The 'Shroom:Issue 182/Pipe Plaza
Director’s Notes
Welcome to May!! I've had a very busy few weeks due to finals and graduating from community college! Not gonna lie, graduation was kinda terrifying!! But that's done, it's over with, and I get to move across the state to my four year school in about three months to finish out my bachelor's degree. I'm quite excited about that :>
I'm far too exhausted to thing of anything witty to put here so here's your monthly tag to go to the sign up page should you be interested in writing something for us!
Have a good rest of the month, and try to stay cool ^^
Section of the Month
| Pipe Plaza SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Anniversary Announcements | 4 | 23.53% | Lakituthequick |
| 1st | NIWA News | 4 | 23.53% | PanchamBro |
| 3rd | Poll Committee Discussion | 3 | 17.65% | Goombuigi |
NIWA News
Written by: PanchamBro (talk)
Hey it's me PanchamBro. It's time for this month's NIWA News, a section regarding news from each of the 32 members of the Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance. We'll be going through staff changes and related wiki news in April. Let's begin.
Staff changes
- Alex95 has been demoted from their patroller and administrator roles on Starfy Wiki, their bureaucrat, interface administrator, and administrator roles on Lylat Wiki and F-Zero Wiki, and their administrator role on MarioWiki. A forum post details more information regarding Alex95.
- Soprano has been promoted to patroller on Pikipedia following a request by the user and a longstanding contribution history. Congratulations!
- Username has been promoted to the role of interface administrator after a temporary promotion to install a new plugin, and a longstanding history of interface improvements. Congratulations on the promotion!
Wiki news
¿Alguna vez querido leer Inkipedia en español? ¡Ese sueño se ha hecho realidad! Inkipedia has launched their Spanish wiki, Inkipedia ES. Having its contents forked from its old Fandom wiki by A22PG, the wiki currently needs your help. If you are fluent in Spanish, please help out and create various articles related to weapons, stages, and gears. It would certainly be appreciated!
Speaking of Inkipedia, if you're a graphic designer, you'll love this one. Inkipedia has announced a contest for a new wiki logo. As of the timing of this article's release, the logo contest is in the feedback round, which means you can submit a draft of what you want Inkipedia's logo, icon, and wordmark to look like. June 5th to June 18th is when you can submit your finalized logo. If you are interested, don't miss out on this opportunity!
Last month, SmashWiki was in the middle of its 100th Discord Smash Arena tournament. I'm proud to announce that the winner of the 100th Discord Smash Arena is...Kirby! With a staggering vote count of 83 vs. 41 between him and Mewtwo, it seems the pink puffball was able to stand no match to the genetic menace. I wish the proud Kirby supporters a good day with this victory.
In other news, interactive maps from Fandom have arrived on Zelda Wiki. These interactive maps are capable of pinning a specific location on a map and linking to its respective article. These maps also allow users to zoom in or out. If you are interested in helping out Zelda Wiki with its map, join the Discord server and participate in the #wiki-maps channel. A help guide on maps is also available at Fandom's Community Central for more information on how to curate a map.
Several wikis in April have upgraded their software for security purposes. These include Icaruspedia, Inkipedia, Metroid Wiki, StrategyWiki, and Wars Wiki upgrading to MediaWiki 1.35.6.
Over at our affiliates, Bulbagarden participated in "Catch a Million to Conquer Kids' Cancer", a week-long event hosted by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation that challenged Twitch streamers to catch a million Pokémon and raise $100,000 to help fund childhood cancer research. The campaign was split into two factions, Team Corvus and Team Greene; Bulbagarden participated under the latter. Bulbagarden's total catch was 2011, putting them in 9th and raising $630.11 for the campaign. Between Team Corvus and Team Greene, Team Greene managed to catch the most Pokémon with 37,669 caught. In total, 68,903 Pokémon were caught, and $38,856 were raised for the charity. Side note: the most caught Pokémon was Bidoof at 399 catches. It seems like nobody can resist Bidoof and his cuddly fur.
Anyways, that's it for any related NIWA news that I could gather for this month's 'Shroom. I'll see you next month!
New Articles
Hello and welcome to New Articles. In this section, I'll list every new article created in April with a description.
| Article | Creator | Description | Creation date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzola | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | A zipline-like object found in Mount Pajamaja in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. It allows Mario and Luigi to go up the mountain. | April 2 |
| Britchard | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | A Brock running the gold shop of the Rose Broquet in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. | April 2 |
| King Gessō | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | An enormous Blooper mech piloted in Yoshi's Safari that acts as the boss of Grand Bridge. | April 2 |
| Gold Bunny | Evil elmo (talk) | A golden High-End variant of the Bright Bunny kart in Mario Kart Tour. | April 6 |
| White Turbo Birdo | Evil elmo (talk) | A white High-End variant of the Turbo Birdo kart in Mario Kart Tour. | April 6 |
| Black Turbo Yoshi | Evil elmo (talk) | A black High-End variant of the Turbo Yoshi kart in Mario Kart Tour. | April 6 |
| Gold Eggshell Glider | DeividMC (talk) | A golden High-End variant of the Eggshell Glider in Mario Kart Tour. | April 6 |
| List of N64 Yoshi Valley tour appearances in Mario Kart Tour | SonicSpeed48 (talk) | A list that details the tour appearances of N64 Yoshi Valley in Mario Kart Tour. | April 7 |
| Card (Pinball) | Spectrogram (talk) | Five playing cards that can flip over when a ball goes through it in Pinball. | April 7 |
| Mega Stone Spike | LinkTheLefty (talk) | Larger variants of Stone Spikes that drop Brick Blocks and Giant Spiked Balls in Mario Sports Superstars. | April 8 |
| Spring Break Quiz: Which Nintendo Switch Game Location is best? | Koopa con Carne (talk) | A personality quiz on the Play Nintendo website aiming to determine which Nintendo Switch game location is the best for a spring break vacation spot for the user. | April 9 |
| Floating corn | Spectrogram (talk) | Floating cylinder vegetable platforms in the Luncheon Kingdom. | April 10 |
| 2D block | Spectrogram (talk) | Blocks in the Ruined Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. They can quickly move from one position to another. | April 11 |
| Amsterdam Tour | WildWario (talk) | The sixty-eighth tour of Mario Kart Tour. The tour features the debut of a new city course called Amsterdam Drift and features a new variant of Rosalina known as Rosalina (Volendam) and the return of the Dragonfly kart from Mario Kart DS. | April 15 |
| Amsterdam Drift | Evil elmo (talk) | A new city course in Mario Kart Tour set in Amsterdam. | April 15 |
| Glossary (Mario Golf: Advance Tour) | Juju1995 (talk) | A list of golf-related terms in Mario Golf: Advance Tour. When a term is selected, Helen will give the player the term's definition or description. | April 15 |
| Banana Heli Bird | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Hefty Helibirds that leave a trail of bananas behind for Donkey Kong to collect in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. | April 16 |
| Bumper (Pinball) | Spectrogram (talk) | Objects in Pinball that bounce the ball back upon contact with them. | April 16 |
| Underground Power Plant | 7feetunder (talk) | A power plant beneath New Donk City in Super Mario Odyssey with Urban Stingbies and Poison Piranha Plants. | April 16 |
| Super Mario Trading Card Collection | Koopa con Carne (talk) | A series of Mario collectible cards launched by the Panini Group publishing house in April of this year. | April 16 |
| Amsterdam | WildWario (talk) | The capital city of the Netherlands. | April 17 |
| Super Mario-kun Volume 11 | Mariuigi Khed (talk) | The eleventh volume of the Super Mario-kun manga series. It continues the Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 arc and begins of the Wario's Woods arc. | April 19 |
| Wind Mouth | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Floating flowers that blow wind in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. | April 20 |
| Fairy Trampoline | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Bouncy bubble-like objects in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. When Donkey Kong performs the Sound Wave Attack near a ring of yellow fairies, they temporarily form into a Fairy Trampoline, allowing him to bounce far. | April 20 |
| Spring Flower | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Large yellow flowers in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat that can be used to launch Donkey Kong. | April 20 |
| Fairy Board | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Glowing yellow platforms in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. When Donkey Kong performs the Sound Wave Attack near a ring of yellow fairies, they temporarily become solid. | April 20 |
| Surprised Flower | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Large flowers in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. They sprout and release beats when affected by the Sound Wave Attack. | April 20 |
| Time Dokan | Mariuigi Khed (talk) | A special Warp Pipe that allows users to warp through time and space in Super Mario-kun. | April 20 |
| Super Kōra | Mariuigi Khed (talk) | A power-up in Super Mario-kun capable of destroying a Suppon no Karon. | April 20 |
| Green Sprout | DeividMC (talk) | A glider resembling a green sprout in Mario Kart Tour. | April 21 |
| Bloom Fairy | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Purple and white fairies in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. They leave a trail of blooms when they fly away. | April 21 |
| Bloom Pod | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Floating buds in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. When Donkey Kong claps one, it opens and releases a small cloud of blooms around it. | April 21 |
| Bingo lamp | Spectrogram (talk) | Objects in Pinball which change their color when a ball passes through them | April 21 |
| All Star Summit | 7feetunder (talk) | A golf course added in version 4.0.0 of Mario Golf: Super Rush. The golf course features holes resembling various Mario characters, and objects such as Brick Blocks, Bouncy Clouds and Star Coins can be found in the course. | April 21 |
| Flower Kart | Evil elmo (talk) | A High-End kart in Mario Kart Tour based on a wooden carriage decorated with flowers. | April 21 |
| Daikon Rocket | Evil elmo (talk) | A High-End variant of the Carrot Kart resembling a daikon. | April 21 |
| Jumping Mario | Mariuigi Khed (talk) | A transformation in Super Mario-kun which causes Mario to constantly bounce left and right. | April 22 |
| Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Dinner | Results May Vary (talk) | A macaroni and cheese product from Kraft Foods first released in the 1990s. | April 23 |
| Go-Gurt | Results May Vary (talk) | A yogurt brand from Yoplait. | April 23 |
| Super Mario Cereal | Results May Vary (talk) | A breakfast cereal produced by Kellogg's to promote Super Mario Odyssey. | April 23 |
| Beach House | 7feetunder (talk) | A house in the Seaside Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey that can only be entered if Mario is wearing the Resort Hat and Resort Outfit or the Sunshine Shades and Sunshine Outfit. | April 25 |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | PanchamBro (talk) | An adventure game in the The Legend of Zelda series. The game features various elements from the Mario franchise, including Goombas and a Chain Chomp. | April 25 |
| Tostarena Ruins | 7feetunder (talk) | The ruins in the Sand Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. It features many Bullet Bills. | April 25 |
| Hallmark | Waluigi Time (talk) | A retail chain that produces ornaments based on the Mario franchise. | April 25 |
| Underground Moon Caverns | 7feetunder (talk) | A lava-filled area in the Moon Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey with enemies such as Parabones and Chargin' Chucks. | April 27 |
| Vegas Trip | Long John Spaghetti (talk) | A voice actor that has portrayed Jimmy T since WarioWare Gold in 2018. | April 28 |
| Tokurri Flower | Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) | Large flowers in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat that hang from walls. They spit out a stream of bananas when affected by the Sound Wave Attack. | April 28 |
| Doctor Tour | WildWario (talk) | The sixty-ninth tour of Mario Kart Tour. The tour features the return of Wii Coconut Mall and introduces Dr. Mario, Dr. Luigi and the Capsule special item. | April 29 |
| List of Dr. Mario profiles and statistics | SonicSpeed48 (talk) | A list of profiles and statistics for Dr. Mario. | April 29 |
| Blustery Basin | 7feetunder (talk) | A snowy golf course added in version 3.0.0 of Mario Golf: Super Rush. Snow Pokeys, Cooligans and Ty-foos can be found in the golf course. | April 29 |
| Ghost Stream | Somethingone (talk) | Wispy and long ghosts in Torrential Maze in Yoshi's Story | April 30 |
There are still lots of articles that haven't been created, and you can create one to help the wiki. But when you create an article, remember to add categories and templates and keep in mind the Super Mario Wiki's Manual of Style.
Poll Committee Discussion
Written by: Luigi 64DD (talk)
Hey everyone! I'm your Poll Committee Vice Chair, Luigi 64DD, here to bring you the Discussion for this month. We've got just two polls to analyze this time around, so while it may be short, I'll be sure to make it sweet!
The News
There's not too much in the way of news, just more trucking along making polls. However, I hear that the election for the Chair and Vice-Chair of the 13th Poll Committee is going to be in the next issue of this very newsletter in June. If you are interested in running for either position, I encourage you to start thinking about it now so it doesn't sneak up on you when it comes!
Archives
What would be your preferred way for Nintendo to announce new Mario titles? (TasteTheFiresOfHelp (talk), April 17, 2022)
| What would be your preferred way for Nintendo to announce new Mario titles? |
|---|
| I prefer Mario announcements being integrated into typical Nintendo Directs. 41.01% (814 votes) |
| I would like to see more Nintendo Directs focused solely on upcoming Mario releases. 27.51% (546 votes) |
| I have no preference on how Mario titles are announced. 20.10% (399 votes) |
| I prefer Nintendo waiting for large events, such as E3 or The Game Awards, to announce new Mario titles. 8.82% (175 votes) |
| I prefer Mario announcements being made over social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube trailers unrelated to Nintendo Directs. 2.57% (51 votes) |
| Total Votes: 1,985 |
What aspect do you think Nintendo should be focusing on improving the most right now? (TasteTheFiresOfHelp (talk), May 1, 2022)
| What aspect do you think Nintendo should be focusing on improving the most right now? |
|---|
| Their online services. 32.16% (703 votes) |
| The gameplay in their games. 16.61% (363 votes) |
| The availability and accessibility of their products. 11.76% (257 votes) |
| Their communication and cooperation with content creators. 9.10% (199 votes) |
| The presentation (graphics, music, etc.) of their games. 7.59% (166 votes) |
| The quality of their game systems. 7.09% (155 votes) |
| I have no opinion on what aspect Nintendo should be focusing on improving the most right now. 6.31% (138 votes) |
| The rate at which they come up with new games. 5.40% (118 votes) |
| Their merchandise and media beyond video games, like manga and films. 3.98% (87 votes) |
| Total Votes: 2,186 |
Analysis
What would be your preferred way for Nintendo to announce new Mario titles?
Mario stuff's fun, but how is Nintendo supposed to let us know it exists without announcing it? We asked the voters how they want Big Ninty to do it. Right from the get-go, we can see that our users love the traditional Nintendo Direct presentation format. More than 40% of our voters would like to see Mario-related announcements as a part of Nintendo's usual general Directs. Seeing as Directs are always exciting events to look forward to, I can see why this option was so popular. The second largest voter group with about 27% of the vote would like to take things even further by having entire Directs dedicated to just Mario news (like the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct a couple years back)! This would be reasonable given how much Direct time the massive series can take up at times. While more people prefer to just keep them in the general directs, the fact that this option received so many votes shows that a lot of y'all would love to see a show devoted to Mario and only Mario! So collectively, almost 68% of the voters prefer announcements in Directs, which is no surprise given the hype machines they are.
Next, about 20% have no preference on how Mario titles are announced. These people will just go with the flow, happy to receive news on new Mario games however Nintendo chooses to give it, just as long as they get to play said games! In contrast, just under 9% of voters like to see Nintendo announce games with the big flourish that they deserve by keeping the surprises for big gaming evens such as E3 and the Game Awards. I'm not surprised this option wasn't too popular as that would mean we'd only get new announcements about twice a year, but I can see the appeal since we'd get a whole lot of cool announcements one after the other! Finally, our last option with about 2.5% of the vote are those who'd prefer for Nintendo to drop announcements on their social media pages, just as they did during the earlier days of the pandemic in 2020. While this method is effective in delivering the needed info, the sudden nature of it doesn't quite live up to the excitement of Directs or other events for most voters, but we can see that some people prefer this quicker and more straightforward approach. So overall, if Nintendo's reading this, keep up the good work with those directs!
What aspect do you think Nintendo should be focusing on improving the most right now?
In what almost sounds like it could be a poll from Nintendo itself but sadly is not, our next poll asks what Nintendo should focus on to improve itself. As good as the games they make are, there are a lot of areas where fans would like to see some big improvements. Coming in first with just over 32% of the vote is online services. Yes, Nintendo has a bit of a history with having outdated or just not very good online services. Most recently, many fans have not been thrilled about the prices of their Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which locks online behind a paywall without doing much to improve the quality of online services. And while it also offers unlimited access to legacy games, some of these are still locked beyond an even higher-priced pack. Understandably, many fans have lobbied for improvement of these systems, and that's reflected in these votes. Following that, a little over 16% of the voters want Nintendo to focus on continuing to improve gameplay in their games. Seeing as games are their main thing despite all the extra bells and whistles, it makes sense to ask for them to focus on what they do best.
Meanwhile, almost 12% of the voters want to see the availability and accessibility of Nintendo's products improved. I think this is referring to the fact that a lot of legacy games are still unavailable to purchase on modern consoles, as well as the shortages of products such as amiibos and even Nintendo's own consoles throughout the years. Just over 9% want to see increased communication with content creators. Since content creators such as YouTubers are a big part of the fandom now and Nintendo has had a rocky relationship with them at times, it makes sense to ask for improvements here. Around 7% each want to see improved presentation in areas such graphics and music in games and improvements in the quality of game systems. To some, Nintendo's console might seem a bit behind the times compared to Sony and Microsoft's powerhouses, so I can see where these votes are coming from. About 6% have no opinion, about 5% would like to see new games produced more quickly, and the remaining almost 4% want to see improvements to other merchandise and media besides games. It seems most voters aren't as worried about the rate that games are coming out, and it's no surprise only a small portion are looking for improvements to Nintendo's lesser-known products. Overall, I'd say that judging by this sample population, Nintendo needs to get their act together in regards to the quality of their online services and then continue to improve on the gameplay of the games we all know and love.
Conclusion
Alright, that's it for this edition of Poll Committee Discussion! Remember to vote in our polls whenever you happen to chance across the good ol' front page. If you keep votin' in 'em, we'll keep makin' 'em! (Well, we'll still be making them either way, but that's beside the point.) And of course, keep on enjoying the paper! See ya later!
Anniversary Announcements
Written by: Lakituthequick (talk)
- “It's an argument that's gone on for 400 pages. 12 people have been banned, and a mod was forced to step down in disgrace. Is issue 175 a special issue?”
- —Shoey (talk · Boards)
Welcome back to the second Anniversary Announcements of this year! While it may seem kinda quiet, a lot of Awards have been covered and some tournaments are popping up, so read on.
The tournaments
Just like last month, no tournaments have officially kicked off yet, but the intent has grown. In this subsection, I will summarise the upcoming and ongoing tournaments and update you on their proceedings.
The following games have been mentioned as upcoming:
- Anniversary Scavenger - Lakituthequick (talk · Boards)
- Wario's Woods - Shoey (talk · Boards)
The following games have been coined to gauge interest:
- Panel de Pon - Roserade (talk · Boards) - forum post
- PuyoVS - Long John Spaghetti (talk · Boards) - forum post
- Splatoon 2 - Ninja Squid (talk · Boards) - forum post
The awards
In this part of Anniversary Announcements, I update you on the awards that have been discussed, and all changes made to them. This includes new and removed awards, as well as nominees within.
Awards M29 and M30, the Favourite Game awards, have been split into three eras instead of the two they were before, because of the many games in different generations which cannot be properly compared among themselves. Additionally, the now-middle category, Favourite Classic Game, has taken the Wii and Nintendo DS from Modern Game. In the overview below, nominees that moved between these awards are not marked as removed or added from the respective awards.
Due to lots of new activity in the community and the subsequent new award ideas coming from it, the Community Awards have raised the numbers of awards from 10 to up to 15, depending on how many viable ideas can be worked out.
C7. Favorite Community Event is under discussion of being split in more categorised events and games within the community. This is because, while this award considers the past year for its nominees, ongoing games like e.g. roleplays would continuously qualify, while e.g. awards tournaments and strategy games would not. The exact division is not yet decided on.
The complete and up-to-date list of awards and nominees can be viewed in this document at any time.
Mario Awards
Fail Awards
Community Awards
And that brings us to the end for this month. Yet another month with big changes to the awards, so I hope this overview helped you get up to date. Next month, the complete review will have happened, and thus the last updates to the awards will be reflected here.
But until then, have fun with the festivities, and good night!
Mario Calendar
Hey everyone, GPM here! Welcome back to another Mario Calendar! This section is where I recount the grand history of the Mario series and tell you all about the Mario games that have come out in the past. Let’s get into it!
Region Abbreviations
| Abb. | Region |
|---|---|
| ALL | All Regions (JP/NA/EU/AU) |
| JP | Japan |
| NA | North America |
| EU | Europe |
| AU | Oceania/Australia |
| SK | South Korea |
| CHN | China |
| UK | United Kingdom |
Console Abbreviations
| Abb. | Console |
|---|---|
| NES | Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Famicom | Family Computer Disk System |
| SNES | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| N64 | Nintendo 64 |
| GC | Nintendo GameCube |
| GB | Game Boy |
| GBC | Game Boy Color |
| GBA | Game Boy Advance |
| DS | Nintendo DS |
| 3DS | Nintendo 3DS |
| Switch | Nintendo Switch |
| Wii VC | Nintendo Wii Virtual Console |
| 3DS VC | Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console |
| Wii U VC | Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console |
| VB | Virtual Boy |
| G&W | Game and Watch |
| 64DD | Nintendo 64 Disk Drive |
| MS-DOS | Microsoft Disk Operating System |
| CD-i | Philips CD-i |
| IQ | iQue Player |
| NVS | Nvidia Shield |
| ACPC | Amstrad CPC |
| ZX | ZX Spectrum |
| Coleco | Colecovision |
| TI-99 | Texas Instruments TI-99/4A |
- May 1
- 1984 (JP): Golf (NES)
- 2009 (AU): Dr. Mario Express (DSiWare)
- 2014 (JP): Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)
- 2015 (AU): amiibo tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits (Wii U)
- 2020 (ALL): Arcade Archives: VS. Wrecking Crew (Switch eShop)
- May 2
- 2014 (NA/EU): Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)
- May 3
- 2002 (EU): Luigi's Mansion (GC)
- 2014 (AU): Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS)
- 2018 (JP): Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
- May 4
- 2009 (NA): New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii)
- 2018 (NA/EU/AU): Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
- May 6
- 2005 (EU): Yoshi Touch & Go (DS)
- May 7
- 2001 (NA): Mario Party 3 (N64)
- May 8
- 2009 (EU): Dr. Mario Express (DSiWare)
- 2015 (EU): Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (3DS)
- May 9
- 2005 (NA): Donkey Konga 2 (NA)
- 2013 (NA/EU): Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS eShop)
- 2015 (AU): Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (3DS)
- May 10
- 1998 (EU): Yoshi's Story (N64)
- 1999 (NA): Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (GBC)
- 2013 (AU): Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS eShop)
- May 11
- 1997 (JP): Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle (Satellaview)
- 1998 (AU): Yoshi's Story (N64)
- 2001 (JP): Mobile Golf (GBC)
- 2017 (NA): Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch eShop)
- May 12
- 2017 (JP/EU/AU): Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (Switch eShop)
- May 13
- 1994 (EU): Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (GB)
- 1996 (NA): Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
- May 15
- 1987 (EU): Super Mario Bros. (NES)
- 2006 (NA): New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
- May 17
- 2002 (AU): Luigi's Mansion (GC)
- 2007 (AU): Wario: Master of Disguise (DS)
- 2017 (NA): Luigi's Mansion Arcade (Arcade)
- May 18
- 2009 (NA):
- Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (DSiWare)
- Punch-Out!! (Wii)
- 2014 (NA): Photos with Mario (3DS eShop)
- 2009 (NA):
- May 19
- 2005
- (JP): DK: King of Swing (GBA)
- (AU):
- WarioWare: Twisted! (GBA)
- Yoshi Touch & Go (DS)
- 2005
- May 20
- 2008 (EU/AU): Dr. Mario Online Rx (WiiWare)
- 2010 (AU):
- WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase (WiiWare)
- WarioWare: D.I.Y. (DS)
- 2012 (NA): Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
- May 21
- 2004 (JP):
- May 22
- 2009
- (EU): Punch-Out!! (Wii)
- (EU/AU): Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (DSiWare)
- 2015 (NA): Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition (3DS)
- 2009
- May 23
- 2003 (EU): WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
- 2005 (NA): WarioWare: Twisted! (GBA)
- 2010 (NA): Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
- May 24
- 2002 (EU): Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
- 2004 (NA): Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)
- 2012 (JP/AU): Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
- 2013 (NA/EU): Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS)
- 2018 (ALL): Mario Tennis Aces: Online Tournament Demo (Switch eShop)
- May 25
- 2006 (JP): New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
- 2007 (EU): Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
- 2012 (EU): Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
- 2013 (AU): Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS)
- May 26
- 2003 (NA): WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
- 2005 (JP): NBA Street V3 (GC)
- 2006 (EU): Super Princess Peach (DS)
- 2008 (NA): Dr. Mario Online Rx (WiiWare)
- May 27
- 2004 (JP): Wario World (GC)
- 2010 (JP): Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
- May 29
- 2007 (NA): Mario Party 8 (Wii)
- 2014 (JP): Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
- May 30
- 2000 (NA): Wario Land 3 (GBC)
- 2014 (NA/EU): Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
- May 31
- 1989 (JP): Pinball (Famicom)
- 2002 (AU): Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
- 2014 (AU): Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
- 2015 (JP): Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure (3DS eShop)
And that’s it for this month! It started off as quite the Donkey Kong-centric month with games like Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but by the end of the month, a bunch of very solid more mainline games came out, like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart 8. Overall, I’d say it was a very solid month, and I’ll see you next time! Bye-bye!
Roleplay Update
Written by: MightyMario (talk)
Hello and welcome to "Roleplay Update". This is a new section highlighting the Roleplay fourm on the Super Mario Boards. Let’s see what happened in April!
New RPs
Mario in the Multiverse of Madness (rp) [by Bob Craples]: In a parody of the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, Mario travels through the multiverse and encounters different versions of himself and his pals. Mario, played by Bob Craples, Live-Action Luigi, played by Long John Spaghetti, and Bowser, played by MightyMario are some of the characters and users you’ll see in this roleplay.
The Jelly Tails Experiment [by Zdrmonster Productions]: A group of lab scientists try to craft a jellified clone of Miles "Tails" Prower. No posts yet!
The Mafia Roleplay (real) [by InsaneBlathers]: Complete missions from "The Boss" to up your levels. That's how Mafia works! No posts yet!
Notable Events
- A NIGHTS arc was started in Mushroom City Car Wash by Toadettefan and is currently ongoing. The arc features Toadettefan's cast of colorful characters (Toadette, Toadiko, Jason, and others) as they venture through the world of NIGHTS, encountering characters and enemies from the game, while forming a friendship with Nights, an exiled Nightmaren.
- The war between the Resistance and Grievous (MightyMario) ended in Tales from the Megaverse. Zerris (played by MightyMario) and Surge the Tenrec (played by Long John Spaghetti) dealt the final blow, sending the cyborg commander into a trash compactor.
- Into the Cosmos (created by Matz Lunne) returns from a hiatus.
New Bans
None. Keep that streak goin'!
And this concludes the first edition of Roleplay Update. I’m MightyMario and I'll see you guys next time!
What's in a Campaign?
By: Mustard Machine (talk)
Hello 'Shroom readers, and welcome back to another What's in a Campaign?, a section where we look at various competitors from the British show Robot Wars. It's been a year since we started this little section, and I thought, to celebrate, we'd do something special. So, for this month, we're going to go back to where it all began. We're going to be looking at the very first robot to ever be shown onscreen, Series 1's Roadblock.
Built by Bodmin Community College students Hender Blewett, Chris Kinsey, and Peter Kinsey, Roadblock is a classic wedge robot, built mainly out of donated parts and designed after viewing the pre-television US Robot Wars competitions. Roadblock's chassis is partially built out of a donated electric wheelchair, and the robot is powered by two 12V gel cell batteries and boasts a two-wheel drive system, but the most distinct part of its design is the armor. Armored in actual road signs salvaged from a skip, the original plan was to paint over them, but, thankfully, the BBC liked the road signs so much that the team decided not to paint over them, giving Roadblock a lot of much-needed character. You might be thinking to yourself that road signs don't sound like they'd make great armor, and, well, you'd be right! But, at the time, during Series 1 and really not until series 3, there weren't a whole lot of weapons that could do a lot of real damage. In Series 1, the only robot I can really think of with a truly damaging weapon is Killertron, with its pickaxe. Up until Hypno Disc in Series 3, most teams didn't heavily armor their robots simply because nothing was really causing damage at the time. So, in Series 1, road signs are perfectly fine armor. For weapons, Roadblock has a petrol-powered cutting disc at the back which is, in theory, the main weapon of Roadblock. I say "in theory" because, in reality, the main weapon is that sweet sexy wedge. Low enough to the ground to be able to get under just about any robot, Roadblock's wedge is the perfect example of why simply having a great wedge is so valuable in early series of Robot Wars.
As a reminder, all pictures are sourced from the fantastic Robot Wars Wiki. And if you'd like to watch any of these fights a video will be posted, with time stamps in the section.
As with every robot that tried to enter Series 1, Roadblock qualified by default. In fact, only thirty-three robots actually entered Series 1, forcing the producers to include three stock robots just to fill out the numbers (more on those later). Roadblock was placed into Heat A, the first heat ever televised. Robot Wars Series 1 is, like Series 2, unique because it isn't fully a robot combat show. Instead, the first two rounds are the Gauntlet and the Trial. The Gauntlet has each robot compete individually in a special arena, with the goal being to advance as far as possible and the robot that travels the shortest distance being eliminated (heats in Series 1 had six robots). The Gauntlet is split into three different areas, with the roboteers choosing the area they feel their robot is best suited for. The three routes were as follows:
Left Route: A maze route. Robots had to navigate through metal rails while also avoiding a number of obstacles designed to trap the robot. After the maze sat one of the house robots, whose job it was to push the robot back.
Center route: Back-to-back seesaw ramps were featured here, with the main danger being driving off one of the ramps and finding yourself pinned on an obstacle. In addition, a robot with too low of a ground clearance would find itself getting stuck on the ramp.
Right route: The route with the lowest amount of obstacles had two house robots to compensate. Robots would have to avoid the house robots on their way to the end. In addition, this route contained, at the start, a grill that the house robots could push you into, making you unable to move after being pushed into them.
The gauntlet is interesting, but I kind of really like it in Series 1, because it showcases driving and decision-making in a way combat does not.
Roadblock, the first robot to ever attempt the gauntlet, decided to choose the right route (1:04), easily getting by SGT. Bash, who makes no attempt to stop Roadblock. Roadblock then manages to split between Matilda and Dead Metal before getting across the finish line, completing the gauntlet while hardly taking a scratch!
Roadblock then moves on to the trial stage. Trials are the second round and would be a different game each episode Sometimes, it was skittles (knocking over barrels). One time, it was a three lap race. This week, it's sumo. The goal is to do as good as possible in the event, with the worst-performing robot being eliminated. I'm not a huge fan of the Trial stages, because, unlike the Gauntlet, which is at least always the same basic layout, the Trial change every week, meaning you can have robots that would be good at a specific activity getting placed in heats with activities that they were not good at!
Heat A's trial is sumo, and the opponent is Shunt. The goal? Knock Shunt off the platform or last as long as possible (time limit is sixty seconds). Whoever lasts the least amount of time will be eliminated. Squaring off in the circle (2:06) against Shunt, Roadblock actually gets very lucky, because, while attempting to get its wedge around Shunt, it leave its side exposed to the bulldozer robot, but, luckily for it, Shunt doesn't take advantage. It's tentative stuff, with both robots sizing each other up, until, finally, Roadblock manages to get under Shunt and push it off the platform, driving off the platform along with Shunt.
Roadblock is declared the winner, although, since they also went off with Shunt, they are listed as survived and given third place in the stage's rankings, not that it would have mattered anyways. Remember how I said Series 1 had stock robots to fill the ranks? Well, one of them, a robot named Grunt, was in this heat, and, you see, stock robots were not allowed to make it to the arena stage. During its sumo run, Grunt just drove off the circle in less than five seconds. Even if Roadblock had done worse than Grunt, the producers would have just declared that Grunt had broken down irreparably and sent Roadblock to next round. I know this because it actually happened in Heat F, where Eubank the Mouse, a stock robot, did better than T.R.A.C.I.E.in the trial but was declared to have broken down, sending eventual heat winner T.R.A.C.I.E into the arena stage.
In the semi-final combat stage, Roadblock faced off (3:40) against Diotoir's predecessor, Nemesis. The arena in Series 1 is quite a bit different. First off, there's no pit at all, the closest equivalent being a grill you could pin your opponent to. Fights also contain four house robots, each with their own CPZ (Corner Patrol Zone). Finally, the arena also has a few scattered obstacles, such as a hanging spiked mace that never does anything and some pyramid-shaped blocks that also never do anything! Roadblock starts out by backing into Nemesis, attacking it with its saw blade, tearing away at the fur of Nemesis. Tearing away fur but not much else, Roadblock then drives away from Nemesis and finds itself getting lodged on the arena spikes in Matilda's CPZ. Matilda attacks Roadblock with her chainsaw tail, but, since Roadblock is made out of metal and chainsaws are for cutting wood, it does little damage. Nemesis goes on the attack but Roadblock manages to turn into the high-centered robot, getting Nemesis onto its wedge. SGT. Bash then uses its flamethrower on Nemesis. setting the fur-clad robot on fire. Then, because its Series 1, the producers don't know what to do with Nemesis on fire, so they call the fight and Roadblock moves on to the Heat Final.
In the Heat Final (6:18), Roadblock faced off against the pickaxe of Killertron. Killertron, which is made of a wheelie bin lid, has a lot of ground clearance, so much ground clearance, in fact, that its tires are never all the way on the ground at the same time. Killertron's pickaxe is powerful for the time and it even manages to land a blow on Roadblock, but with so much ground clearance it could never beat such a well put together wedge. After Killertron lands the first blow, Roadblock gets under Killertron with ease and throws it into the side grills. Luckily for Killertron, they don't end up stuck on them; unluckily for them, however, is that their axe appears to get stuck downwards and Roadblock gets under them with ease again.
This time, though, Roadblock does not waste the opportunity and, with Killertron stuck on the side of its wedge, manages to use its momentum to flip over Killertron, KOing it and sending Roadblock to the grand final.
Series 1 also had a Grand Final that was completely unique to it. In every other series of Robot Wars, the Grand Final was essentially another heat, just containing the robots that qualified for it. But in Series 1, the Grand Final was instead a six-way melee pitting the other five heat winners against each other, with the winner being declared champion. The other five robots in the Grand Final are:
Recyclopse: The only other robot with an active weapon. Built by the legendary Rex Garrod, Recyclopse has a pneumatic tongue which shoots out and can flip opponents. Winner of Heat B, Recyclopse defeated producer favorite Mortis in a very close Heat Final (so close, in fact, that the judges wanted to declare it a draw) to advance to the Grant Final.
Robot the Bruce: A standard box on wheels built by the even more legendary George Francise (builder of two-time series champion Chaos 2). No active weapon. Instead, Robot the Bruce beats opponents by ramming them into submission. Robot the Bruce won Heat C in dominating fashion, finishing first in both the arena and trial stages before defeating Cruella in the Heat semi-final and Wedgehog in the Heat Final.
Cunning Plan: A featherweight robot (weighing only 11.5 kg), Cunning Plan has the distinction of being the only featherweight to ever win a main series heat. Once again, no weapon. Instead, Cunning Plan has a wedge (a tiny wedge, but still a wedge). Winner of Heat D, a heat that consisted entirely of featherweights (because, again, only thirty-three robots actually attempted to enter), Cunning Plan defeated fellow featherweight The Demolisher in just fourteen seconds, a record for the shortest fight that would last until Series 3. Also of note, builder Oliver Steeples would go on to design R2D2 for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Bodyhammer: Built by series legends Team Cold Fusion, this cone-shaped robot doesn't actually have a hammer. It was supposed to have a hammer (hence the name), but the team unfortunately could not get it working right. Bodyhammer won Heat E in very controversial fashion after Shunt freed it from the grill in its fight against REALI-T.
T.R.A.C.I.E.: A middleweight robot, weighing only 52.9 kg. T.R.A.C.I.E., winner of heat F wields static spikes and was very lucky to win its heat. If not for the fact that there was a stock robot in its trial stage, T.R.A.C.I.E. would have exited the competition during the trials. T.R.A.C.I.E. would recover from that, however, dominating the combat portion of the heat and defeating Skarab. T.R.A.C.I.E.'s team is also the only grand finalist team in the classic era (Series 1-7 and Extreme 1 and 2) to never have a robot qualify for a future series, with sequel robot S.H.A.R.O.N. failing to qualify for Series 3.
The Grand Final (8:50) is dominated by Roadblock. Roadblock attempts to get under Recyclopse as T.R.A.C.I.E. spikes them. Soon after this, T.R.A.C.I.E. and Cunning Plan are eliminated simultaneously when T.R.A.C.I.E. drives over the featherweight box, wedging itself on the tiny robot in such a way to where T.R.A.C.I.E.'s wheels are off the ground, preventing it from backing up, and Cunning Plan can't back up because of the weight of T.R.A.C.I.E.. Roadblock then gets underneath Recylopse, dragging it around and, by the time Recylopse manages to get free, Recyclopse's drive chain was ripped off by the bottom of Roadblock, rendering Recyclopse immobile.
Roadblock continues its dominating performance, landing a beautiful attack on Robot the Bruce, getting under half of Robot the Bruce, and getting Robot the Bruce stuck on its side. The rest of the fight is just Bodyhammer running away from Roadblock, realizing they have no chance of beating Roadblock in a one-on-one fight. The fight goes to the judges, but the result is obvious. Roadblock the robot who KO'd two of the four immobilized robots and had the last moving robot running for its life, so Roadblock is declared the champion, becoming The first ever champions of Robot Wars
Make no mistake, Roadblock was the best robot in Series 1. Of all the thirty-three robots who participated in Robot Wars at that time, I can see only two that I think might be able to defeat Roadblock in a one-versus-one fight. Those two are Mortis, a highly advanced robot for the time, which was made out of a staggering 40,000 pounds of material (most of the parts were donated and it only cost the team about five hundred pounds), and Barry, a super heavyweight weighing 116.9 kg (for reference the current weight limit is 100 kg), who had the misfortune of being screwed by the house robots during the Gauntlet of Heat A. In early robot combat, having the better wedge and being low to the ground would allow you to win against most of the robots you would face. Proving this, there's Roadblock's Series 2 performance, where Roadblock again managed to make the Grand Final and in fact had series favorite Cassius on the ropes before kind of randomly breaking down. If not for that, Roadblock would have probably defeated Panic Attack and been the first ever two-time Robot Wars champion! Honestly, the only problem I have with Roadblock is that the team never took the time to turn it into a proper flipper. They took a little bit of a half measure, giving their Series 3 robot Beast of Bodmin a little flipping arm, but they never took it to the next step and never gave Roadblock a proper flipper. Had they done that, they would probably have stayed competitive until Series 5. Instead, after Series 3 the team decided to retire as one of the most successful main series teams in Robot Wars' history, having entered three times and having never failed to finish in the top eight of its series.
That's all for this month. Join us next month when we cover another robot!
Forum Update
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all of you readers of The 'Shroom! It's a busy season behind-the-scenes, as the community works to finish crafting the Awards polls, to finalize tournaments for the season, and to prepare a special issue of The 'Shroom. With so much going on, it's been a little bit of a slower month on the forum, but we can still have Forum Update, so let's take a look at the past month on the Super Mario Boards.
News
There isn't much to report in terms of major news this month. It's been quiet, with projects organized off the forums taking priority. With Awards season starting in full swing in June, don't expect that quietness to last for long, though!
While it isn't exactly major news, I will point out that Goombuigi (talk) has put up the first tournament thread of the year, and is seeking participants for a Super Mario Maker 2 tournament. Be sure to give it a read if you have the game and are interested in playing.
Re-Threading Old Ground
Awards season is almost upon us, and, towards the season's end, in preparation for the ceremonies, we'll be putting party hats on our avatars. It's a yearly tradition that has been going on longer than even many regular users have been members of the forum. Just how long has it been going on, though? Well, it's been going on since at least August 10th, 2012. That's right, the awards hat tradition is, at the least, going to turn ten years old this year. You'll notice the usual jokes about wearing a hat on a hat in this thread, courtesy from Shoey, who chooses not to engage in such tomfoolery. You'll see MS Paint-drawn hats, but, look closely, and specifically at MCD's handiwork and you'll see the hat we still use today among these decade-old posts. When the time comes this year, join in the fun and put a hat on your forum avatar.
Statistics
- Total Threads: 41,114 (Difference: +98)
- Total Posts: 2,234,729 (Difference: -3,992)
- Total Members: 3,405 (Difference: +16)
Thread of the Month
Which courses in Mario Kart 8 utilised anti-gravity well? - This thread may not have the highest post count, but it poses an interesting question and offers a poll with every possible option. As popular as Mario Kart 8 is, there hasn't been much in-depth discussion about its central mechanic - or gimmick, one might say - so it's nice to see someone soliciting opinions on where the anti-gravity mechanic is used well and where it feels tacked-on.
Quotes
- "You will derive increasingly less serotonin from bing bing wahoos as you grow older. It is the grim truth." - Glowsquid, informing us of our dismal fate
- "Two words: Thunder Cloud" - Ray Trace, offering some clearly unassailable criticism of Mario Kart Wii
- "I don't think I will ever see Christmas Trees the same way as before now... Thank you Gacha!" - Ninja Squid, who remains stuck in Gacha Hell as of the time of this writing.
- "Uhh... So that you may partake of my data, and always have a stable internet connection on your phones." - Gabumon, explaining his sacrifice
- "Fuck Toads. They're everywhere. They're inescapable. They're all I see out my window, on the streets, in my dreams. My life is in shambles." - Koopa con Carne,
inviting Paper Mario discourse - "hey guys good news! I just realised I have wasted five years of my life on here (it's still not too late to leave is it?)" - Shy Guy on Wheels
Forum Games
- Le Jeu de la Mafia Française - Colloquially "French Mafia," this game failed to get the required number of sign-ups, and will not be continued at this time. It has been suggested that the game should attempt to run again later in the year.
- Zelda CD-i Mafia - This game is currently looking for sign-ups. No set start date and no minimum number of players are listed.
Interactive 'Shroom Threads
- Voting will once again be open this month for Strategy Wing's Mach Speed Mayhem, written by Superchao. The chances to vote are dwindling, so go vote!
- Nominations are once again open for Waluigi Time's Mushroom Kingdom Smackdown. A system where Waluigi Time offers a few nominees which you can vote for with reactions remains in place. As next month's issue is a special, you may want to check to see if this month has a particular theme expected for nominations.
- You can also vote in Northern Verve's merit ranking to determine the order he'll cover Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's fighters, determining which fighters get covered in his 'Shroom section!
That's all the news from the forum for this month. Before I go, though, I want to direct you to two Pipe Plaza sections which complement Forum Update. If you aren't already a regular reader of the section, do not miss Lakituthequick (talk) and his Anniversary Announcements section, which will keep you up to do with everything related to awards. Debuting this month, there is also Roleplay Update, written by MightyMario. I haven't covered the roleplay board in great detail in this section, as I'm not particularly familiar with it, but MightyMario will have you covered on all the major updates from that board, so be sure to check it out and give him some feedback on what you would like to see.
As always, if there's something you feel I should add to Forum Update, let me know. For now, I will turn my attention to gathering news for June!
All information above was correct as of 11:59 EDT on 19 May 2022.
| The 'Shroom: Issue 182 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | Blooper Race |
