Edasd submitted a new mod:
SM64 Remastered Quest - A very Fun Toadstool Hack
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SM64 Remastered Quest - A very Fun Toadstool Hack
Read more about this mod...
- Thread starter Edasd
- Start date
Thanks for the port, it was perfect and had no glitches. So now here is the review of the actual mod so if you're reading this you know whether you want to play it.
This review will be a little different from most hacks because it doesn't really change the graphics or music, but those aren't really expected to be changed. So I am going to review it in sections.
Story: 2/5
The story gains a point from its good dialogue and signs, with it being great how the star messages are now messages from Lakitu, and the Toads tell really good stories. However, it sadly fails on one big condition - Bowser's personality. Mainly, that Bowser has killed Yoshi and Luigi after they tried and failed to stop his rule, with their headstones being in the Castle Courtyard. Not only that, but Bowser also taunts Mario that he will kill Peach before the final fight. This is completely unimaginable for Bowser to do, the same guy who says he's "making mischief with my merry minions" and "No one's home - so SCRAM!" It also really doesn't go well with the original Mario 64's aesthetics, so this otherwise bright and cheery game has these weird moments of darkness. It was also disappointing that Yoshi wouldn't have a role in the game, because while I wouldn't expect Luigi to be in a vanilla hack, Yoshi would have been available.
Course-by-Course:
The Castle Itself: 3/5
The castle has been rearranged, so now your areas are 1. Second Floor 2. Basement 3. Top Floor 4. First Floor. This is pretty cool, but there's some issues getting around the castle. Namely, the game forgets to tell you that you can make a shortcut to the basement by pounding the pillars, which would have been really helpful instead of having the bingo night joke signs. And, secondly, the game doesn't explain how the DDD Sub-DDD Portal-Fire Sea-Key 2 connection works either, so you'll likely have to look up how to pass the sub in DDD and get into the Fire Sea.
And, in general, while the area swaps are really cool ideas and are all appropriate for their difficulty placement in the game, there are lots of unchanged courses that feel too hard - like Hazy Maze Cave in section 2 and then BOB/WF/JRB in section 4. I think a lot more paintings could have stood to be swapped around.
Tiny-Huge Island: 4/5
A great level in general. While I'm slightly disappointed that the tiny and huge sides don't keep their respective sizes of enemies, it's more than made up for by the enjoyable gameplay that has some clever warps and some actually fun switch stars. The level is also really fun to fly around with the Wing Cap, helping make getting 100 coins easier.
Tall Tall Mountain - 3/5
It's really great how you start near the slide so it's easier to get to Shifting Sand Land and the basement. However, some of the stars like the waterfall switch star can be really annoying to do.
I think the Magic Slide Star could have had a better name such as "Look Behind You on the Slide", though it was a really cool idea.
Cool Cool Mountain - 3/5
Some good ideas in the course, namely setting it on fire, and doing the baby penguin in reverse, but unfortunately it makes the slide far too painful to do with all the flamethrowers.
Wet Dry World - 4/5
You might think that perma-flooding WDW would make it boring, but no, the stars are hidden extremely well and are fun to find. A particular highlight is the Metal Cap switch star requiring good timing, but is easy to do once you know the trick.
Shifting Sand Land - 5/5
A really great course with some hilarious ideas, like the fake bob-omb buddy and the secrets of the sinkholes. The stars are really fun as well, such as the tox box switch blocks. In addition, the pyramid is really well-executed as well, requiring the vanish cap to get into Eyerok's room, and making good use of the shifting walls.
Lethal Lava Land - 4/5
Great stars, including some teleporting and cannon fun, and a really nice Mr. I fight. It only gets knocked off a point because having to redo the Fire Sea after you die getting the red coins is tedious.
Hazy Maze Cave - 4/5
Some really great ideas here, including almost all the stars themselves. 5 secrets in the 5 metal cap boxes was really cute. It's really nice that there's no BS done with the toxic maze, and instead it's more about navigating the cave with the switches. The only faltering is that you're required to redo the switches in each star, which could have benefitted from per-act object placement more.
Dire Dire Docks - 3/5
Some really clever and breezy stars, but you need a lot of patience for reds and the vanish cap star.
Tick Tock Clock - 3/5
A really great idea to start you at the top of the clock, and the clock hands over the pit to get the red coins is extremely inspired. Actually getting around the clock is a little harder and more linear than the original level, IMO.
Rainbow Ride - 2/5
It's Rainbow Ride but more. It's an extremely faithful expansion of vanilla Rainbow Ride, which is to say it's huge and it has bottomless pits. It's slightly improved by there being less waiting... but instead, the boredom is replaced with even harder platforming.
Bob-omb Battlefield - 3/5
A great aesthetic with all the carnival games and friendly bob-ombs around. Some really inspired stars, like chasing Koopa the Quick, but some others, like the skydiving star, are too hard, and others, like the chomp switch star, are too easy. In fact, that one's kind of cheating because it's basically just an act-dependent freebie after you do all the actual hard stars.
Whomp's Fortress - 4/5
Most of the stars are really great, especially the one where you go under the fortress. However, the magic platform star is really glitchy and it seems like it's a PITA to get the platforms to sync up so you can grab it.
Jolly Roger Bay - 4/5
A really great aesthetic with all the haunted ships, and it's fun to platform on them. However, the Koopa Shell star is a little too finicky for my tastes.
Snowman's Land - 1/5
Yeah, one out of five for not only all the wind and Mario's screaming, but also not having hacked it out that it blows your cap off too. Yes, this hack is vanilla, no, I would not have considered removing that to be cheating the aesthetic in the slightest. There might be ways to make Snowman's Land hard without changing the geometry, like how the Green Stars hack focuses on slope platforming, but this is definitely not it. It's possible to get softlocked with the wind too, which must have been a PITA on console where you can't exit out of the level unless you're standing.
Big Boo's Haunt - 3/5
Really fun red coins and 100 coins, but the merry go round and vanish cap stars are just painful and require almost perfection. And I would have appreciated it more if there was a vanish cap box OUTSIDE of the painting where you start instead of only inside. It's cool to make it the final course, but I think the execution was off.
Continued below...
This review will be a little different from most hacks because it doesn't really change the graphics or music, but those aren't really expected to be changed. So I am going to review it in sections.
Story: 2/5
The story gains a point from its good dialogue and signs, with it being great how the star messages are now messages from Lakitu, and the Toads tell really good stories. However, it sadly fails on one big condition - Bowser's personality. Mainly, that Bowser has killed Yoshi and Luigi after they tried and failed to stop his rule, with their headstones being in the Castle Courtyard. Not only that, but Bowser also taunts Mario that he will kill Peach before the final fight. This is completely unimaginable for Bowser to do, the same guy who says he's "making mischief with my merry minions" and "No one's home - so SCRAM!" It also really doesn't go well with the original Mario 64's aesthetics, so this otherwise bright and cheery game has these weird moments of darkness. It was also disappointing that Yoshi wouldn't have a role in the game, because while I wouldn't expect Luigi to be in a vanilla hack, Yoshi would have been available.
Course-by-Course:
The Castle Itself: 3/5
The castle has been rearranged, so now your areas are 1. Second Floor 2. Basement 3. Top Floor 4. First Floor. This is pretty cool, but there's some issues getting around the castle. Namely, the game forgets to tell you that you can make a shortcut to the basement by pounding the pillars, which would have been really helpful instead of having the bingo night joke signs. And, secondly, the game doesn't explain how the DDD Sub-DDD Portal-Fire Sea-Key 2 connection works either, so you'll likely have to look up how to pass the sub in DDD and get into the Fire Sea.
And, in general, while the area swaps are really cool ideas and are all appropriate for their difficulty placement in the game, there are lots of unchanged courses that feel too hard - like Hazy Maze Cave in section 2 and then BOB/WF/JRB in section 4. I think a lot more paintings could have stood to be swapped around.
Tiny-Huge Island: 4/5
A great level in general. While I'm slightly disappointed that the tiny and huge sides don't keep their respective sizes of enemies, it's more than made up for by the enjoyable gameplay that has some clever warps and some actually fun switch stars. The level is also really fun to fly around with the Wing Cap, helping make getting 100 coins easier.
Tall Tall Mountain - 3/5
It's really great how you start near the slide so it's easier to get to Shifting Sand Land and the basement. However, some of the stars like the waterfall switch star can be really annoying to do.
I think the Magic Slide Star could have had a better name such as "Look Behind You on the Slide", though it was a really cool idea.
Cool Cool Mountain - 3/5
Some good ideas in the course, namely setting it on fire, and doing the baby penguin in reverse, but unfortunately it makes the slide far too painful to do with all the flamethrowers.
Wet Dry World - 4/5
You might think that perma-flooding WDW would make it boring, but no, the stars are hidden extremely well and are fun to find. A particular highlight is the Metal Cap switch star requiring good timing, but is easy to do once you know the trick.
Shifting Sand Land - 5/5
A really great course with some hilarious ideas, like the fake bob-omb buddy and the secrets of the sinkholes. The stars are really fun as well, such as the tox box switch blocks. In addition, the pyramid is really well-executed as well, requiring the vanish cap to get into Eyerok's room, and making good use of the shifting walls.
Lethal Lava Land - 4/5
Great stars, including some teleporting and cannon fun, and a really nice Mr. I fight. It only gets knocked off a point because having to redo the Fire Sea after you die getting the red coins is tedious.
Hazy Maze Cave - 4/5
Some really great ideas here, including almost all the stars themselves. 5 secrets in the 5 metal cap boxes was really cute. It's really nice that there's no BS done with the toxic maze, and instead it's more about navigating the cave with the switches. The only faltering is that you're required to redo the switches in each star, which could have benefitted from per-act object placement more.
Dire Dire Docks - 3/5
Some really clever and breezy stars, but you need a lot of patience for reds and the vanish cap star.
Tick Tock Clock - 3/5
A really great idea to start you at the top of the clock, and the clock hands over the pit to get the red coins is extremely inspired. Actually getting around the clock is a little harder and more linear than the original level, IMO.
Rainbow Ride - 2/5
It's Rainbow Ride but more. It's an extremely faithful expansion of vanilla Rainbow Ride, which is to say it's huge and it has bottomless pits. It's slightly improved by there being less waiting... but instead, the boredom is replaced with even harder platforming.
Bob-omb Battlefield - 3/5
A great aesthetic with all the carnival games and friendly bob-ombs around. Some really inspired stars, like chasing Koopa the Quick, but some others, like the skydiving star, are too hard, and others, like the chomp switch star, are too easy. In fact, that one's kind of cheating because it's basically just an act-dependent freebie after you do all the actual hard stars.
Whomp's Fortress - 4/5
Most of the stars are really great, especially the one where you go under the fortress. However, the magic platform star is really glitchy and it seems like it's a PITA to get the platforms to sync up so you can grab it.
Jolly Roger Bay - 4/5
A really great aesthetic with all the haunted ships, and it's fun to platform on them. However, the Koopa Shell star is a little too finicky for my tastes.
Snowman's Land - 1/5
Yeah, one out of five for not only all the wind and Mario's screaming, but also not having hacked it out that it blows your cap off too. Yes, this hack is vanilla, no, I would not have considered removing that to be cheating the aesthetic in the slightest. There might be ways to make Snowman's Land hard without changing the geometry, like how the Green Stars hack focuses on slope platforming, but this is definitely not it. It's possible to get softlocked with the wind too, which must have been a PITA on console where you can't exit out of the level unless you're standing.
Big Boo's Haunt - 3/5
Really fun red coins and 100 coins, but the merry go round and vanish cap stars are just painful and require almost perfection. And I would have appreciated it more if there was a vanish cap box OUTSIDE of the painting where you start instead of only inside. It's cool to make it the final course, but I think the execution was off.
Continued below...
Tower of the Wing Cap - 5/5
The switch was hidden in a really funny place and the sky dive star is fun. The cannon really brought out the excitement in the course.
Vanish Cap Under the Moat - 3/5
You do the course backwards. This was somewhat fun, but I think it wouldn't have hurt to have put a koopa shell halfway up the slide so you don't have to do all of it the hard way.
Cavern of the Metal Cap - 4/5
Three actually well-hidden stars in this tiny level? Yeah, easily one of the peaks of this hack. It only gets a point docked off for the switch star being too precise to do in the time limit, in addition to the timing you have to do with the Metal Cap making it hard to retry.
Secret Aquarium - 4/5
Some aquatic life was added and the coins were in good places. I would have liked if the water was drained and you had to do platforming, but I think that's beyond Toad's Tool's abilities, so, with those in mind, it's about the best you can do.
Wing Mario Over the Rainbow - 2/5
Not really my cup of tea with all the precise cannon shots and wing cap jumps. It's also really crummy that you aren't warned you need the wing cap until after the cannon part.
The Princess' Secret Slide - ?/5
I wasn't able to beat this, but I think it's easier to do with a controller instead of the keyboard, so I'll refrain from criticizing it.
Bowser in the Dark World: 2/5
This course gets docked for a major reason, and that's because if you die in it, you get booted out of Hazy Maze Cave. BitDW is hidden where the Metal Cap used to be, and so you know that's a really long way to walk back. While just beating it isn't that hard, the red coins require the wing cap and are hidden in merciless places.
Bowser in the Fire Sea: 3/5
Some good red coin placements, but is a little boring. I guess the object limit is to blame for that meaning that you can't utilize the full boundaries of the course to add extra platforming.
Bowser in the Sky: 2/5
Some great ideas, but a lot of the hard parts in the platforming come after 2-3 minutes of level. It ends up wasting a lot of time. It's also really mean to not tell you the 5 secrets are mandatory until you get to the end of the level. It could have been fun if it set the expectation that you had to do the level AND secrets at the start, but it's definitely not fun to think you've eked out a successful completion of the level and now you have to do it again, but harder. The Bowser fight is pretty good, and a very creative use of vanilla Bowser, though it can be tricky to get him where you want him to be.
Co-Op Suitability: 5/5
The hack does not have any areas in which it's harder to do co-op play than the original SM64 (so, cap blocks and the penguin race might present issues, but they're still in the original SM64, so I can't count off for them). In fact, it will likely give you an easier time in the Bowser 3 fight.
In general, this is a really good master quest in that it makes you feel like you have to fight for every star, just like when you were a kid. It's given me a lot of ideas for my own vanilla-esque hack, especially with all the fun it does with the teleporters. However, there's enough unfun stars that I can't imagine 100%ing it.
The switch was hidden in a really funny place and the sky dive star is fun. The cannon really brought out the excitement in the course.
Vanish Cap Under the Moat - 3/5
You do the course backwards. This was somewhat fun, but I think it wouldn't have hurt to have put a koopa shell halfway up the slide so you don't have to do all of it the hard way.
Cavern of the Metal Cap - 4/5
Three actually well-hidden stars in this tiny level? Yeah, easily one of the peaks of this hack. It only gets a point docked off for the switch star being too precise to do in the time limit, in addition to the timing you have to do with the Metal Cap making it hard to retry.
Secret Aquarium - 4/5
Some aquatic life was added and the coins were in good places. I would have liked if the water was drained and you had to do platforming, but I think that's beyond Toad's Tool's abilities, so, with those in mind, it's about the best you can do.
Wing Mario Over the Rainbow - 2/5
Not really my cup of tea with all the precise cannon shots and wing cap jumps. It's also really crummy that you aren't warned you need the wing cap until after the cannon part.
The Princess' Secret Slide - ?/5
I wasn't able to beat this, but I think it's easier to do with a controller instead of the keyboard, so I'll refrain from criticizing it.
Bowser in the Dark World: 2/5
This course gets docked for a major reason, and that's because if you die in it, you get booted out of Hazy Maze Cave. BitDW is hidden where the Metal Cap used to be, and so you know that's a really long way to walk back. While just beating it isn't that hard, the red coins require the wing cap and are hidden in merciless places.
Bowser in the Fire Sea: 3/5
Some good red coin placements, but is a little boring. I guess the object limit is to blame for that meaning that you can't utilize the full boundaries of the course to add extra platforming.
Bowser in the Sky: 2/5
Some great ideas, but a lot of the hard parts in the platforming come after 2-3 minutes of level. It ends up wasting a lot of time. It's also really mean to not tell you the 5 secrets are mandatory until you get to the end of the level. It could have been fun if it set the expectation that you had to do the level AND secrets at the start, but it's definitely not fun to think you've eked out a successful completion of the level and now you have to do it again, but harder. The Bowser fight is pretty good, and a very creative use of vanilla Bowser, though it can be tricky to get him where you want him to be.
Co-Op Suitability: 5/5
The hack does not have any areas in which it's harder to do co-op play than the original SM64 (so, cap blocks and the penguin race might present issues, but they're still in the original SM64, so I can't count off for them). In fact, it will likely give you an easier time in the Bowser 3 fight.
In general, this is a really good master quest in that it makes you feel like you have to fight for every star, just like when you were a kid. It's given me a lot of ideas for my own vanilla-esque hack, especially with all the fun it does with the teleporters. However, there's enough unfun stars that I can't imagine 100%ing it.