Review Information
Game Reviewed Legend of the Hammer Warrior, by FanGuy
Review Author Q-Nova
Created Jun 21 2019, 1:50 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Legend of the Hammer Warrior is another one of FanGuy's cool Mario fangames, with this one featuring a story based on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (and it also seems to be influenced by Paper Mario). FanGuy has been getting better at making games, and this game, along with Mario's Mansion Perfect Collection, shown a bit of what he can really do! This came at the cost of one thing, though: Productivity. I'm not sure what happened, but FanGuy's latest games were never finished, and given that he hasn't been seen around here for years and years, he may have very likely stopped fangaming (or FanGaming, as Vitiman would say) altogether. It's too bad, because we may never see the peak of what FanGuy is truly capable of doing.
 
Pros +Original, cute graphics
+Engine works
+Good music
 
Cons -Pirahna Plants come out of pipes even if you're on them
-Just one level, ONE, LEVEL
-It was never finished! :(
 
Impressions
Gameplay
8 / 10
It's very simple, really. You play as Mario, who has his typical platforming abilities, as he crushes Goombas, kicks Koopa Troopas, avoids Pirahna Plants, and zooms through Warp Pipes. Mario plays very well, especially for an old fangame, even if you might notice that he shakes whenever he jumps against a pipe. The enemies are all functional, even the Koopa Troopa shells work just like in Nintendo's Mario games, which is really cool when you consider that this is done in 2003! I can only count the number of times people successfully replicated the shell kicking in the early 2000s on one hand, after all! Only problem here is that Pirahna Plants will pop out of pipes even if you're on them, which can be annoying.

This demo only offers one level, and that's all we may ever see. The design is fine, but it's kinda disappointing when you've just gone through the somewhat-lengthy intro cutscene. If we're in an alternate timeline where FanGuy actually finished his stuff, I imagine that we would see new places, more foes, and maybe powerups! Hey, I can dream, can I?
 
Graphics
9 / 10
Unlike most fangames that were made at the time, which relied on libs that mostly offered ripped graphics, Legend of the Hammer Warrior uses sprites that are all done by the hands of FanGuy! It looks simple and the designs are kinda exaggerated, but it has some sort of charm; the same kind of charm you would find in a kid's drawing, I'd say. Some people might prefer a much more professional-looking game, but the charm would be lost, wouldn't it? To be honest, I'd rather have this cute charm.
 
Sound
7 / 10
FanGuy is very good at picking just the right songs for his games, and this one is no exception! Well, I'm not sure if the first level really has a suitable song, but since we don't really have the whole story here, I won't judge that one very much. So, the music is good, but what about the sound effects? They're... okay. They're just not very high-quality, and I don't know if the 8-bit sounds are the way to go here.
 
Replay
3 / 10
"Look for the full game coming later in 2003!"

...

Yeah, it should be clear now that the promise was never fulfilled, which is quite a let down. FanGuy, if you happen to reading this review for whatever reason, I hope you understand how much of a legend you were back then! Whether you're still interested in this game or not, I'd love to see it get finished one day, and I know the same feeling applies to at least another person! Right, Vitiman? :)
 
Final Words
7 / 10
FanGuy DanGuy Doo, where are you? You got some games to do now.

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