Mushroom Kingdom Fusion

It’s finally here. After several years, MKF has been resurrected. And it's only the beginning...

Visit the Fusion Gameworks website for more info.

Join the Discord Server for releases (even WIPs!), discussions and bug reports.

TV Tropes has an already excellent summary of the game.

Still don't know what this project is all about? Watch the video first, then read on! Let me tell you a story...

This is a solo undertaking by D-TurboKiller (that's me!), in order to preserve the game in a proper, functional state. Unfortunately, v0.53 had a lot of glaring issues that needed to be fixed, which didn’t allow for a proper playthrough of the game. This version aims to fix just that, as well as provide a couple additions and more polish.

So, why undertake this by myself in the first place? It’s a simple answer, really. I originally found MKF about a decade ago and have been in love with the very concept ever since. A gigantic crossover consisting of an insane variety of 2D (even some 3D!) games, while somehow managing to be a solid 2D platformer with around a dozen characters that play far too different that any notion of balance goes straight out the window? Absolutely, sign me up on that! It’s a gigantic, nostalgic love letter from an era of gaming that frankly should’ve stayed alive in a more substantial form. I even managed to do some small contributions to the project, despite not being exactly the most skilled person around, as expected of an early teenager at the time.

But… all was not well with MKF. I will not go over any details, but suffice to say, the enormous scope didn’t help, the team wasn’t as stable as it should’ve been, and perhaps most importantly, the engine itself. Game Maker was not meant for anything more than small games. AT ALL. Eventually they decided enough is enough, and gradually went their own ways. There were attempts at reviving it (Super Mario Fusion Revival), but it never reached the level of interest and awe of the original. Regardless, MKF stayed in our memories…

With the recent release of the latest official source, nostalgia won and I decided to dirty my hands that very same week. It was… an excruciatingly painful experience at first. Game Maker 8 would be a completely unacceptable tool to use by today’s standards, even back then it was just bearable. It feels like over half the time I spend on the project involved either getting it to work or getting around GM’s insane amount of issues. Sometimes I believe it was intentionally designed to screw with your work, but I digress. With support from the original devs and the friendly, passionate community, I pushed on until what you see now today. Hopefully it was worth the wait!

===NOTABLE CHANGES SINCE v0.53===
-MASSIVE optimization: the source has been repackaged with GMK Splitter and a lot of files externalized, so expect smaller load times, smoother framerates, and an overall better experience.
-ALL sounds have been lowered (internal & external), a 2-in-1 fix that allows a higher volume and doesn't compromise music quality.
-ALL songs (over 220!) are now in high quality! Not only that, but new ones have been added, and every single one has been carefully picked, so much of them are actually brand new!
-3 NEW levels, recovered from lost sources: W1-S0 Height Valley, W2-6 Cruise Control and W4-7 Death Volcano.
-NPC Dialog and Cutscenes implemented! Expect old and new sections to use them! (Mostly in certain boss fights or specific levels) -ENORMOUS amount of tweaks and fixes for EVERY SINGLE LEVEL in every world, using Mario as a common ground. Other characters are untested, but some tweaks have been applied such as adding life jackets.
-A new World, the Warp Zone, a super convenient world that quickly teleports you to any world. Most even allow you to teleport to specific points in a world! You can go all the way to Minus World in just a few seconds!
-Other convenient additions such as the ability to change music volume (requires music change/restart), exiting stages at any point, and additional cheats like room warp and level clearing.
-Minor changes that are too abundant to mention here. Check the enormous changelog in the README file below (read from bottom to top!)

===KNOWN ISSUES===

-“Unexpected Error” when trying to run the game on modern systems (GM Issue, can’t fix, but possible workarounds include a clean MKF installation, trying to run the exe again and again, and restarting your computer if nothing else works.) (NOTE: You CAN run this even in W10 64 bits, which is exactly what I’m using, and with zero issues!)

-The game sometimes restarts or even exits when starting/continuing levels (GM issue, can’t fix, very rare)

-Music sometimes doesn’t start (GM issue, can’t fix, but I personally never had this problem)

-Possible stutters. Shouldn’t be nearly as common now, let me know exactly when and why it happens when it does.

-Low framerates for SOME users. (GM issue, can’t fix, workaround suggested by one user is to use Cheat Engine’s speedhack mode on the executable)

-Many, many issues with slopes, specifically going below and going down slopes. A VERY known bug at this point and one of my top priorities for future releases. Avoid running down slopes if you’re close to pitfalls.

-Characters with larger collision boxes have trouble getting through tight spaces (Exit stage & switch to Mario-like character)

-Some levels have difficult or impossible sections with certain non-mario-esque characters, due to their gameplay mechanics. (Future fix, for now exit the stage and switch to a mario-like character)

-Green mask shows up for Arthur. (Under investigation)

-“Loading a save with Simon as the active character makes his heart counter invisible and the health meter becomes incorrect. It’s only fixed once you switch to a different character and back. — Dooki51”

But wait, there's more!

As for v1.0, it’s a planned release that aims to finish the game in its entirety, but with no promised release date besides when it’s done, due to real life and the amount of work left to do. WIP versions will be available for testing purposes, and releases will come in portions (v0.7, 0.8, etc, barring critical bugfix patches). I can also mention the planned changes:

• An actual Beginning and End to the game
• Additional story that aims to make something coherent of what’s available
• Major and minor tweaks to every character
• Possibly fix glaring issues such as going down or up slopes
• Add many lost levels from recovered sources, as long as it doesn’t break the main source itself

And that's all for now, folks. Whether you've never played this before or not, you're in for quite a treat. Don't forget to join the Discord community if you wanna catch up on any updates!

Above all, have fun!