LETS GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLEEE
First official reviews incoming. Brought to you by the most handsome GBA hacker around!
Theme Strength: 6 out of 10
Ing-Ing definitely had the advantage of text-based lore over all the other hacks. Right from the get go
the player feels limited and stuck due to their lack of equipment. Missiles, varia, bombs, and especially hi-jump are the main players that give this hack this score. Nearly every platforming section required thinking outside the box to pass. How he achieves this effect with missiles was rather neat as well. The score is lower however, because it doesn't fulfill the second half the Adam way. In other words, the obtained items that I so longed for were not useless/needed anymore after requiring them. Speedbooster and Varia for instance were needed many times after I acquired them. I understand it may be harder to do this with a Fusion hack, so I won't make too much of a point on that.
Quality Control: 2 out of 5
Tiling and gameplay wise, the hack is solid. However, I am prone to finding ways to soft-lock. That ability did not spare this hack. I soft-locked in two areas, one by triggering an SA-X when the player wasn't meant to, and the other is being knocked OoB by a solid enemy. There is also one door output error but other than that the quality was sound. Perma-stucks are a big deal though, so it sadly takes a toll on the score. Map issues and a text glitch are also present but are minor.
Enjoyability: 4 out of 5
The early game really took a toll on me. Especially the Siberian Complex (sector 1). I died the same way many times there. But it wasn't due to difficulty, is was usually do to blind jumps or enemies I couldn't see right away. I ended up having to redo the same 5-10-minute segment like 5 or 6 times. Afterwards I started having a blast. I still died many times, but they were my fault rather than his. (other than the soft-locks). Ing also brought some really creative puzzles and boss encounters that I fully approve of! This is perhaps his best hack so far. The game does end a bit abruptly, but the text at least foreshadows this. Speaking of text, Ing brings back his knack for comedic dialogue and does it perfectly. The dude knows how to meme.
Graphics: 3 out of 5
As one of my chat members said "It's too simplistic." The earlier areas of the game, such as the rooftops and Anchor are indeed bland in terms of level data tiling. Backgrounds however were good all around, especially the trains. No custom enemy or palette stuff this time around but the other tilesets in the game were well done. My favorite room in the game is also his favorite room. (the sideways data room). You'll know it when you see it. Level design was pretty in some spots and lacking in others (sideways data room and rooftop respectively.) The ending images are pretty great too.
Closing: Total 15 out of 25
Ing-Ings best hack. I enjoyed the difficulty, despite my frustration with Siberia. The creativity and puzzles were really good as well. Some questionable design choices and trolls exist but this is definitely a hack to check out. You better know how to walljump!
Theme Strength: 4 out of 10
As much as it pains me to rate a ZM hack so low, this hack just does not deliver in terms of theme except in one particular area, which I will get to. There aren't many situations where I was presented with an obstacle that I could pass but would be a pain/harder without a particular item. I would mostly see an impassible barrier of some sort because I lacked the item, go find item, get past barrier, repeat. This was the case for speedbooster and supers. Varia had potential, but it was wasted as no heat runs are required to get it. The research lab though, is different. This area puts you against deadly foes you cannot combat against. After you get the weapon, these rooms aren't necessary to traverse again, which almost the theme perfectly. The only reason it doesn’t is because ice isn’t actually required to beat the hack. If only more of the design was like this, the score would be higher.
Quality Control: 4 out of 5
General quality was pretty solid, especially for the scope of this hack. Some very small tiling errors exist as well as a couple map issues. There is also a music bug that could have easily been fixedin which the music will stop if one travels to an area with custom music via a hatchless door.
Enjoyability: 3 out of 5
The research area is the saving grace for the score in this category. While the hack is enjoyable,
the sheer scope of it stretches progress and action out by a large amount. Basically, there was too much hack
and not enough content. Some of the rooms also looked really similar with aided in me getting lost and having to frequently refer to the map to see where I was going. Now this isn’t a bad thing actually. There just should have been something to spice up those areas as I was fumbling around. The research area though was my favorite section of the hack. The sick, albeit accidental music track of the area coupled with its premise made it really stand out. If the entire hack had an enjoyment level like this particular area or had it been smaller, 5 out of 5 rating without a doubt.
Graphics: 5 out of 5
This is the only entry to feature custom music, and good music at that. Enemy palettes, tilesets, and backgrounds are custom and are well done as well. These things alone put it above the other entries. Ending image was a solid rating of Adam out of Other M. Better variation in terms of level design could exist, but general level design was decent. It’s also the only hack to change the title screen! Title screen edits are always accepted and a plus.
Closing: Total 16 out of 25
This hack is massive. Perhaps too massive. The music was excellent as well as the colors. The hack was really forgiving, which I can always agree with. There is also so neat and special little assembly blocks one of made himself. They function pretty well and open up new ways of quick travel. The research area by far is the defining point of the hack for me. You have little to lose by playing this hack, give it a try!
Theme Strength: 9 out of 10
Wow Crystal Knight nails the theme almost perfectly with every single item. The most notable are Varia and Gravity. A very long heat run ultimately rewards Varia. Afterwards no more heated rooms exist in the hack. (other than backtracking, which isn’t required here.) Pre-gravity has a moderate underwater section. Again, after getting Gravity no more water rooms are encountered. Other items are only “restored” after moving away from where needed, making the player have to backtrack to the area, and then the items are never needed again. Truly an Adam move! Not every item does it perfectly however (like morph, but let’s be honest, that doesn’t count), but this hack definitely does it best. Crystal is a true Adam.
Quality Control: 5 out of 5
I don’t recall any errors or bugs in this hack other than a wall being air, but I’m not sure if this was just a secret I didn’t have the ability to explore yet. Every other entry had some sort of issue somewhere albeit minor ones. But this one manages to say NO to bugs and errors and emerge with the top score for this category. If there are actually any errors in the hack, I sure as heck never saw them.
Enjoyability: 4 out of 5
The hack is solid. The story is great, the concept is good, the gameplay is good. I died to the massive heat run but it was decently balanced. I feel like it was one of those “you have to die to learn what to do” kind of things, which isn’t bad, especially given that that’s the only section of the game to be like that. Also, you didn’t add respin. WHY?! Space-jump was god-tier though.
Graphics: 2 out of 5
The only custom GFX here was the tilesets. But they were done well. My one gripe is that it doesn’t blend with the SM art style very well. The filler tile is the main offender of this, but most of the tiles could be adjusted to better accommodate the SM style. So, while the graphics were good, minimal custom stuff was done, and even that needs work. This is why the score for this category is rather low.
Closing: Total 20 out of 25
This hack demonstrated the way of Adam better than any other entry and was enjoyable at the same time. There were minimal (if any) errors in level design and flowed well. Definitely give this hack a go
Theme Strength: -2.98e77
This hack is so mind blowingly Adam that it caused my brain’s number handler to underflow and output a negative number despite the actual value being a positive number beyond conception! Darn brain with your limited RAM!
Quality Control: Adam
Adam was so restrictive that even if any bugs were present, we could never see them!
Enjoyability: No Objections
Graphics: Text out of 5
Adam didn’t even authorize the ability to see advanced graphics beyond text. What a madman!
Closing: Total -2.98e77 + AdamTextObjections
Whoa this was a roller coaster. Can a hack better than this ever be created? Is even the mighty homenag challenged by this marvel?! Surely not, homenag must have inspired this.
Theme Strength: 4 out of 10
This hack seeks to emulate the mind of Adam throughout its entirety. It almost does it as well as Adam’s Virus. However, it fails because the one item we longed to have the entire game is not even in the game. Conner said it was meant to be, but it seems he messed up his door transitions and the room is skipped. This is why you have to test your hacks people! It’s a shame the score is so low when it could have been an 8 or 9.
Quality Control: 4 out of 5
The hack is tiled well and there are no bugs. Two things keep this from a full 5 score. One, you managed to mess up the connection to Varia’s room. This already impacted your theme score severely so I won’t count it much here. Another small detail is some lava at the bottom of a particular room doesn’t animate. (not the “frozen” lava) Some door transitions are also a bit wonky. Other than that, it’s a very comprehensive hack. Good job.
Enjoyability: 4 out of 5
I actually really liked this hack. I didn’t know what to expect from it but Conner really delivered. It contains two really simple in concepts; constant heat and a light/dark like world design. These concepts were done very well. Some nice use of BG0 triggers and other forms of clipdata also exist. There’s also a Metroid 2 inspired part of that hack for those of you who like references.
Graphics: 3 out of 5
The new “frozen” norfair tileset and the portal rooms are pretty impressive and well made. No enemy GFX or ending images were added, which is okay, but gives less content to rate this category on.
Closing: Total 15 out of 25
The hack is very good, do not let the low score fool you. It’s also not as difficult as it would sound either. It’s worth a playthrough.
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Topic: The Authorized Contest (Read 14394 times)