SMBZ-DS

SMBZ-DS
General
Author	Headshotnoby
Type	Action
Version	0.4
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2021/12/10
Links
FAT & NitroFS Download
Website
Source

SMBZ-DS is a DS recreation of a one-on-one fighting game made by Zethros, named SMBZ-G, both of which are fangames of the Super Mario Bros. Z animated Flash series from Newgrounds by Alvin-Earthworm.

This remake also has some unique features such as MP3 playback, initially written using the author's own fork of MicroLua DS and now in C++.

Installation

Latest release contains FAT and NitroFS version.

• FAT - You must copy the data folder and NDS rom to the root of your SD card. You can add custom content and seems to load faster than NitroFS.
• NitroFS - The data folder is embedded into the NDS rom itself. Works on any emulator that has/doesn't have SD card emulation.

User guide

It currently ships with 2 characters and 11 different stages from the series to choose from.

Each character has their own slew of attacks and combos.

Command list for Mario

Command	Move (note)
Neutral	Jab combo (press B repeatedly)
Up neutral/Up air	Uppercut
Down neutral	Hook punch
Air	Smack down
Down air	Eagle kick (when you hit your opponent, you flip off them; you can move while flipping)
Z-neutral	Hammer hop
Z-up neutral/Z-up air	Super jump punch
Z-down neutral	Hammer smash (breaks through player guard)
Z-air	Hammer meteor smash (breaks through player guard)
Z-down air	Ground pound

Command list for Sonic

Command	Move (note)
Neutral	Jab combo (press B repeatedly)
Up neutral/Up air	Flip kick
Down neutral	Sweep kick (attacks from both sides, jump while Sonic is in a handstand for a cool trick)
Air	Tornado kick
Down air	Down kick
Z-neutral	Spin dash (hold to charge, enough charge will make Sonic go in a big burst of speed)
Z-up neutral/Z-up air	Bounce
Z-down neutral	Flash kick
Z-air	Sonic eagle
Z-down air	Dive kick

Customization

Stages and characters now use JSON files for their definitions, however to add characters the source code must be edited.

Custom stages do not need source code modification; just add images, music and JSON file.

Controls

Main menu:

D-Pad - Switch menu elements

A - Select, Skip title screen animation (when booting up the game)

B - Go back

In game:

D-Pad - Move

A - Jump

B - Attack

L/R - Z-trigger

L/R+B - Z-attack (for heavier attacks)

Y - Shortcut for Z-attack

X - Guard/block

Start - Exit to character select

Screenshots

Media

SMBZ-G: Development Demo (Nov 2017) (ZethrosIG)

Compatibility

NitroFS version does not boot on some R4 flashcarts. Works fine on TWLMenu++.

Known issues

• The game is able to compile on latest devkitARM + libnds, but crashes immediately upon start on NO$GBA with an "undefined opcode" error.
• Mario's K.O. sound might fail to play after playing a few rounds. (Not sure about Sonic).
• Still some chances of Guru Meditation errors, however it seems to happen less often.

Changelog

v0.4

• New character(s) will be added for v0.5. This is mostly a bugfix update.
• Fixed bug where ground cuts off abruptly at the bottom; it now loops indefinitely.
• Added the ability to skip the title screen animation when booting up the game (Press A).
• Each sound now plays in its' own channel instead of being abruptly cut off when another one plays (Noticeable with Mario's hammer meteor smash attack, Z-Air, when hitting the opponent).
• Removed distance limit between the two players (I only had added this because of the background looping issues).
• Added some extra starting distance between the two players when the fight begins.
• Added detail from SMBZ-G: Characters bounce off the ground lightly when they are stunned and hit the ground hard.
• Added match timer.
• The game now ships with FAT and NitroFS versions.
  • FAT: The game includes a "data" folder in which you must extract to the root of your SD card. You can add custom content and it seems to load faster than NitroFS.
  • NitroFS: The "data" folder is embedded into the NDS rom itself. Works on any emulator that has/doesn't have SD card emulation, but it doesn't boot on some R4 flashcarts (particularly mine). Works fine on TWLMenu++.
• The star of this update: the whole game has changed in programming languages, from Lua to C++:
  • Quickly whipped up a library that mimics MicroLua but as a C++ library.
  • Painstakingly ported the game code from one language to the other.
  • The game will run at a much more stable 60 FPS due to it all being compiled instead of interpreted.
  • On the Lua version, the Quit button at the title screen took you to the MicroLua file explorer; however because there's no Lua anymore, it does nothing. May be replaced with an options menu in a future update.
  • Stages and characters now use JSON files for their definitions instead of Lua, however to add characters the source code must be edited. Custom stages do not need source code modification; just add images, music, JSON file and done.
  • Visual style/frontend has not changed much; just the backend.

v0.3

• New stage: yoshi_forest_reboot (Episode 2 of the SMBZ reboot, Yoshi VS Metallix).
• Added a distance limit between the two players (can't go too far away from other player).
• Fixed "No slots left" crash error (or crash to MicroLua's file explorer) when the game loads the main menu after a fight between two same characters finishes.
• Added a custom crash screen so the game doesn't go straight away to the file explorer.
• Added "Set fighter X to char" loading screens.
• Optimized FPS in the underground stage.
• Lots of Lua optimizations in the underlying code to try and boost FPS:.
• All separate BGs in a stage are now put in a single MicroLua canvas object instead of having their own canvas object.
• A lot of local variables.
• stage.lua definitions make more use of table indexes as numbers instead of string indexes (they're faster).

v0.2

• New stage: doomship_outside (from Episode 8, when the plane is nearing Bowser's Doomship).
• You can no longer attack during the initial Ready countdown.
• Made attack input more responsive for pressing repeatedly or right before countdown ends.
• Fixed bug where player would still have guarding sprite frame when hurt.
• Nerfed CPU player difficulty (added delay before attacking, no more spamming).
• Added from SMBZ-G: Player that connects a hit is drawn to the front, and the victim is drawn to the back.
• Fixed a tiny pixel in Mario's hurt sprite.
• Fixed Mario's "Hammer Meteor Smash" move (Z air) to be un-guardable (the AI was reacting to it being un-guardable even though it wasn't).
• Fixed some spritesheet issues on Sonic's spindash and bounce animations.
• Fixed some frame drops and the aforementioned random crashes (as it turns out, it was the custom WAV player I implemented).
• Also added the "uLibrary" dependency for compiling the source code.

External links

• GBAtemp - https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-smbz-ds.602993