I think Mike is right and that Akogare is mostly a time-and-place thing, it definitely feels like there's a dividing line as far as what came before it and what came after. We have the benefit of looking back at it from our current kaizo renaissance, but it's worth remembering that it pre-dates a lot of the current level design trends we're used to now. Akogare came out in September 2018, the only hacks I've played so far that came out before it were Quickie 1 and Hark Bros. And they do feel pretty different! Even Invictus came out a month after Akogare, and that really shook things up -- in a recent video, Juz was saying that when he'd tell people he was working on a chocolate hack, they'd laugh and be like "Ew, I only play vanilla hacks". I think that was sort of the turning point where people really started using chocolate more heavily than they'd previously been. The only really popular hack with more unique/personalized level design I can think of that came out before Akogare is Grand Poo World 1, and I think even that one has a lot more traces of "old kaizo" level design compared to GPW2 or other things that came out in between. Even all of those early Chris G hacks don't feel that far removed from vanilla SMW. Akogare kind of feels like the scaffolding that later hacks built on top of.
I guess playing Akogare for me is kinda like listening to Elvis -- I get the historical context, but I'm too far removed from said context to appreciate it in the same way. Though for the most part I did actually enjoy the back half of the game much more than the first half. And for what it's worth, it's still Valdio's favorite hack!
I had some decent Invictus progress yesterday too, two more exits down. The second half of the skytree level was pretty fun and not actually too bad once you figured out the patterns. I had a couple of interruptions but I think I cleared it in about
an hour. I would've been faster, but there's a disco shell that I got stuck on for a while. After that, I went on to clear the secret exit of the following stage in
a cool 10 minutes. That was by far the easiest exit of the game I've played yet. Not sure if I'm gonna play more today, but the green switch palace is up next.
Case in point, yesterday I played through the radioactive sewer and power plant levels, one of which I found mostly annoying and the other quite fun. The sewer was an interesting idea, but the actual implementation of the radioactivity mechanic I found to be finicky and inconsistent. The meter kept ticking up even after I removed the radioactive sources, which lead to a bunch of deaths that didn't feel deserved*. The back half was more fun, since it was just focused on a quick climb through a vertical autoscroller without really using the level gimmick. But the power plant level I found to be really good, a tasty combination of item juggling and timed platforms (my favorite mechanic this side of rexes!).
I agree with you 100% on these levels. The radiation mechanic was a cool idea, but it felt really inconsistent to me as well. Ultimately the first half of the level just kinda tiresome to me. I think the level where you have to keep Mario moving or else he freezes to death was a better implementation of a similar mechanic. The power plant level was just some good solid platforming, plus it has that rad Sonic song for its soundtrack that everyone likes. It's a good time!
