#I just got really exited over Mario and Luigi coming back from the dead I wanted to spit something out

[starryluminary]

He’s got it!

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Possessed Part 2 Chapter Two: Stuck

Just a heads up content warning for ‘attempted murder that looks like attempted suicide’.  It's pretty graphic, definitely the most graphic thing I've written in years, so if you'd prefer not to read it, read up until King Boo says 'Actually, maybe I don’t need a painting of you after all.’ and then skip to the 'Two weeks later' break.

We should go to E. Gadd. Luigi finally suggested.

‘No, absolutely not!’ King Boo would rather do almost anything else.

Even stay stuck like this? It had been well over an hour since they’d found out about their predicament and all King Boo had done was pace around in his bedroom – if it could be called that when it didn’t have an actual bed – and occasionally try to free himself from Luigi’s body. Failing every time and causing nothing but pain and discomfort for both of them.

‘I’ll figure something out.’ What though? He’d never possessed a living being before. He hadn’t known it was possible to get stuck in them, if he had he probably wouldn’t have attempted it. … Luigi would’ve far preferred that.

What else can you try? E. Gadd’s an expert on ghost stuff, I’m sure he can find a way to fix it. And if that’s how the problem got solved then Luigi would be… No, he shouldn’t think about it because then King Boo would know the thought too. … It was too late though, wasn’t it?

‘Yep. I’m not giving you up yet. I’ll find a way to fix this and then… Actually, maybe I don’t need a painting of you after all.’ Even before completing the thought, King Boo reached into his suit pocket to pull out a butterfly knife he’d stolen from someone the other day because he’d wanted to ‘play with it’. The most surefire way to free a soul from a living body was to kill the body.

He flipped it open and… Out of sheer desperation and fear Luigi somehow managed to stop it a few inches away from his neck. That was all he could do though. His hand shook as he held it there, pointed at his throat, straining against King Boo’s control.

King Boo growled out loud and internally. Luigi was leeching off his magic to fight his will; how dare he? … Luigi had no idea how he was doing it, nor did he really care right now, he was much more concerned with not dying.

‘You’re going to die whether you like it not!’ King Boo started pushing harder, pushing his will against Luigi’s.

Luigi managed to hold it there for several seconds but… King Boo was strong and determined and…

‘You’re pathetic! You know you can’t win so stop trying!’ It was King Boo’s voice but it was the kind of thing his anxiety would say to him because well, it was true. There was no way he could win this battle when it took everything, he had to just hold the knife still.

He whimpered internally as the knife inched closer. King Boo’s rage at Luigi being able to fight him even this much and leeching off his magic to do it radiated from him in a way that felt almost physical, heightening Luigi’s fear and distress. … Maybe if Luigi could move his other hand over to help push the knife down… Nope, trying just gave King Boo more leverage to overpower him.

His will broke as soon as the knife touched his flesh; he’d never been very strong. Hot blood gushed around his hand as King Boo pressed the knife in as deep as it would go, going for the jugular because even he knew that was a weak point for the living.

It hurt unbearably so but not with the all-consuming pain he’d have imagined a fatal blow to be. It quickly grew so much worse though as King Boo started dragging it across his neck. It was sharp but apparently not sharp enough; it met a fair bit of resistance that King Boo had to force it through before reaching the other side and finally pulling it out.

‘That should do it.’ Even in his own head, King Boo’s voice sounded distant behind the pain and the blood gushing from his throat as he struggled to breath. His body barely even reacted though; King Boo was in control and he wasn’t going whine about a little bit of pain even if it was bad enough now to make him uncomfortable too.

Blessed blackness ate at Luigi’s vision. He welcomed it but… King Boo didn’t. Pulling on his magic enough to make crown glow brighter, he pushed it away because… he wanted Luigi to suffer for fighting him and leeching off his magic and because being stuck in his body for any length of time was rage inducing. … Luigi could only whimper at that and at the sight of his front as King Boo looked down. There was an awful lot of blood soaking into the once white suit, some of it leaked down his throat too; hot and uncomfortable, drowning him.

Please… please… just… make it stop… please.

‘No. I’m going to tell Mario about this next time I see him. I want a good story to share since I won’t have my painting.’ And he was curious about how long it would take for Luigi to die and what it would feel like for him when it happened.

That was even worse. Please… No amount of begging would get him anywhere though so with the last bit of willpower he had left, he made himself stop; he didn’t want to give King Boo any more satisfaction.

 -

The next… however long was absolute torture. Effected by the body’s weakness as blood poured out of it, King Boo did soon end up lying down on the couch.

All Luigi could do was moan and whimper internally as overtime his entire body grew numb and cold, adding to his discomfort and misery. It wasn’t dignified, he’d rather go out in stubborn defiant silence but that was far too much to ask from himself. Instead he found what small comfort he could in the fact that it annoyed King Boo.

But despite how annoying he found it, King Boo didn’t complain as his rage faded over time. He didn’t even say anything; he could let Luigi have his misery while he was dying. It was a shame but nothing else could be done, better him dead than King Boo trapped forever in his meat suit.

Except… death never came for him. What had to have been hours passed and yet Luigi was still alive and King Boo was still trapped in his body. He even actively tried to escape again, several times, all to no avail. Even using his magic to manually repress Luigi’s erratic off rhythm heartbeat did nothing, it just restarted as soon as he let go of that magic.

‘You don’t seem to be dying,’ King Boo finally broke the silence. ‘I’m not even sure you’re losing blood anymore.’ A lot of blood had soaked into his clothing and the couch beneath him, filling the air with an unpleasant coppery smell. How was it possible for someone to lose that much blood and still be alive, let alone conscious? He wasn’t even really breathing anymore, how was he still alive?

Unable to form a coherent proper reply, Luigi whimpered again. He still felt like he was dying but didn’t seem to be. Why? Probably something to do with King Boo possessing him, right?

‘Yeah, probably. It’s not something I have control of though because I would really prefer you die already.’

Luigi wasn’t in total disagreement. He wanted this torment be over, if that meant death then so be it. But as in all things in his life now, he didn’t have a say in it.

King Bow scowled. ‘We’ll have to figure something else out then.’

Two weeks later

From the car, King Boo glared at E. Gadd’s lab. He really didn’t want to go to him of all people for help but he was the only ghost expert either of them knew of. King Boo had tried to find another one but failed at every turn. He’d even tried killing Luigi a few more ways, none succeeding.

Just go in already. Luigi was tired and frustrated and just wanted this to be over with. He wasn’t even sure if any of the anger he felt was truly his own or if it all came from King Boo. It seemed to get harder to fully separate their emotions with each passing day. It was scary and made them both increasingly desperate to be free of each other.

‘We could try jumping into a pool of lava.’ … What if that destroyed him too though? It would certainly destroy his crown; it helped him channel and even amplified his power a little so he’d prefer not to surrender it unless he absolutely had to. So… E. Gadd it was. His anger about that warred with Luigi’s hope for rescue.

With a disgusted half growl half gag, King Boo exited the car at last. Scowling, he slammed the door shut before starting up the driveway, crossing his arms.

Can I…

‘Yeah, fine, whatever, you can talk to him. I don’t fucking care.’ And he’d rather not ask one of his arch nemeses for help anyway.

Luigi wanted to be fully happy about that but King Boo’s grumpiness made it hard. On the bright side though, said grumpiness was dampened by his feelings. King Boo wasn’t completely in control of this situation anymore.

He rang the doorbell this time. When no one answered after several seconds, King Boo pressed it again. Still nothing though so… King Boo started spamming it. If E. Gadd didn’t answer the door soon, he was going to…

Loud barking came from the other side followed by E. Gadd’s muffled voice shouting, “I’m coming, I’m coming, hold on a sec.”

King Boo would’ve kept ringing the bell out of spite but Luigi asserted a bit of his will and made him stop, pulling his had back to clinch in a fist at his side. Whatever was going on between them allowed Luigi to access some of King Boo’s magic as he’d discovered two weeks earlier and it had only gotten easier to do since then. Which of course made King Boo mad but there was nothing he do about it so he could suck it up.

‘My will’s stronger though. So if it came to a fight for control, I’d win every time.’

Luigi wasn’t sure about that. King Boo wasn’t fully sure of that either though; he was just trying to be intimidating. It would’ve worked a few weeks ago but not anymore, not when Luigi’s normally fragile confidence was bolstered by King Boo’s tendency to be overconfident.

Before King Boo could try to regain some intimidation, the door opened at last. E. Gadd gasped and flinched at the sight of them, before his expression settled into an angry glare. Polterpup stood at his feet, growling.

“You’re back,” E. Gadd said. His face was still a little bruised, considering how long it had to have been, that had to mean it was really bad before. “What do you want this time?”

“I-I’m so sorry professor,” Luigi said, instinctively taking control even as King Boo let him. His voice was a bit rough and it hurt to speak, the wound on his throat was rapidly healing but it was still there. He didn’t care right now though, he needed to apologize.

E. Gadd’s brows’ rose as Polterpup’s growling faltered. “Luigi?”

Luigi nodded as he grasped the doorframe, sagging into it. E. Gadd jumped up and babbled incoherently for a second or two before rushing inside, gesturing for Luigi to follow.

Inside, the monitoring room was still a mess, it was least essential though so of course it would be fixed last. Luigi didn’t have time to follow E. Gadd into the lab proper to see how it was though before E. Gadd was rushing back out of it with a chair.

“Have a seat sonny, you look worn out,” E. Gadd said, particularly vibrating with excitement.

Fighting the strong desire to stay standing that came from King Boo, Luigi sat, sinking into it. He almost felt like he might tear up with exhausted relief; this was the first time he’d been in full control of his body since King Boo had initially possessed him. … If he did start crying King Boo was going to take that control away though because as long as they were stuck in the same vessel together, there would be no physical tears, they were gross.

“How did you do it?” E. Gadd asked. “How did you banish King Boo from your body?” He clarified when Luigi gave him a blank stare.

“Uh… I didn’t.”

“Oh! You wrested control from him then! I didn’t think you had it in you to best him, good job.”

“Uh… I didn’t really do that either.” ‘And couldn’t if you tried.’ Hush! “It’s more uh… he doesn’t want to talk to you so he’s letting me. I… uh… we need your help. He’s kind of stuck in my body and wants out but can’t get out on his own so… here we are.” Should he say anything about whatever their thoughts and emotions were doing? … No, no one needed to know about that unless absolutely necessary. … And Luigi didn’t want to talk about the whole attempted murder, resulting in finding out he apparently couldn’t die now thing either so that was all he was gonna mention for now.

E. Gadd’s excitement died down for a few seconds before his borderline evil scientist grin returned. “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a phenomenon. To be fair though, I don’t think many ghosts or boos possess the living, especially for so long. We’ll have to look into it. Come along!” He hopped back and dashed back towards the lab proper, clearly expecting Luigi to get up and follow him.

With a tired sigh, Luigi looked down at Polterpup who was staring up at him. “Puppy?” he said, reaching a hand out towards him in an offer for pets. Polterpup snuck closer and sniffed at it hesitantly. He apparently didn’t like whatever he smelled thought as he growled softly and backed up again. … He smelled like boos and King Boo specifically, what more did he expect? … Probably a fair point, especially considering their last interaction.

“Get in here!” E. Gadd said as he poked his head back into the room.

Holding back a groan, Luigi forced himself up and into the lab.

It was still a mess. Luigi flinched at the sight of it, trying not to feel King Boo’s pride over it. It was obviously on its way to being cleaned up and fixed but… it would take a while, most of everything was still little more than rubble.

It being such a wreck will probably make it harder for him to help us. … Oh, King Boo hadn’t considered that. That would’ve been a valid reason not to come and continue to seek other solutions. … It was too late now though. … If he couldn’t help them, King Boo would kill him after all.

No, absolutely not! Luigi wouldn’t allow it. … That battle for control might become a thing after all then.

And I’ll win. They thought at each other in perfect unison; it didn’t even feel like separate thoughts but one shared thought. … Neither of them liked it and would rather never do it again.

‘Stop thinking and feeling the same things am I.’ King Boo growled internally. ‘I want you out of my head.’ Luigi couldn’t agree with that sentiment more with the added bonus of wanting King Boo out of his body.

A loud snap right in their face pulled them both back towards the outside world.

“Look alive sonny, we got tests to run,” E. Gadd said, stepping back. “Lucky for you, one of the first things I fixed is the scanner equipment. I was modified it to keep track of where you were. I lost you for while but then but you came right back to my door. With a few more tweaks to it, I might be able to figure out what’s up with King Boo being stuck in your body.” And knowing that, hopefully be able to fix it. If he couldn’t then… that wasn’t something either of them had any desire to consider.

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Luigi's Odd Hip-Hop Phase

The Smashers were in the cafeteria eating lunch. For some apparent reason, there was a new hip-hop trend overtaking the mansion where a good handful of the Smashers were dressing up and adopting a hippity hop language. 

Jeff walks over to the table where Dark Pit, Pit, Vilager, and Ashley were sitting at, seemingly dressed up as the guys you’d find in old hip hop videos.

Jeff: Pit, check out these hip hop moves!

Jeff begins to dance around. While Pit and Villager look in general confusion, Ashley and Dark Pit stare at Jeff in horror of what they are witnessing. While Jeff is shuffling away, he bumps in to someone.

Jeff: Uh…Uh…Uh….uh-oh…(shivers as he turns around)

Incineroar, dressed in a hoodie and torn jeans: (Growls at him)

Jeff: S-Sorry, y-yo!

Luigi, coming in with a backwards cap, and two shirts over his body: You don’t know how sorry you are, nerd! This be my man, Incine-Savage, ya heard?! The swaggiest, hip hop, beatbox cat with the hottest bars out there!

Agent 3, in the back: Nope. Not doing this. The freshness levels have officially hit rock bottom. No one talks like that. C'mon. (picks up all the other Inklings and leaves)

Jeff: Cat? The way he’s dressed he looks more like a cringey uncle trying to be cool.

The cafeteria grows silent instantly. You even hear Sonic dropping his rings.

Dark Pit, in a flat tone: He’s dead.

Luigi: Oh, no you didn’t. I knooooooow you didn’t just insult my dawg, Incine-Savage, dawg!

Jeff: I-It was a mistake, y-yo! I’m sorry, really!

Luigi: Does Young Weegee gonna have to insult yo-

Ashley: Hold it.

The cafeteria looks at Ashley, who gets up from her table and goes to Lucas’ table. She grabs Lucas and Bowser Jr and gently takes them a safe distance away from the cafeteria. She then walks back in and sits at her table. 

Ashley: Okay, carry on.

Luigi: …Is Young Weegee gonna have to insult yo mama?!

Jeff: No! Anything but that!

Luigi: Yo mama sooooooooooo….

???: Yo mama so what?

The cafeteria turns around and sees Lyn standing behind them.

Jeff: Sword Mom!

(Luigi and Incineroar are now going by their rap names)

Young Weegee: Sword Mama?

Lyn, nodding: I arrived here because Jeffy forgot his sweater. (holds up a sweater that says, “I love my mom”)

Jeff: (nervously laughs, then pouts)

Lyn: Now, I refuse to tolerate you insult him, so lets just calm down and apologize like rational people.

Young Weegee: What'cha gonna do ‘bout it, Assister? You’s in Young Weegee’s house now! And ain’t no ponytail having, one move using, different colored Chick Marth, finna come up into my crib, and tell ya boy what to do!

Incine-Savage: Word.

Lyn, placing down her sword: Oh, you’ve done it now. I wanted to talk this out like a mature adult, but I guess we can’t even attempt that! So, I have no other choice but to start getting on your mother! Sorry, Mario.

 Mario: Eh, it’s more directed towards him.

Lyn: Yo mama so ugly, that kids go as her for Halloween!

Everyone: OOOO!

Young Weegee: Yo mama so stupid, she sold her car for gas money!

Lyn: Yo mama so ugly, she made Ridley cry!

Everyone: Oooooh!

Young Weegee: Yo mama so ugly, she turned medusa to stone!

Lyn: Yo mama so stupid, she took a ruler to see how long she’d flip!

Young Weegee: Well, yo m-

Lyn: Yo mama so stupid, she cheated off of Pit’s test exam!

Everyone including Pit: (laughing)

Young Weegee: W-Well, I…

Lyn: Yo mama so ugly, she looked out a window, and got arrested for mooning!

Young Weegee: Well, w-well….

Lyn: No no no! Your mother. Is so ugly….I mean, so repulsively ugly…she needs two bags to cover her face. Mmhm! And Bowser, wouldn’t even kidnap her. No he wouldn’t! Kirby wouldn’t even try inhaling her!

Kirby: (looks at the crowd, and just sticks his tongue out)

Young Weegee & Incine-Savage: Uh-Uh Uh….W-Wuh W-uh…(stammering and shaking)

Pit: This doesn’t seem good….

Everyone in the Smash Bros cafeteria quickly exits the building. Young Weegee and Incine-Savage back up, still shaking. Soon, they overheat and explode in a bright flash. 

The cafeteria is in total ruins, and Luigi and Incineroar are on the ground unconious. The cafe’s doors open once more. 

Little Mac, just getting here, looks around: …Did I miss the yo mama jokes? We haven’t done those since I was a kid!

[actutrends]

GamesBeat editor Jeff Grubb’s top 20 games of 2019

We’ve had a lot of really good years in gaming recently, but 2019 is at the top of the list for me. I get that not everyone feels that way. For me, however, I got to play so many games I was looking forward to. And then several other games caught me by surprise.

So sure, we didn’t get the Gods of War or Red Dead Redemptions, but … I don’t even like those games. What do I like? Well, how about these 20 games right here?

20. Untitled Goose Game

Goose is the breakout video game of the year. It has the most viral buzz, and that’s for a good reason: It’s fun to watch. I also enjoy playing it, but it’s significantly better as a game you play for others. It’s a joy to do something silly and make everyone in your family laugh. And Untitled Goose Game is great at creating those moments.

19. Resident Evil 2

I’m not a Resident Evil guy. I adored Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 1 Remake on the GameCube, but I had never even played the original Resident Evil 2. Thankfully, Capcom gave me a chance to go back to this game in an exquisite reimagining. While I didn’t find the game all that frightening, it’s still fun to work my way through the Raccoon City police department while avoiding the indestructible Mr. X.

18. Ape Out

Ape Out is a game where you you help an ape get out. As a ferocious and unjustly imprisoned gorilla, you can smash enemies like the Hulk or use them as human shields. And your goal is just to run to the exit on every stage. But the game’s top-down view, simple art, and dynamic percussion soundtrack make it one of the most stylish games of the year as well.

17. The Outer Worlds

I’m a fan of the recent Fallout games, but I’ve always wanted a similar game that took place in space. The Outer Worlds definitely delivers that. It might not have all of the interlocking systems of a Bethesda RPG, but it does well with its slimmer scope.

16. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a bizarre and challenging game. It has you guiding a lineage of primates through eons of time and evolutionary progress. If that sounds like an obtuse, high-concept idea, that’s because it is, but that’s also why I love it.

15. A Short Hike

A Short Hike is exactly what its name suggests. It’s a short game where you hike through a woodsy terrain. But it is so charming and packed with different little things to do that it feels much bigger than its 2-hour playtime. I also love the charming, aliased visual style that is like Animal Crossing on PS1.

14. Disco Elysium

I haven’t played enough Disco Elysium to put it much higher on my list than this. But even after only a handful of hours, I can see why people are so enamored with it. Its reactive world is always aware of the context players are working from. And its mystery is genuinely interesting. But the best part is the conversation system where almost all of the game happens. Even as someone who has never really gotten into an RPG like this, it’s winning me over.

13. Shovel Knight: King of Cards

Shovel Knight is such an accomplishment. Developer Yacht Club Games has packed it with tons of content. And King of Cards is the exclamation point on years of work. This is a completely new release, with excellent platforming mechanics and a full card game. I haven’t finished it, but I keep sneaking in more time with it when I should be playing other games.

12. Tetris 99

Tetris continues to prove itself as one of the most resilient games of all time. It can come back year after year, and it did just that with Tetris 99. Despite Tetris Effect ending up on my list last year, Tetris as a battle royale was just as fun and impressive. I’m probably going to play different versions of Tetris for the rest of my life, and I’m OK with that.

11. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for Game Boy is my favorite game of all time. That makes this near one-to-one remake for the Switch difficult for me to assess. It’s still that game with some new visuals and an improved interface. And while it’s dense with discoveries, it is also simple. I also can’t help that I prefer the look of the original black-and-white game. Still, I played through this version back-to-back when I got it for review, and it’s still excellent. It’s also the first Zelda I would give to any kid looking to get into the series.

10. Factory Town

Factory Town was an obsession of mine this year that I wish I could have given into more than I did. This is just one entry in the growing automated-production genre where you must design a world to process resources into currency you can spend to expand your processing capabilities. You have a lot of options in this category, but I’m glad I went with Factory Town. It’s in 3D, so you have to deal with elevations. But it’s also streamlined enough that I felt like I could always deal with any issues. And now I want to go back and check on my town.

9. Trials Rising

Trials Rising is exactly what I want from the motorcycle-platforming franchise. It has excellent courses that are exciting to run over and over, and it has a wild and irreverent tone and sense of humor. It definitely has some issues with progression that are going to turn a lot of people off, but it’s a game I’m still going back to regularly as a Trials fan.

8. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Bloodstained came out, and it is great. This is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night spiritual successor from former Castlevania director Koji Igarashi, and it lived up to that legacy. It has fun, fast-paced combat, great exploration, and a bizarre roster of enemies.

7. Luigi’s Mansion 3

I wish Nintendo would’ve released this earlier in October. It came out on Halloween, and I didn’t have time to play it. And then suddenly it was November, and the timing didn’t feel right. But I’m playing through it now, and I’m enjoying it. That’s the right word, too. It is nice to play with really satisfying vacuuming action and incredible animations. But I hope that I end up loving it.

6. Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker 2 should be higher, but Nintendo is not great about some key things. Mostly, it doesn’t integrate your Switch friends list to make it easy to track your friends’ creations or their leaderboard times. But the game is still excellent — especially after its most recent update to include Link. That completely changes how the game works. I’ve also had a great time racing against people in the Vs. mode even if I’ve had little luck winning.

5. Sekiro: Shadow’s Die Twice

This is the game that got me into From Software’s style of punishing combat. It took a while to win me over, but it did. I love its battles that force you to get creative with attacks and items. And I also love its world and grim characters.

4. Lonely Mountains: Downhill

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is exactly the kind of game I want to discover when I open up Xbox Game Pass. It’s a game about guiding a bicycle through a hilly obstacle course. And while it starts out laid back with the goal of just getting to the bottom, it quickly turns into a significant challenge where you need to get to the bottom as quickly as possible without wiping out too often. This leads you to searching out the plentiful shortcuts, which is a satisfying experience in itself.

3. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is exactly my kind of game. I jive with all of Respawn Entertainment’s design decisions. And then the studio also nailed the implementation of the Star Wars universe.

The game is an expert combination of Dark Souls combat and progression, Metroid Prime environments and exploration, and a sprinkle of Uncharted set pieces at the beginning and the end. And all of that worked for me. I especially love slowly pushing through a world, getting a new power, and then having an easier time working my way back out. And I am so impressed by the boss fights that always find a way to stay interesting and push the story and state of the world forward.

And then I totally fell in love with the characters. I especially appreciate the relationship between hero Cal Kestis and the Nightsister, Merrin. That friendship/budding romance was handled deftly and has me rooting for Cal, which is not where I thought I was going to end up when his adventure started.

Respawn nailed this game, and I am desperate to see a sequel.

I’ve gone back and forth about placing it as my No. 1 of the year, and I may regret leaving it at No. 3 once I actually publish this list.

2. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I’ve played Fire Emblem: Three Houses for 90 hours. That’s for one playthrough. I guess some of that is idle time, but not much. Still, I think it’s a testament to how engaging that game’s characters, writing, and tactical battles are. I don’t have time to play games for 90 hours, and yet Fire Emblem proves that I still will for the right game.

This is another game that could easily end up as my No. 1 of the year.

1. Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds was such a surprise. It’s a game that is technically only 22 minutes long. But you’ll repeat those 22 minutes over and over until you discover all of the secrets contained within its clockwork solar system. When I look back, it’s amazing how many moments left me astonished and in awe.

At its core, Outer Wilds is a game about learning rules and then deploying that knowledge to solve larger and larger puzzles. Eventually, you will know enough to go from the beginning of the game to the end before your 22 minutes are up. And along the way, you’ll jump across the surface of the sun, ride debris beyond a planet’s atmosphere, and travel through a wormhole.

Outer Wilds is good enough to be my game of the year, but I had a pretty rough experience getting through the end. It was not a game I could play uninterrupted due to my many children, and that made it difficult to keep all of its secrets in my head at once. So I had to turn to guides for help enough that I didn’t get to experience the “aha!” moments for myself. I’m not gonna hold that against the game — except for on my personal GOTY list.

The post GamesBeat editor Jeff Grubb’s top 20 games of 2019 appeared first on Actu Trends.

[tomoneofakind]

**In this post, I talk about the game Super Mario World.  Although I feel the Mario story of Mario saves Princess Peach is quite common, there maybe things I mention that are considered spoilers to others.**

In this game, Bowser has taken over Dinosaur Land and kidnapped Princess Peach. and it’s up to Mario, Luigi and their new friend Yoshi to save the Princess from Bowser and his Koopalings.

I missed out of this game when I was a kid.  The Super Nintendo had just came out and I couldn’t convince my parents to buy one since it’s was too expensive for the time.  The original price of the console was $200 in 1990, which, adjusted for inflation, by 2018 is pretty much double that price.  So I decided to go with the Sega Genesis instead.  Like some other gamers of the 1990’s, I got swept up in the console wars and went to Sega after playing Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage, and Kid Chameleon.  Genesis does what Nintendon’t, I believed.  I didn’t own a Nintendo system until the Gamecube came out in November 2001.  Looking back, I felt kind of foolish about getting swept up in fanboyism.  I missed out on a lot of great games for all systems.

I was a sucker for that Blast Processing

I’ve been playing this game on the SNES Classic.  Super Mario World has been released originally on the Super Nintendo and ported on several different consoles like the Wii, Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS, and a ported, sort of remade for the Game Boy Advance under the Super Mario Advance Series.  I’ve been using the rewind feature and save states a lot.  You are able to save, but only after you have taken down a castle or find a new exit to the level.  The controls and jumping in the game aren’t bad, but I find myself rocking the D-Pad left and right when I make a jump to land on a platform.  Even on longer platforms or solid ground I still find myself doing this.  Mario just feels like he is slipping around a lot in the game and controls like Luigi. By that, I mean how Luigi has a faster sprint and higher jump, but takes a longer time to stop. Not sure if I’m just experiencing lag with the system, but I do feel a slight delay in Mario’s controls.  Mario also has a spin jump, but I only seem to find myself using this to break bricks when I’m Super Mario to get below to another area.

What I seem to have problems with the controls, at least I can say that this game is still fun.  The sprites, backgrounds and enemies all look great.  The music is great and catchy and sets the mood for each level.  Whether it’s the haunting sound of the ghost house, or the cheerfulness of the over worlds, Koji Kondo, the composer did a great job.  I keep wanting to go back to it and beat a level that I was having a problem with.   Not, I want to rage quit and not play again.  Well, that is until I got to the World 9 Special Zone.  You get here after you find the secret exits in World 8 Star Road.  I did get past the first three levels of 90’s saying (tubular and Gnarly sounds really dated to me), the rest are just rather difficult for me with the controls.  While the levels are a challenge, the mini bosses and bosses are rather easy for me.

Dinosaur Land Overworld minus Star and Special road

The overworld has a nice layout.  It’s the layout of you can’t progress until you defeat a level and goes kind of non linear unless you find another way out from a level.  This is indicated by a red dot on the level.  It gives a good amount of replay as there are 96 different exits to find in the game.  I like the addition of Ghost Houses.  Primary filled with Boos and other types of “dead” enemies like Dry Bones, eeries, and boo buddies.  I like the challenge and the redirect of these levels to find hidden exits with the use of a P-block for example.

Some screen grabs of the battles with the various Bosses in the game.

The Koopalings all have different attacks than the shoot the magic wand and charge at you from Super Mario Bros 3.  But they are Mario platform boss standard; jump on them three times, or knock them off of the platform to defeat them.  Bowser is the Final Boss, and he is pretty difficult to defeat.  I need to say that I found this battle pretty intense, even today.  The lightning flashing in the back ground, Bowser flying around in the Koopa Clown Car with a seemingly endless cannonballs. It’s insanely spacious inside for the amount of cannonballs he throws at you.  I still can’t figure out how he filled so many cannonballs inside that thing unless he modded a TARDIS from Dr. Who or something to that extent.  The first use of mode 7 graphic as he charges the screen after a few hits was, and still is, awesome.  I also liked how the countdown timer is gone from the battle.  Almost giving you no excuse that you can run away saying the timer won’t let me beat this final boss.

A lot of Mario enemies made their debut here.  Some of my more notable enemies to first appear for me are Wiggers, a caterpillar like foe who turns red and angry when you stomp on Wigger’s head (minus the train whistle Wiggler has in later games).  Banzai Bills, a larger version of Bullet Bill, that seems to take up nearly half the screen whenever he is fired towards Mario.  Big Boo, a larger version of Boo and one of the mini bosses you face, but still retains the Boos trait of chasing you when you look away.  Chucks, the sports themed enemy who attacks you various ways, such as throwing baseballs/footballs at you, charging after you, and punting footballs at you.   Finally Magikoopas, Koopas that can cast spells and change objects into enemies.  What I found is that the Goomba’s were removed in favor of Glaoombas and Cheep Cheeps had a strange redesign that both came off as odd to me.

Reznor, a triceratops mini boss in the game is named after Nine Inch Nails member Trent Reznor.  A very cool fact I think.

Mario has a couple of new powers.  Grabbing a feather, turns him into a Cape Mario. He can fly for a short time, then use his parachute to glide back down to safety.  It’s tricky to do at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a rather useful power up.  This game also introduced the power balloon.  It puffs up Mario like a balloon and can fly/float for a short time.  The biggest power-up or rather friend that Mario comes across is Yoshi.  I like you can switch power ups on the fly if you have one saved in your inventory, but a pain if you aren’t center to catch the power up and run the risk of losing it.  I prefer the Super Mario Bros 3 style and chose the power up before you enter a level.

Mario and Yoshi at Yoshi’s House located at the beginning of the game

Yoshis are one of the main residents of Dinosaur Island. There are green dinosaur that Mario rides like a horse and adds a bongo drum to the soundtrack whenever Mario rides him.  They are eat practically every enemy you come across.  Yoshi can also eat berries scattered across the game.  Each berry can vary from type to type from power up to more time for your counter.  When Yoshi also eats a Koopa Shell, he can do three different attacks.  Eating a red shell, Yoshi spits out three fireballs, yellow allows him to do a ground pound, and blue makes Yoshi grow wings and fly temporary.  Primary, you have a green Yoshi’s throughout the game but later on in the game you can get three different colored baby Yoshi’s which have different powers depending on what color Yoshi you have.  The are babies until they eat 5 enemies.  The color of the Yoshi follows what shell color it parallels if the green Yoshi eats (Ex red Yoshi spits out three fireballs despite the shell color that it eats but still retains the other effects of the other color shells as well).  The only place Yoshi doesn’t enter are ghost houses and castles.  Overall, I feel Yoshi’s are one of the best way to experiment with gameplay and discover new ways to play and exit level.

Mario gets Yoshi to eat the enemies by punching his head?!? Sounds very cruel

In terms of Mario games that I like, I think that Super Mario Bros 3 is better than this game, but I still enjoy Super Mario World.  Maybe it’s due to it being the easiest Mario game at the time until the New Super Mario Brother series.  When you take a hit in Super Mario Bros 3, if you have a power up like a Fire Flower, your revert to Super Mario.  In Super Mario World, if you are Cape Mario and get hit by an enemy, you revert to small Mario.  It was a level of difficulty that I wasn’t too fond off until I got older.  Although I wish Super Mario 3 had a save feature but that will be for another time.

If you have any good Super Mario facts, things I left out, or any fond memories that you had of Super Mario World, let me know in the comments and thank you for reading.

Super Mario World **In this post, I talk about the game Super Mario World.  Although I feel the Mario story of Mario saves Princess Peach is quite common, there maybe things I mention that are considered spoilers to others.**

[killscreencinema]

Yoshi’s Island DS (Nintendo DS)

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I impulsively bought a DS game for the Wii U Virtual Console.  I’ve always been meaning to expand my horizons with the DS library, and was excited about the prospect of playing them on my television.  Also, what do you know, the usage of eggs in the game makes this post super timely for Easter!  Before I get to discussing Yoshi’s Island DS, I want to take a moment to mention just how much the DS Virtual Console sucks a toilet.

When I bought the game, and booted it up, I expected that my television would feature the graphics that are normally on the top screen of a DS, while the Wii U tablet would features the stuff that is normally on the bottom screen of a DS.  Instead, what I was treated to was this:

So clunky and awkward, although it does make sense to do it this way since the game uses both the top and bottom screens for the level design (which is an entirely different problem I’ll go into in my review).  Still, as someone who is used to playing the XL versions of both the DS and 3DS, this presentation was… disappointed to say the least.  I’m not sure if all DS games bought on Virtual Console are this way, but if so, I’m going to say here and now you’re better off just finding the cartridge and playing the game on an actual DS. 

Yoshi’s Island DS is a direct sequel to the Super Nintendo game of the same name, but minus the confusing “Super Mario World 2” subtitle.  “But Craig,” you may ask, “How do we know this game is a Mario-type game without that subtitle as a hint???”  Well, aside from undertaking the understandably exhausting endeavor of Googling screenshots of the game, or looking at the back of the box, I guess the title doesn’t fully imply that it’s a Mario-like platformer.   However, I think we can make the logical leap from this point forward of what to expect of a game titled Yoshi’s Island DS.  I suppose I will make a concession that a subtitle would have been a good idea, like Yoshi’s Island: Kamek Strikes Back, so people realize this is a WHOLE NEW GAME as opposed to a DS port.

Anyway, the game takes place a little bit after the original, with an angry Baby Bowser commanding his right-hand wizard Kamek to go forth and steal ALL THE BABIES, instead of just Baby Mario and Baby Luigi.  Before Kamek and his troops can pull off this dastardly deed, they’re thwarted by a pissed off stork, who is none too happy to see all the babies he’s been delivering getting stolen like UPS packages being stolen from someone’s front porch.  Baby Mario and Baby Peach fall from the sky and end up back on Yoshi’s Island.  The Yoshi residents are alarmed to so suddenly be thrusted back into baby escorting action with not only one, not only TWO, but eventually THREE babies, including baby Donkey Kong!  

As you play the game, you can call the stork to switch out babies, who all have different abilities to help you along.  Baby Mario is ironically the lighter of the bunch, which allows Yoshi to move faster. Baby Peach can produce a parasol that helps Yoshi float a little longer, especially windy stages.  Finally, Baby Donkey Kong can grab vines and ropes, while also giving Yoshi a charge attack to use on enemies or breakable blocks.  You also eventually come across Baby Wario, who attracts coins like a magnet, and Baby Bowser, who can, you guessed it, shoot fireballs out of his mouth.  

Other than that, the rest of the game mechanically plays just like the first Yoshi’s Island, where you traverse each stage, eating enemies, pooping them out as eggs, and using said eggs as weapons or to hit item blocks.  While the main challenge of these games is to collect all of the items and get 100% completion for each level, just getting through the game is no cakewalk.  In fact, it’s almost too difficult, and I hate admitting that.  It’s games like this that make me wonder if I’m just getting old, and therefor my reflexes can’t keep up, or if the game really is just goddamned ridiculously hard.  I can say for certainty that trying to get 100% completion on all the levels is going to be a challenge no matter your skill level.  In fact, you’d have to be damn near masochistic to even try.  

Part of the difficulty is navigating through the levels with an ever present “dead space” in between screens.  It’s hard to explain but… you know the space between the top screen and the bottom screen of a DS?  Well, unless you adjust the camera, important items or enemies can hide in that space, which is incredibly irritating and unfair.  Yoshi’s Island is already infuriating enough without jumping into that “dead space” only to have Baby Mario knocked off Yoshi’s back by an unseen enemy.  Oh, and by the way, the unique rage that this game can inspire whenever the baby is knocked off Yoshi’s back and starts wailing away in a bubble, leaving you helpless to do anything for a half second while Yoshi idiotically looks around, is still very, very present.  In fact, the developers did an amazing job not only porting over that frustrating aspect of the first game but making it MORE enraging!  What an improvement.

I’ll wrap this up with a confession: as you might have guessed, I didn’t finish this game.  I got about two stages away from the last castle, but got too frustrated to deal with the game anymore.  The stage I got stuck at is a fiery hellscape of a maze where Yoshi has to find four magic balls to unlock the exit, and if you die (and you will), you have to find the balls ALL OVER AGAIN.  I probably expended over a dozen lives on this level before I officially decided to throw this game in the “fuck it” pile and move on with my life. Maybe I’ll give it another go and finish it eventually – after all, it took me YEARS to eventually get patient enough to finish the first Yoshi’s Island game.  That isn’t to say these games are BAD – quite the opposite.  The cutesy graphics are lovely, and the gameplay is pretty solid… it’s also just incredibly irritating and tiresome.  If you haven’t played these games, though, I would still highly recommend giving them a try!  Just… make sure to maybe quit when you start frothing at the mouth or if you catch yourself nearly snapping your DS in half over your knee. Not that I ever got that worked up, heh heh heh…