Mario Bros. Remix

[Sock Master]

Hi all!

Normally when I'm working on something I like to keep it secret until I'm pretty far along.  I like to make sure that things are actually working out, that it'll be good and that it's pretty much a guarantee to happen.  That way I won't raise people's hopes about something if there's a chance I might not finish it.

I've been working on this project on and off for about two months now... Well, you know, it's the sort of thing I like to do when I have some free time and the urge to create something.   Sometimes I have several little personal projects going at once.  They don't always get finished.

Anyway, the reason I'm starting this thread... I think this project will have a better chance at turning into something fun... and also of actually getting finished if I share my progress as I go along.  We can bounce ideas off each other and input from Mario Bros fans and experts will be much appreciated.


To get things started, I should mention a few things about what is and what is not possible to do.

The Remix kits plug into the Z80 socket.  This pretty much means only the program code can be changed!
The sprites and graphics tiles cannot be changed - we can't create wholly new sprites or graphics.
We can use the existing sprites and tiles in creative ways to change things up a bit but in general the game graphics cannot be changed in a significant way.

I have to mention this because as cool as it'd be to add all new characters/enemies/graphics/etc... there probably wouldn't be a reasonable way to make it possible.

Things that use existing graphics or elements of the game in new ways are more likely to work out.
These could be new stage layouts, new gameplay mechanics, different variants of existing enemies, stages with different objectives, bonus stages... expanding on and using what's already there.  To remix the game in a new way.


Its still early on and there's no guarantee when or even if it'll be completed.
You just never know how things might go.
Lets hope it'll be good!

Thanks

[xelnia]

 

I'm terrible at Mario Bros., but one thing that always bothered me was that you don't get any extra points on the bonus stage for finishing quickly. Finish it with 0.1 seconds or 5 seconds and it's all the same. So, implementing an actual time-based award would be cool.

[TheSunshineFund]

Please fix the controls if possible.  Not every level should feel like you're playing the SMB ice level.

[VON]

Please fix the controls if possible.  Not every level should feel like you're playing the SMB ice level.

False.

[VON]

My biggest gripe about the original is that there's never any incentive to point-press.  There are heaps of different and more challenging ways to play the various Phases that are never employed because the risk/reward ratio doesn't make it worthwhile.

A killscreen would incentivize point-pressing, as would inserting one or two vastly more difficult Phase types per group of six.  As it stands now, most all players utilize the POW only for survival, with the exception being the first few "instructional" Phases.

My advice then: incorporate different uses for the POW and create Phases (and an overall gameplay arch) with high risk/reward ratios.

[maximumsteve]

Greetings all. On behalf of me and Stephen Boyer, we welcome and prop you out sock for taking this potential project on! I know we talked briefly about it on someone's live twitch broadcast a while back, and for the record, you did a GREAT job on the DK and JR. remixes sir! Me and Boyer will be periodically chiming in with ideas for you. Two off the top of my head would be... How about adding an extra digit so there is no rollover on the score unless you got to 9,999,990? And would it be possible on the bonus stages to add the fireballs and slipice as obstacles to pass through, as you are collecting the coins on the bonus stages? I know this would make Jeremy's idea of finishing it faster for more of a bonus less possible, but it would keep you on your toes, so to speak, knowing you could die on the bonus boards too from the usual elements on the phases. More ideas to come, lol.
 

[gstrain]

Have the red fireballs start at faster speeds on higher levels and have the 2nd red fireball come out sooner on higher levels so difficulty keeps increasing.

[maximumsteve]

I would love to be one of the first Sock, if and when you finish it, to stream the remix on my Twitch channel btw!! 

[ripper]

This sounds like a wonderful project and one I have heard about a while back so I cannot wait to see the finished project!  I have some ideas I will type down below.  Some may be great ideas and some may not but we can all chime in on them to see what sticks and what does not. 

Please DO NOT tinker with the way Mario & Luigi walk or run in the game.  There is nothing wrong with it and it totally works the way it is.  I’ve never even thought about it as it works perfectly.

1)   I don't much care about having a kill screen or having the game get so hard to where the game ends because it’s impossible to get past a certain level every time you play a game of
        Mario Bros. BUT... if a Kill Screen can be added into the game on the start menu (select normal game or KS game?) then I love the idea!

2)   Maybe add some in-between story graphics like you see in Congo Bongo, Pac-Man and other titles? 

3)   Start Menu options:

A:  Kill Screen game or Normal Game?  Phase 98 for the selected KS game and players who like to point press can enjoy this but also have the normal game of MB? A selected KS game will
     indeed end after Phase 98.

B:  POW Block or no POW block when game starts?  No POW block would be great for Ultimate NO POW games so the gamer does not have to kill it off them self.  Just a thought.

C:  Add option to select one of two new characters (4 total now)?  Same looking characters but different Color cloths.  New characters are named Stephen and Steven.   

D:  Option to start a game at Phase 1 or Phase 36?  (or where the game starts to get the hardest)  It's just a way to skip the slower, easier phases in the beginning.

E:  Add the option to get a free man every 25K, 50K or every 100K so the game can Indeed be marathoned like the Japan rom?

F:  Keep the same 4 difficulties (Easy, Medium, Hard & Hardest) but maybe add a 5th difficulty called "Extreme" "Ultimate" or whatever everybody decides?

4)    FIX THE P= at the bottom left side of the screen.  It goes to KO late in the game and seems to be worthless information to a gamer.  I personally think it should show the phase number
         even after you flip it in the hundreds digit and it should tell a player which of the phases he is on.  For example, when a gamer reaches the repeating set of phases late in the game
         (1,2,3 & 1,2,3  Turtles, Crabs, Crab & Moth & Turtles, Crabs, Crab & Moth) it would be nice to know exactly which set we are on.  EX: P=98 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 & then B for bonus.  It
         would be helpful in a POW game to know exactly which set of phases you are on.  The first set of 3 or the 2nd set of 3.

5)   I love the visual effect to see the score you just gained and have it float upward as it disappears like in the other remix games.

6)   Every red fireball (Red Boy) increases in value as you hit more than one per phase?  For example, if you hit the first Red Boy you gain 1,000 then it would be 1,000 X 2, 1,000 X 3,
        1,000 X 4 but they get faster each time too.  It is very hard to hit more than 2 Red Boys on a single phase.

7)   Multiply the points for hitting the green fireball (Greenies) too?  1 hit = 200 then 200 X 2, 200 X 3, etc?

   Have the Bonus screen award you more bonus the quicker you finish it.  Here is the kicker… The bonus screen continues to get harder and harder up to a certain point.  Something like
        this…

1st Bonus =  Normal Layout but fix first bonus screen as it has a glitch where the floor is like running on ice and it should NOT be that way.

2nd Bonus = Normal Layout + add Ice Head that drops out the tube and freezes a level

3rd Bonus = Normal Layout + Normal Ice Head + one greenie Fireball

4th Bonus = Normal Layout + Unbreakable Ice Head + two Greenie Fireballs

5th Bonus = Normal Layout + Unbreakable Ice Head + Two Greenie Fireballs + One Red Boy Fireball

6th Bonus = Normal Layout + Unbreakable Ice Head + Two Greenie Fireballs + Two Red Boy Fireballs

7th Bonus = Normal Layout + TWO Unbreakable Ice Heads + Two Greenie Fireballs + Two Red Boy Fireballs + Falling Ice.

8th Bonus = Normal Layout + TWO Unbreakable Ice Heads + Two Greenie Fireballs + Two Red Boy Fireballs + Falling Ice and one Red Boy Fireball is moving fast.

9th Bonus = Normal Layout + TWO Unbreakable Ice Heads + Two Greenie Fireballs + Two Red Boy Fireballs + Falling Ice and Both Red Boy Fireballs is moving fast.

10th Bonus = TOTALLY DIFFERENT LAYOUT and repeat the difficulty in order again from beginning to hardest?

20th Bonus = TOTALLY DIFFERENT LAYOUT again and repeat the difficulty in order again from beginning to hardest?

30th Bonus = TOTALLY DIFFERENT LAYOUT and repeat the difficulty in order again from beginning to hardest?

40th Bonus = Back to normal again or another TOTALLY DIFFERENT LAYOUT? 

9)    Fix the Ice Head Glitch in the game OR incorporate it in the game?  If an Ice Head falls off a level and hits a critter right where it would normally freeze then it will become unbreakable. 
         It is a glitch and should not do this.  I have a few ideas for this.

A:   Fix the Glitch

B:  If an Ice Head makes it down on a level and actually freezes the level then the next Ice Head that
      comes out the top tube is a darker blue or looks angrier and is unbreakable the entire time it’s on
      the screen, meaning it’s going to eventually get in the way and/or freeze a level. 

C:  If an Ice Head makes it down on a level and actually freezes the level then the next one that
      comes out the top tube is a darker blue or looks angrier but is ONLY unbreakable when it stops   
      to freeze a level, like the original glitch in the game. 

10)   Save scores of course

11)   Have the score go up to 9,999,990 if possible?

[TheSunshineFund]

Create "breakable" segments of floors a'la SMB.

POW block should become an image of Tom Votava

[ripper]

How about the POW gets a crack in it each time it's hit and on the 3rd hit it explodes and breaks into pieces?

[TheSunshineFund]

Change instructions on the Fly level to read

"Use the POW on the fly level" - Tom Votava

[syscrusher]

Just let me know where to send money when this is done.

[VON]

If you choose to go the killscreen route, I don't think 99 Phases is enough.  The counter stops at Phase 98 (I think?) but I'm sure this can be fixed.  With conservative play, 99 Phases equates to a little over 900K, so Kleisath's WR game likely reached something close to 600 Phases!  His game was probably close to 6 hours as well.  Maximumsteve can correct my guesstimates and these figures can potentially serve as guideposts for where you think a killscreen would best fit.   

[blackraven15]

This sounds like a wonderful project and one I have heard about a while back so I cannot wait to see the finished project!  I have some ideas I will type down below.  Some may be great ideas and some may not but we can all chime in on them to see what sticks and what does not. 


C:  Add option to select one of two new characters (4 total now)?  Same looking characters but different Color cloths.  New characters are named Stephen and Steven.   

I like this idea - might be fun for the two other characters to have different *powers* kinda like how each char behaves differently in mario 2


F:  Keep the same 4 difficulties (Easy, Medium, Hard & Hardest) but maybe add a 5th difficulty called "Extreme" "Ultimate" or whatever everybody decides?

Deranged XD 

I though of something that might be fun - a different fire ball type, one that kinda behaves like a Boo Ghost

The walking physics drives me bloody batty o.0