♦ Livestream of 5 ZZT worlds. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (3:13) "Super Mario ZZT" by Michael Crowley (1999) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/smario1/]
• (20:57) "Mario Brothers v2.0" by BIll Meeks (1996) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/mario2/]
• (39:16) "Donkey Kong ZZT" by dave2 (2002) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/dnkykng/]
• (59:14) "Mario 64" by gchucky (chuke) (1998) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/mario64/]
• (1:17:38) "Mario PC: Mario vs Microsoft" by cheezitman2001 (2001) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/mariopca/]
An impromptu stream held on March 10th for obvious reasons! I deliberately avoided playing any of the attempted Mario ZZT platformers that use engines as they tend to be slow and frustrating, so fun vibes only this stream.
Super Mario ZZT - Mario and friends go out for a walk, discover a castle, and explore it. Everyone suddenly vanishes leaving Mario behind and the voice of Bowser's laughter in the air. I guess you then jump into a painting as the game's only level takes place in a traditional platformer grassland.
It's got pipes, and coins, and even some giant question mark blocks underground. There are ZZT baddies to shoot, and hidden switches to find in order to theoretically reach the exit. The game uses a faux-platformer style, pinning players to the ground by having walls above them that make up a bright sky. Not a lot to do however as the first level has no exit and then all that exists of the next level is its portrait.
Mario Brothers v2.0 - Slightly more Mario World inspired, beginning at Yoshi's cottage. Level 1 looks like a faux-platformer, but there's no restrictions on vertical movement, so Mario gets to fly his way over a small stage. Some ZZT Yoshi influence as well, with a fight against a giant Iggy Koopa and briefly explored sideplot of Yoshi becoming evil until you shoot some sense into him.
Donkey Kong ZZT - An impressive attempt at porting the arcade game to ZZT! This one does use an engine to recreate four stages of the original, including the pie factory. It plays decently enough for a ZZT platformer, though it can be easy to die when collecting rivets and ladders are really just one-way elevators up.
Some great art on the title screen and ending make this one the nicest looking game of the stream. It even includes a port of "Ball" for Game and Watch ...with a single ball to juggle.
Mario 64 - This one has become kind of infamous due to the author's power-trip against the player, tempting them to grab items by cheating only to kill them, or tempting them to grab items that are just lying there only to kill them. This updated version gets rid of the baffling decisions, and ironically becomes less memorable. Gameplay is just standard ZZT run and gun, with each board representing a different (and original) painting used for a level. Some do a bit more with some basic "touch objects to open the door", but for the most part it's Mario in name only. There is at least an RPG battle with Bowser awaiting players at the end!
Mario Vs. Microsoft - The funniest one of these. Bowser teams up with Bill Gates and Microsoft to use their mind controlling X-Box consoles to force people to play BAD VIDEO GAMES. Mario and the good people of Nintendo aim to defeat him with the power of the GameCube, but Bowser stole it! The console-war vibes in this one make it a treat, with a lot of amusing lines, even moreso today where Nintendo's squeaky-clean business image ain't exactly seen as the cleanest.
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/smario1/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/mario2/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/dnkykng/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/mario64/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/mariopca/
♦ Originally streamed on March 10th, 2025 ♦
