The VG Resource

There is this one Mario game you've never played before: Super Mario Bros. Special. It is a game by Hudson Soft for the PC-88 and Sharp X1 microcomputers, which were never released outside of Japan. This game was released before SMB2J - that means it is the true sequel to Super Mario Bros. It also reintroduced enemies and hazards from Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., meaning you had to also fight Sidesteppers, Fighter Flies, and fireballs (Trouble Bug). However, Mario also had some new powerups at his disposal: the Hammer from Donkey Kong, and the Wing which lets Mario "swim" in midair.

In the Sharp X1 version's ROM, the tiles are stored in a format that graphic editors can't handle. However, I was able to modify the tmspec.xml file in Tile Molester to enable support for the format, which I labeled as 3bpp composite (1bpp+1bpp+1bpp). I then figured out the palette, and thus created what are probably the very first Sharp X1 graphic rips ever:


Unorganized because it's raw, but the overall technical achievement is badass. I will have to organize these later. Also, the sprites aren't visible in the ROM... I will have to pull the file apart later.

I've never heard of this game.
What does it look like in action?

In action? heh.
First, here is a screenshot:

But don't let the screenshot fool you. Here is a gameplay video.

I'm not gonna lie. That game looks awful.
Zelda scrolling in a mario game (plus a ton of slowdown)? No thanks.

Cool rips, terrible looking game.

Well, its a huge achievement to actually rip said system considering its a bitch to be worked on. also, finding the game is also another remarkable element. maybe the game itself its not that worthy, gameplay wise, but still is something you don't see every day.

what i wonder is how did you actually found this.

(12-15-2009, 05:05 PM)Metaru Wrote: [ -> ]what i wonder is how did you actually found this.

A lot of detective work. If you can get the filename, you can get the ROM.

woah, this is pretty interesting. the more you know, and all that.

lovin' that slowdown in the vid. really adds flair.

So yesterday a friend of mine aked about ripping from a J2ME game, namely Doom 2 RPG. I was able to get some things out of it, but it was all UI stuff and cutscene art... nothing useful like players, NPCs, or monsters. I dunno if it's good enough to submit. So if you wanna play with it, here ya go.

Wait, how is that game different than this?

It isn't.
It's the same game.

(12-16-2009, 09:33 AM)Jdaster64 Wrote: [ -> ]Wait, how is that game different than this?

That is also SMBS, but for the PC-88, a far weaker microcomputer system that also was limited to Japan. It lacks actual scrolling and only has 4 colors. The timer is also faster.

Inspired by the X1 version of SMBS, I decided to try and make a from-scratch Mario tileset using ONLY the basic 16 colors of Windows 3.1 (also known as "Safe Mode" colors) and I think I'm doing well:

What, no comments?
I've made quite a bit of progress in a short timespan:

haha, safe mode Mario.

looks pretty good. I'd play it.