The 'Shroom:Issue 204/Pipe Plaza

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
PipePlazaBanner.png

Director's Notes

Written by: Zange (talk)

Shroom2019 Zange.png

I LIVED

Happy March everyone! To those of you currently or about to go on spring break, I hope it's a very peaceful time for you! I've been up to shenanigans (aka trying to figure out what I'm even doing over the summer and trying to secure a job after graduation) so I definitely haven't been bored to death anyways!

Bit of a small collection this month but it's all still great! Remember that you, too, can become a writer of great Shroom sections! Just go to the sign up page to find out more!

Enjoy the rest of your month ^^

Section of the Month

PIPE PLAZA SECTION OF THE MONTH
Place Section Votes % Writer
1st The People of Isle Delfino 12 54.55% Hooded Pitohui (talk)
2nd Forgotten Stars of a Golden Age 4 18.18% Shoey (talk)
3rd What's in a Campaign? 3 13.64% Shoey (talk)
3rd Mario Calendar 3 13.64% GPM1000 (talk)
News and information
Mario Calendar
GPM1000 (talk)
Find out all about this month's Super Mario releases.
read more
Poll Committee Discussion
Fun With Despair (talk)
The final analysis from the 13th Poll Committee!
read more
Archie Sonic Comic Shoebox
Shoey (talk)
Ixis-nay on the Naugus-hey wait, this isn't pig Latin!
read more
The 'Shroom Report
Waluigi Time (talk)
All the latest writers and all the milestones of the current ones.
read more
What's in a Campaign?
Shoey (talk)
The Pride of Germany in this month's war!
read more

Mario Calendar

Written by: GPM1000 (talk)

Hey everyone, welcome to Mario Calendar! I feel like I'm saying this month after month, but this one's gonna be a quick one… time so often gets the best of me! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Region Abbreviations

Abb. Region
ALL All Regions (JP/NA/EU/AU)
JP Japan
NA North America
EU Europe
AU Oceania/Australia
SK South Korea
CHN China
UK United Kingdom

Console Abbreviations

Abb. Console
NES Nintendo Entertainment System
Famicom Family Computer Disk System
SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System
N64 Nintendo 64
GC Nintendo GameCube
GB Game Boy
GBC Game Boy Color
GBA Game Boy Advance
DS Nintendo DS
3DS Nintendo 3DS
Switch Nintendo Switch
Wii VC Nintendo Wii Virtual Console
3DS VC Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console
Wii U VC Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console
VB Virtual Boy
G&W Game and Watch
64DD Nintendo 64 Disk Drive
MS-DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System
CD-i Philips CD-i
IQ iQue Player
NVS Nvidia Shield
ACPC Amstrad CPC
ZX ZX Spectrum
Coleco Colecovision
TI-99 Texas Instruments TI-99/4A

So, the big headline this month is definitely the release of Princess Peach: Showtime! With university constantly throwing obstacles at me, I haven't had much of a chance to check out this game besides the reveal trailer. I think it's high time that Princess Peach has another solo outing, as the last one that I can recall is Super Princess Peach back in 2005 - it's been almost 20 years! I find it crazy that, out of all the spin-off characters that Nintendo has pushed in their own games over the years, Peach has been overlooked for so long. Happy to see that changing!

Also, I want to get everyone's opinion on something. I've said just about everything there is to say about each month of the year when it comes to Mario games, which makes analyzing them slightly difficult. I love writing this, and I don't want to seem like a broken record month after month. Is there a different angle you'd like me to analyze them from, or something else you'd like to see here entirely? Let me know!

Anyways, I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your month, and I'll see you in April!

Poll Committee Discussion

Written by: Fun With Despair (talk)

13th Poll Committee Banner

Well, this is it, isn't it?

A new election is underway, and as such, the next Poll Committee is about to take power. It's been fun. Not perfect by any means, but fun. There's been a couple lessons learned - never tack on an extra half-year to your PC's term because everyone starts to get exhausted, for one - but between our polls and the Poll Committee Discussion articles our team has written, I hope you've enjoyed our time together nonetheless.

Well, enough of that. Let's get into it, one last time.

Archives

Since Mario Kart Tour will no longer have new content added, no Mario mobile games are known to be in active development. How should Nintendo proceed? - (Waluigi Time (talk), December 18th, 2023)

Since Mario Kart Tour will no longer have new content added, no Mario mobile games are known to be in active development. How should Nintendo proceed?

I would like to see Nintendo create a new Super Mario game for mobile devices, as long as it doesn't have gacha mechanics. 35.75% (2256 votes)
I would not like to see any more Super Mario games on mobile devices, and would prefer if Nintendo exclusively made games for their own consoles. 21.43% (1352 votes)
I would like to see Nintendo create a new Super Mario game for mobile devices in any form it takes. 16.56% (1045 votes)
I would not like to see any more Super Mario games on mobile devices, but I would like to see them available on other consoles or PCs. 12.16% (767 votes)
I have no opinion. 9.76% (616 votes)
I would like Nintendo to return to making more content for their existing Super Mario mobile games. 4.43% (274 votes)
Total Votes: 6,310

'How would you feel about a sequel or spin-off to The Super Mario Bros. Movie? (Cosmic Cowboy (talk), Feb 11th, 2024)

How would you feel about a sequel or spin-off to The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

I would greatly enjoy either a sequel or spin-off. 58.35% (3494 votes)
I would prefer a sequel. 24.7% (1479 votes)
I have no opinion. 5.48% (328 votes)
I would prefer a spin-off. 5.43% (325 votes)
I do not want either a sequel or spin-off. 4.14% (248 votes)
I would prefer a sequel in another medium, such as a game or comic book. 0.95% (57 votes)
I would prefer a spin-off in another medium, such as a game or comic book. 0.95% (57 votes)
Total Votes: 5,988

Analysis

Since Mario Kart Tour will no longer have new content added, no Mario mobile games are known to be in active development. How should Nintendo proceed?

Little do they know, they cheer for the root of all evil itself.

Oh boy, look at me now. The resident mobile game hater, forced to talk about this not just once (on the forum) but now again, months later. Go ahead, kick me on the way out, why don't you?

I'm kidding, of course. Still, my own take on the subject may differ from some, so take my madman ravings with a grain of salt. It's interesting to think about it, really. For the past 8(!) years, Nintendo has had some degree of a mobile presence, and while their first offering in Super Mario Run isn't really anything particularly unique, it does mark the beginning of an era for Nintendo, and their first major foray into publishing on third-party devices.

While Super Mario Run was a relatively well-received, non-controversial game due to it just being a game that you can buy and then play with no strings attached, Nintendo's other offerings - while more ambitious - ended up very divisive due to their monetization. Mario Kart Tour and Dr. Mario World relied heavily on gacha mechanics and microtransactions. This by the way, is what I don't like about mobile games. While there are games that feature these means of monetization that aren't particularly predatory or expensive, Mario Kart Tour was known for being pretty infamous in this regard.

And, what do you know? 35.75% of our voters, the largest percentage by far, seems to agree that they don't want gacha mechanics anywhere near their Mario games, even if they find the mobile platform appealing. Totally understandable stuff here, I completely agree. I don't really like mobile controls much for games in general, but the platform is not inherently bad by any degree outside of the scummy monetization it tends to rely on. More games like Super Mario Run that you can just pay for and then play? Sounds fine to me. 16.56% of you guys seem to disagree though, and would rather just have a Mario game on mobile in any form, gacha or otherwise. You know what? Fair enough.

21.43% of voters would rather just have Mario stick to console though, and that's an agreeable take from my end. I don't have anything against a Mario game on mobile if it isn't leeching your wallet like a digital parasite, but I don't really see what mobile as a platform adds to the experience at all that wouldn't be better served by a console. 12.16% of you took this one step further though, and would rather have Nintendo skip mobile entirely and just go multiplat, putting out games for other consoles. Ballsy, I'll say that, but hard to argue with, especially nowadays as the Switch begins to show its age and limitations, hindering even some first-party games.

4.43%, meanwhile, would rather have them just continue to update their existing games. This is an option that's, in my opinion, pretty easy to understand especially if someone's already invested a significant amount of time or money in these games and would like to keep them alive. Can't fault you for this, especially with how monetization-heavy these games are. I think it's unlikely though, for Nintendo to follow this road. Should Nintendo continue to pursue mobile, then time has shown that there's more money to be made on new games, with new skins and new characters and new maps and new things to spend way too much money on.

At the very end of the day though, the 9.76% who just don't care… I'd say they maybe have the right idea. As long as it's not impacting the release of new console games in the franchise, who really cares? Might as well wait and see. Whether it's a fairly priced, entertaining game, or whether it's "Super Mario Robs You At Gunpoint", it's probably not affecting the development of actual, real games - and if it sucks, then you can just pretend it doesn't exist and laugh at the suckers who spend money on it, like any mature adult would.


How would you feel about a sequel or spin-off to The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

huh oh wow i wonder if theres going to be a sequel, hmm quite a conundrum…

I'll keep it real here, this article's being written after the sequel was already confirmed - though the poll went up prior to that confirmation by a large degree. I doubt anyone didn't expect a sequel though, I mean The Super Mario Bros. Movie made like a trillion dollars and it had a post-credits tease. Obviously it was coming.

It doesn't really seem like anyone minds though. The movie was a huge success, and while it's largely considered at least somewhat flawed in terms of pacing and character development, it's viewed mostly positively among fans despite that. Whether due to the mountains of fanservice or Jack Black's Bowser existing, the people love it. 58.35% of the people, in fact, are hyped for a sequel or spinoff, with 24.70% preferring just a sequel.

Now, I'm a grown man. The Mario movie is obviously for kids, but there was a basic level of care put into it that made me… mostly enjoy it. I don't even know if I'd necessarily say I thought it was good, but I had fun watching it. I think that if they made a sequel, or a spinoff about Donkey Kong or Luigi or something, it actually COULD turn out to be good if they listen to criticism and put a bit more effort into the story and characters. Personally, I'm a bit more interested in the idea of a spinoff than a direct sequel, because I don't exactly think Chris Pratt Mario is a particularly engaging character, but I do think a Donkey Kong Country or Luigi's Mansion movie could be fun.

Only 5.43% of people agree with me on that front though, so you know what? Fine, take your sequel. See if I care!

4.14% don't want either a spinoff or a sequel though, which is interesting. If I had to guess, the vast majority of these voters probably just didn't like the movie, which is fine. I probably wouldn't want a sequel in that case either. While I think there's plenty of room for improvement to where they could actually put out a genuinely good movie, if I was in a position where the movie really pissed me off, I can't imagine I'd feel the same way.

Finally, in a… shockingly rare perfect tie, especially considering the relation of these questions, 0.95% - a small minority - of our voters would like a sequel or a spinoff (these were two separate questions!) in another form, such as a video game or comic book. I can see why this was such a small fraction of the votes, to be honest. While I think a video game based on the movie could be interesting, I also don't think it's something that's going to be anything near the level of quality of Nintendo's mainline titles. A comic probably wouldn't be much better. Some media is successful at carrying on in comic form, but I don't think the Super Mario Bros. Movie actually has enough substance to carry something like that.

Conclusion

Aaaaand that's it for Committee #13. Next time, you'll probably be seeing a new committee, a new writer, and plenty of new polls posted to the main page.

I've… written a lot of these by now. I think it's fun. Maybe one day, we'll meet again and I'll write another, but until then, I'd like to thank Waluigi Time (talk) and Hooded Pitohui (talk) for picking up some slack when I was very busy as of late. You guys rule.

Anyway, it's time for someone new to carry the torch, so I'll bid you all one last farewell. Goodbye, everyone - and don't forget to vote.

Archie Sonic Comic Shoebox

Written by: Shoey (talk)

Hello, and welcome back to the Archie Sonic Comic Shoebox a 'Shroom section where we look at various Pre-Genesis Wave stories from the Archie Sonic comic book. In issue 202, we covered the life and times of important character Nate Morgan. This month, we'll be skipping quite a bit forward in the comic's lore as we cover the accession to the throne of Mobotropolis by Ixis Naugus, rightful King of Mobotropolis.

But before we get into that story, first have a little bit of explanation on who Ixis Naugus is. Ixis Naugus is one of the many characters who first appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon. Only making one proper appearance in the cartoon, Ixis Naugus, while intended to be a secondary villain, never actually gets to do anything evil. Instead, his only role sees him trap Sonic and friends in the Void (which is what the Zone of Silence is called in the cartoon). Why? He intends to use Sonic's speed to free him from the Void. Interestingly, despite this being a dick move, he doesn't really do anything evil. When Sonic does free him from the Void, not only does Ixis Naugus let Sonic and his friends escape, but he also allows Sonic to free the Acorn King as thanks for helping him! He then goes after Robotnik because Robotnik was the one who sealed him in the Void in the first place, back when Robotnik (who was originally Ixis Naugus' apprentice) betrayed him! Sadly, after going after Robotnik, he then had to return to the Void because his (and the king's) bodies had adjusted to the Void and couldn't survive outside of it.

Now, despite not actually really being evil in the cartoon, the intent was always that Ixis Naugus would become a villain. At the end of Season 2, Snively Robotnik, having survived the Doomsday Project, declares his intent to take over the world, adding that he's brought somebody along to help him while a pair of red eyes appear in the background.

The Red Eyes of the Wizard

This mysterious ally was intended to be Ixis Naugus, who, along with Snively Robotnik, would be the main villains of at least part of season 3. However, with the show being canceled, those plans would, sadly, never come to pass.

In the comics, Ixis Naugus is quite the different character. For starters, he's no longer connected to Dr. Robotnik in any way, having been sealed in the void (here called the Zone of Silence) before Dr. Robotnik came to Mobotropolis. Instead, Ixis Naugus is established as a dreaded villain from the start, having once served under the royal family at least somewhat faithfully before betraying them and helping to start the Great War with his hate magic as part of a plan to discredit important character Nate Morgan.

Ixis Naugus flees in his own realm!

Unfortunately for Ixis Naugus, he wound up trapped in the Zone of Silence after being himself betrayed by Warlord Kodos. Luckily for Ixis Naugus, he actually had control over the Zone of Silence, allowing him to be spared its horrible effects.

I'd say Ixis Naugus is probably the second most important villain in the comic. He's behind Dr. Robotnik/Robo-Robotnik/Dr. Eggman obviously, but he's more important and more prominent than fellow secondary antagonists like the Iron Queen and my beloved Mammoth Mogul!

Anyways, eventually in issue 53, Ixis Naugus manages to escape the Zone of Silence along with Warlord Kodos and the spider ninja Uma Arachnis. It would later be revealed that Ixis Naugus was able to escape thanks to Geoffry St. John sabotaging a probe that was launched into the Zone of Silence in hopes that it could find information that could help rescue King Max from the crystallization that prolonged exposure to the Zone of Silence caused to spread over his body. Upon escaping, Ixis Naugus and co. immediately attack the Freedom Fighters, with Ixis Naugus claiming to be the rightful King of Mobotropolis!

The Freedom Fighters manage to escape and are pursued by Ixis Naugus, who confidently claims they will learn the truth from Max, the so-called king. Back at the hospital where King Max is recovering, Sonic and Princess Sally tell him the story, and here King Max shockingly reveals that Ixis Naugus is in fact the rightful ruler of Mobotropolis!

King Max acknowledges the truth of Ixis Naugus' claim.

King Max reveals that when he was in the Zone of Silence, the harshness of the environment began causing him to lose his will to live and that it was only thanks to the intervention of Ixis Naugus that King Max was able to survive at all! He also reveals that the crystallization that was happening to him was occurring not because of prolonged exposure to the Zone of Silence, but rather because of prolonged exposure to Ixis Naugus' magic. The King goes on to explain that, in return for Ixis Naugus keeping him alive, he had to swear an oath of fidelity to Ixis Naugus, promising him the throne if they ever escaped the Zone of Silence! I'd like to point out that Ixis Naugus is the true king! He didn't trap King Max in the Zone of Silence. He offered a service and the King accepted it! He's completely correct in saying he's the rightful ruler!

Unfortunately for Ixis Naugus, true king of Mobotropolis, the Freedom Fighters don't care at all for truth and justice apparently, with Princess Sally declaring that Ixis Naugus can get lost. Then, after a long series of events we covered last month, Ixis Naugus ends up trapped once again in the Zone of Silence thanks to important character Nate Morgan. Oh, by the way, because I don't know if I'll ever cover it in more detail, Warlord Kodos and Spider Ninja Uma Arachnis die from toxic poison or something!

More stuff happens with Ixis Naugus, but for the purposes of this section we're going to skip all the way to issue 163. In issue 163 Ixis Naugus, who at that point has the Sword of Acorns after it was given to him by Uma Arachnis's stupid children, returns and is up to no good, seeking the Crown of Acorn as part of this dumbfuck "Source of All" nonsense. Ixis Naugus and his spider minions end up pledging their allegiance to best character Mammoth Mogul after Mammoth Mogul reveals that he was the one who created the order of Ixis, making him, essentially, Ixis Naugus's master.

Ixis Naugus swearing fidelity to Mammoth Mogul, the best character.

Oh yeah! Ixis isn't actually Ixis Naugus' first name. It's the name of the order he belongs to! But don't worry, because we'll get to that in another issue someday!

Anyways, this partnership does not work out as planned, with Dr. Eggman capturing both villains and their minions and locking them in the Egg Grape Chambers. While in the Egg Grapes, Mammoth Mogul briefly uses his overwhelming power to protect the spider clan and Ixis Naugus, but eventually he just doesn't have the power to keep it up, so he lets the spider clan die. He was in the process of leaving Ixis Naugus to die too when the two were freed from the Egg Grape Chambers. But as issue 173 would reveal, this left Ixis Naugus' mind shattered, and he was reduced to basically a beast.

The proud Ixis Naugus, reduced to a feral beast

From here, Ixis Naugus would basically remain the pet of Mammoth Mogul until issue 219, where this month's story begins proper! In issue 219, Geoffry St. John, leader of King Acorn's Secret Service, summons Sonic to the Acorn Castle. There, he tells Sonic how former King Max has commanded them to find a way to restore the Acorn Monarchy to its proper authority. As a bit of backstory, the Acorn Monarchy had been reduced from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy during the events of issue 178 and 179 (we'll get there). This is allegedly why Geoffry St. John is on this mission of restoration.

Geoffry St. John convinces Sonic to join him in entering the Special World to hunt for a Chaos Emerald. While Sonic is skeptical, Geoffry St. John wins him over telling him that they won't really try and restore the monarchy to the old ways, but that having a Chaos Emerald will make the sick king feel better and that it would be good to have a Chaos Emerald anyways.

Entering the Special World through the special portal technology they have, Sonic and Geoffry St. John come face to face with the guardian of the Special World, a giant Panda named Feist (don't worry, we'll circle back to this someday). At first Feist is angry that they intruded on his domain, but luckily Feist loves Sonic like all the good boys and girls do. Because Feist loves games almost as much as he loves Sonic, he allows the duo to play a game with a Chaos Emerald as the prize. Geoffry St. John then ups the ante, convincing Feist to make it a competition between him and Sonic with the winner getting the Chaos Emerald. Sonic is outraged, but Geoffry St. John assures Sonic that he's just doing this to keep Feist happy and that a little friendly competition won't hurt anybody! Sonic agrees and the two of them finally bury the hatchet, ending their long-running feud.

As for the challenge, Feist sets up a sick ass race, with the winner getting a Chaos Emerald. Obviously, Sonic, the fastest thing alive, wins the race and the Chaos Emerald but, uh, for some reason Geoffry St. John doesn't even try to compete. After the race, Sonic gives Geoffrey St. John a little good-natured ribbing over this, and then Geoffry St. John fucking shoots Sonic in the back, stunning him before punching him in the face and stealing the Chaos Emerald, much to Feist's delight.

Geoffry St. John betrays Sonic.

With the Chaos Emerald in hand and Sonic trapped in the Special World, Geoffry St. John rides to Mammoth Mogul's casino, bursting through his guards and demanding to see Mammoth Mogul. Mammoth Mogul informs him that he is retired from active evil and has neither the need for another Chaos Emerald nor the chips to cash one anyways. Geoffry St. John dismisses Mammoth Mogul, telling him that he's not here for him, but rather that this Chaos Emerald will be the last thing he needs to restore the rightful king to the throne!

Geoffry St. John tells Mammoth Mogul that, with this Chaos Emerald, he can restore Ixis Naugus' sanity, allowing him to take the throne that's rightfully his. At first Mammoth Mogul is reluctant to allow Geoffry St. John to restore Ixis Naugus' sanity. After all, if Ixis Naugus is restored, then that's just another challenger Mammoth Mogul might have to contend with someday. But Geoffry manages to convince Mammoth Mogul to give up his pet by pointing out three things:

  1. Mammoth Mogul has already proven to be far more powerful than Ixis Naugus, even with a Ixis Naugus wielding a Chaos Emerald.
  2. A destabilized Mobotropolis could prove quite fruitful for Mammoth Mogul's casino business.
  3. It would really tick Sonic off.

With these points (especially the third) in mind, Mammoth Mogul allows Geoffrey St. John to attempt to restore Ixis Naugus' mind.

Ixis Naugus' sanity restored

Upon making contact with the power of the Chaos Emerald, Ixis Naugus' mind is restored and he immediately adds the Chaos Emerald to his command before letting out a powerful boast:

Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no one look to the sky with hope! Let this day be cursed for those who witness the return of Ixis Naugus!

Now you'd think hearing these decidedly evil words would make Geoffry St. John have second thoughts about making Ixis Naugus into the king. But, well, you'd be wrong! Of course, Ixis Naugus is furious at Geoffrey St. John for his years of failing to gain him the throne and for the fact that the Acorn family still control the throne, but Geoffry St. John points out that the kingdom still stands for Ixis Naugus to rule and that the royal family was needed for stability. Mammoth Mogul interrupts the argument, pointing out that Geoffry St. John brought Ixis Naugus a Chaos Emerald and that he should be thankful for that. Ixis Naugus decides to drop the matter for now and tells Geoffry St. John that they must prepare for taking the throne and defeating the quickster, only for Geoffry St. John to reply that he already took care of Sonic by shooting him in the back, much to delight of both Ixis Naugus and Mammoth Mogul.

And with that Ixis Naugus forgives Geoffry St. John.

This is a pretty good time to point out there's no build-up to Geoffry St. John being a supporter of Ixis Naugus. Geoffry St. John had always been a sort of inconsistent character to this point, but he'd always been portrayed as mostly loyal to the Acorn royal family. So, like, him becoming a traitor literally comes out of nowhere! While a later chapter would explain that yes, Geoffry St. John had always been secretly working for Ixis Naugus, that doesn't change the fact that there's zero hints to that in the comic proper. It's pretty sloppy writing, honestly, and Ian Flynn would admit that the reason Geoffry St. John became an Ixis Naugus supporter was to explain his inconsistent character portrayal. But, like, explanations aside, this is kind of nonsense. I'm pretty sure Geoffry has helped defeat Ixis Naugus multiple times to this point, so it's not like he wouldn't know Ixis Naugus' nature by this point canonically speaking. It's honestly reads as a case of having a twist just to have a twist, because it's pretty sloppy.

So you might be wondering "how in the hell does Ixis Naugus, a known villain who has attempted to conquer the world multiple times, possibly become king?". Well, it's actually a super well-done story that ties into multiple different Sonic arcs!

For starters, the city is already on edge, with many having become distrustful of Nicole, an AI that is in charge of the city who is being used for defense as well as maintaining the structural integrity of the city. You, see in chapter 208, the Iron Dominion (another evil organization) invaded and the Iron Queen, who has the power to control technology, took control of Nicole, using her to take control of the city. While the Freedom Fighters would eventually defeat the Iron Dominion (duh) and restore Nicole to her helpful proper functions, many of the citizens are justifiably on edge and wary of her.

One of these concerned citizens is Mina Mongoose, a famous rock star who convinces her band to play a song about how they don't need Nicole and how they can protect themselves. But unbeknownst to everybody, Geoffrey St. John and Ixis Naugus had snuck into the city. The two of them, hidden in the concert hall, see an opportunity, with Ixis Naugus deciding to speed up Geoffry St. John's plan to gain him the throne. How does he plan on doing this? Why, by using his magic to amplify everyone's feelings to create another plague of hate and fear against Nicole. This is similar to what he did during the Great War, and he even acknowledges as much in front of Geoffrey St. John! He tells Geoffrey St. John that, by the time he's done, the people won't just want reform, they'll be baying for blood.

Ixis Naugus stirs the pot.

I'd like to point out that is not a thing a good king would say! Like, here's the issue for me and why I think Geoffry St. John's role doesn't really make sense. Geoffry St. John is not supposed to be evil! He genuinely believes that Ixis Naugus could be a true and just king who could make the kingdom stronger. But… like… how is that possible? Ixis Naugus literally does nothing but make evil proclamations and do evil actions. Why does he think he'd be a good king?

Unfortunately, it's on that burning question where we're going to stop for this month. You see, I wrote this originally as a one-parter, but then staring down being 90% done and seeing the section was already 4,500 words, I decided to split it into two parts. So, with the population of Mobotropolis on edge and "baying for blood" as Ixis Naugus says, we leave off. Join us next edition as we look at the rest of Geoffry St. John's master plan to make Ixis Naugus the King of Mobotropolis,

The 'Shroom Report

Written by: Waluigi Time (talk)

Hey, I've got a joke for you. Why did the chicken cross the road? To write 'Shroom sections on the other side so it could appear in The 'Shroom Report! Okay, okay, that may not have been one of my better comedic endeavors. Maybe I should just go back to talking about cereal. Anyway, here's the scoop on Issue 203! Thanks as always go to Meta Knight for maintaining our spreadsheets, of course.

As a reminder, here's how this works:

​
  • First-Time Writers lists everyone who wrote their first section for The 'Shroom in the previous issue.
  • Milestones covers certain section numbers reached in the previous issue. Writers are mentioned for every 10 sections written in a team and every 50 sections written overall, teams are mentioned for every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom itself is mentioned for every 500 sections.
  • Most Sections Written lists the current all-time record holders.
First-Time Writers
Writer Section
Sparks (talk) Movie Review
Milestones
Writer Milestone
FunkyK38 (talk) 80 Fun Stuff sections
Hooded Pitohui (talk) 90 Strategy Wing sections
Waluigi Time (talk) 20 Pipe Plaza sections
300 overall sections
Most Sections Written
Team Writer Number of Sections
Main/Staff Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) 142
Fake News MCD (talk) 148
Fun Stuff Shoey (talk) 132
Palette Swap FunkyK38 (talk) 193
Pipe Plaza Yoshi876 (talk) 128
Critic Corner Hypnotoad (talk) 178
Strategy Wing Yoshi876 (talk) 115
Overall Yoshi876 (talk) 747
'Shroom Trivia
Excluding staff sections, only six sections have appeared more than 100 times - Obituaries and TV Tomorrow in Fake News; Hiding Koopa, Quiz, and Trivia in Fun Stuff; and What's on the Box? in Palette Swap. What's on the Box? has been written by twelve users over time, the most of any of these sections. Obituaries and Hiding Koopa have the fewest, with only four different writers each.

What's in a Campaign?

Written by: Shoey (talk)

Hello and welcome to another What's in a Campaign?, Pipe Plaza's premier robot combat section specializing in coverage of the hit BBC show Robot Wars. Last month, we looked at the tremendous Series 5 run of Wild Thing. This month, we're going to be looking at a robot from one of the more neglected series of Robot Wars. I did the math and figured out that, outside of Series 1 and Series 2 (whose formats honestly make them a little hard to cover, since they're not completely combat-based and have multiple non-combat stages), I've covered Series 6 less than any other series, with only three Series 6 campaigns covered so far (those being Spawn Again, Barber-Ous, and 259). So this month we're going to be covering the Dutch robot Das Gepäck, who represented Germany during the Series 6 UK vs Germany Special.

The pride of GermaNethermy

That's right! I said Das Gepäck, a machine that competed in the second Dutch Robot Wars series, represented the flag of the Fatherland during the Series 6 UK vs Germany Special. The reason for this is actually pretty simple. Quite simply, they didn't have enough German robots who tried to enter.

This, by the way, was a recurring theme with Robot Wars. Mentron made multiple attempts to make a German spin-off of Robot Wars. The first one was canceled when only four robots entered. But luckily for those roboteers, despite their series being canceled, they were invited to appear on an episode of Robot Wars: Extreme 1 for a special German melee, which I honestly think was pretty nice of Mentron to do. The other attempt at a German Robot Wars did successfully get made, but it only had twelve robots enter! And they weren't even all German! Only nine of the twelve were German, with the other three consisting of two robots from the Netherlands and one from Switzerland!

It wasn't a great fight, but it was a nice thing to do!

This lack of German bots would bleed over into the UK vs Germany Special, with only two of the four German bots actually being German! Das Gepäck, as stated, was from the Netherlands, and the other bot was a loanerbot named Dynamite which I think was probably built in the UK!

Anyways, on to our robot of the month! Built by Peter Koene and Kees Sicking, Das Gepäck originally started out life as the original version of the Alien Destroyer, a robot that competed with little success in the first Dutch Robot Wars, scoring a win in its first-round fight with future Dutch Robot Wars Grand Finalist Scraptosaur before falling in the second round to another future Dutch Robot Wars Grand Finalist named Twisted Metal.

The original Das Gepäck

Das Gepäck is honestly a somewhat stripped-down Dutch version of Tornado. A six-wheel invertible (runs both ways up) box on wheels, powered by four 750w motors, Das Gepäck has a top speed of 20mph hour. For weaponry, it has twin spikes at the front. So while Das Gepäck doesn't have great weaponry (with static spikes being super outdated weapons by this point), it does have a high top speed and powerful motors, giving it good ramming and pushing power. With the bot painted to look like the The Luggage, a ferocious many-legged magical chest from the Discworld book series, the team claimed that the robot had magical properties and punctuated that by dressing like wizards.

Originally built for the second Dutch Robot Wars, Das Gepäck lost its first-round fight to Gravity, a robot that would go on to finish in the top eight of Robot Wars Series 7, but Das Gepäck would get a second chance with the UK vs Germany Special! As mentioned before, since there was a clear lack of German robots and since a special titled "UK vs Netherlands" doesn't have quite the hook that "UK vs Germany" does (sorry, LTQ), Das Gepäck was brought in to fill out the German side of the competition.

As an aside, I want to talk about how the UK vs Germany Special stood out. Robot Wars had a lot of different internationally-themed specials, and this is one of the most balanced ones. In most of them, the UK representatives were top-tier robots like Razer, Tornado, and Chaos 2. In only a few of them, like Series 4's War of Independence, did it feel like there was an actual effort to make sure the sides were balanced. The UK vs Germany Special, though, is probably (next to the War of Independence) the most balanced of the international specials. While it features some pretty decent UK robots, none of them are world beaters like in previous specials.

The structure of this special was pretty simple. It was an eight-robot tournament where four UK robots and four German robots competed in separate brackets of 1v1 matches. The winner of those two brackets would meet in the final match and fight for the glory of their countries. Well-balanced and straightforwardly-structured, any robot had a chance to rise to the top here! So now that we've covered all the background, let's see how Das Gepäck fared!

As a reminder, all pictures are sourced from the fantastic Robot Wars Wiki. If you'd like to watch any of these fights, check out this video. Timestamps are provided in the section.

Das Gepäck's first fight (1:23) is against the walkerbot known as Ansgar's Revenge. Das Gepäck starts off with a great showing of its speed and power, getting to the back of Ansgar and shoving it into the circular saw of Dead Metal. This isn't an easy feat, by the way, because, as a walkerbot, Ansgar's Revenge was allowed to weigh two times the weight limit and took full advantage of that exception, weighing 200kg. Despite this, Das Gepäck has no trouble at all pushing it around. With Ansgar's Revenge stuck in the clutches of Dead Metal, Das Gepäck begins slamming into Ansgar's Revenge multiple times, building up a full head of steam and throwing itself at the prone bot. By this point, Ansgar's Revenge is barely limping along, and Sir Killalot drags the machine to the middle of the ring as Das Gepäck hits the pit release button.

You know, I'm not sure if I know what the angle grinders actually do?

Das Gepäck then shoves Ansgar's Revenge into the angle grinder before repeatedly ramming it. Ansgar's Revenge shows a little sign of life, managing to get out of the way of one of Das Gepäck's attacks, causing Das Gepäck to slam itself into the arena wall. The fight ends after Das Gepäck pushes Ansgar's Revenge back into Sir Killalot, with Ansgar's Revenge barely moving as the clock ticks down. The fight technically goes to the judges, but it's not close at all and Das Gepäck is sent to the next round!

In the pits after the fight the wizards of Das Gepäck reveal the source of Das Gepäck's mighty power. It turns out, according to them that it's not four 750w motors, but rather the harnessing of the magical properties of a black hole that makes Das Gepäck so powerful!

THE SOURCE OF DAS GEPÄCK'S POWERS

With its secrets revealed, Das Gepäck would enter the second round (5:03) facing off against actually-German bot, Delldog. Now, Delldog was supposed to be a full-body spinner, but, unfortunately, its weapon wasn't working properly. So instead, it was a bot armed with static spikes! The two robots dance each other for a bit before meeting in the middle of the arena with a mighty clash. Initially this clash doesn't give either bot the advantage, but Das Gepäck quickly gains the upper hand, getting Delldog between its spikes and driving it right into the terrifying Mr. Psycho. Delldog manages to avoid any punishment from the House Robot but is spinning sort of wildly and showing very little control in the process. Escaping the CPZ, Delldog is immediately caught again in the spikes of Das Gepäck, who slams him into the arena wall and into the CPZ guarded by Sgt. Bash. This time, though, Delldog isn't so lucky, as Sgt. Bash's front beak-like claw easily goes right through the armor of Delldog. I think that immobilized Delldog, but if that didn't do the trick, what happens next does! Mr. Psycho, already angry over Delldog eluding him, comes over to assist Sgt. Bash in destroying Delldog.

Two good friends palling around as they destroy Delldog

Mr. Psycho slams his 30kg heavy hydraulic hammer on top of the German machine, not once, not twice, but three times, completely killing Delldog. Oh, and then, just for good measure, Das Gepäck gets in one more slam as Delldog is counted out, sending Das Gepäck into the final match as the German representative, where it's set to face off with the UK representative, Fluffy.

Before the final match, when asked by Craig Charles how they'll fair, the Das Gepäck team declares that they're going to be fine because they've got a powerful magic trick that will disable Fluffy's weapon! Then, down in the pit, they tell pit reporter Philippa Forrester that the magical traits of the arena are getting stronger. The black hole is getting heavier, and victory is assured, they claim.

In the final (9:38), Das Gepäck stands against the twin spinning axes of Fluffy with the honor of the Fatherland on the line! Das Gepäck starts somewhat tentatively, trying to avoid the spinning blades of Fluffy, but, in doing so, they let the spinning axes spin up to speed.

Fluffy takes a spike!

Both robots make contact and Fluffy gets an early advantage, chopping one of Das Gepäck's spikes off (remember, in the case of a judges' decision, damage is the most important category). Despite losing its spike, Das Gepäck continues to pursue Fluffy, who manages to get an attack on Das Gepäck's side, but this one causes no discernible damage. After this attack, Das Gepäck takes a more defensive driving stance before charging in and hitting Fluffy's blade straight on, sending Fluffy flying from the impact. Coming in for another attack as Fluffy hovers over the flame pit, Das Gepäck loses another little bit of metal in the process but manages to keep Fluffy on the flame pit for a short period of time. It looks like, whether from the rams of Das Gepäck or the prolonged period on the flame pit,the blades of Fluffy are slowing down. Then, after one big ram from Das Gepäck, the blades stop completely!

Das Gepäck takes it to the weaponless Fluffy.

Das Gepäck takes advantage of this by slamming into the side of Fluffy before hitting the pit release. With Fluffy weaponless, Das Gepäck takes complete control of the fight, slamming into Fluffy multiple times as Fluffy runs away. The fight goes to the judges following one final push from Das Gepäck.

Looking at style, damage, control, and aggression, the judges rule the fight… a draw… That's right! For the first and only time in Robot Wars' history (outside of the very odd Series 3 International League Championship), a fight is ruled a draw. I don't see how that's possible! To me, Das Gepäck clearly takes this fight! What little damage Fluffy does is completely outweighed by the fact that Das Gepäck disabled Fluffy's weapons.

So what happened? My guess is that the judges didn't want to rule against the UK robot but they also couldn't justify declaring Fluffy the winner, so they called it a draw. The crowd boos thunderously at this decision, and neither team seems comfortable in the post-match interview.

Images taken right before disaster!

Craig Charles (along with German Robot Wars host Jürgen Törkott in the German airing) gives the trophy to the Das Gepäck team since they came all the way out to the UK, while also promising to get a second trophy made for Fluffy. However, I believe that was just a lie and Fluffy never actually got a trophy. But since Das Gepäck got the trophy and since I believe they won the fight anyways, I'm confident declaring Das Gepäck the real victor of the Robot Wars UK vs Germany Special!

Das Gepäck is one of only two non-UK robots to win one of the many heavyweight Robot Wars international competitions (though, outside of the heavyweights, there was the USA's Tentomushi from Series 3, who won a special middleweight War of Independence battle). The only other robot to achieve the feat? Fellow (and actually-German) German bot Nasty Warrior, who somehow defeated fucking Hypno Disc in the Robot Wars: Extreme 1 UK vs Germany match after some of the wooden chunks of Nasty Warrior jammed up Hypno Disc's drive gears and prevented Hypno Disc from moving.

Das Gepäck was a solid machine, because it was basically just a worse version of Tornado, and a solid rambot is always going to be a viable combat robot. It's kind of a shame that Das Gepäck never entered one of the UK Wars (although it couldn't have entered Series 7 thanks to the active weapon rule), because it was honestly probably a Heat Finalist-caliber robot who could have made a Semi-Final in the right heat. I mean, if you look at the Das Gepäck/Alien Destroyer record, they only ever lost to robots which either made a grand final (Chaos 2 in the UK wars and Twisted Metal and Krab-Bot in the Dutch Wars) or which had finished in the top eight in the UK wars (Gravity). So yeah, Das Gepäck was a solid bot who completely deserved to be the winner of the UK vs Germany Special, and i'm glad they at least got the trophy for their efforts!

That wraps up this month. Join us next month for a look at the campaign of another robot!

The 'Shroom: Issue 204
Staff sections Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Poll Chairperson Address • Credits
Features Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing
Retrieved from "https://www.mariowiki.com/index.php?title=The_%27Shroom:Issue_204/Pipe_Plaza&oldid=4164255"