Mario VS. Luigi - Superstar Rivals

[frail shadow]

Mario VS. Luigi: Superstar Rivals, is a MvsL-Themed NSMB hack that I've been working on during the past week, it contains 5 brand new MvsL levels that you can play with your friends and/or family, compete against your rivals and show who is the real superstar here. This hack also contains custom graphics and soundtracks to make this an unique and enjoyable experience, I hope you enjoy this hack as much as I enjoyed making it.

Level List:

• Forested Lagoon: A grassy meadow in the middle of a leafy forest, you'll find some stars hidden in the water, so you better apply what you learned in your swimming lessons.

• Sunny Sabaku Shrine: An ancient abandoned temple in the middle of a searing oasis, there's also a big Pokey guarding the entrance to the temple, so be careful.

• Viper Volcano: A blazing brown cavern full of lava and perilous platforms, watch out for podoboos. Some stars here are placed in very risky places, so be careful.

• Bianco Barrel Beach: A seaside island full of barrels and vines, there's also a wild Chain Chomp, but don't worry, he won't bite you.

• Purple Purgatory: A purple sky with Boos and more barrels, walk carefully on the ledges unless you want to fall.

Credits:

• Freeze: Conifer Background.
• Hamza62240: Desert and Volcano Tilesets.
• Mr. L36: Blue Sky with Ocean Background.
• Asprök: MvsL Level 2 Theme.
• Frosty Cake: MvsL level icons.
• Ndymario: Beta testing and feedback.
• TheGameratorT: For making most of the code hacks used in this mod.

Important: In order to play this hack, both players must have the game downloaded on their consoles, you cannot play this mod via download play.

Check out the text files inside of the ZIP for more infos.

Enjoy!!!

I'm gonna make a trailer for this hack and upload the entire OST soon

[dim dune]

hell yeah you finally released it, congrats

[frail shadow]

I actually finished the hack two days ago, I just wanted to wait until I could make a trailer for it before making the thread, but I won't be able to make a trailer rn because of uhhhh, technical issues

[river pollen]

How come no download play? Did you not want to edit the stuff in the archives?

[frail shadow]

Isn't download play impossible to play in most MvsL hacks?

[dim dune]

i think the problem with download play levels is the sprite sets

cant be changed

unless someone made a code hack for the sprite set limitation to also apply to download play, or maybe it already does lol

[dim dune]

also i may try this with a friend, will give feedback if we end up doing so

the only visible negativity from the screenshots is that some levels are quite big which for mvsl isnt that great as it means less combat, but it doesnt make the level bad .p

[frail shadow]

I'm not the best at designing MvsL levels tbh, and people knows that I tend to make long levels, I tried to make them as short as I could regardless, I'll take this into account the next time I make a MvsL level

[median crest]

congrats on the release

[frail shadow]

Thank you DM

[amber mist]

i could make a completely original tileset just for it

[glacial tusk]

Had no idea you were working on this

Good work

Love surprise releases

[quartz spire]

Code hacks break the signature check for Download Play iirc

There was a code hack for fixing that but I have never had it work before

[brave pond]

Can't wait to play it!

[frail shadow]

Ye, I pretty much wanted this hack to be a secret until I released it

[dim dune]

okay i tried the hack out with @fallen temple
so first things first, the soundtrack is AMAZING, the themes hit super hard lol
one main issue (not really an issue, more like a suggestion?) is that you should add the reserve on select code hack as most people will probably play mvsl online (parsec) and its likely that they wont have access to the touch screen

now as for the levels

Forested Lagoon:
so this map i think is the best from the hack
the gimmicks are implemented neatly, the tiling is maybe whats bad about it since its hard to roam freely and you have to stop a lot of the time (not neccesarily a bad thing but it would be better if it didnt suffer from this)
i'd rate 8.5/10

Sunny Sabaku Shrine:
the problem i have with this is the lack of ways to get powerups, theres only one block and very few coins, also the pokey is more annoying than a fair hazard due to the level's structure
mayb a 6.5/10

Viper Volcano:
this is likely my least favorite one... the level isnt great nor does it feel great to navigate through it, you have to loop around a lot, also some of the star spawns are kinda unfair (like the 4th star (starting to count from the right side), and it also has the same problem as desert where theres little ways of getting powerups, tho this might also be my 3rd favorite visually
4.5/10

Bianco Barrel Beach:
the idea is here is good and very unique for an mvsl level lol, however it could definetely be executed better
issues i see is that it's confusing to travel around because of there being very little ways to get up, and the camera zoom + the low vertical camera movement doesnt help it
also we ran into an issue where luigi wasnt being harmed by the chain chomp whilst mario was... and it also looked like it wasnt respawning after being killed
7/10

Purple Purgatory:
ok this map has very smart usage of the gimmicks which i like
however, i think the minimap being vert instead of horz makes it confusing to know where you are (to some extent)
also, the game ended up crashing when i shot out of the pipe cannon, i believe it was maybe cause i hit a boo while getting launched?
also my 2nd favorite visually,
7.5/10

i'd rate the hack an overall 7.5/10, for being your first mvsl hack, its not bad, it could just use some improvements thats all

oh also another thing i forgot to mention is that we played with 10 stars only, no lives

[fallen temple]

this rom hack is pretty cool if we talk about music and visuals but it has some issues in the level design

Forested Lagoon is the most decent map but the water sections are a bit annoying and slow, and also the semi solids tilesets doesnt look good at all... it kinda feels out of place

and also, the most important issue of this rom hack is the massive lack of coins and powerup blocks (and the lack of select button, but eh, it doesnt matter at all )
after playing every single map i noticed how its kinda hard to get powerups, theres a single powerup block on each map and this wouldnt be THAT bad if the maps werent that long (some of them, not all)

Sunny Sabaku Shrine is OK, the design is pretty simple and short, and i like it
but the pokey is a little bit annoying to deal, i think it could be fine if there was more enemies like koopas or goombas (yk more variant)

Viper Volcano... im sorry, but this one is the worst one, it needs to be redesigned
this map has a cool idea but its badly implemented and the level design itself doesnt help at all...
first, the map itself doesnt FEEL good to navigate, some sections feels tight and the spawn positions of the stars and enemies are 💔
this map forces you to do some complex and ugly jumps and you have like a 60% of chance to fall to the lava and its not so fun... 1st, 2nd and 3rd image
the podoboos are a cool gimmick but they become a bit annoying after a while (more annoying if you try to get these stars 4th image)
so, with all of this we have a map that is annoying to play and slow to progress due to the level design, enemies, and complex jumps

Bianco Barrel Beach is cool, pretty simple and feels nice to navigate... until you have to find the stars that are on the top of the map...
vertical maps arent my thing, but what i can say about the vertical sections of this map is a bit confussing on the first time, the vines are cool but it could be used better, cuz here is a bit... questionable (its a single star spawn so i think it doesnt matter at all 1st image)

Purple Purgatory is uhhhh, a bit ok, i like the mountain gimmick but the specific spots that uses this gimmick are not that good 2nd and 3rd image
also the minimap is fine but i honestly prefer more the horizontal one, i was a bit confussed trying to locate a specific star but the minimap wasnt helping

aand thats all what i can say about this rom hack
after all, it has potential, the music and visuals are pretty good and the maps has some cool ideas that it could be improved for the future
nothing bad for being your first mvl rom hack, but theres stuff that it could be improved!

[frail shadow]

@dim dune @fallen temple Thank you both for taking the time and dedication to try the hack and give feedback, I really appreciate it I will take your advices into account the next time I make a MvsL level, I may also update this hack to fix the flaws you both mentioned

Regarding some of your points, I see that you didn't like the volcano level, the truth is that I thought it would be a good idea to have stars placed in risky places, but I see now that this was probably not the best idea at all, and the reason why I don't add many coins or powerups in the levels is because it's done that way in vanilla MvsL levels and because it would make powerup grinding more easy, and as for the ghost level, I didn't know if making the progress path horizontal or vertical, but I understand why the vertical map could be confusing

[sand valve]

How can I dowloand this?

[quartz spire]

The zip file in the OP

[sand valve]

I just insert in the FBI app?

I mean in the sd and then dowloand

[quartz spire]

You'll need to patch a .nds file with the .xdelta

https://kotcrab.github.io/xdelta-wasm/

You can do it on this website

[sand valve]

Ok and then I dowloand by fbi

[sand valve]

I totally forgot this part

[frail shadow]

I added a text file in the ZIP explaining how to patch the ROM

[sand valve]

where

[sand valve]

i need two file? the .xdelta in the zip and the other one?

in the patch file i put "MvsL - superstar rival.xdelta but in the source

what i have to put in the source?

[dim dune]

the nsmb rom

[sand valve]

nsmb.nds?

Error occurred while patching

Details: target window checksum mismatch (code -17712) it says this

[sand valve]

it work and it pretty cool

[frail shadow]

Nice, enjoy the game

[sand valve]

ty

[frail shadow]

Made an NSMBHD post along with a trailer for the hack https://youtu.be/JiUQV2Sn7go
https://nsmbhd.net/thread/6229-mario-vs-luigi-superstar-rivals-mario-vs-luigi-released/

[quartz spire]

[frail shadow]

That doesn't count, I was not playing, I would surely beat you if I played against you 🫵

[amber mist]

I feel like this trailer could've been a bit shorter? I also see few bg errors for somereason happening and few parts of the tilesets could've been improved

but it's great!!

also sad that there is no actual fighting with luigi in the game ;c

[quartz spire]

I have no friends

[frail shadow]

Jouner, go help JPG with his unoptimized maps /j

[amber mist]

why are you so mean 😭 🙏

[frail shadow]

I didn't really put much effort in the tilesets from this hack, and most of them were grabbed from NSMBHD, and the purple purgatory tileset is the exact same tileset I used for the Halloween contest, so bleh

[amber mist]

jouner exists:
everyone when tileset can be even better with the help of jouner: jouner doesn't exist

[frail shadow]

Any single tileset on earth exists:

Jouner instantly: THIS TILESET LOOKS LIKE SHIT, IT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED

[amber mist]

lmao true

imma download this, and send improved tilesets here

[dire junco]

imo the trailer is too long, and the music kinda feels repetitive at some point.

i also think it would have been cool to show both mario and luigi playing from their screens, not just mario running around (at least having luigi instead running around from his perspective) (because tbh it kinda looks like you have to explore areas and find the stars rather than battling)

tho the mod itself feels pretty fun to play!

[quartz spire]

not just mario running around
Hard to record both when you're only one person

[dire junco]

yeah but you could at least record again and play luigi instead of mario

that's what i meant by the stuff in the parenthesis

[quartz spire]

Playing as Luigi is simply reserved for the player ;p

[amber mist]

skill issue

[quartz spire]

Nah

Go make a tileset or something

[amber mist]

it will be the last

[frail shadow]

Also, I don't understand how the trailer is too long, the trailer has a decent lenght imo, it's not like I'm making a 15 minutes video or something

Gonna make a 30 second trailer next time, lol

[dire junco]

idk i think that 1min30 is the ideal length for a trailer

here, this one is 3min long, on top of being a mvsl trailer, and since there are only 5 stages, and only one player running around, there isn't too much content to show without spoiling the whole thing

[frail shadow]

Not necessarily, the trailer lenght may vary depending of how much content the hack has or how much stuff you're showcasing, it doesn't necessarily need to be 1 minute long, it's a hack not a movie

[dire junco]

yeah

tho in the next message i did talk about the amount of content

[quartz spire]

https://youtu.be/ssrROFezGM0?si=g1dLLi0JBIq0WeO8

[dire junco]

i'm just trying to give feedback 😭

[dire junco]

idk if we can call this a trailer anymore

[quartz spire]

LOL

[amber mist]

Exactly, there aren't many thing to show in it since it has only few levels with not much different, while it could be easily shortened to 1:30 and it would've been much better

[amber mist]

that's just gameplay

[frail shadow]

That's okay, I just find it hillarious that you both call a 3 minutes trailer long, like it's just 3 minutes, not three hours

[frail shadow]

Also, I don't wanna sound like a dick, but I personally find the "it would've been much better" comment disrespectful because you're implying that the trailer I made was bad

I'm not an expert on making trailers, I just tried my best with this one, even if the result wasn't perfect

[amber mist]

Sorry then, i didn't mean to be in any way disrespectful and didn't mean in anyway it's bad, im just saying my opinion and believe that it would've been great if it were shorter since there is most of the things that the mod offers in it's half.

[frail shadow]

It's alright

Part of the reasons why the trailer has that lenght is because I wanted it to be paired with the full song, there were a lot of clips I wanted to include and you gotta make hype to make people wanna play the hack, the more clips, the more hype

[frail shadow]

I'm considering uploading the soundtrack of this hack to YouTube

However, I don't know if I should make separate videos for each song or upload all the songs in a single video

I think the later is more convenient, because I don't really wanna flood my channel with videos of this hack since I'm affraid that it might affect my channel's views

[dire junco]

you could still upload the videos as unlisted and put them in a playlist

tho i would feel like separate videos would be more convenient, if you don't wanna release them at the same time, or if you change existing tracks or add new tracks

OH THIS HACK I'M DUMB 😭

i thought it was TML

i feel like individual videos are more convenient for downloads, and is also what i see being done more often

tho you could still upload them separately in a google drive or something i guess

[brave pond]

I just played with my father, and I have 2 things to say:

The lava stage is too small and tight

And sometimes the chain chomp in the beach stage glitches out and becomes invisible or just doesn't attack.

[dim dune]

by small do you mean too cramped? cause thats the longest stage in the hack, lmao

[brave pond]

Yep, sometimes the stars go out of the map when the player is damaged

But

I need to say

That

The music is

[frail shadow]

Frosty has already pointed out the Chain Chomp glitch before, and yeah, the lava level seems to be the "least good" level according to Frosty and Blue, even tho it's my favorite one design-wise

I want to drop an update of this hack improving the levels and fixing the issues Frosty and Blue pointed out, but working on this hack is not in my priorities at the moment

I'll also upload the soundtrack of this hack to YT, maybe tomorrow

[frail shadow]

I've uploaded the entire soundtrack of this hack in my channel, enjoy https://youtu.be/2tQynClq_98

[dire junco]

oh nice!!

also no custom mega mushroom theme?

-# sorry if i'm not a true MvsL Superstar Rivals fan...

[frail shadow]

Nah, you're okay, I wanted to make a custom theme for the mega mushroom, but the mega mushroom song doesn't play in MvsL mode, the level music will continue playing when you're mega

[dire junco]

ohh okay

makes sense then

it shows that i haven't played MvsL a lot
-# ndymario don't ban me please

[frail shadow]

Too late, you're doomed now, Ndy secretly has a ban note and he's listing everyone who hasn't played MvsL, there's no escape

https://tenor.com/view/light-death-note-sign-ballpen-pen-gif-5458508141428299538

[dire junco]

okay i also thought about death note lol

NSMB Central: Ban Note, with our main "protagonist" being Ndymario

("protagonist" because i don't know someone killing people with a notebook should be considered as such. tho i also haven't seen the anime)

[frail shadow]

Me neither, I don't even watch anime, lol

Anyways, we're starting to get off topic, I would appreciate any opinions on this soundtrack

[amber mist]

damn, yall losing me 💔

gotta move out to nsmb2 modding then

[frail shadow]

Hush

[dire junco]

1. i was gonna stop there anyway
2. i think the songs are really fitting

also is the "menu theme" the theme that plays in the mvsl menu? (which is a duplicate in the original game)

[frail shadow]

Yeah, that one

[amber mist]

https://tenor.com/view/spongebob-spongebob-squarepants-spongebob-season-1-the-paper-spongebob-the-paper-gif-17386612228447282475

[quartz spire]

https://tenor.com/view/photoshop-flowey-flowey-omega-flowey-undertale-neutral-route-gif-7196954464314238541

Yay soundtrack is real

[frail shadow]

Lmao

Yeah, I actually uploaded this video one month ago, but I had to wait an entire month to make it public because I received a copyright strike and I had to appeal

[brave pond]

Why?

What copyrighted thing are you using lol? 😭

[dire junco]

oh crap...

i'm guessing it's because some of the songs come from mkds

[frail shadow]

Nothing, YouTube just automatically put a copyright claim to my video because some of the songs sound similar to a commercial song

Pure bullshit

[dire junco]

lmfaoo i thought it was because of the mkds songs 😭

[glacial mountain]

How i didn't saw this before

Great job ztar!!

[frail shadow]

What do y'all think of this?

I say that anyone is allowed to port this hack to MvsLO on the sole condition that they credit me

But at the same time I feel that porting these levels to MvsLO would make this hack obsolete

So I'm kinda undecided

[amber mist]

Yes.

[mellow moat]

I feel like you should actually port this mod into MvLO

I'd be happy to help