I want to start by saying that this hack is great at doing what it's supposed to do: Serving as a training grounds for those who are new to SMW kaizo hacks. Levels are split between one screen challenges that teach you a new trick or concept, and levels that test your skills by having the player put it all together.
I've wanted to get into SMW hacks ever since Mario Maker 2 started losing its luster for me. The biggest barriers of entry for me were the difference in physics and the tricks I'd have to learn. This hack was great for getting me used to both, but I can't help but feel like it's not catered well enough to SMW hack newbies.
This feeling generally stems from poor explanation of how to perform tricks. Two examples:
Jumping off falling spikes
The phrasing from the speaker box in this level is straight up misleading. While it does refer back to the midair thwomp, which you must spin jump off of, the text for the spike reads "jump off of it in midair," which I interpreted as landing on the spike and doing a regular jump.
Spring Midair
I had to look up a video for this one. It's a hard enough trick as is, but again the instructions are not clear. They read as if you are supposed to jump while already facing left, turn right and throw, when the input is more of a quick left->right->throw after you've jumped.
These are nitpicky things, and ultimately anyone looking to get into SMW kaizo is probably smart enough to look up some video tutorials or bold enough to just grind it out til they get it, but it's worth bringing up considering this is supposed to be the noob introduction to this sort of stuff.
I will say that after beating this I feel a lot more confident in my adjustment to SMW physics and mechanics. Something I thought would never happen after hundreds of hours in MM2. Excited to try my hand at some "real" kaizo hacks. :)
I've wanted to get into SMW hacks ever since Mario Maker 2 started losing its luster for me. The biggest barriers of entry for me were the difference in physics and the tricks I'd have to learn. This hack was great for getting me used to both, but I can't help but feel like it's not catered well enough to SMW hack newbies.
This feeling generally stems from poor explanation of how to perform tricks. Two examples:
Jumping off falling spikes
The phrasing from the speaker box in this level is straight up misleading. While it does refer back to the midair thwomp, which you must spin jump off of, the text for the spike reads "jump off of it in midair," which I interpreted as landing on the spike and doing a regular jump.
Spring Midair
I had to look up a video for this one. It's a hard enough trick as is, but again the instructions are not clear. They read as if you are supposed to jump while already facing left, turn right and throw, when the input is more of a quick left->right->throw after you've jumped.
These are nitpicky things, and ultimately anyone looking to get into SMW kaizo is probably smart enough to look up some video tutorials or bold enough to just grind it out til they get it, but it's worth bringing up considering this is supposed to be the noob introduction to this sort of stuff.
I will say that after beating this I feel a lot more confident in my adjustment to SMW physics and mechanics. Something I thought would never happen after hundreds of hours in MM2. Excited to try my hand at some "real" kaizo hacks. :)