ROM Hack Reviews

I don't know where to post this, so I'm hoping my judgement is right... Also, I apologise if this exists, and I'm sorry if this angers the ROM Hacking Newsletter team...

This thread is for those who have hacks to share. They can be of anything, and you review them in at least a paragraph. You give a brief description, your opinion and a rating /10. No links to ROM's. I'll begin with:

Brutal Mario aka Super Kitiku World by carol

Mario has become a tyrant after ruling Mushroom Kingdom... Thats all I got as the story's in Japanese. It has all the bosses from Super Mario World, as well as added ones from any game. There's Marx in the recent one, and Megaman characters in the older ones. A new rival is also created in the form of a little Pink Puffball. Travel through the challenging levels that are designed to make you think outside of Mario, and new ways of finishing.
I think this is a great hack, and is challenging, especially the latest release. I love the new additions and the new techniques used from boss to boss. My rating is... 9/10!

NEW FORM!

Use this for adding ROM Reviews:

Hack Title: The title of the hack being reviewed
Hack Author: The name of the person whom either the hack belongs to or is
leading development of it (whichever is more correct)
Hack Reviewer: [Most likely your name]
Rating: Split it into:
/5 Originality
/5 Tiles, pallettes and sprites (can't rate unchanged tiles, pallettes or sprites. Only rate what has been changed)
/5 Scripting (Or added features ie more pokemon, new characters in Sonic etc...)
/5 Mapping (Level Layout)
Review: The actual review

iPro. said:

Err...Why make this? There's virtually no point whatsoever. The Newslatter team review enough hacks already.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I see no reason in the creation of this thread, because RHN covers this every week...
This is basically a rip-off of it too. :(
Sorry if I sounded mean, but that's just my opinion on this

I don't see the problem. If people aren't satisfied with the review(s) in the RHN, why can't they have somewhere else to go to get reviews? Why does the RHN have to be the only provider of reviews? What makes the RHN's reviews so 'official'?
I personally like the idea as it might give me an outlet for expressing my thoughts and opinions on hacks around the forums. It will give people a chance to have their hack reviewed by different people, therefore gathering opinions from several different angles. Besides, if you all don't like the idea, then you don't have to come to this thread.

It might also improve people's writing skills. I'm not going to point any fingers...

I concur.

Maybe, to improve chances of review after the first few reviews or so, the person who reviewed is allowed to offer their hack as a point for review, sorta like advertising. Of course, everyone still has the ability to pick a hack they want to review (it's not like they're limited to the advertisement).

It could also work backwards, in a way (i.e. Somebody1123 makes a horrible review. Their hack that they advertised wouldn't get as many reviews as, say, someone who spent an hour on their review. I dunno. :P)

Err, yeah.

Often we tend to overlook hacks that do not possess some great, obvious originality. We look for an idea that we have never seen before, automatically assuming that creativity trumps quality; if something is new and unseen before, it must be good. But rarely do we get to see such originality in the form of qualities not as blatant as a fresh, brand new concept. For example, Pokémon Ruby Destiny - Rescue Rangers is a great hack but not because of it's revolutionary idea of playing as a pokémon (although no doubt it definitely contributes to its success). Instead, one must read between the lines, so to speak, and see the true quality of the hack which, unfortunately for those without a sharp eye for subtle details, may not be screamed out at you in the screenshots in a hack's thread. No, the true value of a hack lies in the things one doesn't see. This is the by far the main reason why I absolutely love the hack Pokémon: Azure Horizons by Frostbite.

The graphics in Azure Horizons are simply stunning. Frostbite has made quite a number of graphical modifications although many people (the duller ones) will not take notice of most of them. He has flawlessly fused graphics from both RSE and FR/LG. Upon close inspection, one can see the various tiles he has borrowed, including two types of trees, the emerald grass tile (which I consider beautiful), and many more (I don't want to ruin any surprises ;)). From all the material I have observed, I have noticed the incredible detail Frostbite has gone into. The slight block edits here and there, which often go unseen to the untrained eye, as well as the (near)flawless tree shading[alink id=point]*[/alink id] both prove this. And to think Frostbite did such brilliant tree shading before Punk Rocker even came out with his Tree Shading Tutorial is astounding. The new textboxes are very appealing, hopefully enhancing the graphical aspect of the scripts. Speaking of which, the video and screenshots which Frostbite have provided give us little insight as to the quality of the scripts but given the amount of attention he has paid to the tiny aspect of graphical appeal, I can only assume they will be just as breath-taking.

Another impressive feature I have noticed is the inclusion of little RSE goodies here and there. My favourite would have to be the select RSE music tracks Frostbite has included. Music editing/inserting is no easy task (at least not for me^^) and it always seems to be awfully under-recognized for the amount of work that is put into that area. And to think that Frostbite is doing practically all of the work on this hack alone is, again, simply amazing. Graphically, Frostbite has also borrowed several tiles from RSE, subtly incorporating them in with the standard FR/LG tiles. I'm afraid to go into more detail on the RSE graphics for fear of ruining the surprise of happening upon little goodies in a hack. The slight graphical modification remind me of Pokémon: Genesis. These two hacks are very similar (graphically speaking) and yet one has achieved 2nd Place in the Hack of the Year while one has been overlooked by the masses. Perhaps it is true that the author of a hack can substantially affect the hack's success...

All in all, Azure Horizons is by far one of the better hacks on the PokéCommunity Forums. It's subtle beauty sets it apart from many hacks, although in a good way. It shocks me to see such a brilliant hack on the third page of the Progressing Hacks Forum. It is truly a delightful work of art and it has been a pleasure to monitor it's progress. I am still hoping to see a playable version in the not too distant future but for now, we can only wait. I can't wait to see what else Frostbite has in store for us. Despite the lack of attention paid to it, I still hold it, and it's author, in high regards.
Keep up the excellent work, Frostbite!

Take a look at Azure Horizons's Thread if you want to see more.

[a id]point[/a id]* There's a tile error in this screenshot.

__________________

Perhaps you should create some sort of form for future reviews?
Here's a suggestion:

Yeah, this really isn't a bad idea. Perhaps you could choose a hack for everybody to review every week. That way, you get lots of opinions, and the team knows what to work on.

Well, unlike RHN, you can review anything. From SMW to Sonic hacks. Also, if this wasn't a good idea and a rip off, the mods would have closed it. All I'm going to say is that don't review any that RHN has already done. As long as you don't Spam the thread.

Thanks colcolstyles. I have now got a form, courtesy of colcolstyles. This is what you must fill in if you submit a review.

Hack Title: The title of the hack being reviewed
Hack Author: The name of the person whom either the hack belongs to or is
leading development of it (whichever is more correct)
Hack Reviewer: [Most likely your name]
Rating: Split it into:
/5 Originality
/5 Tiles and pallettes (can't rate unchanged tiles)
/5 Scripting
/5 Mapping
Review: The actual review

You might want to put that form in the first post so people can easily access it.

New Review:

Hack Title: Sonic 1 Megamix
Hack Author: Sonic Tweaker, and team
Hack Reviewer: Marxvile
Rating: 4/5 Originality
4/5 Tiles, pallettes and sprites (can't rate unchanged tiles, pallettes or sprites. Only rate what has been changed)
5/5 Scripting (Or added features ie more pokemon, new characters in Sonic etc...)
5/5 Mapping (Level Layout)

Review: This hack is of Sonic 1. It has the same story basically. In the Final Release, you can be Sonic, Tails, Mighty, Shadow or Knuckles. The bosses are the same, except for 1, which is the 2nd boss. It saves after each level, so you can pick up where you left off. Its stages are different and unique and when you have all Chaos Emeralds and Continue your normal game, if you get 50 rings and press B+C, you turn Super, and you can play the original Sonic the Hedgehog with these characters and also Super Mode. It is a very fun hack, and has an Extra Mode for each character (unlocked when you finish a game for that character) where you try and beat the game in 1 life, but some boxes turn you into Super Form. I like this hack, and definately recommend it to anyone. I love its uniqueness, and the new boss, which I hate but love at the same time.

Pics of New characters: