The 'Shroom:Issue XLII

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Issue XLII September 12th, 2010 About        

Twitter_follow.png
Staff Notes Entertainment
Killer Axe
Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner
Coincollector
Non-Marioverse Review
Leirin
Brawl Tactics
FunkyK38
Fading into Obscurity
Marioguy1
Pipe Plaza Review Corner
Ralphfan
Fake News
Fun Stuff Art & Music Ultimate Character Tournament



Art & Music

Director’s Notes

SMB

Guys, I'm honestly impressed. No, I'm serious.

This is the best month that the Music & Artwork has seen in a while. I got more sections in my inbox than most other months! Um... I'm sad to say that BPK has seemingly retired, so his section (Random Image of the Month) will most likely be up for grabs. I'm not sure if I announced this last month, but Fawfulfury is in charge of Screenshot of the Month. Also, BabyLuigiOnFire has signed up for Sketch Related o Mario, and she has submitted a wonderful section this month! I look forward to having more issues like, and even better, than this one.

Sketch Related to Mario (BLOF)

BabyMarioTerrorism.jpg
Here is my Mario-related drawing of the month. This month, my sketch is mostly an emotion sheet of the character, Baby Mario! Some other drawings are also added in, but this sheet mostly covers Baby Mario's emotions. See you next month for the latest sketch drawn by me!

Sprite of the Month (FunkyK38)

Boo Pit.png
This is a cute sprite of Boo from PiT. You don't usually see them like this, so it's rare to have a sprite where they are hiding their faces.

Screenshot of the Month (Fawfulfury65)

Tug o' War
Welcome to the Screenshot of the Month with your favorite writer, Fawfulfury65. This month I decided to choose an image of one of the most painful (and fun) minigames in Mario Party. Yes, it is indeed painful. As you can see, the minigame is based on the ol' tug of war game (obviously because the game is called Tug o' War), and the odd Bowser-player mix (who is really everyone's favorite character, Wario) must pull the three players on the other side of the canyon into the mouth of the Piranha Plant. Why is it painful? Because you have to rotate the control stick with the palm of your hand. Ouch, blisters. The sunset in the background really makes this image look pretty, and the whole picture has some bright colors. So there you have it, tune in next month for the next Screenshot of the Month! Yes, be excited or else.

Random Image of the Month (BPK497)

Hi there 'Shroomers! it's a-me, BluePikminKong497, with this issue's
RANDOM IMAGE OF THE MONTH!!!

This month's image is:

The Black Apple sprite.
A Black Apple in Super Paper Mario, nothing exciting :(
Thanks for reading and see you next month! Ciao!

Box-Art of the Month (Homestar Runner)

Japanese boxart for Yoshi's Story
As you can see, this month I am featuring Japanese boxart this week- specifically, the Japanese boxart for Yoshi's Story. This image uses a quilt-like art style, which was a very good choice and was pulled off well. Plus, it's cute!

Random Artwork of the Month (Tucayo)

Well, I am not supposed to write this, but when I saw this image, I couldn't help but post it here. Image made by Nintendo of Japan.

SMB25.jpg

Happy Birthday Super Mario Bros!


Fun Stuff

Mystery Images

By Tucayo (talk)

Hello! This month I made this Awards‐themed, so the images you are seeing here are actually the contestants in U1, Favorite User Design. Credit to the makers of each artwork. Also, excuse the crappy answers image, but I lost Photoshop, and so I made that on paint.

cnmod.png bpmod.png hdmmod.png pcmod.png beanmod.png walkamod.png edomod.png

Answers!

Crossword

By Tucayo (talk)

The crossword is also awards themed!

acw.png

Answers!!

Quiz

By Fawfulfury65 (talk)

Welcome back to my super-terrific quiz section! Yes, exciting, I know. If there happens to be any errors in the answers, please contact me on my my talkpage. Oh, and I'll also take requests for questions if you PM me on the forums, so go ahead and give me some ideas so I can not get so stressed out have some new questions to quiz other readers on. Please only one request per user a month. Enough talking now, here are the questions! *drum roll*

  1. What is the name of the theme played in the castle levels of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest?
  2. What is the name of the final kingdom in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat?
  3. All Wound Up is a microgame from what WarioWare game?
  4. In the Mario Party board, Eternal Star, how many Baby Bowsers are on the board with stars?
  5. Which boss in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars has the attack, "Flutter Hush?"
  6. The city, Sayonara, appears in what two episodes of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!?
  7. What is the main obstacle of the second world in Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!?
  8. How many unlockable characters are in Mario Kart DS.
  9. What is the second galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2 that Mario can ride Fluzzard in?
  10. At the end of the Mario Party 2 board, Horror Land, what does Wizard Bowser turn the Koopa Troopa into?




Fake News

Director’s Notes

by Ralphfan (talk)

Welcome to another Fake News!

If you want to write for us, please follow these instructions:

  1. Find the section you’d like to write. The current openings are for Fake Music, Fake Police Blotter and Character Battle.
  2. Get an account on the forum. Don’t worry, it’s free. When you sign up, do not use a Gmail account. It will treat the activation message as spam and you will be unable to receive it.
  3. Send me a private message (my name is Oaktown Mojo on the forums). You can do so by finding my account name or just clicking this link.

After you send me the message saying you want to write for the Fake News, I will send you the questions you need to answer. Please remember that the current open positions are Fake Music, Fake Police Blotter and Character Battle. After sending me your section, the other ’Shroom staff members and I will look at it, and we will make sure your section is good to go. After that, you’ll get a reminder each month telling you to send in your section.

Also, thanks to SMB for directing on short notice.

Go Ravens!

Travel Guide

by Ralphfan (talk)

Come visit the Puzzle Plank Galaxy! We’ve got a lot of things to jump on with weird gravitation phenomena. There are also Wigglers that you can try to piss off. Funny how they can kill you even when they’re in a good mood. Best of all, we have a Luma! This isn’t any ordinary Luma. It promotes obesity, suicide, and eating metal! Seriously, how the hell is anyone supposed to digest a coin? I mean, consuming Star Bits is ridiculous enough, but this is simply outlandish. Come see our suicidal, binging, metal‐eating freak today!

Fake Music

by BluePikminKong497 (talk)


Hello everyone, this is Katie Couric BluePikminKong497, coming to you with today’s Fake Music.
*audience claps and cheers*
Recently, a new band known as The Koop have released their first album, More than a Mushroom. The album has become a hit in bother the Beanbean Kingdom and Sarasaland, and is selling well in the Mushroom Kingdom. The songs are as follows:

  • More than a Mushroom, a parody of More than a Feeling, about a Mega Mushroom
  • Love the way you Die, a parody of Love the way you Lie, about losing in Super Mario Bros.
  • Green Eyed Daisy, a parody of Green Eyed Lady, about Luigi and Daisy in love.
  • Go Blue Shell!, an original song about a rabid Spiny Shell.
  • Won’t be Foiled Again, a parody of Won’t be Fooled Again, about Bowser planning to defeat Mario.
  • Baby Rap, an original rap by Baby Daisy.

BPK, we bid you a fond farewell!

Fake TV

by MrConcreteDonkey (talk)

CSI Mushroom City.png

The Mushroom Kingdom is not always the weak, boring, useless happy go‐lucky place you see in the Mario games. Deep in the suburbs of Mushroom City, crime, most notably murder, is on the rise. The murders are then investigated by a team of inspectors and investigators, who try to crack the case. CSI Mushroom City is an awe‐inspiring show. The pilot will be shown on Wednesday night, at 9:30, so murder put the kids to bed and enjoy. In the pilot, the team investigates the gruesome murder of a Toad. They are then set off track when their main suspect, a Koopa Troopa, is murdered and the killer continuously blackmails them. The famous actor Zip Toad stars in this. It’s on Mush TV One every Wednesday night. Don’t miss it! Or I’ll come and make you watch it.

Fake Games

by Edofenrir (talk)

Early Mario Sports Mix logo used at E3 2010
Since it’s a beta version, the game doesn’t have box art yet.

Welcome, dear readers, to this month’s review of a random Nintendo game in the making. As you probably know, this year’s E3 left a huge impact on Nintendo fans worldwide. That makes this month’s review even more astonishing, as I will review the beta version of Mario Sports Mix. Hooray!

I was officially invited by Nintendo to beta‐test their product and also was promised an interview with one of the higher‐ups of the company. That was very generous. While I was there I heard some rumors about employees accidentally switching the “People to invite for great beta‐test” list with the “People to kick out of the building on sight” list, but you know how those rumors are.

So, after an official introduction and some more blathering we were finally allowed to play the game.

Gameplay

The first thing I saw in the game was the title screen, as it is common with video games. But no matter what I did, no matter which buttons I pressed, I couldn’t make it go away. Finally, a Nintendo employee stopped and told me what I was doing wrong. I had to hold down the 1 button, draw a circle counter‐clockwise with the Wiimote, press up, down, and up on the directional pad, let go of the 1 button and wait three seconds, and then press the 2 Button three times. That made the title screen go away and threw me into the main menu.

The main menu came with a simplistic white background and two options only: “Character Selection”, and “Back to the Title Screen”. I ended up selecting the latter per accident, since it was selected by default. Of course the combination to get past the title screen changed, so it took me two hours to finally get to the character selection screen. There I got to choose between the seven playable characters: Mario, Dr. Mario, Baby Mario, Daisy, Waluigi, Foreman Spike, and Geno. I heard rumors that Umaro from Final Fantasy 6 was unlockable, but this was denied by the creators. I picked Dr. Mario for simplicity’s sake.

Yeah, that’s fair…

After that I got to see some actual gameplay. There are no further choices to make, the game just starts. The only game mode is a one vs. one match. The player characters are positioned on the right and left edge of the screen and can be moved vertically by tilting the Wiimote. By doing that, the players can bounce a tiny ball around. The objective of the game is to get the ball to the border of the screen behind the opposing player. I could have sworn I’d already seen that principle somewhere, but I just couldn’t remember where at that point. Anyway, after one player scored enough points, they win, and the game goes back to the title screen! Gaah!! Enough!!

Interview

After I was done playing the game and switched it off (by punching through the screen), I was led into a separate room where I interviewed some guy who was present during the whole event.

Edofenrir: So yeah, hi.

Nintendo Employee: Greetings, Mr. Egofennec. I heard you wanted to interview me for the Fire Flower newspaper of that MarshmallowWiki place.

Edofenrir: Uhm… I guess…

Nintendo Employee: Well then, ask your questions.

Edofenrir: So, uhm… after playing your game for so long I can’t help but notice that it is somewhat… let's call it “curious”.

Nintendo Employee: *grins eerily*

Edofenrir: Let me begin with the title screen of the game. It is totally unintuitive and silly! Why is it so hard to even start the game??

Nintendo Employee: That’s because we paid attention to the fans’ criticism this time.

Edofenrir: …Please elaborate.

Nintendo Employee: People always complain that our games are becoming easier with every installment. They wish for more difficulty, like we did back then with Super Mario Bros. 2, you know, that SNES game where you could transform into a weasel and fly. As a reply to these complains, we tried to make the title screen as challenging as possible.

Edofenrir: I see, that makes sense… in some twisted way…
The next point that raises questions is the character selection.

Nintendo Employee: Ah, the heart of our game. I hand‐picked all the subjects myself.

Edofenrir: Yes, and that’s where the problem begins. I mean, it’s nice to see some obscure characters like Geno or Foreman Spike, but why are there three Mario clones?

Nintendo Employee: Oh, those are not clones, mister. They are highly different! Dr. Mario has a doctor’s light for example, and you cannot play as Baby Mario after 8 pm.

Edofenrir: Ok…
Then there are balancing issues. Waluigi, for example, is twice the size of every other character, and it’s virtually impossible to get any ball past him.

Nintendo Employee: Oh, but you have to admit, a balanced game is pretty boring.

Edofenrir: *sigh*
Next, why is there only one game mode? What happened to all the other things we saw in the trailers, like hockey, or dodge ball? Why is there so little content?

Nintendo Employee: That is due to an error in our calculations. We accidentally blew out our entire budget to make the trailers look fancy and interesting. That’s why we ended up with only 500 dollars left. We invested some of the money into something else and continued to make the game with only two dollars. But I swear, with these two dollars we created a two dollar masterpiece!

Edofenrir: So, you spent two dollars producing something that will probably sell for 50 dollars in the stores…

Nintendo Employee: I know, isn’t that great?

Edofenrir: No, it’s not! It’s horrible! The whole game is horrible! You cut out all the good stuff and replaced it with nonsense! And on top of that, you made the whole game a clone of Pong!! That sucks!! It’s an abomination, and I’m gonna tell everyone just that!!

Nintendo Employee: *draws a gun* Can’t let you do that, Mr. Dragon.

Edofenrir: *gulp*

Nintendo Employee: This 498 dollar gun was the best investment I ever made. Now go and write your summary! I’ll be watching you.

Summary

To sum everything up: This game is great. Yep, just that. Greatness in its greatest form. I can’t exactly say why it is great, but it is. You should go and buy this game as soon as it gets released so Nintendo won’t shoot me— uh, I mean, will get rewarded for this great game! Great! So, in the end, I can close this section, and say: Hey Everybody, Let’s Play this Masterpiece Endlessly. Good day, and see you next month… maybe.

Cooking Guide

by Baby Mario Bloops (talk)

Hello…welcome…to…Cooking Guide. Baby Mario Bloops…here to…inform…that…budget…dropped…badly…from last…month…so…have to…use less…words…this episode…

No…guests…I make…Chocolate Cake. Let’s begin…


  1. Cragshrink and buy Chocolate.
  2. Flopside Basement shop…buy Mix.
  3. Pour and mix together…until moist.
  4. Fill Pie Pan…place in 350° Oven.
  5. 35 minutes…done.
  6. Cool 20 minutes then enjoy.

Wow, I actually have a lot of limited and a itty bit amount of wiseful words to use sparingly for the rest of the show. Then again, I did just use a lot of words just in these last couple sentences. Who knows, maybe I have unlimited no—

Ads

Artwork of a banana from the original Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy
You want this banana? Well too bad you pathetic ape!

by Gamefreak75 (talk)

*walks onto stage and hears applause*

Thank you! Thank you my kind and wonderful monkeys!

For being such good monkeys, I am offering a special deal on bananas. Yup that’s right! You unintelligible apes will go bananas for such deals.

First, we have this plain ol’ banana. It may look like a regular old banana, but it has such a refined taste, you’ll be heading to your local produce centers to buy bunches of these.

Next, we have these um…colored bananas that are genetically modified grown with special ingredients to give them…color… Blue, purple, green, red, your pick of the lot. And they taste just like regular bananas and turn your tongue blue too! :O

And then we have this…Wait, what, a Luxury Banana? Today definitely is my lucky day!

*eats the banana and throws the peel on the floor*

BURP! Ah, that was delicious. Too bad you insolent monkeys cannot have such a refined banana. Now you will all dance before me!

...

...

...

I guess this ends my speech for today. Hope I don’t have to repeat anything to you bumbling simians.

*walks off the stage, but slips on the banana peel and falls to his doom*

(Note: If you do not get the jokes, leave a message on my talk or a PM on the forums and I’ll gladly explain it to you).

Interview

by Baby Mario Bloops (talk)

Hello all my wise and trustworthy readers. Welcome to the character interview with I, Black Mason Bob Baby Mario Bloops! Today we have a special chat with the enemies that are known to have a nasty habit of stealing from others. Being among many, let’s give a cold warm welcome to Bandit!!! Let me just hide all my stuff, and begin…

Baby Mario Bloops: Bandit, I see that you are all hyped up. What are you running for?

Bandit: Must…steal…money! (Attacks the crowd)

Baby Mario Bloops: Backup! I need three tranquilizers stat!

Security Guards: Aim and…Fire!

Bandit: OUCH!…Sleepy now…moving normal…boring.

Baby Mario Bloops: Well, now that I have your sane attention, shall we begin?

Bandit: What is there to talk about? I “find” many items, and they usually have my name written on them, after I write it.

Baby Mario Bloops: So you’re saying you steal it?

Bandit: No…I just happen to find money that fell into someone’s unguarded pocket. But stealing…no.

Baby Mario Bloops: What’s the difference!? That is still stealing!…Whatever, moving on. Are you related to the Shy Guy family?

Bandit: Don’t categorize me there…I’m no fat hideous monster that talks as if they were retarded. Stupid little a*******.

Crowd: *Gasps in Surprise*

Baby Mario Bloops: Wait…what did you say?

Bandit: Umm…damn it…I said Stupid little awesome…rs. Yeah, that.

Baby Mario Bloops: I’d like you to know that I have recording devices planted all over this room, and they catch the smallest sounds, like a heartbeat that picks up when the person lies, or a cuss word that will get them kicked off.

Crowd: Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…you’re in twouble!

Bandit: The crowd doesn’t even know how to say trouble! I’m sure that they could verify that I did not cuss.

Baby Mario Bloops: Don’t need them, remember? I will come back later, and bring Shy Guy up to the chair that you sit, and play what you said.

Bandit: You know what? I’m going to kill you!

Baby Mario Bloops: Guards!

Security Guards: Got him Boss…time to go, you little troublemaker.

Baby Mario Bloops: Alright, interesting show today. Hopefully the drama didn’t get too overwhelming today. I will see you all next month…as long as I don’t get attacked when I’m walking alone. See ya!

Fake Sports

by Ralphfan (talk)

Last week, Waluigi faced off against Birdo in the World Ping‐Pong Championship of Championships Tournament Cup, better knows as the WPPCCTC. Birdo was leading in the fifth set, ten points to three, and hit what seemed to be the winning shot, but Waluigi reacted quickly and impaled the ball on his hideous, pointy nose. He did this another 3,103 times until the tournament organizers had run out of balls. While the organizers went to the store to grab more balls, Waluigi impaled Birdo with his nose, therefore ending the tournament. Waluigi was disqualified and Birdo was unable to receive the trophy, so the third‐place finisher, Poochy, was declared the champion.

Fake Weather

by New Super Mario (talk)

Hello, I’m New Super Mario with the Weather report. It appears that many Koopas have still been suffering from the cold brutal weather, ever since it started snowing outside. But there is no fear because today it looks like Fire Snakes are building up in the clouds. Those Koopas will be happy, it will be warm outside, and watch your heads. At least, that’s what Baby Luigi said… Also in the weather report, it looks like we’ve recently spotted a giant Monty Mole coming this way in a huge tunnel. So I’m New Super Mario saying “watch out for the earthquake”!

by Edofenrir (talk)

Weatherchartsept10.png


Switching on the adverse weather lamps is recommended.

Hello readers, this is your weather forecast for September. As you may have noticed, the days are getting shorter and shorter with each passing day as we are leaving the summer season and approach fall. Trees are starting to lose their leaves and get moody about it, and it’s getting colder. Clouds dominate the sky in most regions inside and around the Mushroom Kingdom. And then there is the occasional rain falling over Goomba Village.

Speaking of clouds, an unnaturally large gathering of clouds over Toad Town has been reported. The whole city is covered in a thick fog, and you cannot see farther ahead than three feet. Of course there have been mass panics in the town (as usual), but weather scholars reported that there is no imminent danger. Upon closer inspection of the incident, experts discovered the cause of the unusual phenomenon. It’s the annual Lakitu convention held in Toad Town. Lakitus from near and far are coming together within the city walls and talk about fashionable goggles and the newest cloud models. The convention is scheduled to end after two weeks and scholars assume that the clouds will vanish along with the Lakitus.

Fake Characters

by DyegoHalliwell IceMario12 (talk)

Princess AppleBerry

Princess AppleBerry.

The weirdest and freakiest person in world, Princess AppleBerry, born in CrazyShroom Town, has a weird look and a strange personality. She has a big mouth, she can’t keep a secret for even one second, and, believe it or not, she has a real, true, and big Koopa mouth. She hates Peach and Mario, and is in love with Waluigi, but everyone gets scared and runs from her when watching her Mario foot! She says in public that she will marry Bowser and destroy the Mushroom Kingdom.
Beware the Apple! I mean, Beware the Apple Berry Canon! I mean! Beware the Freak Princess!

ComicThrower WeirdMagikoopa

ComicThrower WeirdMagikoopa.

This Magikoopa is so strange that Bowser is scared of him!
He had two very different eyes, copied from Mario and Peach, and because he was destroyed twice, he has three different clothing styles in one. He is known for attacking with C4D Bubbles and Throwing mini comic covers! Not very many people know his secret, which is that if he falls into a hole, he will morph into a Phoenix hole!

by MrConcreteDonkey (talk)

Old Mario

Mario has a younger self, Baby Mario, but there is one piece missing from Mario’s chronology puzzle: the future Mario. So you will be glad to hear about the star of Nintendo’s newest game: Old Mario! In his old age, Mario has lost the ability to jump high, and looks like a lunatic when he runs. Launch Stars reject him, young Toads call him Medusa, and Yoshi gets embarrassed hanging around with him. He has gained new abilities, however – a walking stick. Instead of jumping on Goombas, he hits them on the head with his walking stick and gives them a long lecture about how much better yesterday was, usually starting with “Back in my day…” You may say, “This is too easy. Where is the strategy?” However, our hero has to give different lectures for different kinds of enemies.

Anyway, since he is too old to jump higher, he has to wait for the lift . Other challenges Old Mario faces include waiting in line for the disabled toilet and going to the hospital for his annual check‐up, and babysitting the grandkids. Instead of getting Fire Flowers, he uses walking frames. He also likes to Kart like his former self, but instead he uses a mobility scooter.

Ask Tucayo

By... C'mon, you know who writes this.

Hello dear readers! I am Tucayo in the first proper issue of Ask Tucayo! First, how does it work? Well, it’s very simple, you just need to PM me a question about anything you want, and I’ll answer it in the next issue. If you want, your question can be anonymous, just tell me so. Let’s go to the questions.

Q: Dear Tucayo,

I have always been wondering: where did you get your name from?

From,

Tigertot
A: Hello Tigertot. Well, it comes from when I was a child. It was my childhood nickname. The Spanish word for “namesake” is “tocayo”, so, we were playing soccer, and, by accident, by namesake called me “tucayo”, and everyone liked it and started calling me that way.

Q: Since you're a Koopa and all, I thought you might know this. How in the name of Goomba's headache does Koops put his shirt on?
-Edofenrir
A: Hello Edo. Well, as you can see, this seems to be impossible. The weirdest thing is that, when he gets in his shell, it is as if the shirt had gone through the shell. Luckily enough for me, I saw him yesterday, and I asked him. His answer was, “Nintendo doesn’t care about logic, so I have no idea how do I put my shirt on”.

Q: Do you prefer the Super Mario Wiki or its forums, and why?
-Lemmy Koopa
A: Hello Lemmy. Well, it is a difficult choice, but I guess I will go with the forums. Specifically the staff boards. Why did I choose this? Well, it has become more and more difficult for me to spend time on the wiki, and sometimes it can be stressful. And the forum, I hate all the trolls that have been coming, but still, the forum is a nice place to relax and spend the while.

Q: Dear Tucayo, how long do you think you'll stay on the Wiki?
-Reversinator
A: Hello Reversinator. I can’t tell the exact date, to be honest, but it will be before April 2011. It mostly depends on school and on my duties in The 'Shroom.


That was all for this issue, remember, you make this section! So please PM me all your questions! Thanks, and til the next time!



Review Corner

by Ralphfan (talk)

Good morning/afternoon/evening! My name is Ralphfan, and this is my first Review Corner! This month, I will be reviewing one of the Wii’s many Mario spinoff‐series sequels: Mario Super Sluggers.

Mario Super Sluggers, released in 2008, is the second game in the Mario Baseball series. The game was only released in Japan and North America (baseball is not a major sport in Europe).

Gameplay

The controls are fantastic, utilizing every aspect of the Wii Remote. The pointer is used frequently, as is shaking the remote. However, I’m not a big fan of the Remote‐only control scheme. While the Wii makes a good effort to be family‐friendly (more like noob‐friendly, and frankly, they overdo it), this allows gameplay without having to even control fielders’ movement and baserunning! The addition of more sidekicks is great, but the game should include concepts like substitutions and pinch‐hitting to give the game a real baseball feel.

Graphics

Graphics in Mario Superstar Baseball were decent, but this game goes above and beyond. The fields look like real grass, the players are more defined (I especially like when Wiggler turns red), and the animation for the fans is terrific. If any improvement was to be made, they should pull a leaf out of Super Mario Strikers’s book and have the crowd react to big plays.

Story Mode

A major letdown. A player can simply unlock eight characters (they begin with Mario), then go challenge Bowser Jr., defeat him, and challenge Bowser. BORING. I like the concept of missions, but I daresay they could make story mode a bit tougher. Unlike most players, who breezed through Story Mode, I bothered to unlock all the players so I could use certain players in my lineup.

Other Modes

In addition to mini‒games and missions, there are (of course) exhibition games. For the players who don’t want to bother with unlocking everyone in Story Mode, it is fun to play exhibition games, tinker around with your lineup and unlock new players through this mode.

My favorite of the other modes is Toy Field. Toy Field is most similar to Monkey Baseball in the Super Monkey Ball series (except with better music). Many baseball pinball games and old baseball arcade games are played in a similar style. Basically, Toy Field is a turn‐based game where the batter tries to hit the ball to various spots on the field. The fielders try to catch the ball to get a turn at bat, and the pitcher tries to strike the batter out (also to get a turn at the plate). Points are given based on the outcome of each turn. It is a four‐player mode, and is great to play with friends or by yourself (but it’s certainly better with friends).

Summary

In all, this game was pretty even with its predecessor. Though Story Mode took an enormous step back, all the other modes improved to make up for it. This is a tough game to rate, but I give it a 7.5.



Pipe Plaza

Director’s Notes

Marioguy1

Hey guys! Sorry about the late warnings this issue, however you were able to submit sections until the last second possible so it sort of evens out I guess…anyways, enough of me trying to minimize the embarrassment Tongue

So, read on, have fun, feel good!

SMB

Thanks goes to MG1 for directing this month's Pipe Plaza.

Tip of the Month (FunkyK38)

Tip of the Month: When putting in information about upcoming games, make sure what you’re putting is the truth. If you’re not sure if it’s legit or not, DON’T ADD IT. We can always confirm it when the game comes out.

Featured (Marioguy1)

Hello there readers! This is yours truly, Marioguy1, doing yet another section of Featured! This month is the first (IIRC) month that we don’t have featured images so the section will be a bit shorter.

I’d also like to note the new Featured Article archiving process, if the article fails, use {{UNFANOMFAIL}} or {{FANOMFAIL}} – it’s a small change that was recently instituted but it is fundamental for a special DPL table on the Featured Articles page. The DPL table is still experimental but it will hopefully replace the list that we currently have. Anyways, on with the section!

Anyways, the section is a lot shorter this month…that’s all! Bye! No seriously, read NIWA News.

NIWA News (RAP)

Good day fine readers of the ’Shroom. I’m RAP (talk), and this is NIWA News, where you can read all the latest news without the hassle of gathering the info yourself. Before moving on to more important matters, I’m giving a shoutout to the following things:

  • The Metroid series emblem, from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
    Metroid: Other M for Wii has been released in all major regions (US, Japan, Europe, Australia). Fans of the Metroid series should be sure to head over to our friends at Metroid Wiki to catch all the exciting info fresh off the press!
  • The Kirby series emblem, from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
    Attention Kirby fans! WiKirby is hosting a contest for a chance to win a copy of Kirby’s Epic Yarn for the Wii, the newest Kirby game in the series. Details about entering this contest can be found here. Rules are subject to change during the duration of the contest.
  • The Legend of Zelda series emblem, from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.
    ZeldaWiki is also having a contest, but regarding a need for a new logo for their upcoming new layout. For more info, go to their DeviantArt entry page. For those who are interested in a preview of the new layout, ZeldaWiki has that covered as well.

Now for the important news:

  • As you probably don’t know, the Ace Attorney Wiki was deleted by its web host due to an overload of MySQL Tables (basically the stuff that makes up a wiki), which was a violation of the host’s terms of service. Turboo apologizes for this incident. Currently, both of them are finding another host to start the Ace Attorney Wiki over.
  • The Animal Crossing Wiki, and Lylat Wiki have become affiliated with NIWA. Both wikis are going to be NIWA wikis soon. Congrats to both wikis – please help them out you Star Fox and Animal Crossing fans! That would be appreciated!

Another month of decent activity I say! Thank you for taking your time to read the latest news regarding NIWA; that’s all for this month.

1) Credit to Adam from ZeldaWiki for making the Metroid Wiki box.


Fading into Obscurity

by Marioguy1 (talk)

Hey there! Welcome to Fading into Obscurity! This issue I’m gonna be finishing up my series of reviews on the poor forgotten characters from Mario Party games past with seven powerful spirits who debuted in Paper Mario – the Star Spirits! (I was gonna talk about a certain host with a big hat but he’s not exactly ancient :/). The Star Spirits’ names are Eldstar, Mamar, Kalmar, Muskular, Misstar, Klevar and Skolar.

The seven star spirits.

The Star Spirits are seven Stars who live in Star Haven. The stars (or just Twink) know them as the “Honorable Star Spirits” and they watch over the magical Star Rod *cough*Kirby*cough* (sorry, can’t talk about that item without making that reference). Anyway, one day Bowser and Kammy Koopa decide to change the story and use their new mystical power of scotch tape to tape Kammy into the story. She steals the star rod and imprisons the poor star spirits in Bowser cards.

The main plot of Paper Mario focuses around Mario and his partners traveling around the Mushroom Kingdom and rescuing Star Spirits. Each Star Spirit gives Mario a special power after it is rescued (except Eldstar, who gives two) and then runs off to Star Haven. After rescuing all of the Star Spirits, Mario gets an attack called the Star Beam…and there’s also the Peach Beam which happens after Peach saves the day. Anyway, then Bowser is defeated, Mario rescues Peach (did I mention Bowser kidnapped her? Then again, that was assumed) and they all live happily ever after…

…until Mario Party 5 where the Star Spirits are yanked away from Star Haven by some Nintendo employees and shoved into a Mario Party game. They are the hosts of the different modes of the game and play no truly important role in the storyline. So, that’s it for the Star Spirits. They had ten seconds (or two games) of fame and glory and then Nintendo just dropped them…seven years ago. They were personally some of my favorite characters but now, like so many others, they have simply faded into obscurity.



Brawl Tactics

by FunkyK38 (talk)

Hello, Brawlers, what’s up? This month I will be talking about the Brawler Ike!

Ike is a slow‐moving swordsman with some of the most powerful attacks in the game. He doesn’t jump very high and his attacks take a while to charge.

Eruption is one move that has to be charged before use. Ike will not be able to move around until the attack is released, so try to put him in a spot so he will hit his targets when the move is charged up. It has a fairly decent amount of launch power, so try it out when your opponent has taken a lot of damage.

Quick Draw also has to be charged before use. If you can time it right and get Ike in the right location, it’s a fairly powerful attack. Be careful not to use it too close to the edge of the stage.

Aether is a tricky move to use if you use it as a third jump. Like Kirby’s Final Cutter, you have to get close enough to the stage to get back on it. If you miss by even a little, Ike will plummet off the screen. If you are not using this attack as a third jump, it’s fairly easy to use. If you get close enough to your opponent, they will take the full damage of the move and will not be able to get away.

Counter is a move that requires practice to use effectively. Like Peach’s Toad, Counter leaves a very short window for Ike to be able to strike back. But if you do time it right, this move has very high launch power and it will hurt foes.

Great Aether is Ike’s Final Smash. It’s one of the stronger Final Smashes, but it’s not very easy to use. Ike has a very short range, so you have to get close in to hit your opponent. I also recommend doing at least 30–40% damage before using this, because, like other swordsman’s attacks, this one is not a guaranteed KO if your opponent hasn’t taken a lot of damage. It has a lot of launch power, however, and that helps to drive it home for the KO.

Hope this will help you when using Ike in a Brawl! See you all next month, Brawlers!



Non‐Marioverse Review

by Leirin (talk)

This month, we’ll be reviewing the original Animal Crossing for Nintendo GameCube, released in 2001 by Nintendo.

While the sequels have certainly made some improvements/expansions in different areas, for me, nothing tops the original Animal Crossing. It’s a fairly perfect game where you engage in mostly real‐life activities – such as furnishing a home, fishing or participating in holidays – all in a cozy little village inhabited by animals. The game came at what many remember as a great time for the gaming industry: the release of the GameCube, Playstation 2 and several other new advancements. Well, Animal Crossing is definitely one of those advancements.

Up to four human players can move into a customizable town, where they can shop, chat with the locals, etc. Of course, you have to work off a debt to afford your new house, so every new player must complete Tom Nook the raccoon’s part‐time job tasks. Paying off your debt is one of the main goals of the game, but once you complete it, the game still goes on – there really is no way to ‘win’ Animal Crossing. Maybe you could try collecting all the furnishing items, NES games, line of clothing items… you live your virtual life however you want to live it.

First off, I want to thank Totaka and the rest for this wonderful music. Every new hour of the day plays different music, and there are some other themes in the game as well. They are relaxing, memorable, original and suit the time of day quite nicely. Those who played Yoshi’s Story might find some similarities between the two games’ soundtracks.

The game was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan, but when it came time to release the game for the US audience, Nintendo 64 was long finished. The smart thing to do? Port it on over to the new console, GameCube! Some might worry about the “blocky N64 graphics”, and while they are somewhat blocky, they are VERY impressive for their time and console. The slightly stylized, colorful look of everything keeps the game fun to play.

The neighbors are a varied crew. You get a random selection in your town and you can form friendships (or rivalries!) with any of them. You can write them letters, trade items, and really anything else you might do with real‐life friends.

There’s just so much to do in this game; it’ll keep you glued and fighting for turns with family members all day. That’s exactly how it was for me back nine years ago, anyway. It’s like being given a second life, where you have freedom to do and make anything you want. It’s another classic game in Nintendo’s overstuffed library, and any fan of the company should pick it up.

On the surface, it sounds like The Sims with animals, but Animal Crossing is very unique in how it handles these different aspects. Thanks to some brilliant programming, the game could retain its charm and playability for possibly decades. As for anyone who is interested in Animal Crossing and doesn’t stress over not having Wi‐Fi capabilities, I honestly recommend you get the first game.

Final score: 9.5/10



Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner

by Coincollector (talk)

Welcome to the Galaxy— ahem! Welcome to Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner. Here’s Coincollector ready to tell you the Mario Kart tip of the month.

OK, this time I came up with a potpourri of information about Mario Kart’s items. So I decided to use all that info to make a list of The Top Five Weirdest Items Seen in the Mario Kart Series.

There are a wide variety of items in the series, and usually we think that some items are more useful than others (thanks to the lousy random selection), but have you ever considered which are weirder? Yeah, those items that have a dubious use. Perhaps their function can be convenient for a player, but perhaps not. This month we will make a small list of those objects that make us think “WTF!?”

Here we go!

Bowser's Shell in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
So you think you can deal with this, little guy?

5. The Bowser Shell: Yeah, Bowser’s awe‐inspiring, kart‐wrecking, nightmare inducing and destructive shell comes in fifth place because it’s an item the hits everything in its path when thrown, and I do mean EVERYTHING. Racers that are hit by this awe‐inspiring, wrecking… yadda yadda shell will drop their items and roll like marbles while the shell keeps going to hit something else (maybe the guy who used it!)

Why it’s weird: The Bowser shell can be quite useful to stop racers, but must be used wisely. Usually you’d throw it backwards to prevent racers from stealing your place, but if you think you are capable of using it offensively, you might experience a nasty surprise. Especially when the shell “accidentally” crashes into you.

4. Cape Feather: The feather comes in fourth, and maybe there is a reason why it is pretty weird. The feather only appeared in Super Mario Kart for the SNES and makes the user jump higher than usual, the driver making a fun spin as he leaps into the air.

Why it’s weird: Besides the fact that it made only a single appearance, the feather only appears in some courses. Even so, it’s hard to obtain. However, if you’re lucky enough to get one, you can use it to avoid any obstacle or make great shortcuts over gaps and even walls.

3. Thunder Cloud: “Isn’t that cloud over my head cute? Wait… what’s that bright thing coming from the—” *zap!!* “shoot”. In other words, the thunder cloud is a time bomb that gives you a pleasant boost, but with a chance to be struck by a lightning after and remain small for several seconds.

Why it’s weird: I never though you could get a real suicidal item like this during a race. The only way to get lose the bad luck (and the bad weather) is to play “hot potato” with the other racers to avoid the lightning strike. The only moment when this item can be useful is when you’ve almost reached the finish line on the last lap.

A Blooper from New Super Mario Bros.
Better off served on a dish with some soy sauce…

2. Blooper: Use the blooper to spray some sticky ink into the face of your opponents and leave them blind.

Why it’s weird: Sometimes I wonder what the real purpose of this sushi‐ingredient‐thing is. You don’t get any advantage by releasing a squid which does nothing beyond spraying harmless ink that can be removed by washing your face and kart (or in this case, a speed boost).

1. Coin: The coin earns the first place because, as it name suggests, it gives you some coins when you use it… apparently, having a lot of coins makes you to run faster and not spin around like a topman if you bump another kart. Of course, you don’t need an item box to get coins, as they are also scattered on the road and you can pick them up.

Why it’s the weirdest: Obviously, the coin is one of the few things you wouldn’t expect to get from an item box (I mean, item panel, as coins only appeared as an “authentic” item in Super Mario Kart) and it becomes more ironical that you can get more in the road without going into an item box. Coins no longer appear as what they formerly were; now they are more or less spoils that can be used for hobbies— I mean, on missions, tournaments and battles.

Well guys, that’s all for Mario Kart: Wheel Tips Corner this month. And remember to look both ways before crossing the road, or else a Bowser Shell will smash you. See ya, ciao!



Entertainment Section

by Killer Axe (talk)

Hello again, readers! Today we’ll be snooping around the classic game Super Mario Bros. Only this time, there will be more old school Nintendo characters joining the party. For this issue, we’ll review Super Mario Crossover, a grand little game created by Jay Pavlina.

This game is basically the same as Super Mario Bros, only with a couple more character choices. The playable characters include Mario, Link, Ryu, Samus, Mega Man, and Simon Belmont. Each character has their own unique set of skills. For example, Mario is the only character that can run, and only Ryu can jump off of walls. The creator made sure that each character had different assets. And I have to say, using Bill to gun down all of the enemies is fairly satisfying.

While making the list of characters diverse, Jay also made sure that there is a nice list of Options right on the Main Menu, which I have not seen on a flash game in a while. I was extremely happy to see that menu there, so I could listen to whatever I wanted while playing. The soundtrack and scoring system have not changed, either, which both make me happy.

However, this game still has a few minor flaws. Sometimes Ryu’s wall jump gets you stuck on the walls if they are close enough together, and Mega Man’s slide tackle wasn’t the easiest to control, and when I played, I usually ended up jumping while trying to perform the slide tackle. And unfortunately, Some weapons cannot even hit the enemies due to the difference in size of the sprites. Despite some control issues with a few characters, the game is definitely playable, and I recommend giving the game a go.

There really isn’t much more than this to the game. Original Super Mario Bros, new characters. The game can be found almost anywhere. You just have to search it on Google and pick where to play.




Welcome

Welcome to the 1st annual Ultimate Character Tournament! I'm Ralphfan, and I'll be your host. What is the tournament? It's a series of polls in a bracket to determine the best character from the Mario, Sonic, Kirby, DK, Zelda, Banjo, and Conker games! Right now, we're in the sixth round, and you can vote in the polls listed below. Meetings were held in #mwUCT, which can be accessed here, on Userpedia, Darkmyst, Mibbit, mIRC, PJIRC, Chatzilla, or etc. We are also on the forum!

Click here to see the bracket

Meetings

Meeting 1

SUMMARY

SMB and I covered the Banjo and Conker series with help from MG1 and SLNO.

Agenda

We determined a schedule:

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda and DK
  • 9/30: Sonic and Kirby
  • 10/7 - ?: Mario

Mario might take a long time.

Entrants

14 Conker and 7 Banjo characters were accepted, and 4 more from Conker are on the bubble:

  • Jolly Roger
  • Gobi
  • Cheato
  • Roysten

Meeting 2

SUMMARY We covered Zelda. SMB missed a lot because of dinner, Tucky was there for most of the meeting, SLNO was logged on but inactive, Castle Toad was there towards the end, and MG1 was there throughout. We didn't have time for DK, plus I pinged towards the end.

Agenda

New schedule:

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - ?: Mario

Entrants

We added 18 Zelda characters, and two others are on the bubble:

  • Agahnim
  • Evil Wizard

Meeting 3

SUMMARY We covered DK. SMB was there for the last half-hour because of dinner, but MG1 was able to cover, and Tucky was able to drop by.

Agenda

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - ?: Mario

Entrants

We added 18 more, and put 6 on the bubble:

Meeting 4

SUMMARY We covered Sonic. SMB helped out, as did MG1, Turboo, Noahp89, and Tehchomps. Tucayo was probably watching the Yankees-Twins game.

Agenda

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - ?: Mario

Entrants

We added another 17, and put one on the bubble:

  • Super Sonic

Meeting 5

SUMMARY We covered Kirby. SMB was my only assistant, but he did a great job!

Agenda

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - ?: Mario

Entrants

We added 11 characters and 0 maybes.

Meeting 6

SUMMARY We began Mario and got about halfway through because we ran long. We got through every game from Jumpman to SMRPG. We're going in chronological order by when the games were released. MG1 was there for most of the meeting; Tehchomps was very active as well; Packy was there for a good chunk of time; SMB, SLNO, and Yoshario also pitched in. Hopefully, we'll finish Mario next week, but I have the feeling it will go into November 4th's meeting.

Agenda

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - 11/4?: Mario

We hope to finish next week, but it'll probably run through the start of the November 4th meeting.

Entrants

We added 46 more characters and 0 maybes.

Meeting 7

SUMMARY We finished the Mario series. SMB was there, but busy, SLNO was there for a while, and Tucayo dropped by for a while, and Tehchomps was there for a bit.

Agenda

  • 9/16: Conker and Banjo
  • 9/23: Zelda
  • 9/30: DK
  • 10/7: Sonic
  • 10/14: Kirby
  • 10/21 - 10/28: Mario
  • 11/4 - ?: Brawl, Seeding, and Bracket

Entrants

We added another 63 characters for a total of 109 from the Mario series and 194 total.

Meeting 8

SUMMARY We did final touch-ups, covered SSB, and began seeding, but we didn't get much done, due to the World Series and people not really wanting to pay attention. However, I was able to work with a few users during the week, so we were able to make progress nonetheless.
For seeding, we have 222 characters. To narrow it down to 128, we will need to eliminate 94 of them. Therefore, 34 of the entrants are being given first-round byes and will advance directly to the second round. The next 94 will be matched up against the bottom 94.

Agenda

Continue seeding and fill out bracket.

Entrants

We added 28 characters, for a final? (unintentional) count of 222. I was going for something between 128 and 256, so it worked out well.

Meeting 9

We worked on the second tier of seeding. SLNO was there for a bit; Tucky and MG1 were the major contributors. We didn't add any new characters, but MG1 suggested the SMG bosses; you can now vote whether to include them or not.

Meeting 10

MG1, SMB, and SLNO helped nearly round out the second tier of seeding in a short meeting. It looks like the SMG bosses are going to pass; the poll will close at the start of the next meeting.

Meeting 11

MG1, SMB, Noah, and Tucky finished out the seeding groups. Since the Galaxy bosses pass, we finished with 231 characters. We're going to organize them into a bracket and set up dates beginning next week.

Meeting 12

MG1, SMB, Tucky, SLNO, and Noah helped organize the bracket. Because of the number of characters, 25 characters get byes, or free passes, to the second round. They have been placed throughout the bracket. We plan to open the first round of the tournament on January 6th or 13th.

Info

The characters
The bracket

Dates

Here are the dates:

  • Round 1: 1/7-1/27
  • Round 2: 1/28-2/24
  • Round 3: 2/25-3/24
  • Round 4: 3/25-4/28
  • Round 5: 4/29-5/26
  • Round 6: 5/27-6/29
  • Round 7: 7/4-7/29
  • Round 8: 7/30-8/28



Staff Notes

Sub Director Notes

By Tucayo (talk)

Hello. I just want to apologize, because family business required all of my attention and I wasn't able to do anything but write my FN section. Sorry again.

Editor‐in‐Chief notes

*INSERT 2257s NOTES HERE*

Alright, alright… you don't have to shout.

By Twentytwofiftyseven (talk)

Helloooo all you wonderful readers of The ’Shroom. ♥ Stooben has died and Tucayo is busy, so SMB volunteered to direct this month's issue. That makes him the Substitute Director, but please don't shorten it to “Sub Director” or something horrendous will happen to you. ♥

Anyway, you might have noticed that we have a new background this month. Or did we have it last month too? I don't recall. Either way it's by Edofenrir (talk) and it's amazing. Go send him candies and things.

As per usual, we've had some staffing changes because all our old staff got eaten up by my pet piranha plant.

  • Ralphfan (talk) is now writing the Review Corner. His debut review is about Mario Stadium Family Baseball, so go check it out. Seriously. GO.
  • Fake Music is now covered by BluePikminKong497 (talk). He gives us a nice review of More than a Mushroom by The Koop.
  • MrConcreteDonkey (talk) joined on as our official Fake TV guru. Go read his report on Mushroom City or suffer. (Note that there is no guarantee that your suffering will be averted if you do read it.)
  • New Super Mario (talk) and Edofenrir (talk) are writing Fake Weather now. Yes, both of them. What happens if their weather forecasts are contradictory? Well, you pay a visit to the ministry of love, of course.
  • DyegoHalliwell IceMario12 (talk) and MrConcreteDonkey (talk) round out the additions to our fake news team, with Fake Characters. Their section left me speechless. I laughed, I cried. I found five dollars.
  • BabyLuigiOnFire (talk) lends her artistic talents to the Art & Music section of The ’Shroom, with the Sketch Related to Mario section. In this case, it's more of a Many Sketches Related to Mario section, though.
  • BluePikminKong497 (talk) is in charge of Random Image of the Month now. What is the random image of the month? Go find out.
  • Homestar Runner (talk) is now homestar running Box-Art of the Month. What? You don't like my pun?

So yeah, things were really shaken up this month. We probably also lost some people to my voracious piranha plant but I don't care about that because let's focus on the positive. Or else.

Guys, have you seen the poll on the main page, the one about the Kremlings? I'm very happy about the results of that poll.

Substitute Director Notes

By Super Mario Bros. (talk)

Hello readers, SMB here. As you might have seen, I posted this issue up this month. To explain, Stooben has evaporated and will (hopefully) be back soon. Tucky had some family business he has to tend to (as he mentioned above). Tucky asked me to ost up the issue ad everything this month... And that's where we are now.

So yes; sit back and enjoy the issue!