hoboka's Hack Reviews - Metroid Construction

hoboka's Ratings and Reviews

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Super Junkoid by P. Yoshi [

Exploration], rated by hoboka on Jul 30, 2024 (

)

100% in 4:25

Almost all of the original Junkoid elements are here.

-The world-building is insane, the music picks were great. Super Castlevania IV's Waterfalls theme being one of my favorite themes of all time. YoshiP has a great taste in music.
-I also love the new take on Brinstar Red Soil's theme, with that Prime-Whistle and "organic" sfx patch that felt like breathing or ghostly murmuring.
-The monster and boss re-sprite work is BEAUTIFUL and creepy, similar to VITALITY, but more dark-fantasy oriented.
-The tile-work is also surreal, sometimes very explicit and there are genuine parts that are gonna creep you out, but also wow you. Sort of like French art, hoh hoh hoh hoh.
-Turning the missiles into charge-shot is a brilliant idea. And making shine-spark a consumable item rather than having to speed-boost first is also a great idea - I wish hacks did this more often. Also, the rat is super cute. And so is Junko, in that sort of chibbi way lawl :3

Anyhow, I pin this game up there with VITALITY, Ascent, Subversion... This is top-tier SM hack wizardry. Nice work P.Yoshi!

V I T A L I T Y by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by hoboka on Apr 09, 2024 (

)

85% in 12:30

IMO, the best hack on this site so far. Definitely a bold claim, but it's my personal favourite...

Man, VITALITY is creepy, fun and a fair challenge, but not unreasonable like say Redesign... It's about the ATMOSPHERE, horror and psychological thrills! The tilework and thematic tone is quite similar to Eris, but also different - maybe less campy? Anyways, I really digged the art and story progression. Also, watched MST's LP of VITALITY after beating it and had a good laugh or two. Good times.

PS: I even have the V I T A L I T Y poster as my desktop wallpaper.

(Also, shout out to Super Junkoid, which just came out, another GREAT hack I recommend you guys try out!)

Eris by Digital_Mantra [

Exploration], rated by hoboka on Jul 30, 2024 (

)

80% in 12:10

[Updated Review...]

I kinda prefer the 2009 edition, which sadly isn't available here, but you can find it in the wayback machine, which is where I beat the game at 80%. I ALMOST beat the 2012 edition, but got stuck in the final part, I think it was a speed-puzzle - I'll attempt it again, b/c ERIS is such a beautiful and spooky hack that is just so fun to explore.

Cons:
-Suitless water can be frustrating
-there is some real hard shinespark puzzles, for a few optional items.
-Certain enemies, like pirates and crabs can be a bit tanky. At least, you got the grapple-hook for crab-bois.
-The first 2 hours can be frustrating, as you are super weak and the first E-Tank is fairly missable if you are a dummy, like me.

Pros:
-Most of the puzzles are intuitive
-Visuals are stunning...even the 2009 edition looks like a SM romhack made today. 2012 is even sexier. Some impressive, yet disturbing "statues" made of tiles that look like they're alive. In fact, I think ERIS set the visuals/custom tiles bar so high, that even modern romhacks would struggle to top it.
-Bosses have some fun twists, and I believe they are slightly beefier, but not frustratingly so.
-Navigation is relatively fair and backtracking isn't as horrible as you'd think...minus the suitless water parts.
-Though it is aimed at a 'pro' audience, I think that mediocre players can get figure it out, unlike some of the other hard-type hacks that came out at that time.

Super Metroid: Subversion by TestRunner and AmoebaOfDoom [

Exploration], rated by hoboka on Jun 27, 2023 (

)

86% in 13:30

NOTE: Play time is probably closer to 35 hours, but I chose to restart my run, this time on Easy Mode. I had a certain vendetta on a certain Switch/Laser Beam puzzle that I HAD to beat. Lmao. Don't think there is any animals* to save.

--PROS--
-Level Design feels like a Metroid Prime game. There is even information on every area, item and boss. I enjoyed the flavor texts very much!!

-Level design is mostly good.

-The 'infrared' visor you get, coinciding with dark rooms is neat. Wish you could use it with the X-Ray scope. Oh well.

-New music and 'soft' remixes of existing material. Most of them click. But this is subjective stuff. Nice use of Fusion music too!

-Grappling Beam has a use and is even required for some interesting "lever switches", rather than just spamming it on broken blocks and seeing what's behind em.

-You get to use the Hyper Beam CONTEXTUALLY and is required for item % and progression IRRC.

-Mission objectives to help sort you out...until the very end.

-Cool Laser Beam puzzles, which also tie into a new suit and beam :D

-Boss fights feel fresh and not too difficult, whether it is Easy or Normal. Getting to them is the hard part, naturally.

-Looks amazing. Nice blend of vanilla and new tile work.

-Speedball and Jumpball are blended into one.

-All auxilary weps share same ammo type and you find a LOT of ammo!!

-An "Item Map" is available towards the endgame, when you take down the Space Station.

--CONS--
-'Subversion' has what I like to call "Z-Factor-Itis". It kinda drags towards the end and is labyrinthine and huge, so you're apt to forget that there is "screw attack" or "Spazer-Beam" blocks for hidden rooms etc.

-At the very end, you may be stumped as to where to go, since there is no objective to tell you. Did I mention there are objectives? Would've been neat if the objectives carried through to the $@*%ing end >:3

-An important Progression Item is hidden behind a very cumbersome puzzle. A Switch/Laser Beam puzzle that forces you to go back and forth at least 20 times, fighting 4-6 mocktroids and 4-6 invincible wall-faces that can at least be frozen, but still, it gets old after the tenth time or so... Just NO NO NO NO. That is NOT how you design a puzzle!! At least put the Switches in the same room as reflector blocks or number them!! ((If the item in question for it was not required for Progression I wouldn't be so bothered. But there it is.))

--TL;DR--
Good but not perfect. I enjoyed Eris, Ascent, Phazon and VITALITY a bit more. But much less frustrating than the likes of Axiel Edition, Hyper Metroid or Z-Factor. (I'm gonna catch flak for that opinion hehe)

Metroid: Desolation by jasinchen [ MZM

Exploration], rated by hoboka on Jul 11, 2024 (

)

76% in 6:14

I'm having a hard time breaking down how I feel about this game, so I deleted my old review. I'd love to give this hack a 5/5, but I had such a bad time with 1.3fin. V1.2.2. felt a bit more fair at parts. I also couldn't find the Varia Suit in 1.3fin, which lead to a lot of dead-end acid/heat runs, so I just moved on to V1.2.2 and had such a better time.

Plus side, the AM2R music and tiles/graphics were an IMPRESSIVE touch. A lot of the exploration was cool and fresh feeling too, but I think that Spooky Mission 2 did it better, as far as MZM romhacks go. Still, good effort jasinchen, and I'm impressed by what you've done with Desolation. Just not really my cup of tea per se. Sorry if I came off harsh T-T

(Side Note: the Prime Charge-Beam item vacuum powerup was super helpful for my exploration and saved my a$$ more than once.)

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