GAMES FROM THE FROG'S BOX #6: SM64: THROUGH THE AGES

 SM64: THROUGH THE AGES REVIEW

Anyone remember Mario's Time Machine, that terrible educational game where you go back in time to famous historical landmarks? Or its sibling, Mario is Missing, where you go around the world? Those games were terrible, yes.
But what if they WEREN'T bad ideas? After all, Mario Odyssey pulled off a similar world tour theme much later... so a Mario game themed after real world/historical locations could still work. Of course, Nintendo would never do it themselves, but that's what the fans are for!

THROUGH THE AGES, a major ROMhack by Kaze Emanuar, aims to answer that question, with 11 courses full of crazy gimmicks, and a huge variety of fun, interesting settings.
I'm not gonna bother making a spoiler section for this review because for the most part, you know exactly what you're going to get with this. But, if at any point, you want to play this hack yourself... stop reading and go do it. I promise, there's a lot of fun to be had.

THE HUB WORLD
Some quick gameplay alterations to note: falling in pits doesn't kill you anymore, instead just sending you back to the nearest spot most of the time. The camera's also been altered- for some reason, you can't have Mario look around manually anymore, for reasons I don't understand.
ProTip: If you play this, turn off camera autorotate, it'll save you a ton of headache. If it's on, staying still long enough will force the camera directly behind Mario. I don't know why this feature was included, but it's very annoying. (Especially when I was trying to grab screenshots for this review.)

The hub world's not much to write home about, but there's a deceptive amount of secrets hiding away in it. From rescuing a toad trapped at sea, to finding a secret X to pound for a star... there's enough here that it doesn't just feel like a glorified level select.
Of course, the main attraction is the Pink Panther and his shop stall, which sell...

THE POKEMON ASSISTS
One of the biggest gimmicks in this hack is the ability to summon one of 11 Pokemon with you at any time in a level, to help you out in some shape or form. I would say this clashes hard with Mario, but... just you wait. My bigger problem is that they're all kind of useless outside of like, one or two instances. Haunter's the most used one, being mandatory for two stars, and all he does is activate the Vanish Cap effect for like two seconds.

Personally, i would've rather had a smaller amount of Pokémon with more consistent uses. The smaller amount of courses in this hack also doesn't really give time for any of them to breathe, since you have to spend stars to unlock them. Later hacks like Mario in the Multiverse and Patchmaker's Workshop handled switchable abilities much better by letting you swap in the middle of stages, but I suppose the concept had to start somewhere.
I do appreciate the aesthetics of the training courses, though. They make a nice break in between the bigger levels, but they feel a bit tacked on in any case. Ah, well. They function perfectly fine, at least.

Shoutouts to Gyarados, which is like a summonable Dorrie, but much smaller and thus less fun to use.
With all that preamble out of the way, let's get into the meat of this hack- the main courses. They are VERY good, or at the very least memorable, all the way through.

COURSE 1: EL DORADO

A surprisingly sprawling level for the first course, this level sets the tone for the rest of the hack- strongly themed levels with a wide variety of stuff to do. I love the archtitecture here, it's grand and imposing- exactly as an ancient temple should be, and the music helps that immensely.

There's Ziggurats all around the background, and the feathered serpent flying around with a star- that one takes some tight timing to get. The theming is ON POINT right from the word go in this hack- and that's one of its biggest strengths.

As for hazards, you have these Super Mario Land-esque Moais that toss rocks at you, but the walkways are so wide, you won't have much trouble.

A particular highlight is this segment, where you have to flip the tiles over by jumping, but they might be normal, icy, or LAVA on them. It's a neat twist on the typical jump-flip platform gimmick that forces you to think a little bit.

Or this bit, where you have to outrun a giant boulder, a la Indiana Jones. It's tense, but not too difficult either.
The only slight negative I can bring up is that the red coins are kind of annoying to find, but after enough laps around the main structure you'll bumble into the last one you were missing. Otherwise, this is a great opening level- open, rompy, yet hiding unique stuff to grab your attention from the start.

COURSE 2: SHIPWRECK COVE

The next level is, as the name implies, a spooky ghostly ship, with skeletons, ghosts, and discarded everything scattered about. Like this bit here, with the cannon surrounded by used cannonballs, and tables tipped over, the vibes are off the charts.

Seriously, look at this torn-up floor, it's gorgeous!
Now, this level can be somewhat confusing to navigate, with the enclosed rooms everywhere- thankfully, each room is distinct enough that it's generally not too difficult to find your way around. Even the red coins are all in same general area, so there's no need to worry about missing one. This level is full of tight platforming- thankfully, the pits don't game-over you, so that's nice. Fall damage can still be a pain, though.

The custom enemy in this level, the pirate skeletons, are somewhat annoying- they're completely unkillable and spin at you menacingly, but all you have to do is just... not approach them, so they're not as aggravating as they could be. I do love the model on them.

Also, the first mandatory Pokémon usage here, with Haunter turning you invisible (basically the Vanish Cap) to get through a grate. It's... fine, but I wish that part was a bit more involved.

I do, however, have to spotlight some camera issues here. Certain spots are made needlessly frustrating by the inexplicable removal of being able to look up in first-person view. Like this part right here, where you can jump off this chain, but you'd only know that by climbing to the top of it.

The worst case of this is during the 6th star, where you're searching for chests in a cavern with a sea monster. But thanks to the camera, you can't *see* the monster, so you just gotta hope you don't get snapped up. Not only is that frustrating, but I want to see the model, it looks really impressive! This part is definitely a bit that works better in concept than execution, but you can just outswim it most of the time. Usually. 
(I have to point out... Boss Bass was in Mario 64, we had a perfectly good enemy for this, could probably have just used that, or a modified version. Oh well.)

The boss is a real high point, though- fighting Pirate Captain Bob-Omb on a ship far away, having to kick his bombs back at him. (The hitboxes are slightly jank with this, but the spectacle of it outweighs that HEAVILY.) 
Despite some missteps, this is still a good level... just not as good as what we'll see later. It's only the second worst level, and even the worst levels in this hack are still quality stuff.

COURSE 3: BABYLON

Out of all potential stages for this, the  Hanging Gardens of Babylon was not one I was expecting at all.. but DAMN does it look good here. It's incredible.  As expected, this level has plenty of vines to climb on, which you'll need to use to get to all sorts of fun places.

The indoor areas are very nice looking too, with striking orange walls, gray tiles... everything just POPS. And this one has three entrances that lead all over the level, so it's interconnected, too.

Outside the building is very fun to navigate, with all these lily pads and floating stones to jump across for the red coins. The music, too, has the ultimate "watery ruins" vibe, it's SO good.

At the top are a bunch of piranha plants to stomp on, with these Yoshi statues overlooking everything. They're a bit hard to find, but a bit of bumbling about will locate them easily... however, you may notice that big beanstalk in the center. 

Once you hit star 4, The beanstalk from the start finally grows, up to the sky. And at the top, is the third major boss.

This boss is really fun, he's blowing you all around the arena while you have to pick up this hammer and toss it at him. It's simple, sure, but so are most mario bosses- and he wins major uniqueness points for his incredibly cool design, reminiscent of Huff'N'Puff from Paper Mario 64, but far more imposing.
Overall, not the most elaborate or technically masterful level, but it's still a REALLY good stage with atmosphere to spare... that's immediately getting upstaged by the next one.

COURSE 4: EGYPT

This is the most elaborate level yet, full of great setpieces. Just look at these giant statues, the circus tents... the modelling work is top-notch. Really, this level is a giant playground of fun things to explore- and it's not just pretty visually, either.

I really like these crocodile enemies, they can really catch you off guard if you're not careful. Just gotta look out for their snouts sticking up from the sand like crocodiles in water.

That's not the only custom enemies- there are invincible Toad mummies wandering around, and giant beige Blarggs that can get in your way. The latter is remarkably well-animated for a custom model, I have to say.

At the top of the pyramid, you can find Cleopatra herself, who looks great. Wonderful character modelling work, seriously. She's even got two Toads fanning her at all times, like a proper queen should have. But more importantly, she gives hints on where the current Star selected is. (Design note: i'm very happy that there's a compass here with the cardinal directions on it, otherwise giving hints with those in them would be rather useless. Good thought.)

One highlight of this level is this segment, where you've got to solve puzzles written on signs. It's very on-brand with the level's theming, and the solutions are perfectly reasonable. But especially this last part, where you have to use Mario's new idle animation, which summons sheep/clouds all around while he's asleep, in order to get the Star. "Start counting sheep, and it's yours to keep..." EXTREMELY clever.

Another cool mission involves using one of the Mummy Thwomps to break open the water line on the Nile- but the real fun part, is that on all future Stars, the Nile River is flowing again freely. It's a great bit of level progression.

The biggest highlight in the level by far, though, is the boss. Breaking into the neighboring pyramid, you get to fight Tutankoopa of Paper Mario 64 fame, who summons giant crystal obelisks to attack you. He's not hard, but it IS cool seeing him here!

But the second biggest highlight comes with Star 6. You're crossing a vast desert, trying to break into the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin, when it keeps disappearing on you. But when you finally get to an oasis... the star's right there. Very cool.

In case it's not obvious, I adore this stage. It's full of clever ideas and setpieces, and while none of them are particularly difficult, the excellent theming keeps things lively, never getting boring.

COURSE 5: COLOSSUS OF DK

This is another standout level in terms of theming. From the start, this is a very well-realized depiction of vaguely greek architecture in a coastal city... but it gets even better.

Interpreting the Colossus of Rhodes as Donkey Kong is a BRILLIANT idea, and my obscure greek mythology-loving side absolutely lost it seeing this. So creative!

There's a nice variety of objectives here, too. From this speedboat race with a Koopa on a shell,

Scouring the city's nooks and crannies for red coins, and making a ton of walljumps to do so,

Trekking through the poisonous sewers while dodging spiders,

Playing a 3d version of 25M from Donkey Kong under the guise of an ancient gladiator game, dodging barrels on increasingly narrow walkways,

Or, of course, shooting to the top of the Colossus for a star. GREATLY appreciate how there's a convenient rope to hang on- so many cannon stars in Mario 64 hacks require pixel perfect targeting under penalty of death. But here, there's a bit more wiggle room, and water right underneath so there's no penalty for missing. Much appreciated.

This is one of the better levels in the hack. The theming is great, it's not too big of a stage, but not too small, either. The objectives are all nicely paced and filled with just enough custom flair to be memorable. I only wish there was a bit more difficulty to go around, but this is a very good stage either way.

COURSE 6: TIKI ISLAND

Next is a tropical tiki island, full of ambience and calming visuals. The DKC-esque music really helps here, this is probably the most relaxing level in the whole game. I love the purple horizon in particular.

The entire level consists of a lot of small islands connected by these floating platforms. Or you could just swim across, but the platforms are more fun to use.

More exciting, however, are the trampolines that fling you up, which the level gets plenty of use out of to climb up high ascents- like this one, where you climb up the side of a volcano, and drop in to get the Star hidden inside it.

Shoutouts to the Tiki Goombas that just toss spears at you, they're not particularly effective- but they ARE extremely well-modelled. Look at them, they're adorable! One of the real highlights of this level is invading their turf, ducking inside this small cavern with tricky platforming everywhere. Slides to jump off with expert timing, ledges far enough to require triple-jump dives, it's SO good.

Or how about this area, where you go into a magma-filled cavern complete with veins of fiery death cracking through the walls, jumping across tiny-ass tiki platforms, inches away from fiery death? It's so unlike everything else in the level visually, and it looks great- but then you get to the boss!

The giant tiki pole comes to life and attacks you, and you have to pound the heads away- but even after the star's revealed, they KEEP ATTACKING you, and you still have to grab it! Which can be especially fiendish if you fall down, because you have to deal with three tiki heads trying to knock you down... but damn if it isn't exciting.

And for an extra cherry on top, you have this part where you have to help out all the tiki heads with their problems, like a coin stuck on their nose, a block in their way, so on. This feels like a side mission you'd find in Mario Odyssey, it's so creative and hilarious.

Basically, this stage feels like a small Mario Odyssey level in terms of theming- granted, you could say that about half of this game, but this one in particular has some STRONG Lost Kingdom vibes. I adore it.

COURSE 7: THE GREAT WALL

Welcome, to my favorite level in the game. Right from the word "go" with the Chai Kingdom remix from Super Mario Land, this level lets you know it's gonna be special. The red and black tones on the walls, the floating banners... the pagoda in the distance, everything just BLASTS you with the pure aesthetic chops.
As somebody who wished DESPERATELY that Sarasaland was in Super Mario Odyssey, this level satisfied my craving and then some.

You can even run into these gongs to make them well, gong. Not only is it fun to do, but they ALSO drop blue coins! This level ain't all looks and sounds, though. It's a sprawling expanse of walkways, suspended above the void, waiting for you to stumble upon its many secrets.

These boo lanterns are so much fun to bounce off, and they look great, too. And the level has a fair few spots where you can make death-defying jumps between wide gaps with them.

The level's full of fun challenges, too. Like this bit, where you have to slide down the great wall itself...

Or solve a bunch of riddles inside a pagoda, and they can get pretty difficult.

Like this bit, with the sleepy dragon. The sign gives you an order of bells to play, and when you hit them, the dragon wakes up and flies over. You'd think that'd be it, right?

But NO, you get warped to an area where you platform across even MORE dragons over a giant pit! SO COOL! This feels like something Nintendo would have come up with, and i mean that as a HIGH compliment.

And if all that wasn't enough, there's a boss fight with a terra cotta warrior Koopa, who you have to lure into the poisonous water and stomp his ass. It's not hard or anything, but it's the cherry on top of an excellent stage. This level's Stars are just banger after banger, I can't get enough of this level. Hell, playing this hack is worth it, JUST FOR THIS LEVEL. As far as Mario 64 stages go, this is one of the best I've ever seen.
Sadly, the rest of the hack doesn't quite hit this high ever again, but there's still some highlights ahead.


COURSE 8: 20,000 MILES UNDER THE SEA

This level, whoo boy. As soon as you enter, the atmosphere is thick and dense, with the sprawling underwater vista spread before you, waiting to explore. This is easily the biggest level in the game in terms of square footage, and I think it's to the level's benefit. After all, you're exploring the ocean floor... it should feel vast and unknown.

The sea life in this level, too, doesn't feel cartoony compared to your usual Mario fare. It feels realistic, huge, and imposing. Just look at that massive Unagi in the distance! Or up close, if you approach any of the holes and they JUMP OUT AND TRY TO EAT YOU!

Also, I do love the diving helmet on Mario- it's cute, but it's not just for show, either. If you press Jump in the air, you can swim with it. Your walking speed and jump height is also greatly increased, but you can't do techniques like side somersaults. Long story short, this is a very different beast of a level from the rest of the hack... though, I'm not sure it's entirely to its benefit. (More on that later.)

Shoutouts to this accurate model of the Nautilus down here, it's really good looking for a decorative setpiece. Most of the stars here aren't really that in-depth, but this level really owes more to its exploratory side, asking you to look around and find them rather than challenging you outright. That said, there's a few standouts, good and bad.

One of the bad ones being this bit where you have to snag the star off the constantly- moving Bonefish, a task made more annoying by your sluggish movement and limited ability to swim.  Or the part where you have to sneak past the Kraken, but you don't have enough swimming time to properly slip past its waving tentacles, so you just kind of have to hope for the best.

One standout part of the level is when you sneak inside the Nautilus itself, because that's the one part where you get your normal controls back. The interior is nicely modelled, and full of cool little details. You start off in the living room, but gradually descend into the bowels of the ship, platforming across giant screws and marveling at the technical aesthetics... for three rooms. Then it's over.

The most challenging part is finding the red coins in the forest of kelp, but... that's just a visual obstruction. It just makes you wander around aimlessly until you find them, and that's not interesting or fun.
From an aesthetic perspective, this level is a masterstroke. But from a gameplay point of view... it's pretty weak. Most of the stars are really simple or frustrating, and the nerfed controls really aren't that fun.

COURSE 9: THE OLYMP

Oh boy. This level gives me a lot to say- both good and bad. This one is the strongest showcase of its theme, and the most wildly creative by far in the entire hack. Not a single star here feels like a throwaway (except for the 100 coin star, but what can you do.)

Exploring Mount Fucking Olympus in mario 64 had me giggling like an idiot. The graphics here are incredible, with the golden pillars and structures, the mountain itself looming over everything else, and the entire stage suspended over the void of the sky... it's all as grandiose as it should be. Especially with this Zeus statue looming over you. This level has a lot of tight jumps, tilting platforms, all over that big pit. It's a good thing pits aren't instant death, because otherwise this level would be way too difficult- but now, it's a manageable challenge.

Another cool thing about this level is the story progression. First star, you go to meet Zeus, and he steals your hat like a jackass, but gives you a star in return.

Then, you have to race Luigi-as-Hermes to the giant Peach-as-Athena statue and back, and for this...

You get the RAINBOW SHOES, which let you walk on the rainbow bridges all across the level. 

For the next star, you visit Wario as Dionysus, an extremely accurate joke if I've ever seen one. He demands you get his wine back from Medusa, and...

This is the worst star in the entire game.
Okay. This part. I'm so conflicted on this part. On the one hand, it's ridiculously creative. On the other hand, oh my god it's so annoying to play.
The gimmick here is that you can't look directly at Medusa, as expected. But this is a 3d platformer. Try to wrap your brain around this for a second- you can't look at the boss... in a game where you have to turn around to move.
The only way to win is to constantly jump backwards throughout the entire room, which is sluggish, imprecise, and generally downright aggravating- and that's BEFORE you remember that there's a Chuckya on the platform which is FASTER THAN YOU in this state, and the part where you have to diagonally jump across timed switch blocks. Backwards.
This is not fun. This is painful.
Medusa doesn't kill you if you look at her, only removes 2 HP. But that doesn't help, since you get frozen in place while that happens, which is long enough for one of the other hazards to get you! Or if you fall in the lava, you'll be forced to look at her when you bounce up, and probably die. It's not a long challenge, but GOD it's aggravating!

Thankfully, the boss makes up for it heavily. You challenge Zeus himself, atop a giant airship, where he's flinging lightning at you the whole time, then have to hop onto the Pegasus Yoshi Luigi tosses you way and bash him in the face! This would be more climactic if it didn't suffer from some jank- after hitting Zeus, sometimes you can just land in the wrong spot and fall right off the ship, taking damage you weren't supposed to. But it is exciting.

Overall... I'm conflicted on this level. It has some great platforming, the theming and story progression is excellent... but there are a couple of NASTY spikes of jank that are impossible to ignore. It's still GOOD, just... might want to use save states for that Medusa fight.
Now, this is the end of the historical/world travel-themed levels, but... there's still two more. What could possibly remain?
Just you wait. This is where the game gets WEIRD.

COURSE 10: PLANET NAMEK

Let me tell you, seeing THIS level name pop up fucking floored me when i first played this. It was so out of left field, so ridiculous, that I thought it was a joke. It is not.

This is a whole-ass Dragon Ball Z level, and it goes hard. Namekian Goombas, Koopa Frieza Scouts... look at the houses, the green lakes, the bluish ground, it's all so on point. It's amazing. And the custom mechanic? Oh boy, it's awesome. You can fly in the air with a Ki bar, like a temporary, spammable Wing Cap. It's crazy fun flying around like a maniac, bashing into foes, exploring the entire damn place.

Like the last level, this has a major emphasis on story progression. You go from defending the Namekian village from scouts, to finding Bulma to get the Dragon Radar.

Which, you can actually USE in the third mission to get the Dragon Balls scattered all around. This level is massive, but with the flight ability it's nothing but a joy. But there's only five dragon balls outside, and one in the village. Where's the last?

In Frieza's ship, of course! But grabbing it isn't enough, you have to fight your way out, too! Not a difficult task if you killed everything on the way in, but still.

The real surprise comes from Star 5- and the introduction of WALUFREEZA!!!!! This is the best, most crossover fanfic thing ever, and I love it. 

True to form, he zaps you with a death beam, and sends you to SNAKE WAY, where you have to fly all the way to King Kai's planet to escape.

I can't get over how lovingly-rendered this is, look at the little car, and the house! Too bad King Kai himself isn't here, but oh well.

The final fight against Walufreeza is rather short and easy, but bonus points for him having a Final Form for the second phase.

 Just fly into him with your new Super Plumber flight, and you've won. You even heal gradually from it, so there's no way you can possibly lose.
I have to ask- why is this boss 2d when every other piece of flying in the level was in 3-D? It's kind of anticlimactic... but then again, the flying is so loose that trying to hit a moving target with it might have been aggravating. Oh well.
(Not even an exploding namek phase, sadly.)

Now. For all of this level's joy and whimsy, I do have to point out its gameplay is rather weak... a lot of the stars are just "fly here" and the boss fight is too is a bit too simple for my liking. But the flavor does a LOT to sell this level, and the flight mechanic is very fun to use.
Basically I adore this level even if it's a bit easy. But don't worry, there's one more level waiting to provide a proper final challenge!

COURSE 11: DANDYWORLD

Why isn't this level called "Dandyland"? That would have flowed off the tongue better, it's the same reason Balan Wonderworld is a bad name. (This is a pointless quibble.)
You may or may not have noticed this dandelion popping up near the house at the start- well, now it's the entrance to the final level, a surreal extravaganza based on Alice in Wonderland.

I mean, just look at it... it speaks for itself. Lorax trees, fluorescent ground palette... The whole thing reminds me of Livid Surreal Dream from Last Impact, but a good trip instead of a bad one. 

This level's full of fun goofy moments, like chasing the White Rabbit down a hole to find him and Luigi as the Mad Hatter.
Which, by the way, the trend of casting Mario characters in other roles in some levels is really cute, and I wish more levels did that. Oh well.

I do love this part where you go through the pipe and end up in a small version of the tea party, like the DRINK/EAT ME food. Sure, Tiny-Huge Island did this, but it's a whole different context here.

The wheel of weird never stops in this level, with all its bizarre enemies, like these Card Thwomps, or the gigantic wiggler on really tall legs. Sadly, no Queen of Hearts.

The Thwomp castle is pretty aggravating, but the objective where you have to lure four suits of Card Thwomps to the center of the thing is pretty creative, I like that. even if it's slightly jank.

Back in the hub world you can unlock a wing cap, and this is the only time in the game where it's used... so I have to question why even lock it. At least the ensuing Wingo chase is fun, not too difficult or precise for the Wing Cap's floaty controls.

Star 4, Where No One Looks, is a fun one. As the name implies, you need to go down the passages where ghostly Toads aren't looking. Simple, yes, but clever and amusing- especially in the last room where the Toads are positioned FAR away from the passages they're staring at, so you gotta go hunt 'em down to figure out where you're supposed to go.

The last star is easily the highlight of the level, though. After finding another pipe to let you shrink the castle area AGAIN, you can talk to the wiggler to let you go inside his stomach to fix him up...

At which point you end up in this gnarly-looking area with scrolling flesh textures everywhere. Sadly, the 'boss' is just a bunch of bees... that i stomped on like four of by accident by jumping into their pit, but what can you do. It is a bit disappointing that in a hack with so many custom bosses, the last level doesn't have one, though.

Still, this is definitely a better gameplay-focused bonus level than Planet Namek, with some real winners in the star department, and a high note to end the game on as the last level.

THE ENDING
Sadly, there is no final level in this hack- but you do get a hilarious cutscene battle instead.

Apparently Waluigi stole the copyrights to your previous adventures. Frankly, I'm impressed he had time for that while menacing Planet Namek, but that's just me.

The only gameplay here is selecting the correct choices when you're given one- no shame in using savestates here, though the wrong answers are pretty funny. The hilariously off-key Zelda shop music just cements this as a joke, one that you're not supposed to take too seriously. And that's fine.
The Whomp who only talks in one-word answers until asked specific things had me wheezing.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This game exemplifies what I adore about the best ROM hacks- the willingness to swing for the fences and try a lot of new things, to experiment.
Even the worst levels still wowed me with their concepts, and I can count the amount of outright frustrating parts on one hand (Medusa, the underwater stage's sluggish controls...). And even those bits are usually over quickly enough to not drag down the whole epxerience.
The best stuff in here, though, can hang with official levels, like Dandyworld, Egypt, and my beloved, the Great Wall.
I do wish certain parts were a BIT more fleshed out, like the Pokémon assist system, or some of the level gimmicks needing a fair bit more use to be really memorable than the one-off diversions they currently are, but they're not intrusive at all. This is a solid, creative adventure that'll bring a smile to your face. This hack's flown a bit under the radar in the years since it's release, and that's a shame, so if you're looking for a solid major SM64 mod that's not too difficult and has a lot of custom flair with a minimum of jank, here you go.

LEVEL TIER LIST (FROM WORST TO BEST)
20,000 Miles Under the Sea
Shipwreck Cove
El Dorado
Babylon
Planet Namek
Colossus of DK
Tiki Island
Dandyworld
The Olymp
Egypt
The Great Wall

GAME LINK: https://romhacking.com/hack/Through-The-Ages