MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	Mario Bros. VS, by SilentDream
Review Author	Black Squirrel
Created	Nov 12 2007, 6:52 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

How we have waited for a Mario Bros. fangame. Through hoards of repetative, lifeless SMB3 clones, MFGG has only scored one or two Mario Bros. games, and even then none to really speak of. Thankfully, Mario Bros. VS is the definitive Mario Bros. fangame experience, and here's why.

Pros	A Mario Bros. Fangame, you don't get many of those. -Great graphics -New adaptions to the Mario Bros. formula -Well polished
Cons	-Gameplay can frustrate at first -Dangerously difficult after the first few stages

Impressions

Gameplay 8 / 10	Ever played Super Mario Allstars? Specifically that Super Mario Bros. 3 two player "minigame"? Well imagine that but more "classicy". Now imagine a dozen features added in and released for free. The result is Mario Bros. VS. No doubt you've read my final words on this already and have seen me write "Think of it as the Mario Bros. equivalent to the GameBoy's Donkey Kong 94". True statement. Mario Bros. VS is packed with ideas. No longer are you restricted to just hitting turtles (okay spinies), crabs and fighter flies. Now there's stompable goombas, koopas, Thwomps, Piranha plants and half a dozen other Mario enemies created in later titles. A nice touch to say the least, and all implanted near-perfectly. Lets face it, the old formula is a bit boring after a few levels. You're also treated to a handful of bonus stages, ranging from the classic "get coins" mode to scrolling SMB-like levels. There's even Bowser boss battles. This sort of thing has been touched on before with Nintendo's "Mario Bros. Classic" which they latched on to every Super Mario Advance game, but never to the same extent as here. In fact the only major thing Nintendo's version has that this doesn't is perfect Mario Bros. gameplay, which was always bound to be the case. However, Mario Bros. VS does have a bit of a Smash Bros. feel which can only be a good thing. No Mario Bros. VS isn't perfect although most of this is simply down to it's small screen resolution. There's not a lot of space to flip your enemies simply because it doesn't fit on screen. 32 pixels wider and the problem could be solved, but as it stands it's that tiny bit more frustrating than the original game. Saying that however, gameplay is much smoother than most ports and things are very fluid. You're also treated to more POW blocks in response to this slightly smaller play area. Unfortunately there are other problems with the resoultion - thwomps are painful, and although you're given health, will still present a challenge. Bowser's difficult to beat and levels can get a bit packed with enemies - all minor faults really and all go back to the idea of limited space to move. But it's the only flaw and it doesn't ruin the experience that much. It's just a shame since it excels in pretty much every other gameplay area. Nevertheless the additions are a welcome change to the outdated Mario Bros. formula, and I'm a sucker for new stuffs in old games. :P
Graphics 8 / 10	Not 100% original but neither was Toad Strikes Back's selection and that didn't stop it from getting full marks. Sprites all match and that's not because they were imported from the GBA games. Everything looks very professional from the water effects as an enemy lands below to the coins travelling through pipes. It's a very nice looking fangame although despite all this the graphics aren't quite as good as Nintendo's set, but I suppose you have to expect that. Doesn't quite have the "WOW" factor of TSB either but it's not a problem. Great stuff.
Sound 6 / 10	I'm not digging the choice of MIDIs but aside from that again it's very very good. Mario Bros. sounds have been used perfectly and althoguh the MIDIs aren't awful, they do sound a bit... out of place. Then again the original game had no music whatsoever so I can't really complain. I suppose it's also more interesting than Nintendo's take on it though, sticking in their 20 year old SMB underground theme. There's definately room for improvement though - perhaps take it away from MIDIs altogether and into Modules/Mp3s?
Replay 6 / 10	There's a lot to do, no doubt about that, but it does get quite difficult and could be frustrating for some. One of the best minigames on MFGG though if that counts.

Final Words

Easily one of the best Mario Bros. clones on site. Think of it as the Mario Bros. equivalent to the GameBoy's Donkey Kong 94.

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Comments

	theKK Nov 14 2007, 8:46 PM
I luvs DK 94, MUST PLAY!

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