Completing New Super Mario Bros. Wii was an enormous triumph.

This is the last post for my strangely long vacation. Please tell me that I didn't lose readers in the mean time. You all mean so much to me! Don't leave!! I really love this post for today, just so you know. Have you read it before? It's all about playing New Super Mario Bros for the Wii!


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August 2011

Our house of many mushrooms.

11:59 AM  MIRANDA EUBANKS  NO COMMENTS

Before I left for Washington in the middle of June, Andrew and I were on a steady schedule of playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii and/or watching an episode of True Blood every night before we went to bed. I quite enjoyed this seeing as it was fun and fulfilling and best of all he and I are excellent cooperative players at Mario.

With all of the insane hopping, jumping, flying, floating and stomping that goes on in a multiplayer side scroller, it is unfortunately easy to accidentally take all of the items out of the classic question mark block, or to bump into your co-pilot and send them screaming into a pit of lava. Some even call it 'marriage poison'.

It would appear that some relationship duos don't play quite as

harmoniously as Andrew and I do. I consider us very lucky!

When I first brought up playing Mario together, he had some reservations. Apparently he wasn't terribly well versed in the Mario universe while he was growing up, and as a result felt that he possessed inadequate experience to be able to play alongside me, Mario lover extraordinaire* since age five.

I quelled this concern, stating I didn't care how good or bad he was and that I simply wanted us to play together. I am sorely lacking in the co-op/multiplayer gaming department, seeing as I rarely had anyone to play with. I have a sister who greatly enjoyed gaming when she was younger (and does now again many years later) but that's really another subject. The point here is that when I have had a multiplayer game (that was co-op!) I always enjoyed the experience and I wished that I had more. So anyway, he finally agreed to play with me.

It has been a truly fantastic experience to play alongside him and watch him improve. He started out like anyone else did as a new player; uncertain, overly-cautious and accident prone. It was like watching myself so many years ago, and it was great. I've never been present for someone's first experience with Mario (other than my own, of course). I recall my sister being great at Mario and I repeatedly died, feeling forever like an extremely poor player. Andrew is now really quite skilled!

Currently, I am very pleased to say, we are at Bowser's castle at the end of the game! This is insanely thrilling to me because, and don't judge me here, I've never been able to finish any of the traditional side-scrolling Mario games! I know I know, it's absolutely shameful! And it certainly isn't for lack of trying. I have played Mario and Mario 3 so many times, but my goodness are they difficult. The original one I've warped to World 8 with all the tanks and just, no. No no no. As for Mario 3 I always always always get stuck on World 5 in the clouds. I simply cannot get past the cloud portion. Someday I would love to complete them both.

To my delight, the cloud levels in New Super Mario Bros. Wii are

actually extremely fun! I wonder what the creatures are called...

The level designs are absolutely superb. It's very much a 'just right' situation for me. The worlds follow the classic pattern of grass, sand, ocean/ice, etc. It is completely nostalgic while being very new at the same time. The presence of Blooper swimming dangerously in the ocean thrills me to no end and I personally believe that he doesn't have a strong enough showing in the series. 

One aspect of gaming that I've never quite indulged in is the secrets/side quests. I'm not sure if I've just never noticed them before, or if I didn't care, or if I thought the main story was too time-consuming or what. I've become aware, however, that I am missing out on a huge portion of the great gaming experience! To my good fortune, Andrew is very into secrets and side quests. This has made it a very easy transition. 

Between jaw-clenching, hand-cramping, eye-twitching sessions of the later levels that brought me dangerously close to screaming, we've been going back to previous worlds and collecting the star coins that are hiding in each level. It eases the tension of the more difficult stages and allows us to continue playing and keep having fun! Good on Nintendo for that feature. Of course the star coins are actually used for unlocking helpful hint content, but they keep me playing even when I'm feeling fed up so I'm happy for their existence. 

I can't wait to complete the final battle. What we've seen of it so far has been nothing short of epic. Nintendo pulled out all the stops to make it an enjoyable and exciting experience, even including some hyper satisfying throw-backs to the original final Mario-Bowser battle. The presence of real-time destructible environments really piqued Andrew's involvement levels and, quite frankly, made me feel 100% panicked and frantic.

I don't do well in the event of being chased by something that takes up half of the 

screen. I keep dying from jumping erratically. I wouldn't recommend this tactic.

Hopefully next week I'll have some screenshots of my own and an accompanying 'Success!' post to inform you all that we've finally finished the game. And to anyone that owns a Wii and hasn't played it yet, I strongly urge you to pick up a copy! It's so much fun but really does require patience and understanding, especially when your co-player butt-bounces you into oblivion right next to the flagpole. You have to accept that that sort of thing is just going to happen.

-MJ

*I kid. I love Mario very much but I'm definitely not an extraordinary player :)

(Comic strip from Penny Arcade, cloud stage image taken from Nintendo's NSMB website and final Bowser screenshot borrowed with love from Gamespot)

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Gaming galore: which games make you feel good?

Alright, this entry might be a little bit scattered. I had something else big and new planned for today's entry, but due to unforeseen circumstances it's not ready in time! It should be up next week though, so be sure to check back! Instead, allow me to talk on subjects such as 100% completion of NSMB Wii, yet another foray into the world of Link's Awakening, a fabulously geeky sewing project and a fresh replay of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

Oh my, is this entire entry going to be 

about Nintendo? How did that happen?

As I've been clearing the Wasteland of radioactive bugs, slavers and raiders, Andrew has been plugging away at New Super Mario Bros. Wii. We have continued our split screen setup to great effect, and the other night he finally reached total completion! He can play the same levels over and over again, trying and failing, learning and repeating. Over and over and over again. I cannot do this. He's played the majority of world 9 by himself. The levels get crazy difficult, and there are no midway markers. His quest to find every single star coin became too much of a challenge for me. The placements require more patience than I possess. Andrew did it though! The game provided very little fanfare, which was disappointing, but it did show a screen proclaiming collection of all star coins in the game. I took a photo with my phone, but apparently something went awry because it's no longer on my phone.

Pretend that this is a photo of Mario in an epic pose,

celebrating the total conquering of every single star coin.

Moving on from my embarrassing phone fail, let's talk about Link's Awakening! A well loved, and sort of under-played, Zelda game for the original Gameboy. It was later re-released as Link's Awakening DX for the Gameboy Color, and just very recently it was re-re-released as a 3DS download. 

A long time ago, I had DX in my possession. I don't remember where it came from, and I don't remember what happened to it. Oddly enough, I also ended up owning the Gameboy version, and again I have no idea where it came from. I tried to play it a few times because of my love for Zelda games, but holy crap is it difficult. I gave up and re-started repeatedly at the insistence of other people that raved about how amazing it was. 

During one of my attempted play-throughs I actually managed to get kind of far into the story. I really love the item collection/trading aspect, and I love that the shovel makes an appearance! I loved all of the digging in Seasons/Ages! At this point I don't recall why I stopped playing my file, but I suppose that's neither here nor there. The point is that my friend Jacki purchased Link's Awakening on her 3DS and was texting me about how fun it was. I agonized over the thought of buying a game that I already owned, but now that I'm so used to electronics having rechargeable batteries I wasn't fond of the idea of scrounging for double As for my Gameboy Color. 

So far I've made it past the second dungeon/temple/whatever. I'm about to go trekking for the key for the third area. I am really enjoying myself and I'm so glad Jacki kept talking it up! The game is just as difficult as I remember it being. I've been hung up on all of the same spots that I was stuck on from my very first play through. How is it that I haven't remembered anything? 

Screw this stupid raccoon and his sensitive nose.

photo found here

I'm feeling determined though. I will get through the entirety of Link's Awakening this time! Of course, this just tacks onto the fact that I have yet to complete the last temple in Link to the Past. Someday.

In addition to all of the exciting gaming that Andrew and I have been participating in, I've decided to put a lot of energy into crafting! I've had a few ideas in my head and I've finally put forth the effort to execute them. Seeing as Andrew and I are playing through all of these games together (excluding Link's Awakening), I have tons of time to be creative during the day while he's at work!

My most recent project came together in about five hours and was the result of my soon-to-be-four-years-old nephew deciding to be Mario for Halloween! I was thrilled when my sister sent me a photo of him in his costume and I immediately decided that I wanted to make something to go with his outfit. I was originally thinking a 1-up mushroom, but Andrew suggested a Koopa shell. Behold!

I'm a little loud at the end there. Apologies.

I have my hands in a few other fun and geek-related projects, but they're GIFTS so I can't post them here just yet. As soon as the items are received I will be sure to post photos. It'll happen sporadically over the next few months. In addition to sewing though I've been doing some paper crafts. Not these kinds of paper crafts, but more like... flat pictures. It has been a lot of fun and really rewarding. I found my inspiration here. This guy makes the most amazing paper crafts. He makes me feel so invigorated to try new and difficult things. 

Since starting the paper crafts my mind has been turning and I have a great idea for a new project. After I wrap up some Halloween decorations I'm going to start on some bigger paper ideas. I can't wait to share them here!

All of my blogging hype around Paper Mario 3DS has me essentially frothing at the mouth waiting for it to be released. Unfortunately for me, it doesn't even have a release date yet. So two days ago I finally broke down and told Andrew that we had to start playing Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door together. We were supposed to start Epic Mickey once we finished NSMB, but it'll have to wait.

I absolutely adore the stage battle system in this game.

I imagine that our foray into Paper Mario will be similar to how we've been playing Fallout; I play the majority of the time while he provides helpful hints, and sometimes he'll play small stretches of the game. This works well for when I'm tired but he wants to do something. The majority of the time he's content to watch me play, which works well for me because I really enjoy playing! 

With Andrew's encouragement I have been playing so many more games lately. It's wonderful. As I've gotten "older" I find that I (naturally) have less time to sit and play games for long stretches of time. The responsibilities of life and all of that frequently take over and I don't finish games, or I can't play them for so long that I forget where I am and I feel compelled to start a new file.  My love for gaming never wanes, the actual playing just slips to the side. It has been a while since I've been completely engrossed in a game, and my memories of those times are so full and fond. 

It started again over the summer when Andrew and I began a new file in NSMB. We played every night until we beat the game. It's happening again with Fallout. Almost every night we visit the Wasteland and I progress slowly through the main story, filling my character's life with side-quests. I love my 3DS dearly, but my portable gaming has come to a bit of a stand-still. I've started to pick it up more often with the likes of Okamiden and Link's Awakening now. Everywhere I turn there are satisfying gaming experiences to be had, and I just opened a new one with the creation of a replay file in Thousand Year Door. 

There are so many fabulous things to be grateful for and excited about! Mine happen to all revolve around video games somehow, and I am OK with that. Which games make you feel full and complete? Which games can you play over and over again? I'd love to know!

-MJ

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The parabeetles and scorpions are trying to kill me.

Where do I even start?! Nintendo held a press conference the other day, which I missed because I forgot about it. However I was quickly filled in on the presentation and have done additional research on the parts that interest me most! Today's post will largely be about Nintendo titles, such as Paper Mario 3DS (good gracious I am so excited for it), an incident that Andrew and I encountered in NSMB Wii, as well as some thrilling new developments in my Fallout 3 file. Prepare yourself!

Two video games, one television.

Since I can't get enough of Fallout and I also can't play it alone because I get nervous, Andrew and I have been spending our evenings playing through it "together". I use quotes because he sits behind me while I play and advises me when I'm about to do something stupid. What a sweetheart. He, on the other hand, can't get enough of Mario for the Wii. He's a nice guy and doesn't want to stop me from playing Fallout, so we've been utilizing the double image feature on his TV. Fabulous! Genius! Endlessly satisfying! The picture above is a little difficult to make out, but that's Fallout 3 on the left and New Super Mario Bros. Wii on the right. The dynamic range of the camera on my phone isn't great (none of them are), so it had a really tough time balancing the dark screen on the left with the hyper bright and colorful screen on the right. My goal was to demonstrate what we've been up to though, and I think I succeeded. 

My adventures through the Wasteland have been fairly mellow. I've been exploring slowly and staying close to Megaton. I'm in the process of leveling up and becoming competent with the controls. Just the other day I killed a boatload of radroaches and one terrifying scorpion and then explored some sewers. Upon my exit of the infested building I was greeted with some mercenaries who were hellbent on killing me. I didn't let them.

See?! "Kill Miranda"! How rude.

In more palatable Fallout news, I have a house in Megaton now! My first task was to find something to collect and then begin decorating. I'm pleased with my decision.

 Click to enlarge and take a gander at my stuff! I have some beautiful lunchboxes on 

display, as well as some really awesome Nuka Cola toy trucks. They're not easy to set down.

I was unbelievably jazzed when I was given my apartment. Andrew mentioned that so long as I disarmed the bomb in Megaton that I'd have a home base where I could store extra items. I had no idea this meant I would get a house! I ran around excitedly exploring each room and talking to my robot house butler over and over again.

My bitchin' Nuka Cola machine that I saved up a bunch of bottle caps for.

PLUS, me admiring my one bobble-head while wearing a party hat that I stole

from a scary clown raider after I killed him. 

When Nintendo announced that the 3DS would have a new, portable Paper Mario I think I peed my pants a little bit. I absolutely adore the Paper Mario series. I know I've talked about this before, but humor me for a minute while I fawn. The gameplay is superb, the graphics are crisp and adorable, the items are fun and unique, the dialogue is witty and entertaining, the RPG style battle system is engaging and satisfying. If you haven't played any of the three currently available Paper Mario games, then please, do so as soon as possible. Here, I'll help you. Paper Mario 64, $18 used on Amazon or through the Wii's virtual console for $10 or $15. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (Gamecube), around $20 on Amazon. Super Paper Mario (Wii), around $10 on Amazon. 

Thousand Year Door is my personal favorite, but the original one is so amazing too. Super Paper Mario is my least favorite of the three. I found the method of progressing to new levels to be too convoluted, and I didn't like that they removed the RPG style turn-based battle system. Fortunately, they've brought it back for Paper Mario 3DS. Take a look!

 Beautiful, isn't it?

Sadly, Nintendo hasn't released any word of when this gem of a game will be released. I'm considering starting a new file on Thousand Year Door just to hold myself over!

And speaking along the lines of Mario, something most perplexing happened while Andrew was playing NSMB Wii other day. We're currently in the process of collecting all of the star coins from each of the worlds. It's proving to be quite the challenge, but one that Andrew is more than up for. I really can't stand playing the same part of a game over and over again, so I've had to sit out on the coin collecting for a while. Fortunately, with our double screen action as shown at the beginning of this post, I can still be a part of our Mario progress while ridding the Wasteland of all the evil I can find. 

But anywho, Andrew was on World 7, level 6 gleefully bouncing from Parabeetle to Parabeetle, when finally he collected all three star coins and completed the level. That wasn't unusual. But this was:

It's a little hard to tell, but he's not wearing his hat!

Upon completing and exiting the level, we both noted that for some reason Mario was not wearing his hat! We both sat, very confused, and Andrew asked me if that had happened before. I said that it had not. Of course, in Mario 64 in the desert level that giant bird can steal your hat, but I've never known it to happen otherwise! Andrew went on to beat the castle for kicks, and he still didn't have his hat. We're still extremely perplexed.

Did anyone enjoy or download the backgrounds that I posted last week? Would you like to see more? Let me know, I'm happy to provide content for your enjoyment! 

-MJ

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