Let's Revisit Super Talking Time Bros.!

Part 4: Luigi Zone



Luigi Zone (or as I keep calling it on the video, Luigi Island) is maybe my favorite "world" in all of STTB. I just love the weird level themes and how they are not actually organic in any way (I think our original plan was to make bodily tiles that didn't happen) but are cleverly named levels plotted on the map around Luigi's sprite. I'm also personally happy that my dumb poop joke level made the cut

For some reason I thought _L_ left the project after the first game, but he delivers another classic ghost house here, and god bless him for that.

I feel like Cloth Cutter is a reference, but for the life of me I can't place it. One of my favorite level gimmicks, and done in that perfect one-and-done way that mario gimmick levels sometimes are done.

Oh wow, Cloth Cutter Carnage there is just A+ level design all around.

To the best of my knowledge, Cloth Cutter Carnage isn't a reference to anything other than SpoonyBard's own brilliance. But I could be wrong.

I'm enjoying the LP, McClain, keep it up!

D'aw shucks.

Honestly, this wasn't any specific reference. I realized after the fact that it might seem like a nod to Kirby's Epic Yarn (which was either out or imminent at that point) but it wasn't something I was thinking of while making the stage.

(Gosh, the RPG boss though, I know we won't be 'George Lucas'ing STTB2 but if I could take a lua-empowered second crack at anything it might be that boss)

Part 5: Autumn Hills



For some reason, this area is one that I don't remember that well at all. I think it's mostly just do to it coming right after one of the most memorable in Luigi Zone. Which is kind of a shame, because it's a solid "Forest of Illusion Lite." High Branch Bustle has one of my favorite secrets in the game, a rare example of us calling back to a previous secret (that I kind of bad mouthed at the time, silly me!). And I adore Spring Forward, Fall Back.

Part 6: Milkshake Mountain



Madhair can finally sleep at night now that an LP has chronicled his Easter Egg in Ticket to the Moon.

Why is Captain Kirk climbing the mountain anyhow?

The fence in Ghost Boathouse does some CRAZY nonsense to me, no idea why.

Ice physics in SMBX are still absolutely the worst, but at least the challenge level feels more appropriate this deep into the game than it being in the 3rd world like the first game.

Magnetic North is another great one-and-done gimmick level. I'm so pleased to be able to keep saying that. We did some good work with that kind of design.

And of course I still love the Dee Dee Dee fight.

Magnetic North is one of the best Super Mario levels ever put to binary data.

To both embarrass me retroactively and distract people from a couple of the level's flaws. Thank you for not spending five minutes trying to jump from that lip and getting stuck.
I can't remember if that mushroom was my idea or mandated by the STTB crew. I didn't want to just give people a way to take a hit and ignore the trick, but the Princess has nothing to do with the level and the ducking-float isn't required anywhere.
I'm glad you didn't die to an offscreen enemy that I would've sworn I'd removed two (3?) versions prior to the final. Raocow getting ganked is on youtube for all to see.

I don't think one can gush too much about how cool Castle of the Penguin King is.

Don't be embarrassed! Your level is how I learned about that song, and I'd call it one of the most memorable levels in the game. The ski-lift, and descending from the top of the mountain in the vertical part were all cool touches.

I certainly know all about feeling regret for past mistakes, but don't let the bad parts overshadow the good either.

One quick note about the streaming since others seem to have been having problems too:

My experience with Twitch has always been that the higher quality the stream the more impossible it is to watch. I don't know if others are having similar buffering problems, but when I caught your first stream it played perfect the whole way through. Whatever the settings were left the picture a bit fuzzy like I said then, but the framerate was buttery smooth rather than just sitting on a still frame for a 50 seconds.

I rarely have issues with youtube streams or other platforms, so I just blame Twitch.

because I'm being super lazy and using twitch to output to youtube, I've kind of just been sticking with the high-end settings. It seems like people are only really having problems on mobile data, and that's gonna be dicey at any quality level.

I haven't touched the settings since I started STTB, so I blame twitch, too

Had a couple of framerate issues and had to refresh throughout as well, but I get that a lot, so yeah, that's Twitch for you.

Been catching up on the stream now that I have free time again, super cool to see folks' older levels. Too many things and cool levels to gush about from both camps - folks who contributed a lot of levels, and also folks who showed up and made one or two pretty cool levels.

I was also introduced to the song (and the equally incomprehensible Star Trek V interview from which the song was made) through Jikkuryuu's level and my life has been made all the better for it - it was just a nice, fun, silly level.

Part 7: Chocolate Island



To this day I have no idea what the logic is behind that one Choco Island level in SMW. Luckily this one seems a bit more straightforward.

The physics on the angled platforms I call "pea pods" is weird, like most moving platforms in SMBX.

How many fangames can you think of that feature large pink dildo kirby? But also that's a rad recreation of a rad Kirby stage, and a return of our bizarre Fat Meta Knight.

Part 8: The Dark World



The Epic Final Battle! But before that, a lot of sleepy McClain struggling with the hardest levels in STTB2!

Seriously, forgot how hard some of the levels late in this game were. Didn't think we stepped it up this much until the next game.

Next time, the bonus world

(Side Note: I'm like super close to qualifying for Twitch affiliate, so if you dudes could try to watch me live, that would be very cool of you )

Keep up the great work, McClain! Sorry I haven't been able to be around for all of the live broadcasts, but I've been watching the YouTube versions later.

If I remember right, the reason for the wooden spikes in "That Other World 7" is that they originally were Munchers, but testers thought you ought to be able to safely spin-jump off them, and you can't. The quick fix (because we needed to release the game already) was to reskin them as spikes, which everyone knows you can't spin-jump on.

And, yes, Sweet Powder is a lot of fun, Jikkuryuu--no embarrassment called for!

Well, now it's my chance to "D'aw, shucks." Thanks--it's one of my favorites out of my creations, too.

Gonna try to wrap up STTB2 on the stream tonight.

As for TLL ... I make no promises that I'll finish it. I remember it being VERY hard for me, not being the world's greatest Mario player to begin with, and getting frustrated on a stream is, well, not super fun. That said, I'll give it a fair chance, and even if I "quit" it's likely I'll come back to it after a break, since I'm also getting a little bit of SMBX burnout and there's other games I'm itching to play.

I'm glad people are enjoying the LP! It's been a while since I tried one of these and it's nice to have a project right now.

Yeah, don't use my twitch issues as a litmus test for your stream quality, I have the same issue with live stuff on Youtube.

Tocking Time Tower was a level I was surprised made it in but I think that it works well as a follow up to the CV4 level in the first game.

I apologize in advance. I know a lot more now that I didn't know six years ago.

On the flipside I think my favorite level I made was in TLL.

didn't get to stream tonight after all, sorry folks. Maybe tomorrow.

The youtube video is still uploading, but have a preview

SMBX is weird�

Part 9: Finale



STTB2 does a lot of things better than STTB1, and one of them is it sticks the landing. Many of my all-time favorite levels are here, and they work well as a "bonus" world because they are a mix of gimmicks, challenges, and weird shit that didn't fit in elsewhere. And then that bonus final boss fight is just the cherry on top.

I went back and checked after the stream, and it takes just 75 stars to get into the 999 Year Door, which is more generous than I remembered. It's a good level of making the player play most of the game, buy not find EVERY star.

I enjoyed this replay even more than I expected. I'm really proud of what we did, and while my time and ability to makes levels is limited, I'd love to see what we could do if STTB3 really happens.

Next time, I'll give The Last Levels a shot, but I'll probably do that in between other games, so expect some breaks.

Until then, thanks for playing.

Thanks for the LP, McClain. It was a lot of fun (and I'm glad I could drop in on Twitch at least sometimes).

And, man, I did not remember Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em being so hard.

Yeah, watching the LP, I was really impressed by the sense of finality that provided by Bowser's Castle and the final battle(s), with the bonus world and dev room (with extra boss) as chaser. It really ties everything together nicely.

I hope it does! Planning to work on some level(s) this evening.

Yeah, no rush! As a viewer, I think it would be fun if you are playing TLL whenever you really want to play it, and not just when you're forcing yourself to do it.

Super Talking Time Bros. 2.5: The Last Levels

Part 1: The "Expansion"



What happens when you make an "expansion pack" but just never stop making levels? You end up with an "expert" fangame.

The Hub world is enormous, but I like how it gives you a lot of information up front about the game. You know going in how to switch characters, how to get powerups, how to warp, what the world map more or less looks like, and where at least one of the bonus worlds are in the opening 10 minutes or so. It's a nice way to front-load information for a brutally hard game.

The world map is both less focused and more accessible. I forgot just how quickly you can open up branching paths that actually jump ahead in the game. I'm curious what the shortest path to "beat" the game is now.

I love all the clever design we have super early here. The Sonic bonus area is brilliant, as is the "raining" clouds level and the Zelda level (I hope anything in the Zelda stand-alone game is that clever because I'm still really excited to play it).

(All Hail the Derp Bird! )

Man, watching STTB2 and TLL back to back sure makes it apparent how much harder TLL is, even early in the game. I agree that STTB2 is the most polished and best overall package, but it's nice that TLL does things differently enough (like with starting you in the extensive "home base") that each game has its own identity.

I didn't really think about it until now, but I like the symmetry of how the main game has 2 paths converging at the end, and then the Special World is also made up of two worlds converging at the end. It's like poetry, it rhymes!

Yeah ... I totally didn't remember that the Starbase commons has key tips and clues, some of which only make sense as you reach other levels. Trading up for a Hammer Suit is also a tip for a later level.

Speaking of which, there's a hidden room in Gold Leaf Grove that you missed that contains a clue for a different entirely level (I think because we judged that other secret as a particularly difficult one).

Is Cranky Kong telling Kirby to hire a good lawyer a John Kirby reference? If so, that's amazing.

Thanks, Rainy Bay and Gold Leaf Grove are both my creations. Rainy Bay is one of my favorites to have worked on. I made it right after I moved to a brand new city where I knew almost no one, and amidst all that change it was soothing to work on this calmer nighttime level with gentle music and a slow ascent to a higher place.

I dunno about a stand-alone Zelda game, but I'm hoping to do at least one Link level among the STTB3 levels I'm working on now.

Solitayre linked it to me a while ago, and it's probably what I'll be playing next (or alongside TLL if I need a break: The Last Kind of Hyrule

Part 2: Here Comes Honey Boom Boom



That pun is a war crime.

The game starts kicking my ass two videos in.

I'm continually amazed at how many bosses we made by dragging a mother brain around with layers and events.

Oh, rad. I see Isrieri and Solitayre contributed to it, too. Definitely looking forward to that stream.

(But I may have also started making a new Link level myself )

Part 3: Hop on the Bombbles




Oh my god that level.

This was the first level I remember in my first playthrough giving me serious issues, and surprise surprise, same thing here! It's not a bad level, but it is a bit more into the kaizo side of things that I personally enjoy.

On the other hand, I fucking LOVE airship graveyard. It does such a simple thing so well: it give you two visual clues, and then takes one away, and expects you to pay enough attention to keep up. If you don't pick up on the fact that the coin trails AND the background railing are working together in the first area, you're gonna have a real bad time in the rest of the stage, and may never find the red star. It's just so damn good and simple and I love it.

One thing I love about madhair's stages is he acknowledges Dragon Coins aren't really worth it, and puts them in out-of-the-way silly locations. Its the little details that shine through.

Hop on the Bombles is the one level I wish I could do over again. I love that concept but I had nooo idea how to use it well. Case in point: I always intended for players to have to hop on a bomb to get to the star room, then there'd be no confusion about how to get up there. But everyone I've watched play it just uses the note blocks. Being able to see players go through your stage and see how they think their way through things is invaluable to design. I could do a much better job now.

You bet your butt Sushi Samba was intentional. Those fish took forever to place.