Vitzie's Vanilla Quest is an episode in Super Mario Bros. X (SMBX) with no custom graphics or music used for this episode. This episode works on TheXTech, the vanilla SMBX v1.3 made by Andrew "Redigit" Spinks, it also works on SMBX v1.4.x by 5438A38A/38A*, & SMBX2 by Codehaus. Version 1.1 has been released & in spite of all level layouts remaining exactly the same as v1.0 without changes, all custom music has been removed & replaced by music included within the SMBX engine.
NOTE: * - While you can technically open SMBX v1.3 levels & worlds in SMBX-38A, the gameplay physics aren't 100% the same as SMBX v1.3, SMBX2, or TheXTech & you will experience some glitches when playing this episode in SMBX-38A.
Levels (All 32 Levels):
World 1 (4 levels)
World 2 (4 levels)
World 3 (4 levels)
World 4 (4 levels)
World 5 (4 levels)
World 6 (3 levels)
World 7 (4 levels)
World 8 (5 levels)
World Map Screenshot with all 8 Worlds:
Enjoy playing Vitzie's Vanilla Quest v1.1 on SMBX v1.3/v1.3.0.1, SMBX-38A, SMBX2, or TheXTech & don't forget to do a gameplay video of my episode on 1 of these SMBX branches! Have fun!
Last edited by vitzie629 on Wed Jan 18, 2023 3:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Just finished playing through this, and while I had a fairly good time, I have a few thoughts:
:LEVEL DESIGN:
I really liked the more creative levels (the space one was sweet and creative), and most of the others were fine (that trailer thumbnail one is a good example). Some felt a little weak (I'm looking at you, Bowser's Castle #2), but overall, levels were fine.
:GRAPHICS:
Graphics are obviously all basegame stuff, and again, really liked the more creative usages of them. Bowser's Castle #1 was super cool with how it blended not just the obvious castle stuff, but also ghost house stuff? Like, that's pretty sick. Felt that maybe more tiles could be blended together a bit better, but with what you had to work with, graphics are good!
:MUSIC:
While the custom music is cool, I would highly recomend removing it. It kinda takes away from the whole 'vanilla' thing. But, that's ultimately up to you.
:SECRETS:
This is where I have problems with the episode. Listen, I get it. With a more traditional, vanilla styled episode, you can't get too crazy with secrets. But for EVERY SINGLE LEVEL to have dragon coins up in the clouds, or a pipe blocked by turn blocks, or for random invisible blocks to be needed, it was just more annoying to go out of my way for another 1up rather than speedrun through the level. Thinking about it now, I can kinda see where the 'secret stuff placement' was inspired by Super Mario World, but the execution of said 'secret stuff placement' felt more New Super Mario Bros U, where they're all hidden the same way. I feel like the shorter level design is maybe why this is a problem to me, since trying to place 5 Dragon Coins AND several bonus rooms into a 1 minute level can be kinda hard. I feel like if you maybe only had 3 Dragon Coins in each level, and then re-arranged their placements, that might be better. Then, if you collected all of them, an event could be triggered that placed a 1up at the goal or something. But that's just a suggestion. Just found the secret aspect kinda wack.
:OVERALL:
This was ultimately pretty fun to play through. I really admire that you went, 'forget custom graphics' and made a whole episode without any, and, for the most part, it turned out pretty solid! Even with my secret issue (which honestly, I don't even know if you're intending the Dragon Coins to be 'secrets', which if not, you can kinda just ignore my whole rant on that), I'd enjoyed playing this. If I were to give it a score, I'd give it a 3.5/5. Overall pretty good, but those secrets, I swear.
Just finished playing through this, and while I had a fairly good time, I have a few thoughts:
:LEVEL DESIGN:
I really liked the more creative levels (the space one was sweet and creative), and most of the others were fine (that trailer thumbnail one is a good example). Some felt a little weak (I'm looking at you, Bowser's Castle #2), but overall, levels were fine.
:GRAPHICS:
Graphics are obviously all basegame stuff, and again, really liked the more creative usages of them. Bowser's Castle #1 was super cool with how it blended not just the obvious castle stuff, but also ghost house stuff? Like, that's pretty sick. Felt that maybe more tiles could be blended together a bit better, but with what you had to work with, graphics are good!
:MUSIC:
While the custom music is cool, I would highly recomend removing it. It kinda takes away from the whole 'vanilla' thing. But, that's ultimately up to you.
:SECRETS:
This is where I have problems with the episode. Listen, I get it. With a more traditional, vanilla styled episode, you can't get too crazy with secrets. But for EVERY SINGLE LEVEL to have dragon coins up in the clouds, or a pipe blocked by turn blocks, or for random invisible blocks to be needed, it was just more annoying to go out of my way for another 1up rather than speedrun through the level. Thinking about it now, I can kinda see where the 'secret stuff placement' was inspired by Super Mario World, but the execution of said 'secret stuff placement' felt more New Super Mario Bros U, where they're all hidden the same way. I feel like the shorter level design is maybe why this is a problem to me, since trying to place 5 Dragon Coins AND several bonus rooms into a 1 minute level can be kinda hard. I feel like if you maybe only had 3 Dragon Coins in each level, and then re-arranged their placements, that might be better. Then, if you collected all of them, an event could be triggered that placed a 1up at the goal or something. But that's just a suggestion. Just found the secret aspect kinda wack.
:OVERALL:
This was ultimately pretty fun to play through. I really admire that you went, 'forget custom graphics' and made a whole episode without any, and, for the most part, it turned out pretty solid! Even with my secret issue (which honestly, I don't even know if you're intending the Dragon Coins to be 'secrets', which if not, you can kinda just ignore my whole rant on that), I'd enjoyed playing this. If I were to give it a score, I'd give it a 3.5/5. Overall pretty good, but those secrets, I swear.
Lol thanks for reading idk.
When you told me the fact that I shouldn't get too crazy with secrets & custom music should be removed, I might as well fix them when I have the opportunity to do it. Thanks.
Just finished playing through this, and while I had a fairly good time, I have a few thoughts:
:LEVEL DESIGN:
I really liked the more creative levels (the space one was sweet and creative), and most of the others were fine (that trailer thumbnail one is a good example). Some felt a little weak (I'm looking at you, Bowser's Castle #2), but overall, levels were fine.
:GRAPHICS:
Graphics are obviously all basegame stuff, and again, really liked the more creative usages of them. Bowser's Castle #1 was super cool with how it blended not just the obvious castle stuff, but also ghost house stuff? Like, that's pretty sick. Felt that maybe more tiles could be blended together a bit better, but with what you had to work with, graphics are good!
:MUSIC:
While the custom music is cool, I would highly recomend removing it. It kinda takes away from the whole 'vanilla' thing. But, that's ultimately up to you.
:SECRETS:
This is where I have problems with the episode. Listen, I get it. With a more traditional, vanilla styled episode, you can't get too crazy with secrets. But for EVERY SINGLE LEVEL to have dragon coins up in the clouds, or a pipe blocked by turn blocks, or for random invisible blocks to be needed, it was just more annoying to go out of my way for another 1up rather than speedrun through the level. Thinking about it now, I can kinda see where the 'secret stuff placement' was inspired by Super Mario World, but the execution of said 'secret stuff placement' felt more New Super Mario Bros U, where they're all hidden the same way. I feel like the shorter level design is maybe why this is a problem to me, since trying to place 5 Dragon Coins AND several bonus rooms into a 1 minute level can be kinda hard. I feel like if you maybe only had 3 Dragon Coins in each level, and then re-arranged their placements, that might be better. Then, if you collected all of them, an event could be triggered that placed a 1up at the goal or something. But that's just a suggestion. Just found the secret aspect kinda wack.
:OVERALL:
This was ultimately pretty fun to play through. I really admire that you went, 'forget custom graphics' and made a whole episode without any, and, for the most part, it turned out pretty solid! Even with my secret issue (which honestly, I don't even know if you're intending the Dragon Coins to be 'secrets', which if not, you can kinda just ignore my whole rant on that), I'd enjoyed playing this. If I were to give it a score, I'd give it a 3.5/5. Overall pretty good, but those secrets, I swear.
Lol thanks for reading idk.
When you told me the fact that I shouldn't get too crazy with secrets & custom music should be removed, I might as well fix them when I have the opportunity to do it. Thanks.
Yeah. And again, for real, you don't have to do any of this. It's your episode and you can do what you want. When it comes to the music, though, I personally just think it would be better to remove the custom stuff. And when it comes to the secrets, I would personally style them more like the secrets in your other episode. The Ultimate Expedition, I believe? Played through some of that, and the secrets felt way more balanced. It wasn't like I move the screen slightly and there was ANOTHER Dragon Coin or something. Again, it's up to you. But thanks for taking my critism seriously! If it came off as jerky and unfair, I do apologize. I just wanted to be respectfully honest, and if you want to disregard anything I said, that's totally cool.
I played through this episode casually, taking the warps.
I like how the castle is blown up at the end of each level, but I feel like it could have some variation between worlds, like in SMW.
There are a whole lot of dragon coins in each level. It doesn't help that most of them aren't very long (Except for the last one).
Most of the levels can also be skipped easily with the Tanooki leaf.
World 8 was not very good. The first level was unique in design, but with a bad execution. The tank and airship levels had an unnecessary Boom Boom at the end, but they weren't bad levels overall.
The Final Castle was hard, and not in the fun way. There's only one midpoint, and that's before the generic Bowser fight.
Also, no one likes pick-a-door.
This Episode has quite a few other problems, but I actually think there's some charm. I thought the night switch level was cute, and the castle levels provided a good challenge.
My advice: Consider what people do when they play Mario, and make levels that provide a unique, challenging experience.
I must say as someone who really gets joy out of vanilla/classic styled SMBx episodes this one was quite a fun play. It's short but sweet, and worth a download. Levels taste like pure vanilla and have pretty good flow. There are a few levels that aren't the greatest but the levels that follow them make up for it. I really dig the castle cutscenes after each castle. Reminds me of SMW.
If I had any other complaints besides a few of the levels, it would maybe be the world map. It's not horrible or anything like that but does feel a bit bland (World 3's may be the most bleak.) But other than those 2 gripes it's overall a pretty good episode. I give it a 7/10 if best out of 10 ratings still rule here.
