Im doing a playthrough of the Devious Four Chronicles, a series of SMW hacks. The third game of it is known as The Crater. The Chronicles is known for its heavy story elements and the presentation of four Ancient Evil beings who wanted to destroy Mario's Universe. The Third installment revolves around Mario and his tragic friend and sidekick Alanea to stop Hunter and SCORPION from setting the world ablaze with the Furnace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JrWf3f4hM&feature=channel&list=UL



Part 1.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RLS2yTYu2Q&feature=channel&list=UL

Part 2. My ROM crashed around this part, but my save file didnt. Thank god.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVG3f2PXTno&feature=channel&list=UL

Part. 3. Racter's Tower was not shown because if I recorded prolongly with ZSNES, problems will occur unknownlingly in the video after I finished recording it and dumping it with lame and Mencoder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtSrXY2sYyw&feature=channel&list=UL

Part 4. I had the most problems recording this stage due to recording problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22llrY8Mf7w&feature=channel&list=UL

Part 5. I redownloaded Mencoder and lame to make sure that no ZSNES randomness occur in long stages. The Chronicles is known for having long stages that are central to the overall plot.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUJEO466Kbk&feature=channel&list=UL

Special #1: The Grasslands Hint Palace is tackled and it reveals spoilers in-game.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLt7QHHUNA8&feature=channel&list=UL

Two levels leading up to the Orbital Temple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAVL-evcjhc&feature=channel&list=UL

Sidekick gets action time in the Fortress Trap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy7eBogUuko&feature=channel&list=UL

If you are in an enemy's base, you are gonna be in there for awhile. And this awhileness is why I dont record all levels in a world and that is better to record on a level -to - level basis. I dont want ZSNES randomness to kick it back up to ruin my playthrough. BTW, levels get WAAY harder after World 2: The Red Lands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkhW4qVc90M&feature=channel&list=UL

If you beat this level, you have the choice to go to Hunter's Focur or SCORPION's Iceburg.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oIrYcCyyto&feature=youtu.be



Dead grass, lava, and a secret that is accessible by going IN the lava which is already hard to tell.. Hope its differently colored to give players indication on which lava is non-deadly.


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Edited by: TDW, Aug 20th, 2012 @ 11:13 pm

3 short levels before Hunter's Cyber Castle. You gotta admit, there is alot of "Biting the Bullet" here. Also, the second level of Hunter's Focur is deceptive. There IS NO secret exit! I played this level three times to find it. And as for the upside-down lava, in most SMW hacks, the upside down surface lava is swimmable before an instant kill block 1-block higher than the lava's surface.

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Edited by: TDW, Aug 20th, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDUJt-Ea6fQ&feature=channel&list=UL



Hunter's Cyber Castle is a long level, divided into three parts, which if you make in one video, the length of it would span a World in a Mario game. Not to mention that some parts are flawed and need fixing. Looks like some of KKSCORPION's beta-testers missed that spot, or that the creators didnt fix em yet. Anyways, its very good to have different music complementing each other due to the level theme and length so that it wont get repetitive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhTBykUAHKc&feature=channel&list=UL



This is the Battle with Hunter. The first phase is a machine that shoots out drones, gears, and fireballs. Once you amassed a certain number of hits on the machine, it starts shooting bullet bills, two gears simlutanteously, and a homing fireball that explodes. Its very difficult as you now have to jump the bullet to destroy the machine. The Second phase after a brief intermission is Hunter himself, this time, has new attacks on him since last fought in Racter's Tower in World 1 (or World 2 if you count the Focur Castle as a world end).



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqXRuZk760&feature=channel&list=UL



Looks like I have to go to the Iceburg...

Man, I haven't updated my playthrough thread in a long time. School and recording problems plagued my recording and uploading videos schedules for more than 2 weeks. Anyways, on to the videos (due note, there is a huge gap of time between the Iceburg levels and SCORPION's Base).



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJtVEWC4ruk&feature=channel&list=UL

Unlike Hunter's Focur, SCORPION's Iceburg is non-linear and requires secret and normal exits to get around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR1EUgUK_hI&feature=channel&list=UL

See exactly on those two videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4KJksHNgoc&feature=channel&list=UL

KKSCORPION (S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.'s YouTube channel) apparently, was in charge of this world and I liked how the gimmick of sneaking onboard an airship and not getting caught by security cameras and patroling drones is executed in a level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxADG2YrsGY&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLqKcuGdZpE&feature=channel&list=UL

Both levels were good in gimmicks. Once was a ON/OFF usage heavy and the other was P-Switch and other collectable item usage heavy. However, backtracking should be a minimal and there should be more room for error as I can get stuck at parts in those two stages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtqHN_Acigarettes&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFEzp3LKR4&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL-wlOCpn1E&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgl7CNfNl8w&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeOitmjHss4&feature=channel&list=UL

SCORPION's Base. Another long level that plagued me with ZSNES randomness. I had to divide it into 4-5 parts. Anyways, World 6, Crystal mountain will be next.