GuestLog in

Welp, it's that time of year again! For all the Halloween stuff to come out and for more spoopy games to be made!

WORLD: The world of this game is actually a lot smaller, about half the size of a regular playthrough of SMW. However, it has a lot of soul for a small a game as this is. For being a small, seasonal hack, there's quite a bit of game here, and a few "off the beaten path" things to explore, but not a whole lot. For the most part, it's just a straightforward romp through spooky settings like a dark forest, a haunted mine, old ruins, and such.

GAMEPLAY: This part impresses me. Typical Mario, but this game slowly introduces new mechanics that progressively start mixing up and becoming new challenges as the game goes on. There's platforms that jump when you do, the platforms that fall up when you step on them instead of down, two kinds of blocks that are either solid to Mario and not to enemies or vice versa. There's different enemies this go-around from the ravenous mushrooms that try to eat YOU, Boos that chase you through the whole level, and a few more. All in all, this hack is filled with some pretty cool stuff that fits very nicely in a SMW hack.

FUN: Definitely! I love these kinds of hacks that take a theme and play around with it. And a spooky setting for Mario is almost a no-brainer since there's a lot that one can do with it, as this hack shows. About mid-way though, some of the challenges start getting....rather hard, especially since you're really only guaranteed 2 powerups per level and have to rely on having reserves, else you're just out of luck. However, none of the puzzles or challenges breached into unfair territory, and it was overall quite fun while it lasted ^^

MY RATING: 9.5/10

What can I say? Seasonal hacks are short and fairly simple usually, so it was quite a surprise to find a really full game here. I beat it in two days and with not a huge amount of time on my side both times, so it could be done in a few hours if you progress through each level and not take the shortcut that skips one and a half worlds. Honestly, I have little actual criticism for this work as I hardly can think of anything that would do it better, and that's saying something. Maybe I wish for more? I think a sequel in the future would be great, but overall, this hack is just a lot of fun and fitting for the spoopy season!