Damn, no one's made an in-depth review for this yet? Guess I'll be the first one.
What a fantastic ROM hack. It's completely built from the ground up. The levels, enemies, bosses, visuals, and even music are all completely original to this mod. It's essentially a new game that just happens to be in the Mario World engine. The gist is that there's four worlds and each of them is based on a different season.
The level design takes full advantage of the concept with great mechanics that are implemented creatively. In my opinion, the levels show a degree of variety, depth, craft, and care that rivals Mario's official games. I'd even say that the level design is superior to the game it's a mod of (but that's a low bar imo). Plus, this is probably the only 2D Mario game with good boss fights!
This could also potentially be the single most visually appealing thing ever made on the SNES. And that's saying something in a world where Yoshi's Island, DKC2, and [insert JRPG I've never played] exist. Since the game is focused on each of the seasons, there's naturally a ton of great atmosphere and environmental design to go around. The visuals are thoroughly gorgeous, stylistically consistent, and have a great understanding of the aesthetic appeal of each season. The custom enemy sprites are fantastic too; the designs are super expressive and fit right in with Mario World's style (pogging Boo!!!). This is all enhanced by an original soundtrack, which is fantastic and some of the best music to be made on the SNES.
On the topic of presentation, I must also give props to the worldbuilding. I love the implication that each world takes place on the same island and the levels are on the exact same locations, just at a different time of year. The level order always goes plains > shore > underwater > forest > cave > ghost house > castle, and they're always placed on the same points on the world map. Also, Mario wearing a season-specific outfit if you complete that specific world is some good stuff. Great attention to detail.
You could tell the person who made this mod loves DKC. The influences are so clear especially in the musical style, emphasis on natural environments, and the HUD. Some levels even feel like deliberate callbacks to certain levels from those games. The difficulty level also generally matches DKC, which is great since it's not too often you see a Mario hack that's challenging but not absurd. I really think this mod would be best described as a DKC game in the Mario World engine, and it takes the best of both worlds in that regard.
For criticism, while I appreciate the high but manageable difficulty, it can be unfair at times with enemy placements. I also feel that several of the mechanics used for the levels are too obtuse, specific, or precise which leads to a lot of frustration and difficulty spikes; anything that involves spin jumping comes to mind. Despite my praise for the music, there just isn't enough music, so many themes get repeated a lot in places where they don't fit. The linearity and lack of story make the game just feel like a level pack, although that is redeemed by the overarching theme. I also do find it funny how the game pokes fun at its own lack of story, like how when you beat the game they literally say that you beat Bowser "for some reason". That's cute.
Also, many of my existing problems with Mario World carry over, especially because this game is so much more difficult than Mario World. Like, the fact that you go straight from fire to small if you take damage was already an annoyance in World, but in this game it's total bullshit. I'm also not a fan of Mario's momentum in the World engine, and there's still only the same two power-ups that were in World: fire and cape (though the cape was retextured to be the raccoon leaf which is a nice touch, and it was nerfed so you can't skip the entire level with zero effort anymore). And it doesn't even have Yoshi either. But hey, the collectibles are actually collectibles in this game! Take that, Mario World!
But seriously, if you're on a Mario Wonder high and want more fantastic and original 2D Mario levels, do not hesitate to play this mod. You've got right here a challenging but well-designed and completely original Mario game with great visuals, music, and atmosphere. In many aspects it's better than the game it's a mod of, and could very potentially be the best Mario fangame ever made.
What a fantastic ROM hack. It's completely built from the ground up. The levels, enemies, bosses, visuals, and even music are all completely original to this mod. It's essentially a new game that just happens to be in the Mario World engine. The gist is that there's four worlds and each of them is based on a different season.
The level design takes full advantage of the concept with great mechanics that are implemented creatively. In my opinion, the levels show a degree of variety, depth, craft, and care that rivals Mario's official games. I'd even say that the level design is superior to the game it's a mod of (but that's a low bar imo). Plus, this is probably the only 2D Mario game with good boss fights!
This could also potentially be the single most visually appealing thing ever made on the SNES. And that's saying something in a world where Yoshi's Island, DKC2, and [insert JRPG I've never played] exist. Since the game is focused on each of the seasons, there's naturally a ton of great atmosphere and environmental design to go around. The visuals are thoroughly gorgeous, stylistically consistent, and have a great understanding of the aesthetic appeal of each season. The custom enemy sprites are fantastic too; the designs are super expressive and fit right in with Mario World's style (pogging Boo!!!). This is all enhanced by an original soundtrack, which is fantastic and some of the best music to be made on the SNES.
On the topic of presentation, I must also give props to the worldbuilding. I love the implication that each world takes place on the same island and the levels are on the exact same locations, just at a different time of year. The level order always goes plains > shore > underwater > forest > cave > ghost house > castle, and they're always placed on the same points on the world map. Also, Mario wearing a season-specific outfit if you complete that specific world is some good stuff. Great attention to detail.
You could tell the person who made this mod loves DKC. The influences are so clear especially in the musical style, emphasis on natural environments, and the HUD. Some levels even feel like deliberate callbacks to certain levels from those games. The difficulty level also generally matches DKC, which is great since it's not too often you see a Mario hack that's challenging but not absurd. I really think this mod would be best described as a DKC game in the Mario World engine, and it takes the best of both worlds in that regard.
For criticism, while I appreciate the high but manageable difficulty, it can be unfair at times with enemy placements. I also feel that several of the mechanics used for the levels are too obtuse, specific, or precise which leads to a lot of frustration and difficulty spikes; anything that involves spin jumping comes to mind. Despite my praise for the music, there just isn't enough music, so many themes get repeated a lot in places where they don't fit. The linearity and lack of story make the game just feel like a level pack, although that is redeemed by the overarching theme. I also do find it funny how the game pokes fun at its own lack of story, like how when you beat the game they literally say that you beat Bowser "for some reason". That's cute.
Also, many of my existing problems with Mario World carry over, especially because this game is so much more difficult than Mario World. Like, the fact that you go straight from fire to small if you take damage was already an annoyance in World, but in this game it's total bullshit. I'm also not a fan of Mario's momentum in the World engine, and there's still only the same two power-ups that were in World: fire and cape (though the cape was retextured to be the raccoon leaf which is a nice touch, and it was nerfed so you can't skip the entire level with zero effort anymore). And it doesn't even have Yoshi either. But hey, the collectibles are actually collectibles in this game! Take that, Mario World!
But seriously, if you're on a Mario Wonder high and want more fantastic and original 2D Mario levels, do not hesitate to play this mod. You've got right here a challenging but well-designed and completely original Mario game with great visuals, music, and atmosphere. In many aspects it's better than the game it's a mod of, and could very potentially be the best Mario fangame ever made.