Hotel Mario

HOTEL MARIO

Today, let's go over probably the worst Mario game ever made, published by Royal Phillips Electronics for the Phillips CD-i, the same company that made the likewise worst Zelda games ever made. I think most fans of Nintendo know the ones. The game features a bunch of terrible animated cutscenes, coupled with terrible gameplay to create a truly unique gaming experience.

Basically, you play as Mario and Luigi as you traverse through a series of hotels, basically going in and out of elevators to close a bunch of doors. That's about it. The Koopalings and Bowser act as bosses, and our hotels are puns on various famous hotels with cosmetic differences between them. These are the Wood-Door Hysteria Hotel built into a tree; the Hardbrick Hotel as just a brick building; the Chillton Hotel, an ice biome; The High-ate Regency Hotel set on a cloud; Thump Castle Hotel based on a haunted house; the Blitz Snarlton Hotel, a casino stage; and the Seizures Palace Hotel, the Bowser's Castle level. Goombas, Koopas, Dry Bones, Buzzy Beetles, Wigglers, and Boos all do appear, but aren't particularly recognizable.

Well, that's that! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray, fireball

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Koopalings

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Arcade Cabinets

Real World Locations

Time Machine

Hotel Mario

Thanks for reading! Now, let's do a character stint again!

Mario is Missing & Mario's Time Machine

MARIO IS MISSING & MARIO'S TIME MACHINE

Mario is Missing & Mario's Time Machine are two "educational" games for the MS-DOS and two of the most notoriously bad Mario games ever made (and, yeah, they pretty much are). Their gameplay practically consists of little more than the player (Luigi in the first, and Yoshi in the second), moving side to side and activating text boxes here and there.

The games' primary purpose is to teach Geography and History respectively. In the first, Bowser has stolen a bunch of famous real-world landmarks in order to pay for a machine to melt Antarctica (don't ask), and Mario is captured in the attempt to stop him. This leaves Luigi and Yoshi to travel around the world and figure out what was stolen in order to stop Bowser. The locations you can visit in-game include Rome, Beijing, Nairobi, Moscow, San Francisco, Athens, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Paris, New York City, Tokyo, Cairo, London, and many others depending on which version of the game you played.

Mario's Time Machine is more or less the same, except this time with Bowser using a time machine to steal precious artifacts from history to add to his collection, with Mario having to use the machine himself to stop him. These locations include Philadelphia 1776 (Declaration of Independence), Cambridge 1687 (Isaac Newton, apple thing), Vienna 1824 (Beethoven), Orleans 1429 (Joan of Arc), Florence 1505 (Leonardo da Vinci), Calcutta 1947 (Gandhi), Menlo Park 1879 (Thomas Edison), London 1595 (Queen Elizabeth), Gobi Desert 1292 (Marco Polo), Athens 369 (Plato), Alexandria 47 (Cleopatra), Mainz 1455 (Gutenberg Press), Stratford-upon-Avon 1601 (Shakespeare), Pacific Ocean 1521 (Magellan), Florence 1503 (Michelangelo), and many others, again depending on the version you played.

And that's really all there is to it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Koopalings

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Arcade Cabinets

Real World Locations

Time Machine

Thanks for reading! Next up, we have another particularly infamous game!

Mario's Early Years

MARIO'S EARLY YEARS

Today, let's cover the Mario's Early Years series, three-ish games made for schools to use as learning aids. These include Fun with Letters!, Fun with Numbers!, and Preschool Fun. There's also CD-ROM Collection, but that's just the previous three put together. They all star the Mario characters but they're all mostly just about teaching principles of beginner's language arts, mathematics, and other random stuff.

Fun with Letters! teaches what sounds letters make, teaches vowels and consonants, helps demonstrate how to construct sentences, tells stories, and other things anyone who's been through an American English class will be familiar with. Fun with Numbers does similar, teaching numbers and shapes and other staples of an early math class. Preschool Fun does a lot of random stuff, teaching numbers and shapes, but also colors and opposites and the human body and stuff.

That's about it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Arcade Cabinets

Thanks for reading! Next up, we have a couple of . . . infamous games!

Educational Games (ish)

EDUCATIONAL GAMES (ISH)

Today, we're going to cover . . . several of the educational games. Not all of them, there are a couple I want to give "special" focus to, but these are all the ones that didn't really need any special attention. First up is Mario Teaches Typing 1 and 2, both games designed to teach a person how to type, using Mario imagery for pizzazz. Basically, you'd have basic Mario grassland, underwater, and underground levels where you'd have to hit certain keys at the right time to make Mario, Luigi, or Peach do what you want them to do or else you'd get hit.

Then you had Super Mario Bros. Print World, which was more just a publishing application that let you print out various imagery from the Mario games. Then there's Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up, which is basically just a digital coloring book featuring the Mario characters presenting various occupations kids can choose to be, well, see the title. Then we have Undake30 Same Game (don't ask), which is basically a Tetris-ish kind of game. (What's it doing in this section? Well, getting down to this level of obscurity of games, I have very little idea what I'm actually doing.)

And then there's Mario's Game Gallery, which features Mario playing you in games of Checkers, Go-Fish, Dominoes, Backgammon, and Yacht. Oh, I think I know why now. I lumped those two together and forgot what they were. Oh well, leaving them here. I'm tired. Then we have Super Mario Collection Screen Saver, which is exactly what it says on the tin.

Well, that was a mess, but I'm okay with it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Arcade Cabinets

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's go over the Mario's Early Years games!

Arcade Games

ARCADE GAMES

Today, let's cover the remaining arcade games. We've already covered the Mario Kart and Mario Party arcade games, and now, I'm going to do the rest in one lump post, as none of them really add enough to the property they're based on to be worth all the trouble.

First up, we have Crazy Kong, a sorta kinda bootleg version of Donkey Kong licensed by Nintendo when the original game's supply did not match up with its demand in the wake of its smash success. After that, we have Vs. Wrecking Crew, Vs. Super Mario Bros., and Vs. Dr. Mario, basically the same as the original games, but set up to be two-player. Then we have a slot machine with Donkey Kong imagery plastered all over it.

Luigi's Mansion is mostly a simplified arcade version of Dark Moon, which gives you basic control of the vacuum and strobe light as ghosts from that particular game zip around. Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land is a coin-shooter game, where players have to shoot coins at certain areas to make Mario perform certain actions. Donkey Kong: Jungle Fever and Donkey Kong: Banana Kingdom are coin pushers (like the Mario Party games) based on Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Finally, we had two simplified versions of the Mario and Sonic games, for Rio and Tokyo respectively.

And there we have it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Arcade Cabinets

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's go over a few . . . educational games!

Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.

GAME & WATCH: SUPER MARIO BROS.

Today, let's cover a special Game & Watch released in 2020 as part of the Super Mario 35th Anniversary. Basically, it's just the original Super Mario Bros. game loaded onto a Game & Watch system (a much more powerful version than the original 80s stuff, obviously). It didn't lump well with all of the other stuff, so its here.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover most of the other arcade games!

Game & Watch Galleries

GAME & WATCH GALLERIES

I wasn't going to lump these initially, but . . . ehh, I'm tired and I want to get on with it already. These aren't that different anyway. The Game & Watch Gallery series is a series of collections of old Game & Watch games, retouched with newer graphics, and replacing the generic stick-figure-esque characters with Mario characters.

The series features five games if you include their predecessor Game Boy Gallery. This one doesn't feature Mario characters like the others, but it does include Cement Factory, so I guess it technically counts. Game Boy Gallery features the games Ball, Vermin, Flagman, Manhole, and Cement Factory, all relatively the same as they originally were.

Game & Watch Gallery features Manhole, with Yoshi holding the manholes up for Mario, Donkey Kong Jr., and Toad; Fire, with Mario and Luigi holding the trampoline for Yoshi, Donkey Kong Jr., and Toad; Octopus, with Mario diving and Peach waiting on the boat; and Oil Panic, with Bowser dripping the oil, Mario collecting it, Yoshi dumping it, and Luigi and Donkey Kong as potential victims of getting splashed.

Game & Watch Gallery 2 features Parachute, with Mario steering the boat to catch Yoshi, Donkey Kong Jr., and Toad; Helmet, with Mario and Wario as the players and Paratroopas and Fly Guys dropping the objects; Chef, with Peach as the chef and Yoshi stealing the fallen food items; Vermin, with Yoshi protecting his eggs from Fly Guys and Paratroopas; and Donkey Kong (self-explanatory).

 Game & Watch Gallery 3 features Egg, with Yoshi catching cookies instead of eggs; Greenhouse, with Yoshi protecting the flowers from Ukikis and Fly Guys; Turtle Bridge, with Toad delivering items to Mario and Peach over a bridge of Goonie Birds; Mario Bros, self-explanatory; and Donkey Kong Jr., same.

Finally, Game & Watch Gallery 4 features Fire (same as before); Donkey Kong 3, with Mario standing in for Stanley; Donkey Kong Jr. (same); Mario's Cement Factory; Rain Shower, with Mario moving Toad and Donkey Kong Jr. away from Bowser's water balloons; Boxing, with Luigi up against Wiggler, Boo, and Waluigi as opponents; Chef (same); Fire Attack, with Wario protecting a statue of himself from Bob-Ombs and Bullet Bills; Octopus (same); Donkey Kong; and Mario Bros.

That's pretty much it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey, trampoline, diving, bucket, rowboat, spray

Luigi: trampoline, boxing

Peach: cooking

Yoshi: eat food, hammer, hold up manhole

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Bowser: oil

Wario: defend statue

Waluigi: box

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Boo

Fly Guy

Paratroopa

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover a certain new Game & Watch game!

Game & Watch Games

GAME & WATCH GAMES

Alright, today, we're going to do a lump post for all Game & Watch games featuring Mario. This does not include the Game & Watch Galleries or the recent Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch game just released. Over the course of the Game & Watch original run, Mario appeared in a total of eleven games. Naturally, being Game & Watch games, these are very simple, but still give us some stuff to work with.

First up, is a simplified version of Donkey Kong quickly followed by a simplified version of Donkey Kong Jr. In both of these, Mario, Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. perform the basic functions of those games with no embellishment (Mario jumping and sending out Klaptraps, Donkey throwing barrels, and Junior climbing vines).

Then we saw a few originals. These include: Mario's Cement Factory, where he has to load up a pair of trucks with cement without letting the dispenser get overfilled; Mario Bros., which, despite the similar name, features Mario and Luigi at a conveyor belt putting together a cake and wrapping it up for delivery; then Mario's Bombs Away, which features Mario passing a bomb to an enemy soldier while trying not to let it explode in his hands; and Mario the Juggler, which just has Mario juggling.

We then saw Donkey Kong II, which was also a simplified Donkey Kong Jr.; Donkey Kong Circus, which mostly saw Donkey juggling while balancing on a barrel; Donkey Kong Hockey, featuring Mario and DK playing hockey against each other; then Donkey Kong 3, a simplified version of the original game. Then we wrap up with a VERY simple version of Super Mario Bros., where all platforms are tiny little lines, and the only enemies to speak of are Bullet Bills and Lakitus.

That's about it for today! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario/Jumpman: jump, klaptrap, cement, box a cake, bomb, juggling, hockey

Donkey Kong: barrels, juggle, balance on barrel, hockey

Donkey Kong Jr.: climb vines

Stanley: spray

Bullet Bill

Lakitu

Stages:

Cement Factory

Bakery

Bombs Away

Circus

Thanks for reading! Next up, we start on the Galleries!

Super Mario Roster, Updated

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

SUPER MARIO BROS.

Today, let's add in all five newcomers from the random other games covered!

1. Mario
2. Fursuit Mario
3. Dr. Mario
3e. Dr. Luigi
4. F.L.U.D.D. Mario
5. Builder Mario
6. Luigi
7. Vacuum Luigi
7e. Professor E. Gadd
8. Princess Peach
8e. Peachette
9. Princess Daisy
10. Rosalina and Luma
11. Pauline
12. Cappy
13. Toad
13e. Toadsworth
14. Captain Toad
14e. Toadette
15. Bowser
15e. Dry Bowser
16. Bowser Jr.
17. Shadow Mario
18. The Koopalings
18e. Koopa Kid
19. Foreman Spike
20. Wart
21. Tatanga
22. Mario Kart
23. Robo Mario
24. Wanda
25. Plum
25e. Kid
26. Alex & Nina
26e. Ace & Clay
27. Tumble
28. Brighton & Twila
29. MC Ballyhoo & Big Top
30. Mini Marios
31. Perry
32. Sprixie Princess
33. Rabbid Mario
34. Koopa Troopa
34e. Dry Bones
35. Goomba
36. Piranha Plant
37. Boo
38. Buzzy Beetle
39. Bob-Omb
39e. King Bob-Omb
40. Cheep Cheep
41. Blooper
42. Pokey
43. Lakitu and Spinies
44. Ninji
45. Monty Mole
46. Spike
47. Hammer Bro
48. Chargin' Chuck
49. Wiggler
50. Chain Chomp
51. Thwomp
51e. Whomp
52. Mechakoopa
53. Mini Donkey Kong
54. Ghost
55. Honeybee
56. Ziggy
57. Nabbit
58. Boom Boom
58e. Pom Pom
59. Birdo
60. Mouser
61. Petey Piranha
62. King Boo
63. The Broodals
64. Rabbid Kong
65. Super Team

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the Game & Watch stuff!

Character Sheet: Rabbid Kong

RABBID KONG

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

Today, we will be covering Rabbid Kong. Rabbid Kong is a fusion between a rabbid and an image of Donkey Kong. It acts as a one-off boss in the first level of Mario + Rabbids, but then gets an expanded role as the main villain of the Donkey Kong expansion. In his first battle, he mostly just punches and causes shockwaves by slamming his fists, throwing a tantrum because his bananas went missing, but then in the expansion, he gains a club with a glowing banana on the end that he swings around like a weapon, can throw like a boomerang, and spins above his head to fly for a short distance.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Giant Rabbid Punch

So this one is his giant punch and hearkens to Donkey Kong's standard move currently in Smash, since he is based on him.

Side B: Banana Boomerang

He will throw his banana club forward, and it will spin and come back to him like a boomerang.

Up B: Banana Chopper

He will spin the Banana Club over his head fast enough to lift himself into the air for a short distance.

Down B: Ground Slam

This will be his pounding the ground and causing a shockwave. This does hearken a little to Donkey's current Down B, but also based much more on his move from the game.

Final Smash: Phantom

Since we brought up Phantom as a possible Ziggy final smash, I wouldn't say no to putting Phantom here and letting Ziggy keep Lava Queen. If not, possibly that fusion vortex that created Rabbid Kong originally and that he later used to take himself and Rabbid Peach to Donkey Kong world.

Entrance: He will jump down from above, like he does in the game.

Taunts: Up, he will rear up and pound his chest. Side, he will pick a banana off a pile. Down, he will scrabble at the ground, searching for his missing bananas.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's update the roster!

Character Sheet: Ziggy

ZIGGY

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

Today, we are covering the Ziggies, or more accurately all of the corrupted rabbids created by the reality-warping in Mario + Rabbids. This includes the standard gun-toting Ziggies, the spring-jumping Hoppers, the block-carrying Smashers, the healing and grenade-throwing Supporters, shield-carrying Bucklers, teleporting Peek-a-Boos, multi-shotting and ground pounding Valkyries, and of course bosses like Phantom or Lava Queen, all consolidated down to one single fighter. I figure this is acceptable, since they are already mostly just variations on a single core concept.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Beam Blast

Just like the shot from Rabbid Mario, but this time with Ziggy weapons. Holding it down will likewise give you a Valkyrie or Supporter shot as well.

Side B: Smasher

Basically, the enemy rabbid will heft a Smasher block onto his back (different for the different color swaps based on the regional variants), and slam it down in front of him, doing hefty damage.

Up B: Hopper OR Peek-a-Boo

Honestly, both of these would work really well. It really just depends on whether you'd prefer them to have a teleportation recovery move or if you'd just prefer them to bounce on springs.

Down B: Buckler

The Ziggy will defend himself behind a Buckler shield, that can then be used as a weapon to counter an attack.

Final Smash: Lava Queen OR Phantom

Okay, so Lava Queen is the final that "makes sense," that is the most "logical" option to go with. Phantom is the superior alternative, at least, in my opinion. So, um, take your pick, conventional or . . . awesome. Either way, pretty standard Boss Final Smash. The boss would appear, do its shtick, and go. Phantom would probably come with an opera verse.

Entrance: They'd teleport in, Peek-a-Boo style.

Taunts: Up, they'd point up at a taller fighter and laugh at them. Side, they'd mess with a device and break it. Down, they'd poke their head out from behind a block.

Thanks for reading! Last but not least, let's cover Rabbid Kong!

Character Sheet: Rabbid Mario

RABBID MARIO

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

Today, let's cover Rabbid Mario, or rather, let's cover Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Yoshi all with a color swap each. As the four characters more or less played the same, just with some variance, they will just act as color swaps of each other. Beep-O will also act as a support character with the moveset.

As far as moves go, we have a few different types to work with. Obviously, we have the team jump which is an easy Up B. Then we have projectile moves using the guns that make up the core of the gameplay, melee attacks using hammers and such, grenades, area attacks, sentries that can be sent out to explode, healing blasts for allies, and shields to protect from attack. We also have Spawny, the timid rabbid with a penchant for fusing things.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Beam Blast

This will be the standard beam charge shot used throughout the game. You can charge and hold it, causing it to come out in different forms, including a single shot, multi-shot, and heal charge. These will be aesthetically different for each of the four, but not too different in practice.

Side B: Sentry

The character will send out a sentry that can be controlled remotely by the player. After it travels a certain amount of time, it will stop and explode.

Up B: Team Up

I'm tempted to say the Rabbid will just use Beep-O as the trampoline and launch off of him, but we could also have one of the unused Rabbid skins pop out and act as the trampoline. (Not sure what to do about 8-player smash if we did).

Down B: Shield

The character will surround themselves in a shield bubble that will protect them from projectile attacks.

Final Smash: Spawny

Spawny will appear onstage, look around fearfully for a second before being startled and firing off a bunch of merging blasts in every direction. If we wanted to really get ambitious, the beams could combine the current stage with a random other stage and merge the fighters together (giving both players control of the resulting chimera) for a few seconds, but I imagine that would be insane to program, and it would probably be easier to just have the blasts do a lot of damage.

Entrance: The washing machine will crash-land and the Rabbid will pop out.

Taunts: So many options. Up, do Rabbid Peach's trademark selfie. Side, charge the gun for a second too long, resulting in a small explosion before the Rabbid laughs it off. Down, the Rabbid will chase Spawny around for a second.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the enemies appearing in Mario + Rabbids!

Character Sheet: Foreman Spike

FOREMAN SPIKE

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

So, I guess Smash treats Wrecking Crew as its own series, with a separate logo and everything. I'm going to just go ahead and ignore that, because I don't agree. Either way, Foreman Spike is the villain of the Wrecking Crew games. He is the foreman of the construction site Mario and Luigi are trying to destroy, and he does everything he can to stop them, alongside his workers: the Gotchawrenches and Eggplant Men.

He will be the gimmick rep of the series, obviously. He will also be a bit along the lines of Olimar, with his two crewmen working for him (albeit a little more independently than the Pikmin. You'll see in a moment). Obviously then, his moveset will pull from the entire series and everything available. This includes his penchant to push characters off of higher platforms, use hammers to destroy things, bombs that explode, the golden hammer item, all the special blocks from '98, and my obvious pick for final smash: Kanbank.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Crew

Pressing this button will summon up Gotchawrench and Eggplant Man in that order. Once they are summoned, they will act independently, running around the stage and generally being a nuisance, but not really doing much direct attacking. Pressing the button when both are out will summon them both back to Spike's side, as a bit of a soft reset. When one of the two is KO'd, pressing the button will resummon them to the stage after a short time.

Side B: Push

I think the hammer will act more as his standard weapon, so his A moves and such will mostly control that, so for his side B, I want to make use of his standard move when he is acting as the villain in the game. Basically, he will just push the character. If they are on a pass-through platform, it will knock them off instantly. If they are on a base platform, they will fall on their butt. In the air, it will act as a spike.

Up B: Bomb

He will strike one of the bombs from the game, which will explode, sending him upwards into the air while setting off a string of explosions directly sideways, doing damage that way.

Down B: Oil Drum

He will drop an oil drum on top of a character's head, trapping them inside for a short time.

Final Smash: Kanbank

This is based on the ultimate attack from Wrecking Crew '98. Basically, the Kanbank block will appear in the sky over the stage and slam down, filling the entire stage and sending every character flying.

Entrance: He will break through a brick block.

Taunts: Up, he will wave his hammer in the air in victory. Side, he will build a block and admire his work. Down, he will pull out his blueprints and look them over in confusion.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the main Rabbid heroes from Mario + Rabbids!

Character Sheet: Builder Mario

BUILDER MARIO

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

We'll start with Builder Mario, or rather, the gimmick rep of Super Mario Maker. This will represent all things Mario make, and likely will play with a similar feel to Steve currently in the game. We have a lot to work with, like all of the level features you can place in creative mode, as well as all the unique items included, such as: Buzzy Beetle and Spiny shells that can be worn as helmets, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, the Master Sword that turns you into Link, the Superball Flower, the Super Hammer, and the SMB2 Mushroom. Other features include the reset rocket, the companion characters, and the car you can have enemies drive.

I think we have more than enough. Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Block Placement

This will function similarly to Steve's own move. I imagine he probably wouldn't need to craft though, since that's not a big part of the game the way it is with Minecraft. So, we'd probably have to balance a little. Also it will likely spawn a random type of ground.

Side B: Super Hammer

This will largely function as it does in game. It will do serious damage to enemies, will be able to destroy an enemy builder's blocks, though I'm not certain whether or not it would be able to destroy parts of the actual stage. That seems a bit much.

Up B: Lift Placement

Mario will place down an ivy block, music block, or spring at random (much like with standard B) right under his feet, allowing himself to bounce or climb and recover.

Down B: Mystery Mushroom

Mario will spawn a Mystery Mushroom, which will give him one of the items unique to the series, like the Superball Flower or the Big Mushroom. This won't change gameplay much, but will give them a slight boost or different ability attached to Down B while it lasts.

Final Smash: Reset Rocket

Mario will launch a Reset Rocket, which will fly into the sky and come back down, destroying the entire stage and leaving it an empty void and leave those on it falling to their demise. The stage will reappear after a few seconds.

Entrance: Mario will enter through a key door.

Taunts: Up, Mario will have that bird fly around him. Side, he will twirl his hammer for a second. Down, he will pet that dog character.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover Foreman Spike!

Smash Character Review: Miscellaneous Games

MISCELLANEOUS GAMES

Now, we have finally finished our long run of random major games that I couldn't fit perfectly into their own categories. These games covered the gamut of creative games, crossover games, and random oddball concepts the Mario team took and ran with. Across these games, most of our regular cast appeared in pretty standard roles. Nothing major, and most that we could pull from can be attributed to gimmick reps (more on that later).

Mario is, of course, the main character in most of these, and performs all major moves connected to said games. As such, we won't worry too much about him. When Luigi appears, he falls into the same boat as the default player two. Peach and Bowser also frequently appear typically in their standard roles. Whenever the games were multiplayer, we typically saw appearances from Toad and Toadette, Yoshi, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, Wario and Waluigi, Princess Daisy, Birdo, Bowser Jr., and even Petey Piranha and Toadsworth. Most of the standard cast of enemies also appear here and there, from Goombas, Koopas, Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Boos, Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, Bob-Ombs, Lakitus, Pokeys, Chain Chomps, Monty Moles, and even Ukikis. We even saw Tutankoopa from Paper Mario of all things.

Likewise, we saw a bunch of guest stars from other series. The most notable include a ton of characters from the Dragon Quest series in the Fortune Street games and the Rabbids from Mario + Rabbids. The Questers we'll cover when we actually cover the Dragon Quest series, while the major Rabbids of note we will talk about in a bit. Outside of that, we have a foursome of random oddball characters from Wrecking Crew '98. I'm just not going to worry about them.

Thanks for reading! Now, we have five new characters to add in!

Super Mario Bros. 35

SUPER MARIO BROS. 35

Super Mario Bros. 35 is a bafflingly discontinued game made to celebrate Mario's recent 35th anniversary. It's a pretty simple game: basically you play through a level of the original Super Mario Bros. game simultaneously with thirty-five other people. When you defeat an enemy, that enemy will be sent to one of your opponents, depending on which criteria you set (random, person in the lead, person in last, person who attacked you), while they can all do the same. Outside of that, it's basically just Super Mario Bros. again, so not much else to say.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, Master Sword, Superball Flowers, Super Bell, Super Hammer, SMB2 Mushroom, Frog Suit, Super Acorn, Boomerang Flower, Rotten Mushroom, Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, Bullet Bill Mask, reset rocket, companion characters

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Beep-O/Rabbid Mario/Luigi/Peach/Yoshi: team jump, projectile, melee, grenaduck, area attack, sentry, heal, shield

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Rabbid Kong: shockwave, punch, spin Banana club, throw banana boomerang, helicopter spin

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Ziggy/Rabbid Enemies: gun, springs, machine gun, block, shield, teleport, heal, bombs, ground pound

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Mario Maker 2

Puzzles & Dragons

Super Mario Run

Ancient Gardens

Sherbet Desert

Spooky Trails

Lava Pit

Tropical Island

Super Mario Bros. 35

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Master Sword

Superball Flowers

Super Bell

Super Hammer

SMB2 Mushroom

Frog Suit

Super Acorn

Boomerang Flower

Rotten Mushroom

Cannon Box

Propeller Box

Goomba Mask

Bullet Bill Mask

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's go over our characters once again!

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

MARIO + RABBIDS: KINGDOM BATTLE

Today, let's cover one of the surprise hits of the Switch's library, an unlikely crossover between the Mario series and Ubisoft's Rabbids that surprisingly worked really well. I find myself in a bit of a tricky spot with this one, as, unlike other crossovers where the playstyle either didn't matter to any character involved, or was basically just that other series's playstyle, this game has its own playstyle and mechanics completely unique to both parties, one that I'd very much like to see represented. Let's see what we can do.

We have eight playable characters here: Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi, alongside Rabbids that got merged with a Mario fan's posters of the characters to become Rabbid Mario, Rabbid Luigi, Rabbid Peach, and Rabbid Yoshi (basically they're just dressed up in costumes of the characters). We also have Beep-O, a small Roomba-like device that acts as the controller during non-action parts of the game. During action segments, these characters work as a team, with more or less the same moveset (just kinda personalized to each). Mario has a projectile gun and a hammer, Peach has a projectile and grenade, Luigi has a projectile (the Poltergust) and a sentry he can send out, Yoshi has a projectile and an area attack, Rabbid Mario has a projectile and hammer like Mario, Rabbid Peach has a projectile and shield and also acts as the healer, Rabbid Luigi has a projectile that causes random side effects and an area attack, and Rabbid Yoshi also has a projectile and a grenade. All of these characters can also perform the team jump to bounce off of each other and get to higher places, and can use warp points to move around as well.

Outside of that, Toad and Toadette play supporting roles, and Spawny, a rabbid combined with the device that did all the combining in the first place, plays the role of damsel in distress. A talking sunflower spits up treasure chests, and random rabbids play around in the background. Finally, we have an unnamed inventor appearing at the beginning of the story, whose room gets wrecked and her life's work shot off to another dimension (and we never see it fixed, by the way).

On the enemy side, we mostly see a number of enemies made up of corrupted rabbids. There are different types, but mainly sorted in specific groups that then just have variation across the different levels. These include: Ziggies, the basic gunner enemies; Hoppers with springs on their legs; Smashers that carry around big blocks to smash you with; Supporters that heal and throw bombs; Bucklers that carry shields; Peek-a-Boos that can teleport; and Valkyries that can fire multiple rounds and ground pound.

Each level also has a boss and a midboss. The midbosses include a Piranha Plant-rabbid hybrid, a pair of sand and ice-themed rabbids, a Day of the Dead-themed rabbid named Calavera, a Wario and Waluigi rabbid, and Bowser Jr. piloting a hammer-swinging mech. The full bosses included Rabbid Kong, a temperamental monkey that doesn't do much in this boss fight, but who we'll come back to; an Icicle Golem that freezes you and wields a shield; a glorious opera-singing Phantom that throws energy balls and becomes invincible for a short time; a Lava Queen that mostly attacks with lava; and then a fusion between a lava dragon and Bowser that flies, breathes fire, butt bashes, spits meteors, and uses a shield.

We only have four main stages here, those being: Ancient Gardens, a standard Mario level that steadily changes into a towering precipice of junk; Sherbet Desert, a fusion between a desert and a snow level; Spooky Trails, a haunted level; and Lava Pit, your standard Bowser level.

Now, we have one more thing to talk about. The game received an expanded story DLC, entirely revolving around Rabbid Kong causing trouble out of jealousy and transporting himself, Rabbid Peach, and Beep-O to Donkey Kong's world, where Rabbid Peach then teams up with Donkey Kong and a Rabbid form of Cranky. Donkey and Rabbid Cranky take up the other party members' roles, and we get a new level called Tropical Island. Rabbid Kong gets an expanded boss role, making shockwaves, punching, using a banana axe by spinning it, throwing the banana as a boomerang, and spinning it like a helicopter.

I think that's about it! Here's what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, Master Sword, Superball Flowers, Super Bell, Super Hammer, SMB2 Mushroom, Frog Suit, Super Acorn, Boomerang Flower, Rotten Mushroom, Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, Bullet Bill Mask, reset rocket, companion characters

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Beep-O/Rabbid Mario/Luigi/Peach/Yoshi: team jump, projectile, melee, grenaduck, area attack, sentry, heal, shield

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Rabbid Kong: shockwave, punch, spin Banana club, throw banana boomerang, helicopter spin

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Ziggy/Rabbid Enemies: gun, springs, machine gun, block, shield, teleport, heal, bombs, ground pound

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Mario Maker 2

Puzzles & Dragons

Super Mario Run

Ancient Gardens

Sherbet Desert

Spooky Trails

Lava Pit

Tropical Island

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Master Sword

Superball Flowers

Super Bell

Super Hammer

SMB2 Mushroom

Frog Suit

Super Acorn

Boomerang Flower

Rotten Mushroom

Cannon Box

Propeller Box

Goomba Mask

Bullet Bill Mask

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's finish this hodge-podge with Super Mario Bros. 35!

Super Mario Run

SUPER MARIO RUN

Today, let's cover Super Mario Run, a mobile game that sees Mario automatically running left to right across a number of levels crossing the gamut of standard Mario biomes. The gameplay is pretty simple, with you just tapping so that he jumps to avoid obstacles. Mario is the main playable character, but Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Toadette, and Yoshi can also be unlocked. There's not really any variation between them, just letting you play as your favorite among them (Toad or Toadette for me, per se). Basically every enemy you know and love crops up, including Goombas, Koopas, Piranha Plants, Boos and Stretches, Bullet Bills, Swoops, Lakitus and Spinies, Ninjis, Buzzy Beetles, Fuzzies, Pokeys, Spikes, Rocky Wrenches, Bob-Ombs, Goombrats, Scaredy Rats, Scuttlebugs, and Ptooies, with Boom Boom and Bowser as bosses.

That's really all there is to say. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, Master Sword, Superball Flowers, Super Bell, Super Hammer, SMB2 Mushroom, Frog Suit, Super Acorn, Boomerang Flower, Rotten Mushroom, Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, Bullet Bill Mask, reset rocket, companion characters

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Mario Maker 2

Puzzles & Dragons

Super Mario Run

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Master Sword

Superball Flowers

Super Bell

Super Hammer

SMB2 Mushroom

Frog Suit

Super Acorn

Boomerang Flower

Rotten Mushroom

Cannon Box

Propeller Box

Goomba Mask

Bullet Bill Mask

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle!

Puzzles & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

PUZZLES & DRAGONS: SUPER MARIO BROS. EDITION

Puzzles & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition falls into a similar vein as Yakuman DS and the Itadaki Street games, being a game from an entirely separate series that has its own history and unique gameplay, that happens to feature Mario characters this time around. Basically the gameplay is a bit of a mix of Bejeweled-style gameplay on one screen with a collected fantasy army doing battle on the second screen. Line up three of a kind on the "Bejeweled" side, and it with boost some of your army to give them an advantage over the other team. We'll get more into it the day we cover the actual series in more detail.

For now, let's just cover what we can. Rather than the standard roster of characters and creatures the Puzzles & Dragons series normally comes with, most of those are traded out with Mario characters. These include seventeen different forms of Mario (all based on power-ups), seventeen forms of Luigi (same), Toad, Yoshi, Bowser, Peach, and Rosalina (all with various color swaps). As for the enemies, we have several forms of Goomba, several forms of Koopa Troopa and Paratroopa, Dry Bones, Hammer, Boomerang, Fire, Ice, and Sledge Bros, several forms of Buzzy Beetle, Spinies, Lakitus, Bullet Bills, Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, Piranha Plants, Petey Piranha, Bob-Ombs, Chain Chomps, Flame Chomps, several Coin Coffers, Boos, King Boo, Thwomps, Whomps, Wigglers, Magikoopas, and Boom Boom, with a few combinations and mixes and matches in between. The seven Koopalings and Bowser Jr. also act as bosses in the game. Most of these don't have a lot of gameplay, and what they do have is heavily influenced by Puzzles & Dragons gameplay, so we can't really draw too much from that.

As for stages, the game plays out across eight generic Mario biomes: a grassland world, a ghost world, a desert world, a seaside world, a jungle world, a sky world, a lava world, and an underground world. Several items also appear, mostly to help out your army, including Mushrooms, Poison Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Ice Flowers, Super Leaves, Boo Mushrooms, P-Wings, Super Stars, Spiky Shells, Gold Mushrooms, Coins, 1-Up Mushrooms, and lots of character coins, most of which give various boosts and power up different characters.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, Master Sword, Superball Flowers, Super Bell, Super Hammer, SMB2 Mushroom, Frog Suit, Super Acorn, Boomerang Flower, Rotten Mushroom, Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, Bullet Bill Mask, reset rocket, companion characters

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Mario Maker 2

Puzzles & Dragons

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Master Sword

Superball Flowers

Super Bell

Super Hammer

SMB2 Mushroom

Frog Suit

Super Acorn

Boomerang Flower

Rotten Mushroom

Cannon Box

Propeller Box

Goomba Mask

Bullet Bill Mask

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover Super Mario Run!

Super Mario Maker 2

SUPER MARIO MAKER 2

Today, let's cover Super Mario Maker 2. This game heavily expands on the first game, introducing new features and items you can use to build your levels, as well as a new single player mode to try out. I should mention something I forgot to bring up last time, being the existence of a few support characters, that mostly serve a single function: first you have Undo Dog, who undoes things for you, Mr. Eraser, who erases things for you, Yamamura, a pigeon who gives you tips, Soundfrog, who controls your sound, Partrick, who gives you parts in exchange for coins, and Coursebot, a robot who manages your stages.

As for our new elements, Luigi, Toad, and Toadette all join as new playable characters for up to four players. Super Mario 3D World is added in as a style and Desert, Snow, Forest, and Sky levels are added in as themes. You can also add in slopes now (something everyone was excited about), as well as clear pipes for those 3D world levels. New items include the Master Sword that turns you into Link from the 8-bit games, Superball Flowers that basically turn you into Mario from Super Mario Land, the Super Bell for Cat Form, a Super Hammer that lets you destroy blocks and place down blocks of your own, an SMB2 Mushroom that turns you into a Super Mario Bros. 2 form, the Frog Suit, the Super Acorn, the Boomerang Flower, the Rotten Mushroom, the Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, and the Bullet Bill Mask.

New enemies include: the Goombrat, the Ant Trooper, the Skipsqueak, the Stingby, Piranha Creepers, Fire Bros, Spikes, Hop Chops, Peepas, Pokeys, Boom Boom, Pom Pom, the Angry Sun, the Moon, Charvaarghs, Bullies, Porcupuffers, cars for the Koopas to drive in (and that can be stolen by the player), and all seven Koopalings.

That's pretty much all the basics! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms, Master Sword, Superball Flowers, Super Bell, Super Hammer, SMB2 Mushroom, Frog Suit, Super Acorn, Boomerang Flower, Rotten Mushroom, Cannon Box, Propeller Box, Goomba Mask, Bullet Bill Mask, reset rocket, companion characters

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Mario Maker 2

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Master Sword

Superball Flowers

Super Bell

Super Hammer

SMB2 Mushroom

Frog Suit

Super Acorn

Boomerang Flower

Rotten Mushroom

Cannon Box

Propeller Box

Goomba Mask

Bullet Bill Mask

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition!

Super Mario Maker

SUPER MARIO MAKER

Today, let's cover Super Mario Maker, the game that put the power in the player's hands to design their own Mario levels and took the internet by storm for at least a few months after its release. By the very nature of the game, this one's going to be a little unorthodox, as any moves for a Builder Mario or something along those lines would have to come from the construction interface of the game rather than the levels themselves for the most part.

So, we'll start with the title screen, which follows after Mario Paint with the whole "each letter causes some kind of effect": SUPER shouts the name of the game, M drops a Wario Mystery Mushroom, A causes stars to fall, R will shoot coins, I will summon the sound parakeet (we'll get into that), O summons a clown car, M will drop and Buzzy or Spiny Helmet, A will shoot off like a Reset Rocket, K will change the screen to a sepia tone, E will drop a trampoline, and R will drop a Goomba's Shoe or a Yoshi Egg.

Now for the Stage Builder itself. You can start with several themes and game styles. The game styles you can pick from is Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, while the themes are Ground (basic), Underground, Underwater, Ghost House, Airship, and Castle. Then you have a selection of elements you can place. These include: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, and warp doors.

Unlike the sequel, Mario is the only playable character, and all gameplay is standard sidescrolling Mario stuff. The items available include old classics like 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, and Super Stars, alongside new items like a Clown Car you can fly yourself, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells that can be worn as helmets, Big Mushrooms that . . . make everything around you Mario themed for some reason, and Mystery Mushrooms that can transform Mario's appearance based on an amiibo being tapped. (Link amiibo would turn him into Link, basically).

The enemies you can place on screen include Goombas, Galoombas, Koopa Troopas, Dry Bones, Piranha Plants, Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, Boos, Bob-Ombs, Buzzy Beetles, Lakitus, Spinies, Spike Tops, Monty Moles, Rocky Wrenches, Hammer Bros, Sledge Bros, Wigglers, Blurps, Deep Cheeps, Stretches, Jelectros, Sea Urchins, Fish Bones, Munchers, Bullet Bills, Chain Chomps, Thwomps, Magikoopas, Bowser, and Bowser Jr., all acting much as you'd expect them too. One fun detail about all these features is that you had a pretty good amount of freedom to mix and match them as you please. Do you want to put a Chain Chomp inside a Clown Kar? Sure. Do you want to stack a Bullet Bill Blaster on a Wiggler's head? Why not? The internet certainly had a lot of fun there.

I think I've covered most of the meat of the game anyway. You could share courses built online with other players, and you could likewise play theirs. The game also came with an assortment of demo levels you could play through if you were so inclined.

I think that's about it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Builder Mario: item blocks, arrow signs, brick blocks, rotating blocks, bridges, burners, cannons, cloud blocks, coins, conveyor belts, donut blocks, fire bars, grinders, hidden blocks, ice blocks, lifts, mushroom platforms, note blocks, one-way walls, P switches, pipes, POW blocks, spike traps, tracks, trampolines, vines, warp doors, 1-Up Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Leaves, Cape Feathers, Propeller Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Weird Mushrooms, Super Stars, Clown Car, Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells, Big Mushrooms, Mystery Mushrooms.

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Mario Maker (I like the way Smash did it)

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

1-Up Mushrooms

Fire Flowers

Super Leaves

Cape Feathers

Propeller Mushrooms

Super Mushrooms

Weird Mushrooms

Super Stars

Clown Car

Buzzy Beetle and Spiny Shells

Big Mushrooms

Mystery Mushrooms

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the game's sequel!

Fortune Street

FORTUNE STREET

Fortune Street is a console sequel to Itadaki Street DS, and once again a crossover between Mario and Dragon Quest. The gameplay is mostly the same, and largely part of a different series entirely, one we will cover at a later date. All eleven characters on both sides return, plus two more for each: Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr. on the Mario side, and Patty and Stella on the Dragon Quest side (Again, don't really know who they are, but my assumption is party members). Many of the stages return with a couple of newbies: Starship Mario and Good Egg Galaxy from the Super Mario Galaxy games (I'm guessing it was a recent release at the time), and the Observatory and Alltrades Abbey from Dragon Quest.

That's about it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding/Princessa

Yangus

Dragonlord

Stella

Patty

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Starship Mario

Good Egg Galaxy

Observatory

Alltrades Abbey

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Super Mario Maker!

Itadaki Street DS

ITADAKI STREET DS

Itadaki Street DS is a crossover game between Nintendo's Mario series and Square Enix's Dragon Quest series. The game itself is a part of the Itadaki Street series of games which is sort of a mishmash between Monopoly and Mario Party. Basically, you have a board loaded up with shop squares that you can buy, and then charge others rent for if they land on them, mixed in with a bunch of other squares that mix the game up a bit. For instance, some boost the money you can make from a square, some let you draw a chance card, some make a square inactive for a turn so that the owner can't charge rent, some that let you move to a new location, and casino spaces that let you play a quick minigame to earn some cash. If you've played Monopoly, it's basically that, but EXTREME!

Much like the Mario and Sonic series, the game features an equal roster of representatives from both series, eleven respectively. The Mario side includes: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser. On the Dragon Quest side, we have Slimes and Platypunks, Bianca, Angelo, Jessica, Alena, Kiryl, Carver, Pudding, and Yangus, and the Dragonlord. I'm not particularly familiar with the Dragon Quest, so I'm only vaguely recognize some of those names and designs (like Slimes, Bianca, Angelo, and Jessica), but I'm fairly certain that Slimes and Platypunks are both common enemy types, the Dragonlord is either a villain or the series villain, and the rest are all party members from various games. Either way, this game is not really about any character's specific playstyle, so there's not really a whole lot to cover in that regard.

We have a few stages, mostly images and scenes from the two series with the monopoly board hovering in the air above. On the Mario side, we have Yoshi's Island, Bowser's Castle, Mario Stadium (baseball), Mario Circuit, Peach's Castle, Delfino Plaza, and Mushroom Kingdom (the original Super Mario Bros. game). On the Dragon Quest side, we have Castle Trodain, Mt. Magmageddon, Colossus, Ghost Ship, Slimenia, Alefgard, and Robbin' Hood Ruins. Once again, I'm not particularly familiar with any of these locations, but, hey, when I get to Square Enix and Dragon Quest specifically, I can say "Hey, I know that place!"

That's pretty much it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Slime

Platypunk

Bianca

Angelo

Jessica

Alena

Kiryl

Carver

Pudding

Yangus

Dragonlord

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Yoshi's Island

Bowser's Castle

Mario Stadium

Mario Circuit

Peach's Castle

Delfino Plaza

Mushroom Kingdom

Castle Trodain

Mt. Magmageddon

Colossus

Ghost Ship

Slimenia

Alefgard

Robbin' Hood Ruins

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover the game's sequel Fortune Street!

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix

DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION: MARIO MIX

Today, let's cover the crossover between the Mario series and Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series. To my mild disappointment, it did not feature a full roster of playable characters to choose from. Rather, you can play as only Mario and Luigi, and the game features a small story mode to work through, featuring Waluigi attempting to steal four special music keys and accidentally scattering them across the Mushroom Kingdom.

As mentioned before, Mario and Luigi are the only playable characters, but the moves have more to do with standard DDR gameplay than anything to do with them. Now, when the day comes we cover Konami and the DDR series respectively, you can be sure a DDR Dancer is getting on the roster, but for the moment, it doesn't really do much for us. Toad, Toadette, and Lakitu all appear likewise as hosts and supporting characters, and Waluigi, Wario, and Bowser act as final bosses, facing you in a dance off. Outside of that, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Boos, Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, Ukikis, Hammer Bros, Chain Chomps, Bullet Bills, and Penguins all appear as enemies, and Gooper Blooper and a Giant Freezie act as additional bosses.

Our stages include: Truffle Tower, the music temple Waluigi breaks into in the beginning; SS Brass, an ocean liner; Corkscrew Hotel, a haunted house stage; Wario Carnival, a carnival stage; Snowy Peak, an ice stage; and Bowser's Castle.

That's about all I have for today! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank, throw Koopa shells, chisel, pinball, dance

Luigi: same, dance

Princess Peach

Bowser, dance

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Wario: chisel, dance

Toad

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Daisy

Waluigi: dance, steal music keys

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Toadette

Toadsworth

Bowser Jr.

Petey Piranha

Koopa Troopa

Goomba

Shy Guy

Boo

Cheep Cheep

Bob-Omb

Lakitu

Pokey

Chain Chomp

Monty Mole

Ukiki

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Tutankoopa: float, spell

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Mario Paint

Clash House Tower

Fun Fair

Frosty Frontier

Grassy Greens

Shifting Sands

Fiery Stage

Truffle Towers

SS Brass

Corkscrew Hotel

Wario Carnival

Snowy Peak

Bowser's Castle

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Shells

Mahjong Tiles

Pinball Machine

Music Keys

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Itadaki Street DS!