THE SHORT BUT SWEET
Pit of Death
A hacked version of: Super Mario World
What makes it crazy: When MoltovMarioWorld created his Pit hacks, he wasn’t aiming to make a full-fledged Mario game; instead, he sought to pack all the punishment and pain of an entire playthrough into one ruthless level. As if scrolling stages weren’t arduous enough, the layout of the Pit of Death means that merely grazing a wall or ceiling in the wrong spot spells instant death. But wait, there’s more – you’ll need to master the art of mid-air juggling keys and P-switches if you want any hope of surviving.
Our favorite part: The insane P-switch juggling at 0:49. Never in a thousand years could we pull that off.
Pit of Despair
A hacked version of: Super Mario World
What makes it crazy: What’s Death without a little Despair? To quote the friendly, inviting intro screen, MoltovMarioWorld has crafted “the most difficult level in the world; you will cry and wish you were not alive if you play this hack.” Our confidence isn’t helped much when the overworld depicts a skull surrounding the level, nor does the blood red backdrop upon entering the Pit. This isn’t false advertising, either – the precision required for this stage’s shell-hopping and key-chucking will induce despair in most any Mario expert.
Our favorite part: 0:38. Mario learns how to levitate with nothing but a key and his mad skills.
