The 'Shroom:Issue 144/Strategy Wing

Director Notes
Written by:

Well, we arrive in March and the year continues to move along at a steady pace. I have a few announcements for this month. First, there's no PK144's Course Corner this month. It's far from the end of the section, though. Expect it to return next month. Though we're missing one section this month, I have the pleasure of announcing a brand new section which balances things out. Meta Knight returns to Strategy Wing with Meta Knight's Dream Land Journal in a special two-part debut. The section will be on a bi-monthly schedule after the first edition is complete, but this first edition will conclude in the next issue. I'll let you read Meta Knight's introduction to the section for yourself, but I will say it's a section which should appeal to Kirby fans. Even if you don't know much about Kirby, be sure to read it for its charming personality and accessible walkthrough! Of course, all of our usual offerings are down below with the quality and character you've come to expect, so don't neglect to read those, either.

Other than that, I don't have much in the way of announcements, but I encourage you to go look at this issue's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Photo Contest. If it interests you, think about turning that interest into a Strategy Wing section. Whether you want to teach us how to capture the perfect picture, how to rack up damage with combos in Smash Bros., or provide some insight into the construction of the game's stages, read through the sign-up page and send in an application. If Smash Ultimate interests you, you could even make a section out of analyzing the mechanics and inspiration of your favorite fighter's moveset or the decisions behind notable Spirit battles. Photography and Smash Bros. don't interest you? That's okay, too! Almost anything you're passionate about could be turned into a Strategy Wing section if you approach it from the right angle. If you have a concept but aren't sure about how you should approach it or turn it into a section, feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about it.

That's enough of my comments, though. It's better if you read what our writers have to offer. That said, go on and enjoy the content we have for you this month!

Section of the Month

This month, we have an unusual three-way tie for Section of the Month! Congratulations are certainly in order for, , and for their work looking at Mr. EAD, Mummy-Me Maze Forever, and Dragalge. In general, there was an uptick in votes last month, which is an encouraging sign. Our writers keep hard at work to deliver their sections, so please keep reading and voting!

Meta Knight's Dream Land Journal
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Hey 'Shroom readers! This is a section where I'll write about stuff based on the Kirby franchise, where it will serve as a grab bag of stuff for me to talk about. It could range from walkthroughs, analysis, lore, etc. The fun part (for me) however, is that I'm going to be using a first-person narrative and get into the perspective of the character my username is based on. Normally for this section, I won't have a formal introduction, as I want to prevent breaking character as much as possible, but as this section is a debut, I figured I'd do it justice. To kick things off, I'm gonna go through every single switch in Kirby's Adventure in a two-part series! This month will cover Butter Building, Grape Garden, and Yogurt Yard. I hope you'll enjoy!

Throughout my adventure, I made a note of the event that occurs when clearing a goal. Some of the wall is uncovered, which revealed a new location for me to explore. However, it would seem like some of the walls that should have been destroyed wasn't at times. It must mean that there's something hidden within the area I was already in. Situations, where this was the case, resulted in the entrance to still be orange instead of white. Perhaps there is some sort of switch that when activated could break the rest of the wall. I analyzed the layout of Vegetable Valley and Ice Cream Island, but it seems that there were no switches there. The first occurrence must have been in Butter Building!

Butter Building

The Butter Building was a huge skyscraper, that fortunately is not made of butter. There were several parts where I had to curve around sections of the building, and while I initially started at the bottom, I made it to the top with little trouble. I have recorded my findings of the switches below.

Grape Garden From the top of Butter Building, I made it to the Grape Garden. My next target was in the skies, so the abundance of clouds was much expected. I moved through the air and investigated every area possible. Only a few areas contained a hidden switch.

Yogurt Yard A fair amount of Yogurt Yard hills, mountain, and waterfall areas. There is some diversity in the environment here, but none of it was too much for me to handle. I made my way through different settings, finding more switches along the way.

End Notes There are still plenty of switches to uncover. I shall find the rest of them in the Orange Ocean and the Rainbow Resort. For now, I need to lay low and focus on other tasks. May whoever reads the contents of this journal find value for their adventures, and I shall continue to log more in the future.

Racing Like the Staff
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Hello readers and welcome to Racing like the Staff, a section where I do 150cc on different Mario Kart games, but the twist is, I take on the Grand Prix by using the combination that a staff and expert staff member used in that Cup. If you're still a little confused, by this I mean if the track is in the Mushroom Cup, then that's the Cup that I race in. Unfortunately, I don't have copies of the Mario Kart games before Mario Kart 7, so it's only that, 8 and Deluxe that will be getting this treatment.

I have been unable to set up relevant consoles or find game cases, so we have returned to the world of Mario Kart 7 for this edition, but unlike previous additions, I'm actually going to treat you to a track that I actually love. Mario Kart Wii gave me many tracks I like, and two of them returned in Mario Kart 7, and this time we're looking at Mushroom Gorge. Now Mushroom Gorge is special to me because at one point I held the European record for fastest Time Trial. I imagine it has since been beaten, but it was once mine.

The combination for normal staff for Mushroom Gorge is Toad with the Cloud 9, Mushroom tyres and Parafoil (Paraglider), and the stats are as follows:


 * Speed – Just under three bars
 * Acceleration – Just over four bars
 * Weight – Just over one bar
 * Handling – Just under five bars
 * Off-road – Just over three bars

Luigi Raceway
I got to a horrible start, and I don't know if my acceleration helped at all as I was still down in seventh by the time we got the first set of Item Boxes. Thankfully, a set of Triple Mushrooms got me out into the lead, although Metal Mario and Honey Queen were close behind. However, to my surprise, I never faced any challenge for my lead, although I think this might have been because Metal Mario was getting unlucky and seemed to get hit by a lot of items. He was able to gain on me several times, and if I'd been hit by a Blue Shell, I think he would've stolen the lead from me.

Bowser Castle 1
Despite a bit of a knockaround at the beginning, I did manage to keep my lead over Metal Mario and Rosalina. And much like the last race, I was never able to shake Rosalina and Princess Peach off my tail, but at the same time they never really launched a challenge to my lead.

Mushroom Gorge
This time I solidly kept my lead, despite some challenges from Luigi and Princess Peach – I swear they're changing every race. And this time, I was able to pull out a small lead, but not large enough to be Blue Shell safe, and Princess Peach and Rosalina overtook me when I got hit by one. Thankfully, Triple Mushrooms got me back into the fray, although a Lightning Bolt did stifle my big opportunity to gain a lead. Peach managed to keep with me for a while and we traded places several times during the opening part of the third lap, but I eventually prevailed and won again.

Luigi's Mansion
Another one of my favourite tracks and I came to slay the race. I initially kept my lead, but slipstreams from Rosalina, Wario and Donkey Kong put me down in the order. Thankfully I got my own slipstream from Rosalina and reclaimed the lead. I lost this lead when going for the gliding pad at the start of the swamp, but that's not a mistake I made again and reclaimed the lead when Rosalina drove into a tree. Following that, I kept my lead, and managed to increase it, I'd guess that I was Blue Shell safe at the end of the race.

I loved this combination, and it's something straight up my alley for my driving style. And given how I won every race, I can easily recommend this to people, however, you have to stay focused when driving. I only got a substantial lead on Luigi's Mansion, any other track, if I had made the slightest mistake, I ran a massive risk in getting overtaken.

The expert staff combination is Toad with the Pipe Frame, Monster tyres and Super Glider. The stats are as follows:


 * Speed – Just over three bars
 * Acceleration – Just over three bars
 * Weight – Three bars
 * Handling – Just under two bars
 * Off-road – Five and a half bars

Luigi Raceway
I got off to a much better start than with the other combination, as I was in fourth by the first set of Item Boxes, and even managed to overtake Mario. Other overtakes came when Princess Peach was hit by the Tanooki Tail, but I overtook Shy Guy and Rosalina on my own merit. All looked well for me to keep my lead, but I was hit a Blue Shell on the final lap. Rosalina overtook, and Shy Guy made an attempt, but I swatted him down with the Tanooki Tail. Unfortunately, I just missed out on overtaking Rosalina, and she just clinched the win.

Bowser Castle 1
I seemed to have gotten off to a good start, managing to get into first, but Shy Guy and Yoshi got slipstreams and shot past me. However, I got my own unexpected slipstream off of Shy Guy and managed to stay in the lead. But Yoshi was never letting me get ahead and managed to take the lead off me for a brief moment. I managed to reclaim it, and he must've gotten lost in items as he went off my map, and even though I was hit by a Blue Shell near the finish line, I was able to keep my win.

Mushroom Gorge
I managed to keep my lead, but errors in speed on the mushrooms allowed Princess Peach to overtake, things got worse when I missed a mushroom and fell into the gap, demoting me to fifth place. Thankfully, Yoshi and Shy Guy hit a Bob-omb, although as Donkey Kong used a Bullet Bill, I was still in fourth. After being hit with a Blooper I somehow overtook Donkey Kong and Princess Peach, and I got Rosalina when she took the longer route in the mid-section. I then kept my lead for the rest of the race.

Luigi's Mansion
This a mess to try and navigate. I ended up swapping a variety of places at the start, that eventually culminated with me falling down to fifth after getting hit by a Green Shell of all things. Then using mysterious ghost powers? I got past Yoshi and Princess Peach – no seriously I have no idea when or where this happened. And then Shy Guy slowed down, and I got the lead, the second lap went fine, but on the final lap I faced a lot of challenges from Yoshi again, and had Mario used his Green Shell earlier then Yoshi would’ve won.

I wanted to like the first combination so much more, but if I had to recommend one to use, it'd be this one. Like the first one, you still need to work to keep your lead, but I found myself able to gain on other racers and overtake using skill, rather than relying on a Red Shell or set of Mushrooms.

I hope you enjoyed this section, and I'll see you next month where I'll take a look at a combination from Mario Kart 8, probably. If you've got a combination you'd like me to review next, feel free to private message me on the forums.

Mario Calendar
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Welcome to the March issue of Mario Calendar! Today we will be looking over the Mario games that have come out in March! Hope you enjoy.

Region Abbreviations Console Abbreviations


 * March 1
 * 1997 (EU/AU): Super Mario 64 (N64)
 * 2012 (JP): Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS)


 * March 2
 * 1998 (NA): Wario Land II (GB)
 * 2003 (AU): Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA)
 * 2012 (EU): Mario Party 9 (Wii)


 * March 5
 * 2007 (NA): Wario: Master of Disguise (DS)
 * 2015 (NA):
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U eShop)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (3DS)


 * March 6
 * 2009 (EU): New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Wii)


 * March 7
 * 1983 (NA): Donkey Kong II (G&W)


 * March 8
 * 1988 (NA): Super Mario Bros. (G&W)
 * 1991 (JP): Mario Teaches Typing (MS-DOS)
 * 2007 (JP): Yoshi's Island DS (DS)
 * 2012 (AU): Mario Party 9 (Wii)


 * March 9
 * 1993 (EU/AU): Mario Party (N64)
 * 1996 (JP): Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
 * 2007 (EU): Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (DS)
 * 2008 (NA): Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
 * 2009 (NA): New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Wii)


 * March 10
 * 1998 (NA): Yoshi's Story (N64)
 * 2017 (EU): Mario Sports Superstars (3DS)


 * March 11
 * 2005 (EU):
 * Super Mario 64 DS (DS)
 * WarioWare: Touched! (DS)
 * 2012 (NA): Mario Party 9 (Wii)
 * 2017 (AU): Mario Sports Superstars (3DS)


 * March 12
 * 2015 (JP): Mario Party 10 (Wii U)


 * March 14
 * 1983 (NA): Mario Bros. (G&W)
 * 1995 (JP): Mario's Picross (GB)
 * 2005 (NA):
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GC)
 * Yoshi Touch & Go (DS)
 * 2007 (JP): Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (Arcade)
 * 2014 (NA/EU): Yoshi's New Island (3DS)


 * March 15
 * 2014 (AU): Yoshi's New Island (3DS)


 * March 17
 * 2005 (JP): Donkey Konga 3: Tabehōdai! Haru Mogitate 50 Kyoku (GC)
 * 2005 (AU):
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GC)
 * DK: King of Swing (GBA)
 * 2016 (JP): WarioWare: Touched! DL (DSiWare)


 * March 18
 * 2005 (EU): Mario Party 6 (GC)
 * 2016 (NA): Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (3DS)


 * March 19
 * 2015 (JP):
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U eShop)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (3DS)


 * March 20
 * 2006 (NA): Tetris DS (DS)
 * 2013 (JP): Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
 * 2014 (JP): Mario Party: Island Tour
 * 2015 (NA): Mario Party 10 (Wii U)
 * 2015 (EU):
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U eShop)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (3DS)
 * Mario Party 10 (Wii U)
 * 2015 (AU): Mario Party 10 (Wii U)


 * March 21
 * 2000 (JP): Wario Land 3 (GBC)
 * 2003 (JP): WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
 * 2004 (JP): Super Mario Advance (GBA)
 * 2015 (AU):
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U)
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (Wii U eShop))
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (3DS)


 * March 22
 * 2010 (NA):
 * Game & Watch: Judge (DSiWare)
 * Game & Watch: Chef (DSiWare)
 * Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory (DSiWare)
 * 2017 (NA/EU): Super Mario Run (Android)


 * March 23
 * 2017 (JP/AU): Super Mario Run (Android)


 * March 24
 * 1992 (NA): Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up (MS-DOS)
 * 2013 (NA): Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
 * 2017 (NA): Mario Sports Superstars (3DS)


 * March 25
 * 2008 (JP): Dr. Mario Online Rx (WiiWare)


 * March 26
 * 1982 (NA): Fire Attack (G&W)
 * 1998 (EU): Wario Land II (GB)
 * 2009 (AU): New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Wii)
 * 2010 (EU):
 * Game & Watch: Judge (DSiWare)
 * Game & Watch: Chef (DSiWare)
 * Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory (DSiWare)
 * 2010 (AU):
 * Game & Watch: Judge (DSiWare)
 * Game & Watch: Mario's Cement Factory (DSiWare)


 * March 28
 * 2005 (NA): Mario Party Advance (GBA)
 * 2010 (NA): WarioWare: D.I.Y. (DS)
 * 2013 (JP): Game & Wario (Wii U)
 * 2013 (EU/AU): Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)


 * March 29
 * 2010 (NA): WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (WiiWare)
 * 2019 (JP/NA/EU/AU): Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch)


 * March 30
 * 2006 (AU): Super Princess Peach (DS)
 * 2017 (JP): Mario Sports Superstars (3DS)


 * Mario 31
 * 1999 (NA): Wario Land II (GBC)
 * 2005 (JP): Yakuman DS (DS)
 * 2010 (NA): Game & Watch Collection 2 (DS)
 * 2016 (NA/EU/AU): WarioWare: Touched! DL (DSiWare)

Well, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you in April!

Mach Speed Mayhem
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Hello, 'Shroom readers! Welcome to another edition of Mach Speed Mayhem! This one's actually got a bit of a formatting change; at the suggestion of a couple of people, I've decided to break up the main areas of discussion via giving them headers. Please give me your input on whether this is a benefit or detriment to the section. And with that out of the way, time to talk about your pick for this month, #15: Bio Rex! The product of genetic engineering, Bio Rex was created to race, and that's exactly what he's doing... though for motives of his own.



Main Series

As one of the many racers to be introduced in F-Zero X, Bio Rex didn't have much in the way of information in that game - nobody in X does, after all. The manual settled for giving us the basics, that Bio Rex was created from biotechnology, and he's got the intelligence of a human. In fact, he's racing specifically to prove that he's superior to humans, aiming to prove himself by winning the F-Zero Grand Prix. F-Zero GX would expand on his lore, mentioning that Bio Rex was created by using DNA from a fossilized dinosaur egg and that the genetic manipulation that made him did nothing to curb his aggressive tendencies. He's noted as being as aggressive as Pico, and that guy is a hitman for hire! However, in GX, he's primarily entering just because he's got a huge appetite for mammoth ribs, and needs to earn the money to satisfy it somehow. He's also given a connection to Beastman, though it's one way; while Bio Rex takes no special notice of Beastman, Beastman is entering the Grand Prix in GX to ensure Bio Rex can't threaten anyone... and also to turn the dinosaur's head into a new helmet.

Bio Rex's interviews showcase one thing and one thing above all else: His appetite. Three-fourths of his interview responses reflect his desire for meat and food in some way, shape, or form, such as his plan to spend his one BILLION space credits on food, or his evaluation of the competition, who all look delicious! Except for Samurai Goroh. His superiority complex still shines through, though, as he declares that dinosaurs are smarter than humans and supposed to win, as well as saying "Dinosaurs were here first, the Earth belongs to us!" Unlike Zoda, Black Shadow, or Deathborn, he's not trying to actually rule the world - a relief. Bio Rex also gets some screentime in the F-Zero GX story mode; he first appears in Chapter 3, where he's drinking at the bar that Captain Falcon arrives at. He's the first one to get an eyeful of Falcon's "Famicom" disguise and is pretty stunned by the sight - not that I can blame him, it's quite gaudy. Bio Rex and the Big Fang appear in the Bet Race itself as one of the twelve contenders, and he's good at it; the Big Fang will often be a front-runner and WILL steal your win if you aren't careful. He shows up again to fill out the 30-car field in Chapter 7 but isn't anything more than a spot filler there.



The Big Fang, Bio Rex's personal car, was created by the same scientist group that made him! The Dinosaur Racing Team made the car once Bio Rex was complete, designing it around his reptilian body rather than shoving him into a human-centric car. It's been given a massive focus on control to counterbalance Bio Rex's violent nature and fierce reflexes, and the ease of control is considered its strongest point, as shown by the A grip to B body and D boost. Interestingly, Bio Rex claims he designed it himself in his GX interview... but considering his opinion on humans, he's probably just talking himself up. In F-Zero X, this strong grip and high body makes it not only a good beginner's choice but also an excellent car if you want to turn the race into a demolition derby! The Big Fang is well designed for the Death Race, or knocking your opponents out in regular races, though it sacrifices boost power and thus means it's not quite as good for time trials or high-speed opponents. F-Zero GX and its behind-the-scenes stat changes actually didn't touch the grip or high top speed of the Big Fang much, meaning you can rely on it to go where you want it to. The body's weaker, though, so try not to get hit. Or you could just hit them first!



GP Legend series

Like everyone else from X, Bio Rex made the jump from video game to anime in F-Zero GP Legend. Here, he's working for the evil organization Dark Million, as one of their two go-to goons alongside Octoman. The octopus and reptile duo are basically always seen together and working together, following the orders of Zoda or Miss Killer depending on the episode and the circumstances. Bio Rex's role, unfortunately, can be boiled down to "gets his ass kicked" - he never wins a race or has any measure of success, and is defeated by everyone from Rick Wheeler to Jody Summer to Pico in various episodes. And not only is he a jobber, but he never gets any focus - even Octoman got an episode of his own. The closest we ever get to a Bio Rex episode is a very short part of the Beastman episode focusing on Beastman's attempt to capture him. Even when he appears in the story mode of F-Zero GP Legend, the GBA game, it's only as a decoy so Zoda can escape Rick's attempt to capture him. Bio Rex is one of the characters who most got shafted by the anime's method of storytelling, being reduced to a complete mook instead of having his own goals and story like in the games.

Interestingly, Bio Rex got a pretty big redesign for the anime, independent of both the X and GX versions of his character art. For no clear reason, the anime gives him several tubes running from his head into his outfit, as well as recoloring his armor yet again to red instead of orange or silver. One of the end-of-episode informative lessons delivered by Bart confirms he's still an Earth-made science experiment in the anime, so perhaps they wanted to play up his artificial creation? Who knows.

Other Information

Bio Rex never appeared as a trophy in Super Smash Bros... but that didn't stop him from making the jump to Ultimate as one of the spirit fights! He appears on the Spirit Board and in World of Light as a spirit possessing Wolf (a green Wolf, naturally), and his famous appetite is on full display; Bio Rex's spirit fight has large amounts of food appear, and Wolf grows strong after eating food. A dangerous combination, to be sure. As a spirit, Bio Rex is a red Attack type with a speed boost, reflecting his aggression and his current occupation.

As a final note on Bio Rex; F-Zero X released in 1998, while the first Jurassic Park film came out in 1993 and the second one in 1997. I joked about Jurassic Kart earlier, but honestly, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Jurassic Park and the prominence of dinosaurs in the public consciousness at the time was the primary inspiration for a racing dinosaur. That's all I've got for this month, though; pop on over to the forum thread if you'd like to vote for who I write about in April, and I'll see you then!

Pokédex Power
Written by:

Hello everyone, it's me, Yoshi876 again with a new edition of Pokédex Power, the section written by the person is loving the Generation VIII starters. They're all so cute, I can't decide which one I want. The only one I've ruled out is the Grass-type, mainly because I think its final evolution will look horrible. I'm leaning more toward the Fire-type, but it does look like it might go down the route of another Fire-Fighting, which is slightly annoying. If that is the case, at least the Water-type looks sweet as well.

But as Generation VIII doesn't have Pokédex entries yet, we can't look at any of their Pokémon yet. But who's looking forward to the future update where I look at previously analysed Pokémon to bring you up to speed on them? Dear lord, I think I need to begin writing it now…

However, I probably should've introduced Tapu Bulu by this point, considering it's the Pokemon we're looking at today. Tapu Bulu seems fine, but other than looking at the artwork, I can't say a whole lot about it. I like the Mexican vibe I get from it though. So, let's just scoot into looking at its entries.

Generation VII

I'm not into these Pokedex entries if I'm completely honest. Tapu Bulu should be this big mysterious Pokemon because of its guardian deity status, but the entries are just so bland. Ultra Sun goes on to speak about how it has a violent temperament, which fits it being a bull, but then Ultra Moon says its bell tail warns others to avoid the conflict unless someone is really dumb. Likewise, Sun says it picks up trees to swing around, and yet it's called lazy in Moon. Also, why does it swing trees around, is it to do with how it creates vegetation or does it just do it randomly?

Conclusion Tapu Bulu hasn't been sold to me from its entries, they come across as a hodge-podge of absolute mess. Is it lazy, or does it swing trees around for fun? Is it really violent, or does it warn everyone off? If it's meant to be a guardian deity, do people have to do ceremonies or leave offerings to keep it pleased? Hopefully, Generation VIII fixes these issues up.