Darunia-Saria 2008, New election fan game

A hilarious Super Mario Bros.-style fan game that pokes fun at the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. Link's elfish girl friend from Zelda 64 stars in this unique 2-D platformer, which takes chances but doesn't contain anything particularly objectionable. Many individuals and issues are lampooned, but the game does not endorse or support any particular candidate or party.

The game should run on any Windows XP or Vista computer. You can use it in any way you like as long as you don't sell it for cash. I'd love it if someone put a video of game play on YouTube! The game wasn't accepted for MFGG because its main character didn't star in a Mario game.

This post has been edited by VinnyVideo on Oct 28 2008, 01:16 PM

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 113 )
 DS2008.zip

Oh god. I would not encourage anyone to download this, and if I was a mod I'd lock it instantly.

What you're descriping as a "unique" 2D platformer is the first game I have yet to play that is so horrible I'd rate it lower than Paper Mario World. The girl from Zelda is randomly replacing Mario, and you're just throwing in the election as some kind of plot, which is supposed to be funny, but it's not. The entire game is buggy and frustrating, with horrible decceleration and collision engine. I'm not even sure why anyone would want this game at all, and I'm not sure who your target is. People who likes to bash the election? No, this hardly has anything to do with the election except that you go to the US warp pipe some which displays random text appearently related. Elsewise there is nothing at all. Is this supposed to target Mario fangamers? Hell no, it doesn't even star Mario, and it's not original in any way, as it looks like you took Hello's/UltraMario's engine and changed the main character. Great job! Does this target Zelda fangamers then? If you think making a Mario game and replacing the Mairo sprite makes it a Zelda game then yes you've come to the right game.

The game sprites clashes horribly aswell. The engine is nice apart from where you get stuck, though.

This post has been edited by MechaBowser on Oct 27 2008, 03:45 PM

I've downloaded and played your game for a bit.

Basically it's true what has been said above, you pretty much missed what your description says about the game.
The politics theme is not quite well implemented, gameplaywise it's not very innovative and I see no point in having Saria playable instead of anyone else (Mario for example).

But since MechaBowser here is not a Mod, but I am, I think we will keep this open. You should get some more opinions and reviews about this game so you know how to improve on your next game.
Especially if this is your first game (which it could possibly be), you will probably need it.

I hope you'll learn from your mistakes.

One question though: Have you made that engine yourself, or did you borrow it from someone?

It seems like D-S 2008 is hardly winning over the critics. I could see why one might not like Darunia-Saria 2008. Probably most fan game players (myself included) are hoping to download the Super Mario Bros. 4 or Super Mario World 3 - something that feels just like the old Mario games, but with uniquely fresh new levels. D-S 2008 is not Super Mario Bros. 3, and never pretends to be. It stars a character from a Zelda game, and the background music includes tunes from Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Diddy Kong Racing, and assorted Zelda games. And most of the human characters are modeled after Dr. Wright from the Super NES SimCity!

I first thought of making an election game way back in July 2007, when I played my very first fan game (Yoshi vs. Windows). My title for the prototype game was "Birdo for President," which obviously starred Birdo. However, I made a Birdo game (not available to the public, since only a very small number of people would find it interesting) in fall 2007, and I wanted to make games that starred a variety of characters. I considered placing Toad, Waluigi, Daisy, or even Wart as the star of my election game, but I settled on Saria when Sarah Palin was nominated as the vice presidential candidate (a bit of a vague pun). I love Mario, but I don't want him to star in all of my games (Luigi will be the player in my next game).

This is not my first fan game; it's #4. I made two that aren't available on the Internet, as well as Marioy 2. I had to work very hard for two weeks to get this game finished before the election (forsaking much sleep and even some food to get it done in time).

Darunia-Saria 2008 was designed to project a feeling of surrealism or disbelief: "I can't believe I just blew up Michael Chertoff!" or "Is that really Barack Obama replacing Bowser?" I think one mistake I made is with the clumsy transition from a literal depiction of a fantasy world to an allegorical version of real life. I suppose almost everyone might be offended by a level or two, as well.

The deceleration mechanics are no different from Marioy 2; in fact, they're unchanged from the base Hello Super Mario 1 Engine. The problem may be when you transform into a different character; for the special transformations, I didn't bother to create a "skidding" sprite (I wanted to finish the game quickly and didn't have the time). The only time I've had trouble with collisions is with the McCain boss when you stomp him when he's jumping at a certain point.

I think you overlook some of the things I did well. For one thing, I used music brilliantly, if I say so myself. What better way could you play "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" than in a level where the Dow hits zero? I made the animations for Saria and the politicians myself - and they're pretty good for a beginner. Also, D-S 2008 is one of the most original fan games out there. Where else can you find a game where you can turn into a Sarah Palin lookalike or a Guadalajara soccer player? Plus, there are many hidden 1-Ups, special transformations, and health meter upgrades if you look hard enough, and as far as I know, I'm still the only fan game maker to have implemented a Second Quest.

I used the same heavily-modified Hello Super Mario 1 engine I used for Marioy 2, except that I added a few new enemies and objects and implemented a Zelda II-style hit-point system.

Still, I always appreciate comments (both positive and negative) I get from the people who play my games.

You keep saying it's a "heavily modifed" when it's not. Everyone was pretty much able to point out the old engine that everyone uses, which doesn't make it "heavily modifed".

As for the game, you have to keep in mind that even though you spend sweat, tears and blood on it, nobody actually sees that, only the outcome. And the outcome isn't too great. You try to justify this by saying you've done music brilliant, and by brilliant you mean picking the right song for the right level, but music is only like 1/30 part of a game as they're only used to keep the game from being silent. Sure you probably picked some kind of awesome reference song for a level, but that still doesn't make the game good. Gameplay does. And this game is lacking it, unfortunately.

I believe others may have already said it, but I still have to add that I have tried this game the other day -- and I have to unforunately say that it MAY look like a Mario game, but it seriously doesn't play as a true Mario game at all. That, and the reason that Saria is a "lead character" may explain why the staff declined to place it on the main site.

Remember, this is Mario Fan Games Galaxy we're talking about -- so the #1 rule is ALWAYS to make sure that a Mario series character has lead role treatment. Not to mention that the game itself has to be developed very well in the process.

Alright, here's what this game is:

It's Hello's (I think) game engine where you control a yellow-hatted, mutant Link. You fight Mario enemies that kill you instantly unless you move away from them quickly enough. Why? Because there is no invicibility time. You blink after getting hit, but you still continue to get hit. Why? It seems like the author wanted to make it so that enemies hit you continuously but lazily didn't put in a "hit" sprite so he/she just replaced the blinking that normally represents invincibility time. Awesome. However, the fact that each hits does 8 damage per milisecond doesn't make sense with that. So let's just say the author was too lazy to put invincibilty time. Isn't that in Hello's engine anyway? I've confused myself.

Now, the levels are the following: A forest, 1-2 from SMB but not, a bonus stage that appearantly represents the USA, a desert-tank stage, complete with autoscrolling, and then a boss battle with a real-life head pasted on a sprite. I've yet to beat this, because I either die by the Bob-Ombs he drops or I die by jumping in him. You're supposed to drop other Bob-Ombs on him by pressing P-Switches while he's almost over them, but I run out of lives before I hit him enough times.

The collision is kinda good horizontally, but verticley you get stuck in blocks. Lovely. There's something fun with the crappy collision though: if you run fast enough before you kick a shell, you'll be in it while it's moving and if you jump you rocket up to the ceiling. Yay.

The powerups consist of the useless Coins, which heal one hp, the slightly better Mushrooms, which heal you completely, the useful Fire Flower, does exactly as it does in every other game, and the Poison Mushroom, which you find only once in 1-4.

In summary: I got killed by a mole by jumping on it. It died as well.

I don't think I made this very clear in the attached help file, but if you press F4, you can play the game in a window instead of using full screen mode. This will show the level's name, which might help you interpret some of the levels. Darunia-Saria 2008 is an allegory. Nearly everything in this game, even common enemies, symbolizes an issue that has been discussed during the campaign. For instance, the tanks in the desert level symbolize the war in Iraq, and the Fire Bros. on top of the pipes are al-Qaeda terrorists blowing up the oil pipelines. Similarly, stomping on the John McCain boss or knocking Obama into the lava like Bowser in Super Mario Bros. might be like running an attack ad on TV or taking votes away from your opponent.

The standard of quality in fan games has increased greatly in the past five years (just look at how far we've come since Mario World 2000!). MFGG's pre-made game engines, as well as the availability of sprite sheets and tile sets for all major 16-bit Mario games, have been most responsible for this increase in quality. I think the reviewers do have a point. While the game play isn't terrible, it's just not as good as some of the more traditional fan games (including my Marioy 2) once you get past the goofy election stuff and an occasionally edgy theme or two. This may be my last attempt at an "allegory" game. It's very difficult to create top-of-the-line levels while making sure everything has a deeper meaning. If I produce another game of this sort, I might just submit it to Caiman Games (which has non-Mario fan games as well) or post a video of game play on YouTube, especially if it doesn't star Mario or Luigi.

Darunia-Saria 2008 is far more experimental than my more conventional Marioy 2. I implemented the Zelda II-like hit point system simply to see what people thought of it. While the engine is certain recognizable from Hello's Mario 1 Engine, nearly every object has been modified in at least a subtle way. Plus, I created nearly 100 enemies of my own (counting Marioy 2). The invincibility feature is the same as in the Hello engine. However, I can extend the invincibility period in my next update (if there is one).

Saria does not wear a yellow hat. She has blonde hair (almost greenish in Zelda 64; this was changed a bit to improve contrast) and wears a green headband. This headband disappears when she becomes "small," much like Mario's hat in Super Mario 64 or Birdo's bow in my first fan game. Just like Bill Belichick, Saria is much more resistant to damage when the headband is present.

Has anyone completed the Second Quest of Darunia-Saria 2008? You'll find the second go-round is quite a bit tougher and has some new stuff. You might even discover a clue for finding the hidden Guadalajara soccer power-up! One more thing: You can boost your maximum HP by finding the well-hidden Heart Container. In both the first playthrough and the second, it's found early on in the game. Keep jumping and you'll find it!

Anyway, feel free to keep writing - I love both criticism and praise!

It's good that you put so much thought into it



... but the references aren't very clear and it just feels like a really poorly crafted game

Four more things I feel I should note:

* Many, if not most, of the people using MFGG come from Europe. While I think most Europeans are far more aware of American politics and social issues than Americans are of European politics, some of the issues referenced in this game are uniquely American. A good example is World 3-4, which makes fun of the National Rifle Association, which is familiar to most Americans but not necessarily Europeans.
* Now that the election is past, I'm not going to be checking this board as frequently. If you have a specific question or would like to see the Official Interpretation Guide, you are advised to send an e-mail to VHamilton002@gmail.com.
* The Bud Lite Bottle, found exclusively in the Moral Values level in the Second Quest, reduces HP two-thirds of the time, but there's a 33% chance it'll boost your energy. Yes, this game can be just a little naughty at times.
* Had I planned this game after "Joe the Plumber," Mario (or more likely Luigi) would have been in the starring role.
* Four videos of this game are now available on YouTube. Search for Darunia-Saria 2008 and they should show up.
* Lastly, here's the official game ending. In my manual I said I'd put this on the MFGG board sometime about now:

Saria didn't like the way things were looking. With 99% of precincts reporting, she had received only 41 votes, putting her behind even Gene Amondson. 39 of those votes came from absentee ballots in Welaka, Florida, and while many gave names like George W. Bush, Paris Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, Napoleon Bonaparte, and King Henry VII, all were signed with the noble signature of Bubba Wilcox III. Rather than conceding defeat, Saria knew it was time to take decisive action. She removed the strap on her hand, yanked the plug out of the outlet, and slammed her Wiimote into the wall.

A dumb storyline deserves an awful ending.

1. wat. Almost two thirds of MFGGers are Americans or stuff like that. And I sure the hell know what NRA is.

2. Are you some sort of a campaigner?

3. Like I'd play that far in a poorly made and slow game.

4. SUPER JOE

5. oh ok

6.

You said it.

Just out of curiosity, I downloaded and played Paper Mario World last Sunday. I beat it in 30 minutes without losing a life. Internet message boards are, and ought to be, loose, relaxed forums of free speech and expression. But I'm still mildly insulted that anyone would compare Darunia-Saria 2008 to that terrible game. That said, playing it now makes me realize how an above-average SMB3-based fan game could receive this many low marks. Like PMW, D-S 2008 includes a playable non-Mario character (except for Saria's cameo appearances in Mario Golf) and includes music from a wide variety of sources. However, my game has infinitely better graphics, bosses, and levels, and more importantly, D-S 2008 never takes itself seriously even for a second.

One more footnote not in the manual: Saria's name is one transliteration of the word for Islamic law. This pokes fun of Barack Obama's middle name (Hussein) - and maybe his first name too. Hee hee. My manual also gets something just a bit wrong: Saria appears indirectly in the ROM hack Zelda: Parallel Worlds.

Also, I'm not sure if everyone is aware of this, but the crazy guy in 2-1 is Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security. He's a pretty radical guy. He was the one who said that unless a so-called "Real ID" program is instituted, there would be "another 9/11" - the premise of World 2-2 in my game. Again, virtually everything in this game alludes to something else.

Check my YouTube videos if you want to know where to find the Piece of Heart and the Guadalajara Chivas soccer power-up. The Sarah Palin metamorphosis is in the Global Warming level, and the hard-to-nab Burqa can be found in the Iraq War level.

And no, I wasn't running for any political office this year, but I always want people to be able to get in touch with the creators of fan games in order to answer questions and solve problems. I'll still check this board every once in a while, though.

Lastly, for example purposes, here's the original .GMK file. I doubt anyone's going to want to download this, but there are some useful backgrounds, modified tile sets, and MIDIs herein, along with an abundance of ridiculous sprites.

Attached File ( Number of downloads: 189 )
 D_S_2008.zip

tbh they both share the same gameplay values

except Paper Mario World has different play styles!

"That terrible game" is the first fangame I played. And imo it's actually not that bad.

This terrible game is the suckiest "fangame" I've played. It's a lagfest with crappy political references and a bad "Saria" sprite.

Paper Mario World doesn't lag, it doesn't have any ****ty political references only 2 people see, it has cool references to other games (like Kirby :>) and the sprites are like 1234567 times better than the "Saria". And the musics are quite good too in it.

This game may not have the same charm, but no way is it on the same level than PMW, it IS better than PMW.

PMW is actually kinda cool because of its historic value. This however, does not have any and is not too great either.

I played Paper Mario World 2 - hardly a great game - for the first time this week, and I noticed one of its bosses is almost identical to my Chertoff battle! Really - I never knew about this similarity until now.

By the way, the Saria-Darunia campaign also pokes fun at two low-scale office-seekers in real life that I know. Their names (which sound a little like the game's title, although they were unknown to me when I created the game) shall remain anonymous to protect their identities - or maybe so they won't throw eggs at me if they find out I was the one who made such an outrageous and/or stupid fangame.

I still don't think Darunia-Saria 2008 is a terrible game, but I can do a lot better than that - check out my latest game, Aventura de Luigi. I can do far worse, too - try the new Toad's Idiotic Adventure. Also, I hope to release a small update of all of my older games at some point in the near future.

I know this is amazing, but my limited efforts to promote this game locally have actually gotten me a lot of publicity - overwhelmingly positive - in the community. Really. While it didn't directly have anything to do with this game, it never would have happened if I had never made Darunia-Saria 2008. It has something to do with a few spurts of brilliance (more than one unbiased person used that word) on an unspecified message board (I shouldn't say which).

Just to clarify things, there's a campaign sign in the most ridiculous level in Aventura de Luigi marked, "Saria-Darunia 2012." Yes, I'm already planning a 2012 version of this game, since it doesn't look like Barack Obama is going to make all our problems go away. This time, however, I think I'll have Bowser (or maybe Birdo) in the starring role, running under the Neo-Whig Party. And I'm definitely going to do the hospital level this time.

I can't really show you the 2009 version of this game, which has all-new characters (the star wants a Cabinet post) and music and a few changes. The Moral Values level replaces the sinful politicians with baseball players who have used steroids, and now you go to BALCO instead of kissing the married senator. Also, someone named Mac Brunson gets more vitriol directed his way in this sequel than Jeremiah Wright did in the old.

And lastly, Welaka is a real place (I've been there, in fact), but since the situations described in this game are entirely fictitious, this game didn't get any votes from Misty Cummings and her wonderful family, or from the brilliant jailbreak dudes who decided to go back home when everyone was still looking for them.

This topic is almost a year old, why did you bump this? >_>

*cough necropost cough*