MFGG - Mario Fan Games Galaxy

Review Information

Game Reviewed	MUSHROOM PANCAKES (or: Mario Grows a Beard), by supertoad2k
Review Author	Pickleboy
Created	Jan 19 2013, 5:24 PM

General Commentary and Game Overview

It's very clear at first glance that this game wasn't going to be traditional... that's a good thing, since fan-games are supposed to slap characters out of their comfort zone. I looked at this and thought maybe this would be the next "Late Night Mario", a personal favorite of mine. Well, it certainly goes WAY beyond LNM in terms of attempts at randomness, but overall I find LNM's charming and silly sense of humor more enjoyable than MUSHROOM PANCAKES's diarrhea random sense of humor. Anything good is always consistant but interesting. MUSHROOM PANCAKES is one of those games that certainly deviates from the rest bust loses its charisma too soon too fast.

Pros	+Very original +Very smooth animations +It's definately good for one play +You will chuckle, if not laugh, at at least one part +Stands out very much +Cute, original characters +Very innovative minigames +For a joke game, very smooth gameplay +Very awesome level design
Cons	-Smooth gameplay is constantly interupted by popping text-boxes -Some of the "random" things in this game are over-used -The game tries WAY TOO hard to be random -Pauses where there shouldn't be pauses.

Impressions

Gameplay 5 / 10	The gameplay is very smooth, much like the animations that go with them. Walking and jumping isn't the only thing you'll be doing, however, and the octopuses (who apparantly believe they're squids) are going to be resposnsible for most of the gameplay changes; you'll be caught on fire, blown hither and tither, losing your lower-half of the body, getting cursed... it's tough to be Mario in this neon-lit world he's been thrown in. You'll also be flying in WD-40 cans and wearing an assortmant of hats and masks, as well as turning invisible and guiding Bowsuh's Castle through a horde of angry Voltorbs. In these senses, the gameplay is rather astounding and you SHOULD be rather impressed. All this, however, is sadly ruined by the annoying text-boxes that pop up EVERY FIVE SECONDS! The content in the box isn't even humurous, it's just just mish-mashash and bulls*, and I don't really give a damn how Bob's doing, thank you. All the ingame text is very clever and well placed, just like when Mario is blown by squid-breath. What I don't understand is why couldn't the author do soemthing more like that? The entire gameplay is ruined by the popping textboxes. Another thing that really messed me up was the timing on some of the scenes. I get it, I beat the f*ing egg in the bowl, can we move on to the next screen now? And, from what I've experienced, if you blow up during the Bowsuh's Castle landing to Earth Stage, the stage will just kinda go about its business, not really caring to put you to the game-over screen. Timing is everything in comedy, and there are certainly times when this game messed up on that. What would be a 10 in gameplay is horribly brought down to 5 by these major flaws...
Graphics 9 / 10	I mean, let's be honest, these obviously aren't the prettiest sprites in the world. That doesn't really matter since they're not only original, but also fitting to the atmosphere of the game. This doesn't make it inherently good, however, as little things such as the apparently random Cheese Planets and the large words "Giant Squid" ruin it, further trying to prove this game has nothing to prove. The shoemaker was very fun and whimsical, and the exhaggerated story of the Mug's missing handle was very nice and lighthearted, and it's during scenes like that when the potential comedy of this game truly shine. For the most part, fantastic job.
Sound 3 / 10	Heard it before, boring... This is supposed to deviate from the rest of the games, at least LNM had original scores.
Replay 2 / 10	You'll definately play through the game once, but the popping text-boxes are sure to get on your nerves sooner or later. There are more enjoyable games to play without this hassle, so I don't see much reason to return to it.

Final Words

Other than timing and the randomly-popping up nonsensical diarrhea, this game is worth a shot if you're in the mood for something a little different.

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Comments

	Cap'n Coconuts Jan 27 2013, 3:08 AM
1) The text boxes aren't that bad. Supertoad2k could substitute the boxes and most people wouldn't notice any significant difference. 2) If the text boxes and word sprites "ruined" the game so much, why didn't you give gameplay and graphics 1/10? Then again, maybe they were on an earlier review attempt that was rejected. Or maybe you have no idea how to write a review that I (or Syr--yes, I've read a couple of your old reviews) can take seriously. PROTIP: Don't use the word "ruin" in the context of a good (or even average) subscore; the awkward hyperbole detracts from what little credibility your review has. 3) A 3/10 rating for Sound is just unfair. I'd expect a score like that for a game that actually had poor sound in general, with boring SMB midis and ripped SFX that don't fit or only play half the time. The SFX in MUSHROOM PANCAKES is well-done (and you know it) and while the music isn't novel, it isn't a bunch of SMB doodles either. 4) The text boxes are sure to get on the nerves of everyone sooner or later? Every accepted review other than yours is evidence against that nitpicky statement of yours. The only one who's annoyed by the text boxes is you.


	EvilYoshiToes Jan 30 2013, 9:02 PM
Quote (Cap'n Coconuts on Jan 27 2013, 3:08 AM) 1) The text boxes aren't that bad. Supertoad2k could substitute the boxes and most people wouldn't notice any significant difference. 2) If the text boxes and word sprites "ruined" the game so much, why didn't you give gameplay and graphics 1/10? Then again, maybe they were on an earlier review attempt that was rejected. Or maybe you have no idea how to write a review that I (or Syr--yes, I've read a couple of your old reviews) can take seriously. PROTIP: Don't use the word "ruin" in the context of a good (or even average) subscore; the awkward hyperbole detracts from what little credibility your review has. 3) A 3/10 rating for Sound is just unfair. I'd expect a score like that for a game that actually had poor sound in general, with boring SMB midis and ripped SFX that don't fit or only play half the time. The SFX in MUSHROOM PANCAKES is well-done (and you know it) and while the music isn't novel, it isn't a bunch of SMB doodles either. 4) The text boxes are sure to get on the nerves of everyone sooner or later? Every accepted review other than yours is evidence against that nitpicky statement of yours. The only one who's annoyed by the text boxes is you. ^This^ especially the sounds. To get a 3/10, they would have to be un-fitting and/or poor quality. They aren't either of those. Just becasue you find them boring doesnt mean they should get such a bad rating. Maybe that would bring it down some, but not so drastically.


	SuperPizzaMario May 4 2013, 12:43 PM
You do know you can press 'Enter/Return' on your keyboard to get rid of the message boxes faster, you don't need to use your mouse every time. I think giving gameplay a 5/10 for that reason is just absurd.

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