WARNING: BEFORE YOU PLAY THIS ROMHACK, PLEASE READ ALL INFORMATION SURROUNDING THE GAME. THERE ARE CHANGES THAT MAKES THE GAME FEEL "DIFFERENT", AND WILL BE LISTED BELOW. THANK YOU, AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Super Mario Skycastle v1.1 Romhack by RadiantStorm, 2020-2022. Resprited Artstyle, 2020 HellFire Original Game by Nintendo, 1985. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Super Mario SkyCastle, aka Mario Bros. Duplicated Venture, is a Super Mario Bros. romhack that has been updated to bring back 32 new main levels made from scratch, a higher difficulty for those who had mastered the original game on NES, and has been playtested a lot, for a playable experience. Plot: Oh no! Bowser has kidnapped Princess Toadstool again, after the Picnic Incident that also involved the Mario Brothers! Taken to Bowser's new weaponized Castle, SkyCastle Koopa, Princess Toadstool is forced to witness the path of destruction to the Mushroom Kingdom, if he is not stopped. However, Bowser isn't messing around this time. He has now sent his strongest minions after Mario and Luigi, in order to stop them from reaching the Princess. But he isn't alone, this time... Will you be able to defeat the evil king once more in this new, yet difficult adventure? Or will you allow the Mushroom Kingdom to fall into a ruined state? Go, Mario and Luigi! Time is ticking! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Changes to the game - The changes that are in SkyCastle, whether they are major or minor, are as follows... - The game's style changed to now be in the Resprited style. - Red Piranha Plants have reverted back to green. - Piranha Plants now appear in Stage 1-1. - Most foes, excluding Bowser now move at a slightly faster speed. Noticable with Bullet Bills, so watch out! - 1UP Mushrooms have returned to make the game a bit more easier. - Due to issues with keeping Super Star Timer, Poison Mushrooms have been removed. - Super Star's timer has been changed to be more closer to Super Mario 3's timer. - Hammer Bros. will become aggressive upon reaching Stage 7. - Bouncing on an enemy upon holding the Jump Button will allow you to stay in the air longer, giving it a Super Mario 3 feel, though it may not be completely accurate. - Some palette changes to make the scenery stand out a bit more from the original game. - Altered Point System will give you more points from some enemies. If lucky, they may provide an extra Mario/Luigi. - Walking through a wall is now not considered as a glitch, and is made to be intentional in some stages. - Slight difference to the music will occur. - No demo run on the Title Screen will occur. - The Lakitu enemy now has an altered behavior to make various stages a bit tougher. - Timer now will not drop as quickly to ensure stages are completed on time, though, do not waste any time on Time Attack Stages. - Points in the hud now carry an extra 0, should you gain 1 million points. - Five chances are given to you at start, as standard for main modern games. - A total of 32 full stages are now included in this hack, with some having been rearranged, to potentially have a better flow for the game. - Bowser's Brother will appear in a few stages, as well as the Final Castle. - The ability to go beyond the final Stage will be available once the game is finished. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage names that are in MBDV - Stage 1 - The Lost Mountain - 4 stages Stage 2 - Koopa Mountain - 4 stages Stage 3 - Mystic Dream of Fantasy - 4 stages Stage 4 - Sakura Treetops - 4 stages Stage 5 - Land of the Bills - 4 stages Stage 6 - Goomba Land - 4 stages Stage 7 - Bowser's Land - 4 stages(5 stages through possible update) Stage 8 - Path to the Skycastle - 5 stages Stage ??? Beyond - GlitchLand - Amount of stages unknown ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Additional Information: With the main info above out of the way, there are additional things that must be explained. First off, this game is not meant to be played for beginners. You must have mastered SMB1, in order to understand why the levels may be much harder than the original game. Second, many springboards appear throughout the game. You are expected to have mastered them. The enemy bounce change must be practiced, as you are expected to know how to bounce off of an enemy in several spots, which tries to emulate those physics from Super Mario 3. Enemies now sport different behaviors, and so you must find other ways to best them. If you manage to complete the game, not only will you access Level Select, but you can move past Stage 8, as a reward for your troubles! This is to indicate a lot of replay value, as the post game does utilize data that may not be used in it's final state. Be careful, as anything past the main 32 levels will be unstable, and may crash the game, leaving the Brothers in a trap they cannot escape from. To escape, then please Reset the game, and try another stage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Points from creator - Here are some useless pieces of trivia you may or may not care about, from the person behind the romhack. Point #1: Duplicated Venture started sometime in January or February when I was learning how to create a Mario Romhack for the very first time. Point #2: This romhack went through a lot of changes over time, of course. It stayed in the SMB1 style for a while when I was learning how to build levels, as well as learning how to create warp points properly. Point #3: The game was originally called Plumber Journey up until May 14, 2021. Point #4: I decided Duplicated Venture would be the final name when I recieved help from some people I am familiar with dearly(You know who you all are!), and I couldn't have made this romhack without their guidance on how to build a hack through SMB1. Pont #5: Some stages that do appear has actually originated in Super Mario Maker 2! They have been demade and edited to ensure a more playable experience for NES standards. As well as the lack of slopes... Some of these stages may even be a bit more difficult! Point #6: Level creation I have been into since Super Mario Flash. Point #7: I had been interested in romhacking for a long time. I couldn't do it, due to lack of tech needed to do so at that time. Point #8: The romhack was inspired by SMB2J's levels, as I enjoyed the difficult levels that appeared in the game, and so I wanted to try to give this hack more of a flare to it. Point #9: The game isn't super traditional with the stages, as I try to be creative with the level theme choices, and to try to make them connect in a way. Point #10: This is my first romhack, as I try to polish the game to make it an enjoyable experience without any gamebreaking bugs, hopefully. I do believe the challenge with the stages will all be worth it in the long run. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extra Notes: I'd love to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to show my creativity, and effort into making this romhack. It has been an interesting experience overall, and it has been really fun to create something from scratch without repeat levels! I may be doing this again in the near future, while at the same time, maybe doing something really cool, hopefully. Do stay tuned! I may create something else in the future!