Review Information
Game Reviewed N/A, by N/A
Review Author Zero Kirby
Created Jun 27 2016, 7:23 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
This game really reminds me of the Normal Super Mario Bros. games. And in a good way, mostly. It's not quite as good or quite as polished, which is why I'm not putting in the effort to create a facetious "is a remake" review like I did for that legendary trilogy, but it's good enough to warrant merit.

Super Mario 64: Really Good Edition is Blutorus' entry into the recent (as of this writing) Joke Game Competition on the forums. The idea was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo 64 by creating mockeries of its more prolific games.

Try and take a guess as to what game this is mocking?
 
Pros + Tight controls, not bad physics
+ Has a fair amount of content for a joke game, honestly
+ Surprisingly faithful missions
+ I actually kind of like the soundtrack and sounds used...
 
Cons - ... that said, I don't like the sounds for when Dorito Mario is actually flying around. A bit too chaotic on the ears.
- Aiming the cannons can be a bit finicky.
- Explosions seem a little bigger than they look.
- There's precisely one bottomless pit in the game. And I'm not sure why it's there.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
8 / 10
Gameplay's pretty similar to the original Super Mario 64. You enter the level by selecting a mission, and then you complete the mission to pick up a Starman. Mario's got some acrobatic tricks like the backflip, long jump, triple jump, and wall kick to aid in traversal, but the single level you have to run around in is fairly straightforward, so you won't really need 'em that much.

Missions and such are like in Super Mario 64, though obviously a mockery of the original. You don't race Koopa the Quick, you race Sanic. You don't become Wing Mario, you become Dorito Mario. Barring that, it's a surprisingly accurate recreation of Bob-Omb Battlefield - the missions are pretty much one-to-one recreated (including a seventh which is essentially the "collect 100 coins" hidden Star from the original).

The most important aspect here is that it's actually fun to play. The controls are nice and responsive and things generally behave as they should. Dorito Mario is a bit unwieldy at times, and cannons are a little vague on the aim, but otherwise what's here is pretty competent.

The most important aspect of a joke game is that it doesn't overstay its welcome - a joke tends to get less and less funny the longer it goes on, after all - and with only one level and seven missions, SM64:RGE is just about the perfect length for a quick joke game. However, it was also good enough that I wouldn't mind having more - as long as it was just as polished (if not moreso) than this and didn't just repeat all of the same jokes.

Which, of course, some were hits, others were misses. I laughed at the idea that the Power Stars were now Starmen, but not Mario Starmen; Earthbound Starmen. There's a couple other chuckle-worthy bits in the game, but then there's stuff where I groaned a bit, like the "I'mma firin' mah lazar" when using the cannons. The various sounds and effects that play while flying as Dorito Mario were also more irritating than endearing.
 
Graphics
5 / 10
The graphics are all a mishmash, of course, from the dodgy logo to using photos of Doritos and Pringles in-game to represent said objects. Coming up with a legitimate score for this feels a little silly - but it didn't sear my eyes out of my skull, so it's not like what's here is awful. I can tell what's what, at least.

And I guess the point IS that they're bad.
 
Sound
9 / 10
I actually liked the soundtrack to this game quite a bit. The main theme for the level's quite catchy, which is doubly interesting since I don't actually like the Beatles that much. The sound effects are also pretty well-selected, though as I said above, the sounds that play while Dorito Mario flies are just irritating instead of funny. Which is especially shameful since they cover up the wonderful Smooth McGroove version of the Wing Cap theme.
 
Replay
4 / 10
It's a short game, but like I said earlier, it's about the right length for this sort of thing. Still, it's not like the Normal Super Mario Bros. series which was SO unique, varied, and bizarre that you can play through them plenty of times without getting bored.

But consider this: I was willing to play this joke game entry twice all the way through when I couldn't stand to even finish any of the other entries.

Maybe Blutorus has got something here.
 
Final Words
8 / 10
It's rare we have a joke game that actually understands the "game" part, but here we are.

Comments
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Mr. Yoshbert
Jun 27 2016, 1:38 PM
True facts have been laid here. Give this man and Blutorus an award for reminding us how good joke games truly ought to be made.
 
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Cruise Elroy
Jun 27 2016, 4:01 PM
I guess I can understand why the sounds used for Dorito Mario flying can be a bit grating.

Also, the pit is there for you to use as a quick way to kill yourself if you lose the race against Sanic.
 
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