Mega Microlevels is a ROM hack created by aglab2. It features a series of short levels for the player to overcome.
The initial description and introduction to the hack talks about the 10 Star chellenge, but completion of that will reveal and unlock the 20 Star challenge. In the 20 Star challenge, dying will result in the player being booted to the Game Over screen, whereas in the 10 Star challenge, dying will simply boot Mario onto the next level.
There are a total of 20 different levels available to the player. Each time the player moves onto the next level, one of them will be chosen at random, but the game does not choose levels that have already been played in that same challenge run. Playing the 20 Star challenge means that the player will play through all 20 levels in a randomised order.
Hub Area[]
The hub area can be reached by succesfully finishing the 10 challenge run. From here, the player can warp to any of the previous levels they played, or they can choose to enter the black area's warp, which will take them to a harder version of this hack in which they must complete 20 challenges without dying. Alternatively, as is revealed by a sign in this area, the player can quickly warp here from the dark starting area they start in whenever the hack is booted up. This warp is activated by inputting the Konami code (using the D-pad).
Interestingly, Mario is immortal while in this area, as any damage he takes will not affect his HP.
Gallery[]
Levels[]
Crazy Survival Area[]
This is the only level that has an Act Select screen, which allows us to see the name of this level, its area ID (course 8), and the Act name, which is Survive. This level functions a bit differently to the others:
- Rather than trying to beat the timer, the player needs to outlast the first timer, then beat a second timer.
- Taking direct damage from an enemy will instantly boot Mario to the Game Over screen. Fall damage does not count towards this, though.
In this level, Mario must survive for as long as it takes for the timer to reach zero. Once that happens, a Star will spawn in the centre of the stage, and he will be given 10 seconds to collect it. The catch is that for the entire duration of the initial survival phase, disruptive enemies continuously spawn, starting with 3 Heave-Ho's. The level will spawn in countless Chuckya's, more Heave-Ho's, Homing Amp's, and some running Koopa Troopa's (retextured to appear as Power Stars in reference to the Star Revenge series) in an attempt to either knock Mario off of the stage, or simply run his HP down.
Tunnel Swimming[]
Swim to the end of the tunnels and grab the Star before the timer runs out.
Bully Beatdown[]
This level takes place on a stage made of blue hexagons surrounded by a strip of lava. The objective is to kill the Big Bully and collect its Star before the timer (30 seconds) runs out. Other Bullies are also in the arena, but they are mainly there to increase the difficulty.
Hole in the Wall[]
This level is a black and white geometric area with three walls between Mario and the Star. Each of the walls has multiple shapes on it, one of which will actually be a hole Mario can use to pass through the wall. The first wall has 3 triangles, the second wall has 4 squares, and the final wall has 5 upside-down pentagons.
Tricky Walljumping[]
This level takes place on an island at the top of a lava hill, with a vertical structure to be climbed. Mario needs to reach the Star at the top of the level before the timer runs out (50 seconds). To do this, the player will either need to perform at least one successful crossover walljump, or an arch walljump followed by a careful jump around the central pillar to walljump off of the next wall. The entire level can be easily viewed by pausing the hack, allowing for the player to plan out their route. This level is significantly harder than most of the others.
Quicksand Surf[]
This is a dark purple level where the Star can be seen immediately from the start- but the path leading up to it is actually quicksand. The objective is to wallkick up the structure behind Mario, grab the Koopa Shell out of the item box at the top, then use it to surf over to the Star.
Cliffside Path[]
Traverse along the cliffside without slipping down or falling, and grab the Star before the timer runs out.
Spiral Climb up the Mountain[]
This level is a large slippery mountain with a clearly marked path for Mario to follow, which isn't slippery. The objective is to reach the top of the mountain where the Star is before the timer runs out (50 seconds).
Vertical Walljumping[]
This is a vertical level with three paths for Mario to walljump up. The Star is at the top and must be reached before the timer runs out.
Upwards Flight Path[]
This level resembles vanilla SM64's Wing Cap course: Tower of the Wing Cap. Here, Mario needs to ascend to the highest platform of the level where the Star is before the timer runs out and without falling. This is done by grabbing the Wing Cap at the start and triple-jumping into flight. The height boost from this will be enough to allow Mario to fly over to the next platform up, where he will need to repeat the moveset. Most platforms have an enemy that could potentially knock Mario off the course, or grab him and throw him.
Classic Climb[]
This is a fairly standard vertical platforming course set on a tower. Reach the top before the timer runs out (45(?) seconds).
Narrow Path[]
This level has a set path for Mario to follow. On the first half, straying from the path may lead to Mario dying in quicksand. The second half replaces the quicksand with lava. Best strategy is to stick to the path with minimal jumping, as the hazards are raised higher than the path, meaning Mario needs to jump up into/onto them, or be knocked onto them by one of the enemies present.
Secrets in the Metal Cavern[]
Discover all 5 Secrets and collect the Star before the timer runs out (35 seconds). Each Secret is marked with a static Power Star model, and the Star will spawn in a cavern on the side of the level. This cavern can be found by heading to a 5 o'clock position from Mario's starting point. It has light green lava all around the entrance which can be bounced off of to reach the Star within.
Rainbow Road, But Worse[]
This is a rainbow slide level that has Mario start at the bottom. He needs to work his way up to the top by navigating between patches of non-slippery ground, which are visually distinct by their darker appearance.
Toxic Floor Warehouse[]
Follow the path around the warehouse area to avoid being above the yellow floor below, to eventually reach the Star. The yellow floor uses out-of-bounds physics to instantly kill Mario if he is directly above it, so jumping over to the Star is not an option.
Snowy Dungeon[]
This level has two areas in it. In the first, Mario needs to navigate over to the nearby warp point (marked with a red star on the ground) without falling down, where there is white quicksand below. This will warp him to the second area, where he needs to walljump up the odd rocky formations, then jump over to the Star.
Icy Slide[]
What it says on the tin. The entire level is an icy slide with 8 red coins to collect on the way down. The Star will spawn at the bottom of the slide, but there is also a warp pipe at the bottom, so the player can quickly return to the top of the slide to grab any coins they missed.
King Bob-omb's Turn[]
Defeat King Bob-omb on the small hexagonal platform without being grabbed by him or electrocuted by the Homing Amps.
King Whomp's Turn[]
Defeat King Whomp and grab the Star before the timer runs out. Be wary of falling down into the gap around the tiny island he's confined to- best strategy is to stand as close as possible to him and use the ol' clip technique to avoid being squished and quickly deal damage.
Big Mr. I[]
Kill that sucker and steal the Star before the timer runs out.
Gallery[]
