#Especially in Super Mario 64 DS

[pianokantzart]

Very curious about this implied friendship.

[childofsardior]

"What did you expect? Didn't you notice Mario flying WITH HIS HAT?"

(EXTRA PANELS IN THE REBLOG SECTION :3)

Based on Super Mario 64 (DS)'s magical feather & the fact Lud hairstyle always looked like wings to me-

↓↓↓ Long page version + some AU info under the cut! ↓↓↓

AU WB infodump: In my SM personal setting/AU I like to see "power-ups" as magic items (some natural, some artificial) that are commonly found all around the world but that are very common in the Mushroom Kingdom specifically (it is one of the most magic-filled regions in the World). Guards and Heroes of the Kingdom have always been familiar with them.

Still in my AU, the Dark Lands & Bowser Army know magic thanks to Magikoopa Orders and some artificial-magical weapons they produce, but they are not used to "power-ups", especially for fights. Some Bowser's Minions even claim that Mario & his friends are basically "cheating" when they fight with unpredictable power-ups.

[suedoodle]

Your Mario and Luigi art is amazing!! Your style for them is so perfect and unique 🥺

I'm actually curious of if you have any specific inspirations for the way you draw them? Generally I see a big mix of M&L series art but was wondering if there were other inspirations too?

Tons. Tons of Inspiration. Most of them come from the games but others actually are from promotional art, Japanese ads, or I just made it the heck up.

Here's a list of all the places I've pulled form in previous drawings:

Mario & Luigi series (Where I pull the most from, it's the most obvious) Superstar Saga, Partners in Time, Bowser's Inside Story, and Dream Team.

Super Mario 64 DS (Unagi eel encounter and playing 'Picture Poker' mini game with Luigi)

New Super Mario Bros. series (Getting stuck in the bubble and propeller power up flying)

Mario Galaxy 1+2 (Boo Mario and Luigi are very cute. Luigi especially because not only is he more oval shaped compared to his round brother; but he constantly has a worried look from being a ghost)

Super Mario Sunshine

Luigi's Mansion series (The duck floaty is from LM3)

Mario Marker (They're wearing their MM construction outfits but they're eating sandwiches on top of a I-beam like at the end of LM3)

Mario Paint (Mario wears his normal cap sideways with his painter outfit in that game while in Odyssey it's a beret)

Mario Tennis Aces

Mario Kart: Double Dash

Super Mario Odyssey (Many cute outfits from this game, I used 4)

Super Mario 3D World

Mario Kart Tours (Luigi gets 2 outfits from here- 'Painter' and 'Vacation')

Dr. Mario World (Baby Mario gets his doctor costume from here)

Now drawings of the Baby Bros are a special case. Out of the original 18 doodles, 5 of them come from 'Partners in Time' because that's where they're the most prominent as playable characters. But a grand majority of them I just made up, but not without a lot of thought! For example, the doodle of the babies in pajamas makes reference to their animal power ups. Baby M has a racoon plushy and Baby L has a fox plushy; a nod to Tanooki Mario and Kitsune Luigi. But Baby L also has spotted pajamas connecting more to his spotted cat form.

As for commercials, two poses come specifically from a single Japanese only ad where Mario rescues Luigi from Bowser (High-five + Hug Jump). And the white suit movie premiere outfits drawing I did actually comes from a Japan-only Super Mario All-Stars commercial.

So yeah, probably a long-winded answer just to say that all the drawings at the very least have roots somewhere.

[just-3d-mario-things]

I’ve lumped together a few, since they’re so hard to separate (especially Galaxy and Galaxy 2).

If you want a mathematical way of figuring this, list all the tracks you like from each, then subtract the number you dislike from each game’s count. Whichever ends up the highest should be your vote :)

Or if you’re voting because one song in particular just hits different (Steam Gardens, Dire Dire Docks, Gusty Garden Galaxy, you know the bangers), then by all means!

[elitadream]

I am curious, which Mario games have your favourite Mareach content/scenes and why, please? :D

Good question! ^-^ Let's see...

- World will always have a very special place in my heart because it was the first Mario game I've ever played when I was a kid. It was also the first one to feature a kiss, and the way Mario blushes is adorable. 🥰 Truly a classic!

- Galaxy, because omg of course. The game opening up with a letter from the Princess inviting Mario to meet her later that evening at the Star Festival and him dashing happily towards the castle in response was already cute and romantic enough, but the game also includes one of my favorite rescues in the whole franchise and has quite a magical feel to it. A real masterpiece. 💘💫

- 3D Land, which probably has my favorite ending credits of all. Any instance where Mario gets to carry Peach bridal style is a big weakness of mine, and seeing him safely bringing her all the way back to the castle in his Tanooki suit is simply delightful. 🤗

- 64's ending is also among my big faves for the way Mario politely takes off his cap before her (a detail that was kept later in some of the remastered DS games, with an added flourish and bow that made the scene even sweeter 🥺).

- In both the New Super Mario Wii and Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, there is a brief moment where Mario offers Peach his arm for her to take, like the good gentleman he is, and it makes my heart melt everytime. 😭 He has such lovely manners there! 💖

- And last but certainly not least, pretty much all and every scenes the two of them share together in Luigi's Mansion 3. This game was great in showing us a bit more of the characters' chemistry with one another through more diverse interactions, and I especially adore the whole intro. ☺️

I've been told there were also apparently quite a few memorable moments in the Paper Mario games, to name only those, but here I've mostly enumerated the ones I'm more familiar with. :3 Enjoy! 😁

[chaosites]

Sup its me again

Do any of you have a favourite game?

Do any of you share one?

This one could take a while!!! Let's do it Let's go down the line~! It doesnt count if it's their source, that's our only rule.

Starting with some collective ones! Yahtzee! Mergefruit (the shitty phone one where you have to drop the fruits and merge them to try and make the giant golden watermelon), earthbound(legal middle name!), UTDR, wii sports/wii sports resort,MySims, mario in general

And now some individual faves!

Alan: Cut The Rope, Run series, Wind Waker

Ann: she loved those baking flash games but a lot of them don't run well enough anymore, so just baking games in general!

BASIL: There's this specific solitaire game called like.... solitaire gardens? no. Solitaire Grand Harvest. He loves that one.

Brandon: Unfortunately one of Brandon's favorite game series is in fact Danganronpa. He knows it's not any good.

Callum: Callum loves a good itch.io indie game. Nothing really specific. Zey also like Mystic Messenger

Chara: Chara likes OMORI, the mother series and especially games where you can play as A Creature instead of a person. They would like animal crossing a lot more if this was an option

Chel-c: Dating sims, worse the better

Chia: fighting games, namely the crossover ones

Clara: Mysims SO much she is a mysims superfan. She also loves the barbie games, namely barbie horse adventures riding camp.

Clyde: IMVU, online virtual worlds in general, overwatch

Cocoa: Dating sims and otome games

Colbie: Colbie likes most nintendo games but they especially eat up those godawful mobile games. They also love SSX tricky

ENA: Yume Nikki

Ethan Lee: KATAMARI!!!

Fern: RPGs mostly. He in fact does like ISAT. For reasons.

Gary: Baking games

Glass: Absolute Majong fiend. Solitaire also

Gregory: Games that are made to mimic the style of old arcade games, definitely. He really loves skee ball, too. And claw machines. If those two count as games

HERO: He also likes baking games!

Jax: "Best game ever, Hong Kong 97. What? Of course I'm serious.'

Joan: Animal Crossing

Karma: Sims, apparently?

KEL: Wii Sports

Ken: Style Savvy

Kid: I love Hue

Kira: Card games

Kris: Smash Bros, especially brawl, Wii games in general

M: Portal 1&2, Garry's Mod

Mabel: GirlsGoGames.com forever. I cant remember the name of it but she LOVED this weird hair styling one. It had a like, hair growth potion that you could use? Will edit if any of us remember

Mae: rhythm games even though she sucks bad at them, Sam and Max

Marcy: Silly DS games, Mysims, arcade games

Maxie: Nintendogs + Cats

Napsta: ThisIsSand

Neil: Gameboy/Wii/DS games of All Kinds, Tetris type games

Ray: Connect 4

Rio: Card games

Rox: Any game where you can pet the cat

Sal: Super Mario Galaxy

Seven: Any game where you can pet the cat+ Connect 4

Si: Mystery Case Files/Hidden object games

Simon: Wii Sports

Star: Dressup games

SUNNY: JRPGs

Sysfrin: Candy Crush, Solitaire

Tobi: Yahtzee

Torrin: Shipwrecked 64

Trent: Yaoi dating sims/ Blush Blush

Unknown: Connect 4, Papa's Freezeria

Vanellope: Mario Kart, Karting games in general

Vix: Smile For Me,Nintendo in general

X: Solitaire

[blossyossyossy]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/games/etc) and your top 5 favorite ships (can be canon or non canon) from any media ? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hi! I would just like to start off by saying that I was not ignoring this ask, I was just waiting for a time to open up for me to write this long ass response!!

Top ten media:

The original Powerpuff Girls. Nothing will ever top this, not even Pokemon or Precure despite me posting about both far more often. The OG PPG is my favorite media of all time because, as corny as it sounds, I would not be who I am today without it. And plus, who doesn’t like to see three 5-year-old girls kick ass??

Pretty Cure. Yeah, yeah shocking for anyone who’s scrolled through my blog. Funnily enough, it used to be a trigger for me since I used to associate it with some people I’m no longer friends with, but once I coped with the situation, I was really enjoying myself!!! I think part of the reason why I love Precure so much is because it’s a comfort show for me at this point and because I’ve always been enamored by magical series but could never fully get into them. Except for Powerpuff Girls Z which I stand by my rating of 6/10. Oh, and I guess Sailor Moon since I’ve watched 3 of the hour-long movies that are on YouTube but I’ve never even watched a full episode of it. As for a specific Precure season, it would be Fresh Precure! It has Love Momozono (my favorite character of all time) in it, what’s not to love about that?

Danny Phantom. Another comfort show of mine. Danny himself is one of my favorite characters in general and the entire premise of the show is just so cool.

Pokemon. Yeah, yeah shocking for anyone who’s scrolled through my blog. If we ignore the Powerpuff Girls, then I would say that Pokemon has been the most influential piece of media for me. Like, PPG got me to the internet and into drawing but Pokemon got me long time online friends, enemies (lookin at you, homophobic pokemon fans), and improvement in terms of art. Plus, it’s the only series where I feel 100% comfortable writing fanfiction for. Maybe it’s because it was my longest (consistent) obsession, but I feel as though I can actually grasp the characters’ personalities. The animeverse’s characters’ personalities I mean.

Scott Pilgrim. Another comfort media. Did you know that I share a birthday with the Scott Pilgrim franchise down to the exact year? Too bad it took me until I was 18 to finally get into it but better late than never. I prefer the graphic novels, which I’ve read twice already. And since I got the 20th anniversary edition of them for free, that means it’s gonna be three times soon. But anyway, the Scott Pilgrim series unironically got me through some tough times, especially when it came to my nonexistent love life.

Okay, these last five medias are lowkey ass-pulls but shh. Super Mario 64 DS. Yes, the DS version specifically. I still fuck with the n64 version, but I grew up with the DS version instead. Fun fact, SM64DS’s 20th anniversary is coming up soon (November 21st, 2024)!! Other than nostalgia, it’s just a fun time all around except for that godforsaken silver rabbit mission. I cannot stand that bitch. But it’s just easy for me to get sucked into the game without even knowing, which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it’s one of the few medias where I can just lose myself in and a curse because it’s one of the few medias I can lose myself in.

Maximum Ride. Specifically the first book, The Angel Experiment but I have a soft spot for the series as a whole. The Angel Experiment is actually my favorite book of all time. I’ve read it at least four times as a child which doesn’t seem like a lot until you realize that it has upwards to 400 pages. The main character, the titular Maximum Ride, is a classic case of a badass motherfucker and I don’t mean that lightly. I adore how snappy and quick paced it is despite of how long it is. It’s probably due to the chapters being super short. Like, there’s at least a couple of chapters that don’t even fill an entire page. Maybe it’s because I had to read it in fifth grade, but it’s one of the few books that I return to time and time again. Not to say that other books that I’ve read are bad, I just prefer to consume more and more media rather than revisiting them.

Impractical Jokers. Very random choice, I know, but without them, I would not know what a chinchilla was probably until I got to college. For context, they had a crossover with another truTV show and somehow a chinchilla was involved in one of the pranks they were doing.

…Friday Night Funkin. I am cringe, but I am free. Banger music, I still don’t know why that was the rhythm game that drew me in despite me barely even using NewGrounds as a kid (FNF has that good ole NG humor for context).

 The Super Mario franchise! It has Princess Daisy in it, enough said.

Top five ships:

Amourshipping. My version of amourshipping is better than the majority’s amourshipping. Also, it was the reason why I really got into pokemon. Sure, I’d watch the Advance series before but Serena’s crush on Ash unironically got me hooked.

Jellowshipping. The girlfriends of all time!! They’re so sweet together I love them.

Kiribaku. They mesh well together, what can I say?

Lovesetsu / Setsulove. No, they’re not sisters. Don’t even think about bringing that discourse over here. Typical Setsulove fan here, adoring the fight they had in episode 23 and honestly episode 23 overall. It’s enemies to lovers, tragic yuri, (formerly) doomed yuri, opposites attract yuri, they were roommates yuri, and now long distance. Also, let’s be real, Love and Setsuna both associate each other with happiness. Moreso on Love’s part, but where else could Setsuna have gotten her title of the proof of happiness from, hmmmm?

Gray Ghost from Danny Phantom. They’re like setsulove but in reverse. Lovers to enemies and all that jazz I said earlier but minus the opposites attract because both of them are some stubborn ass teenagers. But even as enemies they bounce off each other so well. The push n pull of their dynamic is so intense cause the feelings were still there but…enemies🔥

Also, even if I had been asked these questions before, I'd still answer cause I love to talk about my interests!!

[heloflor]

After getting into Mario with a more “fandom” kind of mindset, and more specifically getting a bigger interest in the RPG games, something that amuses me a lot are the people in youtube comments trying to argue that the Koopalings aren’t Bowser’s children.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I know Miyamoto retconned their link to Bowser. But the funny thing is, even to this day, Nintendo themselves are still writing those kids as if they were related to Bowser !

Seriously :

- In New Super Mario Bros Wii and Wii U, the Koopalings are attacking the castle along with Junior/Bowser, thus putting them on the same level of importance as Bowser and his son. The ending cutscenes do the same thing, especially the one in Wii U that just screams “they’re a family”. Plus, all the Koopalings serve as world bosses, which was kinda Junior’s role in DS, yet again putting them on the same level.

- In New Bros U, they all have their own ship. The only character to have a ship with their face on it before had always been Bowser.

- As I’ve seen someone point out in a comment section, the Koopalings are different skins of Junior in Smash Ultimate, again putting them on the same level as Bowser’s son. They might also be skins of Junior in Mario Maker 2 but I’m not sure on this one.

- In New Bros 2, they’re using a giant clown car, which is implied to belong to Bowser as Bowser and Junior are the only ones with a recurring clown car and Junior’s is too small. I doubt Bowser would let just about anybody use his car.

- On top of that, each has their own clown car in Smash.

- You know that icon/logo of his head thing that Bowser has (the one we see in games like 64 when we die) ? Bowser Junior had had one for a while now and more recently each Koopaling were given one (I think you can see them at Nintendo World in Bowser’s castle ?).

- Since they were originally created as Bowser’s children, they’re the same type of Koopa as him, and that fact hadn’t been changed in recent years. Hell, outside of Ludwig in Mario World and the fights in Superstar Saga, the Koopalings are never shown to breath fire, yet in the remake of Superstar Saga, they chose to keep the fire breath (except for Ludwig ironically enough). They could’ve easily removed the fire breath to make them more similar to Boom Boom, especially since Boom Boom has recently been shown with spikes on his shell, but they chose to keep this ability. Granted their shell plastron is different from Boom Boom, but that’s another design change Nintendo could make to set them apart from Bowser (giving them the same shell as Boom Boom to make it seem like they’re the same species, instead of keeping them as “Royal Koopas”).

In short, the Koopalings’ design wasn’t changed after the retcon, making them, Bowser and Junior the only members of that specific type of Koopa, thus implying they might be related. It’s also not helped by them having magic (which only Magikoopas and Bowser have) + being high-ranked members of the army. They might also be the only minors in the army, which raises a few eyebrows as to how they got the job (why would Bowser hire a bunch of children/teenagers to put in charge of his army ? Granted some like Ludwig, Roy and Wendy might be adults by now but I can’t bring myself to see Lemmy and Larry as anything other than teenagers).

- Saw a video of the bosses in Paper Mario Color Splash, and the minions (paratroopas) address Ludwig as “your evilness”, which is pretty reminiscent to how Bowser is called by his army, most notably by Kamek (“you grouchiness”, stuff like this)

- Baby Bowser and Bowser Jr are referred to as “young master” by Kamek. In the RPGs, the Koopalings are sometimes called “master [name]” (and “mistress Wendy”) when talked to individually. Note that both this point and the previous one are for the English version tho, not the Japanese one (no idea how they’re called in Japan).

- There’s that one Super Mario Adventures comic made in the 90s that was apparently re-released a few years ago (something like 2017-2018 ?), aka well after Nintendo retconned the kids’ relationship with Bowser (around 2012). Yet, in this comic, at least in the English version, the Koopalings are explicitly said to be Bowser’s children, with him saying he wants to marry Peach so they can have a mom + the kids calling him dad. And I don’t think they changed this dialogue in the re-release ?

- Bowser Jr’s Journey. Just, Bowser Jr’s Journey. After seeing all the cutscenes of this game, it is a crime that those kids aren’t related ! Hell there’s literally a moment where Junior pulls out the “I’ll tell dad !” card on Roy ! And let’s not forget stuff like the interactions between Junior and most notably Ludwig/Morton/Roy, Junior saying “us Koopalings” at some point thus including himself amongst that group, or stuff like him singing “I’m the one who wears the crown” making it sound like he’s saying “I’m the one chosen amongst the eight of us”. Then there’s the “family drama” vibe in the first half, the cute moments etc (Also unpopular opinion but after seeing that game, Ludwig should still be the heir of the throne. He has what it takes to be a fantastic king ! Granted Junior is still extremely young and could learn and mature.)

- Also about Jr’s Journey, the main conflict actually works a lot better if you imagine the kids to be siblings, with the Koopalings talking down to Junior because he’s the baby of the family + they resent him for taking the throne from them, while Junior is tired of his siblings babying him + he’s that kind of kid who orders the older siblings around because he thinks he has the power to do so. Them being siblings also justifies why Junior changes his mind so easily during the beach scene and then is quickly shown to be strongly attached to the others (getting happy when Iggy gets his memories back, ordering Ludwig to stay with him from now on, that whole adorable scene with Morton etc).

Meanwhile, if you see the Koopalings as nothing more than high-ranked underlings, it’s weird why they would have such an issue with Junior, the son of their king who is also their boss, and likewise it’s weird why Junior would take such issue with them only to have such a quick change of heart. Idk, I feel like if they weren’t siblings they probably wouldn’t spend that much time together, making both their whole conflict and strong bond a bit weird. And in general their interactions in this game read more as people who are widely different and wouldn’t usually be friends yet still love each other, which is the kind of dynamic many siblings tend to have (isn’t there a poll going around about whether you’d be friends with your siblings if they weren’t your siblings, and the option winning is “we wouldn’t be friends” ?)

- According to their page on the Mario wiki, during an interview revealing them in Mario Kart 8, Miyamoto used a word that means either “underlings” or “adopted children” when mentioning their relationship to Bowser (btw I know it’s the most popular headcanon anyways but them being adoptive children is just perfect. It would explain why 1. Some might be young adults while Bowser is younger than 40 depending on how old you see him, 2. Why they look so widely different from Bowser and each other, 3. Why Junior is the rightful heir).

- Also according to the wiki, the Italian and German versions of Mario and Luigi Paper Jam has mentions of them being Bowser’s kids, which I find hilarious. The translation teams didn’t give a fuck !

So yeah, when it comes to the Koopalings not being Bowser’s kids : who’s gonna tell Nintendo ?

(Side note about the whole idea of “Bowser clearly likes Junior more and neglects his older kids” : what if instead it was just that the Koopalings are teenagers/young adults now so Bowser is giving them their space + have them busy with royal duties, hence why he doesn’t spend that much time with them ? Plus, in all the examples that put the Koopalings on the same level as Junior, it’s pretty evident that they have the same privileges)

[cadybear420]

Evie x Aiden gaming headcanons

As requested by @inlocusmads, here are some of my gaming related headcanons for Evie and Aiden. Many of these are actually some of my oldest headcanons, back from when I first got into Choices. Here's what I've got as of now:

Evie:

Evie is more of a casual gamer, but she does have a lot of games she enjoys. Minecraft, Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Kart DS, and Among Us are some of her biggest favorites. And also a couple of oddly satisfying mobile games. And whatever the Choices universe equivalent to Choices and HSS Prime is.

Evie was also a major frequenter of sites like CoolMath during 4th-6th grade and she still enjoys them. Some of her favorites includes Sushi Cat, Papa's Pizzaria/Taco Mia/Burgeria/etc., Bloons + Bloons Tower Defense, and Fireboy and Watergirl. Luckily she does get a chance to show them to Aiden before the end of Adobe Flash.

Aiden:

Aiden is utter crap at computer games. The only ones he's good at are stuff like Smule Magic Piano (which Evie would struggle with more) and Minecraft creative mode.

And 75% of Aiden's Minecraft-playing is composing or recreating songs with the note blocks.

He sometimes does Minecraft Survival mode but the only way he can really last is if Evie's in the world with him and they're working together.

He barely manages Mario Kart, but can't drift for shit.

He openly insults Fortnite.

Sometimes he'll go into a game like Mario Party thinking it'll be easy, only to be absolute dogshit at it.

Yes, Aiden is even crap at Tetris. His screen legit looked like this on his first attempt at the game.

He is not a fan of Among Us (despite that he willingly played "Mafia" on the boat in after-prom). To him, it's just people "running around and blaming each other". He especially hates being the imposter because, in his own words from the Mafia game, "I can't lie to save my life".

Actually I think Aiden would be pretty good at stuff like Interactive Story games like Evie does too.

Myra is always teasing him about how bad he is at most video games and often likes to mention his least favorites to annoy him.

Evie: "Aiden you're usually very dexterous when it comes to instruments, but you're bad at video games?" Aiden: "Playing the piano and playing on a gaming console are two completely different things."

Both of them:

Evie and Aiden regularly have double dates with Nishan and Sakura where they play 2-on-2 video games, usually battlegrounds-style games. Their rounds are of course very short-lived because Aiden is crap at the games, but they're still fun nonetheless.

I haven't played it myself yet but I can totally see the two of them getting into Fall Guys. Evie likes the cute fall guy avatars.

Evie (with some minimal help from Aiden) trying to design a sort of a big fancy "dream house" for them in Minecraft.

Something something they squee over Minecraft cats together a lot

Evie would try to teach Aiden a lot of the video games she's good at. He'd slowly improve at most of them.

The two of them totally obsess over video games with awesome soundtracks, even if they haven't played the games themselves. But it sometimes may lead them to getting into the games. Eg. Evie loves the soundtracks for the Super Mario Galaxy games, she'd show it to Aiden and they'd obsess over them, and at one point or another, they'd feel compelled to buy the games.

I think a habit both of them would also have in certain video games is: they start a game, but if the soundtrack is really good, they'll just make their character do nothing or run around aimlessly in it so that they can keep the music + sound effects going on because they don't want it to stop. They do this a LOT with Mecha Bowser battle in Super Mario Galaxy 1.

I think they'd sometimes use app versions of classic board games (chess, checkers, etc).

They'd definitely enjoy puzzle games like minesweeper. They're each pretty good at the puzzle games on their own, but it's extra fun to work on them together. Also Aiden sitting in Evie's lap while they play the games.

[tokiro07]

Something I never quite understood is what it is with people and Daisy from the Mario games. Why is there always so much talk about wanting her in the games and hype when she actually is? What exactly is so special about her that gets people like this? I don't think this is a bad thing or anything like that, It is just something that confuses me.

Are you a fan of Dragon Ball? If so, you've surely noticed that the power creep has rendered a majority of the cast irrelevant, with Goku and Vegeta being tantamount to the only ones that really matter in most scenarios, with characters like Yamcha literally not being allowed to participate in fate-deciding battles anymore

You may also have noticed that Dragon Ball Super has more recently been trying to remedy this. Super Hero hardly had Goku or Vegeta in it at all, focusing on how to bring Gohan and Piccolo up to speed, while there was a mini-arc in the manga tying into Super Hero establishing Goten and Trunks as more relevant characters

Fans love that. They love seeing characters who either exist entirely on or who have been pushed to the fringe being brought to the centerstage. There are all kinds of reasons for this, but in the case of Dragon Ball, I think it's a matter of variety vs. stagnation. "Looks like Goku got another power-up that'll serve to elevate him above the rest of the cast and render them useless again"

Daisy is in a pretty similar boat. She's appeared in dozens of Mario titles, but how many of them are the Kart, Party or Sports titles? How many times has Daisy appeared in an actual Mario game?

Once

Daisy first appeared in Super Mario Land for the GameBoy, a spinoff not even made by Shigeru Miyamoto, and even there she was the damsel in distress who didn't actually appear until the end of the game. A very common event for video game characters, especially at the time, but the point is that her involvement in the main Mario franchise is as minimal as it gets

Since then, though, her appearances in the non-platformers have given her a lot of opportunity to flesh out her personality, most notably with how energetic and tomboyish she is in Mario Strikers compared to the more bubbly and girlish Peach

With their differences highlighted, it was natural that some fans would gravitate more to one side than the other, but Peach is still the main heroine of the franchise. She appears in most if not all mainline Mario games in some capacity, either as the damsel or a playable character, and now has two games to call her own

Aside from Mario and Peach, who else has gotten to be playable alongside Mario? Obviously Luigi as the original player 2, three colors of Toad across Mario 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii and U, Captain Toad in the 3D World minigames, Yoshi and Wario in 64 DS, Toadette and Nabbit in U Deluxe, Rosalina in 3D World, and most recently Bowser Jr. in Bowser's Fury

That's 13 playable characters (9 if you count all of the Toads together and don't count Captain Toad since he's in a minigame), with Daisy notably absent despite being a fan favorite. Toadette being playable was especially egregious because they gave her a power-up that effectively just turned her into Peach with a different outfit. Rosalina was also "just another Princess" same as Daisy, but introduced much more recently, so it felt like they were acknowledging they could bring in any character they wanted, but who would want boring old Daisy when there's a shiny new Princess right here? Not knocking on Rosalina, I love her too, but I've wanted to see more Daisy content since I was a child

Do you remember how excited people were about Pauline showing up in Odyssey? Sure she'd shown up in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games, but again, those were spinoffs that most people didn't play. This was direct acknowledgment of her character in the main story, and now she's showing up in the Sports titles! Further awareness of the character means more opportunities for something new!

Even if Wonder just took place in Sarasaland and Daisy was a background character, that would have been shocking because it would have been her first time back in 34 years! But no! They skipped straight to her being playable!! This means that she has a much greater chance of coming back to be playable in future mainline games or even spinoffs like the new Peach game or the more story-driven RPGs

Even better, though? This sets a precedent. Who knows who could be playable next?? We could see Pauline be playable for the first time in a mainline game! We could see Wario come back as a Wario Land crossover! We could even see Waluigi actually be acknowledged by the canon for once!!!

Daisy is beloved because of her personality and was wanted as a playable character because of her absence. Her inclusion is a huge deal because it means that Nintendo has actually been listening to us and knows how to give us what we want. It shows growth on Nintendo's part, and serves as a sign that they will continue to give us more of it going forward

[kitchfit]

Year In Review: Viddy Game Pt 4 (Happy Mario Day!!!)

Oops! All Mario! To prepare for the release of Super Mario Wonder, I wanted to play through as many of the Mario games I never played before as I could. There are a few wayward titles I missed, but I’m sure I’ll end up playing those sometime in the distant year of 2024. Damn that sounds like a fake year. I hinted in earlier reviews that this was something of a nightmare to accomplish, but that was just me being silly. They’re Mario games! All of these were pretty fun.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga

I started out my Mariothon with the story-driven series I had never actually touched. I’ve played all the (good) Paper Mario games, but I’ve never touched the other side of the plumber’s rpgs. The combat was a refreshing change of pace after all those Final Fantasy games. It’s almost as much of a rhythm game as it is turn based, which makes it very engaging. I also like what it adds to the Mario World. Luigi has been characterized in several of the RPGs and his own spin off series, but having him along for the entire ride in this story driven game makes him somehow more endearing to me than he was before. I like to imagine this takes place right after Super Paper Mario, and Mario is making sure his best bro is safely right next to him after the shit he went through.

The Bean Bean Kingdom feels like a suitable alternative to the Mushroom one we’ve grown familiar with. A lot of the older games had introduced other Themed Kingdoms, like the Jewelry Kingdom in Yoshi’s Safari or Sarasaland in Mario Land, which is based on types of tea. And Mario Odyssey would assert the entire world being organized into these Kingdoms, so Bean Bean fits right in! It’s super fun to explore the fresh areas with a familiar aesthetic. I only wish these Bean characters would make more appearances outside of this game. I guess they show up in the other Mario and Luigis, but Reggie knows what I mean. Put Prince Peasley in Mario Kart, coward!

New Super Mario Bros

When this game released I had no idea that 2D Mario had been put on hold for ten whole years. From my perspective Super Mario World had only been released earlier that year in 2006, on Nintendo’s brand new console, the hand-me-down Game Boy Advance I got from my cousin. So when my friend showed me New Super Mario Bros. on his Fancy DS Lite in 2009, I wasn’t that impressed. This one didn’t even have the cape, or the Tanooki suit from Mario 3! I was not impressed. What it did have was a fun as hell competitive mode that I could play with my friend via DS download play (which is an awesome system they should bring back), so I never felt the need to seek out a copy.

Playing it now, the game is a lot more distinctive than I gave it credit for. While the world themes are based around the generic grass, ice, fire, etc. themes the Mario games always recycle in some way, the level designs give a good sense of cohesiveness, and the new power-ups: the tiny mushroom, Mega Mushroom, and Blue Shell significantly alter how you approach the level. When you’re tiny, you get a higher jump and can get into hidden paths, but touching Anything Will You, while Mega Mario can ignore everything and cause as much carnage as possible. The Blue Shell lets Mario continuously slide and kill anything in your path provided you keep whatever initial momentum you started with, making this game the singular moment the red plumber stole something from the blue hedgehog. The low-res 3D artstyle felt dated when I first saw this game, since I wasn’t enjoying the industry norm of changing every franchise to 3D. “Give me my pixels, damn you!” said 8-year-old Kitch. I now find it really charming, especially compared to the later entries in the “New” series. There are a lot of original enemies in this game that never show up again. I need everyone to look at the Snailicorn immediately.

Super Mario 64 DS

I was always told this was the inferior version of Mario 64 due to the limited control scheme. Instead of full 360 movement, you are now cut down to 8 directional movements cycled on the d-pad. However, I played this game on the 3DS, and the analogue stick made those 8 directions flow seamlessly. The other change is the addition of a Run Button, one that I was not aware of until futilely trying to race against Koopa the Quick. That’s right, for the entire fight against King Bob-omb, I had just assumed this game ran like shit, or that Yoshi was intentionally designed to be extremely slow until I happened to hold down the b-button as if this was some kind of. 2D MARIO GAME? In 3D??? It’s a sensible change, but one that is only communicated by experimenting with the controls, which someone who has already beaten the original game 3 times wouldn’t really think to try. And since there’s little need to ever Not Run, holding that button down for the ENTIRE GAME started to get annoying towards the end.

Otherwise, it was really nice returning to this classic. The calm atmosphere in exploring the Mushroom Castle and revealing its little secrets makes it genuinely unmatched as a hubworld, and the levels, while mostly generically themed, cram tons of personality into such small areas. Realizing how tiny levels like Cool, Cool Mountain and Big Boo’s Haunt are actually startled me, since I spent so much time as a kid exploring the nooks and crannies of those areas. There are also a lot of new stuff hidden across these levels that either unlock or are accessed by the new playable characters. Each of them have their own movement speeds and abilities, but none of them really play as well as the Mario Himself, so changing into them was mostly situational. I loved the new boss fights that unlocked them, though. Adding Goomboss from Paper Mario into the OG 3D Mario made me really happy. I’ve still never 100% this game, but if I go back, I might actually make sure it’s this version I complete.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

The awaited sequel to the GBA game, I hear absolute jackshit about this game when people talk about the Mario and Luigi series. I assumed it was the runt that came between the beloved classics of Superstar and Bowser’s Inside Story, but that isn’t true at all. In fact, I think I like this game more than Superstar. Since it’s on the DS, there’s a naturally higher fidelity with the pixel art, the premise is more interesting, and it adds a new layer to both the combat and overworld movement in the form of the BA-BIES. Since there are two new X and Y buttons, you get Baby Mario and Baby Luigi as additions to your playable characters, meaning at any one time you are juggling Four Whole Mario Bros. all for the price of One! The game is noticeably more difficult than Superstars, nothing too crazy, but I did die a lot more. Or I am just Bad At Games.

Like the previous entry, this game is oozing charm out of every bodily orifice it has. Mario and Luigi are characterized extremely well as they step up as babysitters. It warmed my heart everytime Luigi purposefully goofed up to make the babies laugh or whenever Mario shouted “BA-BIES” in concern whenever they were in trouble. It may be the most overt personality he’s ever really shown. The time travel mechanic isn’t super in-depth, the present time basically acts as a hub world, but we get some more of that Sweet Mario Lore as they explore the Days of Mushroom Past. Autocorrect wants me to say Pasta. We get to see Baby Peach and Younger Toadsworth at some point after Yoshi’s Island, an E Gad pre-ghost fascination, and also these alien freaks who look suspiciously like Fucked Up Toads. What does this mean for them? Are Toads themselves descended from aliens, or vice versa? Will we ever get to see “Toads In Space?!” Some kind of… “MARIO GALAXY???” Only the future can tell.

Super Mario 3D Land

Nintendo was able to put a 3D Mario on a handheld in the last generation, so I guess the new hurdle was an ORIGINAL 3D  Mario on the Three Dee Ess. This serves that purpose well. I could honestly end it there. The level design is well executed around the controls that are based on Galaxy, and it translates really well. They brought back the Highly Acclaimed Tanooki Suit that lends itself nicely to 3D platforming, and also seemed to be a selling point of the game? A lot of the Goombas and Koopas are now wearing the tanooki suit, and even Peach gets to show off the fit at the end of the game. You can’t play as her though, it’s just there to tease you. Luigi is an unlockable character with his own set of remixed levels, but that’s really it.

And that’s the thing, this game is fun, but it’s also kind of… Nothing? If you’ve played 3D Land, tell me: Where does it take place? The Mushroom Kingdom? That’s probably a good guess, but there’s nothing that really shows that, is there? There’s little to no cohesion between the levels. The level select is a linear screen with a multicolor background. You’ll be playing a water level immediately following some weird toy-themed level with absolutely zero context. Where are we? What’s happening? No one really looks for a story in a Super Mario game, but the lack of any real context makes this game super forgettable to me. It’s just a selection of random levels, and a Lot of the levels are repeated with slight differences. Why? TELL ME REGGIE. At the very least we get these cute letters from Peach showing her own adventure escaping Bowser. That would’ve been a fun to play, but this game won’t let you go Girl Mode. Oh well.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

This is one of those “underrated Mario gems.” Maybe the only one. Super Mario Land is pretty mediocre, so I’m not surprised its sequel fell by the wayside. It’s super creative for a GB game, and because of the power of Cool Internet People, I got to play this in color! Lucky me :) The whole game takes place in a magical theme park that was maybe created at the end of one of the Mario Parties. Did anyone else make that connection? I know one guy did. They go ham on the level designs: an area that makes you tiny so Mario is battling ants, a bubble ride that takes you into space to fight Pig Creatures, a mechanical Mario; at one point you go inside a whale. It’s wacky! The enemy design reflects this too, there’s a bunch of Weirdos, like the Pig Creature:

The goal is to find those 6 Golden Coins in each world to unlock the Mario Castle, with the caveat that Mario will lose all his coins upon a game over and have to track them down again. You only have to repeat the boss fights however, so it’s not a complete wipe. My Boy Wario is introduced in this game, and he really does come across as this supernatural, corrupted parody of our portly performer that the commercials for this game made him out to be. But the official word is he’s just Mario’s childhood rival that was upset they didn’t name a castle after him. Don’t worry, Wario! I’m sure you’ll get yours soon.

Super Mario 3D World pt 1

This one is just stellar all around. It makes 3D Land look like a tech demo in comparison. Every level showcases a degree of creativity on par with Galaxy while keeping 3D Land’s linear design. Every part of this experience is just so damn satisfying, the new power ups, targeting the tops of the flagpoles, riding on Yobbo the Swimming Yoshi, and you can go GIRL MODE. My biggest complaint about 3D land is that they teased a playable Princess Peach without actually ever giving it to you, and now I refuse to play this game as any other character. Except when the game makes me play as Mario or Toad to get all the Green Stars. Also the GREEN STARS.

The secondary collectables have never felt as necessary as it does in 3D World. They add an incentive to explore the levels or find an extra challenge that are actually Worth searching for. I don’t remember if they really gave you anything, but I still liked finding them. 

Also the MUSIC, the ost slaps so hard in this game. We’re moved to a new setting in 3D World, and the soundtrack and aesthetics match that vibe. It’s unique, it’s bOMBASTIC. There are two new power ups in the form of CAT and CHERRIES. The cat can run up walls, while the cherries can make a double of your character. The former is generally the best playstyle for most of the game a la the Tanooki suit, while the latter works as a fun challenge that gets really creative with its limits as you control two or three or six characters with one controller. There’s even a bonus mode at the end based on Galaxy where you can. Guess What? GO GIRL MODE EVEN HARDER. I haven’t done it yet but hey. I Am Going To.

Bowser’s Fury

This is one of the few I actually 100% completed. I was on a Dollywood trip with some friends and after the festivities ended at Guy Fieri’s Shitty Arcade and Ripley’s Wacky Wonderworks we stayed in the cabin and chilled out. I didn’t have a ton else to do while everyone was resting so I got really into Bowser’s Fury. Our first taste of what may be Open World Mario. It’s fun! Mario is stranded in the middle of a lake with wildly clashing aesthetics that somehow just works. Light blue dominates the eyes hampered by the slimy black of the magic ink polluting the water around you. There are small yellow islands dotting the lake and floating in the air. And when you get to these islands? Cats! They’re all cats! There are cats on the ground, cat ears on the goombas, Cat Koopas, Kitty Boombooms, everything is a cat!! Even the grass is cat fur! You have cat to be kitten me, right meow! It’s a place so suitably weird for the Mario universe, I could easily see Lake Lapcat being introduced in one of the earlier Paper Marios.

Gameplay wise this is just a big Mario Oddysey world with more… direction? The lack of a real swimming mechanic in Bowser’s Fury makes the ocean a fun place for movement and little else, though there are occasional challenges for Yobbo the Swimming Yoshi to run through. It makes Lapcat feel like a massive hubworld of sorts, with no divide between it and the level, It’s as if in Mario Galaxy you could walk straight from Rosalina’s Observatory directly onto a new planet without going through the Domes, if that makes sense. It’s short, but super fun for what it is. You get all the power ups from 3D World to play around in less linearly designed levels, and it lets you stock up on them through an inventory system. Bowser Jr. follows you around and acts cute! Mario and Bowser turn into Kaijus and you have a Godzilla vs King Kong style boss fight. I guess Mario would be King Kong in that analogy… Nintendo may need the help of John Kirby once more…

Super Mario Sunshine

I had never heard about this game’s existence until I was like 15. My friend told me it was one of her favorite Gamecube games growing up, and I did not believe her. Every description she gave about Super Mario Sunshine sounded like she was messing with me. “Oh yea it’s the game where Mario goes on vacation and he like, gets framed for vandalism? And you have a water gun and you clean paint.” Fuck off with that, you’re not getting me! I thought it was a running joke she had until I looked closely at Mario's trophy in Brawl that referenced the same name. Huh! 

Anyways this is my first time actually playing it on the 3D All-Stars collection. I started it when it was released, but I reached a point where I had no idea what I was supposed to do until my cousin who grew up with it told me I needed almost every shinesprite to beat the game. ALSO WEIRD. The other 3D Marios let you go at your own pace and pick and choose which levels you want, but here all but the last levels are required. I guess this is because Sunshine is more “narratively driven” and they want you to watch how each world changes through your actions. I can appreciate that! Mario 64 experimented with that a bit, like the tower appearing at the top of Whomp fortress in Star 2 or King Bo-bomb’s corpse appearing at the bottom of his battlefield after you coup de tated that fucker. Sunshine, however, has levels like Noki Bay where each level has Mario tackle the source of the pollution, or Gelato beach where you make sure a hotel is suitable for reopening and even get to celebrate at the end.

The controls on the other hand. My cousin described them as “lovably janky.” Mario no longer has the long jump, which startled me every time I tried to long jump, which was a lot cause I have the memory of a housefly. Wall jumping is harder to pull off as Mario does not automatically turn towards the wall like other Mario games, so you have to time it perfectly, and Mario’s overall movement is very awkward. I never felt like he jumps the exact distance I expect him to go. This is probably to make the player more reliant on Fludd, the aforementioned water gun that can let you hover as well as two other fun, but useless abilities. Fludd is very fun to use, but they take it away from you during the platform challenges and it reveals just how janky Mario is in this game. I guess it also makes them more satisfying to complete. Still, since these levels are required, I probably would have given up ever beating the game if I played it as a kid.

New Super Mario Bros 2

This is a similar case to 3D Land. It seems the goal of this entry was “put a 2D Mario on the 3DS,” which was a less impressive goal given the OG New Super Mario was already playable on the 3DS. It’s much prettier, I guess. The big name of this game is “Coins.” Coins are everywhere in this game. There’s a new power-up, the Golden Flower, that lets you turn blocks and enemies into coins. Another power-up that gives Mario a coin every step he makes. There are Golden Koopas that produce coins when thrown. There’s a counter on the home screen that shows how many total coins you’ve got, and the game notifies you every time you reach a “Coin milestone.”

Yea I’ve never cared about collecting coins in Mario games. It’s not like they unlock anything that matters in this one, they just congratulate you every three minutes and if you get One Million coins you get a new title screen. That’s kind of cool, but not something I would actually care to try and get. What I’m left with is the most standard 2D Mario game to exist. The Tanooki suit is here, but like 3D Land, you still can’t go Girl Mode. Unless you count Luigi. Genderfluïd King. Despite this, I do find myself coming back to this one quite a bit to carve out some of the bonus worlds. It’s slightly harder than the other games in the “New” series. Maybe if they leaned into that, like the OG Mario 2, it would be more memorable. Wait, this is the 3rd New Super Mario game. Why is it called 2? The hell?

New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe

As the final entry in the “New” series, it makes sense that this is the most polished version of that game style. The world designs are still based on the tried and exhausted Grass, Desert, Snow, etc. aesthetics, but here there are a lot more unique level designs or some that are SO COOL aesthetically, like the level based around a Van Gogh painting. I wish there were more levels like that, but in THE LEAST, this is the first New Super Mario game to introduce CONTEXTUALIZATION. This is something I’ve been complaining about with these new mario games. Super Mario World (the best one) has a beautiful map level-select. When you’re in Donut Plains on the map, the level reflects that design, taking place on a field, and when you go in a cave, THE LEVEL TAKES PLACE IN A CAVE. Imagine that. It’s such a simple thing that adds so much to the experience. You are actually traveling through a world, not just choosing random shit off a menu. U Deluxe’s map isn’t as cool as World’s, but it was still immensely fun to discover all its little secrets, and made me realize how much I missed World’s map design. Maybe I should play that game instead.

There is one unforgivable sin in Mario U specific to Deluxe. There’s an original playable female character in the form of Toadette! Girl Mode! Finally! And it SUCKS! It’s not actually that bad, but playing as Toadette gives you access to Peachette, whose existence replaces all power-ups in the game while playing as her. So Girl Mode is actively worse to play than any other mode, except funny rabbit mode. But that’s only if you want to be a funny rabbit. She’s meant to be “easy mode,” which is a bit demeaning given she’s the only female character, but I get the desire for an easier way for kids to play the game, I just wish it didn’t lock you out of all of the power-ups. Speaking of which, there are a Lot of power-ups in this game, but a lot of them are hidden for some reason, like the Propellor Hat and Penguin suit, which I found 1 and None of, respectively. Why are they in the game if I can’t use them? These aren’t collectors items, they’re funny little costumes that are supposed to be FUN. WE’RE ALL HAVING FUN HERE.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

FINALLY they’re letting Mario be WEIRD AGAIN. The artstyle of the New Super Mario Bros. games got heavily criticized after this one was announced for being “soulless” and “boring,” but I wouldn’t say that. Because I don’t think it’s true! They’re vibrant and colorful games with an obvious ton of talent and heart put into them. I would, however, describe them more as “corporate.” Homogenized and Marketable. Mario and Gang have been kept to their models in every game since the DS and everyone has clearly been exhausted by it. Wonder is breaking the trend, and Mario looks fucking Weird.

He’s so much rounder, his clothes have a different texture, and his eyes are bigger and brighter. His eyebrows are clipping through his hat! He looks like a plastic toy brought to life, which is not an insult. All of the characters are brilliantly animated to pull off this new look, and I refuse to try out embedding videos in Tumblr so you just have to trust me. It’s not that I want Mario to stay like this, but I DEFINITELY want them to Keep Being Weird Like This.

The weirdness doesn’t end at the artstyle. There are three new power-ups, the Elephant Apple, Bubble Flower, and the Drill Shroom, the last of which is carried over from Mario Galaxy 2’s Spin Drill in terms of gameplay. The Bubble Flower lets you capture things in Bubbles and lets you jump on them for extra air time, and the Elephant Flower turns you into a Fucking Ele Phant. Twice as big, can swipe things with your trunk, can carry WATER in your trunk. Truly the Mario experience we’ve been missing. There are also the most playable characters than there have ever been in a mainline Mario game. Peach, Toadette, AND Daisy in her first playable appearance. THREE FORMS OF GIRL MODE. Nintendo knew what my main Mario complaint was before I ever thought of it.

The main draw of this game, however, are the additions of the Wonder Flowers. There are no levels that stand out against the other, more standard levels like the New Super games, because literally every level in this game is FANTASTIC. The Wonder Flowers are an extra challenge midway through any level that changes it into something WEIRD AS HELL. Maybe the level speeds up and slows down rapidly, maybe you have to dodge walking Piranha Plants as they sing an acapella stage performance, maybe you turn into a Goomba yourself and have to avoid being eaten by a predator. It can be literally ANYTHING. Every level is exciting to go through because you want to see what NONSENSE those crazy bastards have come up with. 

Not to mention the world design. The Flower Kingdom is BEAUTIFUL and similar to the Beanbean Kingdom in terms of cohesion. There’s another country right next to the Mushroom Kingdom with a new botanical aesthetic we’ve never heard of before? That makes sense! It feels perfectly natural for it to be part of this universe. This is another of the three I went to the effort of 100% completing, and some of those last levels are HARD. I gave myself a migraine on the final badge challenge. Also BADGES. They’re cool. Some provide an extra movement option and others make movement actively worse as a way to challenge yourself. Some are just fun! It adds a neat level of replayability to the game as you experiment with them all.

You also get a fantastic reward for completing all the levels. It is. SO Stupid. Extremely dumb. And I have never been more satisfied with a completion reward in a Mario game.

Super Mario Galaxy

To end out my Mariothon, I celebrated with another playthrough of my favorite game featuring a space-faring plumber, Super Mario Galaxy. This was the game that made me fall in love with the series, and in my eyes, still has not been beaten by other Mario titles in terms of atmosphere (PUN). It is just so fun to exist in the levels in these games in a way I can’t say about other Mario titles, except maybe Odyssey and 64. I could follow the objective, climb on the honey walls as Bee Mario, or hop across apples and pears so large they’ve become planetoids and have a great time, fantastic even. But I could also walk around Honeyhive and Deep Dark and look around the scenery and play around with the controls, which are restrained, but refined compared to the previous 3D Marios. Most of the purple coin levels are designed to do exactly that. Galaxy is by no means a sandbox game, but it retains those elements from Sunshine and 64.

Maybe that feeling just comes out of nostalgia. This was at one point the only game I would play on my wii for months on end. It’s like comfort food to me. One time I heard a local cafe play the Galaxy main theme on the speaker as I was walking by and I just. Paused for a bit, leaned against the brick exterior and soaked in the vibes. Listening to that pristine orchestral track whilst watching people come home from a full day of work, or following the actions of a cat decided whether or not to eat a bug running for its life. There’s probably a copyright issue they were violating, but who cares, Fuck Nintendo.

There is one thing that I know isn’t just nostalgia. The older I get the more I appreciate the storybook section of Galaxy. Every few worlds you complete, you’ll get a notification that Rosalina has a story to tell you, and you’ll hear a chapter out of her children’s book detailing her past. It has a melancholy vibe and it’s a genuinely beautiful and heartfelt story with a gorgeous handpainted artstyle:

Supposedly, Koizumi (co-director on the game) snuck this feature in without Miyomoto’s knowledge, and he hated it. When he discovered it after the game was released, he was upset enough that to this day Nintendo has not let Koizumi direct a big release. Apparently, he thought it ruined the game’s tone. I don’t know if I believe that, and I don’t feel like fact checking that shit, but if so, I’m glad Koizumi got it past the guy. It elevates the game’s overall story to an absurd degree in my eyes, providing Galaxy with one of the best endings in any video game I have played.

My ONE criticism. MY singular gripe. Is the title itself. “Galaxy” has always bothered me. “Battlerock GALAXY?” “Loop de Loop GALAXY???” Miyomoto sir, those are SOLAR SYSTEMS. And tiny ass solar systems at best. Sometimes just singular planetoids. But obviously Super Mario System or Super Mario Tiny Ass Planet isn’t as Marketable as- What the fuck was that? Wait, hold on. Sorry guys. Computer, ENHANCE.

What the fuck is this? I’ve always noticed it there in the background, but… I’ve never considered… is this Earth??? The surface of the Mario Planet? Are you telling me all of these “galaxies” are simply a collection of stylized MOONS??? Do we ever actually leave the outer atmosphere? Well, maybe. Looking at the skyboxes of a few more worlds, it seems we do actually bounce around a few other planets, but they’re nearly always there, holding our bee-themed satellites in rotation of itself. That makes more cosmological sense, I suppose, but I’ll stand by that Super Mario Satellite wouldn’t have been too horrible of a name if Nintendo wanted some fucKING ACCURACY WITH THEIR TITLES. HAPPY MARIO DAY EVERYONE. The big MAR10. I totally planned for this to release exactly today, and it’s not just because I put this whole project on the backburner while I focused on my Real Life Job. Thank you to everyone who has been reading these (I see you). I’ve repeated before that these reviews are mostly for me, but the few people that have been leaving likes did motivate me to keep going. I’ll be posting more things on this blog in the future, but I’m not sure I’ll do the Year in Review thing in this manner again. Look forward to more of my ramblings! Or don’t! Skim them in mild interest! Don’t read them at all! Either way, wahoo! Yippee! Yahaha! And Have A Blessed Mario Day.

[ddarker-dreams]

💐

i've loved video games all my life, especially RPGs. some of my best memories are of watching my big bro play skyrim (when i'd get too annoying he'd hand me a paper and pencil then ask me to draw the map), and giving my professional 10 year old opinion on the cases in la noire. i still have my original pink dsi!! it sits on my desk in front of my psychology textbooks and dostoevsky tower. my favorite games as a little lock were pokemon pearl, pokemon mystery dungeon explorer of skies (it emotionally gutted me and for what), nintendogs, dragon quest IX, the ds remake of super mario 64, and animal crossing wild world. i'd start crying whenever i booted the game up and resetti popped out to shame me though.

[noelledeltarune]

What's your favourite / least favourite mario game?

this is one of the hardest questions i’ve ever been asked in my life :-( i love so many of them soooo so much and i don’t think i could pick a least favourite.. it’s also important to note that i haven’t beaten a lot of the mario games i own �� i still need to beat superstar saga and i’m only at the beginning/early middle of BiS. i also haven’t beaten smrpg and i’m not very far in paper mario 64 or mario + rabbids kingdom battle. i’m still working on 100%ing galaxy super mario 64 ds and super mario 3d world so i haven’t beaten those either. my brother owns it but i’ve never played luigi’s mansion dark moon myself 😭

i think my favourite story in any mario game is spm (because like. yknow. if you couldn’t tell.) but i really really love like. most of them LOL. galaxy is probably my favourite of the like. 64-sunshine-galaxy-odyssey 3d platformers, i love 3d land, and all of the M&L rpgs but especially PiT and dream team are so special to me

idk if i really have a least favourite?? i obviously prefer the story heavy games but i love the platformers and spinoffs too (<- mariokart wii + marioparty 8 + mario power tennis lover especially) . i guess i don’t really get too excited about the new super mario bros series but i wouldn’t consider any of them to be BAD games. i also obviously am not gonna say anything like mario teaches typing mario is missing mario’s time machine hotel mario etc because i don’t own and have never played any of those LOL

i think the games i’m least likely to revisit are like. new super mario bros wii and new super mario bros 2 :-( . nothing against them but like you’ve played em once you’ve played em enough LOL. i still pop open 3d land sometimes i still get excited to dick around in lm/3 and odyssey i play mariokart and marioparty all the time and i still replay the rpgs LOL. the nsmb games just aren’t like as good to me. those 2 especially because you can’t play as luigi as p1 and that’s all i wanted to do as a kid LOL

[owlixx]

Wiikend Thoughts

I played a bunch of Wii games with my partner over the weekend. I wanted to record my thoughts on them.

Dead space extraction

This one was pretty fun!

We did just the first chapter

I predicted there would be a level 1 plot twist but it was still pretty cool

I was really impressed by the production quality on this spin-off light gun game

Made me happy as a dead space fan

Might play more, might have to play more alone but this is a fantastic coop title

Really enjoyed the coop hacking mini game

Boom blox

Lives up to the hype!

It is indeed a cute, fun little party game

I was expecting much less gameplay variety

Will definitely have to play more together

Sonic colors

I had beaten before on PC but not tried on original hardware

Frame rate is a little low but you get used to it

Biggest beef here is that shaking the Wii remote for wisps is really awkward

I kept firing the laser wisp prematurely because of that

I found the classic controller to be the most comfortable style for me

The short levels make this game great for taking turns on

Maybe later we will do the game land levels

Elebits

This game has a hilariously long tutorial that basically just explains how to even use a Wii remote at all

Partner found it a bit cumbersome

This was my first wii game so I had a super fun time playing my level

VERY katamari damacy

Satisfying to throw objects around

Does feel like a cross between a game and a toy kind of

Didn’t try multiplayer, not likely to

I find the idea of a DS RPG sequel hilarious

Warioware smooth moves

Kind of disappointing that you have to beat single player to unlock multiplayer, especially here where that would give one player a huge advantage

However, this game is classic, amazing Warioware and even taking turns was a ton of fun

These micro games were all new to me and generally impressed

Just a couple micro games had me utterly confused about what kind of motion they wanted

Wii party

I had played Wii Party U, so this wasn’t a huge surprise

The host is oddly similar to Sebastian Tute from wii music

It was fun to play the ship balance game after seeing it on Nintendo Week (which I recently binged)

We completely failed the friendship compatibility test, literally failed all five questions.

It can be pretty funny to see all your miis constantly featured in the backgrounds of mini games

Wii sports resort

I am just god awful at this game

Wakeboarding, dogfighting, basketball, frisbee, biking, all complete failures for me

I’m okay at archery

Based on how bad I am at skyward sword, I think I am just bad at Wii motion plus

Wii music

I was kind of jamming along, but my partner was not having it

Admittedly, this doesn’t even feel like a retail game release

We also watched the awkward E3 showcase of this game

Wii play

This was the main game my partner requested

I narrowly lost the overall competition

Definitely some fun to be had here but not a strong candidate for replay

I really struggled with the pointer controls on air hockey

Klonoa

Yep, it’s Klonoa!

Pretty neat that this exists at all

Ironically, I think I’d prefer a 3D remake of the GBA games because of their tighter level design

The 2.5D wrapping around feels very modern

Sonic riders zero gravity

Precisely one match was enough for us

Opening cutscene is hilariously long

I may have to come back and play alone since I grew up with this game

Did not understand controls

Goldeneye 007

I had fun, partner did not

This game sure isn’t Goldeneye 64 though, for better or worse

Kind of a baffling Frankenstein game really

Mario Party DS

Played on a DS and 3DS

Cannot believe the multiplayer match survived a car ride with no hitches inbetween rounds

Fun minigames, fun board

Surprisingly legitimate Mario party experience

[lordnot]

In case anyone needs the push, you can currently do the following with a hacked 3DS:

Download pretty much any 3DS game directly, with no need to use a PC or take out the SD Card once the program's on your system (See above)

Play nearly any DS game pretty much flawlessly, since the 3DS was basically built on DS architecture

Play nearly any Game Boy Advance game pretty much flawlessly, since the DS was basically built on GBA architecture

Emulate most consoles pre-PSX/N64 with impressive results, especially on a New 3DS/2DS (apparently the standalone SNES and Genesis emulators work better than Retroarch for some reason)

Emulate a fair number of PSX and N64 games in an at least playable state

Play Super Mario 64, Tomb Raider, Doom and the Quake series in Stereoscopic 3D

Play homebrew ports of:

Sonic Mania

Five Nights at Freddie's

Doki Doki Literature Club

Grand Theft Auto 3

What makes us human is the Nintendo 3DS

[iantheartandtapecollector]

Hey guys, I decided to try another top 10, and this time I'll be talking about my top 10 unpopular opinions. Now keep in mind, these are my unpopular opinions, so if you disagree with me, that's completely fine. Now without further ado, let's get to the list.

10. I hate Gacha Life

Yeah, I know I'm gonna get shot for saying this but I hate Gacha Life, In my opinion, it's overrated in a bad way, overused, and it really gets on my nerves. @asherbuddy uses this from what I've heard. Anyways, you won't be seeing me use Gacha Life AT ALL!

9. I find VHS better than DVD

As a kid, I always had a fondness for VHS, I especially loved seeing the nostalgic previews, the different promo material that can be included inside the VHS along with the tape, and the different colors that the actual tape can be. DVD on the other hand, I hate it. Discs get scratched easily, some previews can't be seen on DVDs. But yeah, VHS is my preferred format.

8. I like cartoony games better than games that are real

You know how I prefer animation over live action? Well the same could be said with video games. When it comes to video games, I prefer a cartoony and distinct style better than games that look real and boring. Games like any FPS game, feel like they look the same, and I find it overrated in a bad way. But when it comes to cartoony games like Spyro the Dragon or Crash Bandicoot, they have very unique styles for their games. So yeah, I would rather play games that are cartoony rather than games that look real, boring, and cheap for a quick paycheck.

7. I prefer Nintendo consoles

I'm a huge Nintendo fan, especially with their consoles. I always played them a lot even as a kid. As for the PlayStation consoles, I have played those consoles a few times, but as for Xbox consoles, I hate Xbox mainly because they have so many FPS's and I hate them. Nintendo's got a lot of distinct games which is why I've been on the Nintendo bandwagon for so long.

6. I prefer cartoons with anthropomorphic animals, food, or vehicles

When it comes to cartoons, one thing that I like seeing the most, is seeing different cartoon characters that are either animals, food, or vehicles. Shows like Elinor Wonders Why, Work it Out Wombats, or VeggieTales, make it different because they decided to try something different character-wise. But cartoons where it's nothing but humans, I get bored of it real fast. Although there are a few exceptions like The Loud House, Peanuts, or The Powerpuff Girls for example.

5. I prefer the original version of Super Mario 64 over the Nintendo DS remake

For those who've been following me for a while now, you'll know that Super Mario 64 is one of my favorite games of all time. Heck, it was thanks to Super Mario 64 that it introduced me to video games in general and I've played it countless times. In 2004, came the release of the Nintendo DS, and the launch title, Super Mario 64 DS, which is a remake of the original. But in my opinion, I prefer the Nintendo 64 original over the DS remake. The Nintendo 64 original is simple yet charming, but the DS remake in my opinion, there's been stuff that's either added or changed, and I'm not one for changes like this.

4. I hate RPG's as a whole

If there's a genre for video games that I hate, it's RPG's. I just find RPG's to be boring, repetitive, and overrated. Games like Final Fantasy, Paper Mario, and some others, are not really for me. I'm more of a platformer kind of person in my opinion. When it comes to video games, you won't see me playing any RPG's any time soon.

3. Thomas and Friends Season 6 doesn't look that bad

I know you guys are gonna kill me for this but I don't think Season 6 of Thomas and Friends is that bad. A majority of the fans say that the writing in some episodes is sloppy, the narration is flat, or the visuals are dull. But me on the other hand, I don't think it's not so bad. I think Season 6 has a majority of good or okay stories (except for Middle Engine. That story was shit).

2. Wilbur is underrated

Who remembers Discovery Kids? I know I do. One thing that Discovery Kids did on their channel was a special block called "Ready, Set, Learn" and there was two shows I enjoyed from the block, which were Peep and the Big Wide World, and of course Wilbur. When it comes to Wilbur, I feel like it's just underrated. The characters are quite cute, especially since Dasha's my favorite character, and the stories they tell have a good moral too. It just saddens me that this series doesn't get talked about as much as it used to back when it first aired.

1. I prefer the Lyrick Studios releases of VeggieTales episodes more than the Word Entertainment releases

When I was a kid, I had an unhealthy obsession with VeggieTales, especially when I first owned the episodes on VHS, specifically the Lyrick Studios releases. And as a kid, these were the best releases compared to the Word Entertainment releases. These Word Entertainment releases just don't do it for me. I honestly thought they lacked something, but when it comes to the Lyrick releases, they're amazing. Especially with the cover art for the different releases they had.

And those are my top 10 unpopular opinions. If you disagree with me, that's completely fine.