’The (Super Mario World romhack)

“Clock Tower” proved horror games can work on SNES, and this romhack, essentially a short story told using the Super Mario World engine, is halfway towards a good idea; I wish more games conveyed their narratives subtly without sacrificing conveyance. That said, “’The” falls off the rails when it must work as a game, with the limited movement options, small margin of player error, and aggravating and long gameplay loops adding up to an experience where the thrills quickly give way to frustration. When a romhack has me thankful an emulator has a fast-forward feature, that means you’ve messed up.

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