The Halloween Hack: Difference between revisions

'''''The Halloween Hack''''' (also [[Fan Nickname|known by fans]] as "Press the B Button, Stupid!") is a [[Fan Sequel]] [[ROM Hack]] of the 1995 [[SNES]] cult-classic ''[[EarthBound]]'', created in October 2008 by someonea user known as Radiation. You probably know him elsewhere as FwugRadiation, and much better as [[Toby Fox]].

[[Homestuck|Yes,]], [[Undertale|''that'']] [[Deltarune|Toby Fox]].

You can download it and find out more about it [http://starmen.net/pkhack/hacks/tacoriffic/ here]. While the site's description of the game does oversell a lot of the game's aspects, and much of its contents haven't aged asparticularly well, asat downloadthe time of its release it was a pretty ground-breaking hack - you can also easily see the presence of themes and motifs that Toby Fox would heavily refine in his later games.

* [[Adaptational Villainy]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Andonuts - from eccentric, good-hearted inventor to murderous, mind-broken madman. Good ''lord''.}}.

* [[Barrier Change Boss]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Andonuts in his second and third forms, where he even [[Calling Your Attacks|hints at which PSI he'll use beforehand]]. The Monster Manual recommends changing equipment mid-battle to resist the attacks - a mechanic that was present but little-used in the original game.}}.

* [[Border Patrol]]: Super Doom Shrooms and Blue Antoids are [[Palette Swap]]s<ref>Of Ramblin' Evil Shrooms and Black/Red Antoids</ref> that roam outside Twoson, and boast utterly ridiculous stats that Varik has no hope of matching. An NPC to the east attributes this to [[Hand Wave|"global warming"]]. They exist solely to prevent Varik wandering too far off; - while ''almost'' unbeatable by any normal means, they can still be avoided. {{spoiler|Specifically, youYou can potentially kill a Super Doom Shroom with the effects of a WhiteShock, which gives you over 4000 experience points - enough to propel Varik's level into the twenties - if you survive the encounter.}}

* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: Played with (and inverted(?) for laughshumorously with the Halloween candy item, which comes in flavors such as Cinnamon Crap, Grape Gasoline, and Cherry Chafe... "Oh, and mint, but that's gross."

* [[Broken Aesop]]: Regarding the endings. {{spoiler|The narrative does its best to shame you for trying to kill the broken wretch Dr. Andonuts is reduced to, despite giving you little choice in the matter, and the scientist himself will constantly berate Varik for his persistence. The game even hands you the 'bad' ending for [[But Thou Must!|doing what it tells you to and killing him early]], but defy it to [[Take a Third Option]] and you get the chance to gather up Andonuts's remaining fragments of courage, along with his memories of the other Chosen Four, and... [[Shaggy Dog Story|end up killing him anyway in the 'good' ending]].}}

** {{spoiler|This Aesop ends up [[Subverted Trope|a lot less broken]] once you consider that {{spoiler|entering Dr. Andonuts's Magicant is the only way to learn how and why he ended up in this sorry state, and presents [[Hope Spot|the only chance]] anyone has to possibly bring him to his senses, even if it ultimately proves futile. Thus, only by defying the game's orders do you get to experience the full story, gain context for Dr. Andonuts's madness, and ensure that Varik lives to end the monster outbreak ends once and for all - which lines up pretty well with the themes explored in [[Undertale|Toby Fox's]] [[Deltarune|later works]].}}

* [[Broken Bridge]]: The ghosts that blocked off Threed in the original game return, with a Twoson resident [[lampshading]] this and believing the ghosts to be teenagers pulling pranks. The Onett police also resume their usual role, blocking off the path to Onett.

* [[Call Forward]]: Of sorts - {{spoiler|among his inventions, Dr. Andonuts mentions a completely impenetrable capsule that can't be escaped -, AKA the Incredibly Safe Capsule Porky traps himself in near the end of ''[[Mother 3]]''.}.}

* [[Contrasting Sequel Character]]: The grim and brooding adult Varik to the all-American child Ness.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: [[Up to Eleven|''Ridiculously'' so]]. You barely get a minute or so in before you're presented with the protagonist awakening from an explicitly drunken stupor (in a pile of his own vomit no less). He is then hired to solve a brutally gruesome murder, and [[It Got Worse|once you go through that door in the sewers...]]

** "The Uberhaunt ripped ''out'' your innards ''out''!"

** The Desire Dog appears as a Zombie Dog in the overworld, but in-battle its body is half tentacle-like pseudopods that it frequently uses to attack, and uponpotentially [[Life Drain|drain HP]]. Upon death, it collapses into an array of wriggling tentacles.

** The Remnants are slime-likedeformed Starmen "'corpses"' that can manifest several limbs and a gaping maw.

* [[Eye Beams]]: One enemy attack used by Remnants and {{spoiler|Phaze Destrotur}} causes their eye to flash before "firing bloody thunderbolts in all directions". It hits the entire party for electric damage and can'st usedbe reflected by Remnants,psychic {{spoiler|Phaze Destroturshields.

* [[Eye Scream]]: Overrecycled and {{spoiler|NO NO NO}} can attack by trying to rip your eyes out of their sockets.

* [[Faux Horrific]]: An NPC in one of the bathrooms prior to a branching path warns Varik of "demons that [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|don't wash their hands" after flushing]]". Check a bathroom door later on, [[Brick Joke|and sure enough...]]

{{quote|*flush* "...Haha, didn't even wash my hands!" ''("Character KO'd" sound plays)''}}

* [[Groin Attack]]: {[{spoiler|Dr. Andonuts}} has one that can hit each party member for sizable damage and poison them.}}

* [[Hope Spot]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Andonuts becomes determined to recover from his madness as his past is explored and his Courage is gathered... and then upon entering the last area, he sadly relapses completely.}}

<!--* [[Improvised ArmorArmour]]: Armor includeschoices include the Garbagecan Lid, and the Hair Gel-->.

* [[Mechanical Abomination]]: {{spoiler|The Phaze Destrotur}} looks like what'd you expect from the mind of someone who came to believe their creation was {{spoiler|a hero-killing death trap. It vaguely resembles's a vaguely-Mr. Saturn-shaped machine with an additional bloodshot eye, specializes in [[Shock and Awe|electric attacks]], and has a power shield that deflects physical attacks. Beware of the lightning [[Eye Beams]] - psychic shields can't deflect them, and you won't yet have the Franklin Badge.}}.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: In ''spades''. A solid chunk of the edited dialogue causes this (even in the earliest parts. It reflects the hack's overall nature: a charming, irreverent and silly adventure similar to the original ''EarthBound'' that's a facade hiding a much darker and harrowing tale... {{spoiler|And then you enter Dr. Andonuts' Magicant, where things start to [[Zig-Zagging Trope|zig-zag]] and justbecome getdarker and darker still, as well as just downright ''weird''.}}.

** The 'good' ending hasdoes this: {{spoiler|Varik returningreturns home victorious from the tragic final battle with Dr. Andonuts, with the monsters in Winters cleared out... [[Big- Lippedthough Alligatorunable Moment|onlyto forsave athe ghostdoctor tofrom farthis inown mind, his faceearnest asattempts hehave triesand then his attempts to relaxunwind [[Non Sequitur Scene|are briefly interrupted by a ghost farting in his face]].}}

* [[Multi-Armed and Dangerous]]: The Remnants, though this is only explicitly mentioned in its death message:

* [[Our Monsters Are Weird]]: In typical ''EarthBound'' fashion, taken [[Up to Eleven]] [[Nightmare Fuel|and then some]]. {{spoiler|[[Justified]] considering most of them are found within Dr. Andonuts's mind.}} Here's a small sampling from the enemy defeat messages:

** "The Uberhaunt roared, and shook. Suddenly, its chest ruptured as it burst into {{spoiler|[[NightmareMood RetardantWhiplash|confetti]]}}!"

** The Overrecycled are undead [[New Age Retro Hippie]]s, andthat areaooear among the more "standard" zombies encountered.

** Monsters and Uberhaunts are Urban Zombie palette swaps given large gnashing teeth, empty eye sockets and massive hands; bones and blood are pooled at their feet. The latter are capable of casting beta-level Flame, and burstcan intoput confettithe ratherparty thanto goresleep uponwith defeata "horrid tune".

* [[Point of No Return]]: Marked by a [[Save Point|telephone]] in front of a door in the Sewers. {{spoiler|Entering that door in turn marks the story point where things go [[It Got Worse|''straight to hell]].''}}. It's then [[Averted Trope|averted]] with {{spoiler|a Twoson-like area before the final room that lets you buy several items, and can return you to Twoson or Magicant if you forgot anything}}.

* [[Psychic Powers]]: Varik's "spells" function exactly the same as PSI in the original game ([[Informed Flaw|despite the game's insistence to the contrary]]). {{spoiler|Paula and Poo also have them, as does {{spoiler|the now-insane Dr. Andonuts}}.

* [[Puzzle Boss]]: EachMany enemyenemies has a couple of weaknesses that can make it far easier to handle, or at least even things up.

* [[StripperificStripperiffic]]: The Sexy Sisters are performers who use the sprites of blonde beachgoingbeach-going women. One of the people in front of the Chaos Theater states they're a fan of the duo, despite mistaking the lounging Sexy Sisters nearby for "wannabe beauties".

* [[Swallowed Whole]]: One ofattack theused by Remnants' attacksand {{spoiler|Phaze Destrotur}} attempts to grab you and shove you into its gaping maw. [[Eldritch Abomination|Your guess as to where thatthe mouth on the Remnants came from...]]

* [[Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness]]: The Stench Elemental can replicate the brightbrightness and solidifying effect of the teeth-brushing attack used by New Age Retro Hippies... using a pair of dirty socks.

* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: Desperate Survivors are bloodied and weeping men that appear as sprite-edited palette swaps of the Annoying Old Party Man. They illwill always run from you in the overworld, and should you chase them down to fight, they rarely attack and instead [[Apologetic Attacker|apologize repeatedly]] or else cough and wheeze pitifully; even when they do attack, it only does [[Scratch Damage]], and their death message [[Sorry I Fell on Your Fist|has them say "sorry"]] [[You Bastard|one last time...]] The only possible benefit from fighting them outside of the meager experience is the guaranteed Last Ration drop (which can restore roughly 40 HP), and while [[Word of God]] discourages fighting them, there is no real punishment beyond feeling like a massive prick.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Of all things, {{spoiler|Phaze Destrotur}} takescan muchlose moreupwards damageof from~100 HP to each use of Jeff's [[Life Drain|HP-sucker]].

** {{spoiler|Remember Me? and NO NO NO}} can inflict smallminor damage by becoming "a little hard to think about again".}}

** {{spoiler|The Giegue League}} has a single-target status attack that poisons a party member, with no text describing the attack.}}