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Mushroom Heaven will not hold your attention for much longer than 15 minutes. It's not going to revolutionize how you think of Super Mario Bros. hacking. It doesn't do anything completely crazy with the game's primitive engine.

But it's very delightful. It's brief, breezy and extremely competent. This is the kind of hack where every choice feels intentional and within the limitations of SMB1's coding (with the only major changes being to take things out rather than adding on top of).

The premise of the game is a simple one: as Angel Mario, you are tasked with rescuing the Queen of Heaven (roll with me here) from the clutches of the dreaded Bowser, who as near as I can tell is unchanged. The game's major gimmick is how it's one uninterrupted level structurally, which allows for a remarkably seamless experience. Something that I would also say is fairly unique about this hack is that it's designed with an alternate ending that can be achieved by taking a different route. I won't spoil where it is, but I'll give you a hint: fall damage was never in SMB1 and it isn't in it now!

The final showdown with Bowser does have a minor oversight/glitch: if you defeat him using fireballs, the game will delete a crucial object needed to clear the stage. Otherwise, it was rock solid and I didn't encounter anything I wasn't supposed to encounter.

Something I genuinely really enjoyed about this hack was its emphasis on athleticism. Mushroom Heaven is clearly geared towards above-average SMB1 players who know how to quickly dash through levels, and there's even a segment built around tight jumps and acrobatics - all without resorting to forcing the player to do any unreliable glitches. Truly commendable.

If you're looking for a sprawling and exciting new adventure in the SMB1 framework, you might not find what you're looking for in Mushroom Heaven. But if you're willing to have a short-yet-sweet romp through the clouds of the afterlife with your old pal Mario, then it's truly a delightful and inventive little game.

(NOTE: the review below me claims that this hack does not utilize custom graphics. That's not completely true! Mushroom Heaven actually has several custom/edited sprites, it's just that it also relies on the vanilla tiles as well. It works to a very pleasing effect)

I tried out this hack and you know, in a BAD Ending - it was really necessary to create a "deadly end", otherwise locked in one screen is a bad idea.

And the fact that the levels created here really do not make problems. On the contrary - the fact that the levels are "with the possibility of infinite passage" - this adds skill to the passage of hacks (including the original)

And the true Ending is a really competently constructed path that will go for SPEEDRUNNERS, and for developing even more skill. However, it did not work out without an error. If you defeat the Dragon here, it will be SOFTLOCK

And so - the hack is really well thought out and I can recommend it to everyone: Beginners, Skill players and Speedrunners.

Graphically - no changes, but the palette changes are noticeable