The 'Shroom:Issue 115/Strategy Wing

Director Notes
Written by:

Hello there and welcome to this spooky October issue of Strategy Wing. Hopefully you all have been enjoying what you can in this early fall. I've been realy busy with schoolwork and things. The summer ease of sitting around doing nothing is a feeling I'll miss. and have caught the life bug as well, but don't fret! is back with Mario Calendar this month, and be sure to catch 's section as well! Superchao will be back for Let's Play Showcase for both November and December for you all, so be looking forward to that. RandomYoshi should be good to go as well. I am so grateful for everyone that's on my team, and as always we're looking for writers for this subteam.

For those of you celebrating Halloween, remember to stay safe. With that out of the way, please enjoy this month's issue.

Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner
Written By:

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 tires and gliders that you can use hopefully for racing success.

This month's Kool Part is a glider, the Swooper (or Swoop for PAL regions). As you can tell the Swooper is shaped like a bat. However, it doesn't come with the best aerodynamics. In fact it actually reduces air speed, making your Kart slower in the gliding sections. It also slightly reduces drift and weight. This does make up for the lack of speed slightly though as it improves air handling, making it easier to turn whilst in the air. It also increases your acceleration and mini-turbo, giving you small speed boosts on the ground.

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 we're going to take a look at Banshee Boardwalk, a fairly unpopular course, but spooky none the less. Not much has changed from its transition to DS. It's had the usual graphic improvements, but the only real changes are changing the Cheep Cheep into a Boss Bass and changing the generic bats into Swoops.

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 Wario Shipyard.

Just after the Warp Pipe jump is a muddy section, a Super Mushroom across that will cut the corner.

Party Trick!
Written By:, and

Hello fellow party fanatics! I'm here by myself this month, Pi's busy with life and things like that. This month we're going to look at a board from Mario Party 6. It's October, the time for a lot of people when they love to get spooked. This board in particular might not seem so scary at first, but upon digging deeper, Clockwork Castle definitely has plenty of things to be scared of if you like to keep your Stars, as well as your spot at 1st place. To even play on this board though, you will have to purchase it from the Star Bank for 100 Stars. This means you will have to play around in other modes or boards in order to acquire the necessary funds to access this board. Once you have this map unlocked, you're geared up for one royal party!



Players start in the center of the map where the stone star platform is. They then move down into the roundabout, and proceed counter-clockwise. Unlike most of the boards throughout the series, Clockwork Castle has a unique way to get the star. The goal is to chase after Donkey Kong during the day to try and purchase a star for 20 Coins. However, once night hits, DK will transform into Bowser! To shake things up, on top of that the direction of the board is reversed. So now, instead of chasing DK, Bowser is chasing you. If Bowser manages to catch you, he will steal a star. If you do not have a star, he will steal 20 coins instead. After all players take their turns, DK or Bowser will then have a move as well. It is possible for them to roll more than one dice block, so be careful about being too close to Bowser! If DK passes you when he moves though, you can still buy a star! Another thing to note is that if someone gets to DK to buy a star, DK will move to somewhere else on the map, but if he runs into one of the players and they buy a star, then he won't teleport to someplace else. The same principle also applies to Bowser.

Something else to mention of the structure of the board is the floating platforms on the sides of the board. During the day, the left will only have one bridge. If someone passes it, then the platforms will shift to the other side. On the right side of the board though all of the platforms are in place. During the night, the opposite is true. Despite being much heavier, DK and Bowser do not affect the platforms, and will not cause them to switch if they pass through the set of platforms on only one part of the fork.

Additionally, paying attention to when the phase is going to change is also important. For example, if it is the final turn of the Day phase, and you're chasing DK, be careful not to get too close! This is because after the shift to night, when the direction of the map is reversed, Bowser will now be extremely close to catching you! Using items such as Mushroom Orbs can also be helpful to try and get to where you need to be, whether that is away from Bowser or close to DK. Another notable feature of this board are the pipes. On the bottom of the map, and on the top, there are a set of pipes. During the day, there will be one Green, one Red, and one broken pipe (indicated by the red X over the grey exterior). You can use these to get around the map, to get closer to DK or further away from Bowser. When you get to a pipe, it's a good idea to look at the map to get a spectacle of the board. Each pipe will take you to the other side of the corresponding color,and when you exit a pipe, you still get to move whatever number you have on your dice block. However, during the night the Red pipe will no longer be active, making it so there's only one pipe to travel through. This is so that Bowser can try to catch you easier, but you have to do what you can to use the pipes to plan out our escape. That's not all though! There are several Happening Spaces that will affect the pipe locations. The two Happening Spaces on the bottom of the map will change the order of the pipes on the bottom, while the two Happening Spaces next to the top center pipe will shift the order of the top pipes.

There is a Happening Space at the very top of the map, in front of the clock tower. If someone lands here, they have the potential to alter the phase! The player will watch a spinner move on a dial where half of it is for day and the other for night. The spinner stops pretty quickly after the block is hit, so it's important to be aware of the timing to get the phase that you want. There are other strategic methods that can be used here. For example, if someone is right next to DK, you can turn it into night and make it so that Bowser will be going after them. Alternatively, if Bowser is chasing you, change the phase to day so that he goes back into DK. One thing to note is that if the phase doesn't change, the amount of turns left in the phase does not change. For example, if it is the last turn of day, and the spinner lands on day, then it is still the last turn of day.

On the right side of the map is Brighton's temple. The Happening Space in front of the building with a sun symbol on it is his house. If you land here during the day, you will have a choice between two chests. One has coins, and the other is a Star! It's completely random, so you'll just have to hope you get the right one. If you land on this space during the night, nothing will happen. The Happening Space on the other side will summon a UFO that will take whoever landed on it back to start. Useful if Bowser is chasing you and there is no way out. On the left side of the map is Twila's temple. The Happening Space in front of the building with the moon symbol on it is Twila's house and has the same effect as Brighton's house except with Twila you have to land on it at night. The Happening Space on the backside of Twila's house contains another minigame. You will have the chance to win an orb by fishing it out of the sky.

That's it for this month's Party Trick! Now go out there and give your friends some tricks to earn the treats.

Mario Calendar
Written By:

Hi everyone, and welcome to this month's Mario Calendar! As you may have noticed, I wasn't able to write my section for the September Issue, but now everything has been taken care of, so it's time to check all the Mario, Yoshi, Wario and DK games released sometime during October, which are the following:


 * October 1st (NA):
 * 1995: Mario Clash (VB)
 * 1997: Donkey Kong Land III (GB)
 * 2007: Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (NES-WiiVC)
 * October 2nd, 2014 (DE): Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
 * October 3rd
 * 2012 (JP): Mario Golf (GBC-3DSVC)
 * 2014 (NA/EU): Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
 * October 4th
 * 1995 (NA): Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
 * 2002 (EU): Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
 * 2004 (NA): Mario Pinball Land (GBA)
 * 2012 (NA): Dr. Mario (GB-3DSVC)
 * 2014 (AU): Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3DS)
 * October 5th
 * 1995 (EU): Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
 * 1999 (NA): Mario Golf (GBC)
 * 2001 (EU/AU): Paper Mario (N64)
 * 2002 (AU): Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
 * October 6th, 2008 (NA): Mario Golf (N64-WiiVC)
 * October 7th, 2015 (JP): Kaitou Wario the Seven (NDS-WiiUVC)
 * October 8th
 * 2007 (NA): Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (Wii)
 * 2015 (EU): Mario Golf (N64-WiiUVC)
 * October 9th
 * 1988 (NA): Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
 * 2009 (EU): Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS)
 * 2015 (AU): Mario Golf (N64-WiiUVC)
 * October 11th
 * 2002 (EU): Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA)
 * 2004 (NA): Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)
 * 2012 (NA): Mario Golf (GBC-3DSVC)
 * October 12th
 * 2000 (EU): Mario Party 2 (N64)
 * 2007 (EU): Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber (NDS)
 * 2011 (JP): Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB-3DSVC)
 * October 13th, 2009 (NA): Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii & NDS)
 * October 14th, 2004 (JP): Mawaru Made in Wario (GBA)
 * October 15th
 * 1986 (EU): Donkey Kong (NES)
 * 1987 (EU): Wrecking Crew (NES)
 * 2004 (EU): Donkey Konga (GCN)
 * 2009 (AU): Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii & NDS)
 * 2014 (JP): Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * October 16th:
 * 2009 (EU): Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii & NDS)
 * 2014 (EU): Donkey Kong Country (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * 2015 (NA): Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)
 * October 17th
 * 2002 (JP): Donkey Kong (NES-3DSVC)
 * 2003:
 * (EU): Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
 * (JP): Atsumare!! Made in Wario (GCN)
 * 2014 (AU): Donkey Kong Country (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * October 18th, 1985 (NA):
 * Super Mario Bros. (NES)
 * Wrecking Crew (NES)
 * Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES)
 * October 19th, 1996 (JP): Picross 2 (GB)
 * October 20th, 2005 (JP): Super Princess Peach (NDS)
 * October 21st
 * 1992 (JP): Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
 * 1998 (JP): Wario Land 2: Nusumareta Zaihō (GBC)
 * 2002 (NA): Mario Party 4 (GCN)
 * 2003 (NA): Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
 * 2008 (JP): Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES-WiiVC)
 * 2010 (JP): Super Mario Collection Special Pack (Wii)
 * October 22nd, 2009 (AU): Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS)
 * October 23rd
 * 1988 (JP): Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
 * 2007 (JP): Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES-WiiVC)
 * 2014 (EU): Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * October 24th
 * 2003 (AU): Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)
 * 2005 (NA): Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (GCN)
 * 2012 (JP): Picross 2 (GB-3DSVC)
 * 2013 (EU/AU):
 * Donkey Kong 3 (NES-WiiUVC)
 * Wario's Woods (NES-3DSVC)
 * 2014 (AU): Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * October 25th
 * 2002 (EU): Game & Watch Gallery Advance (GBA)
 * 2004 (NA): Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario (GBA)
 * October 26th
 * 1996 (JP): Tetris Attack (GB)
 * 1999 (EU/AU): Mario Golf (GBC)
 * 2006 (AU): Mario Slam Basketball (NDS)
 * 2007 (EU/AU): Yoshi's Story (N64-WiiVC)
 * October 28th
 * 2002 (NA): Game & Watch Gallery 4 (GBA)
 * 2004:
 * (JP): Mario Tennis GC (GCN)
 * (AU): Donkey Konga (GCN)
 * 2005 (EU): Dancing Stage: Mario Mix (GCN)
 * 2015 (JP): Mario Party Advance (GBA-WiiUVC)
 * October 30th
 * 1997 (EU): Donkey Kong Land III (GB)
 * 2007 (JP): Yoshi's Story (N64-WiiVC)
 * 2014 (EU):
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * Donkey Kong Land III (GB-3DSVC)
 * October 31st, 2014 (AU):
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES-WiiUVC)
 * Donkey Kong Land III (GB-3DSVC)
 * October 1990 (NA): Dr. Mario (NES)
 * October 1994 (NA): Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters (SNES)

That's all for now!! See you in November!!