Sickwood's Hack Reviews - Metroid Construction

Super Junkoid by P. Yoshi [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Oct 11, 2023 (

)

100% in 4:12

The shear level of creativity, artistry, talent and technical knowledge that went into this amazing hack is just hard for a non-artist like myself to wrap my mind around. I have no idea what the root story of the Junko world stemmed from, but this homebrew is among the greatest passion projects I've come across. I can't give enough praise and thanks for this hack, and although unlikely, would love to see a sequel. Highly recommended.

Super Metroid: Ascent by Benox50 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Mar 07, 2023 (

)

No completion stats.

I'm glad I'm just now giving Ascent it's due after having time to reflect on its greatness and consider it against some other recent big releases. Ascent to me is still the best hack ever made. It's uniqueness alone is still unmatched. Zone 1 is a nice intro and lays the foundation to how the hack flows and by far the easiest zone for exploration and being able to 100%. Right from the start you notice custom enemies that permeate the whole hack and immediately think of the insane effort that went into this masterpiece. Zone 2 ramps up the complexity and puzzles, and introduces some massive rooms with lots going on in them, and the health recovery/danger patches were employed and placed brilliantly. The tiles and color textures in Zone 2 combined with the visual affects in some of the toxic rooms is just mind blowing and like nothing I've seen before in any SNES game. Zone 2 is also where the new ASM mechanics really start to impress. I typically don't prefer PB based games, but Ascent does a great job of not making the PB mechanics invasive and that combined with boost ball and the speed changes, to me is the best use of PB yet. I never get bored bouncing around Zone 2 taking in jaw dropping visuals. Zone 3 picks right back up on the visual presentation and the Maridia-esque area never looked better. It was nice that boost ball ignores water physics and makes for some very entertaining movement and shortcuts in that area before suit upgrade. Zone 3 also introduces the first theme dichotomy in the hack with lush vibrant water rooms below and Hell's kitchen above that makes Hyper Metroid's lower norfair look like Disney Land. Deep dark rooms with deadly everything is the signature of upper Zone 3 along with a crescendo in puzzle implementation. I always dread this area, not because of the difficulty, but because it signifies the end is near. The final sequence is just insane with custom everything and just a great departure from the usual Tourian experience. I bet Ascent will still be at the top of the search list on the main site 5 years from now, and for good reason. Let's hope Benox drops another hack one day.

Super Metroid Nature by Jefe962 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Feb 13, 2023 (

)

No completion stats.

Hack looks better each time I play it. Just really aesthetic palette choices everywhere. Fun for a 2 hour romp a couple times a year during hack droughts and for nostalgia.

otherRotation by BuggMann [

Vanilla+], rated by Sickwood on Dec 12, 2022 (

)

100% in 2:25

I'm always hesitant giving 5 stars for a Vanilla+ hack, but BuggMann just keeps outdoing himself each iteration of his rotation hacks. The attention to detail and rotating literally every possible thing is what pushed it over the edge for me. Now this wouldn't be possible without the original Rotation, but this one is definitely the best of them all from an effort and polish standpoint (except his 360 hack dropped on 4/1 in the forum). I liked that he kept the adjusted underwater wall jumps from the original and I can't remember if the original had water bomb jumps too, but they are definitely appreciated when wanting to do something like PRKD. Now that Bugg has run out right angles to rotate, what's next? Rotated hacks? Rotated Z-factor? JK, but great job and thanks for the hack.

Super metroid familiar by Tundain [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Nov 09, 2022 (

)

91% in 4:19

I can't understate how much fun I had playing this one and to me Familiar is the best pure Vanilla hack since Reimagined in 2016. I was fairly entertained until I found a very early sequence break that peaked my interest to find more and put together the oddest route I could find. From there the freedom of movement combined with the very clever Vanilla room blending and layout had me hooked the rest of the time. Hidden secrets were certainly plentiful to the point I was scratching my head looking for the final 9% before ultimately deciding to finish, but will revisit this one again soon for cleanup. The 3D Chozo statue hologram thingy in Maridia was a pretty cool random effect. Overall, another great effort by one of the rising hacking stars. Thanks for the hack.

SM - Cryogenesis by Onnyks [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Jan 16, 2022 (

)

100% in 7:25

Addictive hack that combines the impressive artistic use of tiles reminiscent of Eris and the best use of the background layer yet. The map looks sneaky small, but is virtually 1.5x bigger thanks to the author's Billy Mays 2 for the price of 1 room making strategy. Tons of clever hidden secrets that never got boring hunting out 100%. Some bosses had a little help from their friends and it sounds like they are getting reskinned for the final version. Can't wait for the final expanded version and no matter how much or little is added, this is an epic hack. My only personal hope would be that the final boss gets his own area because you kind of just stumble upon him when remembering to check a certain area after an upgrade, but no big deal. Thanks for the hack and congrats on the win.

Super Metroid: Hotlands by MetroidNerd#9001 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Dec 28, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Had the pleasure of being a beta tester for Hotlands. The level of polish from even the initial version was quite astounding. Metroidnerd had the courage to stray away from the usual G4 format, and created a hack that was fun to play, fun to explore, and brought something fresh and new to the most renowned hacked game ever. Its a must play for casuals or veterans and I can see it being a race hack for the ages. Congrats on the hack and winning some cold hard cash.

Super Metroid: Z-Factor by Metaquarius [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Nov 04, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

All time great hack. Finally got around to playing the 1.0 version after having only played 1.3 for years and it was a great way to freshen up the game. With 1.1 and 1.2 still available and Galamoz's randomizer on the hard drive; I'll be playing Z-Factor a couple times a year forever. Hopefully someone else will make another massive vanilla exploration hack like this again.

Super Metroid: Y-Faster 2 Furious by Metaquarius [

Speedrun/Race], rated by Sickwood on Jul 25, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Damn I love these Y-Faster games. Super entertaining. Keep em' coming Meta.

Eris by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Apr 25, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

I should have rated this a long time ago. Now I'm rating it because some jackass above me shit on one of my favorite hacks of all time along with many other great hacks recently. Nothing pisses me off more than when people drop a 1 star rating just because they don't have the skill level to play the game or are so narcissistic that they think the game should have been designed for them. How about you show some respect to people that spend literally years making a game for others to enjoy for FREE. Either don't rate it or get gud! Long live Dman

Super Metroid Kaizo Possible by Lioran [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Mar 12, 2021 (

)

43% in 6:44

By far the best challenge hack I've ever played. Using oatsngoats video as a route guide and savestates, I was shocked I was able to finish this one. Everytime I thought I was stuck at an obstacle, I found an alternative strat to progress. I plan on replaying to see if there were alternative paths than what Oats used. For example, the first super missile required an insane amount of bluesuit/xray jumps that I kept screwing up, so I just reset and brought a spikesuit down there and activated it on the crumble blocks, but it looked like there might have been a path coming from the right? I also thought I was stuck outside of Draygon because my emulator setup has too much pause delay to do a double Springball jump, but I assume the intended strat was to knock off the crab on the left and follow it to grapple on the right? I'm also curious if the original version had a grapple block to get out of Draygon or if xray climb was intended because it seemed like it was setup for the xray climb. And were you really supposed to go OOB down a sandfall in the Maridia section to get a missile pack randomly in a wall down in a sandpit? No one would have been able to play this blind like Sapphron said, especially the required missile hunt. Lastly I'd like to thank Oats for obviously influencing Lioran to add a MB2/MB3 hybrid and an escape timer which wasn't in his version and I wasn't expecting at all and instantly died by running into her head that I thought was dead. That hybrid MB, although really cool, sucks because she attacks like MB2 and takes damage like MB3, but no hyper beam so you have to charge shot her and can't stun her from attacking. Interestingly you can break the escape timer by leaving the chamber immediately, otherwise you have 1:30, so definitely recommend glitching the timer. Incredible hack that might not have even been remembered if it wasn't for Lioran. Thanks for your hard work.

Super Metroid Containment Chamber by Lioran [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Jan 07, 2021 (

)

16% in 2:06

Great stuff. This helped me finally learn how to execute temp bluesuit transition into springball jumps. Overall the puzzles seemed more consistent and fun to execute compared to Contamination, which was good too, but I liked this one more. Thanks for the hack.

V I T A L I T Y by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Nov 13, 2020 (

)

94% in 8:55

Completion time is inflated from extra time minor item seeking. Not much to say that hasn't been said other than thank you for this amazing hack. I really hope that this isn't Dman's last work of art. Its very interesting to see the evolution of his hacks. Started out with Cliffhanger that was super challenge oriented with art sprinkled in there. Then came Eris with challenge down a notch, but the art and creativity significantly ramped up. Now Vitality that doesn't require any advanced tech and accessible to beginners, and the art now through the roof. I love them all and hope one day to play his work again no matter what the style is.

Cliffhanger Redux by Digital_Mantra [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Nov 01, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

Revisited this after Vitality and it was probably the most satisfying completion of any hack I've played. I usually group hacks into 2 groups; either fun to play or satisfying/rewarding. Rarely does a hack fit into both categories and this one did. Felt even more rewarding than Eris, Mockingbird Station, and Containment Chamber. Between the tight hell runs, the well designed speedball tricks, the ninja midair morphs from both jump and grapple, this game had it all. Every room was a challenge and getting through it slowly, but surely was super rewarding. The art scattered about was amazing too and shows the origins of the Dman brilliance. The first time I played it a long time ago I was an idiot and thought the first e-tank required a double HBJ and ended up putting it on ice. This time around I couldn't put it down. The best thing about this hack is as you go along, you can feel your confidence increasing. By the end you can pretty much speed run through previously completed areas. I even played it through a second time and carried a bluesuit from Draygon all over the place busting through enemies and speedblocks collecting items just for fun. Even kept it through MB and used the spark during the escape as I didn't want the game to end. 10/10. Dman hacks are the best.

Super Metroid: Life by Nevyn 1.0 / DCR 1.2 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Mar 31, 2023 (

)

99% in 4:05

I tend to have rosier glasses when it comes to hack reviews compared to most, so I did enjoy this old gem quite a bit. I didn't realized until a recent playthrough how interesting the item progression is and how the hack guides you through it including suitless Maridia which usually doesn't happen naturally. My only complaint is I assumed the final ammo count was a nice even 90/15/5 and ended up with 99% which violated my OCD principles. If you are new to the community and enjoyed Tundain's recent release "Familiar," then you'd probably enjoy this one.

The Adam Virus by Crystal_Knight [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Mar 19, 2023 (

)

96% in 0:26

Very nice mini-hack. I thought I already played it, but was Adam's Hack I mixed it up with. The recovering of items was weird, but cool. You can be in the middle of a jump and all of sudden be awarded an item. There is an OOB when collecting a missile in a morph tunnel in a heated area, just collect the missile and don't roll any further in the tunnel. Loved the tiling and the progression with a little bit of rewarding back tracking if you so choose. Reminded me of Space Junk quite a bit from same author. Recommended

a nice place visit by neen [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Oct 30, 2022 (

)

25% in 2:26

This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but for a first hack and a challenge hack, I did enjoy it. As the preview pics show, there are some interesting rooms and backgrounds to be seen. Mandatory progression items do require some semi-advanced tech, and there's other built in challenges as well. There was a chokepoint during exploration that was pretty tough to find the path forward that normally I'd grind out, but I had invited the author to watch a playthrough and for the sake of not boring him to death, I did get a hint, but was still the biggest time eater of the playthrough. The rest of the level and map design was pretty solid for a first time effort. The escape is quite beefy and difficult to pull off first try for a few reasons, but was pretty unique and satisfying to finish. Good job Neen, looking forward to future works.

Super Metroid HOTA by Hotarubi [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Sep 05, 2022 (

)

83% in 20:12

Decided to play this one day on a whim and I'm really glad I did. I had read the reviews after it won best challenge last year, but that was the extent of what I knew about it. It's definitely a niche hack that not many would enjoy and it's not a perfect or aesthetic looking challenge hack, but I'm amazed that Hota was able to design this as a first hack and squeeze in so many puzzles in a manner that made sense and was consistent with item and route progression. He even used some custom code in the process and pretty much emptied the wiki of every exploit in the book. Big thanks to ED for hanging out every night and dropping subtle hints when needed. Having a player of his caliber around inspired me to keep going. Not much else to say that hasn't been covered by other reviewers. Overall, definitely deserving of best challenge hack of 2019 and a memorable experience.

Thanks for the hack Hota.

Review is for version 1.5 standard version

Metroid RBO GR2 by GR2 [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Jun 06, 2022 (

)

100% in 8:05

Played this a couple years ago after really liking GR2 half-hack and didn't get very far. I had fallen for a trap early on thinking certain normal room and door connections were blocked off and missed a very important item when not finding a hidden passage. Tried it again with more attention to detail and had a great time. The author brilliantly routes you through a RAMBO, not just RBO. To get 100% you pretty much have to go through every room multiple times after getting upgrades, there are 256 items!! I would recommend keeping a written log of unobtainable items as you go along to save time on the back end, if you're into 100%. The author does mark a dot on the map for every item, but sometimes there are two items in the vicinity of the same dot. Tons of fun puzzles and wacky boss alterations like GR2 half-hack. The aforementioned maze in pre-speed is tempting to do without Varia as Sapphron mentioned, but not doable or necessary at that point. The bosses weren't that bad once you figure out the vulnerabilities and patterns of some of them, but the increasing difficulty was very well done. There's quite a few grey doors linked to progression, but don't forget to check for enemies killed in the room. GR2 is a really creative hacker and would be really cool to see an original hack next. Recommended with caveat that it's long, somewhat challenging, and still a half-hack.

Super Metroid: Breach by Leodox [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on May 18, 2022 (

)

86% in 5:10

If you're not looking for Vitality level polish in every hack you play, then this is a fun, Vanilla-ish full overhaul hack. Kind of akin to hacks like Hidden and Falling with Leodox's usual pastel palettes. Probably my third favorite from Leo behind Chester and Gathering. What I liked most about it was the hidden secrets and exploration. I've played it a few times over the years and still can't get beyond 86% and have no clue if it actually goes up to 100%, but really enjoyed item hunting. First time I played it I ended up doing a lot of suitless Maridia, but is completely unnecessary. The switch system was pretty cool and was a good replacement for waiting at the G4 cutscene forever. The escape timer might get you first time through trying to find the way out of Tourian, but was happy to see Tourian changed up. Recommend for those that like full exploration hacks and don't mind minor non game breaking bugs.

Super Metroid: space Junk (Not Contest Ver.) by Crystal Knight [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on May 16, 2022 (

)

100% in 2:05

One of my all time favorite Metconst contest hacks. Played it several years back, but played again today to try and find 100%. I think the first time I played it I expected there was a nice even number of missiles and kept looking for one more pack, but ended up finding a PB for the final item making the final ammo disturbing for an OCDer like myself. Plenty of cool little secrets and was neat that Crys was able to include all upgrades. There's a scroll error in a water grapple room, a missile refill that doesn't work, but never found any permastucks during any playthroughs. Great quick play to revisit every so often.

Super Ethical Metroid by dewhi100 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on May 12, 2022 (

)

99% in 2:25

It's amazing how just rearranging Vanilla rooms with some tweaks can net an experience way more interesting than just a standard half-hack. The lost Error caverns didn't bother me too much and I thought it was cool how it converted to its own area after defeating Phantoon, but the Zelda lost woods puzzle took me forever to crack (although it was cool to get Samus near the speed of light with a moonfall fooling around there though). Liked the Norfair design a lot and the interconnectedness of everything. Couldn't find one Super pack to save my life. Thanks for the hack Dewhi. Cough, KPF sucks.

Recommend

Super Metroid CRE by Tundain [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on May 08, 2022 (

)

100% in 0:42

Really impressive and creative for a first time hack and judging by some of the author's submissions to ROTM, looks like another talented hacker has arrived. It was fun figuring out the corresponding enemy resprites, really well done. I also liked how the map was perfectly symmetrical; made finding 100% pretty easy to pull off first time through once it dawns on you. The map also kinda reminded me of level 9 of Zelda 1. Really nice selection of the upgrades as well considering the size of it. Looking forward to whatever that beauty is Tundain is working on in ROTM and the forum. Cough, KPF sucks.

Recommend highly

Harvest by Oi27 [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Apr 24, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

Another ridiculously good hack from the Oats' contest. Between Biohazard, Hotlands, Fugue, Cryo, and now Harvest, probably the best contest ever. I loved all the special room states, insane ASM, custom enemies, speed booster charging stations, and especially the story for this one. Plenty of hidden secrets and a really good item count for the size. The final boss involving the long awaited item was impressive. My favorite area was definitely the factory. The only things that I kinda didn't like was the cramped terrain and not having the long awaited item. Now the new substitute movement for that item was very cool and fit that hack perfectly, and the work around for utilizing PBs was very cool as well. I just kept wanting to attack terrain and do stuff with said item, due to habit, but the story made up for it in the end. Can't wait for the sequel and anything by Oi27 (Polarity kicked ass).

Super Metroid Fugue on Globe by JaceTheBodySculptor [

Speedrun/Race], rated by Sickwood on Mar 23, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This was a very interesting hack and quite a different experience. Tons of custom code revolving around the "cycles" theme and new functionality to items. What I liked most about the hack (and what might turn off some) was the exploration. The hack doesn't offer much direction and the way the maps are made in relation to the areas doesn't really show you the way or interconnection. That was perfectly fine to me and I enjoyed being completely lost and just pushing through until I popped up somewhere that looked familiar. The maps also don't reveal a good portion of the hack so the size of the hack is deceiving and ended up being a lot bigger than I expected which added to the enjoyment. It also feels very open with multiple routes to the point I ended up finding regular bombs near the very end. I did experience quite a few crashes, some related to a fixed bug during the rain cycle, others seemingly random, but save stations were nicely placed so it didn't bother me. Some of the new item mechanics were hard to get used to and employ and I still don't understand the random floating in certain rooms at certain times. Despite all that, this was a very fun and ambitious hack that I enjoyed quite a bit. The planet cycle theme is something that makes total sense and makes you wonder why that hadn't been thought of before. Recommend for those that enjoy blind exploration and can tolerate a few bugs for a new experience with cool new ASM. Can't remember time or item percentage, finished the first week it was released.

Super Metroid Biohazard by Mentlegen, SMILEuser96 [

Speedrun/Race], rated by Sickwood on Jan 01, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This was a fun hack. The first area gave me vibes of a space aged Darkholme Hospital with undertones of SZM pirate ship. Flying through those rooms with speed booster tech with catchy custom music in the background was a blast. The hack's openness leads to some interesting item progression depending on your route and good replayability. The bottom areas seemed heavily Hyper and Ancient Chozo inspired, also with good custom music that fit the areas' vibe. There were some bugs and slope errors, but didn't really detract from the experience for me at least. The only thing I didn't like was the end where after 99.9% of the hack being custom, you get dropped into a Vanilla room for a boss fight and it just ends with no escape. Obviously escapes are cliche, and there was no ship, so I dunno, maybe could have teleported from somewhere. But considering this was made in 6 months for a contest, is huge, had great custom graphics/HUD/ASM/music, QOL edits, I thought it was pretty darn good.

Super Metroid SCM by YP [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Dec 28, 2021 (

)

97% in 6:21

For those that like challenge hacks, this is the best one by far for short charge puzzles. No real map changes, but probably 90% of rooms require some kind of speed booster puzzle to advance or collect items. Prior to player this, I could barely get a 15-tile short charge on a good day, but I became obsessed with practicing and solving them, which included tons of 13, 14, and 15 tile charges. The hardest 13 tile ones seemed to always be associated with one particular ammo item. Was able to get all of the puzzles utilizing a stutter 4-tap, except one that required a mandatory 12-tile charge and the creator left an interesting message in that room and must be a dream of his to pull off. That one wasn't going to happen. There was a troll section for a particular beam that didn't really fit the theme of the hack, and seemed like a bad design choice compared to the rest of the hack. Spent way too much time trying to get into that section. Other than the 12 tile challenge, I couldn't remember where I'd missed an e-tank and missile and was tired of running around and backtracking, so just finished 3 items short. Overall, this is one of the best challenge hacks and made me better for playing it.

Edit: Remembered where I left an e-tank, which happens to be in room/area where you can't charge a spark at all. That's where a gimmick that the author built into the hack comes into play, which btw...those floaty blue spikey enemies in the preview pics have something to do with deterring.

Metroid: Falling by TN [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Nov 23, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Long overdue review, but TN has a talent for creating late 2000s styled, purely Vanilla hacks that are really good. The level design and creative interconnectedness of the areas makes this hack and Hidden seem fresh, despite not having a single custom tile. Most people mention the bosses and they are tough, but it makes for a challenge not normally seen in Vanilla hacks. It was fun taking on Kraid first just for the challenge, despite the reward not being that valuable. I hope TN drops another surprisingly fun Vanilla hack.

Tallon IV Tours: Phendrana Frolics by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Oct 12, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Another solid Dewhi mini-hack. Having never played Prime, a lot of the themes go over my head, but it's fun to play and Dewhi is slowly becoming an ASM black belt

Super Metroid Gathering by Leodox [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Jul 05, 2021 (

)

31% in 1:05

Second favorite Leodox hack after Chester's goggles. Reminded me of an updated puzzly version of 'Battle.' Keep hackin' Leo

Polarity by Oi27, Moehr [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Jun 07, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

One of my favorite contest hacks. The eerie music and black and white graphics were great. I preferred having to work to find bombs in the original release, but understand why it was changed. Like others have said, the magnet is often slower than basic movement tech, but is insanely cool ASM that could be the basis of another hack. Exploration was a lot of fun and found everything but 1 power bomb. Great job Oi27 and Moehr

GR2 Halfhack2 by GR2 [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Apr 27, 2021 (

)

99% in 7:05

I usually avoid half hacks unless they are challenge based like Precision, but this half hack is really good. Had this author put his talents and coding skills toward a full hack, it could have been a SZM quality hack. Tons of custom code, fun and challenging puzzles, maximum use of the map, and plenty of sequence breaks to be had. The HUD is spectacular with more selection options than is imaginable. Bosses are hilarious in most cases (except Phantoon's room layout) and catch you off guard. 4/5 purely because it's still a half hack, but has 5/5 effort and things that could be applied to a SZM type sequel that I still hope happens one day.

Super Metroid: Chester Can't Find His Goggles by Leodox [

Challenge], rated by Sickwood on Apr 12, 2021 (

)

41% in 0:57

Really good challenge hack. Sort of like Containment Chamber and Kaizo Possible had a baby. Encountered a game breaking bug in a Norfair kaygo room that crashes the game if you kill any of the kaygos fully. Highly recommend, but play Containment Chamber or Contamination first if you haven't learned the prerequisite tech yet. 4/5 because I love challenge hacks, but the game breaking bug was irritating.

Edit: came back to playing this on console and the game breaking bug never happened. Got some garbled gfx early on in the metroid rooms, but overall was a much better experience. 4.5/5

Opposition by mccad [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Jan 03, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

This is really good. Custom graphics and music. Even the boss and item graphics were custom. Im not a hacker, but I am sure this took a lot of effort and time. The design was really good, not very hard, but fun exploration. Even had cold damage instead of heat. This is the kind of hack that had it been finish, should have had a trailer, forum thread, the whole nine yards. Not sure why it was abandoned, but I really appreciate getting to play it in its state and it would be awesome if finished one day. Thank you Mccad

SM Weekend III by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Dec 25, 2020 (

)

7% in 0:05

Best of the weekend series yet. Very nice use of Vanilla tiles. The Spore Spawn setup was interesting in that you could have him offscreen with the fight still going. Secrets and progression hid nicely for a mini hack. Cool in-game info HUD. I look forward to a large scale Dewhi hack. Thanks for the hack.

For reasons unknown I've been playing this for any% lately. Kinda fun

Reimagined by SavageWizzrobe [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Oct 30, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

I've been on the periphery for a long time, but actually made an account to rate this hack specifically. I still don't know why, but this Vanilla hack was a lot of fun. I found the exploration and item finding to be very rewarding and within the first 30 minutes I was motivated to find 100%. I still haven't found 2 missile packs and 1 e-tank and every once and awhile boot up a save file trying to find them. Like others have mentioned, it can be difficult to find the right path, but I never got frustrated and I've been lost way longer in other hacks. It's hacks like this that assure me that Vanilla hacks can still be a thing. It was kind of like a less intricate Z-factor. Great hack, definitely recommend.

Mirrortroid by BuggMann [

Vanilla+], rated by Sickwood on Oct 17, 2020 (

)

100% in 2:17

Very nice job. Surprisingly, it plays more disorienting than Rotation to me because your instincts fight you to go one way when you know you need to go the other. This became more so apparent in Norfair. Its a neat spin that I assume everyone knew was going to come one day after Rotation. I applaud anyone that takes the time and effort to make a purposeful hack even if not perfect. Obviously the boss fights and their positioning is the one thing I assume was difficult to tweak. Great job, thanks for the hack.

Landing Site Abuse by Spoo [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Nov 04, 2023 (

)

19% in 0:00

Not bad. Didn't want to stop until complete, although I should have re-read the description to prompt some thought about the boulders. A couple sequence breaks are possible. Had fun with this one.

Temporus by Grime [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Mar 13, 2023 (

)

38% in 1:38

Hooray for bombs, why is charge beam so useless and slow to the point you can charge another shot before your first shot even hits your target. I actually liked the random bomb holes with unhinted items everywhere for some reason and the overall visuals. Play if you like staying in morph as much as B2-TW.

Wet Winter by Crys [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Mar 09, 2023 (

)

11% in 0:13

Nice looking very short contest hack from the very first MetConst contest (I think). Same contest that produced INERTIA. It's amazing what hackers could do with graphics even back then. Nice little quick play for when you only have 15 minutes to spare.

A New Mission by snipereighteen [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Mar 08, 2023 (

)

13% in 0:25

This was kind of fun actually, but way too short. The beginning progression is a little deceiving, but eventually you find a very linear path with the necessary items laid out along the way. Interesting boss fight towards the end that can be totally cheesed. My only complaint is the near infinite permastucks that can occur from a combination of curiosity and bad slopes, reset several times at the beginning. Overall, not really recommended, but I'll try anything and had fun for 30 minutes. Had a little Revolution EX vibe to it.

Super Metroid: Rebuild 3 by Dark099 [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Feb 23, 2023 (

)

116% in 2:45

It's okay. The gimmick with delaying one of the essential ammo items was sorta interesting and eventually guides you to where you need to go. Buffed bosses wasn't too bad either, just I'm an idiot and didn't notice there was a way to destroy Draygon's turrets until like 10 minutes into the fight, but was kinda fun dodging turret shots and grinding the fight. I agree with the dumb Plasma route blocking, didn't really present any additional challenge, just annoyance. There were a few soft locks, both by design and bad morph slopes. But despite all that, I did somewhat enjoy the hack. Not recommended unless you're a play any hack just for the hell of it kind of player.

Super Metroid: MINI by Mr. Hiryu [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Oct 17, 2022 (

)

100% in 2:58

I tried playing this hack a couple years ago and got stuck very early on. Come to find out, the room right next to the landing site to the left has a couple different room states. It seems like one room state is supposed to trigger after getting bombs, but basically in order to advance and unlock a grey door, you must encounter the room state with orange pirates and copious rippers, if you do not, and encounter grey pirates and Geemers, the door will not unlock under any circumstances. Not knowing this, I had looked all over the place and went as far as I could in WS, saved a couple times, and then quit. I tried it again and same result, but luckily decided to wipe out my save file and try again. This time I got the 'orange pirate' state and was finally on my way. Just an FYI for any others that may encounter this, as I literally just walked into the room and got the wrong room state. Besides that, this is a pretty fun hack, although I was surprised that it starts to turn half-hacky at certain parts, most notably in Kraid's area and upper Norfair. Good music, fun exploration, and interesting location for Tourian. Didn't like the wonky wall-jumps and strange version of respin, but it allows you to pull off some semi-sequence breaks here and there.

Celestriaus III by FullOfFail [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Sep 14, 2022 (

)

6% in 0:04

This hack had a cool theme, looked really nice, was fun and had lots of potential, but knowingly way too short. Reminded me a lot of B2TW and the Aggressive series. Recommend just for the visual presentation.

Super Metroid: SnowCrash by uzqap [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Jan 25, 2022 (

)

100% in 4:25

Stereotypical late 2000s half-hack that was decent enough to complete. It does rip off the pre-grapple crumble maze from SMI, but is smaller and also adds several mockball requirements in it. The maze itself isn't too bad, but in the room after grapple you have to do a running jump into mockball to pass through a morph platform over acid. The mockball is very precise because you have to land on the very front edge of the first tile, or will take a dip in acid and die quickly, but you can do a very short ceiling IBJ instead and pass through easily. Some items are moved around, some in Vanilla locations. Maridia is partitioned off in certain rooms, and you have to do 2 mochtroid clips to get into Botwoon, otherwise, was a pretty boring area. Lower Norfair does the same thing and you have to backdoor GT, and a speedball-mockball-springball trick to get down to Ridley. And finally a crystal flash to get an item, ala SMI again. In the end, I guess I enjoyed it because just enough was changed to keep you interested and experience some room changes not seen before. Kinda recommend

Retroid by ProjectXVIII [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Dec 08, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Honestly I was quite disappointed in this one. I deliberately held off playing it for a long time just to have a nostalgic experience one day. I was expecting a near replica of NEStroid map and it wasn't even close. I strongly preferred JAM's incomplete hack that was a perfect re-creation tile and level design wise. I also didn't like the modified mechanics. If I wanted to play pseudo-M1 mechanics, I'd play an M1 hack. Lastly the mashup of bosses with crappy mechanics was not fun. Makes me really wish JAM had just finished his version. I just think it would have been really cool to tear through the true original map that I've been playing since 1987 using the full SM engine. On a positive note; the palettes, tiles, and other touches did look nice.

Metroid Classic Demo by JAM [

Incomplete], rated by Sickwood on Oct 27, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Having not played Retroid yet (for the sake of saving up some good hacks), I really liked the original Metroid rooms Jam created. The enemy placement and palettes were spot on. It was fun to traverse rooms in much easier fashion than the original. I liked the concept of blending the original and SM layout together and would have really liked to see this particular version finished by one of the all-time hacking greats.

Vismunds Sidehopper Special by Vismund Cygnus [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Sep 16, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Not sure why this was rated so low. It felt like a mini version of "Airy" with a nice item count. Enjoyed it.

Super Metroid: Soup by Cardweaver [

Vanilla+], rated by Sickwood on Jul 11, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Having played Gravy and a bunch of other old half-hacks recently, I wasn't expecting much. It was actually quite good up until a certain point. The Vanilla grapple area has a really cool puzzle that was worth it alone, probably the best puzzle in that area I've seen.
After Draygon you acquire an item that opens up 90% of the game and it becomes a marathon item cleanup and starts to get stale after that. Very worth it for a unique half-hack experience until post Draygon.

Super Metroid: Few Room Hack by Shadow34370 [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on May 10, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Having come off of Dmans 'One Room Hack I was expecting rooms stuffed to the gills with crap, but this one was not like that. I actually think it could have had more items added to it. I didn't get the point of ending with Xray with no use for it or exit. Otherwise, it was kinda fun and speed run-able

Precision by Bolognab [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Apr 12, 2021 (

)

94% in 9:14

This is quite a hidden gem among the challenge and half-hack categories. It's more like a "3/4" hack with drastic layout changes and different area connections. I liked the puzzles for the most part and item progression was very unique considering the age of this hack. There were many, many random permastucks though. Tourian wasn't changed much, but had one of the tightest escapes ever. Hack got a little stale by the end so gave up on 100%, but overall it's one of the best effort half-hacks up there with (but not better than) GR2 half-hack.

Super Metroid Weekend IV by dewhi100 [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Apr 04, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

I liked Weekend III a lot more than this one, but I always appreciate these Weekend games for the fresh content and something new to look forward to. Thanks for the hack Dewhi. How about a Wrecked ship version Weekend next involving a mission to steal Phantoon's beer keg!

Super Metroid: Golden Dawn by Black Telomeres [

Exploration], rated by Sickwood on Dec 03, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

I avoided this hack for a long time because of reviews, but after jonesing for a full exploration hack I gave it a try. I have to say that I liked it way more than Dependence and was actually a pretty good blend of challenge and exploration. Dependence to me was too bland, this one was more creative. Yes there are no save stations and I did have to look at a map a couple times for obscure hidden wall stuff for the sake of time, but considering this was made in 2007, I have to give the author a lot of credit. As others have mentioned the yellow final area was obnoxious, but the rest of the hack level design and tiling was pretty interesting. If you've played all the good major overhaul hacks, enjoy twisted exploration and a bit of challenge, I'd give this one a shot and I'm glad I did.

Super Metroid: Unknown by Reita [

Incomplete], rated by Sickwood on Oct 30, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

I like long hacks so after reading the comments I gave it a shot. Was definitely a very creative take for a half-hack. I did really enjoy the exploration and finding the necessary tools to advance. Item progression and rerouting of Vanilla were probably the highlights. I quit after reaching Kraid because by then you've pretty much done everything except go to Tourian and I wasn't that interested in grinding an absolutely stupid setup for him just to go fly away on a ship like every other hack. Would have been 4 orbs had it not been for Kraid.

Edit: played again and had more patience for Kraid. Still a really solid half-hack besides Kraid. And there is a total of 280 missiles actually

Super Metroid: Aggressive by TheOrigin [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Oct 30, 2020 (

)

% in 0:07

Fun little hack that is nice enough to provide e-tanks and recharge stations to keep you alive while springballing around a blue spike fest. Good enough to peak my interest in II and III.

Super Metroid: Shadow by Acheron [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Feb 22, 2023 (

)

No completion stats.

I should have read the reviews first instead of playing hack roulette this morning. Would have saved me an hour of looking for non-existent PBs.

Super Metroid: Destroy Bosses by TheOrigin [

Boss Rush], rated by Sickwood on Sep 18, 2022 (

)

% in 0:17

Definitely the least involved boss rush I've played with no exploration in between fights. The constant fanfare was really annoying to the point I just skipped a bunch of items. If you were to apply the instant pickups patch, it might be a semi-decent way to practice bosses efficiently aside from the practice hack, but it doesn't give you speed booster for some reason and wouldn't apply to Draygon. Despite all that, it was still kinda fun for being literally a boss rush.

Metroid Bloodstone by NORTHa [

Quick Play], rated by Sickwood on Sep 14, 2022 (

)

No completion stats.

This hack gives you the impression of a short 'few room' hack at the start, but as Syphon said, it's not short. There are quite a few rooms and "stages" and most of the rooms are quite big vertically with doors that warp you to another area. I found the OOB death spot caauyjdp mentioned, and agree that it sucks and had to take a break after encountering that. The end is clearly conveyed, and unfortunately doesn't let you backtrack. Wouldn't recommend unless you're like me and play every hack for the hell of it or like 'few room' hacks from the late 2000s.

Super Metroid: Space Adventures by DaveBatista [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Jun 06, 2022 (

)

9% in 0:11

It's okay. I never like physics changes, delayed morph, and no wall jumps, but was short and the level design was suited for the changes. It ends abruptly and didn't feel like restarting to get the last item. Definitely not the best "space" hack, that would be Space Junk, but was playable for a hack from 2011.

Super Metroid Funfar by Noxus [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Nov 30, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

2 stars only because it's a 'Weekend-style' mini vanilla half-hack and had a bug after release that rendered it unbeatable if you didn't pick up an item before a room state change. However, it's a good time killer and new stuff is always appreciated. Ratings don't always have to reflect the fun value. Seems like every new hack gets a 4 or 5 star rating these days.

Thanks for the hack
Recommended

Super Metroid: New Zebes by MATHGODpi [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Sep 08, 2021 (

)

86% in 7:45

Almost liked this hack for its interesting item progression, room and routing changes, and palettes, but there were way too many annoyances to be worthwhile for anyone's time. First, part of the gimmick is buffed enemies and damage, which is fine if fair and makes sense to the theme of the hack. What's not fair is, for example, doors not registering beam shots to open, hitboxes altered for the worse, invisible crap not seen on xray, weird and pointless enemy vulnerabilities, and the worst Croc I've seen. You could put multiple missiles right center in Croc's mouth and not connect. I've played tons of half-hacks that were rated low, but enjoyed most of them. This one not as much. By the end I was glad I stuck it through, but won't be revisiting this one or trying any of the other difficulty patches.

Super Metroid: Rush by Dark_Echoes [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Aug 04, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Got permastuck snail clipping into aqueduct missiles/supers and didn't feel like starting over. For some reason the author leaves those items active knowing there is a method to get into them and gives you no way out. Phantoon room is kinda pointless. Otherwise was okay up until the permastuck.

Super Metroid: emoD by EMODORAN/Backfire [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Aug 03, 2021 (

)

99% in 3:26

Played this during a recent old obscure hack binge and it's a strange one. It starts out giving the impression of a vastly changed half-hack. Crateria is massive and just returning from morph/missiles sends you through a watered down Kaizo spike obstacle course. Then you make your way down Brinstar and soon realize the author ran out of steam. Maridia and LN are barely changed at all and all major items are in Vanilla locations. There's still quite a few interesting puzzles here and there. Overall I enjoyed it for the puzzles and the bizarre Crateria, but it quickly fades like a late 2000s fart.

Ridley's Revenge by Tyjet66 [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Jun 01, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Been going through the 'one room' and 'few room' hack gauntlet recently and this one is kinda fun for a 15 minute romp. Not that hard and pretty fun soaking up items every 10 seconds. You could set the world health record at the end if you wanted. Recommend if you like 'few room' hacks

The One Room Hack by Digital_Mantra [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Mar 31, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Well, I can at least tell myself I've completed every Dman hack. It should have been called 'needle in a haystack' hack. Pretty neat ending message for the time, Dman always did like using map stations for lore and stuff.

Super Metroid: The Darkness Spreads 1 by BoostGuardian [

Unknown], rated by Sickwood on Sep 28, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Game crashes when played on console in several rooms. Hard to blame it since it's like 900 years old. What did work was kinda boring and didn't change much. Play Darkness Spreads 2 instead unless you like minimally changed half-hacks on emulator

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