[1] The series is notable for deliberately breaking all standard rules of "accepted" level design and introduced many staples of later Kaizo hacks, such as placing hidden blocks where the player is likely to jump, extremely fast autoscrollers, dying after the goal post, and various other traps.

These cruelties and the resulting frustration, as well as the skill level required, are both the purpose of the hacks and the appeal of any Let's Play videos made of them.

The hacks are notable for pushing the limits of human capability and feature many frame-perfect tricks, which usually require trial and error gameplay.

[8] SMW Central, which maintains the most updated repository of Super Mario World ROM hacks, categorizes Kaizo into five categories.

"Tool-Assisted: Kaizo" ROM hacks are designed to be at the extreme limit of human capability, and are made with the intent that the player use tools as needed to make progress.