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Canopy Mega Mash Steamlands Player Pack

Mega Mash is an NES game released on September 30, 2011. The game is unique in the fact that each level is a combination of several levels all with a different theme and gameplay.

This game was made a distributable game on March 14th, 2012, and was one of launch titles for the iPhone Nitrome Touchy, released on October 31st 2012 for iPhone and November 21st 2012 for Android.


Controls[]

Flash[]

Carrot Story[]

Left Right Left and right arrow keys - Move

Up Up arrow key - Jump

Space Space bar - Pick up or drop off a crate

Balloon[]

Left Right Left and right arrow keys - Move

Up Up arrow key - Tap to ascend

Ninja[]

Left Right Left and right arrow keys - Move

Up Up arrow key - Jump

Space Space - Fire ninja star

  • Hold space and tap an arrow key to move in that direction on a ninja rope

Nitrometris[]

Left Right Left and right arrow keys - Move

Down Down arrow key - Speed up

Space/Up Space/Up - Rotate

Smash[]

Left Right Left and right arrow keys - Move

Space Space - Shoot

Blast Man Joe[]

Left Right Up Down Arrow keys - Move

Space Space bar - Plant a bomb

Xolstar 3[]

Left Right Up Down Arrow keys - Move

Space Space bar - Shoot bullets

Nitrome Touchy[]

In the Nitrome Touchy version of Mega Mash, the player's controler is a simple controller with a d-pad on the left side, and two orange buttons on the right side - the same setup as Double Edged's Nitrome Touchy controller. This controller remains the same for all games, except that the art in the background changes when the player enters a game.

Descriptive[]

20?cb=20120317190109 Incomplete section. You can help by adding missing info. Needed: Update this section with correct controls.
Buttons: D-pad, button one, button two

Usage: As Mega Mash has different controls for each game, it is possible that some buttons for some games will not be used. Regardless, controls will be different for each game. Below is the possible control setup for each game:

Carrot Story: The left and right arm of the D-pad will likely be used for movement, while it is possible that the upper arm of the D-pad will cause Fluffykins to jump. As only one arm of the D-pad can be pressed at a time, pressing to the upper arm to jump will be impractical as it prevents the level from moving while jumping (most of the time). Because of this, likely one of the two buttons will be used for jumping, while another button will be used for firing fireballs in Super Mode. The art for the each controller will change depending on the game entered.
Xolstar 3: It is probably the d-pad will be used for movement of the Xolstar, each arm of the d-pad when pressed moving the ship in that direction, while one of the two buttons will be used for firing the laser.
Blast-Man Joe: The d-pad will probably be the control selected for movement, each arm when pressed moving the player in that direction. One of the two buttons when pressed will cause the player to place a bomb, if this setup is picked.
Smash: The d-pad will likely be used for movement, the left and right arm using the d-pad in the picked direction. One of the two buttons will probably be picked to fire the lasers of Smash when it is in super mode.
Nitrometris: Either pressing a left or right arm of the d-pad will flip the Nitrometris in the picked direction. Otherwise, one of the buttons will probably move the Nitrometris one way and the other button the other way, possibly. It is also possible pressing any button will move the Nitrometris clockwise or counter-clockwise, and there will be no other choice.
Balloon: Similar to Carrot Story, the left and right arms of the d-pad will likely be used for movement, while either one of the circle buttons or the upper arm of the d-pad will cause the Balloon to move up.
Ninja: The d-pad's left and right arms will probably move Takeshi left and right, respectively. Either the upper arm of the d-pad or one of the circle buttons will be used for jumping. One of the circle buttons will also probably used to fire a ninja star, holding on to the button causing a ninja rope to possibly be made.

Condensed[]

In the Nitrome Touchy version of Mega Mash, the player's smartphone is a simple controller with a d-pad on the left side, and two orange buttons on the right side - the same setup as Double Edged's Nitrome Touchy controller. This controller remains the same for all games, except that the art in the background changes when the player enters a game.

Smash

D-pad left/right - move paddle
Circle button 1 - fire lasers (super mode)

The help screen for Smash Xolstar 3

D-pad up/down/left/right - move
Circle button 1 or 2 - fire

The help screen for Xolstar 3 Blast-Man Joe

D-pad up/down/left/right - move
Circle button 1 or 2 - drop bomb

The help screen for Blast-Man Joe Nitrometris

D-pad down/left/right - move around
Circle button 1 - rotate

The help screen for Nitrometris

Carrot Story

D-pad left/right - move
D-pad up - jump
Circle button 1 - pick up or drop boxes
Circle button 2 - shoot fireball (super mode), jump

The help screen for Carrot Story Balloon

D-pad left/right/down - move
D-pad up - move up

The help screen for Balloon Ninja

D-pad left/right - move, jump off walls
Circle button 1 - fire ninja star or rope
Circle button 2 - jump
D-pad up - move up ninja rope

The help screen for Ninja

Levels[]

55?cb=20120317190109 Incomplete section

This section is incomplete. You can help by adding the missing info.

Mega Mash has 20 levels. When on the menu, players can pick between 7 games to play, although each game leads to the same level select and to the same levels. In each level of Mega Mash, the player has to reach the goal in the level, which will allow them to progress to the next level. Throughout the levels, the player will be able to pass through corruption rifts in the damaged level that connect different games. Objects that pass through these rifts will usually be reconfigured into their counterpart in the other game.

Level 1[]

Level 1 starts off with Carrot Story as it jumps from platform to platform. Then the player goes off to Xolstar 3 then back to Carrot Story to win.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_1_-_Walkthrough

Level 2[]

55?cb=20120317190109 Incomplete section

This section is incomplete. You can help by adding the missing info.

Level 2 goes from Carrot Story to Xolstar then adds Blastman Joe to the mix.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_2_-_Walkthrough

Level 3[]

Level 3 starts from Blast Man Joe to Ninja. Sometimes ninja must switch games and change himself to Joe by throwing ninja star to switches in order to cross the walls.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_3_-_Walkthrough

Level 4[]

In this level, Nitrometris joins the mix, and the player must avoid the bullets from Venus fly traps as Fluffykins and Ninja.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_4_-_Walkthrough

Level 5[]

Level 5 features Carrot Story and Balloon and introduces crusher blocks.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_5_-_Walkthrough

Level 6[]

Level 6 features Carrot Story and Blast Man Joe. The player must avoid hazards while carrying or pushing blocks.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_6_-_Walkthrough

Level 7[]

Level 7 features the two games again, where Joe needs to get to other areas by crusher blocks or by pushing blocks to Carrot Story.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_7_-_Walkthrough

Level 8[]

Level 8 has Xolstar 3, Ninja and Balloon in this mix.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_8_-_Walkthrough

Level 9[]

In this Level, the player must run away from bullets shoot by guns. In the last part, the player should reach the platforms and push the two blocks down, after stacking them up, the player can reach there again when games are changed, and is able to complete the level.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_9_-_Walkthrough

Level 10[]

The player faces Dragon of Insectica Prime as the first boss.

Click [show] to see this video
Mega_Mash_Level_10_-_Walkthrough

Level 11[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_11

Level 12[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_12

Level 13[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_13

Level 14[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_levels_14-15

Level 15[]

Click [show] to see this video
Level 15 begins at 5:24
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_levels_14-15


Level 16[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_16

Level 17[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_17

Level 18[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_18

Level 19[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_level_19

Level 20[]

Click [show] to see this video
Nitrome_Mega_Mash_last_level

Ending[]

Penguin 1

This navigational box contains a spoiler. Click [show] to open the box.

The words appear on the bottom right of a black screen:
Error........Error........Error........
All Bosses defeated.......
Game conclusion required.......
Calculating.......
Conclusion calculated......
Now Displaying......

The screen for the game, an image seen on the menu, the character, and the name of the game is shown, as follows:

Carrot Story
Fluffykins the Bunny reigned over the Land of Carrots for many years with an iron fist. His era bringing forth the darkest of its kind yet known.

His rule was finally brought to an end by an unknown tracksuited hero!
Xolstar 3
With the dragon of the planet "Insectica Prime" finally destroyed, the Interplanetary Planet Alliance of Planets was at peace again.
Balloon
The journey of the Balloon became a legend in the World of Air and many of the inhabitants wished to follow the journey the balloon had made.
So Balloon decided to help them and attach a basket to his string and starting the
"Hot Air Balloon Travel Company"
Nitrometris
Nitrometris blocks continued being Nitrometris blocks!
Seriously, you want an ending to a game that was just Tetris clone!?!
Come on guys, don't be silly!
Blast-Man Joe
Blastman Joe finally found the lost treasure of the Ascii tribe.
His fame and fortune made him the most renowened explorer of the 20th century. The lost treasure of the Ascii tribe was put on display at the British Museum of Rare Artefacts.
Smash
With the pesky bricks smashed forever, the Faceballs enjoyed their newfound freedom.

Ninja
After rescuing his Bride from the dreaded Trans-Mech_Samurai and the Tengu Yakuza Gang, the unnamed Ninja settled down on the mountain forests of japan. However, on one dark and rainy night, the unnamed Ninja mysteriously disappeared, with only smashed robot pieces left behind. Leaving his wife to raise his new born son......

"Takeshi"!

The screen goes back to the black screen. It reads:

You completed 7 games........
At the same time........
Impressive!........

The Mega Mash logo appears, with the words "Congratulations" above it.

 	Mega_Mash_Ending 	 			  

A image of the first scenes of the endings:

Mme

All the ending images

Games[]

In Mega Mash, all seven games are mixed into a single, 20 level game. The reason for this is mostly unknown, but seems to result from damage to the game cartridge.

Enemies[]

All games except Nitrometetris have enemies. All enemies damage the main character on contact or by shooting hazards. They can be classified into groups due to their behaviors.

Carrot Story[]

Ninja[]

Most enemies resembles enemies in Final Ninja series.

Xolstar 3[]

The enemies are in an space army named Insectica Prime. As the name stands, some enemies are based on insects, while others are based on marine animals.

Blast-Man Joe[]

Balloon[]

Enemies in balloon are flying enemies that resembles enemies in Hot Air series.

Smash[]

Hazards[]

  • Quicksand (Carrot Story) / Lasers (Ninja) - Damage the player on contact.
  • Crusher blocks (Carrot Story/Blast-Man Joe/Balloon) - They move slowly and then crushes to walls at high speed. They don't hurt the player, but the player can still be hurt by being crushed into walls.
  • Chains (Carrot Story/Ninja) / Balls on chains (Balloon) - They rotates and hurt the player.
  • Bullets - Shoot by some enemies and hazards that can damage the player.
  • Spike heads (Carrot Story/Xolstar 3/Blast-Man Joe/Smash) - Stays in one place and damage the player.
  • Asteroids - Pieces in Xolstar 3 that damage the player and require 3 hits to break.
  • Spikes - They are on some parts of walls of Balloons and can hurt the player.
  • Turrets - They follows the player and shoot bullets. Gatling turrets shoot faster.
  • Bombs - Laid by Joe that blasts in + shape, killing enemies in range and damage the breakable walls. However, Joe can be hurt by the blast of his bombs.

Pick ups[]

Main article: Pick ups (Mega Mash)
  • Hearts - Grant 1 life to the player.
  • Points - When the player touches them (break them in Smash), the player gets 10 points.
  • Super powerups - They add a different power to several of the different game aspects. Fluffykins can shoot fireballs, the Xolstar can fire five lasers at once and gains a shield, and Smash gains guns on the paddle.
  • Game barriers - Change elements in one game to another game's elements.
  • Buttons - Press them to activate game barriers.

Characters[]

The characters in the game transform as the player moves between worlds, so they are essentially the same character throughout, albeit in different forms.

Bosses[]

Main article: Bosses (Mega Mash)

There are two bosses, one encountered halfway through the game and the one more encountered on the final level. Unlike many games, they are more complex than simple enemies, and are fought throughout multiple games. They must be defeated to progress through the game.

Glitches[]

Mega Mash is known for the notorious amount of glitches in it. In the blog post announcing Mega Mash had been released, Nitrome said several glitches were still intact. Below are some of them.

Lost in cartridge glitch[]

On level three, when the player turns into the ninja for the first time, the top game will disappear, but the player can wall jump up there. The player can't get back into Blast-Man Joe, but they can run around in the black cartridge glitch. The player cannot see him/herself either. Strangely, since there's no game within that area, the controls act as if the game within that area is a platform game.

Dead space glitch[]

If the player is where the black empty space should be when the game changes, they will be trapped in it and cannot be seen. The only control that works is jump, and the jumping sound will be heard. Nothing else works (meaning the player has to restart the level).

Spring glitch[]

In Carrot Story, if two boxes are put on top of each other on springs, the springs will glitch. This was fixed.

Push glitch[]

In some parts of Carrot Story, the player may be pushed suddenly in one direction. This "push" happens suddenly and cannot be moved against. The player can avoid the glitch by staying completely still.

Incompleteable level[]

In some cases, the player will be forced to kill him/herself in order to complete the level, as some parts of some level cannot be completed if the player goes to a certain spot and has to go back, but can't, or cannot progress any further. This bug has been fixed.

Immediate game over[]

Sometimes, when the player completes level three, a level failed-screen will be shown. This also may happen three seconds into level four. Also, this may happen on other stages, such as on level eight.

Super power up glitch[]

A variation of the uncompleteable level glitch. In some parts of the level, the player may need a super power up to progress further in the level. However, if they die past a certain spot, they will respawn in a certain area, but without being in the super power up state. At this point, the super power up cannot be obtained. In some cases, the level is impossible to complete, as the player needs the super power up, and so the player is forced to restart the level completely. This was fixed.

Level 18 glitch[]

This glitch caused Mega Mash to be uncompleteable. On level 18, the flagpole was not positioned over a stable platform. The flagpole is instead positioned over the orange sky in the Ninja area. Because the flagpole was not on a stable platform, it could not be activated. Also, if the player stood directly on the brown block, they would eventually fall through the block into a void below.

The player would not die, as they had not lost all their hearts, and the game had not been programmed to count falling into the black void as death. Thus, the player is infinitely falling. They could move horizontally, but not get back up. This glitch is one of the most infamous Nitrome glitches, and was fixed by Nitrome on Monday, October 3rd.

Glitch mega

The glitch in action

Midair glitch[]

Like some other games, if you run too fast on the edge of a platform, the player will stay in midair.

Ghosts through a Game barrier glitch[]

On level 2, if the player is careful enough not to kill the ghost near the barrier of Carrot Story and Xolstar 3, if the Green Ghost gets through the barrier, no sprite would appear but a red translucent box crawling at the edge.

Wall slide glitches[]

If the player is wall sliding with Takeshi while in Ninja, and the game changes, a number of things can happen.

Carrot Story[]

When Takeshi is wall sliding in Ninja, and it changes into Carrot Story, the rabbit will be sliding against the wall.

Blast-Man Joe[]

If the player is wall sliding and the game changes to Blast-Man Joe while the ninja is where a wall should be, the player will be seen inside the wall, and will immediately die.

Ninja star glitch[]

If the player throws a ninja star while in Ninja and the game changes, the ninja star will still be there.

Bomb glitch[]

If the player places a bomb while in Blast-Man Joe and the game changes, the bomb will disappear, but the blast will still happen in the normal amount of seconds (still harming the player if they touch it).

Level completion glitch[]

When a level is completed in Carrot Story, the player can still move around and die.

Level re-enter glitch[]

Sometimes if the player starts the game and clicks any level, they will be taken to level one instead of the level that they have selected. However, the player's progress still exists, and the player just needs to return to the main menu and select the level they want once more.

Nitrome Touchy version[]

Mega Mash is included as a Nitrome Touchy game[1]. When the player goes into another game world, the controller's art will change as well. This game was one of the 10 launch titles for the iPhone Nitrome Touchy, this game launched on October 31st 2012 for the app, and November 21st 2012 for Android.

Theme[]

Mega Mash is themed around the player playing a broken, glitchy NES game cartridge. This is first presented in the startup, which shows the game being put into the Enjoyment System, but resulting in a glitchy title screen. The cartridge is then removed, and sounds of beating or tampering are heard. The game cartridge (bottom half now gone) is then re-inserted into the system, which plays the game, but causes it to billow smoke.

Also, when the player clicks the Play button to go to the level select screen, the game screen fills up with the words "ERROR...", and then turns black with the words "Cartridge Read Error."

Continuing with the fictional story, the NES cartridge is apparently supposed to play seven different games, but due to the cartridge being broken and glitchy all the games have combined into one. White sparkling lines represent where the different games have "mashed" together within the levels, and Nitrome forces the player to use this mechanic of switching between games to have the player progress through the levels.

Beta elements[]

Pre-previews[]

Images of Ninja and Balloon appeared in the NES Promo Posters. On the first poster, an image of Balloon and Ninja appear. The Ninja image lacks the grating seen in the final game, the guard also looks different. The Balloon in the Balloon image lacks a face, and red and green pads are present, something not seen in the final release version of Mega Mash. The pink platforms are also seen only once in the game. Seen in the NES skin is what is perhaps a beta version of Nitrometris, or a parody of another game.

Previews[]

When Mega Mash was released, an image for each game was previewed. All these preview images possibly mean that Mega Mash was originally going to be seven games in one game, each game having a separate set of levels. It is possible that making all the levels would be difficult, and time consuming, which possibly lead to twenty levels being a mix of the seven games.

Almost each preview image of a level seen did not make it into the game. In the Balloon image (see gallery above), Balloon is seen approaching a ball on a chain, which is near a Spike Head. Spike Heads did not make it into the game, also, a Ball on Chain in that area was never encountered. The Blast-Man Joe image had Joe being able to place multiple Bombs at once.

Mosquitoes were also enemies, but cut from the game and possible replaced with mice. The Nitrome Tetris level was also not seen in the game, neither was the Smash level. The Carrot Story, Ninja, and Xolstar 3 levels did however make it into the game. Mega Mash may have went into development in November, when the Nitrome Enjoyment System was revealed.

Post-release[]

55?cb=20120317190109 Incomplete section

This section is incomplete. You can help by adding the missing info.
Needed: All the unused content

Unused enemy sprites still remain the game. The sprite of the Hot Air mines still remain in the game's coding, along with that of the ball on chain (which was seen in a preview image). Three unused enemies are also present: a white sphere, fat alien, and alien fly; from their appearance it is thought they are from Xolstar 3. A sprite of a snake also exists, thought to be from Blast-Man Joe.

The alien fly and fat alien apparently were to help each other, as a .gif exists of the fly rotating around the fat alien.

Gallery[]

Reviews[]

Aggregate scores
Site Score
Newgrounds 4/5[2]
Kongregate 3.8/5[3]
Jay is Games 4.6/5[4]
Review scores
Site Score
Edge N/A[5]
Kotaku N/A[6]
IndieGames N/A[7]
Jay is Games N/A[4]

Mega Mash has been well received by critics, the most praised elements of the game being the unique game element of going between different games and how well Mega Mash simulates retro gaming. Chris Donlan of Edge Magazine praised the game for its uniqueness and retro feeling ("how warm and familiar it all feels."), and although bringing up that the core idea had been done before, he noted how Mega Mash stands out in the genre for its "sophistication, and such an unusual level of clear-headed intelligence."[5]

The game was praised by Mike Fahey of Kotaku for "It's a gorgeous symphony of old school gaming goodness, all at once."[6]. Cassandra Khaw of IndieGames.com noted that although the game wasn't "particularly groundbreaking", she still praised the game for its "nifty idea".[7]

John Bardinelli praised many aspects of the game, notably the mix of many different genres in one game, and the integration of puzzles across multiple games; he ended his review stating "Creative, good-looking, and retro enough to make even the most nostalgic of gamers shed a tear. Mega Mash is one glitchy game cartridge you won't mind firing up."[4]

Awards[]

Site/Event Year Contest Prize Outcome
Flash Gaming Summit 2012 The Mochis Best Action Game Nominated - Finalist[8]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Several of the games seem to be based on several old games from 1980 and 1970.
    • Carrot Story is based on the Mario series of games, but resembles Super Mario Bros. 2 more.
    • Smash is based on Breakout, a Pong like game where the player smashes blocks.
      • The power-up for this game resembles laser capsules from Arkanoid, and the paddle resembles Vaus from the same game.
    • Nitrometris is obviously based off Tetris.
    • Blast-man Joe is based off of Bomberman.
    • Insectica Prime is perhaps based on Metroid Prime.
  • Other games are based off already existing Nitrome games.
  • When Fluffykins jumps up and dies, he can land on a enemy and still can kill it.
  • The sound of the lightning bolt impacting the word "Mega Mash" - heard during the opening of Mega Mash and prior the menu coming up - is heard upon collection of the NES in Super Stock Take.
  • The beginning of the music played during the game's level sounds a little like "Another Winter" by Anamanaguchi.

Notes[]


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