Tag: Mario

25 Years of Tanooki

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Can you remember your first experience playing a video game and getting so sucked into it that you played it for the whole day feeling that no time passed? For me, this experience augmented itself in the video game Super Mario Bros 3 for the 1985 NES console. I had the chance to replay the game in the Console Living Room exhibit and I found that I remembered certain secrets and gameplay mechanics even though I haven’t played this game in over ten years! So what made Super Mario Bros 3 so memorable and commended considering aspects of gameplay?

Super Mario Bros.… Read the rest

Mario Kart: Life Learning Experience

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The calming words that came out of my dad’s mouth was a surprising thing to me. I thought he would be screaming at me for the first time because of my horrendous driving. Instead, he was calm and told me that I was driving great. Even though, he gave me some advice on the minor mistakes that I made, he loved the way of how I drove for the first time. He would do his best to keep encouraging myself to do better next time when I drive with him again. Throughout my driving lessons with my dad, I never argued and always agreed on the things he said of what I should do better next time.… Read the rest

“F@$% You!” The Friendship Ruining Power of Mario Party

by  on  in Blog, Thirteen • 6 Comments

Picture this: It’s Friday night. You’re hanging out with your friends and you are all super bored. You throw around suggestions for different activities you could do together, when it happens: Somebody suggests that you play Mario Party. You hear a collective “NOOOOO” from around the room, but for some reason, you decide to play anyway. You know what you’re getting yourself into, because you’ve been here many times before, but through all the collective screaming matches, and middle fingers, you can’t say no to a rousing game of Mario Party with your friends. What is it that draws people to a game that they know will inevitably ruin friendships and raise stress levels?… Read the rest

Super Trendsetter 64

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19 years ago, the famous fictional Italian plumber appeared in a game that launched with the gaming system known as the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 was the plumber’s first 3D platformer and it was also the same game that revolutionized the genre of 3D platforming. As many of you know, the Super Mario series was filled with 2D platformers before the release of the Nintendo 64 game, so the transition was something completely different and unexplored.

2D_Mario_&_3D_Mario

Games before Super Mario 64 always had a camera that was fixed, so that player could not interact with it and change the angle while playing the game.… Read the rest

Mario’s Extra Lives: The Theory of Schrodinger’s Cat

by  on  in Blog, Thirteen • 2 Comments

In Super Mario Bros., why does Mario start out with three lives?  No, I’m not talking about how it’s less burden on the player if they mess up or how the player can just start over if they die.  Looking at the question from Mario’s perspective, why does he have three lives?  There’s clearly only one Mario and if he dies, he is dead; so there must be some factor giving him extra chances.  Since there is only one Mario, the only conclusion we can draw is that he is not dead when he dies (sometimes) but how is that possible? … Read the rest

Nostalgia for Mario RPG: Revisiting and Reassessing a Childhood Favorite

by  on  in Thirteen • 1 Comment

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo is one of my all-time favorite games/memories from childhood. I played the game with my brother for hours on end and was enchanted by the graphics, music, and characters. Sadly, around age 10 or 11 my Super Nintendo broke, rendering the dozens of games I had purchased for the console useless. I traded and sold them all away except for one: Super Mario RPG. I just couldn’t do it to myself to let it go. If, for any reason, I got ahold of another Super Nintendo, I wanted to be sure that I could play that game.… Read the rest