Mailbag
01/19/2001

Deezer "W" replies to another round of mailbagginess. Got something you want us to answer next week? Send it to tmk_mailbag@usa.net.

I just wanted to drop a quick line, in your mailbag you mentioned that you thought Morton Koopa Jr. was a take off of ""Jelly Roll" Morton, jazz musician in the early 20th century". I, too, could be wrong about this, but when I first read the name out of the manual, I thought it was a pun of the then-popular talk show host "Morton Downey Jr."

*shrug* Just throwing out another possiblity, if you haven't thought of it yet. Love the site, by the way.
-Kulock

Deezer: Good theory! Though the KISS-esque star around Morton Koopa Jr.'s right eye leads me to believe music had a big influence on the creation of the Koopa Kids.

I have two questions for you.

1. Why does the enemy Bumpty the penguin only appear in Yoshi games?

2. Will Squaresoft work with Nintendo on Paper Mario?
-Anime Lover

Deezer: I have two answers for you.

1. Because they all take place in Yoshi's Island maybe? Bumpty must be part of its "wildlife."
2. No. Paper Mario is already done (it's already out in Japan, and the translation to English is either done or very close to being done, since it's due out February 5th of this year), and Intelligent Systems was the developer.

Where did Waluigi come from?
-BigTimDogg504

Deezer: From his mother and father, probably.

Update WTMK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I mean
-Orobueno

Deezer: I did earlier this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!! Hope you are enjoying the new playlist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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When is Paper Mario out? I checked your previews section, it said December 26th, 2000. I don't see it any where.
-chansydtha

Deezer: Whoops. That preview hasn't been updated since August 17th. Paper Mario should be out on February 5th.

Believe it or not, there are Mario references in the Pokemon cartoon. First is Ash, the town imbecile, who wears red; so does Mario. Gary wears purple; so does Wario (and as a big coincidence, Mario and wario are RIVALS). Blastoise has a resemblance to Bowser, and Weedle has a resemblance to Wiggler. In "Mankey Goes Bananas", Mankey steals Ash's hat; in Super Mario 64 (as a similar thing) a monkey steals Mario's cap. Brock is a very good cook; so is Mario (specially on pasta). Remember those triplets in the episode when Brock leaves the cartoon temporarily (with Professor Ivy)? If you add them a shell, a cloud and shave them bald, you'll get Lakitus! I know you can find that and more references in this weird cartoon.
-Agustin Huambachano

Deezer: I'll take your word for it!

Someone was talking about how the Mario and Zelda cartoons were their favorite shows on TV. If you go to TeamSaveZelda.com you could download and watch all the Zelda cartoons plus a few Captain N cartoons. While you're there, sign the petition and maybe the cartoons might get back on the air. I know some reader out there has all of the Mario 'toons tape recorded and collecting dust in some closet but he doesn't share. If you try E-Bay or something like that, you could probably find a whole lot of episodes. I saw a few Captain N auctions there so it's worth a shot. Sweet forgiving E-Bay. Now, I don't know the specifics on this or what to do or anything, but could someone like hook-up their computer to their VCR and get all the old Mario cartoons as MPEGs then upload them to a site like this or SMBHQ and be downloadedable for all your happy visitors? I know there is some device to do that. The problem is it's illegal right? If you could get permission from whoever made all those cartoons (it was like Kids Kreaction or something like that, I forgot) to do that, then you can and it won't be illegal anymore.

This happened to me at my cousin's house one time and I don't know really what I did. In the last level of Special Cup in SMW, you come to this music note bouncy block thingies, you know what I'm talking about. Well, if you're small Mario or if you could manage to pull this off with a Super Mario while ducking, you could jump inbetween this invisible coin block and the bouncy block. You'll fall out of it soon if you let go so keep holding the right button down and you'll be able to stay there until time runs out. You keep hitting the coin block but the coins never run out. I swear I must have gotten a thousand coins or something before the time ran out. It's really weird and hard to get. You can't just jump on the block, you have to like imagine another block on top of it and jump in the middle of it. Do you know what I'm talking about? Try it, tell me if it works. It's kind of useless unless you're trying for a perfect score or something, but, it's worth doing once just to say you did it.
-RetroGameBoy

Deezer: Oh, you're finally done? ;) Ah, the Note Blocks in Funky in Super Mario World... I noticed something weird happening there with the invisible blocks, but it never occurred to me to hold Right! Thanks for the tip, I'll be adding that to the SMW tricks page soon.

If i were to write a Super Mario Bros. story and you liked it, would post it up on TMK please? I don't have an idea for it yet so it might it take me awhile to write it a email it to you, but if you would like me to add stuff or characters that you like, just tell me and i'll put 'em in the story. I also have a question to ask you. Who do think would win in a steal cage wrestling match with Mario & Luigi vs. Wario & Waluigi?
-Tim

Deezer: I'd add it, but it might take me a while. :P And I think Wario would win, because of his size.

Just a quick thought off the top of my head. In your "Mario Bros. DX: English to Japanese" you pointed out that you didn't know why the challenge point levels were lowered when given to the Japanese. Well, just a thought, but maybe they found that the par score was too hard for American gamers, and assumed that the same would be true for Japanese gamers. Silly geese.
-Qwil man

Deezer: Fowlmouth.

Hey Dan! I was wondering how you pronounce yuor last name. Sometimes I have the same problem. Mine is "McNamara". Well, that's my question.
-_-Toad64-_

Deezer: Wah-zeh-lew-ski. Apparently it's not the correct "Polish" pronounciation, but, well, I don't speak Polish.

Hey! It's TYP again! I've got two things to say.

1) I was the one who asked about a picture of Mr. Kondo. Fortunately, I asked TendoBox the very same question and they were good enough to find one. Click here: http://www.tendobox.com/emailbag/01/1/03.htm Isn't it ironic that I was the one to answer my own question?!

2) I know you can't give out the songs you play on WTMK that come straight from the games, but where can I find (or buy) copies of those remixes/rearrangements? I really want a copy of that SML 2-song medely and the Live SMW ending....
-TheYoungerPlumber

Deezer: 1) It's like rain on your wedding day. It's a free ride when you've already paid. It's the good advice that you just didn't take...

2) Most of the soundtracks covered on TMK were only released in Japan. While they'd be hard to find here in the states, in Japan you probably wouldn't be able to walk without stepping on a Mario soundtrack. At least that's how I heard it is with Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan) and other Famicom games.

HELICEisnice reported of a Mario cameo in Tiny Toons. The cameo he reported is in the episode "K-ACME TV", and it was "Super Pluckio Bros." It had two Pluckys as Mario and Luigi, and Shirley as Peach. Linguini (the Plucky as Luigi) tries to pick a comquat but gets chased down by Dizzy. Then Pluckio (Plucky as Mario) gets chased down by various enemies but kicks them out by expanding his size. He saves "Princess Loon", but the time runs up. The real Plucky is shown playing the game in an arcade and says "It's more than a game, it's an obsession!"

Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. also made an appearance in the Muppet Babies episode "It's Only Pretendo". You see actual screenshots of Donkey Kong and DK Jr. Also, Gonzo is going through a mess of cartridges and says he found a "Super Bario Bros."

Oh yeah, BTW, Nintendo Power always notes if there's a new Nintendo movie or TV show up. In Volume 7 (waaaaay back in 1989), they did a preview for the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! in NESJournal. Two issues later, they previewed "The Wizard" and even had an interview with Fred "Corey" Savage. The last time NESJournal ran, a preview for Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 was written.
-Kacyn64

Deezer: I really need to get some sort of "Mario appearances" section up soon. Thanks for the info!

In case you didn't know, SMB2 was on a fairly buggy engine. When Mario's eyes (the white sprites) overlapped another sprite, there wasn't programming for the layering. The main sprite of Mario was programmed to be displayed on top of all other sprites. However, since Doki Doki Panic doesn't use another sprite for the eyes, the feature was added as an afterthought by the leet Doki Doki Panic hackers :) They must not have considered the idea of Mario's eyes overlapping another sprite. That's what the flickering is all about. If you notice, he only flickers in front of Sub Space doors (sprites), opening doors (more sprites), and enemies (even more sprites). Don't you think it would be weird for the characters to keep their eyes open for long periods of time then start blinking 20 or 30 times while they're going through the door? Hope that clears stuff up for ya. Actually, I may be wrong, but I'm positive that the "blinking" is a glitch.
-DarKnight

Deezer: That's the first time I've known MEGAߥTE to be wrong. Then again, it might've been the cough syrup talking.

Hey, I was one of the sorry fellows to watch the Mario cartoons on PAX tv, and was too stupid to tape them. I miss them SOO much. I was wondering and hoping that if they ever air again, you will be sure to notify us. Sort of like you do when the Super Mario Bros. movie airs. I would be very greatful. Thanks.
- Sorry Fellow That is Too Stupid to Tape the Mario Cartoons When He Had the Chance

Deezer: The cartoons never aired on my PAX channel. :(

I've gone through lots of Mario games, and I've seen Mario's voice listed as both "Martinet" and "Martinee". Which one is right?

P.S. Tell Dave you're not in competition with SMBHQ. You're just complementary. BTW, you stole my mailbag ideas.
-Dave Adams

Deezer: SM64 (USA) manual: Charles Martinet. MK64 (USA) credits: Charles Martinet. MK64 (JPN) credits and manual: Charles Martinee...
I'm thinking Mr. "Martinet" pronounces his last name in some French way, in which case the "et" at the end of his name would be pronounced like the "ai" in "paid" (the "T" would be silent; like "fillet" and "Chevrolet"), and thus leading to a misspelling in Japanese material. I haven't noticed it as "Martinee" in any English game (and I'm too lazy to go check the game credits of Mario Tennis/Party2/Golf right now), but it's possible that erroneous Japanese text could've carried over to the translated English games. As Dennis Miller would say, "That's just my opinion; I could be wrong."

P.S. No, we stole our mailbag from Nintendorks.com.

In one episode of the Sonic TV show, Sonic wears a red shirt and blue overalls for a while. BTW, where 's the Simpsons Mario references?
-menard6

Deezer: Stay tuned!

Whenever I try to send something to you at deezer@usa.net, it says that that doesn't exist, even though that's the address you say to send stuff to.
-menard6

Deezer: It exists, it's just full half the time because I have so much stuff I haven't saved to my hard drive yet.

hi
-dclarck03

Deezer: Hello.