This is a Metroid 1 hack that places Samus in a world made up entirely of sprites from Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3. As you progress through the levels the new areas will take on the characteristics of a different game. This is probably the hack’s strongest feature.

Unlike the original game, this hack is almost completely linear (acknowledged by the creator in the readme) so you run almost no risk of getting lost. Any branching paths will lead to a dead-end with a power-up, at which point you’d turn around and continue on your way. Almost all of the items are in plain sight, found by simply shooting the [?] blocks you’ll naturally encounter just by playing the game. The only major power-up you can truly miss is the Varia Suit (which I did, and made the final area quite a test) but you can backtrack to pick it up if you need it.

In addition to the expected platforming and shooting that takes place, you’re going to be doing a lot of bomb-jumping. In fact, I’d say half of my time spent playing this game was dedicated to bomb-jumping. On the plus side, 95% of the jumps aren’t all that difficult but it’s the sheer number of them that wears and wears on you until you’ve just had enough. Only one jump made me want to pull my hair out.. Yes, I’m looking at you “Entrance to Tourian.”

On the difficulty scale I’d say this is a pretty easy game. Unlike most hacks that err on the side of soul-crushing difficulty, this one just ends up becoming a bit boring. I played it on a real NES with no save-states and didn’t die until the final area, which I could probably blame on the lack of Varia Suit to halve my damage. Total game time was about 3 hours with minimal health grinding until I reached Tourian.

Bottom Line: If you’re a die-hard fan of Metroid 1 you may enjoy this short romp through the “Marios.” Everyone else should probably pass.