The 'Shroom:Issue 235/Pipe Plaza
Director's Notes
Hello and happy spooooooky month everyone!! I hope everyone is getting into an appropriately festive mood. Personally, I'm listening to my carefully cultivated spooky music playlist every car ride I get :3c
We've got a spooooky special section from Boo1268 about the troublemaking children from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! We've also got our usual selection of Pipe Plaza sections to keep you entertained as well! And don't forget that you, too, can always send in a submission for your very own Pipe Plaza section any time! Just head to the sign up page to learn more!
Have a lovely reading experience, and enjoy the rest of your month ^^
Section of the Month
Congratulations to this month's winners! In first place, we have The Shadow Prince (talk) with Poll Committee Discussion! Taking silver, we have Sparks (talk) with Awards Analysis! Rounding us out at third is Harold Harefoot (talk) with What's in a Campaign?! Thank you to everyone who votes for their favorite sections as well.
| PIPE PLAZA SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Poll Committee Discussion | 4 | 36.36% | The Shadow Prince (talk) |
| 2nd | Awards Analysis | 3 | 27.27% | Sparks (talk) |
| 3rd | What's in a Campaign? | 2 | 18.18% | Harold Harefoot (talk) |
To-Do Tracker
Written by: Camwoodstock, of the Seven Stars (talk)
Howdy, and, Happy Early Halloween! This spirit of spectres is brought to you by the newly-deceased, some sorta baby stuff we're too old to get, and... huh. Is that really all that's been going on in the Mario department as of late? Maybe it's because we skew a bit on the older side, and already have plenty enough going on personally, but we can get behind a lazier period like this. It's like a certain king once said. This peace is what all true warriors strive for. Besides, we've got enough to square away in covering the games we already have, thank you very much!
...And, sure, that's our segue! While there hasn't been as many fundamental shake-ups to the To-Do Bar this month, one thing is consistently inconsistent, and we're here to relay the numbers to you.
Note: All dates here were taken fairly late at night in EST; around 1-3 AM EST.
| To-Do Item | Sep 16, 2026 | Sep 23, 2026 | Sep 30, 2026 | Oct 7, 2026 | Oct 14, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotlight Focuses | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Feature Nominations | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unfeature Nominations | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Unresolved Discussions | 258 | 258 | 259 | 259 | 258 |
| Active PipeProjects | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ongoing Proposals | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Ongoing TPPs | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 6 |
| Unimplemented Proposals | 50+ | 50+ | 50+ | 50+ | 50+ |
| Missing Romanizations | N/A | 9 | 27 | 28 | 31 |
| Unknown Meanings | N/A | 15 | 42 | 34 | 32 |
| To-do Lists | 1,254 | 1,243 | 1,252 | 1,255 | 1,269 |
| Sourcing Issues | 76,909 | 75,577 | 74,809 | 73,060 | 72,739 |
| Wanted Articles | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ | 1000+ |
| Requested Deletions | 8 | 28 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
| Suggested Moves | 53 | 45 | 47 | 46 | 46 |
| Suggested Merges | 80 | 80 | 79 | 83 | 84 |
| Suggested Splits | 75 | 75 | 75 | 77 | 81 |
| Deprecated Parameters | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Image Quality | 3,962 | 3,921 | 4,436 | 4,666 | 4,671 |
| Images Needed | 859 | 851 | 849 | 855 | 870 |
| Media Needed | 604 | 600 | 598 | 605 | 606 |
| Media Quality | 18 | 19 | 21 | 10 | 11 |
| Unused Files | 450+ | 450+ | 450+ | 450+ | 450+ |
| Files To Be Used | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Disambigs Needed | N/A | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
For some observations for how the numbers have progressed, and some potential targets:
- Unimplemented Proposals hovers ominously around 50+ for the entire month. On the bright side, it means there's not been a substantial gain in proposals, and that new proposals have had a decent turn-over, but this does leave a lot to be desired with the pre-established stockpile. If you're one of the people behind these proposals, maybe try to wrangle these, or open the floor for others to help!
- While it's not the only catalyst, much of the Missing Romanizations and Unknown Meanings come to us courtesy of WarioWare: Get It Together! If you're bilingual, and happen to own that game, there's a to-do bar category with your name on it!
- Can we just appreciate just how ludicrous the Sourcing Issues category was this month? It seriously shaved off 4,170 items! Remember this is the category that, earlier this year, quadrupled in size... And yet the progress on working on it feels like it's certainly quadrupled in turn!
- Plenty of the Requested Deletions were for assorted strange redirects. Some of these were maintained, whereas others were found to violate the scant few rules against redirects. It's all roughly evened out by now, thankfully.
- For the trifecta of Moves, Merges, and Splits! Moves went down, Merges and Splits went up. Not really much to say on them, though Moves did actually go below 50. Hopefully, Merges and Splits can join it in due time.
- Media Needed mostly hovered in place long-term, but for a brief, glorious period, it actually dipped below 600! ...Only into 598, but that's not nothing! That's the first time that hundreds digit has gone down in a hot minute. Will it be able to reach the 500s again and stick with it? Only time will tell!
- Media Quality was effectively cut in half, which is very nice to see, and it actually got as low as 10 at one point! Maybe sometime soon, that category can once again taste the single digits?
Poll Committee Discussion
Written by: Fun With Despair (talk)
What...? What am I doing here? This isn't my job, this... this isn't my committee...
Well, in truth, the answer is simpler than you'd expect - I've been dragged kicking and screaming out of what I presumed was my final resting place, in order to fill an empty slot on the roster. That's right, it's replacement time, baby. There must always be a Poll Committee Discussion, lest a poll fall to oblivion or worse, be thrust upon the next guy doing it and in the process damn them to having double the workload and none of the fun.
We can't have that, can we?
In any case, while I think the Unanimity section added by The Shadow Prince (talk) is actually a great idea, I'm going to be leaving it out of this one because, understandably, this is kind of a last minute emergency backup - and as such, we don't really have the luxury afforded by the abundance of time to be creating fancy tables with statistical analysis. That being said, I'd like to see this done more. Or really, any other kind of creative twists on the PCD formula.
But anyway uh... where was I? Right. Poll Committee Discussion. Let's make this happen.
Archives
Over the years numerous genres have been explored for the Mario franchise, with a few exceptions. Which one would you desire to see a new Mario game explore? (Paper Plumm (talk), September 13, 2026)
| Over the years numerous genres have been explored for the Mario franchise, with a few exceptions. Which one would you desire to see a new Mario game explore?
|
|---|
| Tower Defense 17.83% (315 votes) |
| First/Third Person Shooters 15.05% (266 votes) |
| I have no opinion. 13.92% (246 votes) |
| Visual Novels 13.36% (236 votes) |
| Survival Sandbox 13.07% (231 votes) |
| Social Simulation 9.56% (169 votes) |
| Survival Horror 9.51% (168 votes) |
| Other 7.70% (136 votes) |
| Total votes: 1,768 |
When levels have time limits, which type of time limit do you like the most, if any? (The Shadow Prince (talk), September 27, 2026)
| When levels have time limits, which type of time limit do you like the most, if any?
|
|---|
| I prefer to not have any time limits in a Mario platformer. 37.50% (585 votes) |
| I tend to prefer when a Mario platformer has a variety of different styles of time limits in the game. 20.38% (318 votes) |
| Longer, easier time limits which add a small challenge but still let me explore. 16.28% (254 votes) |
| Moderate time limits that add some challenge to the level. 11.03% (172 votes) |
| I have no opinion on time limits in Mario platformers. 8.78% (137 votes) |
| Short, strict timed challenges that require you to pick up more time to complete the level. 3.01% (47 votes) |
| Very short time limits that add greater challenge to the level. 3.01% (46 votes) |
| Total votes: 1,560 |
Analysis
Over the years numerous genres have been explored for the Mario franchise, with a few exceptions. Which one would you desire to see a new Mario game explore? (Paper Plumm (talk), September 13, 2026)
Hey, hey - would you look at that? Paper Plumm's starting us off strong with a total banger of a poll this time. Really interesting thing to think about, because yeah, Mario really has engaged in a lot of strange genres over the years. Obviously there's board games and kart racing, but also like... gambling minigames, art software, power washing simulator, strategy game, bejeweled clone, ...horse racing, ...Dance... Dance... Revolution...? - the guy sure gets around, and not really in the ways you'd typically expect from a character like him.
Then again, one of the Hot Shots Golf games on the PS2 inexplicably had Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank as an unlockable character in a game filled entirely with human characters so maybe weird off-genre nonsense is just how a platformer scrimblo rolls.
There's few genres that Mario hasn't really explored outside of Mario Party minigames and the like, and I think this poll did a pretty good job at summing up some of the more prominent ones anyway. In first place, with 17.83% of votes, is kind of a weird one though - Tower Defense. Now, I actually like tower defense games, or I did anyway at one point, and I remember that back in the good old days, the internet was teeming with weirdo Mario themed tower defense. Mostly flash games. Specifically, I remember this one that was like, 2D horizontal view like tradition Super Mario Bros, except you played as Bowser and had to use your minions to defend against an army of Toads and Luigis and all sorts of other "good" aligned characters. I wish I remembered what that was called. If you see a picture of it here, I remembered. I think something official from Nintendo would be cool, but I'm honestly surprised this one won out, especially when the second place contender is...
First/Third Person Shooters, with 15.05% votes. Yeah this is like, one of the most popular genres ever - and you could technically argue that Mario has dabbled in this genre within other games as a side-mode or minigame. I'm thinking of those Mario Party minigames where you drive around in a tank and shoot. Even Odyssey had a tank capture that let you drive around and shoot. Obviously, the big reason Mario hasn't had a full, complex game in this genre is because shooters tend to be violent even at the best of times, but interestingly, Mario has used guns before - specifically in the Mario + Rabbids games, even though they're typically pretty goofy and weird, more akin to the Mega Buster than a real gun. So hey, this one might be a bit of a pipe dream, but Donkey Kong 64 technically has third-person-shooter mechanics, and that guy's a monkey. If he can do it, anyone can.
I'm going to briefly gloss over the obligatory No Opinion - in this case honestly mostly because it seems like 13.92% of people are just going with the flow and either satisfied with the current genre slate or okay with whatever Nintendo puts out. Close behind though in the 13% range are Visual Novels and Survival Sandbox which is... interesting. To be perfectly honest, I don't really understand the appeal of a Mario visual novel. For the most part, it is certainly not a series known for its deep lore or great character writing. You can argue the RPGs maybe fall into those categories, but a visual novel is a whole other situation. I guess it would be kind of interesting to use a visual novel format to introduce more lore or characterization to the series, but I'm not entirely sure Nintendo can pull that off. What exactly do people expect out of this? On the other hand, a survival sandbox Mario game is actually totally possible. I mean hell, Zelda's done it with the Wild duology to an extent, and Mario already has a Minecraft content pack. I think I'd be intrigued to see how this one would turn out, particularly if the platforming remained a central focus.
Out of the defined options, we've got Social Simulation and Survival Horror, both in the 9.5% range and extremely close in votes. Frankly, Nintendo's flagship social simulations are Tomodachi Life and Animal Crossing, and I doubt they're ever going to make a Mario-specific one on top of those, especially when Tomodachi Life already has such insane customization as of its latest entry to where you basically can just make it a Mario game with all the characters you can dream of. Survival horror is also kiiind of a mismatch in certain ways, but Luigi's Mansion, especially the first game, already takes such a massive page out of Resident Evil's playbook in terms of progression and design. Yeah, it isn't like, scary scary - and there's not any real resource management or other survival horror hallmarks, but as a fan of the genre I think it's not terribly far off in terms of vibe and probably the closest we'll get.
As for those who voted for Other, I'd be interested to know what genre you'd think Mario could tackle. Feel free to post on the forums in the 'Shroom thread about this one. I'd like to hear your thoughts. Personally, I'd like to see a Metroidvania, or at least a platformer with more open, interconnected levels. I think it'd be super fun to explore with the kind of movesets that Mario tends to get - especially in 3D.
When levels have time limits, which type of time limit do you like the most, if any? (The Shadow Prince (talk), September 27, 2026)
Ah, the time limit. A staple of the series, present since the very first moment the man himself jumped onto home consoles with Super Mario Bros. - until Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the first 2D sidescroller to drop the mechanic wholesale. It's also kind of... strange in the context of the sidescrollers, because outside of New Super Luigi U (where a tight time limit is a major gimmick), it's almost entirely vestigial and serves no purpose. Most players in the modern day, or really any day after the 80s, don't really care at all about their score in these kinds of games, which is most of what the timer actually affects in this traditional sense. The time limits are usually extremely generous, with the player having to set the controller down and let Mario loiter around in order to feel remotely threatened by the timer.
Though, in other contexts, the timer can be wielded as a weapon against the player in challenge levels. Think of the Speedy Comet from Super Mario Galaxy, for instance. It's something that can be made to serve a useful purpose in game design, it just usually doesn't - which is why it doesn't shock me that 37.50% of players would prefer not to have them at all. Wonder largely proved that they're completely useless, and while I wouldn't be surprised if most voters chose this for this exact reason, on the other side of things it could easily just be annoying and frustrating to the types of players who actually do get affected by the time limit. It's almost never strict enough to influence the average player, and players who take the game really slowly, while an outlier largely, are just hindered by it for basically no reason. It's no surprise that people think the timer sucks most of the time.
There's another subset of people though, (20.38%), who like when a game has a variety of time limits, which I believe refers to stuff like the aforementioned Speedy Comet. Timed, speedrun challenge levels - or even just levels having their timers tuned so it acts as a legitimate obstacle and makes you hustle. This makes sense to me, the timer there is actually tuned to be tough and encourage you to get creative with the level and your moves. That certainly seems like the best way to do something like this, rather than a blanket timer that doesn't do anything to impact your performance. What's surprising to me though is that 16.28% of players prefer longer timers. I certainly don't think this is a bad thing necessarily, but I've never really felt like Mario timers were too short. Like I've said multiple times, they've always felt way too long for me in most situations. Maybe these voters kept getting timed out on those annoying ass pick-a-path looping castle levels though, I think those are the main scenario in which the timer actually does start to light a fire under the seat of your pants.
Meanwhile, 11.03% of voters prefer moderate time limits, which I think pretty much covers Mario as it is now. I think I've already mostly said my piece on this, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it I suppose. Personally, I'm more interested in the bottom two choices - both tied for 3.01% with a one vote difference (47 vs 46). Not very popular at all, but these two options both glorify and yearn for shorter, more challenging timers. See, I understand why these are unpopular - it's stressful, it can be very difficult at times - but I really enjoyed this aspect of New Super Luigi U, and I'd like to see another "speedrun-focused" fast-paced Mario platformer eventually, outside of those occasional challenge levels. They make you approach the game from a different angle, and it can feel super satisfying to get a handle on the physics of the game, your moveset, and the required reaction time required to blast through a level and beat the clock.
Ultimately though, it's kind of a weird mechanic. I certainly don't expect them to bring it back after Wonder considering it's pretty much pointless in most situations. I guess the 37.50% who voted for that first ranking option can sleep easy - until they release New Super Luigi Wonder and finally cater to sickos like me.
Conclusion
Well, this was fun. A little nostalgic, a little frenzied. Some pretty interesting polls on pretty interesting subjects. This certainly has been a good year for the Poll Committee - and here's to many more. I'd like to say you'll never see me again, that I'll disappear back into a place of silent observance, but at this point I think I've pretty much sealed my fate as the go-to for urgent replacement Poll Committee Discussions, and if I try to back out now, they'll drag me out back and shoot me like the dog I am.
Or maybe not. In the instance that you're reading this two weeks after release, Happy Halloween everyone. If you're reading this now, then uh... happy... October 17th? I guess? Doesn't really have the same ring to it. Hm.
Awards Analysis
Hello Pipe Plaza readers! Koopa here to give you the low-down on the Mario Awards results this month!
The awards I have chosen to take a look at are M2. Favorite Supporting Character, M11. Favorite Bananza Layer, and M18. Favorite Non-game media! I have my reasons for picking these awards specifically but alas you didn't come here to listen to my stories so I will spare you all the explanation. Let's take a look at what the top answers were for these awards!
Oh, and also M11. Favorite Bananza Layer is a brand new award exclusive to this Mario Awards so I'll be taking an especially in-depth look at that one!
Archives
M2. Favorite Supporting Character
| M2. Favorite Supporting Character
|
|---|
| Cappy 8.89% (136 votes) |
| Captain Toad 8.50% (130 votes) |
| King K Rool 8.30% (127 votes) |
| Birdo 8.04% (123 votes) |
| King Boo 8.04% (123 votes) |
| Professor E. Gadd 7.84% (120 votes) |
| Talking Flower 7.78% (119 votes) |
| Toadsworth 6.08% (93 votes) |
| Diddy Kong 5.10% (78 votes) |
| Funky Kong 5.03% (77 votes) |
| Total votes: 1,530 |
M11. Favorite Bananza Layer
| M11. Favorite Bananza Layer
|
|---|
| DK Island 20.49% (202 votes) |
| Feast Layer 18.97% (187 votes) |
| Planet Core 14.30% (141 votes) |
| Resort Layer 7.00% (69 votes) |
| Lagoon Layer 4.77% (47 votes) |
| Forbidden Layer 4.36% (43 votes) |
| Groove Layer 4.36% (43 votes) |
| Forest Layer 3.65% (36 votes) |
| Radiance Layer 3.45% (34 votes) |
| Freezer Layer 3.25% (32 votes) |
| Total votes: 986 |
M18. Favorite Non-game media
| M18. Favorite Non-game media
|
|---|
| The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023 film) 24.00% (336 votes) |
| The Super Mario Galaxy Movie 19.57% (274 votes) |
| The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! 13.43% (188 votes) |
| Rosalina's Storybook 8.86% (124 votes) |
| Super Mario Adventures 6.29% (88 votes) |
| Donkey Kong Country (animated series) 5.29% (74 votes) |
| I am a teacher: Super Mario Sweater 4.86% (68 votes) |
| Super Mario Bros. (1993 film) 4.36% (61 votes) |
| The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 3.43% (48 votes) |
| Super Mario World (animated series) 2.71% (38 votes) |
| Total votes: 1400 |
Analysis
M2. Favorite Supporting Character
The Mario franchise is of course known for its expansive cast of characters, and it only makes sense to celebrate those characters by giving them an award of their own! This award was voted on by 1,530 different people! And oh boy, this award was nail-bitingly close!
Just about making it into the top ten, tenth place landed Funky Kong with 77 votes! A unique character from the Donkey Kong cast who many may call the king of Mario Kart! Funky Kong is (in)famous for being the strongest character in Mario Kart Wii when paired with the Flame Runner bike, so it makes sense that he has his fans. Of course there is more to Funky than his reign over Mario Kart Wii, for example he was made playable in the Nintendo Switch port of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in the 'new Funky Mode'.
Getting into ninth place with just one more vote than tenth is another friend from DK Island, it's Diddy Kong with 78 votes! Donkey Kong's bestest friend and loyal sidekick, Diddy is one of the most easily recognisable characters from Mario's supporting cast and one of the highlights of the overall Donkey Kong cast so it's only fair that he made it into the top ten! Despite this it seems Diddy seems to get frequently left out of certain Mario spin-off games such as Mario Kart World... but who needs to be in Mario Kart when you're the star of your own racing game right?
Making his way into eighth place is none other than Toadsworth with 93 votes! Even if Nintendo may have forgotten about him, the fans certainly haven't! Toadsworth was a staple character of the GCN - Wii era of the series, always being there to take care of Princess Peach and all of her Toad subjects. Overall Toadsworth is a fun character, I'm personally fond of his appearances in Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time in which he teams up with his younger self just like the Mario Bros.!
Reaching seventh place is one I found very interesting, it's Talking Flower with 119 votes! A newer addition to the Mario cast, this chatty plant has made a big splash. They may not be playable in any game, and they may have not made many appearances yet but they sure are funny guys. They debuted in Super Mario Bros. Wonder and can be found everywhere in the Flower Kingdom, always having something funny to say!
In sixth, again just by a one vote difference, is scientist super-genius Professor E. Gadd with 120 votes! E. Gadd is one of those characters that is interesting to me because even though he might not have the most appearances he has made a bigger impact on the series than you might realise, for example inventing F.L.U.D.D. and Bowser Jr's magic paintbrush! Did you know he also made a robot doppelgänger of Mario in the Mario Kart Arcade GP games? He also invented time travel and that's just cool!
In the top five now, and fifth place is actually a tie between King Boo and Birdo each with 123 votes! Both are icons of Mario's supporting cast! Birdo is one of the very first supporting cast members having originated from the US version of Super Mario Bros 2 as a mini-boss! And of course, King Boo is known as the main villain of the Luigi's Mansion spin-off series, though something interesting about him is his different designs. He has two distinct designs (three if you count Sunshine separately though I think that's a different character altogether...), one for his appearances within the Luigi's Mansion series and one for his appearances elsewhere within the series!
Immediately jumping to the top three, the bronze goes to the absolutely rotten King K. Rool with 127 votes! I have absolutely no doubt that this characters strong performance is partly because of his latest appearance in Donkey Kong Bananza but K. Rool is one of my favourite characters in this franchise so I was elated when I saw that he made it into the top three. K. Rool is Donkey Kong's one and only arch-nemesis, he is what Bowser is to Mario for DK. He always has some ongoing scheme to defeat Donkey Kong and usually steal his banana horde. Did you know King K. Rool is married?
And the shiny silver medal goes to the most daring explorer in the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond: Captain Toad with 130 votes! I have to be completely honest, this one shocked me. I didn't know Captain Toad had so many fans, but I can totally understand why. He has had a pretty continuous presence in the franchise since Super Mario Galaxy, even getting his own set of levels in Super Mario 3D World which would then go on to be expanded on in his very own spin-off game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. If you haven't played Treasure Tracker, I highly suggest playing through it! It's a wonderful little game, and depending on the version you play it even serves as a pseudo-prequel to either 3D World or Odyssey. It's also probably worth noting that the rendition of Toad seen in the Super Mario Bros. Movie takes direct inspiration from Captain Toad!
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I'm very excited about this next one! We have finally reached our gold medallist, and it was a very close vote but in the end the winner is none other than Cappy with 136 votes! Now if any you reading this know me personally, or were present for the awards ceremony then you may already know that I LOVE Cappy! So much so that he is actually my second favourite character in the franchise after Koopa Troopa, so getting to see him take the victory in this category was really special. Cappy himself is a very unique character though, being the only one of Mario's mainline companions to actually have a lot of lines of dialogue (yes I know F.L.U.D.D. speaks too, but he's no chatterbox). Of course we can't talk about Cappy without bringing up his capturing mechanic, if you read last months Awards Analysis (or were present for/viewed the awards results) then you'll know that capturing actually won the Favorite Game Mechanic category too! There's a lot of love going around for this dapper guy, and I for one could not be more excited to see so!
And that is the end of Favorite Supporting Character! What a shockingly close turnout! Now it's time for a brand new award:
M11. Favorite Bananza Layer
BANANZA!! Oh what a treat this game was, going into it I found myself incredibly surprised at just how fun it was to play. If you own a Nintendo Switch 2 and are looking for a new game to play I highly suggest picking Bananza up. But I am not here to gush about Bananza's gameplay and story today, I am actually here to gush about it's many locations featured in the game! For those unaware, instead of worlds Bananza has layers which change as you get deeper into the planet and closer to the core. In total there are 18 layers (inc. DLC), we will only be looking at 10 of them though which pains me because so many great layers are being skipped today, but I suppose if you want to find out what those are like you should go and play the game for yourself! This award had a total of 986 votes.
In tenth place, with 32 votes is the Freezer Layer, an ice-cold layer which houses the Zebra Bananza. This one is tackled relatively early in the game, in which you get given the choice to either go to the Freezer Layer or another layer first (similar to Wooded and Lake in Odyssey). This layer is mostly populated by very energetic and speedy Zebras who are known for their tasty frozen treats and desserts. Despite being somewhat of an icy wasteland I can totally understand why this one could be voted for, it has a somewhat cozy nature akin to hiding from heavy snowfall, or the rain in your own home. The Zebra Bananza power-up obtained here is also cool, (I'll get my coat...) (Yes I did just hit you all with two snow-themed puns) with the Zebra Bananza DK is capable of running incredibly fast allowing him to cross crumbly bridges, travel across snow and ice without slipping and travel through mud without being slowed down.
In ninth place is my personal favourite layer in the game: the Radiance Layer with 34 votes! Truthfully I wasn't expecting this one to make it into the top ten, but I'm very glad it is because now I get to speak about my favourite layer! This layer is mostly made up of caves and deserts and is home to the adorable Sssnakes! The main gimmick of the Radiance Layer is the light and darkness, and having to use both to your advantage to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. The residents of this layer are known for their sculpting talent and are responsible for creating the huge Synthetic Suns found in the layer. Donkey Kong also obtains the Snake Bananza power-up in this layer which allows him to jump incredibly high into the air as well as the ability to slow down time, the Bananza also has the added benefit of allowing DK to cross crumbly bridges similarly to the Zebra Bananza. Since this is my favourite layer in the game I can of course find it incredibly easy to see why someone would vote for this layer as their favourite. The design of this layer is so incredibly unique, starting as a rather boxed-in and closed area until it eventually opens up and becomes a giant desert! And c'mon, look at those Snakes. Do I really need to say any more?
In eighth place comes the aforementioned alternative to the Freezer Layer, it's the Forest Layer with 36 votes! This layer is a lot of fun to play through and explore, especially once you get the Ostrich Bananza power-up obtained in the layer. The main highlights of this layer are the giant trees and the Eggshell Hotel, a large hotel ran by the residents of this layer: the Ostriches! Just make sure to look out for that poisonous sea surrounding the layer! One of this layer's main gimmicks is the bridge seed which you can pick up and throw almost anywhere to create a bridge. The Ostrich Bananza power-up obtained in this layer is one of my favourites in the game! It allows DK to soar through the air with a glide, as well as the ability to drop explosive eggs onto his enemies.
In seventh place we have a tie again! It's between the Groove Layer and the Forbidden Layer each with 43 votes! Gameplay-wise, both of these layers are relatively minor however both layers carry heavy story developments which make them stand out. The Groove Layer sees DK team up with ex-Void Co employee Poppy Kong to both escape from imprisonment and find Pauline (who DK has been separated from). The Forbidden Layer features the climactic final battle between DK, Pauline and Void Kong and very soon afterwards the grand return of the one and only King K. Rool! These two layers have one major thing in common: a sense of isolation (at least before the music is turned back on in the Groove Layer) so it's not too surprising to see them tied like this. Upon completion of the game the Groove Layer also allows you to listen to any music track you have collected on your journey too, which is nice!
Now in the top five, fifth place goes to the very first actual layer in the game, the Lagoon Layer with 47 votes! This layer is incredibly welcoming and just an all-round great first layer. It is also where DK and Pauline get their very first Bananza power-up: the Kong Bananza! At the same time the revelation that the Odd Rock is actually Pauline happens. This layer is inhabited by the Salvager Monkeys, a group of monkeys that fish for scrap metal using fishing rods with magnets attached to the line. The Kong Bananza power-up found in this layer allows DK to use a charge-up punch attack as well as generally increasing his strength. Overall this layer is simply very solid, and is a very warm introduction to Bananza!
Getting fourth place is the Resort Layer with 69 votes! A minor stop in DK and Pauline's journey to the Planet Core, the Resort Layer serves as a pause in the adventure giving DK, Pauline and the player a moment to breath and slow down. This layer is known for it's excessively large fruit which can be found all throughout the layer, especially the giant watermelon which can be found at the highest point. Despite being a relatively minor layer, it's always a joy to visit as it gets the beach resort vibes perfectly!
Entering the top three now, the bronze goes to the climactic Planet Core with a 141 votes, a massive jump in votes! The final layer in the game, the entire Planet Core is an incredibly climactic and tense part of the game. Void Kong has just been defeated by Donkey Kong's oldest nemesis and it's now up to DK and Pauline to stop him! It's really no surprise to me that this layer got into the top three, it's really one of the hypest moments in the game and is followed by an incredible final boss. The layer is very linear, however it all feels like it's building up to something big. This layer also provides a satisfying challenge, being full of both combat and traversal challenges. This is the climax of DK and Pauline's entire journey, and it is just brilliant!
Getting the silver for this category is the Feast Layer with 187 votes! Another one of my favourite layers in this game! At first glance it may seem like a cheap rip-off of the Luncheon Kingdom from Odyssey, however upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that the Feast Layer does it's own thing with the food theme, it's one big food-themed amusement park! An approach I honestly prefer over the Luncheon Kingdom. This is the last traditional layer tackled in the game, and it has puzzles and challenges made to test your skills with all of the Bananza powers unlocked throughout the game, because of this I find the Feast Layer very satisfying to play through. If I had to describe it, I would say it's the final hurrah before things get serious story-wise (as this layer is followed by the Forbidden Layer and the Planet Core). The layer's biggest claim to fame is the huge Banana Burger found at the amusement park entrance. Underneath the surface you will find kitchens and food storage, which unfortunately during the events of the game has mostly been overrun by Muckoids. It is worth noting too that the entire park is also Lion-themed, featuring many Lion-shaped sculptures and even featuring Fractones shaped like Lion manes though no actual lions ever appear, and there is no Lion Bananza.
And finally, who takes home the gold? It's DK Island from the Emerald Rush DLC with 202 votes!. Okay I'm going to be completely honest here, this completely caught me off-guard. Don't get me wrong, I like this layer but it exists completely separate from the story and doesn't feature any Banandium Gems so I was shocked to see it take the top spot! This is the first layer in which the Emerald Rush mode takes place, and out of every layer in the game it's easily my favourite to actually do Emerald Rush rounds on. We also get to see Cranky, Diddy, Dixie and DK all reunite on this layer, as well as the return of some familiar characters such as Squawks which was very nice to see! On the island you can also find some landmarks of the Donkey Kong franchise, for example DKs home and Gangplank Galleon! There is also a giant pair of DK Bongos behind the island, out at sea which is pretty funny. Overall DK Island is a very nostalgic location, and is always nice to hang out in.
And that is the end of Favorite Bananza Layer! But please, don't go anywhere because we have one more award to look at today, that being:
M18. Favorite Non-game media
Even though the Mario franchise is mostly known for it's video game series', it also has a vast array of non-video game things to enjoy! Truthfully this segment won't be as detailed as the previous two, but y'know I can only say so much about I am a teacher: Super Mario Sweater. In total 1400 votes were cast for this award!
Okay, here we go again. Tenth place this time goes to Super Mario World (animated series) with 38 votes! Of the three DIC Entertainment cartoons this one was always my favourite, I even own a real sketch of Yoshi used during the production of this show, definitely one of the coolest Mario things I own. I think I can safely say that the most famous thing from this series is the episode Mama Luigi, an episode full of iconic and quotable lines that over the years have become rather popular on the internet.
Taking ninth place is another one of DIC Entertainment's cartoons, it's The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 with 48 votes! Of the three DIC cartoons, this is the one I remember the least about. It introduced the Koopalings, albeit they all had their own original names! Even though these old animated series' are kind of rough to come back to in modern day, they definitely have a certain level of charm and nostalgic value.
Taking eighth place is an infamous one, it's Super Mario Bros. (1993 film) with 61 votes! I have actually seen this movie a multitude of times, and honestly I don't hate it at all. It's not a good adaptation of the Mario series at all but it can be really fun to watch if you don't take it very seriously, especially if you watch it with friends or family! This movie stars Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, as well as Dennis Hopper as President Koopa (Bowser) and Samantha Mathis as Daisy. Also I just wanted to say I own the Umbrella Entertainment 4K Blu-ray of this movie and it's weirdly one of the better 4K transfers of an older movie that I have seen.
In seventh place is the previously aforementioned I am a teacher: Super Mario Sweater with 68 votes! I really don't know what to say about this one, it's a Japanese exclusive knitting pattern-designing software that was released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986. It's a very niche product, but the designs are nice. It would be cool to wear one of those sweaters in real life.
Coming into sixth is Donkey Kong Country (animated series) with 74 votes! To many this show is nightmare fuel, though others (admittedly me included) find the series endearing. Honestly I don't think this series gets enough credit for how technologically impressive it is, it was one of the first fully computer-animated shows ever! I also really like the characterisation of the series' cast even if it isn't exactly accurate to the games that the series is based on. Something I really like about this series is that almost every episode has a fun musical number, honestly I can pretty much recite the entirety of The Diddy Drop Rap from memory.
Making it into the top five now, fifth place goes to Super Mario Adventures with 88 votes! I have to confess that I used to own this as a kid though I never actually finished reading it in-full but from what I remember of the short amount I did read is that it's a fun comic series! One day I will have to come back to this and read it fully.
In fourth place is an interesting, and recent one: it's Rosalina's Storybook with 124 votes! I say this one is interesting because this book is lifted straight from the actual Super Mario Galaxy video game! I do own this book and it's very nice, and a very faithful recreation of the in-game story book, though it is missing the new chapter that was added in the Nintendo Switch port of the game (which isn't a problem because the story is still complete without it).
Now in the top three, the bronze for this award goes to The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! with 188 votes! It seems as if there's a clear victor when it comes to the DIC Entertainment series' and I totally understand why. The Super Show is a wild, nostalgia inducing trip. This series is made up of two main segments: the live-action and animated segments. In the live-action segments Mario and Luigi were played by "Captain" Lou Albano and Danny Wells. This series is mostly based on the original Super Mario Bros. and the USA version of Super Mario Bros. 2 though a lot of episodes feature references to/are based on real-world properties, events or people, for example Star Wars, James Bond, Godzilla and many more! And one can't bring up the Super Show without also bringing up The Mario Rap and Do the Mario, the former even being used in the 2023 movie!
Going home with the silver is the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with 274 votes! I understand the placement of this movie, even though overall I enjoyed it I felt that it wasn't as strong as its predecessor. I was really excited to see how Illumination adapted Bowser Jr., and I was not disappointed as he was definitely my favourite part of the movie. I really love Yoshi's design in the film too, he's very cute. In general it is visually fantastic, and the soundtrack is incredible. The movie doesn't exactly follow the plot of the Galaxy games, instead taking it's own route. I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention that many people had issues with the movie (e.g. pacing, Fox McCloud etc.) but I have always felt that it's an enjoyable movie regardless of it's flaws.
And at last, taking the gold is The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023 film) with 336 votes! I don't think this result is a surprise to anybody, it was always going to be between this and the Galaxy movie. Oh boy I remember the day this movie released, that was one of the best cinema experiences I ever had. This movie was a unique, yet faithful adaptation of the Mario series and generally was just a celebration of all-things Mario. I also am obligated to mention that one of my favourite Koopas comes from this movie, that being the Koopa General, boy was he cool!
Aaand that's me done! Thank you for reading my Awards Analysis! Come back next month for Captain Odyssey's turn writing the section! So long!
The 'Shroom Report
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, all you readers of The 'Shroom! October arrives! You know, if I hadn't depicted myself as a Toady and had to choose a different Mario species, I probably would have picked a Swoop. That'd have been fitting for the spooky month, no?
Wh-What does that have to do with statistics? Well, er... Don't worry about that. What matters is that I have the stats from issue 234! My thanks go to MightyMario, who graciously allowed me to assist with updating the sheets this month.
For new readers or anyone needing a refresher, please open the box below.
First-Time Writers lists everyone who wrote their first section for The 'Shroom in the previous issue.New Sections lists recurring sections that started their run in the previous issue. This includes returning sections that previously went inactive.- Guest Sections lists one-off submissions from the previous issue.
- Milestones covers certain section numbers reached in the previous issue. Writers are mentioned for every 10 sections written in a team and every 50 sections written overall, teams are mentioned for every 100 sections, and The 'Shroom itself is mentioned for every 500 sections. Additionally, established writers are mentioned the first time they contribute to a particular team.
- Most Sections Written lists the current all-time record holders.
| Section | Writer |
|---|---|
| Consumer Corner | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| News Flush | ClawgripFan9001 |
| Realistic Summer Sports Simulator Review | Sparks (talk) |
| Rising from Obscurity | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| Too Bad, Storytime! | Waluigi Time (talk) and MightyMario (talk) |
| Writer | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Aomaf (talk) | 10 Fun Stuff sections |
| BigBoom1946 | 10 Fake News sections |
| Camwoodstock (talk) | 20 Pipe Plaza sections |
| ClawgripFan9001 | 40 Palette Swap sections |
| GoldGal64 (talk) | 10 Fake News sections |
| Hooded Pitohui (talk) | 40 Pipe Plaza sections |
| 210 Strategy Wing sections | |
| MarioMorty (talk) | 60 Fun Stuff sections |
| Sparks (talk) | 10 Pipe Plaza sections |
| 150 sections overall | |
| Waluigi Time (talk) | 120 Palette Swap sections |
| Team | Writer | Number of Sections |
|---|---|---|
| Main/Staff | Henry Tucayo Clay (talk) | 142 |
| Fake News | Waluigi Time (talk) | 196 |
| Fun Stuff | Shoey (talk) | 174 |
| Palette Swap | FunkyK38 (talk) | 224 |
| Pipe Plaza | Yoshi876 (talk) | 128 |
| Critic Corner | Hypnotoad (talk) | 238 |
| Strategy Wing | Hooded Pitohui (talk) | 213 |
| Overall | Yoshi876 (talk) | 747 |
| There are currently only twelve sections across the paper with one hundred or more editions. As of issue 234, they are: TV Tomorrow and Obituaries in Fake News; Anagrams, Where in the Marioverse is Carmen Sandiego?, Trivia, Quiz, Hiding Koopa, and Crossword in Fun Stuff; What's on the Box? in Palette Swap; Mario Calendar and Poll Committee Discussion in Pipe Plaza; and Anton's Half-Baked Reviews in Critic Corner. |
What's in a Campaign?
Written By: Harold Harefoot (talk)
Hello, and welcome back to What's in a Campaign?, a section where I look at various competitors from the hit series Robot Wars. Last month, for the first time in section history, I originally covered a robot that I had already looked at and therefore had to cover my "break glass in case of emergency robot" Panzer. This month, we're going to go back to where this section first began as we look at Wheely Big Cheese's Series 3 predecessor The Big Cheese!
The successor to Series 2's kicking legged machine Mule, The Big Cheese was built by one of Robot Wars' top engineers, Roger Plant, joined by team members John McGugan and Paul Otten. The Big Cheese is a beautifully-designed long wedge machine with a yellow cheese color and a fearsome cat (shouldn't it be a mouse?) at the front. Slow at only 5mph and powered by petrol motors, the real star of The Big Cheese is its lifting arm! Made of titanium and Kevlar, this hydraulic arm is capable of lifting a Mini Cooper, meaning that it's going to be able to lift any non-House Robot in the competition.
Bladed at the end to give it extra purpose, this arm can get under robots with even the slightest of ground clearance. Not only can the arm be used to lift machines, but it can also be used to pin them down, allowing The Big Cheese to drive robots around the arena. The Big Cheese is truly one of the standout machines of Series 3!
As a reminder, all pictures are sourced from the fantastic Robot Wars Wiki. If you'd like to watch any of these fights, a video has been provided with timestamps provided in the section.
Presumably qualifying through the Gauntlets like every other robot, The Big Cheese was placed in Heat E and its first fight was against the newcomer Shrapnel. The fight (1:23) starts off well for The Big Cheese, who gets under Shrapnel, but Shrapnel manages to get away before the lifter can really fire. But not for long! The Big Cheese immediately gets under Shrapnel again and in some beautiful early robot combat cinematography begins lifting Shrapnel up. I love these old-style fights for this reason; nowadays the weapons are so powerful that everything happens so quickly. The flips now are fast and the damage is massive and quick, but here you can watch Shrapnel slowly get lifted in the air onto their side and despite how "slow" it is there's just nothing Shrapnel can do about it. It's the beautiful simplicity of an effective weapon.
The Big Cheese doesn't just get Shrapnel up, but they manage to slot their arm directly into the wheel slot of Shrapnel, preventing Shrapnel from even attempting to right. There's a great series of shots with The Big Cheese proudly hanging Shrapnel in the air before placing them in front of the pit and just shoving them in. It's a dominating win for The Big Cheese, and it's something that you don't' really see now since lifting arms just aren't in vogue anymore (for good reasons, lol).
In their second fight, The Big Cheese takes on Anorakaphobia, who is sporting a very unique weapon system idea. It's one we don't talk about very often and one that really doesn't exist outside of this series. Anorakaphobia uses a multi-weapon system built around a conveyor belt system. The way it works is that Anorakaphobia has chainsaw chains on each side which are in theory designed to pull a robot up when they drive onto it. These chains are supposed to not only drive the robot up the wedge, but also tear into the soft underbelly of the robot. Then at the top is an axe weapon which almost serves as a flipper designed to topple opponents. Unfortunately, as interesting is this is in theory, it doesn't really work since the belt doesn't have enough power to keep a robot in place. Plus it turns out that, much like Italy, the bottom of a robot is harder to damage then you think. As a result, it's only used by a few robots before it's abandoned entirely, but still, it's a fascinating look into early robot design when people really didn't know what they were doing.
Anyways, this fight (3:29) starts with the two robots meeting in the middle, with The Big Cheese having the size advantage but Anorakaphobia having a speed advantage. The Big Cheese pushes Anorakaphobia slowly as Anorakaphobia begins firing its hammer at… well, nothing! Anorakaphobia gets away and begins to drive away, but it's a little too fast for its own good, spinning out multiple times and nearly driving into the pit! If The Big Cheese were quicker, this fight would probably have ended there! Anorakaphobia reverses into the side of The Big Cheese, slamming into it. The Big Cheese then gets around to the back of Anorakaphobia, pushing it slightly. The two then do that classic Robot Wars thing where they just sort of spin around in a circle against each other before The Big Cheese manages to maneuver into Anorakaphobia, slamming into the arena wall. The two robots are very close to the pit, almost uncomfortably close! Anorakaphobia manages a mighty slam onto The Big Cheese before both robots just spin near the pit, both almost pitting each other as I'm sweating. Get away from there! It's the one place on the arena you shouldn't go near!
Anorakaphobia doesn't have a lot of control and drives right up The Big Cheese's wedge but manages to get away before it can be flipped over. The Big Cheese gives chase as Anorakaphobia drives and wildly fires its hammer. Then Anorakaphobia drives right into the lifting arm of The Big Cheese, and, again, in a beautiful scene of robot cinematography, you can see the arm has Anorakaphobia pinned down right on the hammer, which is stuck in the fired position. The Big Cheese wastes no time pitting yet another robot as it moves onto the Heat Final after another dominant performance.
In the Heat Final, The Big Cheese faces off against the engineering marvel that is Chaos 2… uh oh! The fight (6:00) actually starts with the slower The Big Cheese getting the better of the quicker Chaos 2. It manages to immediately get under Chaos 2 and nearly puts Chaos 2 on its side while spinning it around. But Chaos 2 is able to land back on its feet and dart away.
The two robots drive into each other multiple times, each trying to get under the other when suddenly the two robots meet face-to-face and Chaos 2 quickly throws The Big Cheese over onto its back! Chaos 2 then flips The Big Cheese into the wall. It's important to note that this is before roboteers realized outtas were a thing, so Chaos 2 was actually trying to pin The Big Cheese onto the side of the wall, but instead they accidentally self-righted The Big Cheese.
The Big Cheese escapes and (after a long replay of Chaos 2 flipping over The Big Cheese) manages to get under Chaos 2. This time, using a combination of momentum from driving forward and that mighty lifting arm, they put Chaos 2 on their backs before pinning them with their arm and slamming them into the wall! Sadly though, George Francis had learned from his defeat in Series 2 and Chaos 2, unlike the original Chaos, is capable of self-righting, which Chaos 2 quickly does.
Chaos 2 darts away as The Big Cheese gives chase. We get another long replay, this time of Chaos 2 self-righting, and when they cut into the action the quicker Chaos 2 is charging at The Big Cheese. Again, Chaos 2 pushes The Big Cheese into the wall, still probably trying to pin them up against it, but this time they actually throw The Big Cheese over themself and onto its back. The Big Cheese attempts to right itself with its lifting arm, but it just can't; it wasn't designed to do that. It's a great visual; The Big Cheese manages to almost push itself back onto its back and it's just inches away from getting back on its feet. Each time you watch it, you think "man, maybe this time they'll right themselves", but they cannot.
This time, Chaos 2 decides not to play with their food. They don't right The Big Cheese; instead, they leave them to their fate. With a bot unable to self-right, the House Robots come in to strike, bringing an end to what had been such a promising campaign. The Big Cheese does get a small moment of triumph, though. After being righted by Sir Killalot, The Big Cheese manages to topple over SGT. Bash, much to the satisfaction of the crowd!
I think The Big Cheese is one of the unluckiest robots in all of Robot Wars. This is a Grand Finalist-caliber robot that was placed in a heat with the best robot in all of Series 3, Chaos 2. It had the bad luck of going against a robot that would go on to win both Series 3 and Series 4. Outside of a few heats, such as perhaps Hypno-Disc's heat, I think The Big Cheese would have easily won the vast majority of heats in Series 3. I think The Big Cheese was that good. I actually think it's the best of the Roger Plant robots. While Wheely Big Cheese was more powerful, its awkward design and complicated machinery meant it oftentimes didn't work in its most important battles. The Big Cheese, on the other hand, was the perfect combination of simplicity and effectiveness. It really only was missing a higher speed and the ability to self-right. With those, it would have really allowed it to compete with the likes of Chaos 2. This would be the only time we'd ever see The Big Cheese. Sadly, it left its legacy as a robot that should have done so much better if only it had better luck on who it drew. But, hey, I hear the sequel Wheely Big Cheese does some pretty cool stuff too!
That's all for this month! Come back next month when I look at another robot!
The Sweet Sins of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory
Written by: Boo1268
Hello dear readers, it's me! Boo1268 back here yet again for a very special October one off! Last year, the villainous Krad had taken over my body and caused a hostile intrusion of ghosts to invade The ‘Shroom and ALL of New Wikisburg! But you can read all about that here. Today I wanted to do yet another overview similar to Dry Bowser Data since you all seemed to enjoy that last time. It's also quite convenient as well, since Netflix has recently released a TV series called “Wonka's The Golden Ticket” based off of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, how lucky! In that case, today we will be looking into the background, personalities, fates, and ultimately sins represented by the horrible slew of kids who lost the grand prize in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so let us begin!
Now if you haven't had the chance to watch this movie or have NEVER heard of it I recommend you skip this section, but if you're willing, let me give you the quick run down. Willy Wonka, the famous chocolatier, was once the king of all things sweet and tasty. After several of Wonka's workers began spilling company secrets to his rival Slugworth, Wonka fired all the factory workers and shut the gates seemingly forever, hiring Oompa Loompas from Loompa Land to work for him in the factory in exchange for chocolate. However, knowing that the ravages of time will eventually catch up to him, Wonka sends out five Golden Tickets to invite five “random” kids to his factory, in hopes of finding the best one to become the new owner of his chocolate factory. Eventually, one by one the kids leave, going back to their horrible lives, with their horrible selves, leaving only Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe left. Speaking of the other kids, let’s start off with the first kid to leave the story.
