The 'Shroom:Issue LVI
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| Issue LVI | November 17th, 2011 | About |
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Director's Notes
Hello 'Shroom readers, SMB here for the Director's Notes for Issue LVI. We have a few topics to cover this month, so brace for impact...
Firstly, I would like to announce that we have several new writers that have joined the main writing team: Baby Mario Bloops (talk), My Bloody Valentine (talk), and Toad85 (talk) are now writing the Interview, Non-Marioverse Review, and A History of Video Games sections, respectively. Welcome aboard!
The 'Shroom Spotlight needs your help! If you are interested in helping out The 'Shroom and the wiki in an organized project, please contact Xzelion (talk) (the manager of the project) and ask him how you can help and if you can sign up.
Next month is the December issue, and you know what this means: the kicking off of the Winter festivities! The first event on the calendar is the Director Election. For those who do not know, an election is held every December and is the process in which the Director of The 'Shroom is selected. Users are allowed to campaign and vote: those who campaign are required to come up with an outline of what they plan to do if elected, and are also invited to participate in debates with the other candidates in #mwshroom (The 'Shroom chat channel). This Director Election will run from December 17th, 2011 to January 21st, 2012. The presumptive winner (the individual that appears to be winning near the end of the election) is also encouraged to write a Directorial Address, which recaps the individual's plans for the year, the release schedule, who their staff members will be, and other topics needing to be covered.
The other events will be outlined in further detail in next month's issue. Thank you for reading The 'Shroom this month everybody, and I look forward to the next issue (which will be released on December 17th, 2011)!
Until next month,
Section of the Month
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Greetings 'Shroomies! For the month of October 2011, Should Have Been by MrConcreteDonkey was selected as the Section of the Month! The thing that makes this article interesting is that it is a hybrid of opinion and facts. Half of the section is dedicated to the writer's opinions on what should have gone into a game, and ideas of what could have been improved or even what should have been removed. The second half is dedicated to covering beta elements of that game, which can make for quite an extensive section depending on the game that is covered. The section, if done correctly, should be outstanding: MrConcreteDonkey does his section perfectly. He educates the users on the game throughout the entire section, gives his interesting opinions on what he feels should have been in the game, and makes the entire read entertaining through his humorous style. Honorable mentions go to Mario Calendar by Paper Yoshi (which was neat, organized, and complete) and to Word Search by Gamefreak75 (which was done very well and was fun to complete). Congratulations to MrConcreteDonkey for receiving Section of the Month again, and be sure to see the next Section of the Month! |
Fake News
Editorial
Hello, and welcome again to the Fake News! Don't worry, this section is as fun-packed (wait that's Gamefreak's thing), I mean music-and-artwork-packed (no, that's Fawfulfury's), uhh, I mean, pipe-packed (THAT'S MG1'S D:)...uhhh, fake-packed(?) as usual!
But we'll start off with some sad news. Gamefreak75 (talk), who has been writer of the Fake Ads for 2 years this month, will be resigning this month. To celebrate his long, wonderful Fake News career, I will buy the only Brick Block he's ever sold:
not really get that thing away from me
He won't be completely gone, however, as he assures me he'll be writing for the Fake Report/News Flush (which may I add is precisely not what to do with any newspapers brought into any bathrooms, for that matter) sometimes, so that's great. But now some good news Baby Mario Bloops (talk) has been hired for the Fake Interview, which he used to write up until a few months ago, so congrats to him in his new position!
So, enjoy the section!
~MCD
Written by: 
MrConcreteDonkey (talk)
Many sport-loving Toads are going to tune in on Monday to the first show of the second series of Mush of the Day, a show that sums up all of the week's scores nobody knows why it says "day" and interviews some of the sportsmen and sportswomen. So I hope you've got your pop corn for sports, because this show has it all! Want to catch up on the Bobsleighing results? Then you're crazy. The show is on 'Shroom Sports 1 at 8:00pm, on Monday 21st November.
The show's presenter is called Sport T., and was an ex-soccer player for Toad Town. The main game the show covers is soccer, so he is handy when it comes to remembering about 50% of the rules correctly. The week is full of sporting action: in the soccer, Mushroom City Mushrooms will face City Mushroom Cities on Saturday. In the football, the Koopa Kingdom will thrash, I mean, face the Toad Town "Titans(!)". In the Table Tennis, Toady McToad will face Ronald McDonald on Sunday, and Sport T. will be interviewing Ronald McDonald, or at least trying to, while Ronald talks about his restaurant, KF- I mean Burger King. When questioned about the interview, Mr. McRonald Donald or whatever said "Ran ran ru!!", which I'm guessing means "Ran ran ru!!".
I'm not a fan of sports, but, if you are, then this is the show for you. The show summarizes all of the matches in the week. All of them. The presenter tries to make jokes all the time, but usually nobody finds them funny. Especially considering it's the same joke each time. But tune in. Remember, 'Shroom Sports 1 at 8:00pm on Monday! See you next month!
Written by: 
Gamefreak75 (talk)
After a year in the making, I can finally reveal my ultimate product: the NASTY CLIMATE SATELLITE, which is totally not a rip-off of the Wicked Weather Machine.
This weapon is one of a kind…because there is only one of it. As you can tell, this machine uses only the best products while it was being made.
It's made with the finest in scrap metal and other reusable parts. The NCS's radar is powered by a Gameboy Color while its interior is made out of household appliances.
This will help you achieve you goals of conquering any land, be it the Mushroom Kingdom or Diamond City, this machine is sure to not fail you, as it did to me…*sigh*
You can turn up the heat to make any place a scorching desert, or play it cool and make every city have its ice age. The choices are yours.
I know what you're think, “Wow! This machine is made with dishwasher safe products and heatproof plastic? This man would be insane to not charge a fortune.”
Luckily, I am insane. The NCS is yours for only 100,000 coins. Get it will supply lasts!
But after 2 years, my career is over. My pockets have run dry and my products have gone bad. It seems like only yesterday when I tried to sell you suckers a Cloud Flower or Brick Blocks.
Pick up a Brick Block on your way out! Only 10 coins!
Written by: 
Baby Mario Bloops (talk)
I'm back!!!!
Long time no see right? Well, you see...Baby Mario Bloops goes on a five hour rant about some lame story about how he sneezed and ended up in China or some shenanigans of some sort and put of Pyroguy when he came back and wha wha wha wha...and that is how I am back here. Sorry to not tell the full story, but I didn't want to waste too much time.
Well, as I said, I - Baby Mario Bloops - am back! Let's do our first guest our right away! Anyways, he is bad to the bones, is bomb-intolerant, and has a knack for death. Give it up for Dry Bones! Let's get to it...
Baby Mario Bloops: Well, welcome Dry Bones, what's up?
Dry Bones - Crackle crackle.
Baby Mario Bloops: What? "You like to drool?"
Dry Bones: Crackle Crackle!
Baby Mario Bloops: Oh, "I am good!" Okay, that makes more sense.
Dry Bones: Crackle.
Baby Mario Bloops: You're welcome
Dry Bones: ...
Baby Mario Bloops: Oh yeah, sorry, still getting used to this again. So is it true that in your past life you were a Koopa?
Dry Bones: Crack Cracken!
Baby Mario Bloops: What, "what do you think I am, a Goomba?" Is that sarcasm!?
Dry Bones: Cra Cra Ca!
Baby Mario Bloops: Stop laughing! Okay, now that we have that settled, what is your opinion of your boss Bowser?
Dry Bones: Crackle Crack Cracken Cra Crack!
Baby Mario Bloops: "He selfish, cruel, and overrated for even his current status?" Oh wow, I couldn't agree more. So then what do you think of Mario?
Dry Bones: Crackle Crack Crack Crapple!
Baby Mario Bloops: "He's a no-good, self-centered piece of cr-" HEY! I'm not to going to swear live just to translate you!
Dry Bones: Fine then, I'm leaving...leaves the room...
Baby Mario Bloops: That little pile of bones...well, that's the last time I translate for people like him. Well, we'll see you all next month!
Written by: 
MST3K (talk) (usually)
- witty intro that you love*
Only 2 this week. I have had next to no time to work on this this week and it shows. First from community veteran DP, who asks:
Out of all the world's many cultures, which one would you most like to see explored as a video game concept?
Had the Red Dead games never came out, I would've said the Old West.
How's being In Charge of the Forum turning out for you? - MrConcreteDonkey
Can't say it's any different than it's been for the past year or so. Same sh*t, different position.
Wow, that was bad. Go read another section or something
Fun Stuff
Director Notes
by Gamefreak75 (talk)
Thankfully, no one resigned this month.
Marwikedor (talk) now writes for the Trivia section. There are still many open spots available. If you're interested in a position for the Fun Stuff, PM me, Gamefreak75, on the forums.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Mystery Images
Triviaby Marwikedor (talk) In honor of "Luigi's Mansion" turning a decade old very recently and it's sequel underway, this month, it's all "Luigi's Mansion" Trivia!
Did you know...
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Quizby Marwikedor (talk) Do you think you know all there is to know about the "Paper Mario" series? Well, you're in luck. This month's quiz is all about it. Let's see how much you do know!
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Guess that CharacterHey again 'Shroomers! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Here is the part of the section you should actually care about though:
Still can't figure it out? Here's the answer!:
Well, thanks for reading, and see you next time! Have a great Thanksgiving! (SM3DL came out! Woot woot!)
Word Searchby Gamefreak75 (talk) For those of you who were stumped, the answers to last puzzle can be found here. In honor of Wario Land 4's 10th anniversary, this month's word search is going to be based on the common enemies from the said game.
Hiding KoopaBy General bob-omb (talk)
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Music & Artwork
Director's Notes (Fawfulfury65)
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this month's Music & Art sections!
If you would like to write for us, don't hesitate. All you need to do is send me the following application by PM. All vacant sections are listed here. Make sure your demo section is as detailed as possible (like you're writing the real thing).
Application:
1.) Which position would you like to apply for?
2.) The staff reserves the right to remove writers from their position if they engage in activities that reflect badly on The 'Shroom. These activities include extensive misbehavior on the Super Mario Wiki and/or its forums. Do you agree to not engage in such activities for the entire duration of your employment?
3.) Please write a full-length demo of your section. That way, we can have a bit of your work to decide if you can be on the team.
I am currently accepting pictures for the Music & Art's Sketch of the Month. If you have any drawings related to Mario that you think should appear here, send them to me and they'll appear on the next issue of the 'Shroom!
Sketches Related to Mario (Fawfulfury65)
Sorry everyone, but I didn’t receive any artwork this month. Come back next month to see what we have. And remember, if you have any Mario-themed artwork you would like to share, please feel free to send it to me!
Screenshot of the Month (Fawfulfury65)
Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS has finally hit store shelves, and to celebrate, I've chosen a picture from that game!
I can't tell you much about the level in the picture at this point, because I have yet to play the game, and I have tried to keep any spoilers about it away from me. However, I can point out a few details that can be interesting. As you've probably noticed, Mario is wearing his Tanooki Suit, just as he did quite a while ago in Super Mario Bros. 3. Surprisingly, the Goombas have raccoon tails too, and I believe this game marks the first time this has happened. Bowser himself has a raccoon tail in this game, along with several other enemies. To find out why this is so... you'll have to play the game to find out. There is also a Cheep-Cheep in the far-right side of the screen, which, obviously, is another threat to Mario, along with the Goombas.
The picture has a pretty decent size (about twice the size of a 3DS screen, actually), and I really liked it because of its tropical theme (it's not even winter yet, and I'm sick of the cold). I bet this area looks great in 3D!
To sum it all up, this picture gives you a good look at some of the game's features, has a pretty decent size, and has a nice tropical theme that makes me want spring to come already. Remember to come back here next month to see another Screenshot of the Month!'
Sprite of the Month (FunkyK38)
This month, we have this sprite of Tanooki Mario: 
! In honor of the release of Super Mario 3D Land, we have the Tanooki Suit. Hopefully, Mario will be able to fly again, and the rest of us will be able to recover from the shock of seeing Bowser with a raccoon tail!
Random Image of the Month (Ralphfan)
This is a piece of promotional art from Donkey Kong 64, which was released in 1999 for, as the name implies, the Nintendo 64. In this game, King K. Rool tries to destroy Kong Island with the Blast-O-Matic, and it's up to Donkey Kong and his friends to stop him.
Pipe Plaza
Director's Notes (Marioguy1 (talk))Hello everyone! It is now time for the Pipe Plaza! Prepare to be amazed! Prepare to be astonished! Prepare for some advertisement of open spots in the Pipe Plaza - namely Monthly Report, Community Report and Featured. All looking for writers! On a side note, I'm happy to announce that one of our spots has been filled by MrConcreteDonkey (talk). He is the new writer for the section "Forum Update." Give him a round of applause and read his section, along with the rest of the Pipe Plaza. Forum Update (MrConcreteDonkey (talk))Hey, everyone! I'm MrConcreteDonkey (talk), and welcome to Forum Update! I'll be writing this from here on, and keeping you...um...updated on, er, our Forum. Well, that was pretty obvious... Top Stories: First up, I've got some rather large news. Since Stooben Rooben (talk), the previous user "In Charge of the Forum" has been struggling to get onto the Forum, and carry out his duties, MST3K (talk), who was previously a Forum Administrator, has been promoted to In Charge of the Forum, while Stooben remained a Forum Administrator. Secondly, the Forum was renamed, and has its own URL, as the Sitenotice at the top explains. Instead of being known as the MarioWiki Forum, it is now known as the Super Mario Boards. A few boards in the Forum were renamed too, although that was back in September. Console Gaming was renamed to Video Games, Online Gaming was renamed to Game with Friends. The board General Discussion was temporarily renamed to Super Mario Wiki, but that board has been changed back to its original name. Statistics: In October, there were 727 new topics created. This is the largest amount of topics created in a single month of all time on the Forum. There were 38646 new posts in this month, 58 new users, and the highest amount of users online at one time was 171, which was on the 9th. That was also the day that had the most new topics of the month, by chance. Sharks Territory (Ralphfan (talk)) – 21005 Mafia: Currently ongoing are PokemonMaster's (PokemonMaster (talk)) Mario Party Mafia, Lily's (Legend of Lily (talk)) Professor Layton Mafia and New Super Mario's (New Super Mario (talk)) Luigi's Mansion Mafia.
Other News:
Thanks for reading, and see you next month! Mario Calendar (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello readers, and welcome to the penultimate issue of this year! As we approach the Holiday Season, the list of games here in Mario Calendar gets bigger and bigger. Here are the games released in a November day:
Hopefully the list didn't confuse you. If you have suggestions for this section's layout, remember to PM me in the Super Mario Boards. I'll be back here for Upcoming Games. See you soon! Tip of the Month (FunkyK38 (talk))Tip of the Month: One of the most tedious chores on the wiki is creating articles for single levels, in games like Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. To make short work, pick one level and play it carefully, watching for details. You should pick a level where you have already found any bonus content, such as hidden blocks, extra levels, etc. One good level article can be better than a bunch of sloppy articles that don't say much. Upcoming Games (Paper Yoshi (talk))Hello again, readers! This is Upcoming Games, with your The last 30 days brought us some more news on Mario games, and we're sure to get even more on the next few days. More News Regarding 3DS Mario GamesAs we get closer and closer to the release dates, new details and features from the upcoming Mario games are unveiled. Mario Kart 7 will feature two more new characters – one of them completely new to spinoffs. They are Wiggler, seen before in Mario Power Tennis (spinoff-wise), and the Honey Queen from the Super Mario Galaxy games. Another new item has also been revealed: the Lucky 7, a very likely homage to the game's title. It gives racers 7 random items, which can be used one at a time. It's unclear how the items will be used or whether an order can be chosen. More details from Super Mario 3D Land have also been revealed, especially now that the game will be in all main regions' shelves by the end of this month. SM3DL will feature a completely new power-up, the Boomerang Flower. As the name says, it'll transform Mario into Boomerang Mario, allowing him to throw boomerangs in order to defeat enemies or reach distant items. Another new item will appear in some levels, although its power isn't new: that's the Statue Leaf, a very rare item which will transform Mario into Tanooki Mario, if he isn't in that form, and give him the statue power from SMB3's Tanooki Mario. But perhaps the most interesting piece of news for many fans is the inclusion of Luigi as a playable character. The Green 'Stache is once again ready to help Mario in his quest! However, he must be rescued before being able to play through levels. Release Dates
I'll certainly bring you more news in December! I'm sure we'll have plenty to read and discuss! See you then! "Stay tuned to Upcoming Games for news on the games you'll be playing soon!" PipeProjects Seeking Contributors (Yoshiwaker (talk))Hey there everybody! There are no new PipeProjects that have been created since the last issue, but the Wario Land 4 and Super Mario Sunshine Blue Coins projects could still use more contributors! So, if you have either of those games and think you could help, why not join the PipeProject today? |
Hey guys it's SKmarioman here and welcome to this month's edition of the Entertainment Section. This month I'm going to talk about a Newgrounds Paper Mario flash movie, Paper Mario And The Hat Of Fire, written by Nintendo-Ninja, animated by Matt Bendo and additional animation by Odneb.
Paper Mario And The Hat Of Fire
The movie starts of with Mario sleeping when Luigi screams out his name. Mario walks outside where Luigi tells him that the Princess has been kidnapped again. Mario asks where Bowser is, when Toadsworth falls out of a tree, telling him that Bowser's on a distant island. Mario wonders how he was supposed to get there, and Toadsworth explains that the Mushroom Kingdom has build him a great raft. Angry, Mario yells at him, saying, "A RAFT?! Why not a boat you lazy jerk!" when Toadsworth cuts him off with, "Get going, Mario. Good luck."
Mario goes out to sea on his rusty raft at the middle of the night, when lightning strikes him knocking him off the raft. In the morning, two Bob-ombs find him unconscious on the beach, so they light a bomb next to him to wake him up. Mario wonders where he is, and the two Bob-ombs tell him that he's on the same island that Bowser's on. However, he's on the other side of the island though, so Mario walks off. The Bob-ombs notice that his hat's on fire, but they decide not to tell him.
So Mario began his quest to save the Princess. He goes through the jungle, through the desert, through the mountains and through the sewers for the Princess.
Mario finally gets to Bowser's Castle where a sign at the front says "1 Coin Entrance Fee". Mario goes through his pockets, and then says, "Crap! I dropped my wallet!"
So Mario set off on his quest to find his wallet. He goes through the sewers, through the mountains, through the desert, and through jungle for his wallet.
Mario gets back to the beach where he started, picks up his wallet, and then stops, because he forgot what he was even doing on the island on the first place. After a brick falls on his head, he suddenly remembers.
So Mario set off on his quest to save the Princess... again. He goes through the jungle, through the desert, through the mountains and through the sewers for the Princess.
Mario gets into Bowser's Castle, where whole armies of Koopa Troopas, Goombas and Bob-ombs await him. As always, Mario defeats all of them and reaches Bowser in no time.
Bowser, annoyed at the fact that his minions told him that he was there, decided to get it over and done with, and KOs Mario straight away. Luigi, in a giant Cheep Cheep blimp, throws a star down to Mario, and completely misses. Mario gets angry at Luigi, when Bowser smacks Mario, knocking him over and making Mario's burning hat fall on him, setting Bowser on fire and killing him. Luigi drops a ladder down to Mario, saying "C'mon Mario. Let's go home."
Three months later, Mario's sleeping in his bed (and his hat's still on fire), when he wakes up and says, "HOLY CRAP!! I forgot the Princess!".
Cool Facts
Length: 6 minutes and 5 seconds. Time spent on Movie: 1 Month. Total Frames: 8721.
Welcome everyone to an exciting month, with interviewer Baby Mario Bloops here to get a scoop on vital users. We are edging closer and closer to Thanksgiving. However, the Wiki has already been ‘giving’ to make users on the wiki with Patroller or Sysophood. Thankfully I was able to drag get MrConcreteDonkey – an autopatrolled user that just got promoted to patroller – to answer a few questions.
- BMB – Okay, MrConcreteDonkey, you don’t mind right, do you?
- MCD – ahh, not at all.
- BMB – Alright, let’s begin. Where you surprised to find out that you got promoted?
- MCD – Not really, I was sent a PM about a day before I was told I was going to be promoted.
- BMB – They would.
- MCD – I was rather surprised, though, when I got the PM, because I felt I was pretty inactive at the time on the Wiki.
- BMB – Okay. Anyways, do you think you deserved the promotion?
- MCD – Well, It’d be hard to give an opinion myself, because that’d that would be rather biased, but I guess I did deserve a promotion, considering I was fairly active, and had been a good contributor for a long time.
- BMB – When did you join the Wiki again?
- MCD – May of 2010. I think it was the 25th? But I was a guest since about 2007, but I thought there were age limits, so I didn’t register.
- BMB – Okay, so how has Patrollerhood been treating you?
- MCD – Patrollerhood is pretty good. There isn’t too much different on the Wiki, I feel, yet, except almost clicking “Block” when I’m trying to check somebody’s [Contributions]. :P
- BMB – Alright then-
- MCD – Not done with my answer yet. But on the forums, the admin boards are good, because now I can input my opinion on quite a lot of different stuff. And the staff channel sometimes has good conversation.
- BMB – Alright now, thanks MrConcreteDonkey for the intriguing chat. I hope the rest of your patrollerhood goes well.
Let’s do another fellow patroller. That is, as I hope you already know, Mario4Ever! May I just remind you that they were both autopatrolled before they became patrollers.
- BMB - Where you surprised to be promoted?
- Mario4Ever - That's an understatement. Due to my real life schedule, I occasionally do not have as much time to be on the wiki as I would like, and as it happens, I wasn't on the wiki or the forums while the admins were discussing Patroller nominations (something I found out later). Anyway, I logged on to the wiki one day and found I had a new message on my talk page from Coincollector, who informed me that she had something to ask me on the forums. I was slightly confused, since my having a forum account is a relatively recent event, and I had no idea what was in store. It was surreal to find out that I had been nominated for Patroller status and that I was being asked if I would like the position. It's not the sort of thing that comes to mind when I do my best to contribute to and improve the wiki (what made it even more interesting was that the forum message was sent on my birthday, so it was almost like receiving a surprise gift).
- BMB - Do you think you deserved that promotion?
- Mario4Ever - Whether or not I deserved the promotion is something I can't definitively confirm or deny. Like the majority of users on the wiki, I don't see promotion as one of my goals as a contributor. All I've ever wanted to do since making an account is to improve what I see as the definitive resource on one of the most beloved video game franchises in the industry, a franchise that has sentimental value to me as the one which sparked my love of video games and my addiction to Nintendo. I did that before I had any sort of status other than autoconfirmed, and I'm going to continue to do that now and in the future, whatever that may hold for me. The important thing to remember is that the administration thought I was qualified for the position, and I view it as a means by which I can better improve the wiki.
- BMB - How has “patrollerhood” been treating you?
- Mario4Ever - It's a learning experience. I've gained a better understanding of the sorts of things the administration goes through by participating in wiki-related discussions, and I've come to see wiki policies in an entirely different light. When you go from simply following a policy to doing that and directly enforcing it, it's almost like coming on the wiki for the first time all over again, since you have to get acquainted with features to which you previously didn't have access. I'm still getting used to the idea of being an admin, though I don't feel superior to any other user. Nothing significantly separates a user with rank from a user devoid of it. In the end, we're all (for the most part) Mario enthusiasts working toward improving a wiki based around the series. Quality edits are equally valued, proposal votes are equally weighed, and any problems, concerns, or suggestions are equally addressed, and I think that at best, being a Patroller enables me to help ensure that that continues to be a reality.
Well, there you have it. It seems that many of the newly promoted users are doing a fine job so far. Keep up the great work! This was Baby Mario Bloops, and I plan to see you next month!
"Here's another suggestion: One of the Mario RPG's. They all have a good amount of beta elements and some do need improvements" – WakerLuma
Now, well...in the fields of Mario RPGs, I own Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Not a huge collection. Out of the three, my favorite, and the one I have the most to talk about, would be Paper Mario, so let's go!
What should have been in this game?
I'm only at Chapter 6 in this game, but so far, I'm loving it. I don't really see too many places where this can be improved upon, but I certainly think there could be some improvement.
I'm going to start, oddly enough, with the end of the game. The game doesn't save after you defeat Bowser, so there's nothing you can do after the events of the ending. It would be nice for more sidequests after the ending, and just to see everything being okay. Also, you have to backtrack through Bowser's Castle if you have saved in there and want to go anywhere except aforementioned castle. Speaking of backtracking, Chapter 6 was notorious for that. It was very long, so that made it worse. The chapter really should have had less backtracking.
I think Luigi should have had a slightly larger role in this game: while you can read his diaries, I don't feel that was enough, and the green plumber, who has always been in his brother's shadow, should have had a bigger role. A playable Luigi in this game would have been awesome, in my opinion. I think Clefts were pretty tough enemies, especially for just the second chapter, and they should have been slightly easier to beat. I think the bosses should have been able to be rematched, and that they'd get stronger with new moves every time you did, but the game would have to save after the ending for that to happen, and, annoyingly, it doesn't. In all seriousness, I can't think of much else for this game to improve on. But this is more than I would have been able to say than on SMRPG and M&L:PiT. I can't complain about the music, the locations, the characters, the bosses, the difficulty: they're all perfect. Luckily, I have quite a bit to say in this section:
Enemies who should have been in this game
- Rocky Wrenches – These would have been a good updated version of the Monty Mole, kind of like how Hyper Goombas are upgraded Goombas. The manhole they use could give them a little extra defense, while, instead of Rocks, they could have thrown more damaging Wrenches.
- Wiggler – Come on, these guys are so awesome. They haven't even appeared in the series yet. And they'd work well in it. And Flutters would have worked too, especially in Flower Fields.
- KING B – owait they weren't invented yet.
- Fire Bros. and Boomerang Bros. – These guys could have been enemies in Bowser's Castle, and they're pretty cool. Definitely the Fire Bro. would be good, as that could cause something like a Burn (if getting burnt was in this game).
Smasher- Tap-Taps – These guys are pretty cool too. Their spikes would mean you couldn't jump on them, and a rush-tackle-or-whatever-style attack would do more damage.
Beta elements
Well, we have a lot of Beta elements today, quite a lot I wouldn't be able to fit in. Starting off, in what was was originally titled Super Mario RPG 2 (which was changed due to disagreements with Square to Super Mario Adventure, then to the final title), and for the Nintendo 64DD, Poochy was originally going to appear, and at least one Nep-Enut would too. I'm guessing they would have both worked well, they seem like they would have: a large blue thing and an invincible dog who walks on Lava and doesn't afraid of anything. There was also data for a Dark Paratroopa, which first appeared in the sequel, including a Tattle, stats and everything. They would have been in the Toad Town Tunnels. An early image reveals Mario would have had Super Mario Bros. 3-style eyes. Goompa, Goombaria and Twink all appear on Mario's beta partner selection screen, probably because Goompa and Twink have acted like partners in the past, but not Goombaria. Forever Forest was, ironically, not going to be forever, as it was much shorter in the Beta, and the trees had sinister faces. Sounds like Mario would have needed the Pink-
-ie Pie.
There were also eleven debug rooms in the coding, maybe even more made. They were all used for testing objects, and the most interesting, in my opinion, can be seen below:
Room two. 
Room six 
Room six 
Room seven 
Room nine 
Room eleven
Finally, the Koopa Bros. looked different in the final game, as did the icons used in battles, and the pause menu. There's way too many unused Items and Badges to cover here, so here is a link to them.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to send me a PM on the Super Mario Boards (MarioWiki Forum to give me feedback, or to suggest a game or an improvement. See you next month!
Welcome, Brawlers, to a special Legend of Zelda Brawl Tactics! Since Skyward Sword is coming out this month, and I know many of you are LoZ fans, I will be doing Ganondorf for this issue of Brawl Tactics!
Ganondorf is a heavier character that moves slower than most other fighters his size, such as Captain Falcon, Ike, or Marth. What he lacks in speed, he more than makes up for in power. His jump is not impressive, so be careful when you go too far off the stage.
Ganondorf's Standard Special move is the Warlock Punch. This is very similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch, and it packs a lot of power as well. This move has to be charged up, and it takes a bit to charge it up fully, which can be annoying. If you do land the punch, though, it will hit with a lot of launch power and has the possibility to KO an opponent. Ganondorf is not exactly subtle with this move, so your opponents will know what you are trying to do. The best thing to do would be to use this move in an instance where your opponent can't move, such as when they are slowed down by a watch or swallowed by a Gulpin.
Ganondorf's Side Special is Flame Choke. This is actually one of his faster moves, and it's easy to catch someone off guard when they're coming in close for an attack. Ganondorf will surge forward and grab whoever is in his path. Like Warlock Punch, this move is based off of Captain Falcon's Raptor Boost, and, although you will not get as much launch as the Raptor Boost, you will get more power. Use this move in midair, because Ganondorf will slam his opponent's head into the ground, and the higher up you are when you use this move, the more damage you can deal to you opponent.
Ganondorf's Up Special is Dark Dive. This can be a handy move to use when you are facing multiple opponents, since Ganondorf can keep using this move on a single jump, making it like a wall-bounce, only you're bouncing off opponents, not walls. If you are using this move as a recovery move, you will get a bit of height on it, but don't expect too much. Keep close to the edge of the stage if you are trying some daring maneuver and you should be okay.
Ganondorf's Down Special is the Wizard's Foot. This is a powerful kick that can inflict a lot of damage if you can pull it off correctly. I recommend keeping your enemy close, using this kick, then when your opponent is in the air, use Dark Dive or Flame Choke. Combos can really help here, because Ganondorf's slow speed will hinder you if you are trying to quickly finish off an opponent. Wizard's Foot on its own is a force to be reckoned with. Be careful, however, beacuse you will get a lot of movement from this move, and if you miss your opponent and go off the side of the stage, it can be hard to recover, so watch where you're using this move and you should be fine.
Ganondorf's Final Smash is Beast Ganon. This is a powerful move, but it shares a fatal flaw with Mario's and Samus's Final Smashes: Your opponent can avoid the attack entirely by getting behind you. Be sure to go to as far to the edge as you can, and don't worry about falling off the other side, Ganondorf is warped back to where he first used the move. This move can have a few effects. One is the possibility of catching your opponent in the ground and holding them steady while Ganon gets ready to charge. The other is the range at which it can hit other opponents, it can hit almost anywhere in front of Ganon, and, like all the other LoZ Final Smashes, it does a whole lot of damage, not to mention the launch power this best packs is in a whole different class by itself.
That's all for this month, Brawlers! Celebrate the release of Skyward Sword by giving Ganondorf a chance to work for you! Happy Brawling!
G'day there, mates. Felt that since this is my first real article for the ‘Shroom (not counting all that Upcoming Games BS I did a few years ago), I should introduce myself a wee bit. I be My Bloody Valentine, formerly Black Hole Sun, even more formerly Pokemon DP; many know me as a four-year veteran who threw one too many hissy fits but is an alright bloke otherwise. More recent users prob'ly know me as that touhou prick whom always makes fun of your posts. For all five of you who actually decided to read this, thanks for your time and it's great to have you as readers!
If you have anything to say about the review – some compliments, complaints, corrections – or if ye just want to chat, then my userpage lists plenty of places where you can contact me. Please don't. Now, let's get started.
Video game companies have always had this habit of repeatedly treading old ground until the only people left purchasing their games are hardcore fans and people with too much spare income to throw away. It makes finding truly interesting games difficult, since you have to dig through seemingly endless layers of indistinguishable rock and dirt before finding the rare piece of gold or diamond hiding away in the crust. One of those rare gems is Psychonauts, the debut release from Double Fine Productions - the development studio formed by gaming legend Tim Schafer from just a few of the shattered remains of LucasArts' fun, exciting childhood – and one of my all-time favourite games. A true pinnacle of artistic design and characterization in the gaming medium, bombed completely because the vast majority of gamers are twitchy, attention-deficient Philistines who put bags over their heads whenever you present to them something not lovingly stroked by their arbitrary choice of the big three.
Psychonauts is a platform game about a 10-year old boy named Razputin (more commonly known as 'Raz'), who upon learning of his innate psychic abilities, escapes from his circus home to enrol in a Summer camp dedicated to training young psychics to become Psychonauts, a group of specialized military agents with ambiguous legal boundaries. Being quite possibly the most badly run Summer camp in America, Raz is allowed by the irresponsible counsellors to take part in their [dangerous] mental training exercises without paying enrolment fees. But then shit hits the fan and Raz takes it upon himself to solve a conspiracy afoot in the camp, having to jump into the minds of the characters around him and explore appropriately themed ethereal worlds based on their sub-conscious quirks and memories. For vaguely relevant reference, it's kind of like the original, more light-hearted Inception.
Once upon a time, Tim Schafer first came up with the concept of exploring mental worlds when working on Full Throttle for LucasArts, where he imagined a sequence in which the main character lapsed into a psychedelic experience from consuming peyotes, which was refused by marketing for not being “family friendly” (in a game about murderous thugs and bikers beating the ever loving shit out of each other with wooden planks, chains with spiked skulls on them, and chainsaws, but I digress). Schafer held on to this idea and eventually turned it into a full game titled Psychonauts, minus the psychotropics (sort of).
I should first clarify that gameplay is not exactly the game's strongest suit, which may sound to you like saying an engine is not a car's strongest point, but bear with me on this one as this was Schafer's very first try at a genre other than adventure, which has resulted in functional but somewhat sloppy gameplay and controls. Platforming can feel a bit buggy sometimes, with the occasionally vindictive camera obscuring your view; combat can feel like an unvaried chore at times; virtually all the side missions are just a variety of fetch quests, some bordering on the impossible; and despite a phenomenal first half, the level design does start losing a bit of finesse in the final act, not aided by a ridiculously inconsistent difficulty curve which leaves many of the latter levels laying somewhere between a mild embuggerance to throat-achingly frustrating. And the final level is kind of a crapshoot, ending with a massively disappointing final boss fight that closes the game on a very underwhelming note.
For those of you who have put up with my ramblings up to now, there is a big "However!" here, since I said in the first paragraph that this is still one of my favourite video games. Because, despite having a few handling issues, the story and artistic direction is where the game truly shines. The story unfolds in a very well-paced and flowing sequence of events, wherein you start off learning the most basic of skills whilst picking up hints at the greater drama about to take place, and before you know it, you're on a quest to stop a ploy for world domination involving brain-powered battle tanks. Every single character is interesting and well-developed, including all the insignificant minor ones that you can spend the entire game never interacting with. The dialogue is genuinely witty and funny, whereas most game scripts tend to read out like a high school rendition of MacBeth as staged by Roland Emmerich. The environments are beautifully rendered and rich with humourous and clever references to whatever concept each mental world is based on, all sort of resembling if Salvador Dalí designed Mario levels...
But most importantly, it's just plain fun to play, and I'm sure we're all open-minded enough to look past the game's shortcomings and enjoy being able to manhandle armoured tanks, confront Napoleon Bonaparte in a board game, and light squirrels on fire. Psychonauts was released on the PlayStation 2 and XBox (now available on the XBox 360's XBox Originals series), and the PC version is now available on Steam for $10 USD, so if you haven't already bought it, I would much appreciate if you ran off to Steam right now and purchased it; hell, I'll buy it for you (if I like you enough)! Perhaps we can get a sequel petition started and convince Electronic Arts to fund another Double Fine game. And then maybe we can play hockey with panda bears and have a pool party with John Candy on Neptune.
Hello Mario Karters to the Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Coincollector is here to show you the tip of this month.
Before getting to the point, I want to thank all of you for picking me in The 'Shroom's Section of the Month (the issue LIV of September to be exact). I dunno what to say... I just can say I feel pleased that you like to read my tips as well as the sections of other nice editors here. I guess I have to make more interesting tips starting now to keep my merit, lol. Again, thanks a lot :)
The tip for this month will be about the karts of Mario Kart DS. It will be Princess Daisy's karts, the Power Flower and the Light Dancer.
Before playing as Daisy and getting one of her special karts, namely the Power Flower, it's necessary to unblock her by winning all the gold trophies of the Retro Grand Prix cups in the 50cc engine class. The Power Flower has the following stats as seen in the game:
- Speed: 6/10
- Acceleration: 6/10
- Weight: 6/10
- Handling: 3.5/10
- Drift: 8.5/10
- Items: 10/10
The Power Flower has average stats in speed, acceleration and weight. The drift and the items are, however , above average. As you know, the highest item ratio will grant more possibilities to gain rare or powerful items in the race, while the drifting, looking at those numbers, makes the kart turn efficiently in curves, specially the tight ones. In contrast, the handling is below average, making the kart not very useful in loose terrain like dirt or snow.
Daisy's second special kart is the Light Dancer:
- Speed: 6.5/10
- Acceleration: 6.5/10
- Weight: 4.5/10
- Handling: 4/10
- Drift: 9/10
- Items: 3/10
Basically, the Light Dancer appears to be an upgrade of the Power Flower, since some of its stats are slightly increased compared to the Power Flower's stats. The only downgrades are its weight, which is normal for these kind of vehicles, and the items.
In my opinion, Daisy's special karts are almost similar to Mario's special karts since they show similar stats. The difference is that Daisy's karts have high drifting, the highest drifting ratio within the medium weight class (don't forget that Daisy is a medium-weight character in Mario Kart DS). However it should be noted that the higher the drifitng is, the lower the handling will be, and as you can see, the disadvantages of Daisy's karts are their handling. Regarding these characteristics, Daisy's karts can be used specially in tracks that have numerous curves, since these vehicles can take them with ease and never go off the road. However, due to their very low handling stat, they are hard to control in courses with loose ground. Sometimes it's even hard to handle them when trying to drift in straight roads to do a mini-turbo. You may end up going off the road or fall doing this.
That's all for this month ladies and gentlemen, see you next time here in the Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner of The 'Shroom.
Hello there, 'Shroomies. As an avid retro gamer, I feel obliged to recreate this article. In this section, I will discuss events in the past that made the video gaming world what it is today. As this is the first issue, I feel that I should discuss the event that created the video game industry as we know it: the founding of Atari and the release of Pong.
Pong, to set the records straight, was NOT the first video game. That honour goes to Tennis For Two, developed and published by William Higinbotham to cure boredom at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Pong was not even the first video game released to a wide audience, that will be told of later in the article. It did, however, was the first game to mesmerise the public, and create a niche for gaming in the popular eye. Without Pong, there would be no video game industry, or not much of one.
Pong was the brainchild of Nolan Bushnell. After viewing Spacewar!, an early experiment in gaming, at the University of Utah in 1966, he had a vision. He figured that if he could produce a commercial version of Spacewar!, he could make a killing. With this in mind, he and Ted Dabney concocted a hand-wired computer able to play a game similar to Spacewar! on a black-and-white television. The game, now dubbed Computer Space, was released in 1971 by publisher Nutting Associates.
Unfortunately, Computer Space was an utter failure. Bushnell figured that the game was just far too complex for its target audience: bar patrons. Coupled with the customers' unfamiliarity with the new technology, the learning curve took a huge bite out of Computer Space. Bushnell forsook Computer Space, co-created a new engineering company, Syzygy Engineering, and started looking for new ideas.
At Syzygy, Bushnell and Ted Dabney (remember him?) hired Al Alcorn as their first design game. Bushnell wanted to start off Syzygy with a driving game, but axed the idea, fearing it would be too hard for the young Alcorn to produce.
At last, in May 1972, Bushnell attended a demonstration of the Magnavox Oddysey, the first home console. One of the games demonstrated was a simple tennis game, in which two players would hit a ball back and forth, and try to not let it fall on your side of the screen. Bushnell thought that a game like this would be perfect for Alcorn's skills. This game would go on to be called Pong. Unfortunately, Syzygy was caught in a copyright issue with a company in California. Bushnell renamed the company "atari", after a condition in the chinese board game "Go".
By the November of that year, the first Pong cabinet was completed, and was shipped to a Sunnyvale, CA tavern by the name of Andy Capp's to test. It took only one day to realize how much of a success Atari had become.
The video game cabinet would be played countless times by the patrons of the tavern, until the machine mysteriously broke. When the repair crew arrived next morning, there was literally a line of people around the block waiting to play the new game. The cause of the cabinet's breakdown was simple: it had simply run out of room for quarters. When it was realized that Pong would be a hit, Bushnell and Dabney decided to release Pong to the world, and Atari, Inc. was established as the world's top video game producer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Hello everybody! Welcome once again to Fading into Obscurity! This month I decided to go with an old favorite character that everyone should know. I went with Pac-Man.
Now, how does Pac-Man have anything to do with the Mario series, you may ask? Well, a lesser-known fact about Pac-Man is that he appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP and Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 - two games from the Mario Kart series. In the latter of these two games, he appears with his companions Ms. Pac-Man and Blinky (characters to be described at later dates).
Since Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, which was released in 2007, Pac-Man has appeared in several remakes of his old games as well as a new game in 2010, but none of these games are from the Mario series. As for the Mario series, Pac-Man has simply faded away to obscurity.
Hello once again everybody! We're taking the Excess Express to Chapter 6 this week where we will once again review only one character - the only character introduced in Chapter 6, Smorg!
Smorg
Smorg is honestly a really unimaginative idea for a boss. It's a blob made up of other blobs. It really just doesn't click for me. There is nothing inserted into the storyline about it - either before its appearance or after it. It has nothing leading up to it, and just randomly appears out of nowhere. From what I can tell, it is a boss stuck in there just because Nintendo thought the chapter needed more fighting. It really just doesn't work - and it doesn't even look good!
Some ideas Nintendo could have used to possibly set the stage for Smorg would have been to make the crimes on the train more related to the smaller Smorgs - like instead of making the culprit of the crimes on the train Doopliss, they could have made it some Smorgs in disguise. That way, it would look like the Smorg was deliberately trying to stop Mario & co. from reaching Poshley Heights instead of just appearing out of nowhere where it could have had any intentions.
Totals
Smorg, the only boss in this chapter and a really misplaced one at that, receives only 3/10 because I had pity on it. We're almost done with the one-character chapters!
