Super Mario Fusion: Better Than It Has Any Right to Be

Jan. 20 1:52 PM by Alicia Ashby

When fans decide to hack ROMs to make their own Mario games, the results are usually pretty painful. Occasionally you get a gem like Super Kaizo Mario that push gameplay to the limit, but more often than not you get something with terrible stage design and crappy physics, if indeed physics are there at all.

This makes Super Mario Fusion all the more remarkable. Superficially it has every hallmark of a terrible ROM hack, featuring Mario fighting the Covenant, fighting of Cyberdemons with a rocket launcher, and even mixing it up with Mega Man 2's Bubble Man. Where it isn't terrible is the tremendous care going into the level designs and the game's sense of physics.

Levels in Super Mario Fusion are tough but fair and feel "right" in how they blend platforming and shooting. I find the most impressive level to be the Bubble Man fight; since it uses most of the original stage layout from MM2, you clearly see how different the new gameplay options make it feel. The actual Bubble Man fight is really nothing short of brilliant.

Check behind the cut for videos of the game's three demo levels, and you can also download the demo to try for yourself.

First off, Mario versus the Covenant:

Next, Mario versus Bubble Man:

Finally, Mario goes to Hell:

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