The 'Shroom:Issue 109/Strategy Wing

Director's Notes
Written by:

Greetings, 'Shroom readers. Welcome to this month's edition of Strategy Wing. Our April edition is a bit sullen. We here, not just at this team, but at The 'Shroom as a whole, sincerely miss our dear friend,. She was a bright, talented, and impassioned individual, and we thank her for everything she has contributed to this community &mdash; her knowledge, her perseverance, her artistry, and &mdash; most importantly &mdash; her friendship. Our hearts go out to her family during this insurmountably difficult time.

In Strategy Wing news this month, and on a lighter note, I am very happy to announce that has joined our renowned medical staff. He has taken over the post for Let's Play Showcase, where he will be highlighting various enjoyable Let's Plays on YouTube. For some of us, his section is long-awaited, so please be sure to give it a thorough read and let us know what you think in this issue's dedicated forum thread.

Pocket Handbook and From the Mushroom Vaults are ruefully absent this month. We apologize for any disappointment, and hope to make it up to our readers next month.

'Shroom Mafia III, the never-ending Mafia game, will finally be ending after six months. The game is on its final phase, and is currently locked. Stay tuned for the results. I'm not going to spoil anything prior to the final post, but I'd like people to know that closure is indeed just around the corner. Player ratings are being worked on currently, too. Next month, I aim to chronicle the many outlandish events that have occurred throughout the game's run. If you are a player, try not to flood the thread with too many "hype" posts, please. Trust that I am as excited and relieved as any of you that we will all be seeing 'Shroom Mafia III's overdue conclusion, but the ending is requiring some very careful thought on my part. I'd also like to thank all of the participants for their activity, creativity, and patience in this very long, very screwy haul.

Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner
Written by:

Hello 'Shroom racers, and welcome to Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner! Here, I plan to give you just some extra tips to help you with your racing, or just some changes in a track that might catch you off guard if you aren't prepared for them. So, the lights are out, let's start racing.

Kool Karts
You can't race if you don't have a Kart to do it in, so in this section I'll give you some facts about a Kart, Bike, ATV or even tyres and gliders that you can use hopefully for racing success.

This month's Kool Kart is the Bolt Buggy. This off-road-looking Kart unsurprisingly offers a boost in the off-road stat. It also boosts the speed and weight stats; however, it does decrease the sea speed, air speed, acceleration, handling and drift stats.

Whilst the Bolt Buggy does offer an increased speed stat, this is only by 0.25. In comparison, its acceleration stat is hampered by 0.5, meaning that whilst you may be a little bit faster, you're going to take a while longer to get to that top speed, at which point many of the lighter Karts with better acceleration have zipped off and you'll be unlikely to be able to barge them out of the way with the weight of the Kart. The handling and drift stats are also hampered, meaning that you may stray off of the track if you veer off, but the off-road boost of the Kart should mean that you won't lose any speed. As for the air and sea, you'll just be slow in them, nothing else I can on that. All in all, this Kart probably isn't worth it seeing as you'll be playing catch-up with it for most of the time.

What's Changed?
Retro tracks are now a huge portion of the Mario Kart games, typically amounting to half the courses in the game. But, usually, these courses change some things up, so in this section I'll help you find out "What's Changed" in the retro tracks.

This time, I'm looking at Peach Circuit. This track originally featured in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, before returning in Mario Kart DS. Sadly though, there's nothing I can actually say about the track other than the graphics have improved. That's really about it.

Ace Shortcut
In this small section I give you a way to shave a few seconds off your time, whether you know about it or not. Be warned, most of these shortcuts will require a Mushroom.

This issue, I bring you a shortcut from Dry Dry Ruins.

Just as you get out of the ruins section of the course and before the finish line, you can skip the final corner, by using a Mushroom or Star and cut across the sand. There's lot of corners you can skip by using Mushrooms or Stars in Dry Dry Ruins as well, I just thought I'd mention this one, seeing as it is generally the more popular one.

Let's Play Showcase
Written by:

Hello, 'Shroom readers! here, returning for the first time since my term as Shroom Director finished. I'm here to bring you the Let's Play Showcase section every other month, showing you some of my favorite Let's Players so that hopefully you'll enjoy watching them too! Whether it's simple voiceover commentary with one person or a team, fancy video reactions, or some esoteric format I haven't seen yet, it's all fair game! For my first section, I'm going to introduce you to a team I highly like, the Men Drinkin' Coffee!

The Men Drinkin' Coffee consist of three main players - Judge Reinhold, the leader and "straight man" of the group, who provides most of the reactions; No Internet Name Anthony, the comedic member who mostly creates stupid jokes for the others to react to, and DiaperChris, the game player... who usually isn't the best at it. In some of their more recent LPs, Anthony has not been available, and the group brought in Major Tom instead. Less of a joker and more of a serious person, Tom's dynamic with the group hasn't been the same as Anthony's, but it's still worked very well. He may provide a bit less comic fodder than Anthony, but the other commentary more than makes up for it!

If there's one thing this group is notable for, it's their choices of video games - an awful lineup, when you look at them! Yes, the Men Drinkin' Coffee don't LP your usual lineup of good, enjoyable video games, but instead pick bad and broken ones. The licensed game Catwoman, the Uncharted ripoff, Unearthed, the critically-panned Sonic Boom... whatever it is, if the coffeemen LP it, you can (usually) assume it's not very good. Of course, this forms a lot of the basis for the commentary and humor in their playthroughs, as they struggle through the glitchy and confusing messes they're presented with. Unlike most people presented with bad games, however, they don't resort to anger and yelling, instead maintaining optimism and pleasantness as they work their way through whatever they're presented with. Sure, it's difficult for them at times, especially considering how absurd the games can get. But they try, and it makes for a pleasant change from anger-based reviews.

Of course, I wouldn't recommend them without giving you a chance to look at some of their playthroughs yourself! Their most famous one is definitely their Let's Play of the infamously, hilariously bad Ride to Hell: Retribution. (Warning: Ride to Hell contains non-explicit sexual content.) The game has everything; myriad glitches, bad cutscenes, nonsensical content, and stunned reactions to it all. Ride to Hell might be funny enough to stand on its own, but their commentary is the right addition to the wild ride. Plus, each episode has a stinger consisting of a highlight from that episode (in terms of bugs and the like), which is a great touch! If there's one other LP of theirs I'd like to highlight alongside this, it's their LP of Raven's Cry. One of their first (if not the first) with Major Tom, Raven's Cry highlights his ability to sub in for Anthony and still feel natural, to the point where sometimes I would lose track of who the team was for the game. Raven's Cry itself provides plenty of fodder, with glitches, a plot that consists of seventy percent accomplishing nothing, and of course an unlikeable protagonist. Like Ride to Hell, not a game I'd recommend to play, but one where watching someone else play is amazing.

Are they perfect? Well... no. There's a few flaws I can spot in the MDC's style, the largest of which is that much of their really solid commentary is derived from the twists and turns and weird outcomes of the games themselves. An already-dull game isn't helped much by their commentary, usually resulting in parts of the LP that are just entirely boring. Sonic Boom, for example, has several lulls where the commentary simply doesn't carry the weight of keeping the segment entertaining. Besides that, some of their commentary gets caught up in the same subject beyond what's entertaining and into what feels played out.

Overall, though, I'd say the Men Drinkin' Coffee are a great team, and if nothing else, they've allowed me to experience some of the gloriously terrible video games that exist today - without me having to suffer through them personally! Their commentary and the games are a great combination, and while they haven't done any new Let's Plays in a few months, I'm looking forward to whatever they come up with next. I'm sure the game will be garbage and the playthrough great, if the past is any indication.

Mario Calendar
Written by:

Hello, and welcome to this month's Mario Calendar!! Nothing new 'round these parts, so we might as well take a look at the Mario, Yoshi, DK and Wario games released in an April day. Here they are:

(As WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania in EU) (As Mario no Super Picross in JP)
 * April 1st, 2015:
 * (EU/AU): Mario Kart DS (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * (NA/EU): Super Mario 64 (N64-WiiUVC)
 * (EU): WarioWare: Touched! (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * (NA): Yoshi's Island DS (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * April 2nd
 * 2009 (AU):
 * Pyoro (DSiWare)
 * Paper Plane (DSiWare)
 * WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)
 * 2010 (EU/AU): Super Mario Kart (SNES-WiiVC)
 * 2014 (JP): Super Donkey Kong GB (GB)
 * 2015:
 * (JP/EU/AU): Donkey Kong 64 (N64-WiiUVC)
 * (JP): New Super Mario Bros. (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * April 3rd
 * 2009 (EU):
 * Pyoro (DSiWare)
 * Paper Plane (DSiWare)
 * WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)
 * 2014:
 * (NA/EU/AU): Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * (JP):
 * Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * Made in Wario (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * April 4th
 * 2008 (EU): Yoshi's Cookie (NES-WiiVC)
 * 2012 (JP): Wario Land 2: Nusumareta Zaihō (GBC-3DSVC)
 * April 5th
 * 2007 (KO): Mario Kart DS (NDS)
 * 2009 (NA):
 * Bird & Beans (DSiWare)
 * WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)
 * April 6th, 2006 (AU): Mario Smash Football (GCN)
 * April 7th, 2008 (NA): Yoshi's Cookie (NES-WiiVC)
 * April 8th
 * 2010 (CN): Dr. Mario Express (DSiWare)
 * 2015 (JP):
 * Super Mario 64 (N64-WiiUVC)
 * Yoshi's Island DS (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * April 9th (NA):
 * 2001: Dr. Mario 64 (N64)
 * 2007: Super Paper Mario (Wii)
 * 2015:
 * WarioWare: Touched! (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * Yoshi Touch & Go (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * April 10th
 * 2008 (JP): Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * 2014 (NA/EU/AU): WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * April 11th
 * 1992 (EU): Super Mario World (SNES)
 * 2008 (EU): Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * 2013 (KO): Mario Party 9 (Wii)
 * April 12th
 * 2002 (EU/AU): Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (GBA)
 * 2007 (JP): Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (NDS)
 * 2013 (HK/TW): Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
 * April 14th
 * 2000 (EU): Wario Land 3 (GBC)
 * 2011 (KO): Wario Land Shaking (Wii)
 * April 15th
 * 2010 (KO):
 * Bird & Beans (DSiWare)
 * Paper Plane (DSiWare)
 * WarioWare: Snapped! (DSiWare)
 * 2015 (JP): Sawaru Made in Wario (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * April 16th
 * 2014 (JP): Donkey Kong Land 2 (GB)
 * 2015 (NA): Donkey Kong 64 (N64-WiiUVC)
 * April 17th, 2014 (NA): Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES-3DSVC & WiiUVC)
 * April 18th
 * 2012 (JP): Donkey Kong Jr. (NES-3DSVC)
 * 2013 (KO): Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
 * April 19th, 2007:
 * (JP): Super Paper Mario (Wii)
 * (AU): Diddy Kong Racing DS (NDS)
 * April 20th
 * 2007:
 * (EU): Diddy Kong Racing DS (NDS)
 * (EU/AU): Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES-WiiVC)
 * 2009 (NA): Dr. Mario Express (DSiWare)
 * April 21st, 1989 (JP):
 * Super Mario Land (GB)
 * Alleyway (GB)
 * April 22nd, 2005 (EU/AU): Yoshi's Universal Gravitation (GBA)
 * April 23rd
 * 2013 (JP): Photo Together with Super Mario (3DS eShop)
 * 2015:
 * (NA): Mario Kart DS (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * (EU): Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * April 24th
 * 2008 (AU): Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * 2014:
 * (JP):
 * Famicom Remix 2 (Wii U eShop)
 * Famicom Remix 1 + 2 (Wii U)
 * (NA/EU): Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * 2015 (AU): Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * April 25th, 2014:
 * (NA/EU/AU): NES Remix 2 (Wii U eShop)
 * (AU): Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * April 26th
 * 1999 (NA): Super Smash Bros. (N64)
 * 2008 (KO):
 * Donkey Kong (NES-WiiVC)
 * Super Mario Bros. (NES-WiiVC)
 * Super Mario World (SNES-WiiVC)
 * Mario Kart 64 (N64-WiiVC)
 * 2012 (JP): Mario Party 9 (Wii)
 * 2013 (NA):
 * Donkey Kong Jr. (NES-WiiUVC)
 * Super Mario World (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * April 27th
 * 2008 (NA): Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * 2009 (NA): Paper Airplane Chase (DSiWare)
 * 2013:
 * (EU): Donkey Kong Jr. (NES-WiiUVC)
 * (JP/EU):
 * Super Mario World (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * Mario's Super Picross (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * April 28th
 * 1989 (EU): Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
 * 1994 (EU): Yoshi's Cookie (NES)
 * 2012 (KO): Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
 * 2013 (AU):
 * Donkey Kong Jr. (NES-WiiUVC)
 * Super Mario World (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * Mario's Super Picross (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * April 29th
 * 2009 (JP):
 * Made in Ore (NDS)
 * Asobu Made in Ore (WiiWare)
 * 2010 (KO): Great Melee Smash Brothers X (Wii)
 * 2015 (JP): Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (3DS)
 * April 30th
 * 1991 (EU): Dr. Mario (GB)
 * 2009 (KO): Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
 * 2010 (EU):
 * WarioWare: Do It Yourself (NDS)
 * WarioWare: Do It Yourself - Showcase (WiiWare)
 * 2014 (JP):
 * Mario & Luigi RPG (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * Mario Tennis Advance (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * Wario Land Advance: Yōki no Otakara (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * 2015 (NA): Paper Mario (N64-WiiUVC)
 * April 1993 (NA): Yoshi's Cookie (NES & GB)

That's all, folks! See you next time!!