Comments on: The Anatomy of Super Mario: XXV. The battle of mid-way http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/09/15/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-xxv-the-battle-of-mid-way/ Defunct, amateurish, game design analysis by Jeremy Parish Wed, 25 Nov 2015 23:31:21 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.7 By: MightyJAK http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/09/15/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-xxv-the-battle-of-mid-way/#comment-2022 Tue, 17 Sep 2013 12:59:03 +0000 http://www.2-dimensions.com/?p=8810#comment-2022 The ‘linear maze’ mechanic is often cited as one of SMB’s weak points, yet it is still an example of something it does right that other games do wrong. Case in point: Bazooka Bill for Commodore 64 (1985, Melbourne House). Mario’s maze with its distinct arrangement of platforms makes it quite clear when you’re stuck in a loop. But Bill’s repetitive graphics don’t help at all, and many players don’t even realize they’re in a looping maze until they’ve killed so many enemies that they stop spawning, and often the only indication you’ve made progress to a new area is when enemies start spawning again.

BB’s mazes aren’t just visually opaque, their solutions are also needlessly convoluted. Apparently, finishing the final level requires that you DIE in a specific location, just so you can respawn in the proper place to progress through the maze. How’s THAT for masochistic game design?

]]> By: Cody Freeman http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/09/15/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-xxv-the-battle-of-mid-way/#comment-2021 Mon, 16 Sep 2013 04:29:35 +0000 http://www.2-dimensions.com/?p=8810#comment-2021 The second half of the final castle reuses the hidden maze path from the original game. The path is bottom, top, middle. If done correctly, after each level you will hear a little “ding” sound to notify you.

]]> By: Javier http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/09/15/the-anatomy-of-super-mario-xxv-the-battle-of-mid-way/#comment-2020 Mon, 16 Sep 2013 01:55:16 +0000 http://www.2-dimensions.com/?p=8810#comment-2020 @Jeremy: Ha,ha, sorry about making such a fuss over a trivial mistake in the midst of such comprehensive and interesting articles! It seems like everybody here has unpleasant childhood memories of these split road castles (specially 7-4), and after having that chime and buzzer feel so right and helpful in All Stars, it just made its absence in the original kind of unforgivable… But truth is, the “Lost Levels” where the ones that truly made that feature a necessity in an attempt to become semi-playable.
@MetManMas: Thanks for the tip, I never noticed that easy to remember pattern in 8-4! But I´m not gonna try it myself now… that castle and world 8 in general are EVIL! Only my younger, Battletoads-beating self had the skill and patience to go trough that ordeal. I wish Jeremy good luck in the rest of his journey through the Mushroom Kingdom, the final quarter of this adventure is quite hard…

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