MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	Aftermath, by Yrr
Review Author	Cruise Elroy
Created	Jan 16 2016, 10:51 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

The Mario series has often been known as a light-hearted adventure sort of series, dealing with rescuing a princess from a dragon; a story that's been told many times before, with fun for all to be had. Many Mario fan games run with this concept, too, always having this child-like innocence and wonder to them.

Aftermath is not one of those games.

Now I don't mean that it's dark in terms of your typical Rated M game, or that it's creepy like your typical .exe game, but that it's got this sort of mysterious, somber tone to it that Nintendo wouldn't put anywhere 30 feet near the Mario series. It's definitely a much more interesting take on the formula of a Mario game, and it's a fan game that's begging to be expanded upon. But, of course, it's not perfect.

Pros	+ Amazing simplistic graphics + Simple yet ambient soundtrack + Minimal sound effects done correctly + Speedrunners, like myself, will most likely have fun with this one + Mini-Metroidvania fun
Cons	- Very short - Physics are finicky - Tedious, but thankfully only has one really hard point - The ending is VERY anticlimatic - A small glitch can happen where Mario stops moving indefinitely (but as far as I know this only happens on older computers)

Impressions

Gameplay 5 / 10	The story of this game is that an air strike is launched on Peach's Castle, effectively KOing everyone in there. However, there are only two survivors of this devistation: Toad and Mario. A missile that is nearby them thankfully has not gone off yet, and Toad can use some extra parts to hopefully get him and Mario out of the chasm. This is where the story begins. Let's talk about Mario's physics first. Normal Mario games have you accelerate fairly quickly, but Aftermath makes everything feel unnecessairly slippery. It takes you a whole second to both accelerate to full speed and decelerate back to a stand-still. This normally wouldn't cause too many issues, but there is unfortunately a segment very early on that requires presice platforming to get past. The physics are neither noteworthy or necessairly polished. However, this is thankfully the only tough segment in the game, as the rest of it is pretty easy. The rest of the game, or level, doesn't get even half as hard, and in some places can actually be pretty fun. Yes, the game is a metroidvania. You're able to explore around a little and find what you need to fix the missile. But of course, this wouldn't be a metroidvania without any powerups! I personally enjoy the powerups for what they are. You have two switch blocks (that work in a similar fashion to Super Mario World), fire resistance, and a higher jump...and that's it, really. Actually, I feel like this is a good time to mention the game's length. Aftermath, although it was made for a minigame contest (so I will not hold this against my score), does feel rather short. My first playthrough only took me 20 minutes to complete, and most of the time comes from running back and forth trying to figure out where everything else is located. Honestly, there isn't much time inbetween the gameplay and the ending. However, I still enjoyed most of what it had to offer. As for the ending, well...I can't say much other than that it's terrible, but in a brilliant way. These upcoming paragraphs will discuss exactly what the ending is, so if you don't want it spoiled, you can just skip ahead to the big dash line. Anyways, after finding the final part for the rocket, Toad and Mario hop on after lighting the fuse. After waiting for a while, Toad notices that they should have launched by now. Kabaoom! It ends with the KO'd residents of the Mushroom Kingdom unconscious, with Goombas invading to kidnap the princess. It's the end for everyone. Now, don't get me wrong when I say that it's, in some ways, a clever ending by any means! Normally, in most Mario games, you'd get an ending where everything is resolved in a positive way, and fan games, while sometimes having less 100% happy endings, they still had a resolution that had you complete your goal. It's a twist ending that I haven't seen in a fangame before this, and, while it is very inventive in this manner, it's also its biggest flaw. You're wasting your playtime for nothing. I may be overexaggerating here since I usually prefer happy endings, but still, I still like a sad ending so long as you succeed in your goal. To be quite honest, an ending like this really feels middle finger-ish. - THE SPOILERS END HERE. - With that aside, I still feel like you should at least play this game once. Its physics may not be comfortable to everyone, and, like I discussed, the ending does not leave a good final impression, but everything else is well worth it to experience this game for yourself. Speaking of everything else, it's time to talk about the other aspects of this game.
Graphics 7 / 10	Man, the graphics in this game REALLY help sell me on this one. Everything has this very simplistic look to it, but it's not oversimplified like the NES. Think of a Game Boy Color game with a little bit more punch. I find that it lies in a sweet spot where it's just the right balance of simplicity and complexity so that you can immediately recognize what it's supposed to be. Its style of no outlines also works really well. Cave Story fans will dig this.
Sound 9 / 10	This is one of the few games I played that used minimal sound correctly. Now, what I mean by minimal sound isn't total emptiness with sound effects, but rather that the sound effects aren't so...electronic, for lack of a better word. Each sound isn't played for a means of "Congratulations! You pressed the jump button!" but more along the lines of "So you jumped. It's just another part of this world that's waiting for an eventual demise." Even the music is very simplistic, which helps you get drawn into the current situation. I really don't have many issues with sounds at all.
Replay 4 / 10	Well, once you beat the game, then you've already seen everything, so there's not much to come back fo... ...actually, no. I'm starting to get sick of judging the replay section simply because of collectables. Fun fact for you guys: I'd say that around 98% of reviews on MFGG fail to judge this section properly, and all of my reviews beforehand have also failed to give it a proper analysis. So, I'd like to tackle all kinds of replay that I can with this game. Let's start with basic replay, such as when you're bored. The story is all set up for you, and you already know that what you're doing is...going to lead up to that ending. However, I still think that the game would be fun to play from time to time, maybe 2 or 3 more times, but I don't think it's a flawless piece of work that warrants a lot more plays than that. 4/10 Searching for secrets/collectables? Well, the whole game is already about exploration, and I didn't find any super hidden goodies. It's...pretty weak, honestly. 2/10 Speedrunning? Yeah, I think this would be a fun game to try and set a best time for! Sure, there isn't much to find, but everything is spread out pretty far, and getting to there in the shortest time possible would be a fun challenge. 7/10 --------------- I think only those that are really committed to this game will still be able to have fun replaying it. It's short, but most of the time that comes from it is spent finding your way around every nook and cranny. There isn't much in the way for easter egg hunters to find, but speedrunners will be sure to have a blast finding their way through the chasm while crunching down their times.

Final Words

It's a little too short for my liking, and the ending did not leave a good final impression with me at all, but it's a pretty sweet ride up to that point.

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