Recent Posts

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Map Requests / Re: JonLeung's Requests

« Last post by JonLeung on Today at 05:12:19 pm »

Ricardo Sallin has mapped out Xexyz (NES)!

That's pronounced "zeck-sees" or "zeck-sis", apparently (but hopefully it's the latter, since that's how I sang it in my recent music video at about 2:40 into it)...

I know there are many NES games still not mapped, but it surprises me when a colourful platformer goes this long without being mapped.  While it's not on the highest echelon of NES classics, I think it's still a decent enough game that the Xexyz-sized hole being filled in today by Ricardo Sallin does feel satisfying.
(Try saying "Xexyz-sized" quickly...)

Thanks, Ricardo Sallin!

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Map Requests / Re: List of Looney Tunes Video Game Map Requests

« Last post by pollutionrower on Today at 02:22:18 am »

I'm not sure but I've seen someone searching for maps with this. The results weren't very good. If you want to try let me know

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VGMaps Social Board / Anyone Tried Hatch Yet?

« Last post by Cyartog959 on Yesterday at 11:19:07 am »

Given thought on mechaskrom's words, even though I felt the mapper's tool making experience kinda qualifies towards working in a framework, or something like it, I've to ask this, did anyone gave Hatch a try yet?

Well, I'm not sure how anyone could get around making any 2D game with it, nor the steps on how to access it, but I'd like to know how such people, even those from Starteam, the team responsible for Sonic Galactic, were able to get into it.

I kinda felt a bit fascinated with its direct support with Tiled Editor's tileset and map formats that made it easy to create stages larger and longer than any past game thus far... not that anyone from any game dev team couldn't do it.

I'd at least see a few YT-Vids on any projects made through Hatch and how to use it.

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Maps Of The Month / Re: 2025/07: Legend Of Mana (PlayStation) - mechaskrom

« Last post by mechaskrom on Yesterday at 10:47:29 am »

Thank you! 

Legend of Mana is a game I always wanted to play, but never got around to until last year. I thought it was pretty boring to play (too cryptic and unrewarding), but the graphics and music are amazing so I just had to map it.

It took me almost a year, which is the longest I've ever spent mapping a single game. Much of that time was actually spent just playing through the game multiple times and checking multiple guides to make sure I didn't miss anything (which I probably did anyway).

It's probably my biggest project too. I checked its folder and it contains 1662 png images and 399 paint net projects (mostly for dealing with layers). It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with how the maps turned out.

The junkyard map is one of my favorites. That place is really confusing to navigate and in dire need of a map. It wasn't until I started mapping it that I realised it had two intertwined "sides" of similar rooms. A really clever and simple way to turn a place into a maze. I've never seen that construction before in any other game. Does anyone know of another game with a similar design?

There are many more 2D RPGs that I would like to map, but knowing how long time they take is daunting. 

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Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« Last post by JonLeung on July 01, 2025, 08:20:36 pm »

Maps I want to see be added:

Bugs Bunny's Double Trouble

Desert Demolition

Cheese Catastrophe

Taz: Escape from Mars

Taz-Mania

You're missing the point of this topic.

This topic is about getting the games mapped that are featured in the Sega Genesis Mini 2.

None of the Looney Tunes games you mentioned are on the Sega Genesis Mini 2 (and I mean, officially, standard, how you buy it, not like hacked or whatever).

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Maps Of The Month / 2025/07: Legend Of Mana (PlayStation) - mechaskrom

« Last post by JonLeung on June 30, 2025, 09:08:12 pm »

Legend Of Mana

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to mechaskrom's Legend Of Mana (PlayStation) maps.

This is the 250th time we have recognized a set of maps as "Maps Of The Month"!  That's a quarter of a thousand beautiful games with great maps!  (If you include the five April Fool's jokes from 2005-2009, that makes this #255, but that's also a milestone number... in hexadecimal.)  A complete and fully-labelled map set for a truly gorgeous game would be ideal for the 250th selection, and we got that in mechaskrom's recent submission of maps for Legend Of Mana!

In the world of Fa'Diel, the Mana Tree is the giver of mana and life.  Recovering from an ancient war, the Mana Tree currently sleeps.  The hero - which is you - will set out for adventure, collecting artifacts that magically contain various lands and their residents.  By recovering and restoring these areas, you can freely shape Fa'Diel however you like, so venture out into your creation in this open-ended action-RPG in the acclaimed Mana series by Square.

Legend Of Mana is a visual feast, with beautifully-crafted 2D graphics (pixels placed perfectly, and this is on the original PlayStation, a platform that preferred to push polygons).  It's one of the best-looking games in a series already known for being stunning.  Shout-out to art director Kōji Tsuda and the many Square artists!  There are a couple dozen settings with varied environments, like the lush White Forest, the cozy Lumina, the cluttered Junkyard, the harsh Norn Peaks, and many others.  Longtime mapper mechaskrom has captured every pixel of every room and, while some areas do have a fair bit of repetition, that's all the more reason we need these maps!  While labelling treasure chests and room connections are essential for any good RPG map, mechaskrom made sure not to cover up any of the in-game graphics, so we can fully appreciate the magnificent pixel art.

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this incredibly beautiful action-RPG, mechaskrom's Legend Of Mana (PlayStation) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for July 2025.

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Map Gab / Re: Sonic Advance - Sonic Colors Maps' sizes

« Last post by G.E.R. on June 28, 2025, 12:30:39 pm »

I think this quick-way gameplay can may have a bad influence on people and lead to excessive haste in the live. I noticed one strange feature when I explore a tourist object or go through a forest route as soon as quickly not clear why. This is useful when it need to pass the distance in 16+16km from a bus stop through the forest to cave, exploring this cave and come back and 'finish' within 6 hours to catch the bus, but I noticed that in this mounth I thied to explore castles or river valley quickly/as soon as possible (is not clear why).

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Gaming / Re: Disappointments of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and What Not to Repeat

« Last post by JonLeung on June 26, 2025, 08:15:36 pm »

Have you seen the Nintendo Direct presentation specifically about Donkey Kong: Bananza?  Now THAT looks like a worthy killer app for the Switch 2!  I've always liked the launch games including a Mario or Zelda game.  Sure, Mario Kart World is a Mario game, and it has an open world now, with missions and stuff, but I want a real adventure, and Donkey Kong: Bananza looks it it should have been that "day one" game.  Still, it's only a few weeks away.

Anyway, what I am getting at, to tie it into what this topic is about, I've seen a few posts where some think that the villain, Void Kong, is somehow King K. Rool, maybe transformed and/or magically in disguise.

I personally think that idea is ridiculous.  It never crossed my mind.  I think there is zero reason to suspect that, as there is no hint or rationale why that should be the case.  Mario's faced other antagonists than Bowser, Link's clashed with other baddies than Ganon, and Kirby has tussled with more than just King Dedede.  There isn't an army of Kremlings around, VoidCo seems like it must be a whole thing, so... no.  Void Kong and K. Rool have to be separate.  Why should it be bizarre that Nintendo, who have created all sorts of characters, still wants to generate more new characters?

If anything, if there are more Super Smash Bros. incoming, at the rate they're going, they're putting in more characters than they can create, so I would think they would take literally every opportunity to make new ones.  I'm not saying that Void Kong, Poppy Kong, and Grumpy Kong necessarily have Smash Bros. potential... but heck, a Piranha Plant made it, so, anything's possible.

In the UNLIKELY case that Void Kong IS K. Rool or some previous character in disguise, we can all come back and laugh at me.  But at this time, a few weeks before released, based on what we know, I would really bet on Void Kong being a totally new villain.

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Gaming / Re: Disappointments of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and What Not to Repeat

« Last post by Cyartog959 on June 26, 2025, 06:19:05 am »

You’ve raised some fair points especially on boss variety and world depth. A quick question, do you think these design choices were aimed at a younger audience or just development constraints?

I don't think its either, even though Mario games are always light-hearted.

I don't actually know how the Super Mario dev teams' mindsets are, nor how they work, but I kinda feel its not from dev constraints. What I think is that with all their time spent on making new environments, enemies, and levels, they kinda not bothered with sparing time for making another new array of bosses in Wonder, intentional or not. All we got were Bowser Jr. and Bowser as the game's only bosses. That is what I find EXTREMELY disappointing in a new Mario game.

And, no, the Koopalings don't need to be constantly reused again. I mean, they're alright as bosses of their own, but new villainous talent should be made a bit more often.

I've seen more creative minds that employed lots more variety than that, and especially with loads more game storage space we already got in many outlets that doesn't warrant less bosses in any way.

What I always expect from any new installment are not just new enemies, but new bosses; not reskins, resizes, or recolors, just new, original bosses. And Wonder clearly doesn't have any. Period. Not even a single chosen enemy turned into one by any resource needed, even by a Wonder Flower.

Some past Mario games had them step up a bit in bringing new bosses, but that's been kinda lacking lately, and that can be very harmful for later, new games and other devs trying to seek new inspiration sources for theirs.

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Gaming / Re: Disappointments of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and What Not to Repeat

« Last post by Leoughan on June 26, 2025, 01:12:42 am »

You’ve raised some fair points especially on boss variety and world depth. A quick question, do you think these design choices were aimed at a younger audience or just development constraints?