TL;DR: disappointing romhack, it frustrates me how unfinished this is
THIS REVIEW WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR GORE/HARD MODE!!!!
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probably gonna be the only one giving this a less than stellar review, but i have my reasons
here are my thoughts for every single level in the game:
Castle Areas (Grounds, Main, Basement, Upper, Courtyard)
they're all pretty standard and nothing's really changed. for Castle Grounds, i really love how the first sign will almost always lunge at Mario the moment he begins to walk forward. being able to kill Toads was a nice touch for shock value, but the grind to get all 3 Toad stars is a pain in the ass, not to mention the 50 Toad kills you need for the trophy hunt.
Bob-omb Battlefield
a good introduction to the romhack and what it has to offer, even if what it offers isn't much. each area feels like you're walking through a minefield, and King Bob-omb is actually unique and feels like a new boss. I love the idea of him getting smaller and faster the more you throw him. it makes the last few throws you need to get all the more frantic.
Whomp's Fortress
i honestly wished there was more to say about this level. it should've been on par with Bob-omb Battlefield's approach to difficulty, but all you have are moving Piranha Plants, the Thwomps from GORE/Frogger!, a killer owl that takes a ground pound to die and King Whomp, which is a joke to kill once you get over the shock of seeing a shockwave. i guess there's Blast Away the Wall, which you need to do the cannonless setup or perish by cannon blast, but that's really it.
Jolly Roger Hell
probably the most disappointing level visually, it has a hellish landscape and a custom dorrie ride that doesn't work well with multiplayer. after that it just becomes jrb but with faster swimming. the lava will always insta-kill, which i guess makes the level slightly harder? the hellish theming doesn't really do much for the level though in my eyes.
Cool, Cool Mountain
genuinely, this is the most "nothing" level in the game. it adds almost nothing new to the game except for a faster penguin race and Mario randomly punting a baby. I guess you could say the signs are the most difficult aspect of this level. but all in all, it's just a load of nothing.
Big Boo's Haunt
second most disappointing level visually, it just turns dark and that's it. no custom boo behavior, no custom bosses, nothing to kill you except for the vanish cap box and the insanely fast merry-go-round. a disappointment overall.
Princess' Secret Slide
all i can say about it is that the sliding is insanely fast and uncontrollable, and that trophy hunt will confuse the hell out of you. it's pretty difficult but not that bad once you learn how to slide, pretty decent change.
Secret Aquarium
other than the universal swimming speed increase, nothing changed. in that sense, it got easier, which is the opposite of "Hard Mode." this would be considered the second most "nothing" level in the game.
Tower of the Wing Cap
same sort of review for secret aquarium but instead the wing cap changed to gradually increase your speed instead of decreasing it. once again, it makes the level much easier. just start from the bottom and slowly fly up. it is so much easier than vanilla, i cant understand the change to wing cap being helpful more than harmful.
Bowser in the Dark World
the coolest addition comes from the moving platforms near spawn having real physics. despite not being too hard, this change isn't seen anywehre else, which is so disappointing. the bowser fight is also just the same as before but you have to catch ukiki after. it's an okay change but like, you couldn't think of any way to make the fight harder? bowser can't even instakill on touch. this is where the lack of boss changes begin and never ends.
Hazy Maze Cave
i guess you could say this is the best level out of them all? that isn't saying much though. the best you got is being able to kill Dorrie in the lava lake by ground pounding him, rolling rocks that aim for you and have the star they're attached to somewhat inconsistent, and an LSD maze that has almost zero threat to your lives and makes that section EASIER due to the infinite coins you spawn and the amount of time needed to die basically being non-existent.
Lethal Lava Land
i do like the change made to lava, even if it very simple. instakill lava makes sense and actually adds some tension to the platforming you have to do that would otherwise be trivial with lava bounces. bullies instakilling the player makes "bully the bullies" actually hard in a good way. but the big bully bosses have nothing unique to them. the volcano is also a load of nothing, except for the elevator tour, which is difficult for the same reasons other speedrun-inspired stars are difficult. this level is just "okay."
Shifting Sand Land
i used to say this was one of the most difficult stages, since you had a killer Klepto, constantly draining HP and fly guys all around at every corner, which genuinely makes the surface a lot scarier to tread if you forget you have access to shell surfing. the pyramid is just... nothing. the most dangerous obstacle you'll face is the Spindel. not even Eyerok has anything unique, which is really disappointing.
Dire, Dire, Docks
this is literally just Secret Aquarium turned into a full level. what the fuck. there are literally zero changes to the level outside of what's already been established. i lied about CCM being the most "nothing" level. this is 100% the most "nothing" level in the entire romhack.
Cavern of the Metal Cap
zero changes. would you be surprised if i said this level was easier than vanilla? why are there so many "nothing" level in this romhack-
Vanish Cap Under the Moat
a genuinely difficult level due to the introduction of inertia and the elevators/seesaws being deadly as always. one of the only diamonds in the rough, good luck beating this if you have zero experience with SM64
Bowser in the Fire Sea
the best change to this level is the starting ride, which requires manipulating inertia to get you across. other than that, most of the level is the same, even with the new and existing additions. the boss fight is just as boring as always but instead of ukiki appearing, you ahve to kill a bunch of goombas, which is only difficult if you don't know what a slidekick is.
Snowman's Land
It's just fog + SSL's HP drain, sure it looks cool visually but during gameplay, nothing of note. the snowmen can knock the player away with their snowballs, which is surprisingly the first custom behavior that doesn't turn you into cranberry juice. just another disappointment to add to the pile
Wet-Dry World
removing the water made this level somewhat harder for the casual player in a couple of aspects, but not enough to be substantial if you don't know what a triple jump or a wallkick is. your biggest threat in this level are the skeeters, other than that, nothing has changed except for heave ho's and all the other changes established before.
Dark, Dark Mountain
the most disappointing level in the entire mod, period. you have the coolest concept in the whole mod: carrying a light around a dark mountain needing to throw it and stay within its range lest you die to whatever's lurking in the shadows. and then in the second act, you get night vision goggles. it really infuriates me just how great of an idea it was to have the lantern be tossed aside for night vision goggles, turning the level into Tall, Tall Mountain with a night vision filter.
Tiny-Huge Island
biggest changes here? koopa the quick requires a world record path with the koopa shell and the piranha plants are a real threat. everything else is just as you'd expect, even wiggler has little to no changes, only jumping more often and not instakilling you. disappointment.
Tick Tock Clock
somehow the creator thought making the fast setting faster was a sufficient change. YOU CAN STILL FREEZE TIME. and when you do, the level is just back to vanilla again. this level was not thought out at all.
Rainbow Ride
the penultimate level from the vanilla game, and it almost the exact same level. the only change comes from inertia making the carpet ride much, much harder. it's on the same level as VCutM, and the only other diamond in the rough. outside of that. no new changes. nothing.
Wing Mario Over the Rainbow
same criticism as TotWC, the wing cap is a blessing only and makes this level so trivial that you don't need cannons.
Bowser in the Sky
the base level has nothing important or interesting to mention except for the spinning seesaw at the beginning on the level. and the final boss... oh my god it is anti-climactic. all it takes is a single hit during it's charge-up attack and a ground pound that you can do at any point that kills the star and ends the fight immediately. no time to take everything in, no somber moment, no nothing. just 3 boss attacks and a kick to the face. that's it.
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i've followed the progress of this mod in its later stages of development, and initially, i was very hopefully with where this was all going, and really looked forward to the finished product. then it came out, and i played through it with some friends. and frankly, i don't really like it. in fact, i hate that i don't like it and that it's a disappointing mess of ideas. gore feels like an unfinished mess of random ideas packed into one mod. not enough ideas, nothing's fleshed out, nothing feels finished or polished. play this mod for the trophy hunt, after the shock of seeing gore of your comfort character it's gonna be the one addition you'll look back fondly on.
i have so, SO much more to say about this romhack that i can't fit into a review, but just know that i don't like being negative about this. i wanted to see this romhack actually flourish into one i can play and actually enjoy. sadly, i was disappointed with what i played
