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
9 / 10
TSB uses a mixture of Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario World gameplay. Quite possibly the first game to successfully do so. Our good friend Toad is given all the moves of Mario and the opportunity to ride Yoshis and wield hammers as well. No game in 2003 did this. Very few could even expand from TGF's platform movement. It was considered the god of fangames at the time and who better to make it but the "god" of MFGG, Thunder Dragon.

In 2007 though, it's a slightly different story. This site alone houses almost perfect Mario engines so it's not half as difficult to make fangames as it once was. GameMaker has become a popular tool (although honestly I think that's down to the name since it's one of the first results for "Game Maker" or "Game Making") and even Clickteam has updated to MMF2/TGF2. TSB was made in MMF1 under the knowledge restrictions of the time. You couldn't simply pop to the howtos section and grab yourself a game to torture - everything needed to be done by hand. Even sprites in a lot of cases. Because of this it is simply unfair to compare it to the masterpieces of 2007. You can't win without completely re-making the game, and it's taken half a decade just to do it once.

But enough about the history. TSB is practically flawless in every area. Engine's a bit crazy when compared to your SNES games, but MegaDrive owners like myself could comment that the SNES reeks of slow anyway. Camera's a bit wobbly perhaps, but nobody cares. Bosses are well constructed and the game's a delight from beggining to end. Could be considered a tad easy as far as levels go, but bosses are much more difficult and will give you that extra challenge.

The most amazing thing about TSB is that it feels like an official game. It's not a clone, and it feels fresh. Isn't that what Nintendo try and do every Mario game?

On another note, at least this doesn't lag like many modern games do. Kudos for that.
 
Graphics
10 / 10
Toad Strikes Back has a thing that I like to call "Classic Graphics". In Classic graphics, the graphics are a mixture of SNES stuff, whether that be straight rips, edits or whatever. Obviously TSB being made in 2003 has sprites available in 2003 - Classic sprites, you could say. Thing is though, in those three years TD's artistic skills have no doubt improved. Straight rips are scarce in the newer levels. Every pixel has been changed to give you a completely new experience than any level previously. As said, no level looks the same - everything's spectacular. You'll not see a background piece used more than a couple of times in the game. It's not like Super Mario World where they just changed palettes every island and expected you not to notice, and it's not as if TD stopped caring towards the end and the quality declined. If anything, it's gone up.

I could sit here rambling about how the graphics are so damn amazing and so much effort was put into them but I'm sure a 10 suits this section perfectly. I'm not one for perfect scores, but I don't see how TD could improve.
 
Sound
7 / 10
A blast from the past. Generally today MIDIs are out and Modules are in, especially the Mario ones that have been used since the dawn of time. TSB's MIDI selection has not changed that much since the demo. It's all the classic tunes that you once got sick of, but now don't mind as much since you've not heard them in a while. Hard to describe. I'm not a fan of Mario MIDIs much anymore, and although they weren't so overused in 2003, they are now and I'm sadly going to have to deduct points just for that. But considering the game's age I'm not deducting too much, and maybe the experience would have been ruined by the inclusion of higher quality music... who knows.
 
Replay
8 / 10
I hadn't expected much to be honest, but I was pleasently surprised. It's big. Bigger than I imagined, but also each level houses a mushroom coin which can be very difficult to obtain. Great stuff. I've certainly come back to it a few times anyway.
 
Final Words
10 / 10
The three years of playing second best to Pipe Network are over. Toad Strikes Back must surely take the number one spot on MFGG. Definately the best game I've reviewed (Sorry Avi).

Comments
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Avi
Nov 5 2007, 10:09 PM
That last line kind of made it sound like I was the one who made Pipe Network. XD
 
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andross46
Nov 30 2007, 3:20 AM
wut teh hell is pipe network?
 
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JesseRooA22
Dec 18 2007, 5:38 AM
You haven't played Pipe Network?
 
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Simoneister
Mar 16 2008, 2:27 AM
Hmm, according to you review it should be more like an 8 or 9.
 
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