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Super Mario Bros. Special is such a fascinating game. I won't get into the history of it all, but in a way, this might be the world's first rom hack. The level design is interesting and experimental, and it's neat to see renowned developer Hudson doing the same sorts of things that a lot of us do when we first get our hands on a level editor. You'll see things like stages going into and out of underground or underwater areas, a big castle in the middle of nothing, and even aboveground underwater blocks. The new power-ups are interesting, though most of them are nothing game-breaking in the sense of difficulty or doing radically new things with the engine. I'm glad to finally get to experience this, and I greatly appreciate all the work that went into making this happen in the Super Mario Bros. engine!

It has everything the original had: New powerups, like the wing and the hammer, even the Hudson Bee and the Lucky Star! Also it has new backgrounds, new spritework, new enemies and even some places where the original could be softlocked have been fixed. This game is packed with secrets, and exploration is greatly encouraged through and through. But also is superior to the original: It has sidescrolling! This hack is the definitive SMB Special experience. I can't recommend it enough!

I've always been intrigued by the original version but hadn't tracked down a way to play. Thanks so much to the hackers/devs for putting this fantastic hack together. It was an absolute pleasure.

I loved how there was a surprise around every corner. I never knew what to expect next and I loved every moment. At times it feels like your familiar SMB then throws so weirdness in your direction.

I especially loved the effort put into the ending and credits. Make sure you don't press anything after you save the princess!

Thank you for this!

Just finished playing it, it's absolutely flawless. To be honest I don't know the original game inside out so I can't be positive the levels are 100% accurate, but I'm prety confident they are. You finally get to experience the little things that made SMB Special... special, like the new enemies and powerups, without the glaring flaws of the original (flip screen scrolling, time going too fast, etc).

The little extras, like the ability to choose the starting world and the color palette are really appreciated. I'm really fond of the X1-style color palette, the colors are really well chosen, they are not as outlandish and aggressive as the actual X1 game but are still different enough to give the game a.. special feel.

The hacking is excellent, the game is quite hard (I'd say it's more or less on par with SMB2J), be warned. It's still very doable with save states for average level players.

What more can I say ? The only niptick I could possibly make is the hammer seems to hit only directly above Mario, trying to smash barrels from the side didn't work. Maybe adding a Luigi option would be nice ? Anyway I'm glad I could finally play and finish this forgotten piece of Mario history. It's the definitive SMB Special experience and you should try it ! This is the kind of port/remake Nintendo would do nowadays if they still actually cared.

Hands down the best version of SMB Special that's playable today. Not much else to say. The colors are reasonably accurate to the original without being as much of an eyesore, the new enemies and powerups are here, everything. It's great!

Incredible. It's so cool to have the extra power ups and enemies from the original PC game. I always preferred to play the original x1 version simply for that reason. To finally have a genuinely complete NES version is WONDERFUL.

There's not much more to say here than what has already been said. This is a darn-near perfect port of Super Mario Special to the NES. If it had come out in 1986, it would have been a best-seller, one of the most revered games of the era. I even have a feeling that Nintendo of America would have published it as "Super Mario Bros 2", instead of Doki Doki Panic. How many romhacks can you say THAT about?

So the one thing I'll add to the conversation is that depending on your preference, there's a hidden palette swap in the game. Holding Up and pressing "Select" on the title screen will revert the palettes to SMB1/TLL colors. What a small, but great, feature!

This is one of those hacks that go above and beyond, and creates an entirely new game from its original foundation.

I never knew of Super Mario Bros. Special's existence up until this hack surfaced, and it's hard to fully appreciate the work that was done here until you've seen the original in all of its lo-fi, 80's-era home-computer glory.

Once you've seen what Hudson Soft's handiwork looks like, you can see frantik's incredible attention to detail in the recreations of level designs, the choices in color pallets, the new power-ups and enemies, and so much more. Never mind a hack; this is pretty much a full-fledged port of the original, with all of the proper bells and whistles of its predecessor.

Admittedly, as much as I'm impressed by this port, the game's levels don't lend themselves to a smooth experience. Since they were designed to be traversed one screen at a time on limited processing power, they feel oddly janky with the horizontal scrolling and faster speed that comes with getting ported to the original SMB's engine. Each piece of the level just doesn't flow into the other with the same level of fluidity that we've come to expect from other Mario titles, but that's no one's fault.

Overall, I feel that it's just an average game at best, but I love this port, and I applaud the colossal achievements made in bringing this to the NES/FC. It's an odd duck in the series, but this truly is the best way to experience SMB Special, and I can't recommend this enough to anyone who wants to jump into this lost chapter in Mario's adventures.

A really, really good recreation of the original, adding every new thing this game had with very close or absolutely no compromises. The only level changes are to accommodate to the SMB1 physics being less buggy than the original (yes, hudson used some things that are probably not intended at first, like entering pipes in midair) and I could only count one, the power-ups are identical than in function to the original... the color palette has been edited to look close to the original... it's perfect

This port is a gem. The lost sequel is finally available to everyone. It is a must-see wonder. the only thing I miss is the Sharp X1-like color palette for levels and for Mario. I really liked those blue and pink colors of the sprites and that Mario looked like Luigi when he had a flower. Other than that, it is a magnificent port.

I can be said there were a number of rom hacks to recreate the game on the NES over the year and while they were able to for better or worse capture the level design what they were missing was what made Super Mario Bros Special... well special and it was clear that wasn't going to be a simple task. Special coding would be needed to include the new enemies, the new items and powerups would require special programming, an achievement that can't be understated.

In similar efforts attempts to recreate Super Mario Bros the lost levels in the Super Mario Bros with similar pitfalls due to its special things too, and even though most of those were overcome ultimately the best solution considered by most people who wanted to play the lost levels on an nes without a disk system was an mmc3 conversion. That couldn't work for Super Mario Bros Special though as Special was made with completely different hardware in mind.

That's the background for this hack... a hack that's been in development for over a decade... and what makes SMB Special 35th anniversary so very special. It takes the levels and reworks them into the Super Mario Bros game engine, adds behavior to allow for the new enemies, new powerups, and game mechanics, and makes it work. As a result, this allows this game to be played in a way it could never be played back in the day, and if there is one downside of this, it somewhat exposes the strange level design choices that were made with a screen to screen transition in mind, but that is neither the Author of this hack or Hudson Team's fault as it, on the one hand, is preserving the accuracy of the hack, and on the other a hardware limit of the time.

There can be no doubt that if you want to play through Super Mario Special, this is the way to do it. It gives you options to play both with the traditional NES look or if you prefer an altered pallete simillar to the original game.

Definetly give this hack a try, it's a love letter to classic Super Mario Bros. Maybe someday Mario Bros Special and Punch Mario Bros Special and Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū may see simillar NES Love, wouldn't have thought so before seeing this hack, but now I see a determined rom hacker can really achieve the apparent impossible.

I really gave the green light to this project. And, honestly, I was right. Even in 2018, I said that this would be a good hack, and that the egt would be brought to its logical end. As far as I am right, the author can correct me here.

What has changed in recent years?

1. This is adhering to the Levels according to the canon of the original game. As I said earlier, the levels in terms of Design are almost one - to -one. And, this is a plus

2. Secrets and" secrets " are adhered to almost as in the original game. Also a plus.

3. And here is a new product delivered: "New enemies and processing of the *"Bowser"* AI. New enemies fit well into the atmosphere of this game. At the expense of the AI boss, here thanks to the Author for the explanation. Indeed, as in the original, the boss has fewer hammers, but it has not become less simple.

4. New abilities and "Power Up". We moved everything carefully and carefully.

5. Introduction OF your ideas AND IMPLEMENTATION FROM THE ORIGINAL GAME DEMO AND CREDITS! The process is so complex and carefully transferred, I just shake the author's hand. So talented and so clear-to introduce it into the game, I can't describe how it was done at a high level.

Many people obviously like the old palette design. Honestly, for nostalgia - you can implement it as well. BUT, Honestly, this is already for everyone "to their taste". The picture that was from memory in 2015... and I look at what they have done now... It is very difficult to call a hack. Honestly, it's difficult for me. In a good way, IT'S DIFFICULT. Because here the level is much higher than just a hack. This, if released on a real NES, would be the perfect sequel "SMB2 Lost Level".

I tested this hack (when it was not yet official 1.0), watched the progress, and, with updates , it became even more interesting. To return to the past means to return to the good. And, this hack-port on the NES, brought me back to 2015.

The hack deserves the status of "A high-quality port of the original" and "A NEW GAME". I recommend this to everyone to feel the new, which is hidden far away in the old.

This is easily a better sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. than the Lost Levels (Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) ever was. Not only does this hack still retain a similar feel to how the PC-8801 looked (but without any of the garish color choices), but the level layouts seem to stay faithful as well. This makes the levels simpler, but still provides a fresh, interesting time for both old and new fans of Mario alike. My only gripe (and this is not necessarily an issue with the developer of this hack) would be the difficulty spike around the end of the 6th world and some of the level design beyond that, but I would rather have this hack be faithful to the original as possible than be a bit easier in that department. Overall, this is an extremely commendable effort on the parts of frantik and Levi, one that I'm glad to have been able to experience in it's peak form on the NES.

While other SMB Special attempts merely got the levels, this one even put in the exclusive enemies and power ups. The invincibility stars even have smiley faces on them. The enemies from Mario Bros and Donkey Kong are all there. It's one thing to see screenshots, but playing and seeing how they behave is surreal.

The colors are different and interesting, they make the game feel fresh

This hack is by far the most well made, polished,antithetic-ish game I have ever played. I cannot believe this was an actual rom hack. Well done and last but not least this is a rom hack that Mr.Shigeru Miyamoto needs to play for himself as this would be something he would come up with just out of the blue. It's that high of standard type hack.

SMB1 hackers never cease to amaze me. Great hack. Get it now.

To be honest, I never played Super Mario Bros. Special, in fact, I didn't even know the original console that said game came out on, but converting it to a NES cartridge is pretty cool. Therefore, I recommend it. Thanks.

What can I say?

Not only is this an amazing recreation of the obscure Super Mario Bros. Special, but it also goes above and beyond by implementing new enemies, new power-ups, special features, and even a whole rewrite of the original Super Mario Bros. engine to make this the most accurate and enjoyable version of Special to date!

The new additions make this quite a nice trip to go through, and there's even more when finishing the normal game.

Don't hesitate to try this out, you will be amazed!