It'sa me, Kaizo Mario!

[SilentSnake]

Hey, I just beat Unintended Behavior! I feel so smart, and that was just the right palate cleanser in between more dexterous challenges. Definitely recommend checking it out if your hands ever need the break.

And now to wait for Hark 2.

 

[lincolnic]

Nice! Even with the message box, my brain was too smooth to figure out what to do in the first level of that hack so I stopped playing it. I love that it exists though.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Here it is! I actually won't have time to try this until tomorrow at the earliest, since we're doing out Best of 2020 stream tonight. But probably tomorrow!

 

[lincolnic]

Good looking out, Mike! I just noticed that it wasn't on SMW Central and came here to try and find a link to Chris's Twitter account. Gonna dig in this afternoon, I think.

 

[lincolnic]

Nice to see Chris has kept his tradition of starting the first level with some hot garbage.

 

[SilentSnake]

I honestly don't feel that way here? Like, there's a mild troll at the beginning, but it's still readable. The start of Hark 1, meanwhile, was some incomprehensible bullshit.

I'm four exits in, and I like it so far. The themes are good fun, the levels don't go on too long, and there's a nice bit of difficulty running under the surface. It's also nice that, at least so far, there's no kaizo-exclusive mechanics except maybe the need to spin jump on things. I will say I got stuck on Heaven Sent for a bit because BUMPTIES GRRRR, which I guess is a hack exclusive thing, but not so much just kaizo.

 

[lincolnic]

Nah, I was joking. I'm three exits in and having fun so far!

 

[lincolnic]

Okay, the second half of Heaven Sent is really needlessly confusing. When you actually figure out what you're supposed to do it's not that bad, but it wasn't clear to me at all. I had to go watch Barb play it and I agree with him that there needs to be a message box, or maybe more indicators.

Enjoying the hack outside of that though!

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I'm actually playing this now! Don't tell the guys. So far I like it a lot, although there have been a number of head-scratchers that had me wondering what to do. For the most part, I've been happy to solve them, although I'm completely stymied by the bumpties after you grab the mushroom in Heaven Sent. What the heck are you supposed to do there? Anyway, I'm enjoying it, in part because it feels different from a lot of the hacks I've played previously. The movement in the Rosa, where you're transitioning from swinging platforms to flying spinies, feels unlike anything else I've tried. It's good!

 

[lincolnic]

bumpties

Is that really the official name of the penguins? I've never heard this before but now you and Snake have both said it.

 

[SilentSnake]

I'm 11 exits in, and I like it a lot! Happy to say that I haven't gotten stuck as of yet, and the level design is quite fun. I will say that The Lie of the Land's main exit is probably my least favorite due to the boo rings, but the secret exit is hid so creatively that I don't mind too much. Also the water level is a pain. Other than that, things are clicking.

I'm actually playing this now! Don't tell the guys. So far I like it a lot, although there have been a number of head-scratchers that had me wondering what to do. For the most part, I've been happy to solve them, although I'm completely stymied by the bumpties after you grab the mushroom in Heaven Sent. What the heck are you supposed to do there? Anyway, I'm enjoying it, in part because it feels different from a lot of the hacks I've played previously. The movement in the Rosa, where you're transitioning from swinging platforms to flying spinies, feels unlike anything else I've tried. It's good!

What you need to do is do a little jump directly on the bumpty to lure the other one out, then bump yourself to the right once you do.

Is that really the official name of the penguins? I've never heard this before but now you and Snake have both said it.

It totally is!

 

[lincolnic]

Hey, Shovda was on Mercy Kill! Really fun episode. Mario 64, 16 stars; SMW 11 exits, one-handed; Quickie World; and Invictus (with Juzcook in the chat).

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I'm about six exits into Hark 2 and I'm really enjoying it so far! There have been a lot of setups that have puzzled or outright confused me, but I'm having a good time figuring them out (or getting Snake to figure them out for me). Just finished the ghost forest secret exit and the boss battle was a fun little treat. Looking forward to playing this some more, and I'm seriously considering learning it to do a few runs if it keeps on being this fun.

Also! After getting stuck on the bumpties last night, I switched over to Invictus and finished the first half of Die Tree! That level is really good, although the part with the throw blocks at the end is ridiculously tight. It maintained the Invictus tradition of having one-too-many obstacles at the end of the section, though - the hammer chuck felt really unnecessary to me. I went back and checked Lincolnic's time and...it's basically the same as mine! I haven't really spent any time on the second half with the moving vines, but it seems neat. Man, kaizo is awesome.

 

[lincolnic]

Eight exits into Hark 2 here, I'm one ahead of Mike. So far I've enjoyed everything except for the blue switch palace, and the water level before it. Water levels just make my hands hurt.

I took a peek at the next level ahead of me and...yeah, not excited about that one either. I hope this is just a rough patch, because the game started off so well, and I'd be really disappointed if that was where the fun stopped.

I went back and checked Lincolnic's time and...it's basically the same as mine!

Our mirror streak continues!

 

[SilentSnake]

16 exits. The difficulty is definitely all over the place here, not that that's a bad thing. It's nice to get an easier level after a nice challenge. I just beat a big difficulty spike in Sidetree. The timing is just SO tight, and you have to go SO fast. Got there though, which was a nice feeling.

lincolnic, the level after Ghost Monument is one of my favs of the hack even though it kinda walled me for a bit. So take that for what you will.

 

[lincolnic]

lincolnic, the level after Ghost Monument is one of my favs of the hack even though it kinda walled me for a bit. So take that for what you will.

If that's the autoscroller, that's what I'm up to next. I looked at it once and got Invictus flashbacks and noped out for the day.

 

[SilentSnake]

Okay, I've found a pattern. Every Hark 2 level with dolphins is bad. They just are.

Edit: Okay I lie, I forgot Thin Ice had a couple. I like that level.

 

[lincolnic]

Okay, I've found a pattern. Every Hark 2 level with dolphins is bad. They just are.

I fixed it for you.

 

[Mightyblue]

Yeah, I've seen enough Kaizo streams and playthroughs to know that when the dolphins start showing up whoever's playing is about to spend the next several hours in that one segment let alone level.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

The dolphins only want to help!

I actually thought the autoscroller was really fun, although I lucked into getting the up pipe exit on my second try and I have no idea how long it might have taken me if I'd been less fortunate.

 

[SilentSnake]

Hey now, Cetacean Station in Hyperion was a fun level.

 

[SilentSnake]

Hey I finished Super Hark Bros. 2! Definitely a big improvement over the first one. I liked how it kept crescendoing as the game closed out, and it definitely ended on some barn burners.

Edit: Oh! And if you have the very first version of the game, you'll want to update it before the end. Trust me.

I think it's time I turn my gaze to Invictus.

 

[lincolnic]

Congrats on the clear! I was only able to put in another two exits today, got in a bit of a rut on the level after the autoscroller (which wasn't that bad, in the end).

Serious question: how do you update the hack? Chris's website links to SMWC now, which seems to be the same file I downloaded on Friday. I'm not sure OpenEmu will allow me to transfer save data, either...I tried going from one version of Akogare to the updated version that isn't on SMWC, and it didn't recognize my save after I did that. (I'd backed everything up beforehand so I didn't actually lose any progress.)

 

[lincolnic]

Two updates:

1) Looks like the version on SMWC is the latest update, but I still can't get OpenEmu to recognize my save from the older version with the new patch. Snake, how bad is it going to be if I keep going on the original version? Feel free to spoil whatever you need to, I'd rather know ahead of time if there's something game-breaking and I need to restart on the new one. If it comes to that, I can savestate my way through the levels I've already cleared so I don't lose too much time.

2) I discovered OpenEmu does actually keep track of your playtime, so I've gone back to my post about finishing Invictus and updated my 100% clear time. Turns out I was about an hour and a half faster than I thought!

 

[SilentSnake]

Okay, so other than some small changes through the levels, it adds an extra hint for the endgame puzzle, which I needed to finish the game. I can give you a heads up when you get to it.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Do you figure I have the updated version, what with that weird empty text box in the ice cave level?

 

[SilentSnake]

Maybe! Again, though, if anyone needs hints or straight-up what's needed, I can help.

 

[lincolnic]

If that's all there is, doesn't sound like it's really worth spending the time to start over for me. Thanks for the info! I'll definitely ask if I need more help.

 

[SilentSnake]

Okay I lied again, I'm playing this next.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Ooh, I've been curious about that one since Laser did his year in review stream. Let us know how you like it!

I had a little time this afternoon, so I played through Flatline in Hark 2. It's a very good level, although there's a bit of jank in the back half where the throw block occasionally triggers the winged coin block that you have to stand on early in the section. Also that troll at the end was mean.