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First off, the positives. The new, and only, song in 'Mebius Ring' is simple like the base game's sound font, yet more ominous than cheerful. Particularly, this adds to the empty, liminal space-like atmosphere, also complimented by Mario's monochrome color palette and a single Buzzy Beetle being the only entity other than Mario. Even all the warp pipes are devoid of Pirahna Plants, which I found eerie because they are usually very common in 'Mario' games.

Now onto the negatives. This game felt more unfinished, the more I attempted to progress. It is never clear where you're supposed to go, and hardly any pipes can be reached or even entered. Even if 'Mebius Ring' was meant to loop, I didn't feel like there was some way to break it. There's another old 'Super Mario Bros.' hack, 'XXXX', that has a similar premise. However, not only were there many rooms to explore, but it was possible to get through the rooms without being softlocked. This is not the case for 'Mebius Ring'. The level design isn't even kaizo in nature, because most of the rooms consist of a large jump hindered by a ceiling bonk and another room where the only way out is into a coin-filled pit. There's no part of the level design that allows the player to perform kaizo techniques in succession, from what I've seen. Not to mention, the timer drains like Top Spin in 'Mega Man 3', so you aren't given enough time to figure out where the exit is, or even enjoy a snack during gameplay.

After playing the normal way, I decided to get the World Select early to access the rest of the game, and here's what I found: World 2 is similar to World 1, but to my surprise, Pirahna Plants were present, with the single Buzzy Beetle being absent. When I went inside one of the pipes, I was taken to a coin heaven. When I exited the heaven, I was met with a series of blocks serving as platforms, followed by a Pirahna Plant-infested pipe and a trampoline leading to the goal. However, throughout the whole section, there was a complete lack of floor. Even the flagpole and goal fortress had no floor. The rest of the game was entirely unchanged, including World 8, aside from the underground bonus levels being a death trap.

While I do appreciate the romhack's concept, the overall nature of it being unbeatable in normal gameplay has caused me to question its presence on Romhacking.