MFGG @ NCFC

What


Well see it's NCFC 2 now and I'm not doing anything. ShadowMan, previous admin is running the whole event. Yoshiman, previous admin is running the whole event. Retreiver II, previous admin is hosting (so in a way is "running" the event). Tragic, previous admin is apparently going to tackle the MFGG awards which comes after the event (so he's running the event after the event).

But the current admin's sitting about not doing much at all. I don't have a good game to boast about. I'm not doing some IRC workshop thing. I'm not even taking part in those Brawl/MKWii matches. I'm not running an event.

UNTIL NOW

ish

Well actually I'm copying off TSSZ (I think), which took a whole heap of fangames from SFGHQ, gave them an in-depth review and got them more traffic. Over the next few days I will be reviewing fangames shown at NCFC, sticking them in this topic and some other third thing. As the "MFGG" part suggests, I'm only tackling Mario fangames. This is because I don't want to write 70 odd in-depth reviews. Because I can't gurantee I'll have enough time to. I also can't guarantee that there'll be loads of good stuff at NCFC this year. Just a guessing game really.

I WILL PICK THE GAMES. Then I'll write some stuffs. It might be short, it might be long. It'll probably have screenshots unless someone thought forced blurry full-screens were a good idea. And I'll give them a "star" rating (because I've always wanted to do that). If I am unable to run a game (which could be the case, my PC's getting old now) chances are it'll be ignored. However my aim is to at least mention every Mario fangame that takes part, especially ones made by members who post here and are likely to read this.

What makes my reviews so special? Well, not much. But I have the power to attach "MFGG" to my reviews now and claim it "OFFICAL MFGG CONTENT". So I suppose I might as well do that. I'm also an award winning reviewer thanks to you people.



Oh and it's also part of my grand master plan to raise MFGG a little more out of this hole that it dug itself into. And who knows maybe I'll inflate some Pookas and Fygars on the way.

So yeah, watch this topic.

Cool

Have fun and stuff

SUPER MARIO THETA
by Mario Gamer and DJ Yoshiman

yes I am leeching images for now because I'm tired today

Super Mario Theta's a game that I've been anticipating since it was first announced, mainly because it breaks the "norm" for Mario fangames. Mario's trapped in a world without colour and has to go get it back, one hue at a time. It's like de-blob and Super Mario Bros. 3's love child. It appeared last year in the form of a tech demo, but this year we're treated to a few "real" levels.

For the most part, it lives up to expectations. The presentation is excellent, the music is also top-notch. It probably has one of the best booths at NCFC too. But the problem with Theta is that it's a bit buggy. The collision is far from perfect, and it brings the game down as a whole. Also despite the great atmosphere, gameplay is really not that special, even without these bugs. It doesn't really try anything new gameplay wise - the only difference is the game's mostly in greyscale. A shame, because a game that looks this great doesn't deserve to be brought down by average gameplay. The camera jumps about when there's a cutscene of some sort as well. It really does ruin the otherwise very professional look. It does give you a reasonable amount for a demo though so that's good.

Nevertheless Super Mario Theta is still a pretty solid fangame. Not quite as great as I had expected but there's plenty of time to improve before the final release.

FINAL SCORE

PURDY KOOL

SUPER MARIO PROSTATE EXAM
by Spritanium


I'm a sucker for originality, and what's more original than Mario getting prostate cancer?!

The plumber's latest adventure involves him escaping the finger of a very large Doctor Luigi so as to avoid medical operations. It's one of those "forced to go right" games, where Mario is restricted to only walking and jumping. A simplistic idea and as such there's not much to write about it.

SMPE isn't terrible at what it does, but it's nothing super-special. The story's original, but the rest isn't. You really are just restricted to running and jumping (and avoiding goombas), and you're forced to make TIMED jumps as well so as not to suffer the fate of fates. The graphics are alright and the music is reasonable (some of the sound effects are painful however) but they don't really stand out as being amazing and don't really save the game much.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, SMB3 did this better 20 years ago. But it's a reasonable starting point to expand the game, and it does have a good title.

FINAL SCORE

NOT SO COOL

Love Super Mario Theta, patiently awaiting the Animal Crossing: Neighborhood demo, and love the engine and graphics in the CFP. Can't wait to see more of that project.

This post has been edited by SonicProject on Oct 22 2008, 06:36 AM

I'm waiting for MKFusion's Demo. Hopefully it's smaller than the last demo. XD

SUPER MARIO: THE NIGHT SHIFT
by Demon Lizardman


Remember Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX, the game that got MFGG on TV? Well Super Mario: The Night Shift is it's wannabee cousin. It's a "halloween themed" Mario platformer, though to be honest, it's not as much "halloweeny" as it is just "dark".

Inspired by Blue Twilight but also Super Mario Land 2, SMtNS doesn't seem to have a story of any sort - you just have Mario progress through a level and eventually fight this thing:

It's not a particularly long game, in fact it's only one level long with the promise of more to come. I can't sit here and say it's the best game on NCFC because it isn't, but at least it's playable (YEAH I'M LOOKING AT YOU, PEOPLE WHO CANCELLED THEIR BOOTHS LAST MINUTE).

The game doesn't stray too far from the basic Mario formula, and as such it could be considered a tad dull. But that's not a terrible thing at this stage, because it gets everything pretty much spot on. Granted there isn't a lot to get spot on, but you know what I mean. Graphics wise it's pretty good too, though I have grown to dispise my own tileset and because the background is darkened when the sprites aren't, it makes everything stand out unnaturally.

The highlight is the boss, which although isn't exactly jaw-dropping either, it's original, and I like that. Would have been nice if the rest of the game followed suit but at least it's a start. Most fangames don't have that.

It might sound a bit harsh to call this game BORING but I think the music drags the game down a bit. The Super Mario All-Stars rendition of the SMB theme is overused and not really compatible for a halloween setting... I mean if it sounds the same, plays the same and almost looks the same, what's the difference between this and an ordinary Mario game? Getting the "autumn" palette in SMW is arguably more "halloweeny" than this.

But although SMtNS isn't a the new god of fangames, it's still pretty cool and with a bit of work it could turn into something quite cool. There's far worse games out there anyway.

FINAL SCORE

A BIT COOLISH

Sounds good, but knowing previously that you've played my older demo's..well it probably won't run at full speed on your computer so I'm out of luck.

The Nightshift is only a demo. Thats not the whole thing. And I did darken your tileset. I just didn't want to darken it too much.

This post has been edited by DR. Demon Lizardman on Oct 22 2008, 05:13 PM

well so far the only game that has intrested me with your reviews is the first one.....I am interested to see you review mushroom kingdom fusion.....might not though since they don't have a demo

MUSHROOM KINGDOM EMISSARY
by MKE Dev Team


I mean honestly, who in the right mind would use the word "emissary" other than the Japanese who aren't native English speakers. Did you ever hear of that word before Super Smash Bros. Brawl? I know I didn't. In fact to be honest "Mushroom Kingdom Mission" sounds a bit nicer, but what do I know.

Mushroom Kingdom Emissary is another Mario platformer. There's not some plot gimmick or something here this time, it's just plain Mario. Now I may be wrong but it feels like one of Hello's engines, and comes with the same set of collision bugs and lag and other flaws which I've mentioned various times on MFGG and I'm not going to do it again. The main difference I've noticed engine wise is that Mario must be on a planet with less mass, because it's gravitational pull is pretty weak. We could find the value of g using g = -GM/R² but we'd probably need the values of M and R, and unless you're going to get me them, it's not going to be done.

I can't really say that much gameplay wise. My PC can't handle Hello's engine at 60FPS. I'd just end up *****ing about how annoying the lag is. SO I WON'T. Hello's engine isn't really that bad considering, but notice how I credited a "development team" - devlop a better, lag-less engine!

Aside from that it's pretty nice. Graphics are customs, edits and obscure which is good. No issues there really, though I wouldn't call it the work of the next Picasso. Also the overworld's a bit bland. It also seems to have its own musical score, which is great! I mean it hits a lot of dodgy notes and I can't say it captures the Mario feel all the time, but at least there was effort put into it, and I admire them for that.

I might have to re-think my scoring system because it's difficult to say whether this is better than Super Mario Theta. Unless I'm mistaken it IS just a Hello engine edit. An above average Hello engine edit, but a Hello engine edit nonetheless. Not a terrible thing, but unlike Mushroom Kingdom Fusion which proceeded to iron out all the bugs and flaws, Mushroom Kingdom Emissary doesn't. Pretty much everything in Theta is original to some degree, MKE isn't, but MKE plays better, so I dunno. And Night Shift was more original too.

Either way it's not terrible. There's a lot of room for improvement but it's on the right track. Just could use some more diversity so that I don't realise Hello did most of the work, but I'm not going to shoot it down too much because people have created far worse with the engine.

FINAL SCORE

A BIT COOLISH

Really this would be betweeen Night Shift and Theta but I didn't make quarter stars and I'm not doing it now so shut up

I couldn't get passed the stupid GM loading screen for Super Mario Bros the Allstar Quest. It freezes up EVERY time. Other GM games work fine.

MARIO NOIR
by Alastair Low


Behold, a game I can't really rate because my PC runs too damn slow. It'll most likely be the case with Mario Roots, though that looks pretty fantastic regardless. We'll cross that bridge when I can be bothered to download 50MB. I feel like I should mention this game because it's a) 3D and b) I said I would in the NCFC chat.

Mario Noir is 3D. Yay. It seems to be in the very early stages of 3D - there's not really as much "gameplay" involved as there is "free roaming". It feels a bit like a test engine but as said, the framerate's too choppy over here for me to rate this section properly. I have a feeling if I did I'd be marking it a lot lower than it should be. It doesn't seem to be jaw dropping but I honestly can't say.

Graphically it looks very interesting. It's a nice original style and it's more fun than normal Mario stuff. Music seems to be just a track from Super Mario Galaxy. I'd say it looks a bit dull in places but that might be the point, and there's a few placeholders as well.

FINAL SCORE

CAN'T RATE PROPERLY

but even if it was running at full speed I think I'd be comparing an engine test to fully fledged demos so it might be unfair regardless. Nevertheless should be interesting for those who have reasonably decent PCs, and it's definately one of the strangest looking games at this event, which can only be a good thing.

Haven't tried Noir but it looks...very interesting.

i think the reason noir is slow is because it was done in blender's game engine

which is ****ing slow compared to most any other 3D engine you care to name

Mushroom Kingdom Emissary is based on Saturn Mario Engine, and not Hello Mario Engine.

YOSHI'S ISLE, SONIC STYLE
by Atribute


I played this one at SAGE. I felt it was a tad underrated, but at the same time it's a bit of a strange game to rate. It hasn't really changed a whole lot since that event, so if you played it there don't go expecting radical improvements.

Yoshi's Isle: Sonic Style is a strange platformer - it's not quite Yoshi, it's not quite Sonic. It's sort of a "run very fast to the right and jump a lot" game. Your job is basically to get to the goal, which you pretty much do by running and jumping (and occasionally rolling). Controls are a bit whacked and I think that's the main concern of this title, but graphics are completely custom which is why I thought it was a bit underrated - nobody really picked up on this.

Mind you saying that the music's nothing special and the gameplay usually resorts to random jumping on things towards the end of the level. There's a lot of repetition and it could be considered a bit easy, and as I said it's not really "Sonic style" at all. For some reason it feels like a flash game... I don't know whether or not that's a good thing.

It's a difficult game to rate really. I don't know whether the best option is to go for more traditional Sonic gameplay or expand on what's already here to make it more fun. Personally I'd probably go for the former but I'm a classic Sonic fan so what do you expect? =P

Anyway YISS is an interesting little title that might be worth the look. Gameplay's a bit rusty so that stops it from getting super-high marks but there's plenty of time to improve.
FINAL SCORE

A BIT COOLISH

watch nobody top 3 stars

Maybe if that damn Animal Crossing demo finally comes up in time.

But his computer prolly won't be able to handle it...

The animal crossing game is the only one I'm actually excited about because it looks so goddamn pretty ;_;