CM30 on September 30, 2017
Remember that Super Mario Odyssey 64 hack we posted? That one which added Cappy to Super Mario 64, and let players control any sprite in the game?
Well, it seems that’s not going to be the only Mario Odyssey ‘backport’ in the near future! Nope, Super Mario World is getting a hack to allow the same thing! Titled Super Mario World Odyssey, the game is in development by a SMW Central user called LX5, and does a really good job recreating the mechanics of the Switch title. Here’s the first trailer for the project showing it in action:
As you can see, there are quite a few interesting things you can control there. Sure, you’ve got your usual enemies, like Rex, Big Boo or Swooper. But you can also take over such things as:
- The skull rafts that float on lava
- Info boxes
And quite a few more besides. It’s not just the capture mechanic either, using Mario’s hat as a platform has been ported over too. That’s certainly good for speedrunners wanting a change of pace, or fans of the original game trying new paths through the levels.
Additionally, the source code for the mod will also be released for free in the future as well. This means that in addition to the base patch, other ROM hacks may implement the same capture mechanics too. That could be quite interesting to see when the next collab comes around. Or perhaps when some ASM genius finds a way to integrate it into their project.
So go and check it out right now. Because like with Super Mario Odyssey 64 before it, Super Mario World Odyssey looks like it’ll be great fun, and well worth supporting in future!
Source:
Super Mario World Odyssey Trailer (YouTube)
CM30 on September 25, 2017
A couple of days ago, we posted about a mod that allowed for levels of almost infinite size in Super Mario 64. This mod was created by SKELUX (maker of Super Mario 64 Star Road), and was demonstrated via a full import of Wuhu Island into a single Super Mario 64 level.
But it seems SKELUX hasn’t stopped there. Oh no, he’s gone from Wuhu Island to Hyrule from Ocarina of Time.
Yep, Hyrule. As in, he’s imported the entirety of Hyrule from Ocarina of Time into a single massive Super Mario 64 level! Here’s a video showing it in action:
As you can see, it looks great. You’ve got Hyrule Field, Kakariko Village, Kokiri Forest and much more besides. There are no loading times here. The draw instance is amazing.
Basically, it’s exactly what the video promises, and really does make Super Mario 64 look tiny by comparison. Heck, it even makes Mario Odyssey look tiny by comparison!
That’s certainly something, right?
Admittedly, it’s not perfect just yet. After all, the mod functionality wasn’t added to the level editor yet at all.
This means the entire level had to be imported by hand, and things were missed. Like say, animated water. Or various objects that’d need adding in later.
But it’s an impressive tech demo regardless. The world looks amazing, it runs flawlessly and it shows just what’s possible here. You can’t get a better showcase of the Mario 64 infinite level size mode.
So let’s hope there’ll be more to come soon. Like say, SKELUX working alongside Kaze Emanuar on the Legend of Peach. Or another equally large world being imported.
Because with this mod, the sky’s the limit!
CM30 on September 25, 2017
If you’ve ever read a story about Super Mario World online, you’ve probably seen this picture. A depiction of Mario jumping on a Goomba in a grassy plains level, it’s been used for pretty much everything from a Kotaku article on speedrunning to a Gamnesia article about a 40-level made in ‘Super Mario Maker’. It’s almost a symbol of the game itself.
Which is kind of strangewhen you think about it. Why?
Because the picture doesn’t actually show Super Mario World at all. Indeed, everything from the level design to the enemy graphics and object placements are completely off here. So why is it used so much?
Where did it come from in the first place?
Well, you’re not going to believe this, but the answer is DeviantArt.
Yup, it’s a piece of fan art. Indeed, the original picture is by a user called PolkaDotStudio on the site and can be found at the following address:
https://polkadotstudio.deviantart.com/art/Super-Mario-World-203145119
And seeing the full version doesn’t exactly put journalists or YouTubers in a positive light. I mean, there’s a giant watermark on the bottom right they clearly cropped out to hide its origin. Pretty low if you ask me.
But that aside, why is this image so common? Where did all these random people find it?
That’s actually a really good question.
Cause if you look up Super Mario World in Google Images, this particular picture doesn’t actually start showing up until 2013, despite being posted online all the way back in 2011. Until then, the results are purely a mix of ROM hacks and original game footage.
So, we did a bit of digging. And thanks to a service called TinEye, identified what may be the first ‘unauthorised’ use of this image.
A Crave Online article from November 2013. Yep, their article about the ‘Top 10 Best Console Launch Games of All Time’ seems to be the first example of this image being used to illustrate an article. Of course, they don’t credit the artist for the image, nor mention where they got it from. It’s just there to ‘illustrate’ a game it doesn’t really depict at all.
After that, well it just seems the image gradually moved up the Google Image Search results, and more and more lazy writers and video creators just used it for Mario related articles without actually thinking about it.
Continue Reading…
CM30 on September 18, 2017
Over the years, 3D platformer levels have generally gotten bigger and bigger. You had Super Mario 64, with fairly compact stages where everything was within walking distance.
There was Rare’s N64 games, where levels were enormous to the point they often needed the Expansion Pack to run at all.
And then where games like Yooka-Laylee and Super Mario Odyssey are concerned… well stages are even bigger still. New Donk City and Tostarena alone are bigger than just about every Mario 64 level put together!
But it seems like the original game may still be able to beat them all. Why?
Because thanks to a new mode by SKELUX (creator of Super Mario Star Road), levels in the game can now be almost infinite in size! Yes, you’re now able to port entire worlds from current gen games to Super Mario 64 and have them run like expected. For instance, here’s Wuhu Island from Mario Kart 7 running in the game’s engine:
It’s incredibly impressive really. Certainly, a far cry from the days of Bob-omb Battlefield and Whomp’s Fortress, that’s for sure.
So, stay tuned to SKELUX’s channel if you want more info about it. Because it seems like the next big revolution in Super Mario 64 modding is just around the corner!
CM30 on September 14, 2017
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of fan projects get taken down by companies like Nintendo. There was AM2R, which was taken down prior to Samus Returns being announced. There was Project M, which suspiciously ceased development in late 2014.
And with everything from Super Mario Bros X to Pokémon Uranium being affected at one time or another, it’s quite clear the company is more defensive about their IPs than they used to be. Heck, there are so many examples we wrote an article about all of them in 2016!
So, with Super Mario 64 Online hitting the spotlight, it’s quite clear Nintendo wanted it removed from the internet. Hence, they tried to get it taken down.
Yeah, note the wording there. They tried.
Unfortunately for them however, Super Mario 64 Online doesn’t really include copyrighted content in it. Instead, the download is merely an exe file which launches the online functionality.
As a result of this, there’s not much Nintendo can do about it. The program simply doesn’t contain their intellectual property, and merely patches it to a ROM on the fly rather than providing a game for anyone to directly open and play.
So, while they did manage to take down the launch trailer, that’s all that happened. The links to the download still work. The website and forum is fine. Heck, even the other videos of the game on Kaze’s channel are still up as of this article.
It’s a pretty good result all round, at least where fan works are concerned.
Let’s just hope nothing worse happens to the project in future…
