The first hack i ever played was Brutal Mario by carol in 2015. I found it through a youtube video showcasing its bossfights.
Back then i actually didn't even know about SMW hacking websites, i found the ROM to that hack in a SNES ROMs website. That was the only hack i played in the next few months, until i found the website "Mario Hacks" in 2016 and found out more about ROM Hacks and the SMW hacking community.
As for Brutal Mario, of course it was extremely impressive for me! Having only played through the vanilla SMW, i was speechless with the amount of custom resources used in that hack! And even up to this day, it's still one of my favorite hacks!
Of course, i know it isn't the best in terms of design, but it certainly isn't as bad as most people try to make it. It certainly has its bad moments, where it seems the addition of custom resources was more important than the gameplay itself, but it also has many great and fun levels!
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