[SMBX 2.0] Delightful Adventure - Enhanced (1.2.2)

[Lapuente]

Wow, I'm looking forward to play this Gem!! thank you!!

[cato]

Who thought it was a good idea to combine wind physics that increments the closer you get, with sine-wave patterned enemies and enemies that you have to jump blindly while standing right in front of the laser for 10 seconds to avoid having the laser respawn? And to do it multiple times right at the end of the fight with single mushrooms that move away from you?

I gave up that fight after like 40 whole minutes from start to finish, with multiple failed attempts right at the 3rd wind phrase. The only hope to save time is to use the Boss Checkpoint from the Assist mode, which is meant for additional aid for the players, instead of something present in every other Dark's level (Coyotime, Physics Patch, Another Powerup, Bouncypits, etc). Even with the boss checkpoint, I have to burn all my mushrooms to damage boost through that particular attack.

[deice]

the fact that osoroshi is filtering people easily bumps up the episode from 8 to like 8.5/10 (almost makes me forgive his terrible name)

[Rixitic]

This is one of the reasons we’re changing the bat graphics, the fact that few players have tried spinjumping on them is a clear conveyance failure on our part. And the mushrooms’ movement is because of the modern reserve items library, but fair point, I’ll see about overriding their movement during the wind segments to make them easier to grab. I can see about making the laser a bit shorter too.

Hey, there’s no need to get all gatekeepy. The final boss isn’t meant to “filter” players, it’s just a difficulty spike from some design and balancing issues that I wasn’t able to get player feedback on before the episode was released. As it is 1.2.0 will bring a lot of small changes to the fight that hopefully add up to making it feel a lot more fun and fair to the players having trouble with it.

As for Osoroshi’s name, we did consider changing it when we were reworking his character, but in the end it felt wrong to do so; despite his new backstory and how he’s built up in the first two cutscenes, he’s not meant to be 100% serious and I tried to lean into the campiness a bit with his animations and other details in the fight. He’s a mighty and dangerous djinn, but he’s also a huge overdramatic dork who gets increasingly visibly frustrated by having his all-powerful smokey butt handed to him by some plumber guy.

In my opinion, his name literally being the Japanese word for terrible/awful/vile/etc seems in line with that silliness, and aside from that… it’d be like renaming Foroze.

[deice]

Hey, there’s no need to get all gatekeepy. The final boss isn’t meant to “filter” players, it’s just a difficulty spike from some design and balancing issues that I wasn’t able to get player feedback on before the episode was released. As it is 1.2.0 will bring a lot of small changes to the fight that hopefully add up to making it feel a lot more fun and fair to the players having trouble with it.

strictly speaking nobody actually got filtered as the assist mode is something that the game itself provides and is designed around the expectation of the player using it at any point. just a bit of video game schadenfreude on my part

In my opinion, his name literally being the Japanese word for terrible/awful/vile/etc seems in line with that silliness, and aside from that… it’d be like renaming Foroze.

oh yea i didn't mean "terrible" as in i'm upset that that's the name or heavily dislike it. it's more of the name being very goofy and embarrassing to say out loud (like saying that a pun is bad), which is something that creates a funny contrast with how the character can be presented otherwise. i do like a game that doesn't take itself seriously when it doesn't need to ^^ (though a complaint about his name could be that it's strange and unusual to use part of the adverb/conjunction form of the adjective instead of the stem form "osoroshii" but nobody actually cares)

[Darkonius Mavakar]

BIG MAJOR UPDATE RELEASED!!!

- added settings modes
- improved and balanced osoroshi
- a bunch of other bugfixes and improvements we didn't keep track of

no really, there's a lot of stuff we changed, some bosses have been rebalanced and a few minor visual tweaks as well!

[Lapuente]

BIG MAJOR UPDATE RELEASED!!!

- added settings modes
- improved and balanced osoroshi
- a bunch of other bugfixes and improvements we didn't keep track of

no really, there's a lot of stuff we changed, some bosses have been rebalanced and a few minor visual tweaks as well!

awesome! thanks!

[Darkonius Mavakar]

Episode has been updated to 1.2.1:

-We fixed the extremely rare post-fight pidgit bug that stuck you in place

...that's it!!!!!!!!

[MarchTo49]

I got bored and played this episode, and it was pretty good. Personally, I liked Dripping Drainways level very much. I hope you keep going on the work.

[Chanceux2]

Back when I was 9 on the smbx forums, I loved this episode (especially since this is like the only Episode I could get without my mom blocking out every other file sharing site lol). And this enhanced version is so much better! I love how you don't have to be forced to use the improved physics and can use the original SMBX physics. I also love how customized this is like I could use the original SMBX physics while having to lives and having a star block timer. And thank god the stupid vine level isn't in this episode that was just straight up hell. The only nitpick I have is that I like the original Osoroshi music better but that's just a nitpick. This is a really good Episode and if anyone is new to this game, (somehow) this is the episode they should play.

[LooKiCH]

LINK

[KBM-Quine]

small thing from the team; we left an achievement file in the previous patch. along with remedying that, we did some file clean up. thanks for the patience! there's not a version up tick since there wasn't anything else changed, but the download has been updated.

[KSS]

I remember playing the original episode back when it first came out and I saw it as a masterpiece. Replaying it is amazing! So far all the small things that were a problem in the original have been fixed and this enhancement has been a joy to play. Thank you so much for providing one of the most loved SMBX episodes

[cato]

An all-bosses video featuring two meme bosses.


Link

[Darkonius Mavakar]

Glad to see the dumb cheats we made in action LOL

[Darkonius Mavakar]

In case you weren't aware, raocow's playing the episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6UDkJwYWYo

"neat, but why are you telling us this?"

Well, depending on how things go, we MAY or may not upload a small patch to do some minor rebalancing and tiny fixes, like microscopic polish basically lol

not promising anything, it really depends on how it goes because then we gotta wrangle the gang back togheter to do it, since we've been busy finishing Delightful 2, our priority is on that atm than Enhanced, if that makes sense

[Darkonius Mavakar]

1.2.2 PATCH RELEASED

-Audio rebalancing applied across the board
-Minor visual updates to certain things
-Minor nerfs to a certain boss
-More obvious when to hit certain bosses!
-Reserve item are no longer a deadly projectile
-Physics patch has been updated!

[halibabica]

If I may ask, how do you get gold flags in these stages? I didn't manage to find any on my own and I'm not sure what the requirements are, but I'd like to go for the achievement if it isn't too crazy.

EDIT: Never mind, answered my own question by observing the above longplay.

[halibabica]

If you would like me to LP/review a level or episode you made, feel free to ask! My queue accepts all takers, so long as it is your own project.

Full Let’s Play

Delightful Adventure: Enhanced is an upgraded version of the old M&L’s Delightful Adventure, a mid-length episode where Bowser teams up with an evil genie named Osoroshi in the Carob Kingdom. The djinn had been trapped in a chest for his wicked deeds, but then Bowser stole it and let him out. Now it’s up to the bros. to put him back in the box.

Let’s Talk About Assets!

I don’t know how much of the graphics are custom-made, but the game doesn’t adhere to any of the traditional Mario aesthetics. Many NPCs have been restyled into a new look with the same function. The bros. resemble their All-Stars SMB3 versions, but with additional frames for a few extras, like emotes during cutscenes or midair somersaults while invincible. A lot of graphical work went into the bosses, especially in the finale, and Lua shenanigans are put to great effect. The stages come together beautifully. They’re colorful and fit right in with standard Mario fare.

Music is from a wide range of sources, and thanks to the custom menu, you can check what track is playing when you pause. The final battle tracks were composed specifically for it, so it’s rocking some unique tunes as well. The episode borrows several songs from the DK franchise and shows some inspiration from that in its level design too. In general, the whole thing looks and sounds fantastic.

Let’s Talk About Writing!

There’s a bit more to the story than in many Mario games, but it’s still very basic. The bros. are summoned by Peach to the castle of Princess Victoria, who informs them of the stolen chest. They set out right away to find it. Beyond the first world, each boss stage is followed by a scene that expands on the plot a little. Bowser releases Osoroshi who needs time to regain his strength, we get some lore about the situation, and that’s about it since there’s no further incentive needed to stop them.

The canon characters feel just right in their dialogue. Bowser is written similarly to how he is in the Mario RPGs: selfish and whiny. Mario and Luigi express themselves through reactions rather than words. Peach is her usual optimistic self. They’re predictable, but entertaining nonetheless. The original characters make a decent showing, Victoria taking an active role in helping you seal Osoroshi instead of just waiting and hoping or getting kidnapped, while the djinn is sufficiently sinister, if typical as a villain.

The plot is serviceable for a Mario game, but only just so. It’s hardly mind-blowing, but the presentation helps to sell it better. The story scenes are well written and feature some choreography. My only real criticism of it would be that the pacing is just a bit off. You see, the game has five worlds, which is kind of an awkward number to work with. When you get to the end, there’s a sense of “we’re here already?” and it feels like even one more world could’ve rounded it out.

The trouble this presents for the story is there’s no sense of scale on Osoroshi as a threat. He’s not too scary when Bowser first releases him, and the next time you see him, he’s already regained his true form. Victoria explains about his origins and why he’d been sealed away, but we don’t see him in action until it’s final battle time. I think if there were an additional world where his first form had been fought as a boss, that might have solved it. Then we could compare his power there to what’s seen later and show some progression with his character, maybe personality-wise as well. However, it’s not like the story is hurting much without it, so it’s fine as-is, only might’ve been better with a bit more fleshing out.

Let’s Talk About Design!

It’s a rompy and straightforward episode. Lua enhancements have given it some new features and quality of life changes, but some of them are double-edged. For one, the custom menu allows you to adjust many things about the gameplay to suit your preferences, but there’s no way back from it to the episode list. When you exit the game, it closes the program. Another is that you can turn off the life system by turning on a death counter, which seems nice since game overs in SMBX are usually meaningless anyway, but this devalues all secret hunting because there’s no reason to collect coins or search for 1-ups otherwise. Thankfully this choice is in your hands, so you can decide what you think works best for you.

Other options include how your item mechanics are handled: classic SMBX with 2 hits and drop box, or 3 hits with spares that pop up on top of you. Pits/lava can be toggled to either be fatal or induce damage. Skull marks remember where you died, ala Mario Maker. There’s a few more besides, but those were the highlights to me. There are plenty of options without going overboard or feeling out of place, so that’s nice.

Stage design is very reasonable and unlikely to be much challenge for vets of the program, but it feels like there’s a difficulty spike in world 5, possibly related to the sense of arriving there too soon. There isn’t much to do in the levels apart from get through them, as there are no consistent collectibles to worry about, especially if the life system is disabled. The game tracks your checkpoints and some stages have a 1-up block at the end which you only get by being quick, but aside from those and the occasional green star, it’s point A to point B gameplay. There’s little incentive to explore, so you can only do it for your own sake to see what’s there. On the plus side, you can check your completion in the menu to see where you’re missing checkpoints or stars, and even warp directly to the level from that list.

While the design of the episode is generally solid, it’s the boss fights that are the highlight, with the final boss being especially noteworthy. The original version of this episode suffered from the limitations of 1.3, but the enhanced version capitalizes on Lua to dramatic effect. The bosses look and feel great, bringing different challenges and ideas than what’s typical of SMBX. My only gripe is that several of them involve periods of waiting for the boss to become vulnerable, which can get tiresome on repeat attempts and drag out the fights. Combatting this, you have the option to resume from the last phase rather than start the fight over, so that helps a lot. Aside from that, the attack patterns are fair and techniques for consistent dodging can be learned.

The early bosses vary in style and complexity, but Osoroshi is on another level entirely. His sprites and effects are of amazing quality. His animations have a natural flow. His multi-stage battle is greatly climactic and well-paced, if padded with some of the aforementioned wait times. You can tell a lot of love and care went into the production, and the episode is worth playing just to see that alone. You can even have a bit of fun with some custom cheats that change up the look of the fight.

Let’s Wrap This Up…

This game is a pretty tame experience overall, but the quality of it is undeniable, with the Lua revisions making a huge improvement. Most of my issues with it can be remedied through customization, so its problems are negligible. Only the story pacing is much of an objective complaint, which is practically a nitpick since stories are rarely important for this kind of game. It feels like a legit Mario game, which is a true compliment for a fan project. Solid stuff, would recommend.

4.5/5


Good job distracting the bat, Luigi!

[mariobrigade2018]

Ok so there is a level called unforgiving fortress II. It’s a good level, but the II implies that there’s an original unforgiving fortress.

And if you use the cheats on he world map and fly to the right of unforgiving fortress II, there is another castle with flashing eyes.

Another fortress.

So is there another unforgiving fortress? If so, where can I find it?

Also love this episode and congrats on getting this recommended.

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