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It'sa me, Kaizo Mario!
- Thread starter MCBanjoMike
- Start date
Two exits down in Invictus, and I'm struck by how clean the level design is in this game. Also not too difficult yet, though that might just be how far I've come as a kaizo player. Excited to keep going!
Yeah no, you're just good now, dawg. Those first two levels took me almost two hours each when I first played them.
I'm with Mike, you're officially Good. The first level took me two and a half hours my first time, and the second took me 90 minutes.
I'm positive my clear times would come way down if I were to run Invictus back today, because that game will make you better, but I've got too many other hacks I want to play first before I do.
I'm positive my clear times would come way down if I were to run Invictus back today, because that game will make you better, but I've got too many other hacks I want to play first before I do.
Two more exits and a switch palace down. I think I'm going to pace myself on this one. I've been doing nothing but kaizo for a while now, and I kinda want to play other stuff some too. I think I'm going to shoot for three exits a day going forward.
Three exits a day is already a whole lot! Recent levels have been taking me 3+ hours to finish, so either your times are a lot faster or else you're playing a bunch more than me. Speaking of which, I spent some time working on Frostbite last night and today. First part went down in about 30 minutes, although I must have missed the secret exit in the process. Then I spent 45 minutes on the second half and got super tilted, because I made it really far early on and they kept screwing up in earlier sections. PB so far is the series of five descending shells that you have to spin jump off of, but I only made it that far once because I have a really hard time with the double turtle bop that starts the vine growing. Ugh.
It's pretty much impossible to find if you don't know what you're looking for, but there's a message box in front of the goal tape that'll help you out.
Meanwhile, I'm 19 exits into Akogare 2, and the difficulty is definitely uneven. Sometimes I'll clear two exits in 40 minutes, sometimes not even one. There've also been a series of levels in a row with jumps that never quite felt like they lined up the way they were supposed to, which was frustrating. When the hack is fun, it's really fun, but sometimes it can feel like you're doing everything right and still getting punished for it. Even so, unless there's another massive difficulty spike I should have this wrapped up before the end of the week.
Not a lot of progress today because I was playing other things, but I did get through the sewer level. I'm constantly struck by how in its place everything is. The custom mechanics are slight enough that they feel like vanilla, and the visuals aren't too complicated, but they're striking.
Also, I found a secret.
Also, I found a secret.
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Ha ha, is that the one at the start of Plumber's Nightmare? I know I found that secret and the one in the single-screen level, but I can't remember which picture was where.
The thwomp level actually.
Also, I finished two more exits after Mike stopped streaming. Now I’m at the water level. Making good progress.
Also, I finished two more exits after Mike stopped streaming. Now I’m at the water level. Making good progress.
I'm a bit stalled in Cemetery Bloom. The first half is a cool level that I made it through in maybe an hour and a half, but the second half is just a pain in the ass, especially once you hit the boo cloud. It's miserable. I spend most of the evening grinding it out, and I'm still not through it yet.
Also, fuck boo rings.
Also, fuck boo rings.
Yeah...now you know. That level is just really hard.
The boo cloud isn't so bad once you realize two things: their positions aren't randomized (so you can learn a pattern), and only the boos that are actually on-screen when the cloud fades in have hitboxes. It's a grind for sure since they appear so late in the level, but eventually you'll find a pattern that works for you.
The boo cloud isn't so bad once you realize two things: their positions aren't randomized (so you can learn a pattern), and only the boos that are actually on-screen when the cloud fades in have hitboxes. It's a grind for sure since they appear so late in the level, but eventually you'll find a pattern that works for you.
The boo cloud section was really tough, but I found it fun (as opposed to the vine jump through the fast boo ring, ugh). There are like three different trolls near the end of that section, so maybe watch a video if you're getting low on patience. Cemetary Bloom is the longest any single kaizo level has taken me, I spent two hours on each half.
I put another few hours into it today and finally got through. Die-tree awaits.
After Bloom, even Die Tree won't seem so bad. Man, if nothing else, you're keeping me motivated to play more Invictus - if only to stay ahead for another day or two!
14 exits into Invictus and two switch palaces. Found Shell Summit, turned around and left it alone. Now I'm double jumping.
Also, I got through the block duping section of the switch palace, and this is the reward.
Also, I got through the block duping section of the switch palace, and this is the reward.
Now we know!
Finished Submerged Sheol and I stand by my previous assessment of that jump. Woof.
Tower of Fate immediately after it was really fun...once I figured out* what the fuck you're supposed to do with the first jump. Why even have the cannon if you're immediately supposed to lose cannon speed and just get P-speed instead? There has to be a more straightforward way to accomplish the same thing.
Anyway, 26 exits. There's one level left in this particular world, so I guess the special world only has two exits? I've really enjoyed Akogare 2, but I'm about ready to move on. Hopefully I'll roll credits before the end of the weekend. Assuming that flying Yoshi level doesn't wall me off too hard, anyway.
*By which I mean I attempted various things that didn't work for a couple of minutes and then looked up Barb's playthrough.
Finished Submerged Sheol and I stand by my previous assessment of that jump. Woof.
Tower of Fate immediately after it was really fun...once I figured out* what the fuck you're supposed to do with the first jump. Why even have the cannon if you're immediately supposed to lose cannon speed and just get P-speed instead? There has to be a more straightforward way to accomplish the same thing.
Anyway, 26 exits. There's one level left in this particular world, so I guess the special world only has two exits? I've really enjoyed Akogare 2, but I'm about ready to move on. Hopefully I'll roll credits before the end of the weekend. Assuming that flying Yoshi level doesn't wall me off too hard, anyway.
*By which I mean I attempted various things that didn't work for a couple of minutes and then looked up Barb's playthrough.
Goddamn, High Peak (the final any% level) is such a massive difficulty spike. It's still fun, but it is shockingly harder than any of the preceding levels. I really had to grind to get through the second section, and I'm hoping that the third is the last. Sheesh.
Yeah, the difficulty in that part of High Peak is comparable to the Yoshi level, except a fair bit less fun to me.
Welp, 40 minutes into this third section and I still can't consistently make the jump from the winged platform to the winged block in the beginning.
I will not be finishing this hack before the end of the weekend.
edit: made it through the rest of the level after another hour or so of work. The whole thing was hard, but nothing was harder than the very beginning of that section. 27 exits!
I will not be finishing this hack before the end of the weekend.
edit: made it through the rest of the level after another hour or so of work. The whole thing was hard, but nothing was harder than the very beginning of that section. 27 exits!
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It's been almost 40 minutes in this Yoshi level and I have only managed to land on Yoshi after feeding him the final coin one single time. Which means I haven't even gotten to play the level.
This is bad and not fun. I have no idea how you're supposed to time this and nothing I've tried has worked.
This is bad and not fun. I have no idea how you're supposed to time this and nothing I've tried has worked.
Alright, after an hour of 99% failed attempts I finally made it onto the Yoshi and made a save state. I hate to do it, but I have never felt closer to rage-quitting any kaizo level in my life. I didn't feel like I was learning anything, and I didn't feel any closer to understanding how that was supposed to work. And I definitely did not want to spend another hour in the same spot trying to figure it out. The whole thing just made me feel bad.
The actual level proper went down in about half an hour, and it was fine, I guess? But I really, really did not enjoy starting the level with a jump that I'm apparently just not good enough to figure out how to do. It was especially frustrating because it's not even like there's some obscure mechanic involved -- kick Yoshi into coin, Yoshi grows up, land on Yoshi -- but I just couldn't find any consistent timing.
I'll do the final exit tomorrow, maybe. I'm done for the day.
The actual level proper went down in about half an hour, and it was fine, I guess? But I really, really did not enjoy starting the level with a jump that I'm apparently just not good enough to figure out how to do. It was especially frustrating because it's not even like there's some obscure mechanic involved -- kick Yoshi into coin, Yoshi grows up, land on Yoshi -- but I just couldn't find any consistent timing.
I'll do the final exit tomorrow, maybe. I'm done for the day.
Oof, sorry, sounds like a rough time. You weren’t able to glean anything useful by watching other people play that first part?
Invictus update: I started the game up last night and found myself at a checkpoint that I didn’t earn? The game put me at the second half of the double jump level, but I swear to god I didn’t make it that far at any point prior. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I completed the second half of the level, but then I went back and did the first half legit to make up for it. The whole thing took me probably 2.5 hours, which I won’t spoiler for Snake since he was there the whole time. Then I spent half an hour in screenwrap castle, which I found super fun aside from one jump that seems inconsistent to me. I’m tempted to play more tonight even though I’m very tired, just because it seemed like a really fun level.
In other hacks, I’ve been watching MightyMouse play something called Kuso Ecstasy and it’s been quite entertaining. It’s a hack of 64 short troll levels, each of which uses a custom ASM gimmick. Right now, he’s playing a level where you control a disco shell and you have to get Mario to the finish line just by bouncing him around
Invictus update: I started the game up last night and found myself at a checkpoint that I didn’t earn? The game put me at the second half of the double jump level, but I swear to god I didn’t make it that far at any point prior. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I completed the second half of the level, but then I went back and did the first half legit to make up for it. The whole thing took me probably 2.5 hours, which I won’t spoiler for Snake since he was there the whole time. Then I spent half an hour in screenwrap castle, which I found super fun aside from one jump that seems inconsistent to me. I’m tempted to play more tonight even though I’m very tired, just because it seemed like a really fun level.
In other hacks, I’ve been watching MightyMouse play something called Kuso Ecstasy and it’s been quite entertaining. It’s a hack of 64 short troll levels, each of which uses a custom ASM gimmick. Right now, he’s playing a level where you control a disco shell and you have to get Mario to the finish line just by bouncing him around
I don't know if you've seen the level in question, but in case you haven't: you've got to feed a Yoshi at the beginning and then fly him around doing various tricks for the level itself. There's usually no ground to land on, and it's an autoscroller. The final coin you feed him is falling down off through the air, and you have to throw him into it while jumping forwards and then landing on the now-grown Yoshi (again, there's nothing for either of you to land on). The only way I was able to successfully do it was to bounce Yoshi off a particular point on a low-hanging wall, but you can also somehow do it by throwing him so he goes under the wall altogether.
I could tell from Barb's playthrough that you need to do a small jump before you throw, but the combination of trying to throw Yoshi at a falling target from a very specific angle towards a very specific point made it extremely difficult for me to line everything up for some reason. I figured out enough to know what I was trying to aim for (which is how I ended up getting on there at all) and by that point I was frustrated enough to never want to do it again. In theory, it shouldn't be that hard, but I just couldn't line it up consistently.
Akogare 2 built up a lot of goodwill over the course of the hack, and basically spent it all at the start of that Yoshi level. For what it's worth, Barb hated that jump too. (He didn't care for the rest of the level either, but I didn't mind it that much.)
Oh man, that level was really fun. Play more of it so I can come watch!
Man, it's hard to believe I'm finally 3/4 of the way through Invictus. I totaled up my time so far and, on paper, I've been playing for about 35 hours. I think I tend to round down when I'm estimating level completion times, so that's probably closer to 37-38 hours in reality. I'll probably put the game down for a day or two, since I don't get enough sleep when I stay up playing kaizo, but hopefully there will be more progress later this week. The end is within sight!