No, it has nothing to do with Waluigious or my articles. But with the year coming to an end, I thought I’d throw out a little acknowledgment to Mario games that ended in style. Let’s jump right into things, shall we? Top ten Mario game endings! Spoilers abound, obviously.
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (aka, Lost Levels; Famicom/Virtual Console version)
If you’ve only experienced the “real” SMB2 via Super Mario All-Stars, you would think the game was simply SMB Hard Mode. And you’d be right, to an extent. But downloading the original version on the Virtual Console revealed to me that many of the environments/background objects look quite different. More significantly, the ending is…bizarre. My explanation cannot possibly do it justice, so I’m not going to try. Is it worth the sheer abuse you’ll suffer getting to 8-4? Probably not, but it is strange.
9. Mario Power Tennis
Camelot and Mario have been a good fit ever since Mario Golf for the N64. The resulting sports titles are accurate enough to reflect the sports material, but simple enough to remain fun and intuitive. They also have a knack for humorous intros. With Power Tennis, however, the ending proves just as interesting, running a “blooper reel” of clips from the intro. It’s simple, wholesome humor that makes me smile.
8. Super Mario Bros. 3 (English NES or All-Stars versions)
The Advance version of SMB3 doesn’t deserve this award because it strips the ending of its most memorable line. In all versions, Bowser will plummet through the hole he makes in the floor (unless you fireball or hammer him to death; and don’t fall in after him by mistake!), and the Mario Brother of choice enters a door to find Peach. She greets him with the following line:
“Thank you. But our Princess is in another castle. Just kidding! Ha ha ha!”
It was an amusing little nod to the original Super Mario Bros. and a surprising display of initiative by the localization team in an era when you were lucky if they got the protagonist’s name right. But for the Advance port, it seems the staff took a “serious business” mentality to the game, and had Peach give some generic little drivel about peace returning. More true to her original Japanese dialogue, I suppose, but c’mon. Ending one of the most iconic games of the series by paying tribute to THE most iconic one was a neat thing to do. And of course, after that comes one of the earliest examples of a Nintendo tradition: recapping all of a game’s worlds in the ending.
7. Super Mario World
This one is just…classic. You beat Bowser, the fireworks go off, the game acknowledges every single non-hostile character aside from Luigi (even if you’re playing as him), and then your designated Mario Bro, Yoshi, his trapped pals and Peach make their way through the game’s various landscapes, as a chipper, laid-back tune plays. A character parade follows, finally ending with a triumphant image of the Mario Bros. and Peach…one that refused to leave your screen unless you reset or shut off the game (which always felt more significant to me back in the day, ending screens that wouldn’t fade with time or the push of a button).
6. Super Mario 64
It was really a case of overinflated expectations. With gaming’s move to 3-D, and me being nine years old, I thought it was only natural that Super Mario 64 should be absolutely flawless, so it left a disappointing taste in my mouth for several years. Still, this is a solid ending. We begin with a dramatic return to the front of the castle via Wing Cap, then enjoy a reprise of SMB’s “princess rescued” theme. Peach says something extremely sappy, then sets to work on that cake. Which she SAID she had already baked before Mario even arrived…the cake is a lie, indeed.
Anyway, the real quality of this ending comes from the credits. The Nintendo tradition of reviewing the game’s worlds in the ending is upheld here, with sweeping shots of various locales interspersed with the credits. Meanwhile, it’s accompanied by a great tune. It’s hard to describe…it seems happy and content throughout, but evokes some sadness partway through. A memorable ending to a milestone game.
5. Mario Kart 64
Nintendo, you baffle me. The game is Mario Kart, so why are you giving me a credits sequence that tugs on my heartstrings with beautiful, sweeping shots of waterfalls and canyons at sunset, with one of the most incredible themes ever composed for a cartridge in the background? It’s confusing and odd, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. The credits sequence was obviously patterned over Super Mario 64’s, but the music is just so much more powerful here that it makes this ending the superior one.
Plus, your trophy is delivered to you by a gigantic floating fish. The fact that three consecutive Mario Karts have not upheld this glorious tradition is a terrible offense, and I don’t understand how it is allowed to continue.
4. Paper Mario
Readers of my entries already know of my love for Intelligent Systems’ Mario work. So it’s only natural that at least one Paper Mario makes this list. It gets off to a pretty rough start, with the Star Spirits and Twink droning on in sappy rants for what seems like a half hour, at least. But then you get a peek at what each of your party members are up to, and then you get control over Mario, capable of talking to several NPCs you met over the course of your adventure. And finally, we get a lengthy and amusing character parade (a literal parade) led by Luigi. Which, while awesome, is the other thing that prevents this ending from cracking the top three. Because it rips directly off…
3. Super Mario RPG
This is not the time or place to debate SMRPG vs. PM. Both are excellent takes on a bizarre concept, and both have great endings. SMRPG’s ending edges out its successor by virtue of originality, and for keeping the speeches short. Looking in on other characters is slightly more amusing and interesting here, as it includes several more than just your playable party. And the parade theme includes a few strains from Mario World’s main stage music.
2. Donkey Kong Country 2 (Normal ending, SNES/VC version)
I’ll take the normal ending over the hidden one for a few reasons. First, it includes a character parade, accompanied by a very ambient music piece (though finding a track in DKC2 that ISN’T superb is a stern challenge). Second, it’s likely to be the first time you witness the purpose for the DK Coins: Cranky uses them to rank you among other video game heroes, namely Mario, Yoshi and Link. Of course, since it’s all the rage to hate on Rare and especially Diddy these days, I’m sure it’s outright blasphemy to see him ranked above Mario in anything. But for me, it was kind of epic to see that challenge placed before me (and seeing Sonic’s shoes in the trash can was funny).
But this ending really shines with the conclusion of the final boss fight: K. Rool shrugs off Diddy/Dixie’s last attack, and the duo seem helpless. Suddenly, the captive Donkey Kong breaks free of his bonds, uppercuts K. Rool through the roof of his airship, and sends him tumbling down the island to be promptly feasted upon by sharks. Let that sink in for a moment, then picture what that would be like to see that play out before you as a 9-year-old Nintendo nerd. It was one of the coolest things ever, and I was convinced K. Rool was really dead (I thought his alter ego in DKC3 was a separate character until DK64 came along; I didn’t get to DKC2’s secret ending for years).
1. Yoshi’s Island
As Yoshi’s Island is my Favorite Game Ever, I suppose it’s only natural it would top my list of favorite endings. First of all, there’s the credits tune, which is one of a very small handful of video game pieces that surpass Mario Kart 64’s in beauty. I mean, just take a listen on Youtube or VGMusic.
But then it gets even better. The stork drops off the baby Mario Bros. in front of a conspicuously mushroom-shaped house, and the parents discover the twin bundles of joy. The music builds as if to loop again, but instead does something very different. As the parents hold the babies up for the player to see, the music transforms into a rendition of the legendary SMB Flagpole Jingle. “Heroes are born!” the game declares.
Wow. For perspective, I was more obsessed with Mario at nine years old than I am now (and seeing as I contribute to a blog about him now, that’s saying something and a half). And after just completing a game starring my favorite aspect of Super Mario World, I witness the “birth” of my first childhood heroes! Yes, there’s the “but they’re from Brooklyn/they’re not twins!” controversy, and birth by stork is stupid, but do you think I was worried about that then? When that stage-ending music crept out of the speakers, I was getting chills of nostalgia…at nine years old. Maybe you had to be there at the time, but this still stands as the most epic gaming experience I ever had.
~Waluigious: Happy New Year, everyone!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The One Where I'm Puzzled (Part 1)
Well, I hope everyone had a merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate. Among other things, part of my Christmas Eve was spent engaging in some of the Wii's Dr. Mario Online Rx (awkward enough title?) with my older cousin. It was a bit of a nostalgia bath for me, as the cousin was one of three that basically taught me how to play video games, and one of my first games was Dr. Mario for the NES.
This also got me wondering about whether Dr. Mario deserves its legacy, or is it just shamelessly benefitting from Mario's image? Well, I'm gonna deliver the cop-out answer and say a little of both. I have full confidence that it was the Mario name and appearance that hooked gamers, and I sincerely doubt a puzzle game called Virus Buster or something would have sold nearly as well. But I consider this an acceptable, if somewhat shallow, tactic, because after Mario draws players in, the gameplay delivers the goods. Dr. Mario takes some heat for being a Tetris clone, but it's really as different as two games with the same premise (i.e., a genre) can be.
While Tetris has certainly earned its dominance of the puzzle genre, Dr. Mario's legacy should not be overlooked. For one, while its stages continue infinitely, they provide clear-cut objectives so a player can quit on a triumphant note, while Tetris is merely a matter of delaying eventual defeat. The game mechanics are the epitome of the perfect puzzle game: simple, but with a good deal of depth and strategy beneath the surface. They also invite competitive play (and cooperative, though that element would not be utilized until much later).
But some cosmetic factors deserve mention. For one, the viruses make Dr. Mario a very animated game, as the bottle simply pulsates with them. The large images of the viruses under the magnifying glass, with their taunts and reactions to your success really lend the game its personality. Even that is secondary to the excellent music, however, especially the two main tracks. Fever and Chill are both appropriately named, and give the game entirely different atmospheres. The ability to choose two differing tracks for gameplay was something of a novelty at the time. Fever always struck me as the "main" track, being first on the selection screen and having the bolder, faster pace. But I preferred Chill because it seemed underappreciated, and Fever got obnoxious to me at times. This was the only one of my first batch of games that I truly paid attention to the music, and it emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity.
Admittedly, Dr. Mario's connections with the main series are intangible at best. It's really just the general principles of accessibility, simplicity, hidden depth and superb control that it shares with its platforming cousins. But it's still a worthy choice for the Mario fan, and is a legacy in its own right, available in several forms:
Dr. Mario: The NES original. Nothing beats the raw, MIDI renditions of Fever and Chill. The ground rules are established, and this is as good a version as any, if you still have an NES.
Dr. Mario: The Game Boy edition. The music takes a slight hit, and levels 20 and above are oftentimes completely unfair (sometimes it's impossible to vertically clear the first row of viruses). But two-player's intact, via the Link Cable (yes, they existed before Pokemon!)
Tetris & Dr. Mario: See, general gaming public? They've been getting along for years, so quit trying to generate rifts between their fanbases. This SNES game really doesn't offer anything different from the respective games' 8-bit incarnations, except for the obvious benefit of having the two best puzzle games ever on one cart.
Dr. Mario (64): The N64 edition attempts to spice up the one-player mode, adds four-player, and includes two new themes (neither measure up to the legendary Fever and Chill, but they're decent, and the original two get sweet remixes). If you don't mind basically playing a Wario Land 3 commercial, go for it.
Dr. Mario Online Rx: The WiiWare edition has the same music as the 64 game. No four-player here (except co-op in the motion-sensing Germ Buster), but competitive online play is a plus, and can get pretty vicious among the grizzled NES veterans.
There are a couple other versions (such as a Japan-exclusive puzzle collection for the GameCube) but I haven't played them, so I can't comment.
~Waluigious: I'd hesitate to take a prescription from a man who believes mushrooms prolong your life...
This also got me wondering about whether Dr. Mario deserves its legacy, or is it just shamelessly benefitting from Mario's image? Well, I'm gonna deliver the cop-out answer and say a little of both. I have full confidence that it was the Mario name and appearance that hooked gamers, and I sincerely doubt a puzzle game called Virus Buster or something would have sold nearly as well. But I consider this an acceptable, if somewhat shallow, tactic, because after Mario draws players in, the gameplay delivers the goods. Dr. Mario takes some heat for being a Tetris clone, but it's really as different as two games with the same premise (i.e., a genre) can be.
While Tetris has certainly earned its dominance of the puzzle genre, Dr. Mario's legacy should not be overlooked. For one, while its stages continue infinitely, they provide clear-cut objectives so a player can quit on a triumphant note, while Tetris is merely a matter of delaying eventual defeat. The game mechanics are the epitome of the perfect puzzle game: simple, but with a good deal of depth and strategy beneath the surface. They also invite competitive play (and cooperative, though that element would not be utilized until much later).
But some cosmetic factors deserve mention. For one, the viruses make Dr. Mario a very animated game, as the bottle simply pulsates with them. The large images of the viruses under the magnifying glass, with their taunts and reactions to your success really lend the game its personality. Even that is secondary to the excellent music, however, especially the two main tracks. Fever and Chill are both appropriately named, and give the game entirely different atmospheres. The ability to choose two differing tracks for gameplay was something of a novelty at the time. Fever always struck me as the "main" track, being first on the selection screen and having the bolder, faster pace. But I preferred Chill because it seemed underappreciated, and Fever got obnoxious to me at times. This was the only one of my first batch of games that I truly paid attention to the music, and it emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity.
Admittedly, Dr. Mario's connections with the main series are intangible at best. It's really just the general principles of accessibility, simplicity, hidden depth and superb control that it shares with its platforming cousins. But it's still a worthy choice for the Mario fan, and is a legacy in its own right, available in several forms:
Dr. Mario: The NES original. Nothing beats the raw, MIDI renditions of Fever and Chill. The ground rules are established, and this is as good a version as any, if you still have an NES.
Dr. Mario: The Game Boy edition. The music takes a slight hit, and levels 20 and above are oftentimes completely unfair (sometimes it's impossible to vertically clear the first row of viruses). But two-player's intact, via the Link Cable (yes, they existed before Pokemon!)
Tetris & Dr. Mario: See, general gaming public? They've been getting along for years, so quit trying to generate rifts between their fanbases. This SNES game really doesn't offer anything different from the respective games' 8-bit incarnations, except for the obvious benefit of having the two best puzzle games ever on one cart.
Dr. Mario (64): The N64 edition attempts to spice up the one-player mode, adds four-player, and includes two new themes (neither measure up to the legendary Fever and Chill, but they're decent, and the original two get sweet remixes). If you don't mind basically playing a Wario Land 3 commercial, go for it.
Dr. Mario Online Rx: The WiiWare edition has the same music as the 64 game. No four-player here (except co-op in the motion-sensing Germ Buster), but competitive online play is a plus, and can get pretty vicious among the grizzled NES veterans.
There are a couple other versions (such as a Japan-exclusive puzzle collection for the GameCube) but I haven't played them, so I can't comment.
~Waluigious: I'd hesitate to take a prescription from a man who believes mushrooms prolong your life...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
The One Where I Don't Panic
First of all, I want to apologize for neglecting this place. I have no intention of abandoning it, but finals gave me a rough couple weeks.
While reveling in my newfound stress-free vacation, I popped in Super Mario All-Stars on a whim, and selected the entry on the collection that I’d played least recently: Super Mario Bros. 2 (the Doki Doki Panic one). Ever since I had learned of the game’s origin, I sort of ignored it. But I decided to look at it more objectively and not shun it due to its bizarre conception. Strangely, while trying to be critical, I was most impressed with the game’s intangibles: the upbeat atmosphere and quirky gameplay features.
First, the leisurely pace and the lack of a score and timer make for a very refreshing gaming experience. The absence of numbers gives a soothing message: just play. Don’t worry about all that. Have fun.
Stage 1-2 packs two of the game’s cooler innovations within the same minute of gameplay. First, stealing Pidget’s magic carpet is an incredibly liberating feeling. The freedom gives way to frantic desperation when you grab a key (standard gaming procedure) only to find a formerly inanimate mask coming to life and pursuing you!
The game’s brilliance just seems to flow naturally. The most common threat in the icy World 4 are Flurries, who use their lack of grip on icy surfaces to slide unpredictably into you, and you can use it to trick them into slipping to their demise. You reach a seeming dead end, and start yanking turnips out of the ground, only to discover a personal rocket ship! Completely nonsensical, but how can you not smile when you experience it?
More complementary of the icy theme is the pod of whales. It’s hard to relate to someone who wasn’t playing this game when it was new how amazing this was. Crossing an ocean by hopping along whale backs and being propelled up by their blowhole spray? That was the coolest thing I had ever played, and what I was most strongly looking forward to in my replay. It’s not the mind-blowing experience it once was, but it’s still an excellent platforming sequence.
World 4’s twists continue in the final stage. At the very start, you encounter Birdo, a mid-boss who typically resides at the end of stages. A quick observation will also show you you’re stuck on an island: no rocket escape this time. I can’t speak for everyone, but personal experience hinted at what to do here: I thought riding on Birdo’s eggs was fun. So try that here, and you soar across the ocean on a speeding egg-bullet, reaching a tower on the other side. Finally, I doubt many gamers could guess what any of the worlds’ bosses would be, but did ANYONE predict that an ice world would be capped off by a battle against animate flame? Nintendo was breaking clichés before they were even cliché!
World 4 is the standout for me, but that’s not to say the other worlds aren’t brilliant. From enduring Albatoss/Bob-omb assaults to carefully plotting your path past a fireball-spewing Panser, to navigating a room full of perimeter-circling sparks, to blasting through several walls with a limited supply of bombs, to trying to stay on top of cacti while towering Pokeys close in, SMB2 is more than just reflex or “take a hit and run through.” You have to plan and be tactical, though it never becomes a nail-biting, stressful affair.
The most recurring theme that impressed me was the amount of ways the game has you cross lethal gaps (without the benefit of a flying power-up). Aside from the aforementioned magic carpet and flying egg, you have to ride on the back of an Albatoss, who is flying against the flow of several others. Or you cross a waterfall via the hopping Trouters. Or ride a red Shy Guy across a bed of spikes. Or hijack a Shy Guy’s ride.
Aside from the antics of enemies, the bosses are a treat. In the midst of a series where “boss battles” consisted of extremely repetitive fights against Bowser/Koopalings, SMB2’s injects a dose of originality. How often do you fight a sunglass-wearing mouse chucking bombs? Or a three-headed snake spewing fireballs that you have to erect a barrier against? Or a crab with a mean curveball? True, you get repeat performances by Mouser and Triclyde, but they are changed up enough to keep things interesting (Mouser has a spark circling the room, which he can amusingly wipe out with his own bombs, while Triclyde has the high ground in his rematch). They’re large and animated, and easily among the most distinctive boss set in the franchise.
Lately, I’ve been eating up really tough sidescrollers. I get a thrill out of attempting to master them, and it’s genuinely a good time, even though it does get my blood pressure rising. But I realize that sometimes “lack of difficulty” is perfectly okay. A platformer doesn’t need to demand lightning reflexes and pixel-perfect jumping to be excellent. Super Mario Bros. 2 is not only an excellent platformer, but an excellent Mario game. I’m still not sure if it can match SMB3 or World, but the mood the game puts me in doesn’t care about petty debates like that. Pull it out and give it a run (or leisurely jog) to loosen up and relax for the holiday season.
~Waluigious: However, I don't find Toad's Advance incarnation shrieking to be very stress-relieving.
While reveling in my newfound stress-free vacation, I popped in Super Mario All-Stars on a whim, and selected the entry on the collection that I’d played least recently: Super Mario Bros. 2 (the Doki Doki Panic one). Ever since I had learned of the game’s origin, I sort of ignored it. But I decided to look at it more objectively and not shun it due to its bizarre conception. Strangely, while trying to be critical, I was most impressed with the game’s intangibles: the upbeat atmosphere and quirky gameplay features.
First, the leisurely pace and the lack of a score and timer make for a very refreshing gaming experience. The absence of numbers gives a soothing message: just play. Don’t worry about all that. Have fun.
Stage 1-2 packs two of the game’s cooler innovations within the same minute of gameplay. First, stealing Pidget’s magic carpet is an incredibly liberating feeling. The freedom gives way to frantic desperation when you grab a key (standard gaming procedure) only to find a formerly inanimate mask coming to life and pursuing you!
The game’s brilliance just seems to flow naturally. The most common threat in the icy World 4 are Flurries, who use their lack of grip on icy surfaces to slide unpredictably into you, and you can use it to trick them into slipping to their demise. You reach a seeming dead end, and start yanking turnips out of the ground, only to discover a personal rocket ship! Completely nonsensical, but how can you not smile when you experience it?
More complementary of the icy theme is the pod of whales. It’s hard to relate to someone who wasn’t playing this game when it was new how amazing this was. Crossing an ocean by hopping along whale backs and being propelled up by their blowhole spray? That was the coolest thing I had ever played, and what I was most strongly looking forward to in my replay. It’s not the mind-blowing experience it once was, but it’s still an excellent platforming sequence.
World 4’s twists continue in the final stage. At the very start, you encounter Birdo, a mid-boss who typically resides at the end of stages. A quick observation will also show you you’re stuck on an island: no rocket escape this time. I can’t speak for everyone, but personal experience hinted at what to do here: I thought riding on Birdo’s eggs was fun. So try that here, and you soar across the ocean on a speeding egg-bullet, reaching a tower on the other side. Finally, I doubt many gamers could guess what any of the worlds’ bosses would be, but did ANYONE predict that an ice world would be capped off by a battle against animate flame? Nintendo was breaking clichés before they were even cliché!
World 4 is the standout for me, but that’s not to say the other worlds aren’t brilliant. From enduring Albatoss/Bob-omb assaults to carefully plotting your path past a fireball-spewing Panser, to navigating a room full of perimeter-circling sparks, to blasting through several walls with a limited supply of bombs, to trying to stay on top of cacti while towering Pokeys close in, SMB2 is more than just reflex or “take a hit and run through.” You have to plan and be tactical, though it never becomes a nail-biting, stressful affair.
The most recurring theme that impressed me was the amount of ways the game has you cross lethal gaps (without the benefit of a flying power-up). Aside from the aforementioned magic carpet and flying egg, you have to ride on the back of an Albatoss, who is flying against the flow of several others. Or you cross a waterfall via the hopping Trouters. Or ride a red Shy Guy across a bed of spikes. Or hijack a Shy Guy’s ride.
Aside from the antics of enemies, the bosses are a treat. In the midst of a series where “boss battles” consisted of extremely repetitive fights against Bowser/Koopalings, SMB2’s injects a dose of originality. How often do you fight a sunglass-wearing mouse chucking bombs? Or a three-headed snake spewing fireballs that you have to erect a barrier against? Or a crab with a mean curveball? True, you get repeat performances by Mouser and Triclyde, but they are changed up enough to keep things interesting (Mouser has a spark circling the room, which he can amusingly wipe out with his own bombs, while Triclyde has the high ground in his rematch). They’re large and animated, and easily among the most distinctive boss set in the franchise.
Lately, I’ve been eating up really tough sidescrollers. I get a thrill out of attempting to master them, and it’s genuinely a good time, even though it does get my blood pressure rising. But I realize that sometimes “lack of difficulty” is perfectly okay. A platformer doesn’t need to demand lightning reflexes and pixel-perfect jumping to be excellent. Super Mario Bros. 2 is not only an excellent platformer, but an excellent Mario game. I’m still not sure if it can match SMB3 or World, but the mood the game puts me in doesn’t care about petty debates like that. Pull it out and give it a run (or leisurely jog) to loosen up and relax for the holiday season.
~Waluigious: However, I don't find Toad's Advance incarnation shrieking to be very stress-relieving.
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