It'sa me, Kaizo Mario!

[lincolnic]

I managed to tear myself away from Elden Ring long enough today to play through Hyperion 2.0. Short review: it's still good!

Longer review: I can't say I noticed too many changes, but I played it so early on in my kaizo career that I didn't have solid memories of every level. I did remember a lot of them, though, more than I expected to. The Wendy fight that Amper added felt kind of unnecessary (and also extremely low risk, given that you can just stand in one spot and wait for Wendy to pop up next to you), but the rest of the hack is still very solid and fun. I blew through the whole thing in just shy of three hours. For reference, my original playthrough took a bit over 17 hours, but that was with about two or three months of kaizo experience. Playing it again over a year later was a great reminder of how far I've come, even after not really playing any Mario for the past month. Overall, a great beginner/intermediate hack that hopefully will get some more eyes on it with this rerelease.

How are the Waterworld runs going, Mike?

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Nicely done! Interesting to hear that there aren't that many changes to Hyperion. On the one hand, it didn't need many changes, but on the other, why call it a version 2.0? I read that the new version no longer requires all of the switches to get to the end of the game, so maybe this opens up some shorter speedrun categories? Anyway, congrats on the huge improvement, it's always a nice thing to see. Running hacks back is great! Any idea what you'll tackle next?

As for Waterworld, it's going...kind of frustratingly. I've had 4 or 5 sessions without making any real progress and I'm starting to get a bit fed up. I'm playing well! I'm consistently keeping up with, or even getting ahead of, my PB! But every time, some level comes along and messes things up for me. I think I'm going to take a short break from the game to finally play QFG1. I expect that will take me 2-3 streams, at which point I'll go back to Waterworld and hope to break through this wall.

 

[lincolnic]

Sounds like a break from Waterworld is totally warranted. You'll get there!

Anyway, I was 6 exits into Autumn before Elden Ring came out, so I'll probably finish that up next. Beyond that, I'm not sure!

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Super Chambo World just dropped, and it looks to be a quality intermediate-level hack. If I was in the market for one of those, I'd probably give it a try! I'm not a fan of the custom sprite, which looks derived from the Blink Kaizo Race custom sprites (which I also did not like), but you can turn it off and just play as Mario if you want.

Not quite ready to return to kaizo yet, personally. Tonight will be part 2 of QFG - I'm hoping to finish the game, but it's a little grindier than I remember, so I might not have enough time. Then I'll probably go back to Waterworld, see how I feel about that game after a little time away. Aside from a handful of exits in PMW that I cleared the other day, I haven't really kaizo'd in the last 10 days. Not discouraged, really, just figured some time away from the speedrun might help.

 

[SilentSnake]

Hey, so I've been away from kaizo for over a month, but last night I decided to get back into it. I started Ultra Kaizo World and got through 5 exits in 4 hours. Pretty good! So far, it's pretty much a meat-and-potatoes kaizo hack with a lot of neat, subtle movements going on in the levels. It almost feels like Quickie World in that it wants you to go fast, though it makes you break from that in interesting ways periodically.

I'm going to keep playing. It's good to be back to kaizo again.

 

[lincolnic]

Welcome back, Snake! I was wondering what you've been up to lately.

Super Chambo World looks pretty good, but there's a massive difficulty spike and a lot of motor skills in the late game. If I play it, I'm going to wait for the 1.1 update (already in the works).

As for me, I finished my first Elden Ring playthrough on Monday and I went back to finish Autumn (which I started right before Elden Ring dropped). I've got one exit to go, and I'm going to finish it today, but I haven't really enjoyed the hack for some reason. I seem to be the only one, as everyone else in the community appears to really like it, but something in the level design just doesn't sit well with me. For every section I enjoyed, there are three that annoyed me to no end. I'm apparently the only person who doesn't like it, though, so if either of you are interested you should still play it.

I think I'm finally going to play Tebeo after this. Ultra Kaizo World sounds good too, from Snake's description. Might have to add it to the list for when I want something a bit tougher.

 

[lincolnic]

I did wrap up Autumn -- the final level was actually fairly fun. I think my biggest issue with the hack is that there are a ton of blind jumps and setups, and in a hack that's already tough, it all just feels like "dying to learn". And you guys know I'm not a fan of that design style.

I also played through Tebeo! Finished it today. Took three sittings, maybe 5-6 hours total? I'd say it's maybe 2/3 great, which is honestly a pretty decent batting average for a first hack! But the other 1/3 had a lot of blind jumps and block grabs. Didn't care much for those. There were more than a few spots where I felt like the creator was trying too hard to be clever and instead ended up with a setup that was a bit inscrutable, but on the other hand there were also plenty of levels that were just fun. I'm not in a rush to play Tebeo 2, but I am curious to see what design lessons they learned in between the first hack and the sequel.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

It is done:

 

[lincolnic]

I knew you were gonna do it! Congrats Mike, that's fantastic! Proud of you. I wish I could've seen it live, I'll have to watch the VOD a little later.

What's next?

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I don't know! I've been playing Peachy Moat World on the side, but honestly I haven't been loving it. There are some very good levels in the hack, but the chocolate has been hit-and-miss and there are far too many basic trolls. I can enjoy a creative troll with a certain level of artistry to it, but most of the ones I've seen in PMW are bog-standard and they've been too numerous for my tastes. I'm 2/3 of the way through, so I expect I'll finish it, but I don't really enjoy streaming a game that I'm lukewarm on, know what I mean? I was thinking I might finally dive into Let's Give Up, unless I come up with a more compelling idea. I'm actually tempted to revisit QW2 and Hark 2 to see if I can improve my times for those games, but I don't want to get into another super long speedrun grind for a while. It's kind of nice to be free! There's also the possibility that I spend a little time trying to improve Waterworld, since I only brought the record down by 12 seconds and the 25-minute mark is right there. Maybe I'll do some split streams where I play 1-2 runs of Waterworld and then move on to something else after.

Good work on Autumn and Tebeo! From what I've seen you'll probably enjoy Tebeo 2 even more. Things seem to be a lot quieter right now on the kaizo calendar, so this would be a good time to pick up a project hack that you've been saving for a rainy day. Aside from Let's Give Up, Storks and Riff 2 are both calling to me, albeit not too loudly just yet.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Spent a little more time with Peachy Moat last night, finishing the second of the branching paths and then taking on the dreaded Moater Skills level. To my great surprise I almost...enjoyed it? I mean, the second half was a little irritating, but there was some fun to be had and it didn't hurt my brain all that badly. Could motor skills possibly follow the same trajectory as disco shells, from detested obstacle to something that's actually fun? It boggles the mind.

Progress has slowed down and levels are routinely taking me an hour or so to finish, so it's not quite as breezy as before. But it's also not some great and terrible grind, which is nice to see.

 

[lincolnic]

Nice work! I'm not sure if I'll ever enjoy motor skills, but I've moved from being actively mad when I see it to just sighing quietly. That's progress!

 

[lincolnic]

I felt like doing something breezy today, so while scrolling through SMW Central I remembered someone (Chambo maybe?) talking about how they were looking forward to the Super Husky World sequel. I decided to give that hack a spin. While it's listed as intermediate, it's definitely more of a beginner hack. Section length is pretty short (outside of the last level, which was surprisingly long) and nothing was super tough, though you can tell it was the creator's first hack. The levels are pretty fun, but there are a lot of rough edges and some spots where the setups are awkward. Still, I cleared the whole thing in about an hour and a half (with a couple of one shots, even). If you're in the mood for a snack-sized hack, Super Husky World is a pretty decent choice!

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I’ve actually been thinking of playing Husky World, it looked pretty fun and I’ve talked with the creator a few times on Twitch (also I bopped him on the Super World leaderboard a while back). I’m also considering trying the Joe Bros trilogy, which starts out pretty easy and winds up intermediate by the third game. Easy hacks are fun!

Tonight’s RHR level is supposedly by bourgyman, so depending on the difficulty I might give it a look. Only thing that gives me pause is that I really didn’t enjoy his previous race level, which was hidden in Luminescent as a bonus stage.

 

[lincolnic]

Yeah, I know a lot of people like the Joe Bros hacks, but the color palettes in the most recent one turned me off a bit - everything's so brown!

Super Husky World would be a good choice if you want something you can finish in a single stream, Mike. I'll play the sequel whenever it comes out.

 

[lincolnic]

Well, I threatened to do it, and then I did it: I've started a new GPW2 file. And so far it's going pretty well! In two hours of playtime, I'm already halfway through Caradhras. The first time through, it took me two hours just to get out of Marathon. This time, I was done with Marathon in 15 minutes. I'll probably stick with it for a while, though I don't know if I'll do a 100% run again. At the moment I don't feel the need to play through Mount Moon and Toasty Coals again, but maybe I'll change my mind.

Random thoughts:
-I remember really struggling with one jump near the end of Marathon, where you have to bounce off a blue shell kicked by a koopa in midair. This time, I didn't miss that jump once. This is the first spot where I can really feel the benefit of having more experience.
-For some reason I got really hung up on the spot in the second half of Laser Lifts where you have to do a double bounce off of a green shell. I know I had a consistent strat for this the first time, but I had to do a lot of trial and error today.
-I feel extremely lucky that I remembered how to do the fish gates in Riptide Slide. They were barely a speed bump now. I still don't know how you get into the first checkpoint pipe without getting hit by those bullets, though.
-The part in Caradhras where you have to jump onto the triple rotating platforms was one of the toughest spots in that section for me originally, and it was pretty much the only tough spot now. Although the final damage boost into the pipe is still super tight! I had to do that twice.

It's definitely still hard, though nothing's felt insurmountable yet. I might change my tune by the time I get to the Eyrie, but for the time being I'm having a lot of fun so far.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Excellent progress! I'm afraid of going back to the fish gates, I don't feel like I remember the right way to do them at all. But I'm also far more likely to do a runback of Invictus before even considering replaying GPW2, so it's pretty academic for me right now.

 

[SilentSnake]

Excellent progress! I'm afraid of going back to the fish gates, I don't feel like I remember the right way to do them at all. But I'm also far more likely to do a runback of Invictus before even considering replaying GPW2, so it's pretty academic for me right now.

Solution: Use your clear file and do all the levels aside from Riptide Slide.

 

[lincolnic]

Solution: Use your clear file and do all the levels aside from Riptide Slide.

I thought about doing this! It's ultimately pretty satisfying for me to watch the exit count go up, and I also wanted to see if my feelings about levels I didn't like have changed at all in the past year. But for anyone considering it, I definitely endorse a more curated runback approach. No need to suffer through a level you hated twice!

Also, I wasn't done playing, and in another hour I wrapped up Caradhras, Thalassaphobia secret exit, and Yacht Club Castle. Even though I generally feel very strongly that you should never alter the SMW physics in your romhack, for some reason YCC is still a fun level for me. I contain multitudes, apparently.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Having suffered through that level in Super World with the same physics so many times, I can confidently declare YCC to be “less bad”. Still didn’t like it much, though.

 

[lincolnic]

Yeah, I mean, I've played other levels with those physics and hated them. I think the trick with YCC is that it's built in such a way that 1) the actual platforming required is pretty basic and 2) you don't really have to deal with how weird the low gravity regrabs are. It kinda feels like Barb knew people probably weren't going to like the gimmick and designed with that in mind, rather than just designing around the gimmick.

 

[lincolnic]

Pretty tired tonight, so I only played for an hour, but I got through Arrakis and Sunset Breeze in that time. Oddly enough, most of that time was spent on the second half of Arrakis. I would've cleared that section in about 10 minutes but I got up-piped no less than three times! It took me a little while to remember how to get all the Pokeys moving consistently. And I finally figured out how to do the Stew strat in the first half, where you stall on a Pokey and then regrab off a shell to get through that narrow gap before the mole jump. That felt pretty good!

Sunset Breeze went down very fast, I want to say maybe 15-20 minutes? Once I remembered how to deal with the stupid propeller physics it wasn't so bad. Luckily I made it into the pipe at the end on my first try, which felt great. I looked at the beginning of Sen's Fortress for a minute, but I was really too tired to get started on it. That's definitely a level to want to approach when you're fresh.

 

[lincolnic]

Sen's Fortress and Deuce Lair secret down, took about an hour and a half in all. An hour and ten minutes of that time was spent in Sen's Fortress, which was a lot longer than I expected! I don't know why but it took me 20 minutes to get consistent getting past the shell jump in the first section, but once I did I had the checkpoint five minutes later. I still can't get the Clusterchuck koopa skip, unfortunately, but hey, it's done now!

I'm kinda looking forward to Deuce Lair again. We all know how tough that level is, but I also remember it being a lot of fun. If I can get through it in less than an hour, I'll be pretty happy.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

I am believing in you RIGHT NOW!

 

[lincolnic]

Got there! Deuce Lair and the Laughter House are both done. I didn't quite make my completely arbitrary sub-hour goal for Deuce Lair, but I wasn't too far off. First half took 35 minutes, almost entirely because I kept getting to the item swimming section just a little too slowly and had to remember how to buy myself a little more time. The second half was a little more frustrating. I was able to get up to the backshots pretty consistently, but it took me a few attempts to actually perform them decently again. I feel like I never really learned a consistent strat for those jumps in my first playthrough, and even though I can feel when it's going to work or not, I'm still not really sure how to set them up properly. In any case, I was able to get through them often enough tonight.

Also, I somehow managed to die in the jump before the final pipe not once, not twice, not even three times, but four whole times. I don't know what I was doing, I guess I must've been slipping off the front of it before my jump input went through. So that was annoying. In any event, that half of the level took about 45 minutes (with a dinner break in the middle).

Once that was done, Laughter House was barely an afterthought. Five minutes to the checkpoint, 15 minutes to the switch. I couldn't remember exactly what to do after getting in the pipe at the end of the second half; I knew I had to go in a pipe after that, but I decided to go back into the pipe I came out of instead of running to the fake switch and going down that one. As soon as the music started up, I said "Oh no, I Corndilly'd myself!" out loud...which meant I then had to explain several things to my girlfriend, who was sitting next to me on the couch.

Mirkwood's up next. I'm really hoping to see some improvement on this level time-wise, I feel like I've gotten a lot more experience with everything it asks you to do over the past year. And hey, I'm basically halfway through the game already! 11 exits (and one switch palace) down in just over 7 hours, give or take. I may not be the fastest, but that's a massive improvement from my first playthrough and I feel good about it. At this point, the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the Eyrie. Bring on Weathertop secret!

 

[lincolnic]

Now that I'm firmly in the mid-game, level clears are starting to slow down a bit. Mirkwood took an hour without much worth reporting on (I have a better understanding of the dolphin jump in the second half, which is nice). And Weathertop secret -- one of my biggest nightmares from the first playthrough, with a seven hour clear -- ended up taking an hour and 40 minutes. The level itself took the first hour, though in a hilariously frustrating twist I actually made it to my first door attempt in seven minutes. Naturally, I went on to fail at the door six more times, which was progressively more aggravating each time around.

The exit as a whole wasn't that bad; no individual trick was a stopping point (not even that cursed jump where you have to grab the blue shell), but it's so long that the challenge really comes from stringing all the pieces together long enough to make it through. The door entry is still one of the most fucked up doors in the game, though.

The boss was fine, but it took me longer than I expected to remember all the strats. I'm not gonna lie, I thought I was going to be out of both of these exits a lot faster than I was. But I know Hanzo Castle is easier, so as long as I don't get stuck on the fast layer 2 section I should make up some time there.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

That’s still a pretty huge improvement, you took your time on Weathertop Secret down by over 5 hours! It’s not a particularly easy level or anything. Mirkwood was among my least favorite levels in the game, it felt really punitive and nothing you did in it was very fun. Apparently speedrunners love it, because it has a variety of fast strats?

I finally completed the any% run of Peachy Moat, that back-and-forth castle level at the end was way harder than it looks! I actually enjoyed it, though, which I can’t say for a lot of the levels in the game. Still not sure why didn’t click with PMW, trolls aside, the levels all seemed fine on paper but for the most part I didn’t have a lot of fun with them. Hard to account for taste, I suppose. Now I’m facing down a low-gravity level and wondering how badly I really want to finish the 100% run of the game…

 

[lincolnic]

Sorry you didn't end up enjoying PMW! I always feel kinda bad when I recommend something and it ends up not working out. If I remember that low-gravity level, it has a couple of annoying shell jumps but wasn't too annoying outside of that. Wouldn't blame you if you decided to put it down there, though! People need to stop putting low gravity levels into hacks. No one likes it!

I was able to consistently pull off some of the speed strats in the first half of Mirkwood, like how Stew basically skips over the first set of poison mushrooms in one jump, but I'm not brave enough to try his camera manipulation strat for the final pair. In the second half, the strat where you jump onto the vine twice instead of three times is also pretty free, but after doing it once I decided I was going to stick with my muscle memory of the intended way.

 

[SilentSnake]

Welp, this week's RHR level wrecked me. Not most of the level, mind, but one room in particular, which I spent hours in. Look it up to see, but it was mainly a level with parabeetles constantly being shot out of a cannon. Because of that room, the level took me four hours to complete, last place by about an hour. Sigh.

 

[lincolnic]

I saw you playing a bit of that! I was in the RHR raid when they sent everyone over to your stream, but I was playing D&D so I was lurking on mute. That level looked ridiculous, in the best and worst senses of the word. Super cool ideas, but I could tell I'd hate to play it. Next week's race level is by Orka, so that should be one to look forward to.

I made an awesome amount of progress in GPW2 just now. In two and a half hours of playtime, I cleared Hanzo Castle, Weathertop, Danger Zone, and House of the Undying. I'm especially proud of how I did in House of the Undying, because I was able to clear each section in 15 minutes (or less). In my first playthrough it took me four hours to beat that level and I hated every minute of it. This time around I actually had fun! I started it up saying "I don't know if I have this level in me today", but I got close to the checkpoint pretty quickly, so I kept going. I would also like to add that I made it into both doors on my first attempt, NBD. I guess I've had a lot more practice with throw block abuse in the past year, particularly that one level in Mostly Harmless. Feels good to win!

For better or worse, I'm up to the Eyrie again. Here's hoping room 4 doesn't take me another five hours to clear this time around.