What are some trends in SMBX episodes that annoy you?

[Yumetaro]

It seems there are a lot of recurring themes in SMBX episodes, what are some that just piss you off?

I get really annoyed when people put a super serious novel-size story in their episodes even though Mario isn't a series known for its story, or when they put in characters that have no reason to be in a Mario game.

Boss Rush episodes are just fucking lazy, I can't even begin to count the copious amount of Boss Rush episodes.

[silent_]

I hate when people save all of the good gimmicks and stuff until the last few worlds in the episode; seriously, it's NOT cool to bore the shit out of the player until they get to what, world 5/6/7? I could name a lot of episodes, even very popular ones, guilty of this. SMSE, NGCA, and somewhat even LFFTMK

I get really annoyed when people put a super serious novel-size story in their episodes even though Mario isn't a series known for its story

Oh God you'd hate my episode then.

[Emral]

I get really annoyed when people put a super serious novel-size story in their episodes even though Mario isn't a series known for its story, or when they put in characters that have no reason to be in a Mario game.

Nowadays the "Mario" in Super Mario Bros X is only there because people fear changing the playable characters' sprites. You might aswell call this game Super Video Game X.

[Yumetaro]

I hate when people save all of the good gimmicks and stuff until the last few worlds in the episode; seriously, it's NOT cool to bore the shit out of the player until they get to what, world 5/6/7? I could name a lot of episodes, even very popular ones, guilty of this. SMSE, NGCA, and somewhat even LFFTMK

I get really annoyed when people put a super serious novel-size story in their episodes even though Mario isn't a series known for its story

Oh God you'd hate my episode then.

It's not that I hate episodes with stories in them, it's just some episodes try to hard to put drama in a series that isn't a drama anyways.

But hey, if your episode can do a serious story right, well then have at it.

[Superiorstar]

World 8 levels that are beyond hard, it sickens me when someone makes a world 8 level at Kaizo Difficulty.

[Radishl]

I hate when people save all of the good gimmicks and stuff until the last few worlds in the episode; seriously, it's NOT cool to bore the shit out of the player until they get to what, world 5/6/7? I could name a lot of episodes, even very popular ones, guilty of this. SMSE, NGCA, and somewhat even LFFTMK

I get really annoyed when people put a super serious novel-size story in their episodes even though Mario isn't a series known for its story

Oh God you'd hate my episode then.

It's not that I hate episodes with stories in them, it's just some episodes try to hard to put drama in a series that isn't a drama anyways.

But hey, if your episode can do a serious story right, well then have at it.

Actually Mario and Luigi Bowsers Inside Story had quite the story.

Your point?

I can point out a lot of others.

[bossedit8]

What I do not really like is that if a Level or Episode is not fully tested enough to play it properly. I do encounter various Levels/Episodes that are made but either not looked around the Area too much like glitching through a 1 block gap sideways or any glitches/bugs, misleading pathways to the World to Level by linking a Level Icon to it or Level to Level by linking a Warp to it and more related to that.

[Flying Brick]

Well, my episode has a pretty big story for a Mario game as well, but that's mostly because I like coming up with that sort of stuff.
On topic, there's not much I actively hate, but lazy boss design is one of the things I always groan at. Boss Rushes as a whole have been pretty lackluster so far as well, a trend I hope my own take on the concept will not end up following.

[bossedit8]

Well, repetitive Boss Fights are not that of a big deal to have since in the original SMB, SMB2, SMB3 and SMW they have Bosses that do are multiple ones and not only one. To me it's fine to have multiple Bosses that are oftenly the same (it can be on a different terrain, theme, blocks and obstacles too) but having to fight them in the exact same Level, once you die you have to do it all over again except if there is a Midway Point.

[12Me21]

You might aswell call this game Super Video Game X.

super platformer X is better

anyway... I hate levels that I can't beat... so... like all of them...

[bossedit8]

I hate levels that I can't beat... so... like all of them...

You just need to practice them.

Levels that are long and hard can also tend into an annoyances since if you die somewhere especially near at the Midway Point or at the Goal, you have to do it all over again depends if you have the Midway/Checkpoint Point or not. Harder Levels are ok unless if they are just extremely annoying to deal with by getting through an obstacle or that is tedious to get past by.

[12Me21]

I hate levels that I can't beat... so... like all of them...

You just need to practice them.

Levels that are long and hard can also tend into an annoyances since if you die somewhere especially near at the Midway Point or at the Goal, you have to do it all over again depends if you have the Midway/Checkpoint Point or not. Harder Levels are ok unless if they are just extremely annoying to deal with by getting through an obstacle or that is tedious to get past by.

The problem is that sometimes it takes a while to retry the part of the level you keep dieing on, especially if you run out of lives, and get sent back to the title screen. or if the part before it is long and boring,

[Vellidragon]

Not sure if it's a trend, but I don't like when levels are super long with only that one midway point. It's very easy to die in Mario and having to repeat what feels like a million screens for a small mistake is frustrating. I think those would work better if they were just split into multiple levels. Nintendo's longer levels tend to be in games that have multiple midway points per level and they don't work well with only one midway point.

[bossedit8]

The problem is that sometimes it takes a while to retry the part of the level you keep dying on, especially if you run out of lives, and get sent back to the title screen. or if the part before it is long and boring,

Yeah, that can tend into an annoyincy too... I do agree by having 0 Lives and having to do all that again by having a Game Over inside a SMBX Episode.

I do also get a bit annoyed if a playable character can't get past a specific spot in a Level just because you are unable to spinjump for example and that without any playable Character Blocks in it.

[Shidomaru]

Emral wrote: people fear changing the playable characters' sprites

Emral just fucking NAILED IT there!!

[Skittlez]

Actually Mario and Luigi Bowsers Inside Story had quite the story.

Your point?

I can point out a lot of others.

Bowser's Inside Story is an RPG though, a genre known for being heavily plot-based. Devoting a lot of the game time to cutscenes or dialog in an RPG is fitting both because it matches the slow-paced nature of the gameplay, and because the gameplay -- which, at its core, is based on manipulation of statistics -- is not really exciting or visceral enough to immerse the player in and of itself.

On the other hand, platformers are more easily able to draw the player in through the gameplay itself, and you'll notice that every platformer in the Mario series has what amounts to a flimsy excuse for a plot. I'm not saying that platformers like SMBX episodes can't or shouldn't attempt to develop a deep plot -- some platformers like Limbo manage to effectively tell a story through the visuals and environment and through the gameplay itself. But a long, text-based story isn't suited for the generally fast-paced gameplay of a platformer.

[ShadowStarX]

It's not a trend, but the very random difficulty can be annoying. Example: Mother brain and Larry koopa in the Invasion 2. Both were in the Koopa Kingdom's 2nd part. (MB was really hard without yoshi or hammer suit, but larry was so easy)

[RudeGuy]

^ The mother brain battle leads to a secret way, which isn't a normal one: it's a star. That's probably why the battle is hard.

I don't like that there aren't some levels designed for just being very hard. I also don't like boss rushes.

[Eternity]

Levels that have multiple paths for the sake of it, specially when some have rewards and others not without any real warning of which leads to what. Not sure if it's common here but I rather dislike it.

And for something I haven't seen in a while, switch blocks. No one uses them in a creative way, it's just an excuse for annoying backtracking and switch block searching usually.

[JupiHornet]

Levels that have multiple paths for the sake of it, specially when some have rewards and others not without any real warning of which leads to what. Not sure if it's common here but I rather dislike it.

And for something I haven't seen in a while, switch blocks. No one uses them in a creative way, it's just an excuse for annoying backtracking and switch block searching usually.

Depends on HOW you use the switch blocks. Watching as303298's playthrough of ToB4 again reminded me how NOT to use them.

I don't like misuse of bosses, like having to kill an SMB3 Bowser with chasing koopas *coughcough*PRINCESS CLICHE*coughcough*