Here We Go Again.... (or The LP crew futilely tries to cooperate on The Essence Star)*

[Raype]

It's that time again. When our insanity overpowers our natural distrust and the EPLP group throws in together in an attempt to tackle a random game none of us would be willing to deal with alone.

This time, the target is Super Mario World 2+3: The Essence Star, by GoldenYoshi. A man who has also produced two full hacks of Yoshi's Island (hence the idiosyncratic naming of this title - it was released after Super Mario World 2+ and 2+2, despite being the only one of the three made with Super Mario World 1). It follows yet another adventure of Mario, as he journeys across the sea to save Euphoria Island, a tropical british colony, and foil the return of an old enemy.

Almost like Sunshine, if it was made by a demented retro fanatic and included something less drug addled than a talking super-soaker.

The real difference between TES and most other hacks out there is the introduction of a pseudo-RPG element to the game. The time limit has been removed, certain stages have quest-giving NPCs and coins carry over between levels so you can buy familiar pickups for later use as well as wholly new permanent items. It has also introduced another level of gathering fanaticism by introducing Character Cards that are hidden in levels and sometimes as the reward for an in-stage quest. The cards don't do anything gameplay wise, but it's another set of items to collect for 100% completion. Which our rampant egomania will drive us to attempt.

Other than that, it's 42 stages of running jumping, questing and commiting countless acts of grievous bodily harm to the local wildlife. Will we beat the game into submission, to return victorious but decimated as we were last time? Or will this hack prove too much for our collective willpower?

Only time (and chemically induced visions) will tell.

A prepatched copy of The Essence Star can be found at
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for anyone who wishes to play along.

Intro Level with Hypnos
Water World Part 1 with Ray
Desert World Part 1 with Corey
Desert World Part 2 with Corey
Desert World Part 3 with Corey
Desert World Part 4 with Corey
Ice World Part 1 with Hypnos
Ice World Part 2 with Hypnos
Water World Part 2 with Ray