#now bowser gets a whole collection

[iholli]

something something taking the L

[sukunasweetheart]

I just realised Sukuna gives me Bowser vibes and I can't help but imagine him singing Peaches to reader 😭

New crack au where Sukuna is a king with too much time on his hands and keeps kidnapping the princess of a neighboring kingdom, reader.

The king and queen of that neighboring kingdom become so confused when they see that she's been returned safe and sound. They only know Sukuna as this terrifying tyrannical guy but reader is like "nah we had sandwiches for snack time and he showed me his cool sword collection."

✦ stella .ᐟ

its crazy bc ive thought abt this before, how he has similar vibes to sukuna,,, wild, i know (no bc u cant tell me that bowser and sukuna dont have the same features?? bro i swearrr hear me out) this idea is so cute ngl

Imagine he intended to kidnap you just for the funsies just to get under his neighbouring country's skin but you end up comedically falling for him while being held so comfortably captive with the sandwiches and sword collection

"Can you show me your other sword while youre at it, please?"

Sukuna: 😳😐?

Imagine trying to court him openly after he returns you that the whole kingdom gets invested in the love story-

Your sickeningly sweet love letters 💌 the people read the copies of them in the morning like a gossip magazine

He never gives a reply back 💔 and then things turn for the worst when one of the princes that you rejected the proposal of in the past comes attacking your country to force you to marry him...

Here comes sukuna out of the blue swooping in with his soldiers to fight him off, bc he likes doing what he does best - waging wars and coming out victorious

But the at the end he personally comes to visit you, wearing a fancy cloak and everything else a king would wear

"I've come to take your hand in marriage, princess."

He decided that getting to rule a second country all the while getting to fight off your other admirers sounded like a good time to him (also charmed by your poems, but he wont admit that)

Now, there is a grouchy, almighty ruler and his giggly wife who is a sweetheart

[thegingerheed]

How DELTATRAVELER is the funniest UT fangame by complete accident.

Over the course of the past year, I've talked a ton about various UT/DR fan-projects and my thoughts regarding them and their writing. One fan-work I have talked extensively about on various forums and threads being DELTATRAVELLER. For a while, I didn't know exactly how to feel about this game. It felt like an enigma to me. 

The game was enjoyable to play, it was entertaining to read. Yet I could never get myself invested in anything regarding the game's narrative or characters. It was as if the game was unintentionally written to obliterate (pun entirely intended) any and all chances for narrative investment in its story and characters. What the game did have over me was that it had me in histersics for the majority of its runtime. Yet, paradoxically, none of the jokes written to be funny landed for me. For a while I didn't fully know why and how it made me feel about the game as a whole. How can you say you enjoyed  something a lot whilst also laughing at it and acknowledging that under any other circumstance, it wouldn't be something that you'd consider to be good?

Spoiler alert: I found that answer, which I will now be explaining to YOU in weirdly esoteric detail !!!

But before we start, let's start of with the basic premise of DELTATRAVELER for those not in the know. 

What is a "DELTATRAVELER"

DELTATRAVELER is a UT/DR fangame about Kris, Susie and Noelle being isekai'd from a Post-Chapter 2 DELTARUNE into the worlds of various different video games and UNDERTALE on a quest to find a way home. The game was inspired and made off the back of "GOD FUCKING damnit KRIS where the FUCK are we!?" which was a very popular meme at the time of DELTARUNE: Chapter 2's release. 

Like DELTARUNE, the game is divided and released in chapters (dubbed 'sections' by the devs). Each chapter is set in a different world and has the Shit Squad (The objectively best name for the heroes) explore, fight and eventually find that world's "grey door" which serves as the end goal for the chapter as that will take the Shit Squad to the next world after the boss of the chapter is complete. In total the game is slated to have eight total chapters with what they are based on being revealed in advanced:

Chapter 1: UNDERTALE 

Chapter 2: Earthbound

Chapter 3: GG!UNDERFELL

Chapter 4: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Chapter 5: TS!UNDERSWAP

Chapter 6: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Chapter 7: Toontown Online

Chapter 8: The Dark (the game's finale)

Currently as of this post, DELTATRAVELER is still a work in progress with Chapter 3 being released back in December. As a result all discussion of the game of the game will be on Chapters 1-3 as those are what's out right now.

I think I should preface this post with me saying, I don't think DELTATRAVELER is a bad game, quite the opposite, actually! I enjoyed my time with it.

Mechanically, the gameplay is really well done, the physics feel very on point to UT/DR, which is surprisingly rare for a lot of UT fan-games. It felt like I was playing UT/DR and was rewarded for the skills I had gained from the collective hundreds of hours I have played these games. 

Visually, I think it looks very solid and charming. Seeing various locales and characters from other games being translated into UT/DR's iconic, sometimes janky artstyle is always cool to see and it will be very interesting to see how games like A Link to the Past are adapted in future chapters.

Musically, I think the game is fine. The original songs in the OST doesn't have anything I'd point to as "bangers" but also doesn't have anything I thought was particularly hard to listen to (With the outlier maybe being Eye for an Eye. The obligatory Megalo for the Sans fight in the GG!UNDERFELL chapter. But even then, I wouldn't even call the song "bad". I just don't like it too much and that's fine! just how music taste works.)

But to get to the main point. The most intreasting thing about DELTATRAVELER to me, is the way the game is written which has proven to be quite the controversial topic within the broader fandom which is what I'll try to give an in-depth and nuanced disection of but to put a long story short, I don't think this game is written well. Most of the core issues I have with DELTATRAVELER's writing can be attributed to a single, fundamental flaw. That being how the game handles it's "tone"

Explaining Tone

In writing, Tone is a very multi-factor concept, working as the bedrock for a given work. To put it simply and cleanly, tone is basically "the vibes" of a given thing. Tone can come in a lot of different flavours. Whether that be the tone of a given scene, the work itself or even the tone of an entire series. Tone is important as keeping tone consistent with itself is one of the major factors in narrative investment. It essentially tells the audience what they can and can't expect from a work of fiction.

Let's use this as an example:

You're watching a movie, in the movie there's a scene involving the protagonist having an anvil inexplicably dropped on their head by the antagonist.

If this movie was a comedy for children and family, the tone of this scene would ensure that this be as funny a punchline as possible or the set up for a funny punchline. This expectation built by the previous events of the story shields the narrative and characters from anything that might be too ill-fitting for the "comedy for child and family tone" it's trying to go for. At most the protagonist could be expected to suffer from a Loney Toons-like knockout rather than ending in a hospital bed with a shattered skull. Or, at worst, splattered and crushed across the pavement in an intensely gruesome fashion. If that happened, it wouldn't pass the story's "vibe check" which can cause something that I'll be calling "Tonal Whiplash"

If you want an example of "Tonal Whiplash" and the effects it can have on the audience, look no further than Shadow the Hedgehog

This game, to be frank. Is fucking hilarious and this is in part due to the mere concept of the game about Shadow using a gun breaking the tone set series-wide by other Sonic games and media in the past. (Expect Sonic Adventure 2, that has similar issues to a lesser extent)

It takes a series about stopping egg-themed villain from ruling the world to trying to assassinate the president and watching as a innocent girl gets shot in the back by what is basically, the USA military. And it all tries to do this in the Sonic series' iconic, albeit rather corny writing while also intened to appeal to older kids and be "cool". It leaves the game being kinda a clusterfuck even beyond just its tone issue, in a very funny way.

Now, this isn't to say that breaking tone is necessarily a bad thing all the time. Sometimes it's intentional, a way to make a moment hit harder, surprise the audience or all of the above. However, breaking tone is a narrative risk and if it fails you risk hurting the narrative investment your audience has within your work and to top it off once tone has been broken, it can't really be put back together with a story. You'll basically be shifting the tone of the story from that point on.

An easy example of this tonal shift is UT itself with it's Geno Route.

How UNDERTALE handles it's tone

UT's tone is one that acknowledges its nature as a video game with the usage of diegetic game mechanics like SAVING and the battle system.

This has many unique effects, for example means things like death as a concept is something that is treated rather lightly within the game's tone, the game even joking about it on the occasion. It's rather pointless treating death as anything other than a slight inconvenience to the human when you directly acknowledge that they can undo it by simply not wanting to die.

This treatment of death intentionally clashes with how it's treated when you kill monsters in a Geno Route. Papyrus is a shining example of this. Being something of an emotional obstacle for the player. Designed to make the player feel shit. Basically UT's writing is effectively, unapologetically trying to guilt trip you as another test of your determination to see this run to its completion.

The emotional weight of this scene is less carried by the idea of death and more so the fact that you hurt one of your favourite characters and won't see him anymore for the remainder of the run. It's more character focused, if you've already begun to withdraw your narrative investment and attachment to the characters or if you simply just don't give a fuck, it's not gonna make you feel anything. It'd just be another monster to slay, another number to increase.

Now you might find yourself wondering. How can UT be funny and sad without it leading to side effects normally seen by "tonal whiplash"? UT is funny, sure. There's a lot of jokes, each joke told in UT is a joke told by either a character or the world. Each joke means something beyond it being a funny line. But UT can also be heartfelt, like the walk up to Asgore. It all further fleshes these characters out making them feel more deep and layered, it treats it's world and characters not as jokes to be laughed at but as people, people who can be funny, people that can be sad and down even if you and the game both know that deep down, they aren't real. Just bundles of pixels and dialogue for your entertainment which is what makes Geno's clash work.

Your attachment to the characters and world. It's sudden, yes. But that's why it hits. NPCs vanish and their absence is felt, the once lively music replaced with a slowed drone. It all feels empty. It's dark, all because you have killed the things that gave this game its "light". UT's tone is something that . The tone of Pasifist runs reinforce and bring greater impact to Geno runs and that's why it feels less like tonal whiplash to the audience.

Now, let's get to DELTATRAVELER. If we want to establish how DELTATRAVELER establishes a tone for itself what best than analysis the beginning?

How DELTATRAVELER handles it's tone

After an amusing title screen and a quick file selection, we open with Kris and Susie on a bed of flowers, the first room of UT. After a brief moment of the two getting their bearings, they stand up and Susie turns to Kris before saying "God Damnit Kris! Where the hell are we?!!" fit with a silly pose and sound effect. A reference to the meme that inspired the game's creation.

The next scene is in the very next room and it's encounter with Flowey. Here he attempts the same speech he said in UT before Susie cuts him off, gets him to spill the beans that he was actually after Kris' SOUL before getting into a battle. Where they make a joke about DR battles being different from UT battles before Susie bashes her HUD into Kris' creating a unique one that DELTATRAVELER uses before blasting Flowey away with Rude Buster.

Off the cuff, DELTATRAVELER isn't really being serious. So far it's spent the first couple of scenes essentially making jokes around the characters, world and basic premise of the game and the game will continue to do this with inclusion such as Ralsei smoking a blunt, referencing a meme of the same name and Noelle making expressions referencing both a popular SpongeBob and MegaMind memes. On its own, this isn't really a bad thing, sure I may personally find it very unfunny but the game starting off with various memes isn't even a negative in principle, it just indicates that it doesn't want the audience to take it too seriously, which if that was the intention, would be fine. The issue DELTATRAVELER has with it's writing is that it unfortunately does want me to take it seriously.

The game makes an attempt to emulate UT's writing style, attempts to have serious moments sprinkled amongst jokes. However, unlike UT, DELTATRAVELER's brand of humour is basically solely self aware memes. Oftentimes, made at the expense of its own characters and world, leaving the moments where the game actually wants to be taken serious to fall flat.

Things like Kris' nightmare during Chapter 3, where they wonder why they are cursed with our control before lamenting about how much they want to rip their SOUL out and destroy it. Before crying out that they "Don't want to die alone." Doesn't have the impact the game wants it to have, because prior to that point, the game had basically already told the audience not to take the game too seriously, thus hurting any narrative and emotional investment the player could form with this interpretation of Kris as a character leading up to that point.

The same can be said with DELTATRAVELER's Geno Route equivalent, dubbed by the devs as The Obliteration Route watching the game in one route go from, "Ralsei Dobbie! No Bitches? Vine boom!" to beating and slaughtering a beloved protagonist and watching the kid bleed out on the ground as the other fights for revenge whilst a cover of (fucking) MEGALOVANIA starts playing in another takes what should be a very climactic and emotional moment and turns it into the single funniest boss fight I have played.

And that isn't counting the various other characterization issues present throughout the route as a whole. Characters like Noelle and Susie have no real reason to help Kris with the run once they notice them seemingly going around looking for people to slaughter. DELTATRAVELER especially when the game then goes out of its way to show the player that both party members have the digetic ability to reject the player's control, to the point where they can refuse to enter battles with Kris entirely.

But they don't, they'll even attack Ness and Paula under a certain percentage of health even after Susie tells explicitly Kris to not kill them. It leads to the game putting the blame on Kris and then The Player for a situation Susie and Noelle also have established agency over. Susie can help and kill a ton of monsters yet still be pissed at Kris for what is, under the game's internal logic, still a choice she chose to follow. The game tries to remedy this via Chapter 3's talk with the trio and it's better, sure. But it still leaves the writing in this strange place of hypocrisy with the characterization to me.

One scene that sticks out to me as particularly odd being after a secret Gaster lore dump cutscene on an Aborted Obliteration run has Noelle say:

"Kris..."

"If you were serious about not having control."

"You would've done it."

Directly implying that she thought Kris should've jumped off the cliff... which is just a strange inclusion, I feel is... Done more so to enlist a reaction in the player rather than creating important moments that respects the world and established characterization.

On the topic of weird characterization, let's talk Sans...

In the GG!UNDERFELL chapter, the main antagonists are Papyrus and Sans. Papyrus, is written, pretty recognisably from his Canon Counterpart. Sans however? Is a mess and a wonderful mess, at that. They take this very edgy, unhinged approach to his character, making him into an insane killer type of character similar to AUs like Dusttale. Throughout the chapter, he tries his damnest to kill Kris and take their SOUL, talking vaugely about a gurdge that doesn't ever get elaborated on. This approach creates a dynamic between Sans and Papyrus, where Sans is basically on Papyrus' metaphorically leash. Reaching a breaking point where he kicks Papyrus off a cliff, rushes at Kris like a feral dog before being being thrown off the bridge, leading to his battle.

His battle... oh my god his battle! It was easily the best part of the game, to the point it had to have its dialogue rewritten, the reason for this being honestly something I cannot begin to accurately describe to you while also doing the scene justice. So here's a clip from Andrew Cunningham's playthrough.

This isn't even the ironic either, this was just how Sans was written. The tone takes itself very seriously, this creates this type of divide where the game has already conditioned you not take it seriously, while trying to take itself completely seriously. It's peak tonal whiplash and it makes the scene, and the fight as a whole, unintentional hilarious.

Final Thoughts

The weirdest part? I don't even care. I've spent the better half of this essay arguing the flaws in DELTATRAVELER's writing, and while I do think they are all valid positions to have, for me? I don't really care about it that much, it's these issues that make me like the game. It's really funny in a very earnest, albeit unintentional way and at the end of the day. It's entertaining to read and there is value there. It's why I am not big on the rewrite of GG!Fell Sans. His issues come from fundemental aspect of his character that couldn't be changed with a simple rewrite, nor should it have it been expected to, as a result however, it doesn't really fix his character for me, it just takes a big part of what I enjoyed from him away. It's sort of a shining example on how when creating, you do not have a choice on how other people see your work. Some jokes you might tell might land and be funny, but also to some, may be brutally annoying and that's just the beauty of the beast. There's always room to analyse, to see if what the creator wanted to convey reads back to the audience. But even if there is critical flaws with the writing, enjoyment of that writing isn't inheritantly attached to author intentions or even the quality of the content, it's a feeling, a subjective one at that. It's why I could say I don't like Sonic the Hedgehog and Kingdom Hearts for being too corny and cheesey but to others, that's exactly what they love about it, and there's a lot of value in that.

There isn't a correct way to have an opinion, a right way to like or dislike something. You like things for the reasons you like them, you dislike you dislike them and that's fine.

However, I do want to take the time in this post to address pretty plevalent fandom issue perpetuated by the wider.

In the past, the UT/DR community was, to be frank rather toxic and elitist, it still is, depending on where you look. Overtime though, there's been a shift, whether be because those types of people moved on to other things or simply grew out of that behaviour, it doesn't matter why just that it has happened. There's a lot more positivity in this community and that is great to see. All healthy communities need such things. However, I do believe that as a result of this, the fandom now is suffering from a "rubber band mentality" where we've pulled too far in the opposite direction, leading to what feels like ironically "toxic positivity".

A lot of people feel very passionate about these fan-projects and that should be celebrated. However a trend I've seen in this fandom, one which has had a net negative effect on this community, is how we as a community react to people voicing opinions/ making jokes or just talking negatively about these beloved works.

You see it a lot with works like UNDERTALE: Yellow, DELTATRAVELER, Inverted Fate, all of the big fandom projects. Everytime a critique or just a joke about a fan-work gets more than like 10K Views on social media, the entire fandom begins to fold into basically damage control, regressing into "can we just not be so negative about the super popular fandom work loved by thousands?" People that voice their opinions on these work, especially negative opinions, get dogpiled, mocked and dismissed because according to them they "don't understand the writing", "hate fan works" or are just being "bitter about works made with passion and love and should simply shouldn't engage", even when said people once taking the time to actually hear them out, provide criticism that's honestly pretty valid.

I'd understand if people were directly going after devs, commenting under their tweets, invading their own communities just to mock and be the answer to a question nobody answered. That is wrong and should be called out. Voicing how funny or even terrible you think certain scenes are on your public social media? Ultimately, that's harmless in the grander scheme of things and I feel like fans and creators should be mindful of how they react to things because at the end of the day. People are allowed to voice their opinions, they are also allowed to make jokes and laugh at the writing, they are allowed to do all of that. People want to treat fan works like works of art and I am right there with them, but if you want to do that, you have to actually start treating them like art and accept it's a completely subjective thing. People will have different thoughts about them and that's okay! The moment you start policing what thoughts should and shouldn't be expressed is when any meaningful discussion dies. This whole mentality that since it took hard work and dedication to make a fan project should be celebrated to the highest order and treated as an object of reverence, absolved from all criticism is a harmful mentality to fall into. A thing can both require hard work and dedication and also be criticised and joked about by people. These two can co-exist. One doesn't somehow counteract and invalidate the other.

For some, analysing and critiquing media is a fun thing to do! It helps you get a better understand of the medium you're analysing, what works and what doesn't. It's legitimately fun to have discussions about. Being negative about works, even if they are works of passion aren't the end of the world, especially when they are just posts made by people just minding their own business. Jokes? Shitposts? They should all be allowed, because that's also how some people enjoy works of fiction. And if you don't want to see it? Valid but there are countless methods available to ensure that that don't involve creating a "good vibes only" type of fandom environment that everyone is forced to adhere to. That helps nobody and only breeds division within this community, I think.

[otomiyaa]

Luigi Wins (by doing absolutely nothing)

Bowser x Luigi

A/N: This was going to be a 2-part fic but I ended up writing the whole thing before I could even consider what kind of poll to add. *shrugs* works I guess. Thank you @weegee-simp69 for the final little push to write some Luigi again.

Summary: Bowser confronts Luigi about his interesting strategy to win a game. Inspired by Mario Party and the classic Luigi Wins By Doing Absolutely Nothing series. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 1.3K

The little star was sparkling brightly in the hands of Princess Peach. Toad was holding up a little flag, and the water was shimmering beneath them.

"Everyone ready? On your marks!" Toad chirped, addressing the participants in their weekly game competition: Mario, Wario, Waluigi, DK, Bowser, Daisy, and Luigi. Luigi took a deep breath and gazed at the group. Since the game only started with Mario and himself and slowly expanded with more and more participants, he was sure it was a matter of time before more would join.

Of course, everyone wanted to earn these shiny victory stars. He was proud owner of 3 of them. Naturally his brother Mario was in the lead with a whopping 7 so far, and Bowser had already earned 3 as well. Luigi glanced sideways at Bowser, who was already smirking at him before their eyes even met.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you this time," Bowser chuckled. Luigi blushed and nodded.

"Understood," was his humble reply. Bowser was after all, his romantic partner too. As strange as that may sound to many, including himself.

"THREE, TWO, ONE, GO!" Toad almost lost his poor voice as he announced the start of the game, and luckily he didn't need to tell them a second time. The second he screamed 'go', the little group exploded into chaos.

"E-eh." Luigi hesitated entering the mess as he watched his 6 opponents crash into each other. Today's game was a simple one. They were all on a star-shaped platform and needed to push each other off. Underneath them, a cold pool of water was awaiting them.

Luigi froze and waited to be thrown into the water, but noticing the others going at each other with so much passion and determination, he slowly relaxed.

Oh? Splash. Wario was the first to fall in. Luigi nervously kept his eyes on Bowser who was, pfft, the second to fall in, followed by DK who was basically dragged along with him.

They really didn't realize he was standing here and doing nothing and - ah, Luigi realized now. This was exactly how he won his other 3 stars. One game he just didn't know what to do, so he stood still and ended up winning. The second he first wanted to observe quietly and also did nothing - yet before he could even take one step, the game was already over and he won. The third one was just like that.

Was this going to be his 4th star? Was he going to win, just like that? A grin was tugging at his lips when Waluigi didn't even get pushed in, but he tripped over his own feet and fell right past Luigi, not even touching him, into the water. Then not only Daisy, but also Mario fell in, in the middle of their little brawl. And before Luigi could realize, Toad's whistle could be heard.

"Game over! Luigi wins!" he yelled. Peach applauded and welcomed him off the star platform. All dry and safe, and now.. hehe, with another sparkling star in his hands. Luigi admired it and smiled proudly.

"Congratulations," she said sweetly. Luigi felt flattered, but did she not see he actually won by... doing absolutely nothing?

Proud with his victory he headed home first while the others got out of the pool and dried themselves.

"Oh yeah," Luigi said to himself, adding the star to his proud collection. Next to the 4-star collection of his own, Bowser's 3 victory stars looked less impressive. Luigi couldn't suppress his giggle. He actually beat him again!

"Are you that happy you won?"

Luigi looked how he came walking in, still wet as he lazily rubbed a towel over his body. He nodded.

"Of course I'm happy," he said, unable to hide his smile. Bowser glanced at his glass display that now had 4 stars in it.

"I noticed something," Bowser said in a serious tone, and Luigi somehow felt laughter bubble up, so he tried to control it. Why, laughter? Why?

"W-what did you n-notice?" he asked.

"You weren't doing anything."

Pffft! Luigi gulped and let out a giggle. He quickly covered his mouth. "I g-guess you m-must've noticed... so early in.. the water..." he managed to say between held back giggles. Bowser cocked his head.

"Pardon?" he asked.

It had started and Luigi couldn't contain it. "Nohohothing," he giggled uncontrollably, shaking with held back laughter. Why was everything so funny? The whole gang including Bowser going at each other so hard they didn't realize Luigi was doing nothing. Luigi then winning while everyone was in the water.

Bowser being among the first to be in the water and noticing Luigi's remarkable, eh, strategy? To win the game. On top of that, his lover Bowser was now acting like this ー

"HAHAHa!" Luigi was startled when suddenly he felt familiar claws rubbing against his sides.

"I guess you've got a laugh stuck in there don't you? I'll help you get it out, it must be itching hmm?" Bowser said teasingly, all of a sudden tickling both of Luigi's sides.

"Wahah- Mahahama Miahahaa- wahahait Bohohowser!" he cackled. Well his laughter was now indeed set loose, with 100% of his voice and more.

"That funny hm?" Bowser said calmly, still wiggling those pesky fingers against Luigi's sides and ribs. Sure this wasn't their first tickle fight, so Bowser knew exactly where to get him to make him weak in the knees. Tickle fight wasn't even the correct term here.

"Nohoho! Okahahay I'm sohohorry!" Luigi laughed, falling on his knees, but Bowser scooped him up without effort and tickled his tummy almost as if he was a little baby.

"Sorry for what? I don't understand," Bowser said while Luigi's laughter was all over the place. He kicked his legs and flailed his arms more.

"Huwahahah! For lahaha-laughihihing! Ahahaha!"

"Why would you apologize for that? Like I said, I'm helping you get that laugh out that was stuck. What were you laughing for anyway? Don't tell me you were laughing at me?"

Bowser was such a goofball, such a tease! Luigi couldn't do anything but laugh about it, and laugh because he was being tickled, and laugh because he was just... happy.

"Well?" Bowser sang, rubbing little circles against Luigi's tummy. Oh right, he asked a question.

"Ohohonly a lihihittle!" he admitted through hysterical giggles.

"Only a little hmm?" Bowser acted as if he was going to eat him, growling and nibbling Luigi's side playfully through his clothes, tickling him even more and making him shriek.

"EEehehehee yehehees! I'm sohohorry!" Luigi laughed and he kicked his legs again. Such a tickle monster!

"Plehehease - hehehehe!" he finally begged when he could barely breathe. Bowser noticed and immediately stopped the tickle attack.

Luigi caught his breath, and even though the tickling had stopped, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He nuzzled Bowser's big arm.

"Really now," Bowser said. Luigi looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Hmm?" he hummed. Bowser rolled his eyes fondly and shook his head.

"You... Even though I tickled you to death, feels like you still won. And you did absolutely nothing," Bowser teased. Ah, Luigi blushed. As tough as he looked, Bowser recently would say stuff like this and it was adorable.

"...Agree to disagree. I laughed a lot, that isn't nothing," Luigi finally argued, but that earned him another poke in his stomach. And another, and another.

"Hohoho ahahalright - no mohohore!" he laughed tiredly, and he was relieved when Bowser switched back to cuddling.

"I know. Congratulations on your victory today," Bowser muttered softly before kissing the top of his head. Who would have thought Bowser could be like this. Not Luigi, nah. He still couldn't believe it, but that didn't mean he wouldn't appreciate it everyday.

"Wait. Are you laughing again?" Bowser asked, noticing his shaking shoulders.

"You're being so cheesy haha!" Luigi laughed breathlessly. However this time instead of tickling him more, Bowser joined in and laughed as well, and they laughed together while the stars were shining brightly behind the glass.

Next week, another chance to win! He was going for 5 stars, but something told him Bowser wouldn't let him get away with doing nothing again. Well, not so easily...

[childofsardior]

How is everybody doing?!

(And, if they know this is an ask blog for the time being, how do they all feel about it?)

Thank you for asking! (This is the first ask on this blog EVER!)

First of all, no, they do not know abt the askbox thing. Let's pretend a tiny Child of Sardior is currently spying on them to report the best answers possible ;P

Now let's talk about the Royal Koopa Family! They are doing well!

Currently, they are on a vacantion on Isle Delfino! King Bowser decided it was the right time for a break - considering it was getting too hot even on his Dark Lands - and literally grabbed his children, Kamek and a bunch of loyal personal guards and went to the Isle. They are currently staying at Bowser's private Hotel, Sunshine Resort, located on Sirena Beach - the Hotels and Resorts area of the island.

Except made for the troop of guards, that are currently "at work", everybody is relaxing or trying to do so.

Bowser first. No royal burocracy, no responsabilities for a while - he left a council of his most loyal generals and counselors at his main castle - and he can finally chill under the beach umbrella reading the News, eating out in fancy restaurants all around Delfino and sleepng sweet dreams without thinking about the Human Plumbers or conquest plans and so on for a while. To be sure none will disturb his weeks off, he decided to rent a whole piece of beach only for his family. Is it even legal? The King of the Koopa doesn't care.

Then we have Kamek, who is unfortunately the one that can't really relax for real: being one of the main caretaker of the little Prince Bowser Jr. - but also of the others, even if the older ones are actively trying to ignore this fact - he needs to keep an eye on the small Dragon-Turtle even when at the beach or visiting the various cities. Still, our old Magikoopa is still grateful to be able to sleep 8-hours with the air-conditioning of the Resort.

Now, the kids! (Ludwig and Roy would eat me alive for calling them "kids")

Ludwig is chilling. Like, he decided that "chilling" would be his whole purpose of this vacantion. Being normally nervous and easily irritated at the castle and around his siblings, this time our young multifaceted artist is imposing upon himself to only do things he feels to, and not, like always, all the tasks that he MUST do. He's basically spending these days under the umbrella, talking to his gf on his phone, going out at night with Wendy and Roy when they want to visit the local markets near the beach, playing his favorite violin in his room when outside is too hot and so on. Chillin', yknow?

Lemmy, on the other hand, is enjoying his staying and suffering at the same time for the extreme humid temperature. Probably at the main castle the temperature was way hotter, but Lemmy can't really stand humidity, and summer season in general. But he likes to go swimming, playing pranks on tourists with Iggy and trying every type of ice creams he can find - and Larry and Morton will happily help him finish the ones his belly can't take anymore, since Lemmy tends to buy way more food than he can actually eat. He also loves the fancy restaurants Bowser is taking them every two days, especially since he only packed cool and elegan outfits in his bag, maybe trying to forget about how hot it was. Oh, and he also LOVES Pinna Park, especially the Yoshi Go-Round and the Rollercoaster, and has started to bring there Junior with him to have an official excuse to ride the rides for kids.

Roy brought his motorbike with him, even just to complete his "bad boy appearance". He's actually the one driving his siblings around the Isle when they don't feel to take the public transports - busses are REALLY crowded in this time of the year and... some of the royal brats feel too royal and "superior" to take them anyway, right Lud and Wendy? Except for that, he's mostly competing with Wendy in swimming races, going around at night to find some disco open to teens, and collecting shades at the various markets for his evergrowing sunglasses collection. And he's the one with Morton that is suffering less for the heat, due his constitution and the fact that he's used to the desert heat.

Iggy feels at home with all this humidity filling the hair, but the aggressive reflection from the sun forced him to work on a special shades-version of his already customized spectacles before embargin on the conquest of this vacantion. He also made them star shaped because *fancy*. He also tried to cover himself with all the garlands of flowers he could find at the markets in their first day, and instantly bought the biggest hat he saw for sale. He has his own idea of fancy. His chilling-and-pranking times alternate with researches on the local flora and fauna - if Iggy disappears during the afternoon, don't worry, he probably went studying fishes and birds and monsters and trees and flowers only found on the Isle Delfino. He also brought his pet Charlie the Chain-Chomp with him, to the *delight* of the other guests of the Sunshine Resort.

Wendy is living her best life. She loves going on vacantions and she especially loves to go shopping on vacantions. Her favorite places are the markets all around the seaside cities along with the world-famous Coconut Mall, and she's already ordering enough summer clothes and new forniture to renovate and redecorate her own bedroom at Bowser's Castle. But she's a very good swimmer and loves the sea, and she's very excited to go swimming in something that is not a super hot pool inside the castle or at the ash-gray beaches and tumultuous sea of the Dark Lands. She's also updating her followers on Koopagram almost everyday, especially is she finds something pretty or cool to take a photo with - a beautiful monument, a fancy ice cream, an unsuspecting well-dressed tourist...

Morton is quite content for the break. Even if his older siblings are taking a bit of advantage of him - for example, always asking him to carry their luggage - he doesn't really mind. He knows he's going to spend these weeks with Larry and Junior mostly, helping Kamek keeping an eye on them on one hand and having fun with them on the other hand - eating at the weirdest local restaurants and trying the most-gigantic ice creams on the Isle. He also follows Lemmy and Jr. at the Pinna Park time to time, not because he's too interested in the rides but mostly 'cause they need a tall sibling that looks big enough to let them ride the most dangerous rides without questions by the staff. When he's not spending time with the younger (or shorter) siblings, he go swimming with Roy and Wendy or keep company to Iggy in his scientific researches - and while the green-shelled brother takes photos, samples and notes, Morton has started collecting the most perfectly shaped, beautifully colored and shiny rocks he can find, for his own pleasure and to show Junior, too.

Larry here! Larry is spending his mornings creating the best sandcastles he ever made, and turning them into magical glass/crystal sculptures with his azure breath. Since he found out he could try this out he insisted for months to go to Isle Delfino on vacantion, winning over Lord Bowser at the end with great displeasure of Lemmy, who wanted to visit a colder place or at least going hiking around the tallest mountains they could find. When at the beach, after creating a whole crystal city with Jr., the light-blue Royal Koopa posts photos of his creations on Koopagram - he recently was allowed to create an account, under the name of Darkdiscokoopaxx, even if he only has 3 followers at the moment, two of wich are his siblings and one is Princess Peach after he spammed her tons of DMs asking for her official page's follow. Then he goes swimming, always bringing with him his inflatable donut not because he can't swim - he's actually a decent swimmer - but because he can use it as a chair as soon he's too tired to move his arms. Larry is also enjoying the sort-of-freedom Bowser gives him and his siblings dring the afternoon, and is trying out all the junk food and weird soda he can find, along with his brother Morton.

In the end, Bowser Junior is a kid in vacantion being a kid in vacantion. It's not easy to always act as the Prince of the Koopas and the official Heir to the Dark Lands throne, you know? He's enjoying playing with the sand, trying to learn how to swim properly without water wings - he *can* sort of swim already, but... he feels much safer with them, especially when in open sea and not in a pool - eating cookies under the beach umbrella, painting on the beach during sunset like a Real ArtistTM (jokes aside, he's quite good for his age!), convincing his dad to buy him toys and souvenirs, eating lot of chips with Larry when Kamek isn't watching, riding the backseat of Roy's motorbike too when Kamek isn't watching again, and riding rides too dangerous for the average kid of his age - but not for a Dragon-Turtle, to be honest - when neither Kamek or Bowser are watching. He's enjoying his staying a lot! Oh, especially when, at the end of their second week of vacantion, he bumped into Princess Toadstool herself, with her guards and her friends. But this is another story.

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 12/08/2024

I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE!

Season 6 Featured on: Transmission Archive ~ The SiIvaGunner All-Star Nuclear Winter Festival Collection

Ripped by Vincent Mashups, Jp, Grambam36

Requested by Corb, uwustepanne and an anonymous reader! (Request Form)

I worry sometimes that I talk up the atmosphere and feeling of Season 6 a bit too much on here. To me it is still undoubtedly SiIvaGunner's most underrated Season, a period of the channel where even I was beginning to tune it out yet was left enamored once I realized what it was doing - its meaning being something I've covered endlessly in posts like Totally Shaaking Out Right Now, Bramble Blast Collab, The End of HHGregg, and far too many more. The overall picture I've painted is that of a Season with a sort of dour moodiness to it the whole way through, an aura of something that's all about to change, a slow trickle towards the end - yet, like with any SiIvaGunner Season, it's never possible to make such a cut-and-dry assessment of things. That's part of why following the channel is so much fun: There can be a broad idea for what the channel is currently doing, yet so many rippers can put their own spin and interpretations on said idea as to morph it into something far more layered. Because while on the whole Season 6 represents the ideas of letting go of the past and moving on through a sorrowful lens, I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! spins that mood into something worth celebrating - a last hurrah, a final festival, and one big show to send us all off into the apocalypse.

With that context in mind, it really shouldn't have been surprising to me that multiple people wound up requesting this rip for coverage. Indeed, it's also one that I've had sitting in the back of my head for a very long time, as a faint memory of what it was like to follow the channel back toward the final months of Season 6. That feeling of things coming to a close was gradually creeping up on us - or at least, it had begun feeling that way to me - yet for the longest time we didn't quite get WHAT was happening, what terrible fate that we were supposed to be dreading. The Christmas Comeback Crisis? The King for a Day Tournament series? Wood Man? The SiIva AI? The SiIvaGunner channel ITSELF? There was a lot of uncertainty swirling around, yet it was a ride that we couldn't really do much about other than just go along - a feeling that was only emphasized more and more with the start of the Nuclear Winter Festival, or DoomFes.

As the festival went on, we got to see Wood Man and friends meet and pass all sorts of people in the nuclear wasteland, like a slow gathering of stars on the verge of fading - it was becoming more and more clear that the event wasn't just some inconsequential one-off like Season 5's WesternFes, but would be having...SOME sort of impact, a trip down memory lane but with a looming abyss at the road's end. And in the midst of all of those feelings, underneath the atmospheric artwork and writing being done throughout the entire event - I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! drops. A spark of such joy, nine days before Christmas Day, in the middle of the apocalypse. Where did this all come from?

Well, obviously, it came from the brilliant minds of rippers Vincent Mashups, Jp, Grambam36 - all three of which I've covered on the blog before with some of the channel's greatest rips, such as Gate Happy, Bowser is Coming. and SUNGORE. But more to the tune of the channel's lore and the narrative of Doomfes, the retro-YouTube aesthetic and seemingly boundless energy of childlike whimsy and joy always stems from one more of SiIvaGunner's many stars met along the way - Unregistered Hypercam 2 of the King for a Day Tournament fame. And while it's certainly an assumption to say that I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! was specifically made to be a tribute to Hypercam, I could personally think of no better way to represent him for this event, as the glowing spark of internet joy that helps keep the SiIvaGunner channel afloat.

And it's that spark of joy that the rippers captured so excellently within the rip in particular - I Gotta Feeling isn't quite on the level of old-internet anthem as songs like Never Gonna Give You Up or Dreamscape of How 2 Do Anything fame are, yet its still a song I vividly remember hearing tons of back in 2009-2011ish YouTube, a theme bumping with optimism and happiness for the days ahead. It might seem a bit odd to be using it for the context of a Nuclear Apocalypse event at first brush, yet nostalgia is hardly ever a purely joyous thing - for as much joy as I Gotta Feeling brings me, it is at once also a bittersweet joy, with an understated sadness over the fact that things have changed so much since those days 15-plus years ago. It's that bittersweetness, I feel, that I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! runs with.

The rip is built on having the song be performed by voice clips and sentence-mixings of a vast pool of online memes - yet unlike what you may initially expect, it's not kept isolated to just nostalgic early-internet memes. The song title isn't being facetious: Everything from Zelda CDi Ganon, to Gangnam Style, to Friday Night Funkin', to Smosh, to Crash Bandicoot Woah, to even a sprinkle of classic SiIvaGunner memes like We Are Number One. The rip is distinctly different from rips like Corridors of Vine or even most other Hypercam rips, which focus on nostalgia for one specific era of online culture - instead, I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! reaches across the entire internet for one collective, massive embrace, a hug the size of 20-something years worth of online jokes. It's a bit silly to get sentimental over, maybe - but that goes for the entire channel, doesn't it?

It's of course all helped greatly by the rip itself being executed perfectly from that concept. The sources are more than just a greatest-hits of old memes, as they all fit their chosen lines near perfectly, all pitch shifted and sentence-mixed just enough to fit the lyrics yet never to the degree of making them unidentifiable. They're all here in full force, all introduced by the video opening with the most Unregistered of Unregistered Hypercam 2 YouTube editing. It sets the stage for something oh so easy to love, yet to me I Gotta Feeling, Sung by EVERYONE! inspires a feeling so much more complex than love. It was a moment that brought us all together, not crying because it's over, but smiling because it happened.

[blazehedgehog]

Would it be odd to have a Luigi's Mansion game (or really any game starring Luigi) to just not involve Mario or explain his absence?

Honestly? I'd be absolutely, totally, 100% fine with it. I know Mario and Luigi are two peas in a pod, but Mario has gone on quite a few solo adventures where Luigi exists but is not necessarily there in a major capacity.

I can imagine a Luigi's Mansion 4 where some force abducts Luigi and only Luigi and he has to figure out some way to get back home.

Actually, make it a running gag, right. Some mysterious new foe kidnaps Luigi because they're actually trying to capture Mario and they get it wrong. So the boss sends the henchmen out to capture the real Mario.

At some point through the game, we see the henchmen come back, a new box or someone stuffed in a bag or something. They dump out who they captured, there's big Mario theme fanfare, and it's...

Wario.

And every now and then, we could check in, where the henchmen brings back a new hostage, dumps them out, but it's not Mario. It's never Mario. They catch Wario, Waluigi, Captain Toad, a blue Yoshi, maybe even eventually Bowser, but never ever Mario. That's the joke. The whole game is waiting for them to finally catch Mario.

And every time, it's up to Luigi to figure out how he's gonna break everyone out and get back home.

Maybe finally, in the last level, there's a big climactic moment where Luigi teams up with everyone. Like maybe this is a jailbreak game or something, breaking out of someone else's mansion, and everyone has a unique skill that contributes to getting out. Luigi beats the final boss, everyone is in the clear, they make a run for the final gate...

It SLAMS open. It's Mario. He came to rescue his brother at the exact moment Luigi was leading the victory charge. Maybe there were a bunch of Toads being held in this mansion too, like maybe they're your macguffin you collect and the main characters are the major milestones for clearing a big section. And all the Toads run over to Mario and thank him for saving them, lifting him up so he's kind of crowd surfing. We pan over and Luigi just sighs. He was the one who did all the work but Mario gets the recognition.

But then Wario, Bowser, Yoshi, etc. pat him on the back solemnly and then hoist him up so he's with Mario and we freeze frame on everyone happy.

Sorry. Kind of got arrested by a visual there.

[wfagamerants]

As is well documented by now, I really love Mario Party, even beyond the realm of Mario it’s one of my favorite series ever. It’s also been said plenty by now that my relationship with the Switch games has been rocky.

I know, me being so nice to ND Cube’s output, only to have problems with the Switch games is for many an off-beat opinion, it’s just how I feel.

When Jamboree was announced it seemed to be the MP I had been waiting for right out of the gate and I can happily say it delivered. While we are still in the honeymoon phase with the game, I feel confident even calling it one of the best Mario Party games, a sentiment I never agreed on when brought up with Superstars, which I only find solid.

I’ll go by the same structure I went with for my essay on the Switch games, since that is what I am most comfortable with, so we’ll start with the roster.

While the selection was very not for me, I do give a lot of credit to Super for really beefing up the character numbers and after a really sad showing in Superstars, Jamboree returns to that, with a 22 characters large selection, one I am a much bigger fan of.

The character/mook ratio is closer to what I prefer, the Toads are back, Pauline and Ninji are wonderful newcomers and my issues with playable Bowser have been addressed with the introduction of Imposter Bowser. At least in terms of what can be expected, the roster is just one Diddy short of being perfect for me.

The game in general prides itself on the sheer amount of content it packs and that shows with the boards too.

7 boards, 5 new and 2 returning. I got some nitpicks, particularly how we are still sticking to only N64 boards coming back, but on the whole I do like the idea of Mario Party going Mario Kart by bringing back old boards. They genuinely are really well remade.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle was always going to be more strategic and involved thanks to the inclusion of items, but Western Land was the big surprise. I always loved the board, but the greater control you have over Steamer, the train here, being able to drive two stations ahead or even get him to come to whatever station you’re at, thanks to the new Steamer Ticket item, really alters the game. It’s a far bigger part of the game plan to knock opponents back to start, but the wealth of movement based items also means you have the means to rush where you need to, it’s well balanced that way.

The 5 new boards are an extremely good selection. Superstars is the basis for the board play, so in many regards it’s a bit hard to go into heavy detail without stating the obvious. It’s classic Mario Party and still clearly based on 1-4, with things like Boo being on every board, but it’s in the details and a couple key aspects where the game leaves its own mark of quality.

Despite the Super moniker, the boards are thankfully nothing like in that game. They are all a good size and full of mechanics of their own and obstacles. In fact, what impresses me most is how distinct they all feel.

Whether you rack up an insane amount of coins and visit specific shops for items or collect stamps in Rainbow Galleria, brave the delightfully evil Bowser Byway in King Bowser’s Keep or make a mad dash across the track in Roll ‘em Raceway, every board feels distinct and has a very strong identity. I do miss the more varied star collecting methods from 6-8 and DS, with only Roll ‘em Raceway feeling similar to that, but they are still the most distinct bunch of boards to not go for that formula and that is a genuinely huge compliment.

Of course, good boards are one thing, but the finer mechanics need to check out too and luckily Jamboree doesn’t disappoint and that’s where three major points about the board play I love come into play.

First are the Lucky Spaces. I am on and off with how I feel about them, but thanks to the much greater amount of hazards threatening your coin count and ways to spend them, their bonuses end up feeling like a more natural part of the game’s economy. 

They can still feel a little overtuned at times, but unlike Superstars the game is designed in ways to make their instant perks a bit more justified. There even is an Unlucky Space counterpart, even if the penalties there are milder than the benefits of its good counterpart, but it does contribute to keeping things in check.

Secondly there are the items. While there is still a heavy emphasis on movement based items, I think the variety has seen a good upgrade. I’m particularly fond of the returning Bowser Phone, as well as the traps, which are just hexes from MPDS and can turn portions of a board into a hilarious coin and star steal minefield.

What really pushes it to another level though is an idea 6 toyed with in Snowflake Lake and what 7 made a much bigger deal of: board specific items. Superstars did have that in the sense it makes no sense to have a Skeleton Key available on the MP1 boards, but Jamboree is different.

These board specific items are all made to interact with the gimmick of the board. Use the Tide Shell on Goomba Lagoon to control the tide, put a hole into everyone’s deep pockets with the Markup Sticker in Rainbow Galleria and I already mentioned the Steamer Ticket on Western Land and how that alters how you play the game.

Items have always been meant to be the more strategic part of MP, something to give the player agency in a kind of game ruled by the dice and items like this really allow you to make power plays and plan ahead in a way the orbs in 6 and 7, still the best item system to me, excelled at.

The way they are distributed is also good. Multiple shop types like in 3, item minigames are still here as a potential outcome on an Item Space and while Lucky Spaces can still give out items, it feels a bit more restrained or at least the game is better designed around it. Horror Land in Superstars when I play it often devolves into a long series of Chomp Calls, since it’s so easy for everyone to get an arsenal of those. Nothing like that ever really happened for me here.

The third big aspect for me is the Jamboree Buddies.

For all its flaws, being basically just lifted from Star Rush, I did find the allies to be one of the genuinely interesting parts of Super, but it needed a lot of retooling and Jamboree did just that in a variety of ways.

Jamboree Buddies will eventually appear on the board, but only one is around at a time and you need to reach them first. If you aren’t fast enough they just leave and you need to wait a couple turns for the next one to show up.

Even if you do reach them, you need to win a Showdown Minigame first, each centered around that character and only through winning it, will you get them.

While their perks such as their own abilities or doubling the effects of positive spaces OR being able to use Boo twice in one turn or buy two stars at once, are very powerful, they also double negative effects. If you land on say, a Bowser Space, you take double the punishment and on King Bowser’s Keep, that even makes for situations where there are so many Bowser Spaces that passing up on a Buddy may even be the smarter move,

While their perks are potentially game changing, you only get them for a few turns and someone passing by you can steal your Buddy from you, so making the most of their perks in the limited time you have can be a genuine challenge.

All that combined makes the Jamboree Buddies a significantly more balanced take on allies. Very exciting when around, but the game doesn’t centralize around them and it is possible to even suffer more bad effects than good ones, if you get one in a bad spot.

Those are some of the big factors that help Jamboree really push the board play up further in quality for me beyond ‘’boards good’’. In the end it’s Mario Party as you know it, but it has some really good refinements and new ideas.

Another such good idea is a voting system for minigames now being an option, along with the Bonus Star options returning from Superstars. It’s just neat to see Mario Party inch towards a more customizable experience.

In fact to add to this, Jamboree introduces an entirely new ruleset called Pro Mode. This mode offers a bunch of changes, including, but not limited to:

The turn count is a set 12 turns.

Chance Time and Hidden Blocks are not a thing.

Everyone can choose one item to start the game with.

Items in item shops are limited in supply.

The voting system for minigames is the default and only option, no roulette.

There is only one bonus star and you know which one it is from the start, so you can play specifically for it.

Lucky Spaces let you choose between 10 Coins or a Double Dice item.

Bowser on a Bowser Space will automatically steal a star if you have one.

Boo always steals 15 coins, no mashing mechanic to be found.

Among other things.

Overall it’s a really fun alternative way to play the game that changes your approach to many situations. I wouldn’t call it a definitive competitive minded experience, since it is at the end of the day, still a board game, but as a different way to play the boards, it’s a lot of fun.

Of course the board is just half of the MP experience, so how are the minigames?

In my opinion, really good!

I touched on this in my write-up on revisiting the previous Switch entries, but something about how many minigames in Superstars controlled always felt off to me. It’s hard to explain and really weird since I didn’t feel that way about Top 100 or any other MP, but it is a contributor to why I was never fully on Team Superstars.

Luckily Jamboree feels just fine to me and the overall selection of minigames is solid, packing a lot of action based games, mixed with more puzzly or reaction and mashing based ones. The variety is here and there isn’t much in the way of stinkers.

I was a bit iffy seeing returning minigames initially, since two of the three last games were all returning minigames, but Jamboree handles it gracefully and in a way that, like returning boards, would even be totally cool as a new norm for me. There are only a couple, the selection is good and several are even heavily recontextualized, like Leaf Leap, Bumper Balls and Shy Guy Says now being a three-part marathon challenge in Mario’s Showdown game or Platform Peril now being a coin minigame.

I am happy to say the game cools it with Coin minigames. They are still there and that’s fine, but the game isn’t blatantly rigged for them to pop up often like Superstars was and I appreciate that.

Duel minigames are once again oddly snubbed, only five once more, but at least the selection is really good. Slappy-Go-Round in particular is easily one of the most brilliant concepts for a duel minigame in the whole series.

Showdown Minigames for Jamboree Buddies are totally new. They revolve around the character you play for and are far longer than the average mini-game. This is gonna be more subjective but I think they mostly pull it off, with Waluigi, Wario, Mario, Daisy, Jr, Rosalina and Yoshi all having really good ones. Luigi’s is pretty good, but can be an autowin for players who reach him and get an advantage. Peach and DK are the only duds for me. Peach’s has an awkward first part and a luck based second part, while DK’s doesn’t do a great job filling its length and ends up being the one game of the bunch to really feel long for me.

Jamboree also brings back boss minigames from 9, 10 and Star Rush. Once unlocked in Party Planner Trek they can appear as options on the VS Space, making them effectively a return of dedicated Battle Minigames, if mixed with regular minigames in the rotation.

The minigames themselves are decent, Imposter Bowser’s is a bit lame to me and none are quite as good as the ones in previous games, but they aren’t bad by any means and I am happy to see them experiment with bringing that idea over into the classic formula.

Lastly for Party Mode minigames there are the motion control ones and that is a bit of an awkward one. Like in Super, I actually think the controls for them work really well and I like the minigames themselves, but being required to play with the one Joycon method to play them isn’t my favorite thing in the world and it’s a shame that they didn’t find a more graceful solution than to just lock those minigames away when playing with a more comfortable controller.

Also a bit of a shame there are no Bowser Minigames this time, though at least they have a good substitute in another mode.

Despite a slightly more mixed tone by the end, I consider Party Mode a big success, so let’s discuss the other modes.

First there is Party Planner Trek, our first dedicated singleplayer, somewhat story mode, in a long time.

In a lot of ways it’s basically a mix of Advance and the Minigame Island-type modes. You can walk freely across the board and do tasks for NPCs, along with playing all the minigames to collect Mini-Stars. Collect enough and you face the boss of the board, defeat them and you can move on to the next one.

It’s a simple concept, but nicely executed. The best way to describe it is cozy. It’s a nice laidback excuse to run around the boards and play through all the minigames that I can see myself revisiting when in the mood for it. The framing of this being how all the boards are made ready for the big event is also just really charming.

The only bad thing about the mode was getting first place in Gate Key-pers due to its luck based nature. I’d even call it the worst part of the game, but it is just one tedious minigame, hardly something that ruins anything and it can be skipped if you don’t care for 100%.

Then we got the Minigame Bay, with its modes and it’s….okay. The Boss Rush and Showdown Minigames based modes are welcome inclusions and the presentation is great across the board. Still, I miss the minigame modes of days past, especially Decathlon and would love to see some of them again.

We got two more flavors of extra modes and to me the stronger one is easily the two Bowser modes.

First up is Koopathlon, which is very much just Coinathlon from Star Rush, but now with 20 players and online functionality. You still collect coins in minigames specific to this mode, to move across a linear board and race to clear a certain amount of laps first. Even the items are taken straight from Star Rush, apart from Lava Bubble being replaced by Imposter Bowser and even that amounts to the same effect, all that changes is what burns your butt.

None of this is a negative though, since Coinathlon was easily one of the best side modes in the series and Jamboree is a very positive case of more of the same. I’d even say I like it a bit more thanks to the Survivathon Bowser minigames.

These were already a thing in Coinathlon, you try to survive a Bowser minigame and if you don’t you get moved back a certain amount of spaces as punishment. Jamboree edges out as better for me for not only having more and really good Bowser minigames, but also being far more challenging to survive, making them much more intense.

Koopathlon’s just great, taking an already amazing side-mode and making it just a tad better, easily my most played mode aside from Party Mode.

The other Bowser Mode is Bowser Kaboom Squad, one that caused a lot of intrigue pre-release for how little was known about it.

An 8 player team goes up against Imposter Bowser in a city and attempts to dodge him and other obstacles to collect bombs to attack him, as well as balance that with collecting coins for a Bonus Round where all bombs do more damage. 

The team needs to defeat Imposter Bowser in 5 rounds and at the end of every round is a team minigame, where you will net items to help you in various ways, with what items you get being determined by what Rank you archived in the minigame.

In some ways this mode feels like an extension of your typical Bowser final boss minigame from the Hudson days and I really like it for that. It’s frantic, offers fun opportunities for teamwork and Imposter Bowser, especially on Hard, is genuinely imposing to go up against. 

It’s a simple mode, but I really enjoy it. Not quite on the same level as Coinathlon, but a really welcome addition. I have played quite a bit already.

Lastly is the Motion based modes. Those were always going to be more novelty driven, but I do think the end result is a positive one.

The best is easily Rhythm Kitchen, a sequel to its equivalent in Super, my favorite part of that game. Unlike in that game the minigames are cooperative, making it more of a ‘’go with the vibe’’ experience and luckily it succeeds there.

The games are simple, but easy to understand, the music catchy and you even get to play a Rhythm Heaven-style Remix mode, set to the SMB1 overworld theme.

It’s a fun, cozy mode. Doesn’t take long until you have seen everything it has, but as basically a glorified minigame mode, it does it’s job well and is a nice every once in a while option.

I feel similarly about Toad’s Item Factory. The goal is to get orbs to a goal, using motion gimmicks to guide them. The controls are intuitive, the gimmicks varied, that’s really all there can be said. Fun mode, but very simple and not something to go back to regularly, but a good time when you play it.

The last mode is Paratroopa’s Flight School and yeah, that is the lowlight of the game, not bad though.

I do love the idea and the free flight mode in particular is actually pretty cool for what it is, with two extra modes as an extra on top. It works well, never had a problem with the controls and it is a cute idea, it’s just also very much a gimmick and not one that lends itself to going back to it a lot. The idea of it just wears thin and also requires more set-up to properly play.

It’s also weird how the mode locks you into playing as Mario or Luigi as the second player. Not a huge deal, modes where not everyone is playable isn’t new to the series, but being stuck with just one set character feels alien for Mario Party.

That’s all the modes and there is one constant across most of them: online. Jamboree emphasizes that aspect more than any other part of the series and I am happy to say that at least from my experience, it’s very good. It plays as well as the game does offline and I didn’t experience more than one small lag spike and no connection errors, which sometimes plagued Superstars for me.

Another big area where the game shines is presentation. The NDCube games have always been very good at this, but Jamboree takes this to another level. There are so many things to say that I may as well do it in a list format, because there is a lot there, in many different places too.

First off, a lot of old animations got small touch-ups, tiny details in how say, Mario, Luigi and Wario’s hats now obey gravity when they go back down after hitting a dice. Similarly, the characters during high rolls will not only speed up, but even transition into a new sprinting animation once fast enough.

There are several new situation specific animations, such as the panic run animations in the Granite Getaway remake, which you don’t see anywhere else.

The camera on the boards is way more dynamic and loves showing very appealing shots, such as Imposter Bowser looming over the characters in King Bowser’s Keep.

Mario’s Rainbow Castle turns dark and threatening if Imposter Bowser is in front of the castle, you can even see Bullet Bills pass by in the background.

They went through the work to tweak some animations for certain boards. Chance Time always catapults the characters in the air for instance, but in Rainbow Galleria this comes with a crashing sound and a visual effect showing the characters crashed through the ceiling.

Roll ‘em Raceway in general bothered with a unique, if simple, animation set of everyone in cars, to make the board concept possible.

Really, long story short, the game looks great and is full of life and personality. It also retains the zany, cartoony vibe that I love the series for, Super mostly lacked and Superstars didn’t always retain either.

Goomba Lagoon is in part my favorite board for representing this so well. It’s the perfect showcase for the dynamic camera and things like Lava Bubble spaces making everyone bounce across spaces with their butts on fire or the characters being forced on zipline rides they visibly don’t want to get on and even lose their grip by the end, are that toony fun energy that always gave the series a distinct personality for me.

The game also strikes a good balance of modern Mario visuals and original stuff. There is plenty of NSMBU and 3D World inspired content in there, but then you get say, the cities from the Bowser’s Kaboom Squad mode, which feel like cities you could see in Hudson era minigames. It’s nicely diverse.

While Mario Party has always been good with cool references to other Mario things, I’d argue Jamboree may be the best one yet.

The Showdown minigames are an obvious example, with say, Wario’s taking from both Ware and Land, Waluigi’s being a Waluigi Pinball reference or Donkey Kong basically making you play Donkey Konga being some big examples.

Even beyond that though you got things like Imposter Bowser being a shout-out to the SMB1 Fake Bowsers or Plessie making his first appearance in a spin-off. There is a lot to discover and it always made me smile. Mario spin-offs aren’t really like say, Dissidia or Theatrhythm are for Final Fantasy, where they feel like a true crossover and celebration of the whole series history, so any time one does include a lot of nods and elements from other games, it’s a treat.

The music ended up being a surprising highlight too, being full of catchy and varied tunes, not to mention just a lot of music in general. This is a hopelessly subjective topic, but there are several tracks I have already listened to a bunch outside the game. Imposter Bowser’s rocking themes and the bouncy, motivating Level 2 theme for Koopathlon being my highlights.

There is a lot of good detail work in here too, such as Imposter Bowser getting his own version of the Mario’s Rainbow Castle theme when he is out or all 22 characters getting their own little turn start jingles, because this game loves effort and I in turn love it for it.

We also got a fresher set of voice clips for a bunch of the cast, some new and some from Wonder and I won’t lie, Superstars with how much it makes the characters shout their canned old clips really tested my patience with the same clips they have used game after game, not just in this one sub-series, for over a decade and being rid of them feels like sweet release.

It helps that I genuinely think Kevin does a good job with his roles and while Deanna Mustard was really good, I utterly adore Giselle Fernandez as Daisy.

Been doing a ton of gushing and well, that’s because this game’s damn good and a showcase they learned all the right lessons. It’s not perfect, I have laid out things I thought could be better or are missing, but none of it comes even close to souring the experience for me.

I’d still put 6 and 7 at the very top for me, but Jamboree is really competitive with 3 as a solid third place for me and I don’t think that’s just the honeymoon phase speaking. Jamboree is a true return to form that makes me extremely optimistic for the future of the series.

That and I am curious if we will see DLC this time. The game is already more than packed enough to not need it, but if a MP ever were to see that kind post-launch support, I’d want it to be one as robust as Jamboree.

Because Jamboree really is just that good and I am so happy I can say that.

[telleroftime]

Today's Bowser brainrot.

So, the kingdoms regularly come together and play games and sports right? (That's what I like to imagine the spin offs like Mario Kart and Mario Party are). Just imagine Bowser's partner showing up in the crowd at one of the events. Cheering him on while he plays soccer or tennis.

And imagine if it was before they were together and he was crushing massively on them. He looks out to see such a big smile and it's aimed at him. It makes his pride surge but also makes that crush much worse. He is in love.

I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

And then I also like to think about them playing with him. Like on his team. He's always casually keeping an eye on them so they don't get hurt but he does get too into the game and sometimes loses track of them.

I love the Bowser stuff you send me, I swear -

Just imagine before they're together, when they wave and cheer him on, Bowser looks away from like a game of tennis and does a small, awkward wave back which results in him being hit in the face with the tennis ball. The whole crowd does the whole collective "oof" as their all wince in Bowser's stead who has no idea what just happened.

Then imagine if his to-be partner is like a first-aider there and they hop on down to tend to him and they bring him into the on sight medical room.

Bowser can't think straight because this human had been cheering him on - out of all the other people playing the games, they chose to cheer for him - and now they're very gently cupping his face and putting ice against the bruise. And he's just like, "no thoughts, head empty."

And then when his to-be partner moves away he just subconsciously chases their hold. Like he'd lean his head into their touch, or he'd lean his body after their hand. And then when he catches himself he just has the goofiest smile on his snout.

And just imagine if his partner is good at the games themselves and Bowser only finds out when he sits out on a game, and they absolutely dominate the competition. Like, winning all the normal sports, or just coming first in all the kart races. He'd be awestruck.

If the two are on the same team, like you said Bowser would keep an eye on them and stuff. But imagine if to his surprise they work perfectly with him. Like, wordless coordination. Power couple energy. His partner can take care of themselves and they can adapt and he's surprised and completely in love with them.

And, and - you know Balloon Battle - just imagine Bowser being in a pickle and then his partner pops up out of nowhere, drifting and everything, and manages to get him out whilst popping some of the opposing team's balloons.

However, if his partner isn't good at sports, just imagine Bowser teaching them. Imagine his tail wagging as he gets to stand close to them, holding their hand in his as he shows them how to hold the racket, or showing them how the karts work. King duties who? Bowser has other priorities now.

[maxium-defense-luigi]

Mario and Luigi as the Creativitwins?

This is probable really niche but I do not care.

Since the amount of bowuigi fanfiction has been slowing down on Ao3 :( I've gone back to reading fanfics for Sanders sides. Which got me thinking about my favorite trash child, Remus, and of course his Twin Roman. Not in an au sort of fashion per se where it follows the plot of SS. Although now as I type I am getting something for that too (Might post it later). I'm mainly referring to the twins origins in the split and their being a Dark and a Light side of the world, for now.

So here's what I've got so far

Mario and Luigi where once a single child, brought to their parents by the storks just after being blessed with the powers of creation like most of the royal kingdoms children were. However their parents were obessesed with perfection and goodness and through a device and experimentation Manage to successfully separate the "Bad" traits (anxiety, nervousness, self doubt) and the "bad" parts of the child's creative powers from the child itself. Leaving them with a mostly whole child that they call Mario and the left over pieces they removed and have discarded into to the forest nearby beyond the boarder to the Dark side of the world.

These "left over's" are discovered by King Boo who painstakingly pieces them together and fills in the gaps with his own magic and the magic from his citizens over a series of months while being chased around by the Light. The result is little Luigi, a three quarter boo child made almost entirely by magic and emotion.

Raised separately, they have very different background and personality's but are forced together in young adulthood whenever the powers of Creation draws them alongside Daisy and Peach to teach them the skills they need as rulers.

Bowser and Luigi are childhood friends turned very happily betrothed in this specific version I've detailed though I do have versions where they meet one another at this school

Bowser is Janus because snake man. Peach is Logan because she's calm and collected. Daisy is Patton because she's up beat and morally headstrong. Mario is Roman obviously. And Luigi is a combo of Virgil and Remus.

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

It took several months, but I FINALLY found a Bowser mini to go with my Mario mini set! In order to get the mini I had to buy a whole Bowser castle play set, unfortunately, but thankfully it was both on sale, and I work with kids who I could give the play set to. It’s a really cool play set and I kinda wish I could have kept it, but it’s too big and I need to downsize my collection anyway. Plus, the kiddos really liked the play set, though they grumbled over the missing Bowser, ha. Kids. Never grateful for anything. 😅😅

Anyway! I’m happy to have finally found an affordable Bowser! I’ve seen the others in the mini sets, but I wasn’t a big fan of the other designs, so this is all of the minis I wanted. They’re now chilling on the base of my computer, looking very rad with my mini guinea pigs, resin glow-in-the-dark ducks, and ceramic cats I got from Japan. :-D

(Also Bowser and Luigi would totally be holding hands if they could. ❤️)

[the-larxist-manifesto]

GameGirl36 ~ Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992)

Can we just admire this box art for a second? Mario games have a knack for the whimsical, but there are few that spark the imagination as bright as this. The fish eye lens gives you the feeling that you're peeping into the world inside your GameBoy; so small that it all fits in this one vortex of action, but so vast that every inch is covered in details to admire and wonder about. Older Mario games in particular tapped into that sense of wonder so effectively because, well... what IS any of this stuff? I've never seen that particular boxing shark before! Why is there another island-sized Mario in the background? The moon is out during the daytime?

We do take for granted how strange the Mario world is to begin with; walking mushroom people probably shouldn't feel so normal to us. But due to how standardized Mario's brand is nowadays, it throws you for a loop to see him jumping off of a bomb turtle in front of his own castle. These details just don't line up with who he's been in the latest games. No, these older Mario games showcase a cartoony, plastic version of Mario that is stretched and squashed to fit whatever mood Nintendo was in that year.

Today, we're talking about one of the masterpieces of the GameBoy. I have played it before, so this entry will be less raw and reaction-based than usual. My goal is to explain what sets this one apart from the other millions of Marios that you could be playing right now.

Take a shot every time I say "Mario" for a fun and moderate drinking game! /j

~Guided tour of Mario Land~

This game feels like playing a Saturday morning cartoon many ways, including the plot. Since the developers were forced to come up with a reason for Mario to be scuttling around in the rafters of your home wearing rabbit ears, they settled on creating a brand new world and villain for this game only. After the events of the first Super Mario Land, Mario returns home(?) to "Mario land." Here, he presumably lives in peace with the giant birds and turtles and toy robot clone of himself in his castle at the center of the island. Just... when did Mario get so bougie? His own island? His own CASTLE? Always thought of him as a more modest guy, myself.

Either way, Mario is met with a nasty surprise when everyone in Mario land turns against him upon his return. Everything he loves is taken away and twisted into a flipped-around funhouse mirror of what he remembers by his arch-rival... Wario. (Yes, this is Wario's introduction to the Mario series as a whole!)

World map included with the game manual!

Okay, so now we have our reasoning as to why everything is so weird, and we have to set it back to normal. I like the larger plot subtext that this game implies about Mario villains—while Bowser often employs brute force with merciless fiery obstacle courses and an organized army, this escapade has Wario written all over it. The enemies feel like scrounged-together mercenaries he purchased on the cheap, and each world is some bizarre head trip; like the whole adventure is a giant prank on Mario. Wario is a truly disturbed little goblin man.

To win the day, Mario must journey to all six zones, defeat their corrupted bosses, and collect the titular six golden coins. Once they are all collected, he can once again enter his castle and beat up the man child that wrecked everything.

UGH, as goofy as it is, I genuinely love cartoony space aesthetics in old games .-~*

YouTube comments, everyone. They're not wrong, though

~Weird to watch, weirder to play~

This adventure does technically follow the typical formula for a Mario platformer, but with some... strange twists. Much like Mario land itself, the controls introduce and remove a lot of staples willy-nilly, in such a way that I never quite felt comfortable controlling it. To be perfectly clear, I like this disorienting and unique effect. It's one of those things that sets classic Mario games apart most from the modern entries. I'm gonna lightning-round the weird changes I'm talking about, exclusive to this one game:

Defeating 100 enemies awards an item, shown by a counter on the HUD

Press select on the file screen for easy mode

The player loses ALL golden coins upon game over

High jump by holding up on the d-pad and jumping

Spin jump by holding down on the d-pad while jumping

Spin jump can open ? blocks from above

Jump continuously by holding the jump button (only with Bunny Mario, though, for some reason)

Neither koopa shell kicks nor continuous enemy jumps award 1-ups (but stars still do!)

Not all of its uniqueness is completely random, however. As you might expect, this game does share some DNA with its direct prequel, Super Mario Land. For example, the game does not freeze when collecting a powerup, instead allowing the player to move while Mario's body stretches or squashes into its new form. The end-of-level goals split into an upper and lower part, with the upper being a skill check that awards the player a powerup minigame. Though most of the soundtrack is original, it borrows some ideas from its predecessor: the invincibility theme similarly differs from The Famous One, and SML2 recycles the unique underground theme from Super Mario Land for the haunted house level! I thought that was a very subtle but neat reference; it's an ambient theme catchy enough to deserve at least two games.

The entire soundtrack sets the golden standard for GB music; pop on this 30 minutes of merry melodies for your next walk

~Lil guys~

Next, I just want to show off some highlights from this game's art style by lining up my favorite lil guys I ran across. SML2 definitely has an all-around Hannah-Barbara type feel, with lots of down-to-earth concepts stylized to look more alive and dynamic. The moon gets moody, the distant islands frown at you, and the tiling of Mario's castle halls have teeny goomba likenesses trapped inside of them.

I'm seriously in love with the stylistic choice of "add tiny eyeballs to otherwise unremarkable background object"

Little witchy tongue~! :P

~Conclusion~

Now, I acknowledge that not every Mario platformer is a remarkable game. I will not be the first or last person to tell you that many entries in the series feel like rehashes of the same ol', same ol'. With all the hundreds of Mario games out there, it can be difficult to sift through and find the most unique and worthwhile ones. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is the game you are looking for. (And if I had to provide a short list, also write down SMB3, SMWorld, NewSMB, and SMBWonder)

Do I recommend it? Yesss please play it!

100% completion of this game only took me 5 hours, so even if it is a waste of your time, at least it's a small amount of your time! ^^; (For completion, by the way, you just have to reach every level exit. There are 38 in total, including secret exits and the bonus levels that you unlock through these secrets)

I fw with the NSO gameboy color and LCD filters

Alright, we're cooking through this row of GB games! Only two games to go... and the next one promises to be unique on a whole different level...

Thank you very much for reading.

~Lark Lyke

[gay-jesus-probably]

So like, last night I stumbled upon your discussions of why a lot of TOTK’s whole… everything is messed up, and it had me thinking about it so much I had troubled sleeping afterwards. So uh, thanks for that lol (/lh). In all seriousness, your takes on how imperialist Hyrule is in this game, how much less like unique cultures the various towns feel like, Ganondorf being both completely flat and also seemingly not meant to be, and how weird it is that Zelda is back in power really put into words a lot of thoughts that had been nagging at me as I’ve been playing. Like, the amount to which the writing has suffered from BOTW is staggering when you actually lay out the problems. Out of curiosity, do you have any idea what the fuck happened? Like did the writing team change? The game had so much potential, as seen by the numerous fan theories/AUs etc. So what went wrong?

Honestly? I have no idea. I'm not usually that big on behind the scenes stuff anyways, and I'll be real here, I went into this game pretty much 100% blind - I didn't even watch any of the trailers, I knew NOTHING about TOTK except from a few details I absorbed from hearing other people talk about online (basically, I knew Ganondorf was going to show up as a talking corpse, Link would lose an arm, and the Master Sword would get rekt).

I rarely buy games as soon as they come out anyways tbh; I can only think of three games that I've actually gone out of my way to get as soon as possible after their release, and that was the 3DS remakes of Superstar Saga and Bowsers Inside Story (two of my favourite games ever, and Superstar Saga having literally been my first RPG), and I picked up the Mario 3D All Stars collection on launch day as a favour to my older sibling (who was stuck at work), and got one for myself in the process. The only reason I bought TOTK like a week after its release was because one of our dogs was literally days away from having a puppy, and so I knew that the next few weeks of my life would be entirely dedicated to keeping the other two dogs busy, assisting mom with the newborn puppy, and just generally being on call to provide literally anything mom needed as soon as she needed it. Which meant a lot of sitting around waiting to be required, and I'd need something to do that I could easily pause at a moments notice. So... new video game seemed a good way to fill the hang time.

And it was a good call, like I said, I've been having loads of fun with this game. There's a reason I've almost got 300 hours of gameplay, and it's not (just) because I haven't had anything better to do in between taking care of dog stuff (though that number is somewhat inflated due to me leaving it open and paused for hours at a time while busy with dog stuff). It's just that the story is a fucking mess.

As for what happened with the story... I have no idea. I've seen some people suggest that they might have been planning something a little more ambitious, and then technical limitations forced them to walk it back, so the story had to be hastily reworked to match. And I've heard that the abilities in TOTK were just ideas they had for BOTW that they couldn't fit in, which honestly I can see - the abilities are cool and all, but let's be real here, they aren't nearly as distinct as the BOTW runes. Magnesis, Cryonis, Stasis and Remote Bombs were unique powers with different uses in different areas; now the powerset is just Recall, Get Around Slightly Faster, Ultrahand, Ultrahand But In Your Inventory, and Ultrahand But Faster. But I don't know if that's actually the case.

But honestly, I really don't know why the writing is so awful. To be fair, some of it is definitely just the English translation team shitting the bed - like come on, they didn't need to have Sidon and Yona repeatedly exchange the exact same line about how he's scared she'll die like Mipha. They could have at least changed the fucking wording to make it sound more natural. And I know that other translation teams managed to inject some more nuance into the story - the French translation actually managed to call Rauru on his imperialist bullshit! For the throne room scene, they had Ganon refer to Rauru with 'vous', the formal form of 'you', but Rauru refers to Ganon with 'tu', the informal form of 'you'. 'Tu' is for use in casual settings or between friends, and if someone is using 'vous' for you, referring to them with 'tu' is a MASSIVE insult; it's very condescending, and implies that you have literally no respect for that person whatsoever, but they should continue treating you as a figure of great authority. To sort of translate that into an English equivalent, it'd be like if Ganon walked into that scene using formal language and referring to Rauru as a fellow King, and Rauru responded by treating Ganon like a small, dumb child. Hugely insulting. Also the vous/tu disparity has a History with French colonialism, so that adds some implications as to what Hyrule's really doing with their 'allies'. And in the scene where Ganon takes the secret stone, the French translation has him say Rauru tried to force him to submit, which is an outright accusation of imperialism (as opposed to the English saying Rauru wanted to control Ganon, which suggests the problem was Rauru thinking he could find a peaceful solution instead of just executing a foreign leader for thought crimes)

So the english translation definitely had the room to put some more nuance into things if the team had wanted to; honestly I kind of wish I knew Japanese so I could compare it to the original script and see if any of the problems I've been bitching about were part of the script from the start, or if the English translators were just particularly bad. But Nintendo is a very conservative company, and Japan is a very conservative country with a serious nationalism problem, so I kind of doubt it, especially since the game portrays Hyrule pretty much the exact same way that Japan is portrayed in propaganda justifying their own imperialism. That... does not suggest the English team went apeshit. That suggests that the awful shit was in the script from the start, and the English team was just totally on board with it.

As for the writing teams... I mean, to be fair it's been like seven years, of course the writing team isn't the exact same as BOTW. But honestly, the main issue is just that they've recycled a lot of old problems from the Zelda games, and somehow stripped them of what little nuance they had before. Like, Ganondorf trying to take over Hyrule because Evil has been an issue since Ocarina of Time (which this game was clearly heavily pulling from), but even though OoT never told us he had a deeper motive, the worldbuilding still showed exactly why he would have such an issue with Hyrule. We knew there had been a bloody civil war only about a decade before Ganon's takeover, we knew that the Gerudo were treated with disdain by Hyrule, and we saw that Hyrule's alliances with the Gorons and Zora were pretty flimsy, and neither race felt like Hyrule actually gave a damn about them. But most importantly of all, OoT gave us the Shadow Temple, a horrific prison meant to inflict unspeakable torture on its captives... all on orders from the Hylian royal family. Hyrule's hands were never clean. We weren't supposed to side with Ganon in OoT, but we were shown a long list of reasons for why he was so pissed off.

Someone else said that TOTK feels like a retelling of OoT that's just pro-Hyrule propaganda, and that's a pretty good summary. I don't know what the fuck Nintendo was thinking, but honestly it kind of seems like they're trying to stick to the formula of Zelda games at all costs, while also making the entire game just a huge 'gotcha' to all the fans that have spent the last 25 years seeing Ganondorf as a sympathetic character with depth and reasonable motivations. I find it ironic that they decided to include the Wind Waker boomerang and shield in the game, considering that the whole game feels like an attempt to get everyone to forget Wind Waker ever happened. That's still the most human we've ever gotten to see Ganondorf - he didn't have many lines in that game, but the ones he did have mattered. At the end of the day, WW Ganondorf wanted to have a better life for his people, and he knew Hyrule would never let that happen. But now apparently Ganon just wants to dropkick puppies into woodchippers, and he doesn't give the slightest hint of a fuck about trying to wipe out the Gerudo people entirely by attacking them with an endless sandstorm plus zombie apocalypse. His only character trait is Evil.

If I want to get really cynical for a minute here, I think it's basically just a cash grab. If your game prompts a moral debate, then it can offend people, which means they won't want to give you money for it. But if it's a simple black and white conflict with no nuance, the fans will love all the right characters in the right way, and everyone will love hyrule and want to see more of it! It's like the fucking MCU; they're not willing to tell a fresh story, or make any serious commentary. They just want something safe and formulaic that has been statistically proven to make money. Fucking cowards.

[smashy-headcanons]

So I watched the Super Mario Movie finally

(Actually I watched it on and off with some friends but wanted to wait until I saw the full thing until I said anything. Also at the time of posting it's actually been like a month and a half oops.)

This does mean that I'll be allowing posts about it (I will make sure to tag spoilers tho).

Many excitements, many concerns, all questions finally answered (for now). Of course, I have many thoughts. Sooo, dump time!

I consider the movieverse to be an AU rather than directly tying to the game universe. Yoshi's Island supports the idea of Mario and Luigi being born in the Mushroom Kingdom (or that universe, anyways) while the movie has them living in a more realistic setting.

As we expected, Jack Black as Bowser? 👌

I originally thought that there would be multiple power stars instead of just the one, and that Bowser would be going kingdom to kingdom to collect them. I feel like it wasn’t given as much importance as it probably should have gotten.

SMB Super Show theme makes a return! They’re really pulling stuff from everywhere.

Just so I don’t sound like a broken record I’ll only say it once. The role for Mario should’ve gone to Charles Martinet. Pratt wasn’t grating but it really did just sound like Just Some Guy the whole time. I get Mario is our isekai protagonist but come on.

Following up on that thought: Good fucking lord the “do you think the accents were a bit much” line pissed me off SO much. Poking fun at your franchise is one thing, but announcing the first movie for the franchise in 30 years, giving the titular character’s voice cast to a guy who sounds nothing like him for the sake of Big Name Actor instead of to his original voice actor, telling people upset at the choice to essentially shut the fuck up, and THEN proceeding to joke about the— Jesus Christ I can’t type this anymore. On to the rest of the review.

Ohhh my god the Bros.' relationship is SO good in this movie. Luigi's adoration of his bro, Mario's adoration but also embarrassment at Luigi bringing up their mom, Mario IMMEDIATELY getting ready to throw hands for Luigi's honor, their MUTUAL protectiveness towards each other, it's all just *chef's kiss*.

When they announced Spike as a character I didn't think it was going to be Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew (good reference tho) I thought Spike was going to be this thing

As unexpected as it came to me, I actually really liked them making Mario the underdog of the family. It adds motive to Mario's eagerness to be Helpful and gives him a good reason to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom at the end. I can also see this attitude shifting to Luigi in the sequel.

Pauline cameo hell yeah.

I actually like Toad in this movie--both his voice AND his role.

I love that they made the Dry Bones so... eerie. I would've liked to see some sentience from them (at least in a later scene), but I can understand that doing so would likely take away from the eeriness.

If you wanna see Mario being a pathetic wet paper towel then you will enjoy this movie.

I have... mixed feelings about this version of Peach. On one hand, I love that she's taking a more proactive role and that we get to see her as both a ruler and protector of the Toads. On the other hand, I'm. not particularly fond of how she treats Mario in the first half. Peach as a character has been defined by amicability and kindness towards both new and familiar people from the beginning, so her initial rudeness doesn't feel very "Peach", if that makes sense. It makes sense that she'd assume Mario to be an enemy, but after that point it stops feeling in-character.

The more serious tone they gave with Bowser was also something to wrap my brain around. Over the course of the games Bowser's been gradually "declawed" as a villain, so I love that they really put emphasis on his cruelty.

I'm surprised they actually touched on Peach's origins, if only briefly.

I love Donkey Kong's portrayal in this movie. A lot of games don't give him much personality beyond "monkey lol" so I love that they took his other personality traits and expanded on those.

Cranky Kong running a kingdom wasn't the role I expected, but it is a fun take that I like.

Wrinkly Kong isn't dead lol

Diddy Kong having to be told to be quiet was a fun touch.

Funky Kong cameo improves my opinion on the movie. However he is hard to get a look at and doesn't have speaking lines, so that score must sadly be reduced a little.

One of the few allusions to Bowser and King Boo's alliance we get. King Boo didn't stick around to help during the fight, but he did make it to the wedding so that was cool.

RIP to King Bob-omb. Poor dude didn't deserve what happened to him 😔

Peaches (the song) was funny but not what it was hyped up to be.

Sequel with Yoshi hinted after the credits 👀

No Bowser Jr. or Koopalings despite everything. I'm wondering if they'll put him in the sequel.

Uhhhh I'm not sure what else I can remember, but this is long enough as it is. I had some nitpicks with it but I did like it despite my complaints.

[sonicasura]

Broken Dreamer and the Seven Stars

One of two Mario/KN8 crossovers that came to mind. This involves Super Mario RPG in particular as the other will revolve around the Fawful Saga of the Mario and Luigi RPGs. Now let's get started.

A mysterious epidemic has slowly began to spread throughout Japan. People falling asleep and never waking up. Every single one stuck in what seems to be an endless nightmare that varies. The only correlation between them were these few words garner by multiple sleep talkers: The stars are breaking.

A few days later, 30 year old Kafka Hibino would mysteriously disappear. There no signs of a break in or the man even leaving his apartment. He simply returned from work and went to bed on the night he would disappear. The only sign that something was a mysterious indent in the mattress, one which eeriely looks something pierced through.

An unconscious Kafka Hibino is soon found by a wandering Shaman and taken to Moleville. Unbeknownst to the unaware populace, this man had been changed if one sees the broken black crystal tattoo etch on his right hand. Well until Kafka freaks out upon waking to a giant talking mole and a seemingly inhuman hooded figure.

The man suddenly transforms into monstrous mole version of himself from sheer fright! It seems that whatever had taken Kafka to this world had grant him the ability to transform and even summon monsters. Taking pity on the man, the Shaman teaches him how to control these powers.

Kafka stays in Moleville for at least a week as he tries to understand what had happened to him. All while helping the townsfolk and learn to control his newfound magic. Believing Kafka is ready the Shaman tells him to seek the Frog Sage at Tadpole Pond for guidance.

The man bids everyone farewell and sets off on his journey. Of course with new gear alongside essentials provided by the townsfolk. The plot of Super Mario RPG truly kicks off once Kafka leaves Moleville. (Can't have him staying there to wait for our heroes.)

Best way to describe Kafka's outfit would be similar to Dynamite Anton's attire from AntonBlast if it was for mining and his starting weapon is a Pickaxe. His starting abilities are: Summon (Shard/Lava Bubble/Cluster), Transform(Buzzer/Mole/Shaman), and Earthshaker(Break the ground around enemies with a Pickaxe.)

He bumps into Mario and Mallow during their first visit to Tadpole Pond. Kafka joins the group on their journey as maybe he could find out what him here. (Plus he wasn't gonna to abandon someone in need especially if it involves missing family and friends.)

You can bet Kafka gets pulled into a lot of shenanigans as he helps Mario's group. There are slight changes with his inclusion. Here are a few that I've gotten so far.

Monstro Town holds a lot more importance when it comes to Kafka. I'm not just talking about his magic either. Will say collecting the Shiny and Extra Shiny Stones have become mandatory into getting him home.

The destruction of Star Road is partly responsible for the epidemic in Kafka's world aka the Shatter Star Coma. A place connected to people's wishes would honestly have more consequences to its destruction. Though there's another string tying to this mysterious epidemic.

Kafka attempts to reform Bowser! Considering how the Koopa King acts, our himbo has faith he can stop the entire 'Capture Princess Peach' status quo. Also Bowser accidentally kisses Kafka during the whole Booster wedding nonsense. (I failed the minigame so Mario got kissed by both Booster and Bowser but this switch up sounds funnier. Although if people ship the Koopa King with Kafka then go for it.)

Our himbo still has his magic and items from the adventure once he returns home. Kafka does experiment with it for two reasons. One is he rather not fall out of practice(it would be disrespectful to the Shaman who helped him.) The second being he could help others with it.

Kafka essentially becomes a vigilante of sorts for the next few years. Since he aged out, the only other way he can standby Mina is through this path. Luckily his transformation magic makes it easier to keep a secret identity.

The Defense Force are clueless when it comes to who or what their new vigilante is. Only thing everyone can come to agree with being his alias: Proteus. (After the elusive Greek God who uses shapeshifting to slip from people's grasp.)

The mystery would truly unravel when Kaiju No.8 makes his debut. (Whether Kafka joins the Defense Force or not is still up in the air though.)

@foolmariofest

[7grandmel]

Todays rips: 31/03/2024

Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Blookerstein

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume C

Ripped by Blookerstein, Sarvéproductions

Requested by themessengervevo! (@themessengervevo)

You KNEW this day was coming. Surely, right? Its March 31st, a landmark day in gaming history. The day that Super Mario died. The day we lost him to time forever. And the day that spawned perhaps the greatest April Fools event on all of SiIvaGunner. For me, its no contest - Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale, and the entire event they were part of, were the absolute highlight of Season 5.

The April Fools events held prior on the channel since their very beginnings with Grand Dad Metropolis had all been presented as complete surprises. That is perhaps a given - it is in the nature of a prank to be surprising - but it's also where the Season 5 event differs most even today, in that its theme was all but known to us well beforehand. Announced on September 3rd of 2020 as part of a bizarre marketing tactic to drive up demand, Nintendo had let us known that their newfangled Mario celebration releases in Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. 35, would both be delisted from sale after March 31st. Super Mario Bros. 35 stung in its own right - it is effectively lost media now as a digital-only, online-only game, but Super Mario 3D All-Stars contained three of Nintendo's most celebrated games, games that had no reason to stop being sold just for a cheap trick. Everyone rightfully denoted how scummy of a tactic this was to drive up sales, but more than that: the imagery of Nintendo celebrating Mario's birthday by killing his games - and by proxy, killing Mario himself - was a joke that online spaces just ran absolutely rampant with. And can you blame them? That IS funny as shit, and reframes Nintendo's slimy marketing into something that makes them look far worse. Because of the joke's sheer prevalence, I had the same thought as many others in the early days of 2021 - there was *no way* that the SiIvaGunner team were blind to the potential this gag had, and how well it lined up with their previous explosive festivities just a day after. By March 29th, they even teased the event's start with three daily rips of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, a game all about impending doom affecting the world in just three days, with each rip featuring the melody of one of the three 3D Mario games in the collection.

And sure enough, the day came. With March 31st, we saw a whole day of nothing but Mario rips and Mario-related jokes in other rips - a last hurrah for his life - all ending with Super 3D All-Stars Music S64 Game Over. Just like that, he was gone - faded from the video, faded from view. Yet few of us could've predicted just how dire things would get.

In SiIvaGunner lore, the term "Figment" refers to the personification a meme or joke on the channel takes, its characterized state - think Mr. Rental in Mr. Rental [B Side] ~ Out of Options or Inspector Gadget in Become as Gadget and throughout his two takeovers. When a figment based on a real human dies, it can easily be reborn - the human itself lives on in the real world, after all, and can recreate the essence of its Figment in a variety of ways. But when a purely fictional Figment dies...its erased from all history. As if it had never existed to begin with, all traces of it are wiped from memory, wiped from the very state of having ever existed. And under Nintendo's very own Gulliotine, this was the fate Super Mario himself succumbed to. As a result every single Super Mario-series rip uploaded in the channel's five-year run, be they Kart, Sports, Paper or just outright Super, was set to private on the SiIvaGunner channel. And as April 1st of 2021 went on, it seemed to be harder and harder to remember the name of that mustachioed man. Had someone like that...ever existed?

I'm certain a lot of what I'm writing here is familiar ground to many of you reading, but I really want to convey just how incredibly well-done this atmosphere was. Throughout April 1st, fifty-five rips were uploaded, many of which featuring games that seemed just...the slighest bit off. The opening to the classic Philips CD-i game "Hotel", where a lone Luigi talks to himself; The underwater music featured in the SNES Launch title "Super World" with a bizarrely-lopsided logo, and most prominently - games like Super M̸̌̊a̴͛̿█̸͌̑i̵̛͊█̷̾̓ 64, Super M̸̌̊a̴͛̿█̸͌̑i̵̛͊█̷̾̓ Sunshine and Super █̴̧̀a̵̤̐r̷̙̋█̶̰̆o̶͚̚ Galaxy, three games that were bound by a strange malfunction in their presentation, as if they're collectively...held back by something. Or someone.

Your Best Nightmario stood out as the centerpiece of it all, with a title yet more bizarrely mangled than the rest - Super 👉█̸͌̑█̷̾̓😁̶̆͠☼̷̇̃👈̸̂͑█̷̾̓█̾̓ 64. Two fingers, pointing toward a desperate smile. It's-a-me. The rip serves as an incredible multi-stage arrangement of Your Worst Nightmare from Undertale, the boss music for Flowey the Flower. Its already incredibly befitting on the surface level - Undertale is at once one of SiIva's most prominently-ripped games, and a game very much about the state of living game characters have, the idea of how characters in games can affect you in a way that makes them worth remembering for all time. And though the rip is initially in line with the instrumentation of the original Ultimate Koopa theme, it uses the segmented style-shifting sections of Your Worst Nightmare to arrange music from other Nintendo platforming games - the ones primarily bound by featuring characters like Luigi, Peach and Bowser within them, but ones where I can't really place my finger on who their protagonist is. As a result of all these styles and the fervent, desperate, downright nightmarish pace of the music, paired with the full-on galactic-scale orchestral sections near the rips end, it truly feels like a hopeless struggle, a plea from an unknown hero to stay alive, to not be forgotten, to not be lost to the sands of time.

The sheer atmosphere conveyed throughout the entire event was primarily carried through these rips, of course, but it cannot be understated just how much of a part the comments section played in it all. There was no confusion - the buildup had been done so well, the gag established so clearly, that EVERYONE was on board with the day's theming in the comments, and "playing along" with the story's theme. Everyone reminisced and had fond memories of all these games - New Super Bros., Luigi: Superstar Saga, Super 64 DS, and more - yet we were all collectively wondering why things felt so different from before. It was the most fun collective gaslighting I've ever been part of.

As the day came to an end, Mario's fate seemed to be set - the entirety of April 2nd was silent, except for one rip that confirmed that even our beloved Gangsta Mario (see Caramariodansen) was lost. Yet on April 3rd, we were all finally met with Bowser's Finale, a direct followup to Your Best Nightmario by its very same ripper. Blookerstein, the legend behind The expanse of meme in past was split, A fiendish trap has now been set; Behind a tree the villains sit, Terror of sport, the Robbie's Net., this time aided by Sarvéproductions of Goodbye To Love fame, created the absolute perfect way to round out the event - a return to the desperate battle that had once seemed lost, now with the music of Finale instead of Your Worst Nightmare to indicate the turning of the tides - that this legend, nay, SUPER MARIO, was not going to give up. This figment did not deserve to leave us - and Bowser's Finale was his last stand. The excitement in the air, in the comments section, was palpable.

Finale is already an incredible theme, and one that some of us even have some emotional attachment to in the context of SiIva - remember Aphex all the way back in Season 1? Bowser's Finale leverages those feelings, and the theming set up throughout the event as a whole, to incredible effect, with the same structure of going through the styles of various Mario music to rising dramatic effect. Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy - the first two using songs like Slider and A Secret Course that are beloved by so many SiIvaGunner viewers, the third hitting a emotional gutpunch in its orchestral instrumentation, and all three bound together as the games that started this whole thing, the games part of the 3D All-Stars collection. It is with no exaggeration a pitch-perfect rendition of this idea, better than anything I could've ever anticipated before the event began - once again only elevated through the sheer sense of community the entire comments section held through it all, cheering Mario on, collectively remembering his existence - fighting to bring this lost figment back to reality.

Y'know, I've been critical of Season 5 in the past - it is likely still the Season of the channel I was "least" invested in taken on the whole. That is in large part due to its lack of ties to the channel's ongoing lore, as it was focused primarily on self-contained events just like this one. But GOD, those events. I still see people online today who are less in touch with what SiIvaGunner does, who cite this event - "The Disappearance of Super Mario", as some call it - as the absolute peak of SiIvaGunner's output past the Season 1 finale. I wouldn't necessarily agree - but the event was undoubtedly unforgettable, at once an incredible execution of a long-anticipated bit, surprisingly emotionally gripping, whilst also being subtly tied to the very canon and theming of the SiIvaGunner channel itself. I chose to highlight Your Best Nightmario and Bowser's Finale in particular today, but I emplore you to go watch the entire event yourself through the fanmade YouTube playlists - if nothing else to see just how committed to the bit everyone involved truly was.

But don't forget: There's more to this tale yet to be retold.