Super Mario Bros. Special for NES

Original game : Super Mario Bros.

Platform : NES

Author : TRIFORCE89

Release date : 03 April 2020

Category : Addendum

Patch version : v03-04-202

Modifications : G, L, T, P, O

Downloads : 4415

ROM Information

Super Mario Bros. (World) (HVC-SM).nes
MD5: b6fa79abf0aa1bce8831c7c5ad8ab1f2

Hack description

==Removed at request of Author==

This started off as a palette restoration of Messatu's X1 hack. It is a combination of Messatu's enjoyable new minor features and lovely title screen, but with how Levi "Karatorian" Aho and frantik's hack actually looked like a NES game. Once the palettes and flash effect cycles were restored to that of their version, sprites were then also restored and a few small tweaks made.

SMB Special should be... special. So, inspiration was taken from All Night Nippon SMB. That game had a mix of tiles from SMB and SMB2j. So, the same was applied here. There are some tiles here from SMB2j as a result, but not all of them are. The intention was to make SMB Special feel like an in-between-quel for SMB and SMB2j and this seemed like a solution.

The beta ground tile from SMB2j is used here for the same purpose as well.

The end-game text was also modified to remove the Hudson thanks Messatu added and changed it be more like a traditional Mario ending. Starman also smiles now like he does in the actual SMB Special game by Hudson.

This has been play-tested. Applies to a bare SMB rom.

Screenshots

Contributions

Contributor	Type of contribution	Description
Levi “Karatorian” Aho	Original Hacking	Original Release: Engine Hacking, Tool Programming, Packaging
frantik	Original Hacking	Original Release: Engine Hacking, Level Editing, Graphic Design
Messatu	Original Hacking	X1 Release
TRIFORCE89	Hacking	NES visual restoration and improvement

Reviews

Not sure about the SMB2j and other tile changes	frantik	2021-03-22	Version v03-04-202
Merging the title screen from Messatu's hack makes a lot of sense, though I feel like the SMB2j and other tile changes detract a bit from the port. The original SMB Special used the same tiles from SMB1, just with different palettes because NES colors were not possible on that machine.

The Best Version of Super Mario Bros Special	PowerPanda	2020-10-14	Version v03-04-202
I have written before about how.. well... SPECIAL "Super Mario Bros. Special" is. Developed by Hudsonsoft for Sharp Computers, it shows a dedication to great level design and fun twists on the concepts used in SMB1. Why not have an underground castle? What about a special stage in a castle? How about a path that you can only take as small Mario, with no enemy in sight that you can hit to shrink yourself? SMBS throws in all of those and more. The difficulty remains moderate too, being harder than SMB, but easier than The Lost Levels. While some of the extra powerups from the original computer game did not make the transition to the NES version, the tradeoff is that you can play the game with sidescrolling and a consistent framerate. There are currently 3 versions of "Super Mario Bros. Special" on Romhacking.net. I don't know how I missed this version the first time I played through the game, but it is easily the best. TRIFORCE89 used some tiles from SMB1, some from SMB2j (including unused beta tiles), some from All Night Nippon Mario Bros., and even some from Super Mario Maker. This gives the game its own identity, and the feel that it's truly the halfway point between SMB1 and SMB2j... SMB1.5 if you will. I would recommend this to anyone.

Great slight improvements... but not fully	Eden.GT	2017-01-15	Version 2017114
The title screen from the Messatu's port into Frantik's port makes it a huge enhancement! Not only that but the selection of the SMB1 and SMB2J graphics are thankfully chosen carefully. Great to see the beta-SMB2J ground tiles instead of the normal SMB2J ground tiles! Aforementioned, the mixes between the two ports are good too. ...Thought that there are still things from the original game which are not yet ported as a hack. Where are the counterclockwise long firebars, new powerups, and enemies? I would expect these things to be ported too. The updated 1-3 cloud background is also lacking. In this upgrade, I recommend playing it for those who have not played (or least heard of it)the new port yet. But I won't predict that players who have played the previous two ports to try this again, as there are not yet any further changes that affects the gameplay. P.S. There is a small bug that the piranha plant's location is one pixel off to the right. Please fix it.

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