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It'sa me, Kaizo Mario!

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
I was out at a brewpub in Victoria, BC today with my brother when they played the song from Dance the Rachenitsa (YUMP 2) on the sound system. I mean, it wasn’t the SMW port, but it seemed like it might have been the version that port was based on? I was very confused and it was not something I could easily explain to him.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Was it a Bulgarian bar? Because that seems like an awfully specific thing to just hear in a random brewpub.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Not even a little Bulgarian! They had been playing American folk and folk-adjacent music up until then. And to be honest, I’m no longer 100% sure it was the exact same song. It had the same bassline, meter and tempo as the rachenitsa in YUMP 2, but the melody might have been different, I can’t recall exactly. I tried to get my phone to ID the song, but Siri failed me. It was definitely the same style of song, and I do wonder if the one in the game was inspired by the exact track I heard at the bar. I’ll have a look at the readme for YUMP2 when I get home to see if I can clear up this mystery a little.

ALSO: I’ve been playing through Ghost Trick on my phone and today I got to the part in the finale that shares its music with Kamek Woods. Ghost Trick already finishes super strong, but I’ve got to admit that the music hit even harder now that I’ve played Invictus.
 
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lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
So, Mike not know the exact date of his kaizoversary, but thanks to this very thread I do -- and it's tomorrow! (I started writing this on the 21st, but ended up posting after midnight. The actual anniversary date is the 22nd.) Can't believe that in the span of a year, I've gone from Learn 2 Kaizo through Grand Poo World 2 and Mostly Harmless. I've learned what I like (and don't like) in hacks, I've done weird vanilla glitches and janky chocolate ASM, and I'm still very much enjoying the journey.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: I'm proud of how far all three of us have come.

And yet, in all this time, there was still one challenge that was too insurmountable a year ago. One task that I was not up to. One Yoshi that I could not land on consistently...

That's right, it's the Baby Kaizo World special world.

If I'm remembering correctly, Mike and I both stopped at Any% of this hack back in the day, and I don't think Snake played it at all? But I felt like going back for 100% would be a nice way of closing that circle. As a reminder, the brick wall that Mike and I hit was the first real special world level, which is an item abuse-ish Yoshi level. Having finished the red switch palace in Mostly Harmless, would I now be up to the task a year later?

Turns out: yes, of course I would. You have to do some tough tricks in that level, but it's also ridiculously short and you pretty much only have to do two hard things. 15-20 minutes later, I was through it and onto the rest of the endgame. All of the remaining levels were also short (they don't even have checkpoints); I'm pretty sure the entire special world went down in under an hour, which is longer than it should have because I'm also still bad at Mario.

So yeah! It was pretty fun to go back and finish something I started a long time ago. Then, inspired by Snake, I went back and finished the level in Comfort Zone that I'd left off at. It honestly wasn't that bad, except for one jump which is very confusingly indicated. Since I haven't picked a new hack to move onto, I might chip away at this one some more and see how it goes.

I also thought this was a good time to update my list of played/completed hacks, which I'll put behind a spoiler pop because it would take up a ton of space otherwise.

1. Learn 2 Kaizo
2. Quickie World 2
3. Baby Kaizo World (Any%)
4. Quickie World
5. Super Ryu World (since deleted after the creator turned out to be a terrible person)
6. Take It Easy World
7. Akogare Mario World
8. Little Mario World
9. Hyperion
10. Super Hark Bros
11. Quest for Corgi Butts (minus the final shell hell level)
12. Invictus
13. Super Hark Bros 2
14. Akogare 2
15. Bunbun World
16. Bunbun World 2
17. Sayonara Mario World (unfinished)
18. El Dorado
19. Cute Kaizo World
20. Dancer to a Discordant System (unfinished)
21. Mahogen
22. Kibeth Takes a Walk
23. Sweet 'n Sour (unfinished)
24. Grand Poo World 2
25. Nightmare Cafe
26. Orcus
27. Nightmare Cafe II
28. Nightmare Cafe III
29. Super World
30. Nightmare Cafe IV
31. Nightmare Cafe V
32. Purgatory
33. Nightmare Cafe VI
34. Nightmare Cafe VII
35. Mad with Kaizo Power
36. Nightmare Cafe VIII
37. Peachy Moat World
38. Nightmare Cafe IX
39. Nightmare Cafe X
40. Mostly Harmless
41. Baby Kaizo World (100%)

If I'd kept track of this list sooner, I might've tried to finish two more hacks before tackling Mostly Harmless. Ah well.
 
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MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Ah, I was wondering if Baby Kaizo might be the one you were hinting at! I'll admit, while it bothers me slightly to have left that game at any% completion, the Yoshi level was so thoroughly unfun that I've never really been tempted to return to it. Anyway, in my case I think going back to Learn 2 Kaizo filled the same role for me: an itch that had to wait a very long time to be scratched. My completion list is still over here, if anyone wants to see it. Thanks to Lush_50 for single-handedly increasing my number of completed hacks by 50%!

Well, I'm back from my trip, and despite being exhausted, I did manage to sneak in a little kaizo last night. I had my first run of Super World where I didn't improve my time (it was bound to happen eventually) and I spent a little while being frustrated by the weird ASM in the Purgatory level with the spiky vines. You know, the tiny yellow platforms that only support Mario if you are pressing toward the wall? Yeah, not a huge fan of those. Otherwise, it remains a very good hack that I am generally enjoying a lot.

In New Hack News, I caught some of Barb playing Inception, which seemed like a very difficult hack that he was (mostly) enjoying. There's also Flip the Switch, of course, and Saturday we'll see the first release of Quickie World: With a Vengeance. Sadly, that version still won't include the song ports that Valdio is doing, so I may wait for the final release before I play it. Is there anything else coming up that strikes y'all as noteworthy?
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I spent a little while being frustrated by the weird ASM in the Purgatory level with the spiky vines. You know, the tiny yellow platforms that only support Mario if you are pressing toward the wall?
Ah yes, the wall nipples.

I also saw some of Inception, including the ending, which looks absolutely miserable. You have to do two multi-phase boss fights in a row where everything is super tight, and there's no mid-fight checkpoints. Barb hated it. I think his overall judgment was that it needs a 1.1 pass to work out a lot of unnecessary tightness, but the hack was still full of great levels and ideas. As it stands now I don't think I'll be playing that one!
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
If I had any thoughts of speedrunning Purgatory, I think they have been squelched by the wall nipple level. Finnicky ASM, fast platforming AND lots of vine climbing? Yeah, I think I'm gonna pass on that one. The level itself wasn't horrible, but I could see it being an absolute run-killer, and it's about halfway through the game, so that's a pretty raw deal.

As for my other run, I managed to get my Super World time below 40 minutes last night, so sub-30 shouldn't take much longer. I'll need a 24 or better to make it on the leaderboard (with a podium position, no less!), but I'm fairly confident I can make that happen. I'd like to stream some attempts, but since I got back to my trip I've had a sore back and I've been sleeping really poorly. Plus kind of jet-lagged, which also doesn't help. Maybe on the weekend, if I can actually get a good night's rest by then.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
It's funny, I really thought you would enjoy that sky tree. I didn't think those tiny platforms were too bad once I got used to them, and the fact that the spikes in that level don't kill you if you touch the sides really goes a long way. But I can definitely understand why someone might hate them.
 
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MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
The level was OK? I had a pretty hard time wrapping my head around the ASM, I kept moving before jumping and instead falling though the platforms. The sky tree segment was interesting, but having to make quick adjustments on vines is never a good time. I liked it a lot more than the first two levels of the hack anyway, and overall I still think Purgatory is quite good. At this rate, though, I don’t think it’s going to become a personal favorite the way Waterworld and El Dorado did.

EDIT: Ah ha ha I don't know if anyone else got the moon at the very end of Dangan Falls, but the result when you inevitably fall in the pit is excellent.
 
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lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Welp, 7 exits into Comfort Zone and I think I'm quitting for the second time. Yesterday I had a lot of fun with the hack! I played two solid exits to finish out the yellow switch path, everything felt good, was very excited to keep playing. Today I started back on the main path and spent three hours in a very long level with no checkpoint. Did not beat it, died on the last jump at least twice, could not consistently make it back there to keep attempting it. If you want to make a long level with no checkpoint, fine, but make it easier to compensate. Don't make it harder than the previous two levels! I don't feel like the game is respecting my time here, and that probably means I should stop.

I said this the first time I stopped playing, but I hate feeling this way. There are so many cool setups and ideas in this hack! I really, really want to like it. But just when things were starting to feel good again, this happened. There's a difference between making something hard and disrespecting the player, and I think this hack is missing that mark.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Oof, sorry man. Maybe Orka's design just doesn't work for you? Well, there are plenty of fish in the sea - I think Boogie Wonderland just got a 2.0 update, and of course there's Flip the Switch. Or why not run back a hack you haven't played in a while?

Aaaaaand we have sub-30 in Super World! 29:58 to be precise, with a sum of bests that is just a little better than the current 3rd place run. Really wish I was streaming these attempts, but real life isn't cooperating on that front just yet. I've got to say, I'm pretty happy with how quickly I'm improving at this game, this has been my smoothest speedrun to learn yet. I'm feeling fairly confident that I'll be able to bop Daffster soon, but I'll need a sub-20 if I want to take 2nd from RBPimlico. That's definitely a tall order, but it sorta feels like it could happen? We'll see how confident I'm feeling after a few more runs...

(Just decided to watch Woxic's world record video, since I didn't have enough time for another run myself. It's well-played, but there are at least a dozen unnecessary deaths and there aren't any particularly exciting speed strats [beyond a cool yump in the first switch palace]. Not sure if I'll ever be able to play it as well as he does, but a heavy-hitter like stew or Ben could definitely come along and shave a minute or two off the run pretty easily.)
 
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lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Congrats on your sub-30! I knew you were gonna get it soon, that was super fast (no pun intended). Looking forward to seeing more runs whenever you get back to streaming.

Speaking of speedruns, Stew has moved onto El Dorado now, and he has some wild new strats. He plays most of Ascension completely off-screen! His WR run for this is going to be an all-time great, you can already tell.

Maybe I'll come back to Comfort Zone at some point, but for now it's time to move onto something else. I still need to see more of Boogie Wonderland, and Colors looks pretty cool too. I saw someone (I think it was Slop_core) describe it as "Riff 2, but designed with fast retry", which sounds like a thing I could get into! I might pull an easier hack off of Barb's list of recommendations too; after Mostly Harmless I could stand to turn things down a notch. That hack may have made me a better player but I don't necessarily need to keep rolling on really hard hacks.
 

SilentSnake

Administrator
(He/him)
Staff member
Moderator
*waves from unethical standard hack hell*

Seriously, though, I'll be back at kaizo sometime soon. I just need to finish my casual playthrough of Luigi's Adventure and start routing World 8 for the relay. Not sure what hack's going to be next, but I have some ideas.

And congrats on sub-30 Mike!
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
I too am curious about Luigi and his Adventure.

I watched Laser play some Flip the Switch today and it's somewhere between "wow that's really cool" and "thank god I'm not the one playing". Seems very creative, but it sure as hell doesn't look easy!
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
I watched Laser play some Flip the Switch today and it's somewhere between "wow that's really cool" and "thank god I'm not the one playing". Seems very creative, but it sure as hell doesn't look easy!
And if that wasn't enough, ThirdWall said he wants to make "a hard hack" for his next one. Hoo boy.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Man, I've only managed to clear the first checkpoint so far, but the disco switch palace in Purgatory fuckin' rules. Some really cool ideas in there, especially at the start of the second part with the stack of flying shells. I've gotta say, though: I've heard a few people point to Purgatory as being an easy-ish hack à la Akogare, but for me it's a step up from there, or at least some of the levels are. The secret exit that takes you to the disco switch palace, where you have to juggle the key while riding on the urchin, really made me work for it. And the forest level with all the pencils is no joke, either. I kind of feel like Purgatory is more of an intermediate hack, if possibly on the easier side of that category.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Purgatory is 100% an intermediate hack and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, Akogare is tougher than most people remember.

But I really came here to say that Quickie WaV is out now! This is the initial release, so it doesn't have any of the secrets or ports (and apparently Valdio is already planning a few tweaks to the levels). No window for the final release yet, so I'm reeeeaaaaaally tempted to play it, but I'm holding off for now...not sure how long I'll be able to wait though. I want it!
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Okay screw it, I'm gonna play me a new Quickie World. I'll just have to play it again when Valdio finishes it!
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
You go, guy! Personally, I'm going to try to hold out for the final release because the music is such an important part of the experience for me. But I'm reeeeeeaaaaaaally tempted to fire it up this weekend while it's the hot new thing. Oh well, I've got other kaizo to play, I'll try to be strong.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Yeah, the thing that pushed me over the edge was seeing so many people streaming it today. I didn't want to have to avoid any spoilers, so I figured let's just dive in. Plus I deserve a treat, damn it!

I'm 9 exits in and about half of them have had vanilla music since Valdio hasn't finished the ports yet, which does take a bit of the fun out of things. But it's still good! And hard! It absolutely earns its title, it's the hardest Quickie World yet. Most levels are full of setups that feel great to execute, but some of them are just really tough. In fact, Valdio's already released a 1.1 update to tame some of the more frustrating obstacles. Nothing I've come up against has felt insurmountable (I'm still on 1.0), but I was definitely taken aback by some of them. The second half of the underwater skytree felt like something ThirdWall would've come up with. I don't know specifically which things got nerfed yet, but I'm looking forward to playing the friendlier versions in the final release regardless.

I really like my damage boost level! There's one setup in particular at the very end that I thought was very clever, and I'm happy to have contributed to the game in a small way. I may not have a chance to finish the last level this weekend, so I guess I'll just have something to look forward to on Monday.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
Juz has been uploading his recent run of Panga World to YouTube, and it definitely smacks of the "kaizo = suffering" attitude that folks had in the prehistoric era.

Meanwhile, I decided to try out Heavenly Host on the living room TV, thinking my son might be interested in watching (since he liked watching me play through the Nightmare Cafés). Well a) he wasn't interested and b) I couldn't get past the second room and c) the battery in my controller died, so the whole project got shelved pretty quickly. But that sure is a hell of a second room! The training wheels have most certainly come off.
 

SilentSnake

Administrator
(He/him)
Staff member
Moderator
Listen, I'm not afraid to tackle hacks, and I can stop any time I want to.

Anyways, while the first level is a nightmare, the second is actually pretty fun so far. The Red Glitch Palace kind of assumes you know some niche glitches, so I felt no shame looking up the solutions. Also, the dupe room was still pretty difficult.

I'm gonna keep playing this. There's a fun game in here, I can tell.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Juz has been uploading his recent run of Panga World to YouTube, and it definitely smacks of the "kaizo = suffering" attitude that folks had in the prehistoric era.
Worth noting that Linkdead made it as a "revenge hack" after Panga made Dram World.

Listen, I'm not afraid to tackle hacks
This is why we both fear and respect you! Ultra Slope Muncher when?

The glitch palace I think is actually pretty cool, and it's the kind of thing you rarely see these days outside of special hacks like Unintended Behavior. I somehow did the "disappearing block" glitch playing Quickie WaV last night, but I won't say anything more so as not to spoil any obstacles. The glitch was certainly not intended and I don't even know how I did it, but I was mildly impressed to see it in the wild.
 

lincolnic

can stop, will stop
(he/him)
Finished up QW:WaV 1.0 today only to discover that Valdio's already updated it to 1.2. He made a bunch of nerfs over the course of the entire game, many of which I like, but I think a few of them went a little farther than he needed to. The hack is definitely more in line with the other Quickie Worlds now, in any case. Having a lot of the pain points smoothed out will probably make for more fun and less frustration overall, so I'm looking forward to playing the latest versions of everything when the final release is done! (I haven't played 1.2 or 1.1, but I was watching Slop_core do some speedruns of 1.2 earlier today.)

It's a good game. I'm very happy to have more Valdio content in the world.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
I’m glad to hear you liked it! Still gonna wait, which is tough, but between Super World and Purgatory I’ve got plenty of kaizo to keep me busy.

I did some Super World runs on Saturday and Sunday and managed to bring my time down to a lean 21:40 - that’s third place, baby! I think sub-20 (2nd place) should be relatively attainable with a bit of work, although better than that may require more grinding than I want to do.

I’m also still working on Purgatory, but boy howdy am I having a tough time with it right now. I’m trying to get the main exit in the water stage with all the throw block abuse. It’s an extremely Waterworld-esque level, but it’s totally kicking my ass. I’ve come within a hair of the checkpoint, but I’ve been stuck on it for a while and I still haven’t quite managed to grab it. It’s a fun section, but woof.

Finally, here’s something a little different for you:

My girlfriend and I have been watching Jaiden’s videos off and on for a little while now, so clearly I couldn’t resist this one when it popped up in my feed. The game she learns to play is Super Ryu World (because she gets mentored by Ryukahr himself), and I know how we all feel about the hack’s creator, but it’s a good video of you can look beyond that. What’s a little harder to overlook is her dogged insistence of calling the genre “Mario kaizo” instead of “kaizo Mario”, but nobody’s perfect. It’s funny for me to see this collaboration, because in my mind I think of Ryu as being a pretty big name. And he is…for a Mario player. Jaiden’s channel, on the other hand, is just a little bit better-known. To the tune of some 10 million subscribers…
 

SilentSnake

Administrator
(He/him)
Staff member
Moderator
Well I'm now five exits into Panga World, and it's proving to be a pretty enjoyable hack now that I'm past the first level! The second was a really fun P-Speed level with a tight Yoshi flight autoscroller at the end. The castle had a fun star run, and the second half was both short and kicked my ass in a good way. At least the boss was trivial. Panga's Butthole was pretty reasonable difficulty-wise. Now I'm on an ice mole level, which I briefly poked at but haven't really given a good try yet. I'm enjoying myself!
 
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