PikaJade
Member
Guess who's making character prototypes instead of working on long term projects again~?
I believe it was last night that I was hit with a random idea. Had anyone made a character that could store enemies, then spawn them again later in a different place? From my limited research (going back and playing Milne and Yoshi for a couple minutes each to see how they handled regular enemies and Lance-a-Bots), it didn't seem like it.
After that, I got to work putting together a mod to put in mechanics from the black sheep of the NES Mario trilogy, Super Mario Bros. 2/USA! It has its flaws, but I've always found SMB2 just too charming to resist. And now, not too long later, SMB2 Mario is here!
SMB2 Mario's main mechanic is the Pluck ability. If you press Spin, in the air or on the ground, Mario will pluck a turnip out of the ground - or... air? Try not to think too hard about it - and start holding it above his head. You may notice that SMB2 Mario is pretty slow by default. Holding a turnip speeds him up a bit, though he's still not as fast as the vanilla cast. Press Spin again to throw the turnip, defeating any enemy in its way as it flies. It'll vanish after hitting one, though.
His second ability is passive, and not quite as useful on its own. SMB2 Mario can stand on enemies and hitch a ride on top! Since a lot of SRB2's enemies try and chase you down, you can steer them in the direction you want to go, though none of them are any more useful than walking on foot. When combined with SMB2 Mario's other ability, though, and it becomes worthwhile. If you use the Pluck ability while standing on an enemy, you'll pick it up instead! When holding an enemy, SMB2 Mario runs faster than even the vanilla cast. Be careful, though - if you throw an enemy and it doesn't hit anything, it'll land back on the ground, and probably immediately try and attack you! SMB2 Mario can also pick up monitors and pushable items this way. To break a monitor, he'll have to throw something at it, or vice versa.
SMB2 Mario's last ability is the Power Squat Jump! Hold Custom 1 to crouch. If you crouch for at least 1 second, SMB2 Mario will begin to flash. He'll continue flashing for a few seconds after standing up. If you jump while SMB2 Mario is flashing like this, you'll jump extra high! A Power Squat Jump can also break fragile floors and walls. Thanks, DSZ2!
One trick that I've noticed is using the Pluck ability to cancel momentum, similar to Fang's Bounce speed cuts. SMB2 Mario's velocity is halved when first using the Pluck ability. This can be used to negate momentum, take vertical corners more sharply, and even counteract knockback from getting hit - that last use case wasn't intentional, but I'm keeping it in because it's cool.
Known issues:
...y'know, since he runs faster when he's holding an enemy, wouldn't that make this more of an SMB2 Toad? Eh, whatever, the placeholder sprites are Mario, so it's Mario for now.
EDIT: Forgot to attach the mod. This is what staying up until half past midnight will do to you, kids.
I believe it was last night that I was hit with a random idea. Had anyone made a character that could store enemies, then spawn them again later in a different place? From my limited research (going back and playing Milne and Yoshi for a couple minutes each to see how they handled regular enemies and Lance-a-Bots), it didn't seem like it.
After that, I got to work putting together a mod to put in mechanics from the black sheep of the NES Mario trilogy, Super Mario Bros. 2/USA! It has its flaws, but I've always found SMB2 just too charming to resist. And now, not too long later, SMB2 Mario is here!
SMB2 Mario's main mechanic is the Pluck ability. If you press Spin, in the air or on the ground, Mario will pluck a turnip out of the ground - or... air? Try not to think too hard about it - and start holding it above his head. You may notice that SMB2 Mario is pretty slow by default. Holding a turnip speeds him up a bit, though he's still not as fast as the vanilla cast. Press Spin again to throw the turnip, defeating any enemy in its way as it flies. It'll vanish after hitting one, though.
His second ability is passive, and not quite as useful on its own. SMB2 Mario can stand on enemies and hitch a ride on top! Since a lot of SRB2's enemies try and chase you down, you can steer them in the direction you want to go, though none of them are any more useful than walking on foot. When combined with SMB2 Mario's other ability, though, and it becomes worthwhile. If you use the Pluck ability while standing on an enemy, you'll pick it up instead! When holding an enemy, SMB2 Mario runs faster than even the vanilla cast. Be careful, though - if you throw an enemy and it doesn't hit anything, it'll land back on the ground, and probably immediately try and attack you! SMB2 Mario can also pick up monitors and pushable items this way. To break a monitor, he'll have to throw something at it, or vice versa.
SMB2 Mario's last ability is the Power Squat Jump! Hold Custom 1 to crouch. If you crouch for at least 1 second, SMB2 Mario will begin to flash. He'll continue flashing for a few seconds after standing up. If you jump while SMB2 Mario is flashing like this, you'll jump extra high! A Power Squat Jump can also break fragile floors and walls. Thanks, DSZ2!
One trick that I've noticed is using the Pluck ability to cancel momentum, similar to Fang's Bounce speed cuts. SMB2 Mario's velocity is halved when first using the Pluck ability. This can be used to negate momentum, take vertical corners more sharply, and even counteract knockback from getting hit - that last use case wasn't intentional, but I'm keeping it in because it's cool.
Known issues:
- If you aren't too horribly opposed to the idea of cheating, do yourself a favor and skip CEZ3. It's downright painful with this character. I doubled the throwing speed of the turnips just to make it possible.
- Some enemy interactions are untested and may be buggy. I know that Green Snappers could SIGSEGV your game before I fixed that specific interaction, so watch out. Dragonbombers surprisingly don't cause similar errors, though they are visually buggy.
- Multiplayer interactions (including skin switching) are untested and may be buggy.
- Automatic control mode is untested and may be buggy... probably not, though.
- SMB2 Mario cannot currently use skin colors - he'll always appear red unless he's been colorized.
- Reverse gravity is wonky. Pulling enemies and crouching makes Mario fly away in stuttery fashion, and held enemies appear below Mario and are thrown from that position.
- Mario will sometimes slowly fall through an enemy and take damage when he should have landed on it.
- Mario cannot crouch while riding a Gold Buzz.
- Mario seemingly can't ride Red Buzzes at all - he simply takes damage, even though this isn't a specifically coded exceptions. Under some finnicky circumstances, he can get on top of one, but good luck getting that to happen consistently.
- A thrown Egg Guard that has had its shield broken will have it respawn upon landing, leading to buggy movement.
- If you pluck an enemy just as it dies, you can end up carrying a dust cloud around.
- Mario's sprites are from the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2/USA, but the turnip sprite is from the Super Mario All-Stars version.
- Sometimes, when nearly but not quite landing on an enemy, SMB2 Mario will randomly begin rolling.
- Green Snappers will sometimes become harmless and unrideable.
- Minecarts spontaneously explode when SMB2 Mario rides them, making ACZ2 unbeatable.
- Clearing a NiGHTs Special Stage causes a SIGSEGV. This doesn't happen in NiGHTs mode, nor with the MP Special Stages. This happens regardless of whether or not you successfully get the emerald.
...y'know, since he runs faster when he's holding an enemy, wouldn't that make this more of an SMB2 Toad? Eh, whatever, the placeholder sprites are Mario, so it's Mario for now.
EDIT: Forgot to attach the mod. This is what staying up until half past midnight will do to you, kids.
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