Super Mario Effects

Nintendo’s game has received more remakes, sequels, reboots, and fan tributes than anyone can count. The great majority of these are not very good, because although platformers might look deceivingly simple to an outside observer, there are plenty of things to take into consideration in order for the gameplay to be smooth and the controls responsive.

Super Mario Effects does not try to pose as a new game, and it accepts the fact that it is nothing more than an indie production attempting to refine the product of a giant. However, that doesn’t make things right, because the game at hand is still very poorly designed and quite difficult to swallow, regardless of whether you are an old fan of the franchise or not.

There’s no story going on in the background, which means that you have to jump straight into the action and just go from one end of the levels to the other. No princess is waiting for you at the end, not even a castle filled with lava and dragons. Hence, all you do is run around stomping goombas for a few levels, trying to cope with the terrible controls.

As everyone knows, platformers are all about jumping around from platform to platform, usually as fast as you can. However, the game at hand denies you that possibility, due to the fact that the collision system is quite unrefined and you’re always liable to slip and fall, even if Mario is technically sitting on the box in question. The same goes for the controls, which are very jumpy and not always as responsive as you would want them to be.

The graphics are quite nice, on the other hand, especially when it comes to the backgrounds and the animations. Unfortunately, not the same can be said about the level design itself, because it can sometimes be a bit too boring and repetitive. The music and the sound effects are very plain and unimpressive, which also hurts the overall atmosphere.

When it’s all said and done, it doesn’t really matter how much you love the Super Mario Bros. franchise, if the game you are trying to play is more frustrating than fun. Hence, Super Mario Effects has too many disadvantages as of yet to be worth the playthrough, unless you have nothing else to do.