#All mario games on gameboy advanced

[random-dragon-exe]

Welp, today's a bit of a sad day.

TLDR: Charles Martinet is stepping down as Mario, Luigi, and the other characters he's voicing.

I don't know what else to say except "thank you so much for making our childhoods".

Thanks for the memories Charles Martinet and may your legacy as Mario live on.

[toyota-supra]

22 year old girl who loved the gameboy advance: so that mario vs donkey kong remake has gotten me in such a happy mood today. I used to love that game I played it in school all the time. what about you honey

her 24 year old girlfriend Vivian:

[bowletta]

On this day, 20 years ago, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga released on the Gameboy Advance.

In celebration of such an important milestone, I would like to introduce you all to beanbeankingdom.net!

I wanted a place where fans could easily find information on these games... This website is dedicated to the past 7 years I have spent compiling and researching merchandise and media from this series. 

I hope you all enjoy!

[chongoblog]

My First Pokemon Playthrough

So I've noticed in my time of talking about Pokemon, I've told a lot of various anecdotes that are all a part of my very first time playing Pokemon. I was feeling nostalgic, so I figured I would share what I remember about this playthrough for everyone to enjoy. There may be a tangent or two in there and people who have followed me a while may have heard these before, but hey.

For context, I believe I was about 8 years old at the time, and after collecting some Pokemon cards, watching a kid play Crystal at summer camp, watching some of the anime, and generally being a pretty big fan (I even have Pokemon Yahtzee burned into my memory for some reason...), I finally got myself a Game Boy Advance with Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, some Frogger game (after looking it up, it was Temple of the Frog), Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, and, of course, Pokemon Sapphire.

I remember that my starter was Torchic. I don't remember why I chose that one, although I remember really liking the color red at the time (which I still do), so that was probably why.

I don't remember too much about my team or the general progress I made in most of the game, but I do remember Slateport City. For those who do not recall, in Slateport City in order to advance you need to get into the museum, which is blocked off by Team Aqua Grunts until you talk to someone in the shipyard. There are also Team Aqua grunts blocking the route ahead

Now, my 8 year old brain for some reason concluded that the only way to get past the Team Aqua Grunts was to intimidate them with a high enough level Pokemon or something like that. So one night, while I was supposed to be asleep on a family beach vacation, I beat down more poor level 13 Pokemon than I could count. I learned later what I was actually SUPPOSED to do, which led to me finally fighting the Team Aqua Grunts.....with a level 42 Blaziken.

And since the Name Rater was in Slateport City and my starter had evolved, I figured it was only appropriate to give him the new moniker "MAGMA MAN"

The rest of the playthrough went about as normally as tearing through the game with mostly Blaziken normally would go. There were a couple exceptions though. First off, at the Weather Institute, after I saved the day from Team Aqua, they were kind enough to gift me a Castform, but my party was full, so I couldn't get it. My 8 year old self did not read this. (Remember this, it will come back later). But I managed to make my way through the game, catching Kyogre with my Master Ball and giving it the nickname "LEGENDARY"

Then we come to the Elite Four where I hit a brick wall. I don't remember my team at the time exactly, but I do remember it was MAGMA MAN which had reached about level 80 or so, LEGENDARY which was about level 48, a level 36 Pelipper, two level ~35 Tentacruels, and some other sixth Pokemon I don't recall. And for some reason, I just couldn't beat the Elite Four with this team for some weird reason. The best I could ever get to was Drake. I felt I was utterly defeated.

That's when we bring a new character into the story. A member of my friend group at the time who we'll call "John" to protect the innocent. Now John had a very "uncle who works at nintendo" type energy to him. The group used to play Gauntlet: Dark Legacy together all the time, and when I got the GBA port of it, he convinced me to trade my recently obtained copy of the Pokemon Trading Card Game Boy game for a Gameboy-Gamecube cables, only for me to learn too late that it didn't work like that, and from there, there were no backsies (but then I got ahold of a copy of Pac-Man VS and Four Swords Adventure then I learned to emulate, so who's laughing now).

Anyway, John saw that I was struggling and he decided that he wanted to help me out. You see, he had come across an incredibly powerful and rare Pokemon that couldn't be found in the wild. He had gotten it exclusive, and I had never seen it before. It was called a "Castform". Now John had Ruby version, so he decided that as much as it ached him to part with it, he figured it would be a reasonable trade to trade this powerful Castform for the slightly less powerful LEGENDARY. I agreed.

And then he moved to Ohio.

To this day, Castform is my least favorite Pokemon because of this betrayal. I was so distraught at 8 years old that I completely restarted my game of Pokemon Sapphire. I don't remember much about that second playthrough, but there's a reason why.

This rival battle on Route 110 is somewhat infamous for being quite the sudden difficulty spike. And since I knew how to get past Team Aqua now, I didn't have an over-leveled starter to stomp my rival with ease. After losing to her about five or so times, I got frustrated and figured that whatever team I had wasn't cutting it. So I restarted again.

In my third playthrough, I made it all the way to the rival battle on Route 110. Then she stomped me repeatedly. So I restarted again.

This cycle would go on for, like, 15 resets. I didn't count, but it felt like there was hundreds. As I would keep on resetting and playing through the early-game of Pokemon Sapphire (which I had practically memorized at this point), I would start to take things a lot less seriously, sometimes picking the girl character, making my name random gibberish, etc.

Eventually, on one of these playthroughs where I started with Treecko, I actually managed to beat the Route 110 Rival Battle! And on my first try too! And thus began the epic journey of a girl named DE.

Now, I'd figured at this point that maybe only leveling up one Pokemon wasn't the best approach, so I was trying to balance my teams a bit better (I guess my rival taught me something). I was making my way through the game, and one day I'm checking out my best friend's Pokemon in Ruby, and who do I see in his box, but a Kyogre. I take a look at his name, and I can't believe it. It was LEGENDARY. John had traded it to my friend before he moved.

My friend didn't know that it was originally mine, so he offered to trade it back, which I accepted. LEGENDARY was a disobedient little bastard since I didn't have enough badges, but he got the job done. I don't remember the team I ended up using to finally beat the Elite Four, but it included my Sceptile starter, a Sableye that somehow knew only Fighting-type moves, and two Kyogres, LEGENDARY and LEGENDARY2.

And that's my first playthrough of Pokemon Sapphire. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.

[jelly-fish-wishes]

I’m gonna put it out there because my brain cannot contain my excitement for this idea.

First, let me explain.

When I was around…what…6? I was gifted my first ever Gameboy Advance. I only had four games. Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak (never found all of the ham chats lol), Sonic Advanced (only ever beat the game as Tails because his flying allowed me to swim out of the water when I was drowning), Super Mario World Advanced, and a copy of Super Mario Bros 3 Advanced (gifted to me the day it came out. Never beat it because I kept dying to the sun on world 2 and then lost the copy)

Ok ok. This was my only source of Mario content at the time besides Mario 64, Sunshine, and Mario Party, so 6 year old me thought the “Bros” in the title meant like “friends”. You know? Like “This is my bro!” So little Jell-O here thought Mario and Luigi were friends, not brothers.

But Jell-O, you might ask. They look the same! Surely you weren’t that dumb? You underestimate my stupidity. But at the same time it made sense as to why I thought they weren’t brothers? Peach and Daisy also looked similar to me as a kid, and they weren’t related. So my confusion was justified!

So as a Hispanic child who was bilingual, when I first heard Mario say “Mama Mia,�� I concluded that he was Mexican since that phrase also works in Spanish (fun fact, the direct translation of Mama Mia is “Mother of mine”). I should have taken the hint that they were blood related when I also heard Luigi say the same thing every time he died, but my dumb ass was so convinced that they weren’t related that I assume he was Irish because he was GREEN CNLKDWLKCWSNPKSDNKP. Somehow I knew what Ireland was, but not Italy 💀.

With all of this in mind, I wanna make a roommates AU where Mario and Luigi are NOT brothers. Mario is Mexican with a little bit of a potty mouth and Luigi is a superstitious Irishmen who is weary of mushrooms and ghosts (tbh, not that different from canon Luigi)

Just picture a scenario where they both try to gift each other flags of their respective countries, but they confuse both flags for the Italian Flag 😭

Luigi: *staring at the Italian flag that Mario is trying to pass off as the Irish flag* Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Mario, the flag has ORANGE, not RED.

Mario: *staring at the Italian flag that Luigi is trying to pass off as the Mexican flag* What happened to the eagle?

[e-vay]

Evay QA Bulk Post 6

Here's another batch of questions.

Again, these do not include Domino or Phlox questions as I plan on addressing those in a separate post. Sorry for the delay on Phloxino questions, I just need to finish the final chapter of their story first.

Thank you all for reaching out ☺️

PERSONAL/MISC ASKS

toonfan91 asked: What is your favorite retro video game system, what would you say is your favorite retro game to play?

A: My favorite consoles would be the Super Nintendo, Gamecube, and the Gameboy Advance SP. Those are all so nostalgic for me and were integral to my childhood. I had the Sega Genesis as well but I didn't end up playing it nearly as much as the other 3. Top three of my favorite retro games would be Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Ms Pacman and Super Mario World.

Anon asked: omg! i wondered if cheese was just something you were super about in your teen years im so glad that cheese is still the #1 fave 🧀

A: Hahaha! Aww, you remembered that about me! Yes, I'm still a cheese fiend, forever and always!!!

Anon asked: Any writing tips and/or subversions on common tropes? - ✍🏻

A: I've said this before but I recommend really focusing on your character building. I personally believe if you can get the audience to care about your characters, the rest will work out. As far as subverting tropes, I'd just say don't default to what's easy. I remember writing a script in high school and it involved a "it was all a dream" ending and my teacher actually rolled his eyes at me and said "Don't do this to your audience. It's an easy out for you and a disservice to them" and that moment has stuck with me forever. So though I don't have exact advice for you, I'd just say keep your audience in mind. You want them to be happy that they read your story, not rolling their eyes. (You're a member of your audience too, so make sure you're happy with your story as well!)

Anon asked: Will your kid be named aroura?

A: Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to name my future daughter Aurora. Who knows if I'll ever have a kid and even if I do, I am not sure what their name will be. Aurora is definitely still one of my favorite names and I'd love to name my child that, but it will depend on what best fits that human :)

Anon asked: have you seen the until dawn remaster?? i know you did a drawing of that long ago!! have you ever drawn the actual characters? and also, how would you match the sonic characters to the until dawn characters? 😳?

A: I have seen the remaster but I haven't played it! It looks like such an improvement from what I've seen, and I honestly loved the original. I drew Ashley and Chris once, but for the life of me I can't find that file! It was so long ago, it probably wouldn't look any good now anyway haha. Hmm, it's a little hard matching Sonic characters to the Until Dawn characters without making them OOC. I guess if I had to pick, and with the caveat that this is a weird AU and characters are not 100% canon-accurate, I'd cast Amy as Sam (kind, gets along with everyone, doesn't like violence but can absolutely kick ass), Tails as Chris (because of his intelligence, his love for tech and his overall positive, good-natured spirit), Rouge as a mix of Jessica and Emily (covers the bases of intelligent, seductive, resourceful). I'm torn about casting Sonic as either Josh or Mike. Josh would of course be an unhinged version of Sonic which could be fun to explore but if you ignore the unhinged part, he still really suits Sonic as he is the core of the friend group and he is torn between fun-loving and masking his real emotions. Mike I feel like is a little more of the 'lead character' role that Sonic tends to fall into and his fear of commitment is pretty spot-on to our blue boy hahaha. Knuckles would be Matt because they're athletic and loyal. I'd probably choose Blaze for Ashley because of how polite and serious she can be, but I acknowledge it's not the best fit.

@bigklingy asked: Does your Lego Amy have a Sonic, like Duck Amy does? 

A: I don't own an official Sonic minifig yet. All I have is this cursed knockoff hahaha. One day she'll have a real Sonic for her to love.

-

MISC SONIC ASKS

Anon asked: What elements could the Sonic cast bend based on their unique traits?

A: Sonic would be air because he is the wind. Tails would be lightning due to his affiliation with technology. Knuckles would be earth, obvious reasons (though fire works too, especially if you take into consideration the flames of disaster haha). Amy would be fire, due to her passion and also if you read her fortune cards guide, she says her favorite of the elements in her deck is 'fire.'

Anon asked: Quick question, have you ever read the Archie comics? If so, what’s your opinion on scrouge?

A: I'm not a fan of either.

chrismantike asked: I’ve been seeing this debate a lot everywhere and I want your expert opinion on it. Since you do know about DBZ I was wondering if you think Sonic can actually beat Goku?

A: I'm always going to go with Sonic on this debate. He's defeated monsters, deities, A KILLER MOON?! He can defeat most enemies in his normal state but when he goes super, enemies don't stand a chance. Meanwhile how many times does Goku need to 'level up' his Super Saiyan form just to fight an enemy? (this is all in jest of course) Hedgehog wins.

Anon asked: do you like team chaotix? If so, who’s your favorite character??

A: Team Chaotix is not my favorite group haha. If I had to choose a favorite amongst them, it'd be Espio. I think he's funny even when he's not trying to be.

whiteghos asked: Can you summarize (if you can) what happened in TEIU by Kbspeeding? I wanted to know what happened before lil’ rory and Shadow got all dirty and beat up and what happened during that chapter. I really wanted to read it so if you can that’ll be great!?

A: I sincerely wish I could, but "The Evil In Us" was so long ago that I don't remember the details well, and KB deleted her account and all of the pages of her fic with it, so I haven't been able to reference it in ages. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Anon asked: How would you imagine Amy in her teen years? -✍🏻

A: I already picture Amy as we know her as a teenage Amy. Especially her in Sonic Boom, I think that's a teenage/young adult Amy.

-

MY OCs/AU ASKS

Anon asked: I have this question on my mind for awhile now, how did you make or come up with and Amy’s and Aurora’s clothes designs? They are amazing ☺️☺️

A: Well that's an incredibly kind thing for you to say! I honestly don't feel like I did that great of a job with Amy, I just put her in clothes I'd like to see her in haha. I wish I had put more thought into her outfit but I can always redesign in the future. With Aurora (and any of my OCs, really) I just experiment with things until I figure out what works. I try to first get into the mindset of the character and determine what fashion trend best suits their personality, and then I'll do research on that style and then try to come up with something based on that. Aurora's style is on the spectrum of "Eclectic" and "Fun" and "Funky" fashion trends, so her outfits are based on that. If you're curious, I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to my AU and there are sections for the different characters' fashion!

Anon asked: Are you going to make more ship/fan children one day, or will you just stick with Tumble, Ruff, & Aurora??

A: Methinks you've forgotten the other 8 fankids I've made! But that's okay 😜 I love creating characters and I have no plans on stopping that any time soon. That could be OCs that aren't related to anyone, OCs that are the parents of characters we know, or fan children. I don't know what I'll be doing next, but there will definitely be more new characters in the future.

charlieangel345 asked: Hey, evay, What do you think Amy and Aurora’s favorite anime? I think Amy’s favorite anime is fruit basket and Aurora favorite anime is sailor moon.

A: I think you're absolutely right! :) I think Amy might also be a fan of Ranma 1/2 as well. I'm not all that current with anime so I can't make many more recommendations that suit them.

supersaiyaman85 asked: How do you think it would go down if CC ever met Cream or Zooey(Tail's crush from Sonic Boom)?

A: I have a script for a comic that involves CC and Cream interacting, I just have to get around to drawing it. As far as Tails' past crushes like Zooey, CC is very jealous so ... she wouldn't handle it well lol

twistedchaos101 asked: Does Aurora know her grandparents? How is the relationship with them?

A: At this time, Sonic does not know Phlox is his dad and Domino is deceased, so to their knowledge Aurora does not have grandparents on her dad's side. Aurora would know her Grandma Lulu and Grandpa Clay, but Amy is sort of estranged from them so they aren't a major part of her life. They're the kind of grandparents that send a ton of gifts on holidays and birthdays but only visit maybe once ever few years. She loves getting to see them though and they absolutely adore her!

abbysulf asked: Has there ever been a moment where Sonic went dark to save Aurora? Like, was she in so much danger that he would risk his mind and body to save her? And not from Shadow lol

A: In my AU's canon, there hasn't been any moments like that. I like to joke about Sonic turning dark any time he's even mildly upset, but I don't mean it seriously. And as Aurora was growing up, he kept Aurora so safe to the point it was almost smothering, so she wouldn't have ever been in any real danger. But if she were to ever have her life threatened, yes he would lose himself in order to protect her, without hesitation.

Anon asked: We all know Sonic and the gang for saving the world in their world and they have alot of fans but what about in your story? Are they famous and their fans are surprised when they heard that Sonic and Amy got together and had a child same with Rouge and Knuckles but they adopted instead?

A: Even in my AU, Team Sonic is famous. Not to the point where they're like celebrities and have paparazzi following them everywhere, but the average citizen knows who the members of Team Sonic are and some people do get kind of starstruck around them. As they all reach older adulthood, Sonic and Amy's lives get a little more calm and domestic so they are less in the spotlight compared to Tails who is the CEO of his own company and Knuckles who is running the Young Heroes program. Maybe the average person might be surprised that some of their heroes ended up getting married and having their own families, but again I don't picture Team Sonic's personal lives in tabloids regularly.

Anon asked: I actually wanna know how well Aurora takes shots (At the doctors)from a baby all the way up to a young adult

A: Aurora sure wouldn't like shots, but she's never necessarily been scared of getting them. If anything, I could see the DOCTOR being more afraid of giving her a shot. Imagine both Sonic and Amy giving the doctor the death glare with the unspoken threat of "You better get this done quick and if you cause any extra unnecessary pain, we will both end you." They've got a good routine down where Sonic distracts baby/toddler Aurora until the shot happens and then both he and Amy quickly smother her in hugs and kisses and praises so she is only upset for a brief moment.

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: Why does Sonic spy on Shadow and Aurora when they go on a date or when Aurora visits Shadow's house?

A: Sonic is an overprotective dad and he doesn't like the idea of Aurora dating anybody (even though she's a grownup). It doesn't matter who she was dating, he doesn't think anybody is good enough for his baby girl. He spies to make sure they're not getting into trouble (it's just for the sake of comedy, don't take it too seriously).

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

djanims asked: maybe weird question but has aurora ever seen shadow in his super form and if not what was her reaction?

A: She has! I've drawn them together in their super forms before :) She thinks he's an angel

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: Has Shadow told Aurora about who Maria was in your continuity?

A: Absolutely. Maria played a very important role in his life, so of course he'd talk about her. The grief will always be there but with time and by becoming more comfortable opening up to Aurora, he finds it easier to reminisce on the good times he had with his sister.

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: How did Sonic and Amy react to Aurora and Shadow having 8 children like I just imagine *first born* "Oh my goodness congratulations!" second born still happy. At the 8th their like "Wow... Rory that's um great... Lots of grandkids.." So yes that's how I imagine it going but how about you, this question has really taken over my mind. 🤣❤️❤️

A: Hehehe, 8 grandchildren is definitely a lot. BUT! I headcanon that Mobians are a bit more like animals than humans are, so the idea of 'litters' isn't totally foreign (though maybe not as common in modern day Mobius). In my AU, Shadow and Aurora have three litters (so far, hehehe) so it went 3 kids, 2 kids, 3 kids, so they weren't exactly expecting to end up with 8 children, but they're happy all the same. I think Amy would be over the moon no matter what. Sonic would love all his grandkids and be excited about all of them, but also I'm sure he'd be secretly laughing it up at how chaotic the Shadora Home must be at all times and he's just glad that he and Amy had it super easy raising their only child. Plus I could see among friends and family there's an ongoing joke of "So... Aurora, Shadow.... How many next time?"

-

SHIPPING ASKS

kkrucy asked: What your opinion on other ships then sonamy?

A: There are plenty of ships that I like and there are plenty that are not for me. I don't like to announce the ships I don't like, there's no good in doing that. Some that I like include (but are not limited to) KnucklesXRouge, Shadamy, Sonadow, SonAmyShad, MetAmy, VectorXEspio, KnucklesXAriem, RougeXTopaz, WhisperXTangle, Dr.RobotnikXAgentStone (from the movies), SilverXBlaze, I even like BlazeXRouge if I'm being honest (You can blame TMOSTH for that!)

scaredforcewielder asked: I know it's a bit early, but would you consider doing Sonic and Amy's first Christmas as a couple?

A: I know I did it off-season, but I already made a several Sonamy comics for Christmas this year. I always want to draw more Sonamy and I would love to draw their first Christmas as a couple, but honestly I don't know that I'll have the time to do that this year. I hope those mistletoe comics helped to tide you over!

dean-alice-rose asked: What is your favorite sonmy moment? And it can be in your comics or official. Also what is your favorite comic that you made?

A: Gosh, it's really difficult to pick a single favorite Sonamy moment! If I had to narrow it down to just a few... One would definitely be episode 52 of Sonic X where Sonic returns to their planet and he and Amy have that heart to heart. I can't tell you how many times I've watched that scene, I found it to be the epitome of romance even as a kid! A small moment that actually meant a huge deal to me was in The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, where Sonic calls Amy "radiant." It's just one line, but wow, what a magnificent compliment! That's way more powerful than simply calling someone 'pretty' or 'great' in my opinion. I have too many favorites, I could go on forever haha! I don't really have a favorite comic that I made, they all mean a lot to me. "My Gal" is maybe what I'm most known for and that's great because it was so personal and I poured SO MUCH of my heart into it. But I have fond memories of every single comic I've made and each one has helped better my writing and drawing, so they're all special to me no matter how silly or serious they are.

Anon asked: In the future, would there be a chance to see CC and Tails again? I always adored CC and loved her design, plus her relationship with Tails. I was just curious as to if you had any future plans for them?

A: Definitely! I have plenty of ideas for them, I just need to dedicate the time to drawing it out. I'm so happy you enjoy that pair so much!

Anon asked: What are your thoughts on Metamy? (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

A: I ship it! It's not at the top of my list but I still think it's super cute and no matter what, I've always had the headcanon that Metal has feelings for Amy (he's meant to be like Sonic, after all, so if I believe Sonic likes Amy then surely Metal would, too!)

Anon asked: Do you ever compare video game couples to each other? - ✍🏻?

A: Of course, it'd be impossible not to. Personally I relate Sonamy to NathanDrakeXElenaFisher (Uncharted) the most out of all video game couples. Both pairs have an undying love for adventure and enjoy traveling the world. Elena/Amy are definitely more cautious and careful than Nathan/Sonic who're a little more gung-ho, but in the end they make a great team and can keep up with one another.

whiteghos asked: What is Sonamy’s love language? >v< <3

A: I always say that Amy is the physical embodiment of love, and because of that I think ALL the love languages suit her! She expresses her love in every way possible and I'm sure she'd be happy to receive it in any way Sonic is willing to give it 🥰 It makes sense to me that Sonic's would be Quality Time and Acts of Service. Sonic always loves to do his own thing, so whenever he's willing to spend his time with Amy (whether it's grabbing dinner with her or even if it's just sitting in a pile of hay with her), I think that says a LOT. I don't think Acts of Service requires explanation.

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

whiteghos asked: What is Shadora’s love language? >v< <3

A: This is hard to narrow down and I feel like love languages fluctuate. For now, I'd say they both share the love language of Physical Touch. Individually, Aurora leans more towards Words of Affirmation and Shadow is Acts of Service.

*The next question is a Shadora Ask. Skip if you don’t like Shadora

Anon asked: Are you gonna make a full comic on Shadow and Aurora first date like you did with Sonic and Amy?

A: I'm not 100% sure if it will become a comic. I definitely have a fic in mind, and maybe I'll do some supplemental drawings to go along with it. Sonic and Amy's first date was 'easier' because Sonic and Amy already have an established history. Shadow and Aurora have to get to know each other before they start dating, so it'd be easier to accomplish in a fic rather than a comic. If you haven't seen it already, I did write a summary of their first date.

–

Thank you all for the questions!

Evay QA Bulk Post 1

Evay QA Bulk Post 2

Evay QA Bulk Post 3

Evay QA Bulk Post 4

Evay QA Bulk Post 5

[pjsk-headcanons]

omg i have so many hcs for the characters and video games. warning this is probably the longest ask ill ever write

ichika - big classic sonic fan, also likes rhythm games (like rhythm heaven n stuff)

saki - played a lot of pokemon in the hospital bcs tsukasa would bring her his gameboy and pokemon ruby (or smtg) bcs once he showed her a surskit and she begged him to let her play bcs it was cute. she is now a die hard pokemon fan

honami - doesnt really play video games but she has lets go eevee and a bunch of eeveelution and pikaclone plushies

shiho - plays like everything, but she especially likes fighting games and ace attorney. also plays every mario game when it comes out but only bcs "of how popular he is"

minori - LOVES needy streamer overload and cute rhythm games like melatonin. she also deff plays like harvest moon & stardew valley & stuff

haruka - before she became an idol she would play like silly mobile games but she never really got into games

airi - she is obsessed with the legend of zelda and completes every game on release (unless she has a show) (thats the only exception) shes tried other games simular to tloz but none have really stuck

shizuku - she knows like the basic controls of super smash bros brawl but she sucks like hell

kohane - still cries over abandoning her nintendogs sometimes. she plays a lot of raising animal games and tycoons on roblox sometimes

an - name one rhythm game she hasnt played i dare you. any game that can slightly require musical tallent or a sense of rhythm has been played by her (not in full but like). also she likes warioware

akito - sonic nerd. tails is his fav character with shadow in close second bcs of a middle school phase he went through but shadow stuck as a fav. ena has also played a lot of sonic bcs of this man

toya - wasnt allowed to play video games but vbs and the tenmas are slowly introducing him to those like combining games like tetris and suika game. hes surprisingly good

tsukasa - hyperfixates on pokemon like every other month. he makes a persona for every character he plays and gets emotionally attached and stuff (totally not projecting)

emu - kirby lover!!! also plays splatoon at least every splatfest and cooking games. she deff plays a lot of vr and has liked that job sim vr game with the tv robots

nene - we all know she likes shooting games (but idk that many so bare w me). she deff is the one who introduced emu to splatoon & they always chiose the same splatfest team. she also plays just any arcade shooting games and used to play fortnite but shes more into cos & apex now

rui - rui makes his own video games (rom hacks the shit outa every game he plays) (also has homebrewed his wii and wii u)

kanade - likes low stress games like melatonin and animal crossing. she also plays like stupid sims like bee simulator and placid plastic duck sim (one of her favs). she doesnt like multiplayer games that much though

mafuyu - she had a gameboy advanced that her dad got her when she was younger and she played like any game on clearance bcs her mom would get pissed if a game cost too much. that gamebot is now smashed and sold for parts, so are all the games

ena - HATES sonic with a passion. i wonder whos fault that is. she would always play those dress up games but woukd mess with photoshop and stuff more

mizuki - she wasnt allowed to play like rhythm games or fasion games when she was younger. she was told to play mario, or the legend of zelda, or starfox. she managed to convince her parents to let her play kirby and shes been obsessed ever since

🍼 anon (SO SORRY THAT THIS IS LONGER THEN MY FUCKING BODY)

.

[dayfaresthenight]

Alex's Bio

Name: Alex Davis Alt Names: "Trollmaster". (LEL Get pwned xDDD)

Special Titles: Puppet, Old Friend. (for being a puppet he is pretty off-handed honestly, kinda weird but I don't mind haha)

Username: Trollmasterlol351

Nicknames: Troll, Alexy.

Chronological Age: 17

Age: 17 (juuust one more year!)

Pronouns: He/him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Gender: Cis Male

Species: Human, "Vessel" (i don't know what a vessel is LOL)

Disorders: Conduct Disorder, Chronic Nightmares. (what??? nightmares? i don't get nightmares!!! xD)

Physical Disabilities: Weakness in Left leg (Recovering!!!)

Religion: None. (I consider myself open-minded, though!) Grade: 12th

Lives in: [REDACTED] (I don't give out my location to strangers on the net xD), Also Daisys House! Languages: English, LEET SPEAK, Various Ciphers. (Marble Hornets taught me well!!!)

Height: 5'12 (I AM 6'0 I AM 6'0) Race: Paleish in Vessel, Cacussian in Real form (NOOO STOP LEAKING MY PERSONAL INFO WHOEVER YOU ARE DX) Ethnicity: English-American Accent: Rather Light and Chipper, although deepens when angry.

Powers: Exceptionally Emotionally Resilient, Respawning (In-Vessel Form, or When in Daisy's house in general), Memory Connections (Considering I'm always with the guy in armor when in here, I can see basically whatever he sees!) Weaknesses: Short Temper when Provoked, His Guilt, Killing his Puppeter. (...haha these people really are weird LOL)

Weapons: The nearest chair he can huck at someone, Linked Swords. (1v1 me on Sword fights on the heights i'd win 100% xD)

Alignment: Chaotic Good (I... Really do try my best, despite everything.)

Text Color: This!!!

Main Hobbies: Gaming, Collecting (pokemon cards!!!)

Favorite Food: PIZZA!!!!!! Favorite Flower: Daisys xD (daisys are pretty cool but in all seriousness I like sunflowers a lot too!!!)

Scent: Blueberry Bodyspray. (Gotta dress to impress!!!)

Handedness: Right-handed

Blood Color: Red

Awareness: VERY Aware [Effect: Positive] (...)

Birthday: January 23rd (THE BIG 18 IS COMING UP!!!!)

Theme:

Playlist:

Fun Facts: I am totally an elite haxer who was taught by 1x1x1x1x1x1x1x11 himself!!!!! Used an exploiting script once and thinks hes a hacker now. Actually pretty good at games, even if he overestimates himself 99% of the time.

Special Interests: Pokemon, Mario, Retro Games, Retro Internet. (RETRO IS THE BEST)

Stims: Fast Talking, Jumping Around.

Stimboard: WIP Moodboard: WIP Fashion Board: WIP Comfort Objects: His Old Gameboy Advance.

Family: Claire Davis (Mom!) Gregory Davis (Dad!)

Friends: DAISY! (Best friend), Courtney, (Close Friend), Jose (Friend), Everyone else in the Friend group (Friends!), Lancia (Friend)

Romance: N/A!!

Enemies: Zandeeee (Maybe? Idk, she doesn't seem to really like me), The NPCs (Most of them are just not really nice to her...), The Cultivator (That mushroom can rot in hell for what he did to my friend.)

Patrons: Ozymandias (He is the one who brought me here. I don't think he has good intentions, but I'm still grateful to him and stuff!)

Pets: Claire (my cat!!! I named it after my mom because she is cool xD)

Brief Personality: Alex is on the surface a very kind person. Energetic, and always pulling various pranks in an attempt to entertain and cheer up his friends. Whenever there's a chance to pull someone's leg, he'll be the first one doing it. Despite that though, Alex never tends to take his pranks too far- and is extremely supportive of his friends when they need it. He struggles a lot with his own emotions, and in general, isn't really good at conveying how he feels.

Alex is fiercely protective of those he cares about, and he will immediately throw himself into the line of fire just to protect them. He is very rebellious, and this often leads him into situations that are severely out of his weight class.

Brief Backstory: Alex is a relatively regular person, at least compared to most in this place. He was born in 1999 to his parents and grew up in a relatively middle-class lifestyle. Although his family had some hard times, he generally grew up well taken care of.

He discovered the internet and Roblox at a young age and immediately fell in love with it. He finally had a group of like-minded people who could tolerate his shenanigans, which made him quite happy. He never really had many friends growing up, so he deeply cherished this friend group.

One person, though, he latched onto more than the others, and that was Daisy. Daisy was always there to come on and play with him and was one of the few people Alex would settle down with and talk about stuff with. Someone, he didn't feel the need to impress or entertain.

Despite that though, he was rather oblivious to Daisy's own troubles, something that eats him up to this day. Maybe if he had just noticed sooner, maybe if he had just told his mom he was worried about her, maybe...

...But the past is the past. Everyone's gone their own ways, and Alex is starting to feel that loneliness that he thought he had escaped start to creep back in. The memories are coming back, and it's starting to haunt him.

Why can't he just forget? Why can't-

Knock knock.

...He opened up the front door...

"Would you like me to bring you to your friend?"

...

Maybe it's never too late to make amends, to... make things right.

[ferhog]

Getting into Metroid This Past Month:

I first learned about Metroid (as well as most Nintendo franchises that weren't Pokemon and Mario) through my friend's copy of Smash Bros Brawl at around the age of 9. Samus being a hot lady underneath the cool set of power armor left enough of an impression for me to try and draw her from memory, but I otherwise had no interest in actually playing her games for most of the following decade and a half. In that time I learned a bit of her lore from Smash Trophys, Game Theory videos, and watching the first few minutes of Other M cutscenes to hear the lady from Smash Bros talk, but it wasn't until shortly after the release of Metroid Dread when I watched some late game cutscenes from the game and GameXplain's Metroid movie pitch video that I became interested enough in the story of the games and Samus as a character that I decided to downlo- I mean obtain copies of Zero Mission and Fusion for my Visua- I mean Gameboy Advance, which I held off on starting until I worked through my gaming backlog more, and it was earlier this summer that I decided the time had come.

The Metroid Manga: Before starting Zero Mission as my first game I read the manga so I'd get a good sense of Samus' backstory before starting. Now I knew what to roughly expect thanks to the Gamexplain movie pitch adapting much of the story, but overall I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I probably don't need to tell you that Ridley was the absolute highlight. His pure evil is matched only by Louie from Pikmin in terms of Nintendo villains and it got me very invested in his rivalry with Samus throughout the games. Aside from that, my favourite part of the manga was Samus' characterization and her relationship with her bird dads. I have a real soft spot for all adoption related tropes so I really like the idea that Samus was taken in by what was once the most important race in the galaxy and inherited their legacy of keeping the peace, which she basically turned into a job via bounty hunting. However a lot of what the manga does is better in concept than in execution, as the art is hard to follow a lot of the time and much of the story is sped through quite quickly, no thanks to how much time is spent with the extensive cast of side characters. When Samus started her zero mission I held off on finishing the story until I played the game, and while I'm glad that they went with adapting the game at the end because we got to see a climactic fight against Ridley it is super bizarre that they didn't commit to the idea and just stopped when Samus reached Mother Brain. The manga is absolutely worth reading but best thought of as a companion to Zero Mission, probably best read afterwards.

Metroid Zero Mission: My experience with Metroidvanias was basically just Hollow Knight, the first Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, and while I was excited to experience the same sense of adventure I also feared getting lost as per this franchise's reputation. However I surprisingly managed to make my way though the whole game with only one thing I had to look up, which embarrassingly was the same mistake David Jaffe infamously made in Dread, as I failed to realize I could shoot a ceiling open even with enemies there to hint that I could. I think the game has the perfect balance between freedom and guidance as someone's first Metroid game through the chozo statues that mark your next destination without telling you how exactly to get there. Combine that with it being a remake of the first game and I think it was just the perfect game for me and anyone else to start with. My biggest issue gameplay-wise was just the fights against Mother Brain and the two black Space Pirates were very frustrating, the latter because the combat just didn't feel designed for a fight that reflex based, at least not for a newcomer. After finishing the game I felt compelled to earn the Zero Suit Samus ending, which I accomplished by constantly scouting out the optimal routes and resetting so I could get through them as fast as possible.

AM2R: I wanted to play these games in story order so I knew I had to play some version of Metroid 2 next. After trying out the original Metroid that you unlock after beating Zero Mission I figured the pre-NES games weren't going to be fun for me so I wanted to play either AM2R or Samus Returns, and I went with the former as it would be easier to find and would be closer to the game I just finished. The game is a very impressive feat for a fan-made project, though I think it was the one I had the least fun with overall. A few hours into the game I listened to the Some Call Me Johnny review which mentioned it being very hard, and that made sense considering it was a fan project by big Metroid fans for big Metroid fans, but it did result in a few of the bosses being quite frustrating with how much skill they demanded, particularly with the space jump which I struggled to understand the timing of. I didn't feel like instantly replaying it as I did with Zero Mission but I really loved how they adapted the ending.

Super Metroid: "This SNES game probably won't hold up that well right?" Thought the guy whose first console was the PS2.

Super Metroid is one of the greatest games of all time.

Metroid Fusion: I was real intrigued going into this game given what I'd heard about its linearity and extra story focus compared to the prior games but it was still a shock going straight from 2 playthroughs of Super Metroid to this. It didn't even really feel like Metroid, especially with how you were essentially playing through levels via Adam sending you through specific locations with specific tasks. Eventually I got used to it and fully accepted it as a Metroid game as I was increasingly required to be more explorative, though I think of all Metroid games I've played it has the most needlessly abstract methods for mandatory progression. The example which I eventually gave up on and looked up was the yellow Space Pirate X which which could only be damaged with a shot to the back apparently? There was seemingly no visual hints for that and the doors didn't even open if you absorbed the X before they formed the Space Pirates. While I figured out the other examples on my own I just felt I had to blow up way more seemingly random walls than normal. The bosses were generally very fun except for everything about Yakuza. A super long lead up to a boss that kept killing me super easily before I figured out how to avoid its grab attack, followed by a struggle to regain health for the ensuing SA-X encounter with how little health you get from enemies that could fly in out of nowhere and do more damage to you than you were regaining. Speaking of the SA-X, it wasn't in the game as much as I was expecting, but each encounter was quite memorable, especially when I was hiding behind power bomb blocks and it dropped a power bomb. Overall I didn't like most of this game's choices, but I like it when franchises try new things so I wouldn't say anything should have been changed except for how much health you get from enemies. This was the 2nd game I didn't feel like instantly replaying.

Metroid Prime: As of writing this I am currently a few hours into the first Metroid Prime, specifically having just gotten the boost ball. The Metroid formula was very well translated into 3D and the visuals have aged amazingly. I may be playing a remaster but most remasters still don't look this modern. But curiously this has been the Metroid game I've spent the most time away from during a playthrough, going several days without picking it up again. It's not that I dislike playing it, I just don't feel as much of a strong desire to keep coming back to it. Maybe I just feel the need to catch up on other stuff after playing so much Metroid. I do think I'll get around to playing the rest soon enough.

One of my biggest impressions overall is that Metroid is actually quite underrated despite how iconic it is. Samus seems mostly remembered as a Smash Bros character and her iconic twist as one of gaming's first female protagonists, but it doesn't seem like that many people actually play the games. It's also funny that while Samus is famous as a sex symbol in the Smash Bros and general gaming fandoms, it seems that the actual Metroid fandom prefers their Samus cooler than sexy. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually picking up Dread, the game which first hooked my interest into this franchise, and the other 2 Prime games. Maybe I'll even pick up Other M if I see it around.

[pixelsproject]

『Super Mario World』 Luigi

「Super Mario World∶ Super Mario Bros. 4」 (SNES, 1990)

While Luigi is playable in the original version of Super Mario World, he’s essentially a recolor of Mario. 「Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World」 (SNES, 1994)

In Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, many of Luigi's sprites are redesigned to highlight his physical differences from his older brother. The quirkiest difference in this revised set of sprites has Luigi now spitting fireballs when empowered by the Fire Flower. I don’t believe Luigi or any other character has used the Fire Flower like this since. 「Super Mario World∶ Super Mario Advance 2」 (GBA, 2001)

In the Gameboy Advance remake/reissue of Mario World, Super Mario World∶ Super Mario Advance 2 (who named these games?!) Luigi’s set of sprites is modified once again. Luigi’s look in this game is like a fusion of his appearance in the original version of Mario World and its revision for the All-Stars collection. Most notably, Luigi no longer spits fire and now flutters his legs when jumping.

The latter attribute originated with Super Mario Bros. 2 and has become a staple of Luigi's repertoire ever since. And just like in SMB2, Luigi is playable in single player without any hassle.

As with many GBA games from this era, the colors look washed out. As a result, this version of SMW is much less vibrant and crisp looking. 「Super Mario Maker 2」 (NS, 2019)

After I finished my first version of this essay, I stumbled upon some Super Mario Maker 2 sprites and realized that Luigi's SMW sprite was updated once again.

I can't currently rip sprites and record lossless footage of Nintendo Switch games, so I'll just be posting a comparisons between all of Luigi's SMW sprites.

@DaNintendoDude on Twitter created this graphic explaining the potential process that might've been used to create Luigi's sprite for Mario Maker 2. 「The Nintendo Gigaleak」 (2018)

A few years ago, there was a massive leak from Nintendo's internal servers, where among many things, prototype graphics from Super Mario World were discovered--

Interestingly enough, It appears that Nintendo may have originally intended for Luigi to get his own unique sprites in the original release of Mario World, but was then scrapped in favor of a simple palette swap of Mario.

---

SOURCES ↴

Super Mario Maker 2 (NS) title screen uploaded by PressStartOnce (YouTube) Super Mario Maker 2(NS) Luigi sprites uploaded by Random Talking Bish (The Spriter's Resource) Super Mario World (SNES) beta sprites uploaded by Zetaman 2 (The Cutting Room Floor) Super Mario Bros. - Trapped in the Perilous Pit written by Jack C. Harris and art by Kim Ellis and Art Ellis (1989) scanned and tweeted by @YourDailyMario (Twitter)

[inkabelledesigns]

Today is a really special day in gaming. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is rereleasing on Nintendo Switch, and I am so happy. This was one of my sister's favorite games growing up, and subsequently, one of my favorite stories in the Mario world by far. So today I'd like to tell you a story about how we got introduced to this game, because it's actually quite funny.

See when I was a kid, we didn't have a lot in the way of videogames the way that most people know them today. Our first home console was a Wii in 2008, and by then I was a preteen. We only had an inkling of what games were outside of a CD-ROM because of my cousin, who played on a Gameboy Advance at all of our family gatherings. But as we got older and were ready for the internet, my sister got into Mario, and I was into Sonic. And we'd scroll through Wikipedia, looking at all these games that made up our favorite heroes' adventures. That was the first time we heard of the Paper Mario series. Seeing as we had no GameCube or way to play GameCube games, we found a let's play of TTYD that was really funny, and we watched it all the way through more than once.

One fateful day, Mom took us out to GameStop, and we were browsing through the used games. This was back when they still had GameCube games mixed in with the Wii selection, and we struck gold. Paper Mario TTYD was hiding amongst the other games present, and my sister and I freaked out. We knew this game sold for a lot, but there it was, right at our local GameStop, for a relatively reasonable price. A treasure of legend that seemed unattainable, and yet here it was, right in her hands. We knew nothing of how to make a GameCube game work on the Wii, we'd never had a reason to learn. But in that moment, we asked for help. The GameStop employees there were kind enough to help us. We walked out of there with the adventure of a lifetime, Sonic Riders Zero Gravity for me, and I wanna say a Madcatz controller, because that was all they had. X'''D They had to call the GameStop in the mall for us, because the last thing we needed was a memory card, and sure enough they had one! So Mom brought us over, and we had all the tools so that my sister could play this thing.

Booting it up was magical. It's one of the most fun stories Mario has ever told, and seeing it on my screen was nothing short of a treat. And it's continued to be that way for a long time. I've got fond memories of my sister coming home on college breaks and taking some time in the evening to try and beat it again. It never got old.

Yesterday she texted my other sister and I, so excited about the remaster today. And I couldn't help but smile, remembering just how much she loved that original experience. And while I'm not playing it yet (not until we get a really good discount), I'm hoping it's a wonderful experience for all of you who are. There's so much I love about this entry. It's got great characters, a fun art style, great music, and truly a wonderful story that kept me on my toes. The humor was great too. The party members in this one are some of the best Paper Mario has ever had. I hope you love them all. I hope you have so much fun playing it or watching someone you love play it.

[rose-learns-japanese]

Japanese Video Games and Your Consoles

Hello! This post is for people that want to play video games in Japanese and want to know which consoles play them, so I'll go through the ones I know about, here. (Not going to talk about sailing the high seas here)

I've been mostly a Nintendo nut my whole life, so most of my info is about Nintendo!

Hopefully this helps someone!

Gameboy Color/Advance

Region Free

The Gameboy, Gameboy color and Gameboy Advance are all completely region free. Your Gameboy models will all play Japanese games just fine.

I recommend:

Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Crystal, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald

Pokemon card game and the sequel GR団参上

The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons

--------

Super Nintendo

Region Locked, simple devices available

The Nintendo and Super Nintendo were both region locked by the cartridges themselves being of a different shape. You can either buy a Super Famicom (The Japanese equivalent) or buy a peripheral to make your Super Nintendo play super Famicom games. It's not too cost prohibitive to buy what's called a "Cartridge converter". Another option is to buy a Retron system that plays them.

I recommend:

Mario RPG

Final Fantasy

Earthbound

--------

N64

Region locked, easy modification

N64 is region locked based on the shape of the cartridge back. To get your Japanese games to work on yours, switch the back off of the actual cartridge using a 3.8 mm Gamebit screwdriver with the back from any other US cartridge.

I recommend:

Mario Story (Paper Mario)

Mario Party

Pokemon Snap

Legend of Zelda games

--------

Gamecube

Region locked

Buy a Gamecube capable Japanese Wii.

I recommend:

Pokemon Coliseum

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness

All the Mario Parties

Fire Emblem Path of Radiance if you can get it (EXPENSIVE)

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

Legend of Zelda Windwaker

Battle Houshin

--------

Wii

Region locked

I bought a Japanese Wii, but skipped the WiiU in Japanese.

I would recommend:

Captain Rainbow (Japan Exclusive)

Takt of Magic (This one is FUN! It's Japan exclusive and you use your WiiMote to cast spells by drawing shapes)

Earth Seeker (Japan Exclusive)

Legend of Zelda (Skyward Sword)

--------

DS

Region Free

The DS is completely region free. Any DS game will play on your device.

My recommendations:

Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks (You can hold your stylus on a kanji to read it in Hiragana, but it won't show by default! Awesome!)

Any Pokemon Game (You can choose Kanji or hiragana and switch mid-game)

Ace Attorney series - If you want to struggle but skyrocket your reading level, play Ace Attorney, called 逆転裁判. There are a lot of games and they're mostly great. If you can get ahold of the spin off, 逆転検事, I played through the first one and it was a bit slow, but the second one is not released in the US. I've started it, it's supposed to be good.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days

--------

3DS

Region locked

Having a Japanese 3DS has been an invaluable tool. If you save up to buy one Japanese version of a console, get this one. However, with the e-shop closed, if you would rather sail the high seas here, this would be... The prime time to do so, but I did not say anything.

Recommended:

Fire Emblem Fates

Fire Emblem Echoes

Pokemon Moon

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Sonic games

Bravely Default (Fully Voice acted)

There is SO MUCH on there

-----

Nintendo Switch

Region Free

The Nintendo Switch will play any region game you put in it! On top of that, the Japanese language track is available on most Nintendo branded games, so if you have the English version, you might already have the Japanese version!

To buy on the e-shop, make a Japanese Nintendo account. You will need to buy gift cards from a third party site like Playasia to purchase.

Recommended:

Get the online pack, then download the Japanese version of the N64 and Super Nintendo apps! I recommend Paper Mario on the N64 app.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (Has Furigana on all dialogue!)

Mario Odyssey

Princess Peach Showtime

Mario RPG

Luigi's Mansion 3

Pretty much anything you can play on Switch can change to Japanese. (Splatoon not included)

This thing is a learning machine.

-----

PSP

Region Free

PSP is completely region free!

I have played Birth by Sleep on here in Japanese and it was good.

Recommended:

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

--------

PS1/PS2

Region Locked

There's a trick to make these region free, but I bought a Japanese Ps2. If you want to unlock your non-Japanese Ps2, you can look into something called Disk Swapping.

My recommendations:

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2

I haven't explored much by way of Japanese only Ps2 games yet, but I'm going to be getting Endonesia because it's made by some of the same people that made Moon. Look into Moon, it's an awesome game too.

I am aware that the Japanese only library for this particular console is large.

--------

PS3/PS4 (I do not own PS5)

Region Free

PS3 and PS4 are region free, and I have heard PS5 is as well.

My collection of Japanese games for these, however, is low so I don't really have any recommended games. Maybe I'll update this later.

To buy on the Japanese PS3 and 4 shop, you will need to make a Japanese playstation account. After this, you will need to use a third party website to buy gift cards, such as PlayAsia, to add money. You should be able to buy and download as long as you have the money in the account.

[transgirl-gaming-thoughts]

Between the Gameboy Advance, DS, 3DS, GameCube, Wii, and Switch, I actually think the Switch is my least played Nintendo console? Which is odd, since its technically their best-performing console yet. And no doubt it has great games, and plenty I haven't gotten to yet (Metroid Prime Remastered, Pikmin 4, and Mario Odyssey are next on my list I think), but the console itself is just so... lifeless.

When you look at something like the DS or DSi, the menu is pretty bare, but it has character. Buttons, details, sounds, etc all give a distinctively "DS" feel. The Wii and 3DS are very similar. Their menus both scream charm, like Nintendo carefully crafted them with visuals, sounds, and design in mind. The Wii especially is so nostalgic for me, and the 3DS is just fun and colorful.

The Switch has a menu that is the most "stock asset" menu I have ever seen on a console. The modern Xbox consoles have more identity than the Switch menu, and that's bizarre. No themes other than Light and Dark, no menu music, no shop music, no Nintendo charm. The other console menus made me actively want to boot up the system and check out what's going on or just browse the pages for a bit. The most I do with my Switch is maybe check on the eShop, or just go straight to a game. I never turn on my Switch if I don't know exactly what I'm planning to do with it.

And this seems like something really easily fixed too. At any time they could've added themes, music, new sounds, etc, but they just didn't. Again, no doubt the Switch has great games and a neat gimmick, but I really really hope that their next console has a more Nintendo feel and less of a "generic console menu" feel.

[joyfuladorable]

⭐️ any section of I'll Be Okay! that you're itching to speak on, i am all ears, ears for days.

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

*twirls you around!!* HANNAHHH!!! 💜💜

Oh, man, so, as I made sure to point out in the Author’s Notes, this fic was inspired by This Art by my Buddy soggytommy on twt:

My writer brain was active at the time so I sat down and wrote a couple hundred words and DMed my buddy the wip, to which they responded by giving me more context about the scene: fighting the PDs, Leo accidentally blows something up, Mikey suffers the consequences.

So, the actual bts is that I Had been considering making this full angst with comfort at the end, but y’know!! I’m a sucker for levity during serious situations (which is probably why Mikey’s my fave, lol), so I tried to strike a balance there with Mikey kinda breaking the tension at multiple points, even with himself during the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

Also, I enjoy echoing/calling back to lines in my fics! The most obvious recurring one in this fic is the theme of Promises (Mikey promising he’ll be okay, Leo promising to tell him the end of the book, Mikey promising to tell someone immediately next time he gets badly injured). Don and Leo both tell each other at different points that they’ve done Enough. In Mikey’s POV, there’s Orders, with Mikey immediately following Leo’s command to Run and then later listening when he tells him to sleep. There’s also the Donnie SAINW trauma I slipped in, with both Leo and Mikey noticing he doesn’t react well upon seeing Mikey with arm injuries. Probably a few more but these are the clearest ones off the top of my head, lol!

Oh, and here are some of my favorite lines:

- “Aw, du’...” Mikey glares up at him. “Cli’ ‘angr.” << *points at my bestie* turtle who wants immediate gratification instead of suspense and probably loves to binge stories in one sitting

- A bookmark sticks out of it, tasseled with yarn and made up of layered and colorful construction paper and filled with childhood memories. A frail thing (a treasured gift) that has somehow survived all these years and unintentional moves. << *points again* baby Mikey made that :3

- The stabby thing needs to stay in his arm or else he’s off to join the Big Turtle in the Sky. << Personally the funniest joke I had Mikey think to himself next to the This Mission Blows line

- I know it’s Bad, he tells his brain as the pain whites out his vision. Stop yelling at me. I know. << *Mario falling in lava owowowow noise* if I ever actually draw this scene I apologize in advance

- Leo being up meant that they could stay up late, so Donnie would tinker or read and Raph would hog the Gameboy so Mikey would be resigned to reading comics. Sometimes, he’d slip under Leo’s blanket tent and try to read with him, asking him questions about the heroes and the villains and the story. << I wrote this Because of your (yes, You, Hannah) comment on Ch1 which made me think about Leo reading to his bros. Also, I totally drew a thing inspired by this because it’s The Most Precious Thing

- “Nope!” Mikey forces a leg to kick out of his blanket, missing Leo by a mile but sending the message loud and clear. “Y’know what? No blame game! No one wins in the blame game.” << *points for one last time* things I’ve actually done as a kid tucked in bed and a sibling says something stupid so I kicked out to let them know so

- And, he finally gets a hug from his dad, a carefully gentle thing from Splinter that he soaks in like the rays of the sun. << Actual Favorite Line that I will feel proud of til the end of time and also maybe draw at some point cuz Splinter Hug

[the-larxist-manifesto]

GameGirl31 ~ Dr. Mario

It's Dr. Mario time. We all know it. We've all played it (even if you don't remember how or why). We all are a little more than confused by its existence.

Let me briefly tell my story with Dr. Mario. When I was just a girl—at a time where my only video games were whatever random N64 and PS1 games my parents owned—I really looked forward to the occasional visit to my gamer aunt and uncle's house. Having extended family who are into video games is just the coolest feeling as a child, when all other grown-ups do only boring stuff like reading and fishing trips. During one fateful day out with my aunt, I was gifted my very own Nintendo DS Lite—the first console I felt was truly mine. An amazing feature of my silver DS, I would come to find, was backwards compatibility with GameBoy Advance games! And one of the first games I received to test it out was a little combo cartridge called Dr. Mario & Puzzle League

My actual childhood Dr. Mario & Puzzle League cartridge! (alongside my physical copy of GB Dr. Mario :p)

I'll be blunt here: I hated Dr. Mario. Its companion, Puzzle League, was (excuse my pun) leagues better, offering tons of single player puzzles, customization options, and a catchy as hell soundtrack—in addition to its multiplayer connectivity! Dr. Mario, sadly, only contained a couple of variations on endless mode; not much fun to be had for a child with no link cable to play with friends. Dr. Mario seemed too... simple. Only 3 colors? All you do is clear viruses? Nah, I was above this game.

And that was the last time I ever played Dr. Mario.

UNTIL NOW.

~Earning my PhD~

I began playing this game with the standard GameGirl procedure; playing a few rounds to get accustomed to the new environment, checking out the manual, conducting a small amount of personal research, and then setting goals to beat the game. The manual offered the usual gallery of fun official art and basic tutorial, but it didn't contain anything I didn't already know. That is, except one interesting detail that caught my attention.

Let me ask you a question that was at the forefront of my mind at this time: how do I "beat" Dr. Mario? An endless, arcade-style puzzle game with no story? The manual, Dr. Mario himself, had the answer.

Pay special attention to the second bullet point. I'll see "something special?" It's so ambiguous yet so enticing, and with such a difficult condition to discover whatever it was, I couldn't hold myself back. I knew that my destiny was to complete the game on the highest difficulty on the highest speed setting.

To do this, I put about 10 hours of work into practicing this game; matching colors, creating combos, managing junk pills, refining my reflexes, always looking at the next piece coming up, and then the one after that. I learned some very valuable techniques for getting far in this game. Always having at least one column available with each of the three colors is extremely helpful when you're given a pill (or, when you're unlucky, three or four in a row) of a color that simply does not match the current trouble virus. You must put care into placing each and every pill. You must be cunning to attack viruses from above, below, from the sides, or even a falling combo. You must be dexterous on the higher speeds, shifting pills across the bottle and rotating it twice in less than a second.

When I finally accomplished my first milestone, I was met with a scene I'd never witnessed before. A tranquil, wide open ocean floor...

The viruses sit there, watching the occasional sea life drift by. The sea appears so lonely...

~Dr. Mario master~

Yes, my goals for this game primarily entailed clearing levels at the highest difficulty. Specifically, I considered the game "beaten" if I cleared MED speed levels 5, 10, 15, and 20, and I considered it "100% completed" if I cleared HI speed levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. But what about the actual game? Was it fun? Worth becoming so competent at playing?

Unsurprisingly, this is the simplest and shortest GB title yet. I placed it here in the challenge as sort of a break from larger adventures, after all. The visuals are quite simple; beyond the initial gag of Mario dressed up in a lab coat, there isn't much to look at. The viruses do a funny little dance at the bottom of the screen, then get knocked over and blipped out of existence as you clear them. The game has a total of 6 unique songs: one for mode select, the iconic Fever and Chill that you may choose for gameplay, jingles for winning in multiplayer or setting up a combo of four or more, and then a special song for the special something after clearing one of the four MED or HI speed levels. The songs will easily get stuck in your head, and the special song was well worth earning each time I arrived at the bottom of the infested sea. The blips and bloops of gameplay will sometimes match up PERFECTLY with the gameplay themes; its like the composition is playing together with you, as well as being solid tunes that have been hummed by fans and remade by Nintendo for decades to come. They did a good job with the sound design, overall!

I guess my biggest gripe is... the overall concept of Dr. Mario? I still find it a bit too simple, even after all this time. There aren't many reasons to come back to it, if you aren't attempting the insane feat of 100% completion. The main draw of this game is the multiplayer and hoping that the satisfying falling-block match-4 formula keeps players hooked long enough to keep coming back when bored. But sadly, there isn't much versatility with the mechanics. Where other puzzle games contain a higher variety of pieces (Tetris), or greater combo opportunity (Puyo Puyo), or slicker visuals (Meteos), or some other wacky gimmick to keep you continuously exploring (Meteos again)... Dr. Mario falls short of a cure-all for boredom.

For the sake of this challenge, I did try out the multiplayer with a friend! A very cool feature of the NSO retro games is being able to connect with friends online, and play as if you were sitting across from each other with a link cable! In this game, you and your competitor (did you know that's what COM stands for? Competitor? Not "computer," as I always thought) race to clear the bottle of viruses before the other. The multiplayer does contain some unique visuals, including an indicator for how many remaining viruses your competitor needs to clear or how many wins you've accumulated (best three out of five).

Shoutouts to @br00f for playing with me! She beat me in a best of five that went all the way to game 5... and I have to call her Dr. Broof from now on...

~Conclusion~

In a vacuum, Dr. Mario is a well-made, fun, fast-paced puzzle game with some cool cutscenes and music to discover if you become skilled enough. Compared to other puzzle games, I find it a bit lacking in single-player content. I also think that the concept is a bit bare-bones, especially in this first iteration. Not much to accomplish beyond basic combos and managing three colors; it's almost too simple even for a casual player (as we witnessed in the Dr. Mario & Puzzle League anecdote).

Granted, I've never played the newer iterations of Dr. Mario. Maybe they've come up with more ways to shake up the formula? I won't be pursuing it anytime soon, I'm afraid; Dr. Mario just isn't for me. I can acknowledge it as a very important and solid GB title, worthy of being a member of the NSO library. That's about it.

Recommend? Sure, try it. It's probably as good as any other version of Dr. Mario

Oh, and I did manage to 100% complete the game! Check it out!

Look! All the viruses have been cleared away, the ocean flows freely with life once again~

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

y'know im about to go feral on how EVERYTHING is under subscriptions. want this viddy game to run better??? get *insert viddy company name here or or viddy game title here* plus or extra or up your plan to get access to EXTRAS!!

bc the other day, i was making a list of all the different games i might download on my xbox in the future. fallout 76, which has fallout 1st.... which is a $22.99 per a month or $179 a year subscription, just to get better skins etc in the game. i want to download trivial pursuit for me and my dad. but xbox and ubisoft keep recommending "get ubisoft+" which is ANOTHER subscription service through ubisoft. another like $25 a month. like given it could be worth it for me if i got into assassins creed on a bigger level than casual. get EA play to get exclusive sims content!! for ANOTHER $6.99 a month. get xbox games pass (which i have) for $18.95 a month!!! and to be fair, i get EA play for free through xbox game pass. but still.

for example, the other day i updated my nintendo online sub account to the extras pack or whatever.... all bc i wanted to look at the gameboy advance online thing...... but instead of letting me look at it and play super mario world 2 on it on my NORMAL SUBSCRIPTION (which i already had access to on nintendo online snes/game cube or whatever.... and plus i though the GBA platform would have more games than it did (like 10 games but i thought it'd have like 50 or something) i had to change my subscription to the nintendo online plus extras pack for GBA online. but that subscription, was $41.95 this year bc i bought it on sale,... however, next year it'll be $60. like at least its $60 a year and not a month. but i'm still pissed off. i should've been able to get access to this for the $30 a year i was already paying!!! and for a measly 10 games not the like 50 games on the game cube/snes online game offerings.

just. im so sick and tired of EVERY company demanding customers to pay a monthly or yearly subscription for access or extras or for something to run better. who the fuck is made of enough money to afford fallout 1st??? ubisoft+??? like dgmw, i get it if you're SUPER into any of these games. like it's worth $22.99 a month to access extras across the library of ubisoft+ if you're a hella fan of assassin's creed or their other games (ie trivial pursuit). or $6.99 for EA play for the love of sims or every single sports game ever.

just i guess it's burn out maybe that EVERYONE wants your money. a section of your wallet continuously until you cancel. i have to subscribe to my area's local newspaper for $179 a year. i subscribed to an app by the adf (australian defence force) to do job aptitude tests (im ignoring it tbh lol). i subscribe to the NYTs games app for $2.99 a month. i WAS paying $15 a month (but now it's closer to $20) for scribd, which is now everand, for audiobooks. for better use of my xbox, i subscribe to xbox games pass, as i said earlier, for $18.95 a month. and from next year, i'll pay $60 a year for nintendo online (unless i drop down back to the cheaper option to get rid of GBA online). i subscribe for $100 a year to microsoft for the essential apps of microsoft word/powerpoint etc. i pay $100 a year for norton antivirus on my windows laptop that i barely use now.

there's adhd apps that I keep getting recommended on fb that are like $150 a year or something. astrology app subscriptions (that i'll NEVER buy) that are like $15 a month.... as examples of apps that i won't use, but I get suggested all the time on social media. once i get a job, i'll be constantly asked about what tv streaming apps im subbed to as well (none). WHY does EVERYONE want my fucking money???? i am so sick to death of subscriptions.