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I always thought SMB2 USA could be improved if it fell more in line with the rest of the series, so I was very interested in this hack. However, simply swapping out the cherries for coins has a couple issues in my opinion.

First, you no longer get a Star for collecting five cherries, which can make some areas of the game a bit more challenging than they originally were.

Second, collecting one hundred of the coins to earn a 1-up takes quite a while, as there aren't very many of them placed throughout the game. I didn't earn a 1-up until stage 4-2, and had even backtracked to recollect some coins in the earlier levels. This isn't a that big of a deal since you can still rack up a ton of lives with the Bonus Round coins.

The change in how you earn/obtain invincibility stars, is interesting, but as the readme states, the mechanics of it are a little strange. After you've pulled the star out of the ground, you have to throw it, otherwise, you're left open to take a hit from enemies. The other issue is that when you do throw the star, it moves away from you, which can also result in taking a hit as you try to chase after it.

The usage of shells didn't really change much in any spots that I tried it.

The updated color palettes, mushrooms, and lifebar do look good, and the addition of the missing animation frame is a nice touch.

So, if it wasn't for the Bonus Round lives still being easy to rack up, I'd suggest lowering the coin pickup 1-ups from 100 to 50. And for the stars, is there possibly anything in how the Stopwatch worked instantly on pickup that could be used in picking up stars?

Still an interesting hack that's worth a look! I had fun with it.