Mario But Worse
Super Mario Bros and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels combined with an extra world sounds like a good composition for a mobile platformer, however the limitations of the game take a lot of the more nuanced aspects of these games and remove them, leaving a husk of a game. For example, several of the castle levels are maze-like in the original games, relying on you to learn and memorize the right path to snake through. However in nearly all of these levels in this game, that isn't there. In several levels from The Lost Levels, there's wind that makes platforming more perilous by changing the jumping angle. No wind in this game. The recreations of water levels here were a mess because there are no water physics, making the levels extremely boring. Finally, the ending of the world. No text, just fake Mario rescuing the princess, again and again, with no explanation as to how she's kidnapped immediately after. The last time you rescue her, the world end music plays for like 3 seconds longer and then the game takes you to level 2. There wasn't even a real ending. The lack of mechanics and an ending that felt like a scam aren't the only issues. Some of the enemies have odd programming. Their version of a Lakitu will just flicker in and out of existence, and doesn't respawn after being killed. Their version of a Piranha Plant only has a few frames where it can hurt you or be killed, so it's not even a threat. The boss is very predictable, in contrast to Bowser who at least has some variation throughout the worlds. On the other hand, their Hammer Bro is more annoying because you can't kill it by jumping on it. Finally, the visuals are very lackluster, with only 4 songs, half of which are barely heard, and only 2 backgrounds, one of which I only saw once. As for what I liked, the enemy death animation was okay, and the unique levels are fine enough. But that's it. Nothing stands out. I'd only recommend this game if you wanted to collect as many Mario clones on the app store as possible, which ironically is why I downloaded it.
