Digital Cube
Release date: Oct 07, 2012
Author: Cloud12
Download: Version 0.8 [UH] (2991 downloads)
Genre: Challenge [?]
Game: SM
Difficulty: Unknown [?]
Average runtime: 0:37
Average collection: 44%
Read Me: [None]
Forum Thread: [None]
Rating: Star Star Star Star Star
Description
So it is Digital Cube, widely influenced by movies Cube/Hypercube/Cube Zero
For people who doesn't saw this movies (first is excellent, second less great, and third clearly crap, so I recommand the first) Some people wake up trapped in a giant cube with multiples cubic rooms, with different color and numbers. Some rooms are deadly traps, like acids, spikes, sound pressure, etc...

This hack is based one the same concept : 49 pain-in-arse square rooms. Good Luck to exit !

STORYLINE : Samus participate to a virtual project simulating a trapped cube, involving ability to fight, to orientate and memorize.

Credit (pathes/asm/hex, help, etc.): JAM, for the 2 digits counter patch he mades for Darkholme. Charmander106 for testing and Squishy_Ichigo for endgame fool x-ray patch

Skillset/s: Walljump, mid air morphing, and a good sense of orientation :)

Related bugs :
Percentage is false at the end so ignore it. True 100% is :
- All items, execept for reserve tank
- 5 enregy cells (1+1+1+1+3)
- 5 missiles packs (32+2+2+2+2)
- 5 rockets packs (32+2+2+2+2)
- 5 explosives packs (32+2+2+2+2)
A semi-corrected bug about varia suit. During the change of priority, i made a wrong hex edit so varia doesn't make any shine effect underwater (screw attack, speed boost), but theses items still works.
Sometimes the blue suit appears in red during few frames in heated rooms.

Clues/Rules :
- Each linked rooms together can't be have the same color
- If you use savestates, use it with caution, be sure you're in a SAFE room
- Some important items are sometimes in deadly rooms. Remember, you can avoid a deadly trap if you be equipped with the right item to exit it (example a trapped yellow room will need power bombs)

Screenshots
Screenshot Screenshot
Ratings and Reviews
By MetroidMst on Apr 02, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
42% in 0:30
Digital Cube is a curious case. For one, there are traps that will kill you, and no save stations at all. However due to the nature of it, that doesn't become too much of an annoyance. That being said, unless you like trying to figure out a puzzle that involves a lot of restarting from the beginning, this is not something you will want to play. Otherwise, it is a pretty solid and unique hack.
By Mon732 on Apr 04, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
I like this. Why?
Digital Cube requires you to either remember the correct route or make a map, this give it a puzzle element while still giving the feeling of exploration.
Sure the traps will kill you but that's part of the fun! .D
By squishy_ichigo on Apr 11, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
By Vismund Cygnus on Apr 20, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
By Dynastyx on Jun 05, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Very good mini hack consisting of just a few rooms that are more puzzle based. Finding the right path is harder then it sounds, especially when there is traps that insta kill you.
By CrAzY on Jun 07, 2015 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Very cool / unique idea for an SM hack, & I think it was executed perfectly.
By lorensj81 on Jan 07, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
45% in 0:55
It was a really cool hack, having to make a map and remember places...

I used savestates tho! ;)
By Maxer203 on Dec 05, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
If I could sum this up in 2 words, it would be "Simply Amazing."
By Aran;Jaeger on Dec 07, 2016 (Star Star Star Star Star )
47% in 0:24
[Watch Video]  
No animals to be saved.

Quick Summary of the meaning of my SM hack ratings:
5 orbs: SM hacks within the 80% to 100% (90% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; SM hacks for outstanding wholesome playing experiences and at most minor inconveniences.
4 orbs: SM hacks within the 60% to 80% (70% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Well done SM hacks with noticeable design problems.
3 orbs: SM hacks within the 40% to 60% (50% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Normal decent average SM hacks.
2 orbs: SM hacks within the 20% to 40% (30% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Overall messy, confusing, or punishing SM hacks with some upsides.
1 orb : SM hacks within the 00% to 20% (10% ± 10%) range of perceived perfection; Ruthlessly unplayable, broken, or barely from the original game changed SM hacks.

Judgement parameters summary:
° Creative ideas and features, polished design, how enjoyable and fun the hack can be, lack of hard to find or cryptic required game elements, the difficulty, and if the hack can be finished without major guides or tools.
° Note that the length of a SM hack will not necessarily contribute to my rating of the SM hack, since instead the averaged out experience over the whole hack will be taken into account to get a relative comparison between SM hacks.
° Besides this, lack of impactful changes from the original SM game also went into the evaluation of SM hacks (otherwise one may consider them among the 3 stars hacks) as follows: Ultimately, for my ratings I consider a situation in which an SM enthusiast that already has, knows about and is familiar with the original game and its prominent mechanics could only choose 1 new SM hack to play and thus would really want to make sure he/she will get a fresh and fantastic experience or journey out of his/her 1 choice.

The goal of all these SM hack ratings is so that rather new players have an overview of the whole spectrum of SM hacks and how to sort them in, in relation to each other, where SM hacks that are rated lower might still be enjoyable for more experienced players.

Finally, sometimes for SM hacks it can be relevant that they may be significantly more enjoyable from a player standpoint at which the player is well practiced and familiarized with Super Metroid's game mechanics in general, and that in particular some of the best SM hacks may not be the outright best first SM hack choices to play otherwise because of this, and for beginner SM hack players this typically steers the best first SM hack choices towards some of the SM hacks that I rated with 4 orbs instead of 5.

Rating for some hacks may be off by 1 Star, but arguably not more, and ratings are not attempted to be provided within the precision of ''half orbs''.
By Pixel_Tiger on Jun 26, 2017 (Star Star Star Star Star )
45% in 0:51
Funny little hack you can play if you want a time out from BIG hacks :). Liked it and got almost all items except 1 missile and super pack.

PS: Last fight is a bit challenging! :)
By Derxu on May 15, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
43% in 0:19
A nice little hack, very nice idea, many traps, and a way through.
I had fun drawing a map and taking notes, while dying multiple times and starting all over.
if you wanna play this hack, you need some capacity for frustration, but getting finally through gives you the rewarding feeling of victory.
By Ri2nOneRok on May 31, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
42% in 0:00
Very tough hack. You will die. Do not forget that. The redesign of the items collected is quite memorable and very well thought out. The soundtrack selection fits very well with the concept of cubed. This is one of the most clever and unique hacks out there. While not a conventional exploration hack or outside the box (pun intended), nor is it very easy, it is definitely worth a play if you are up for the challenge. Brilliant concept
By Croakomire on Dec 11, 2018 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
The lack of saves increases my liking only because of the nature of the hack, remember the route, it's a game of trial and error, there are a few bugs I ran into such as going to "grapple heaven" when entering a door and all the screens had a heart attack, other than that, solid hack
By SuperMetroidSamus on Jun 15, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
it's nice, only thing is that i got really annoyed by the fact that i come so far, screw attack without ice beam and i savestate there so i HAVE to start from the beginning.
By Sapphron on Jul 16, 2019 (Star Star Star Star Star )
44% in 0:12
This hack took me 4 hours and 28 deaths.
Playing Digital Cube without savestates and going for 100% (aka 47%)is going to frustrate you. A lot.
A certain grapple puzzle to get a rocket may force you inside a wall, forcing you to reset which is like 15 minutes into the game. Some door transitions (when entered in spring ball jump) put you too high, setting you inside a solid block that you can't escape from again, stucking you.
The trial and error aspects were kind of stupid imo, it's such a linear path but at least it forces you to think where your next objective is.
This hack is really good if you play it with savestates. If going for 100% without, don't even bother. You'll be quite frustrated by that one puzzle and end up resetting 4 times like I did.
By darkrid12 on Jan 03, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
47% in 0:50
I really enjoyed this hack, took me about 2-3 hours, wasn't keeping track of RTA this time. Took about... 10 deaths before I started using save states realizing that there were no saves. Only had an issue with the grapple block putting me in the floor causing a softlock. Went for and achieved 100% with save states. Probably died 29 times, but enjoyed the ending fight and route to get there. Well done!
By benox50 on Feb 01, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Sadly you will need to use savestates to enjoy that one because of the concept, but apart from that its an amazing concept.
Really original, well based on cube movie (Im one that actually watched the movie and enjoyed it mostly for the concept again).
Still really unique hack, concept is well executed, every rooms feel like a mystery to uncover, you feel traped, lost and toyed around by unknown forces.
I really love that you set rules like the doors color and each rooms beeing a 1x1, really unique hack.
By Elminister on Jul 30, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
47% in 0:54
As many have said above, this romhack is one of the best.
It has a clear concept that is wonderfully implemented through the mechanics of Super Metroid.

You can play this quicker with save states, but I found it quite fun and challenge to map out the cube by hand and try to find the right path out in one try. It's much harder but much more rewarding - I recommend it!


--very minor spoiler / advice warning--
Two pieces of feedback for the creator/advice for the player:


a) The only room with a name in the hack is a little misleading, I believe a (?) could help new players not give up and reset. I'd call it "Infinite Room?"

b) Once you find how to deal with "Infinite Room?" do not go back the way you came - it glitched my game and soft-locked me - no fun. I assume it's too hard to fix directly so making that path one-way would be an easy fix to prevent encountering the glitch.
By Kremit44 on Dec 11, 2020 (Star Star Star Star Star )
44% in 0:38
It's interesting and it's exactly what it wants to be but it's also not that fun at times. My main gripe is that guessing the right door just doesn't feel very rewarding even when you are lucky enough to be right. This makes death feel cheap. I also found the solution to the infinite room extremely cryptic/random as I have no idea why the game let me past.

I wish the author would do something cool like give an accompanying quiz or puzzle one would have to correctly solve so that choosing the right room wouldn't come down to chance. I've done some corn mazes with my family as a kid and the way they made those fun was by rewarding you with the correct path by getting the answer right. I suspect I would have given this hack a 5 if I was given the chance to make informed decisions.

Some will like it a lot but I suspect many will also be like me, folks who respect the hack but found it more annoying to figure out than fun. It's so well put together I can see why one would could give it a 5 given the excellent presentation but I feel the fun factor could be much higher.
Thanks to the creator for a well put together hack, even if it wasn't completely my cup of tea.
By H A M on Jun 07, 2022 (Star Star Star Star Star )
No completion stats.
Has inescapable death traps.
By Altzan on May 05, 2024 (Star Star Star Star Star )
40% in 0:42
A hack that isn't perfect but is pretty impressive for what it is. The style and visuals of it were what I appreciated the most, as well as the map itself (both physically and on the pause screen). Interesting to explore.

As others have stated, this hack has no save stations and can insta-kill you. So unless you're masochistic, I highly recommend using save states frequently, especially when entering new rooms, as otherwise all you're doing is punishing your deaths with increasing amounts of repetition.

It's more of a short (if not brutal) puzzle hack of sorts.

My two final critiques I'll mention are spoilers for the last part of the hack, so don't read on if you're still deciding whether or not to play it.

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[1]The infinite room was annoying to deal with. I don't think the clue helps much other than SM veterans who understand how door transitions work, because otherwise the possibility the hint tries to convey will never occur to the average person. At least, that's how I feel about it. I didn't mind the other tricky or strange parts of exploring the map, but that one left me annoyed.

[2]And the final boss is pretty tough with an irregular arena (the half-floor) and no ability to harm him with charged beams as you'd expect to be able to. I was able to slog through it by farming his bombing attack for super missile drops, but it felt less "challenging" and more "repetitive".

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So yeah - there's stuff I don't really like, but stuff I do, and I can't help but admit it's very unique. Will I ever replay it? Probably not. Am I glad to have given it a try? Yeah, I am.

And am I glad save states exist? You bet.

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