Mario The Super Mario Random Thoughts Thread 🍄

[xSuperMario64x]

I'm sure everyone knows by now that the Super Mario series is basically my favorite thing of all time, and I find myself talking about it a lot on here. So I figure, why not make a dedicated thread for random thoughts on the series in general? I certainly have a lot to say about it haha!
I'm sure I'll be posting here the most, but everyone is free to post their own thoughts too!



I already have quite a few thoughts that I'd like to share, feel free to skip as it's pretty long (I really love to ramble lol):

1. Earlier today (actually yesterday probably) I took note of the fact that the Ghost Guys from Luigi’s Mansion look almost exactly like Beezos, and from this I observed two things. First of all, the pre-release content suggests that Ghost Guys were supposed to look quite a bit different, as it shows them without their mask and with little yellow eyes peering through a hole on the front of the cloak. I wonder if maybe Nintendo was hinting at what a shy guy might look like without a mask on haha.
The other thing I realized, is that beezos do, in fact, appear in Super Mario RPG! You know what that means? We’re gonna get to see it in the remake coming later this year! The SMB2 universe is coming together once again; we’ve got shy guys, snifits, ninjis, and now beezos. All we need are the other fools, like tweeters, cobrats, hoopsters, albatoss, and whoever else I’m missing.

2. The other day I was playing Super Mario Odyssey. I actually ended up playing for about 3 hours, and I can’t remember the last time I spent that long of a play session playing that game. I spent the first hour just running around Peach’s Castle (what the game refers to as the “Mushroom Kingdom”), mostly playing as a goomba and having that funny little fedora dog follow me around. Speaking of goombas, I saw the really cute one (Goombette) sitting behind the castle and I suddenly felt like I really wanted to draw her. I may have to do a little doodle of her sometime soon hehe.
Anyways, that’s not why I got on the game in the first place. I got on there to go to Bowser’s Kingdom and observe the nature and behavior of the stairface ogres. I’ve been thinking, I’m fairly positive that he technically isn’t a stone creature, but he sure as hell acts like one, so I think just this one time I can make an exception. I was actually inspired to do a bit of research about the oni, which is a demon of Japanese folklore and serves as the inspiration for the appearance of both the stairface ogre and the stone tox box. What really got me was the part about them wielding metal clubs and going around smashing people with said clubs for fun, like that’s some big rock boy vibes for sure. I also learned that if someone’s soul has turned wicked beyond redemption then they may actually turn into an oni while they’re still alive (they usually turn into one after they die if they’ve been cruel/evil), so that’s pretty wild. I know that the stairface ogre looks more like a nurikabe, but his mannerisms definitely harness the spirit of the oni. Round these parts we love a good wall dude with crazy fangs who likes to smash things haha.
One thing I noticed about this guy is, despite having the ground where the mallet will crash down turn red (much like the whomps in SMG2), if he ends up hitting Mario with his mallet, he only takes 1 HP of damage. See, in Galaxy 2, if you get crushed by a whomp or thwomp or tox box, they immediately take all of your HP and you lose a life. I think the stairface ogre needs to step up his game if he wants to be on tier with the true rock boys. I also noticed that there’s another way in which he manifests rock boy energy: the grunts. He makes a lot of funny noises when he spots Mario and then proceeds to try to smash him with his mallet. Honestly, now that I think about it, in Galaxy 2 the thwomps and tox boxes don’t say anything at all, they just do their smash sounds and that’s it. But then you have the whomps who, quite literally, cannot keep their mouth shut (I’m sorry that was awful lol). But yeah, the stairface ogre shuffles around and goes URGNRUGN and it’s pretty funny.
The last thing I wanted to mention is how diligent they are in their singular duty to smash anything that steps onto their small territory. They will literally stand there, mallet in the air, and wait for someone to even touch with their pinky toe the territory that they guard. They don’t pace around like whomps do, they obviously don’t roll around like tox boxes. I suppose they’re more like thwomps, but somehow even more menacing, with the way they stare into your soul and make an impish face at you, just waiting for the perfect moment to pulverize you. They simply wait, motionless, and as soon as you step onto their grounds they immediately come after and target you, hoping to give into their rock boy nature and crush you under the tremendous weight of their wooden mallet. That’s what I mean when I say that they really act like a stone creature, they may not actually be one but their spirit is admirable and I still very much like them.

3. I feel like Rex deserves a lot more attention than he gets. I learned yesterday that they actually appear in some of the Mario & Luigi games, as well as Super Princess Peach, so I guess that’s nice. But they give off big yoshi vibes and I just wish they could show up in more modern games. I’m thinking about drawing one, maybe hanging out with Yoshi hehe.

4. I don’t know if this really means anything, but I’ve noticed lately that when I’m going down these rabbit holes looking at Super Mario stuff, Kamek happens to show up a lot. As a kid I always talked about how much I hate magikoopas, and honestly I still kinda do because they’re really annoying to deal with in the games they appear in. But I’ve noticed lately that they’re starting to grow on me. I think I really appreciate their mischievous nature, it’s endearing in a way. Plus the idea that they can float and teleport and shoot geometric shapes at you with their scepter is just great. It probably helps that this new character I came up with recently, Artemis, is a magikoopa and she’s slowly but surely becoming yet another comfort character of mine.
Anyways, I mentioned Kamek specifically. Of course he just recently was added to the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC, he was actually in MKTour but that appearance marks 25 years since he was originally supposed to make his debut in MK64. I bring this up because I was researching a bit about this earlier, and then literally about 5 minutes later I got recommended a short on Youtube that talks about the exact same thing. Also should mention that when I look up stuff he happens to pop up, like reading about Horror Land or MP9 or Mario & Luigi Paper Jam or Dr. Mario World, or whatever. He just shows up a lot. Perhaps he is stalking me lol. I can picture him in NSMBWii, where you go to fight a koopaling and he shows up and goes “nyeh heh heh!” in that cute little voice.

5. Speaking of Dr. Mario World, I discovered something truly shocking. I was looking through the list of assistants, since I had learned in the past few days that both the scuttlebug and broozer were assistants in that game, and I found that one of the assistants is Mr Whomp King himself. Yeah, not like some normal rock dude, this guy is the head honcho and he’s apparently also a medical assistant. I’m just imagining, like, Dr. Waluigi walking in and being like “oh I hope it’s okay if I bring in an assistant today!” and then this 85 ft tall wall dude comes crashing into the exam room. What does he do anyways? Maybe he does chiropractic work. Who needs a spine realignment when the king of stone-encrusted behemoths can smash you with his face and put all of your bones out of alignment?
Discovering this was a very pleasant surprise for me, since as far as I had known, the Whomp King only appeared in WF/Throwback Galaxy and Creepy Cavern (and even the latter I didn’t know about until sometime late last year). What in the world was he doing in Dr. Mario World anyways? Some absolute genius on the dev team for that game decided to put him in there, just for the hell of it. That guy deserves a Nobel Peace prize. Anyways, I was also kinda sad to hear about it because Dr. Mario World was a mobile game, and it started in July 2019 but was discontinued in Nov 2021. Not that I was ever really interested in the game–if I wanted to play Dr. Mario I would simply play the original on the NES–but the fact alone that this guy was in the game would’ve been enough for me to check it out, just out of curiosity and pure astonishment.
I still think the idea of him being a doctor’s assistant is hilarious and completely ridiculous, but I appreciate the gesture too, because I feel like he deserves a lot more attention than he’s been given. As weird and wacky as the Whomp King is (well, in all fairness, his whole kind is probably the most wild thing to ever come out of the Super Mario games), I’ve always thought that he’s an interesting character with a lot of potential for character development. I know Nintendo would never do something like that, because they really just see him as another one-dimensional boss character that no one really pays any heed to, but I’ll still hold out some hope for him.
[Also finding it hilarious that I’m putting so much effort into writing about the rock (and rock-adjacent) boys lol]

6. Off and on I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for Mario Party 9, and I won’t even lie, it’s pretty bland and uninteresting. I listened to a few of the board themes from that game, and then for comparison I went and listened to the ones from MP3 that I hadn’t heard before (Spiny Desert, Chilly Waters, and Blooper Sea). Surprise surprise, the boards from MP3 have more variation in their melodies and actually interesting chord progressions. One specific music track from MP9 that irks me is the one from whatever board King Boo resides on (my boy deserves better honestly). It’s so very monotonous to listen to. That’s why I compared it to Horror Land, a board which actually has a really interesting musical track. It’s thematic and it really gives a sense of uneasiness and spookiness that characterizes the board. I feel like the one from MP9 is somehow trying too hard to be spooky, and also not trying hard enough.
I could say something similar about the music from Magma Mine. It seems like it’s trying to go for that lava vibe while also keeping a more playful/humorous nature (unlike Bowser’s Magma Mountain from MP1), and yet the melody line is just so repetitive that it becomes uninteresting very quickly.

Spoiler: music tracks for comparison

here's the music from Boo's Horror Castle. I suppose it fits the atmosphere of the level well, but musically it's very uninteresting and monotonous.

and by contrast, the music from Horror Hand is quite busy and really gives into the spooky and whimsical setting of the board.

my passion and love for this series is unparalleled

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I have some more random thoughts to share!

1. One of my favorite minigames in all of Mario Party is Sneak n' Snore, which originally appeared in MP2 on the N64, but the first time I played it was in Superstars on the Switch. The point of the minigame is that four players are semi-hiding in barrels, inside of a large dog house, and they have to creep towards a red button to open a door so they can make a sneaky escape. But the catch is that there is a sleeping chain chomp not far past the buttons, and he will occasionally wake up. The players have to hurry up and hide inside their barrels if the chomp wakes up, or else he will snatch them up and throw them into a nearby pipe. It's basically a game of red-light-green-light, and whoever pushes the button first and escapes through the door wins.

This minigame is my favorite for multiple reasons. First of all, it has a chain chomp which automatically makes it have some particular interest. Other minigames I can think of are Night-Light Fright from MP5/Superstars and At The Chomp Wash from MP8, which are great but not quite as good as Sneak n' Snore. Second of all, the idea that a chain chomp will grab you and throw you into a random pipe that goes god knows where, just because you moved a millimeter when he woke up for 0.2 seconds, is kinda hilarious to me. Like that boy really does not want you to move, lest you get yeeted to the depths of the mushroom kingdom sewer lines. Third of all, seeing a chain chomp sleep is really cute and funny, especially bc he has that weird bubble thing that you see in a lot of Japanese media hehe.

2. Since I just finished my drawing of my fan character (the Chomp King) yesterday, I wanted to point out another detail that most people probably don't even notice. It's pretty obvious that their teeth fit together a certain way. To be exact, they have five pointed teeth on the bottom and four on the top. This is actually a detail that I became aware of a long time ago, when I was a young teen and started getting into drawing Super Mario fan art, because I've always been particular about details.
As such, it kinda bothers me when certain art or in-game models of these guys depicts them with teeth that look like they wouldn't fit together properly. There are a few instances of this (I'm thinking some of the artwork from the Mario & Luigi series or some Gamecube games), but the most notorious offender of this janky-teeth thing has to be the chain chomp from Super Mario 64. And it really is a travesty because it's one of my favorite enemies and my favorite game of all time, but HE'S SO UGLY AND SCARY I CANT EVEN

Spoiler: just look at this fool

those teeth, combined with the fact that he can close his mouth ENTIRELY WITH THE TEETH MERGING INTO HIS HEAD, are an abomination of mankind. they did my boy dirty fr

3. I need to talk about Fwoosh for a second. This is an enemy that debuted in Super Mario 64, where it can be found on Tall Tall Mountain near the entrance to the secret slide. he just kinda floats around and waits for passers-by, and when he sees one he blows out a big gust of air, attempting to knock them off the side of the mountain. he's a cheeky little guy, that's for sure.
he appears in SM64 as well as a few other N64 games, notably the Mario Party games. I really love this appearance of Fwoosh because he has what I like to call a "kitten face", so even though he can be annoying to deal with I can excuse it because he's so adorable here's an example of a N64 Fwoosh, this is at the end of the minigame Parasol Plummet from MP3. he's actually massive here for some reason haha, he's usually much smaller.

I bring this up because, naturally, Fwoosh also appeared in the remake for Super Mario 64 on the DS. And between these two games he looks totally different. He unfortunately doesn't look nearly as adorable, with his design looking more like a standard angry cloud dude. It's hard to see in a screenshot from SM64DS (the quality is so bad, RIP super mario 64 getting a good remake btw), but there's a moment in Mario Golf World Tour where you can see what he looks like now:

also have to mention those fly guys gettin blown around is really funny hehe
The fact of the matter is that if Nintendo ever (by the grace of god) decided to make a remake of Super Mario 64 on the Switch or the next gen console, then Fwoosh would very very likely look like he does in the newer depiction. I definitely miss that cute little kitten face at least the kitten face Fwoosh will live on in my drawings though!

4. Lastly need to mention, I've already kinda brought this up in another post but I really love the little green wiggler bab from Super Mario Bros Wonder! It doesn't have a name yet but I really hope Nintendo can drop some more game info soon and tell us more about it because aaaaaaa it's just so cuteeee skdjfskdf

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I’ve always wondered what Peach thinks about Pauline? They must have met off screen in Mario Odyssey at some point since Peach does go off to explore each world in the game on her own terms. And how exactly did Bowser meet or hear about the Broodals? I mean we’ve seen plenty of rabbits and bunnies in the 3D games but nothing like the wedding planners.

 

[Corrie]

I’ve always wondered what Peach thinks about Pauline? They must have met off screen in Mario Odyssey at some point since Peach does go off to explore each world in the game on her own terms. And how exactly did Bowser meet or hear about the Broodals? I mean we’ve seen plenty of rabbits and bunnies in the 3D games but nothing like the wedding planners.

I always wondered if Peach was jealous of Pauline coming in to steal her man lol

 

[Mr.Fox]

It always bothered me that Super Mario Bros 2 had Birdo listed as Ostro and vice versa.

I also wonder why Nintendo changed the Koopalings from being Bowser's children to just his minions. Then you randomly had the Koopa Kids that only appeared in Mario Party titles.

 

[Belle T]

It always bothered me that Super Mario Bros 2 had Birdo listed as Ostro and vice versa.

I also wonder why Nintendo changed the Koopalings from being Bowser's children to just his minions. Then you randomly had the Koopa Kids that only appeared in Mario Party titles.

At first I wondered if it was a similar rationale to why Huey, Louie, and Dewey are Donald Duck's nephews and not his children. Because being a direct offspring opens up the question of where their mother is, and how relationships work in the fictional world. And it also allows the characters to not be tied down to each other, i.e. if they want to tell a Donald story without the nephews, they can just say they're at home with their real parents, and that Donald hasn't just abandoned them. It's a silly reason, but it's one I remember reading about a long time ago.

But since the Koopa Kids (or at least one of them) is explicitly described as Bowser's son, that kind of throws that idea out the window.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

The Birdo and Ostro mix up happened due to a translation error while the game was being localized. You have to remember that in Japan, SMB 2 was actually Lost Levels and over there our version of SMB 2 was a totally different game with different playable characters. They had to edit the player characters to be Mario and friends and the localization was being rushed to satisfy US players until SMB 3 came out the following year. The Lost Levels were considered to be too hard for players outside of Japan and in a way they were right. It seems one translator saw the list of localized character names and artwork of the characters and those Characters were not labeled as to who each of them were. Seeing the names Birdo and Ostro and then seeing a pink dinosaur like creature and a giant bird and not knowing their names it makes sense that they guessed who was who with Ostro being called Birdo because it is just a Giant bird.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

comin in clutch with more rock boy musings (and 7 miles of text) so buckle up yall

1. I desperately need to talk about something, I don't know how I haven't already brought this up, but it's so incredible that I need to share it with you all.
So I mentioned in my initial post in this thread that the Whomp King is, like, one of my favorite Super Mario characters of all time (well, I didn't say it explicitly, but it's probably pretty obvious lol). A few days ago I was browsing through some pictures that I took back in 2018-19, and I happened to find this:

First of all, RIP to our favorite rock dude. His back is pretty messed up here lmaoo, idk if a band-aid can fix that But that's not why I'm bringing this up, nor is it just so I have another excuse to talk about this guy hehe. No, I'm talking about this specific moment because I need to talk about one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in a Super Mario game.
So as you can see, he's lying face down on the ground. He's trembling in defeat, though I suppose I would be too if my back was absolutely shattered and one small move would result in a sub-atomic explosion. Then he proceeds to slam his massive fist on the ground and whisper to himself "dangit!" while he does just that. What a legend. But you know what you can't see here? His face. As I'm sure you all know, the whomps are always making quite possibly the most ridiculous face I've ever seen on a video game character (to go off on a tangent, I need to look at the wiki page for these guys sometime, the person who decided they would constantly look like they're getting blasted in the face with gale force winds deserves a medal). But in this particular instance, his expression is actually the most ridiculous thing of all time:

Spoiler: what tf is this actually

You can also see this in action in Shesez's Boundary Break video about SMG2 on Youtube, I think seeing it in the game makes it even more hilarious.

And the funniest part? You literally can never see this face during normal gameplay. Since he will always be lying face down, in the middle of the battle arena, with the camera only viewing his backside, it's impossible to see this expression without using cheats/hacks to manipulate the in-game camera. I just can't get over the thought of someone on the dev team throwing this into the game, knowing that no one was ever intended to see it. Was it an inside joke? Are they trolling us? I don't think we'll ever know, but given that this is my favorite boss-fight in the series I think it's absolutely incredible and I need everyone to know about it.

2. I have another thing to say about Mr. Whomp King, it's not as funny but still pretty interesting. I found out sometime in the latter half of last year that he also makes an appearance in the Mario Party 3 board Creepy Cavern. For a long time I was under the impression that he only appeared in SM64, its remake, and SMG2, so I've been pleasantly surprised to find that he also appears in a few other games. So what purpose does he serve in Creepy Cavern? Well he's just kinda lying in the middle of the board and, depending on how he's situated, he blocks one path going up, or another path going down.

As you might expect, he uses his position of power to make an excuse to not move. Apparently he's taking a nap here, though I don't blame him after spending 5 years angrily stomping around on the top of his fortress. Despite his excuses, I do appreciate that he's polite enough to say "excuse me". He also says that he promises to move if you give him a specific item he requests (like a Mushroom or Skeleton Key). I actually like these little bits of dialogue that he has, because it tells me that in reality he is a polite rock boy, and the likely reason why he's so angry during the boss-fight is because he's simply frustrated from being mistreated for so long. My boy deserves justice, honestly. also this board should've been in Mario Party Superstars smh

3. I have another rock boy that I absolutely must ramble about for a bit. He's probably the most underrated of all the stone creatures in the Super Mario series (well, besides the spindel), only appearing in 3D Land and nowhere else. It's the wallop!

As I'm sure you all know, the rock boys are generally distinguished not only by the fact that they're, well, made of rock(s), but also their aggressive nature. If a thwomp sees you come anywhere close to his vicinity, he will come crashing down in an effort to pulverize you, without hesitation. The whomps don't fare much better, they stomp and pace around with that perpetually disgruntled look, and if they spot you then they waste no time waddling as quickly as they can towards you so they can flatten you with their face. Tox boxes are just ruthless, they leave no wiggle room on the paths which they flip flop around, and some of them move fast as hell, rolling around like a speed demon and crushing everything and everyone in their way. Not to mention all the other rock boys, like the spindel who rolls over people, and the bomp who pushes unsuspecting passers-by off of cliffs. Basically, you don't wanna mess with these guys, unless your idea of a fun time is getting crushed by 35 metric tons of stone. I personally think it is but we won't talk about that hehe
But with all those wicked and malicious things that the stone creatures of the Super Mario series are known for, what does the wallop do? At the worst, he stands in your way and refuses to let you pass, thereby successfully fulfilling his destiny of being a practical living wall. He copies your every move, stepping left and right to block your path, and also jumping when you do (though this proves to be his weak point, as he is slow to recover). But besides that, he's really just a very chill rocky friend. Upon noticing you he will wake up from his dormancy and stand right in front of you, looking on with friendly yellow eyes and a cute little smile. He patiently stands in place, tapping his feet on the ground as if he's fidgeting (or doing a little dance lol). It's as if he's looking upon you, saying "hello friend, I hope you're having a lovely day!" As you can probably see, this is quite uncharacteristic of a rock boy. He's a mimic and a bit of a jokester, standing in your way like he does, but by no means is he mean-spirited. He's a happy lil guy!
With all that context, and understanding what makes them so endearing, you'd think Nintendo would give them a little more attention, right? Nope, not at all. Super Mario 3D Land is the only piece of media they've ever appeared in, not even appearing as cameos in any other games or media. I really feel bad for the wallops and I wish they could be given another chance at appearing in a newer game, even if it's just an entry in a spin-off series like Mario Party. he didn't get shafted quite as hard as the spindel, but I still think he deserves more attention. If it wasn't obvious, I really love these guys haha

4. This is kinda random but it's bothering me a lot, so in Mario Party Superstars there's some "clip art" of different minigames that's used in the background of some areas in the game, namely the beginning screen where you select offline/online mode and the number of players:

If you peek closely you can see a piece of art featuring the postman shy guy with a bag of letters, and he's holding up a postcard. I found another picture of these clip art pieces which came from the Japanese MPS website, the quality really isn't good at all but you can see him a bit more clearly:

The thing is, I absolutely love this little piece of art. I already really like shy guys (I don't talk abt them nearly as much as the rock boys but they're definitely way up there in my ranking) and this one wearing his little hat and satchel full of letters is the most adorable thing to me but I unfortunately can't find a good scan of this art anywhere. If by some chance I (or someone else) could find it I would be eternally grateful.

5. A few days ago I decided to check the wiki page for Waluigi, out of curiosity. Because of course I did, I love me a good purple lanky dude whose vocabulary consists mostly of WEEEHs. I happened to notice that the first section on the page is titled "creation and development", and I had never really looked into this before, so I figured I would read it. I knew that he was created to be Wario's partner for doubles in Mario Tennis on the N64, but I discovered something even more horrifying that I absolutely must share.
In order to introduce and promote Waluigi into the series, Nintendo Power wrote a short article about him. Have a read:

"He's lean, he's mean, he hates the color green! Yes, with hopes of finally overthrowing Mario's supreme reign as the video game king, Wario has enlisted the help of Waluigi. The big fellow with a nasty smirk and burning hatred of good, ol' Waluigi finally shows his ugly mug in Mario Tennis, and to mark the momentous occasion we're giving the purple one his very own website! You can check out www.waluigi.com for all your evil sidekick needs: photos, secret information, and all the wacky hijinks you could ever desire. Were looking to have online games, too, including Waluigi's Toenail Clipping Party. It seems that everyone's favorite mustachioed mischief maker has let his personal grooming go, and it's up to you to help him. Clip those nails good, and be sure to aim for the jar, or you'll be left with ragged clippings and toe jam all over your hard drive. Eewwww!"

Guys. Not only does Waluigi actually have his own video game (albeit a fake one), but it's about CLIPPING TOENAILS. Is that a hobby of his?? Does Waluigi clip toenails for fun??? Is clipping toenails and aiming for a jar to toss them into some kind of extreme sport???? I'm actually losing my **** reading this, I just can't believe it. It's no consolation, but this section also claims that he sold Luigi's underwear on eBay, and someone actually bought it. How much did it sell for? And who in the right mind is out here buying Luigi's undies anyways?? I have so many questions and absolutely no answers.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I’ve always wanted to see a Mario x Zelda crossover game where Mario has to stop Ganon/Ganondorf for once and must learn to use items to defeat some of the harder enemies to kill. Weaker ones like Red Bokoblins and Octoroks can be defeated by jumping on top of them but that won’t work on Moblins and Lynels.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

yesterday I did some journaling regarding my thoughts on a video I watched, and I actually like how it turned out, so I figured I would share it here! I find it very interesting and also amazing that a video about Super Mario 64 turned into some kind of philosophical discussion, those are two things I have a very keen interest in so it was a match made in heaven for me hehe

here's the video I watched:

and here's my commentary on the video:
"I’m watching a video right now called “More unremarkable and odd places in Mario 64” by Any Austin on youtube. He just described a liminal space as “something to be transferred, not lingered”, in reference to the little dirt put that you start in when you boot up Super Mario 64. He said, you know, when you think of Super Mario Bros you think of the very beginning of World 1-1, but when you think of Super Mario 64 you don’t think of that dirt pit, rather you might think of Peach’s Castle. He also pointed out the area near the waterfall, and how it was likely meant only to be observed and not truly discovered. Because of course, you’re expected to follow the path up to the castle. There may as well be an invisible wall blocking the pathway to the waterfall. But the game does, in fact, give you the option to walk to the left of the castle and look at the waterfall. One little quirk this area has, is that this is the point in which the fence stops closely following the ledge and decides to skew off towards the wall randomly. He mentioned that some developer for this game, in an office space in Japan, had to intentionally make this design choice, and thinking about it that way makes it seem more funny and charming, which is nice considering how uninteresting it usually is.

"Also, the room where you go to lower the water in the moat around the castle, he just called it the “butt stomp on the pillars and lower the water room” lol. And he’s mentioned a few other interesting things. He pointed out that, in the walls of the Hazy Maze Cave room, there are pipes. I somehow never noticed that, I don’t think I’ve ever really paid any close attention to the walls in that room. I suppose, with all the other stimulation going on in the game, something truly unremarkable like that slips through the cracks. He pointed out the “tunnel” that goes into the “butt stomp on the pillars and lower the water” room, and how the tiny bit of water that is perpetually sitting in the bottom of the tunnel turns a normally relatively uninteresting space into something slightly more interesting and three-dimensional (in terms of the vibe it gives). He also noticed that it seems to resemble a P-trap, that pipe that you find under a sink or a bathtub that keeps sewer gas from coming back up through the pipe.

"He’s described Bob-omb Battlefield as a sort of “playground”, and honestly, it makes perfect sense. If anything, to me, Whomp’s Fortress is basically a big playground too. To go off on a bit of a tangent, I sometimes think about the fortress in the context of the fanfic that I’ve been working on, and I think “is this place really suitable and accommodating for a creature like a whomp to live in?” And the answer to that is, basically, no. It’s really not. Because the level wasn’t designed with the idea that these giant stone slab dudes would be living here, it was designed with the intention of being a big playground that the player, as Mario, can run around and jump through and explore. Also, he just pointed out the sign near the randomly placed cannon on the hill in Bob-omb Battlefield, and how it openly acknowledges Mario’s fingertips. Like okay lol, he has fingertips I guess.

"Lastly, he goes into the room that leads to the portal which takes you to the Cavern of the Metal Cap. He’s thinking, yeah you could just jump into the portal and call it good, because that’s what you’re intended to do after all. But he still took a moment to look around and appreciate that little room. As well, he’s looking around the Cavern of the Metal Cap itself, noting that it’s a space which it normally intended to be entered once and likely never entered again. I personally notice the little grey colored crystals surrounding the metal cap switch, I like how the light reflects off of them as the camera moves. He seems to mostly be making note of the fact that the half of the cave near the waterfall exit has walls lined with rusted and “barnacle’d” metal, whereas the deeper part of the cave is naturally carved out and rounded. It’s interesting to really take a moment and observe this, as it seems to be abandoned in a way. There’s no life here, in this cave. It’s desolate, and yet somehow invokes a feeling of curiosity and uneasiness.

"In fact, if I may add something to this, the entirety of Super Mario 64 almost feels like a liminal space, because of how lifeless it is compared to something like Super Mario Galaxy. Think about the Comet Observatory, all the lumas floating around, the sparkling starbits, the pulses of light running through the tubes on the floor, the toad brigade, the big ball of energy centered in the middle of the observatory which gives it power. Then think about Peach’s Castle. There are, what, maybe a few toads bouncing next to the walls? But besides that, there’s nothing. No furniture, no plants, just emptiness and stairs and many massive paintings. It’s remarkably uncanny, how desolate it is. And yet, this odd liminal vibe that the castle gives really adds to the charm of Super Mario 64. It’s like nothing else you’ll see in any other Mario game, it’s truly one of a kind.

"Honestly this video is making me feel happy, happier than I’ve felt all day. I’ve had a pretty [awful] day, and this video and the commentary he provides is raising my spirits a bit. It’s kind of understandable though, since Super Mario 64 is my favorite game of all time and it will never not bring me some kind of joy. The way in which he’s describing these seemingly liminal spaces, in a way, gives me a new appreciation of this game. It makes me want to go back into the game and find liminal spaces myself, to really appreciate all the little details, and to give notice to those areas between focal points which were created without intention."

 

[Yoshi155]

Please make SMM3 one of the first games on your new console, Nintendo. You don’t understand how much I need it.

 

[Asteroid]

Super Mario. What can I say about this character? I know i'm giving my Switch away tomorrow, but I still have some Mario games i'm keeping for my 2DS. Here are some thoughts on some Mario games I have.

Mario Kart 7 is a gem even though I can't access the wi-fi on the 2DS anymore. I only unlocked the Mii, Wario and Daisy but I know I have to unlock more. A challenging racing game for me anyway. Gotta find the right combo of character and kart building. Lol.

I really need to re-start Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon because it's been since 2021 since I bought it. I wouldn't have bought it if it weren't for my best friend recommending it. Whenever I play it, I obviously think of her. It's also a really good game in general. It's hard to 100% it so I might just do a vanilla play-through the next time and just enjoy the ambiance of it all. Gotta love the EGadd ringtone too.

Yoshi New Island is a hidden gem for those who like super-easy games and have trouble with 100%ing other games. I love Poochy (the dog) in that game even though he's a minor character cause he's so cute! I really need to jump back into that game and try to get the Bowser fight accessed because if you know, you know.

Mario Tennis (the GBC version I bought off the E-shop) is also good even though there's no Mario I have seen yet. It's a simple Tennis game that I happen to find somewhat hard.

Man, I really suck at video games in general, not just the Mario ones.

 

[Drawdler]

pride is strong tonight and I was thinking “hmm Toads would be an interesting enby rep” and I look it up and what do you know:

“This is maybe a little bit of a strange story, but we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances,” Hayashida said.

I just… like this. I just think it’s neat. I know at least in the Mario movie the main Toad is gendered (and I believe that happens with Toads in some other games) so this isn’t explicit champion enby rep or anything, but the quote is from 2014 so it feels sincere. Definitely appreciate Toads a bit more now, I always liked them somewhat, I mostly just liked the BUP, but I could see myself picking them more often ingame now.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I am so excited that Super Mario RPG is now out! I’m picking up my preorder after work today. RPG got me way more excited than Wonder did.

 

[Holla]

Mario Kart is my go to Mario game hands down, but I must say the RPG remake is totally up my alley as well and I’ve only just dipped my toes into it. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the game plays out.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

haven't posted in here in a minute but I came here to talk briefly about... 【ｔｈｅ　ｂｅａｎ】

he's just a wiggly little guy, a sparkly scromblo if you will. I adore him.

also I finally got Super Mario Bros Wonder (well... borrowed it but same dif) so I can't wait to see these guys in action hehehe

 

[VanitasFan26]

I finished both Super Mario Bros Wonder and Super Mario RPG Remake! This has been such a great year to be a Mario fan!

 

[LoyalDragonfly]

I've been loving the Super Mario RPG remake, but one thing in particular that struck me as strange is that Mario no longer does his cute little peace sign pose. I remember noticing that it was replaced as far back as the first trailer and thinking it was odd even then. It was often accompanied by that satisfying old-school 1-up sound effect, too. Now he just doffs his hat in complete silence. I was struggling to think of why it might have been changed in the first place and finally, I looked it up. Apparently, this was a deliberate design decision made by Miyamoto sometime after Mario 64 to have Mario not do the peace sign, because he was becoming concerned that Mario was striking that particular pose too often and that it was going to make Mario (and Nintendo in general) seem too childish. Which... just sounds completely goofy to me. I've played this game as a kid, a teenager, and an adult and I never thought anything out of the ordinary about the peace sign other than it was a cute and fitting pose for Mario to make after winning battles and such. Now it's just bizarre to think about... a thumbs up is totally cool and not overdone, but putting up the peace sign is too childish? What about the incredibly adorable dance that Mario does for party member level ups? I guess that's a dance for mature people only. It's just... such a weird take.

At any rate, it's a small detail, but I really miss this old victory pose.

 

[ShinyDungeoneer]

I wonder if we'll get a Mario RPG 2. The title for the remake weirdly omitted the words remake/remaster, so maybe we'll get one? I'm also hoping for a rerelease of that mario rpg plush set so we can have a modern Mallow plushie.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I saw an article about how the second Super Mario Bros Movie could potentially struggle to live up to the original because of what Jack Black brought to the movie as Bowser. they said that a new villain may not be as interesting or exciting as Bowser was, and may cause the movie to suffer a bit.
random, I know it's a meme basically but I seriously think if they case Danny DeVito as Wario then that will be legendary lol

but I think what they could do, is pull a Super Mario RPG or Super Paper Mario, and make Bowser an ally. that way we could have a potentially new and interesting villain, while still having Bowser play a prominent role. I definitely enjoyed Jack Black's performance and I think it played a big part in carrying the movie as far as it went, so while I do hope there's a new villain I also hope that Bowser plays a big role, and I think it would work great if he became an ally. there's some comedic potential there too haha.


also I really hope Luigi is more prominent in the second movie, he was absolutely precious in the first and I wish he had more screen time