Messages

271

Mario Chat / Re: Canon, plot, style: What's your opinion?

« on: October 29, 2007, 04:46:21 PM »

The thing that would please me the most if the series had a stronger continuity would be that maybe then some of the characters introduced in the spin-offs (namely the RPG's) would have a chance of returning in later games...I would be immensely happy to see Dimentio come back in a future game, with new nasty tricks up his sleeve.

I have the same opinion, and I felt the same way after beating Super Paper Mario. The RPGs have lots of brilliant new characters. Why throw them away after one game?

Not to advertise, but I felt that way so strongly I decided to create this, which is definitely something you'd be interested in (if you haven't already seen it, that is).

272

Fan Creations / Re: Fan Fiction: Tales from the Glitz Pit

« on: October 25, 2007, 04:19:03 PM »

Looks like a great fanfic so far. I'm going to wait until the story is more developed to give it a more detailed review, but from the first three parts, it looks like it'll be a very good fanfic. I can't wait to learn how Rawk Hawk joined. ;)

Minor error I found: "Goombardo got to keep an old pirate’s had"-"had" should be "hat". Just pointing something out.

273

Fan Creations / Re: "Mushroom Kingdom Menace" fanfic series

« on: October 25, 2007, 04:07:02 PM »

...Wow. This is undoubtedly one of the best fanfics I've seen. The suspense is keeping me on the edge of my seat! Will Mario escape? Will Bowser revive himself? Hurry, post the next chapter!

My only complaint so far is the amount of violence in the fanfic; the scene where Bowser destroys Toad Town could've done just as well without blood everywhere, and the Bowser-possesed Luigi could've killed Mario in a less violent manner. It's a matter of opinion, though, and I always like fanfics that are darker than the games, so I'd say you're doing a great job with the fanfic.

So...hurry, post the next chapter! :P

274

Fan Creations / Re: Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness

« on: October 22, 2007, 07:00:27 PM »

So now I'm exactly halfway through Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness. Starting now, I'm going to be taking a break from the game...I mean, story (it's so tempting to say game) for a while, while I fully plan out the rest of the story and work on some of my other projects.

What do you all think of the story so far? What do you like/dislike about it? I'd like some feedback so I can improve my writing for the second half.

In the meantime, here's some artwork I've done for the g...story. I know they look dark with the charcoal texture and all, but this is SPM2: The Tribe of Darkness after all. Speaking of which, there is a reason it has that subtitle. ^_^

Mario
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Dimentio
Count Bleck
Timpani
O'Chunks
Mimi
Nastasia
The Ruffer Ruffian
Tedac
Radnamok X
Kara
H-X Alpha
B-A Omega

275

Fan Creations / Re: Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness

« on: October 22, 2007, 06:59:35 PM »

Count Bleck flipped in. "I assume the heroes are either enslaved or killed by King Animaul and that the Pure Heart is safe?"
Dimentio seemed annoyed. "Well, we really thought this plan would work...but it didn't. I am afraid they've again managed to get the Pure Heart."
"What!? That is preposterous! shouted Count Bleck. That plan was foolproof!"
"Yes, it was foolproof...but it wasn't Kara-proof, I'm afraid."
"This is nuts!" shouted H-X Alpha. "And bolts! And nuts! And bolts!"
"I know you're all upset that the heroes have already managed to find five of the eight Pure Hearts, but something recently happened that will guarantee the heroes' destruction. They'll never be able to find the rest of the Pure Hearts, not with him working for us."
"Him? You have found another minion?"
"Indeed, I have. I have already discussed our plan with him, but I'll share it with you all, just to ease your mind about whether the heroes will succeed. Come in!"
Bowser flipped in on the middle platform between Bleck and the two robots. "I'm big, I'm, strong, and I'm ready to roll!"
B-A Omega looked at Bowser suspiciously. "Master Dimentio, isn't that Bowser? Isn't he a hero?"
"No. He is not Bowser. He only looks like Bowser, because he's talking about how big and strong he is."
Count Bleck knew who "Bowser" actually was. "Oh, it's him. I see what you meant, Master Dimentio. Knowing him, he'll prove to be an excellent minion."
"Indeed. After he lost his two close friends, he was lost for many years. I managed to find him, and he was more than willing to serve me. Although you know who he is, I think it would be best if the two robots do not know his identity for now. They don't need to know everything right now. Though, they should know that he isn't Bowser."
The new minion was surrounded in a purple cloud, and when it dissipated, O'Chunks was standing there. "Of course I'm not Bowser! But I'm still big and strong!" The cloud formed again, and another Dimentio appeared. "And I'm also cold and calculating!"
"Thank you," agreed Dimentio. "Now, you remember every part of the plan, right? Those mountains are uninhabited as far as I can tell, so we won't have anyone to trick this time. You'll have to do this all by yourself. Do you think you can do it?"
The minion transformed into Mario. "I'm ready like nothing else! This time, I'll be the hero!"
"Very well. You may go to the assigned place now and wait for the heroes."
"Got it!" He flipped out.
There was some silence before B-A Omega spoke. "Master Dimentio, you haven't sent us on a mission yet. May we accompany this new minion? We can certainly destroy the heroes."
Dimentio thought for a while. "Well...you certainly have demonstrated your abilities, but seeing that those heroes can topple a plan as foolproof as the one we had, I'm not sure if you're quite up to it."
"Please, Master Dimentio?" begged H-X Alpha. "Pretty please? Pretty please with sugar on top? Pretty please...OR ELSE YOU'LL FEEL THE WRATH OF, UH, CORN? AND BEANS? AND POT-PIES?"
"Hm...well, you two do seem to be powerful enough, so I will allow you to accompany him to stop the heroes. Do not fail me."
"OH YEAH! You are DARN lucky I didn't have to unleash my califl-"
"Let's go, already!" B-A Omega flipped out, taking H-X Alpha with him.
"Well, they're certainly anxious," noted the count. "That's a good thing."
"It is," agreed his master. "With both of them up against the heroes, there's no way we can fail. If they somehow collect the sixth Pure Heart, we'll have to re-evaluate our strategy."
"What will we do? wondered Count Bleck with great anticipation."
"I'm not exactly sure right now, but I think I know what can stop them. Internal conflict."
"You'll turn them against each other? Marvelous plan, Master Dimentio."
"I do believe it will be a good one. Bowser is already clashing with the others, and while I don't think he's at the point of willingly leaving them yet, another push could send him over the edge. You have noticed that O'Chunks has joined the heroes, correct?"
"I have, Master Dimentio."
"If I'm correct, then Mimi, and perhaps Nastasia, will want to join the heroes soon as well. Although we are trying to get rid of them...if I don't succeed to kill them this time, they must be kept alive for this phase of my backup plan. I'm not particularly interested in Nastasia...but if Mimi joins them, I will let the heroes know something that will cause them to fight, and they, particularly the minions, will be easy targets without the support of the rest."


"You really do want to find Timpani, don't you?"
"Yes. I will search to the end of all dimensions if I need to. I must find her."
"We haven't had much luck so far. No one knows where she is, and no one wants to help us."
"Hmm...perhaps there is something we can do. No...that wouldn't be right."
"What is it?"
"It wouldn't be right. Just ignore what I said."
"I want to know, Blumiere. You said you'd search to the end of all dimensions. You wouldn't pass up something that could help you find her."
"Well, if you must know..."

"Well, we're here. Are you sure that I have to be the one that goes in?"
"Yes. If I go along with you, the power will spread to me as well, and I don't want anything like that. I'm still not sure about this..."
"Trust me, it'll help us find your love. You said so."
"Very well. I guess you can go in."

"Wow. It's pretty dark down here..."
"Is this the stone he was talking about? It's very smooth...and polished."
"Is this how I'm supposed to do this? I guess so..."
"OK...stone, thing, give me your power!"
"HEY! What are you doing in here!?"
"Aaah! Uh...just looking at some...stuff. You've got some pretty interesting stuff. Yeah...stuff."
"Is it true? You've taken the power of that stone!? Oh, you..."
"Oh, great. I've gotta get out of here!"


"Are you thinking again, Nastasia?"
"What? Oh, uh...yes, I guess, sort of. I was thinking about when I recieved the power to hypnotize. Count Bleck...I mean, Blumiere, suggested that I should find a strange stone hidden in the dungeon of a castle that would give me power. He regretted his suggestion, but I told him it would help us find Timpani. Once I found the stone, and after its power drained into me, a strange guy found me. I guess that was his castle, and he was steaming mad that I took the stone's power. I don't know who he was...and I still don't know how Blumiere knew about it. He never told me."
"So that's how it happened? How does Dimentio know about that?"
"I have no idea. He certainly wasn't there, not as far as I could tell. He seems to know more about us than we'd like him to know." She sighed. "I'm still troubled by that decision. I'm sure I did something wrong."
"Indeed, you did," answered the jester. He held his right index finger up. "That leaves only one minion who hasn't blurted out her troubled past. Care to share your feelings with us all, Mimi?"
"I'm not afraid of you, Mr. My-plans-are-totally-failing! They've probably already found the fifth Pure Heart, and you've done NOTHING!"
"Oh, really? But I'm about to do something. That is, show you what I didn't get the chance to last time!" He waved his hands in the air, and the Flipside scenery fell away in series of rectangles, replaced by a weird, small green room. "I'm sure you both recognize the scenery. Welcome back to Dimension D!"
"Dimension D?" asked Nastasia. "I've never been here."
"Yes, you have. Don't you remember, pathetic minion? Oh, that's right. You were dead. Or, almost dead. But now is when what should've happened then will happen!"
"This guy is confusing me," stated Mimi. "I'll take this demented jester."
"Are you sure?" he taunted. "I've modified Dimension D heavily from when I last used it. It will now magnify my power exponentially, while keeping your pathetic power at normal. Let's see you face the power of exponential mathematics! Or understand them, for that matter."

BOSS
Dimentio

Mimi cracked her neck and went through the entire transformation, emerging as a giant spider. Dimentio hovered to the right side of Dimension D, firing a very fast white energy blast. The blast hit Mimi, but she barely felt anything.
"Is this what you call 'exponential powers'?" she asked in a creepy voice.
"You haven't seen the worst of it." He unleashed another ball of energy. Mimi was hit again, and the blast felt slightly stronger, but it still did barely any damage.
"Wow. You really are a demented jester."
"Demented I may be, but demented enough to come up with something like this!" Another blast hit Mimi, and she felt the pain considerably stronger. "Haven't you figured it out? My second attack did twice as much damage as my first attack, and my third attack did twice as much as the second. Pretty soon, you'll be on the floor, begging for mercy. Let's turn things up!" He disappeared, and two Dimentios reappeared. When the now pink energy balls came, Mimi ducked and produced a Rubee that, fortunately, hit the correct Dimentio. He vanished, only to reappear with two clones. While one of them fired a pink energy ball, the other two created glowing boxes that formed on either side of Mimi. Realizing that he was trying to squish her between the two blocks, Mimi withdrew her legs and surrounded her head with Rubees. Spinning her head around, she broke free of the boxes and hit all three Dimentios, nailing the true one the final time. However, she had forgotten the pink energy ball fired by a Dimentio clone. It slammed into her, doing considerable damage.
"You think you've got me? Think again! I've got plenty of these." Mimi used a Super Shroom Shake, and she was back to full health. When the jester reappeared, he snapped his fingers, and a large field of blue electricity enveloped Mimi. The jester's exponential powers were still going, and when Mimi managed to shake the attack off, she was just as weakened as she was before she had used the shake. Dimentio didn't give her a chance to use another shake, appearing with clones and firing pink energy balls all around. She managed to get one more hit on Dimentio before she was knocked out by one of the pink blasts. She collapsed, returning to her normal form.
Nastasia walked into the area. "So you think you've got what it takes?" asked Dimentio. "You did defeat me last time, but with the power I've gained from fighting Mimi, I'll finish you quickly and easily." He fired a wave of pink energy blasts at Nastasia, who swiftly dodged them. However, the blasts ricocheted off the wall and ceiling, coming back to hit her. The damage was intense. Nastasia pulled out a super shake of her own, but not all of her health had been restored. She used another one to be safe.
"Even if you're at full health, you can't withstand anything more! My next attack will be capable of knocking you out in one hit." The jester tried to enclose her in a box from afar, too far to use it as a platform to reach him. Frantically, Nastasia tried hypnotizing Dimentio again, but the red bolts disappeared after a few moments. "You think your pathetic power of hypnosis can match against mine?" The jester attempted to hypnotize Nastasia, partially succeeding.
Although in no shape to fight, Mimi was still conscious. "Nastasia! Take this!" She tossed a Block Block in her direction. Instantly, a glowing, reflective cube surrounded Nastasia, and Dimentio's bolts vanished. Now invulnerable, Nastasia gave it everything she had. She managed to hit Dimentio once, but the jester simply produced a clone and disappeared. The Dimentio clone continued firing pink energy balls, waiting for Nastasia's invincibility to wear off. When it did, the real Dimentio reappeared, attacking her with glowing boxes.
"I can't take this for much longer!" moaned Nastasia.
"I'll see if I can help," suggested Mimi. She stumbled to the nearby shop. While she was gone, Nastasia damaged Dimentio once, but she knew she couldn't keep avoiding the bouncing pink blasts for long. When Mimi returned, she looked nervous. "They didn't have any more Block Blocks, but they had this! It'll increase your power!" She tossed the power-up to Nastasia, and her power was indeed increased. Dimentio responded by firing several more blasts, including a lightning strike. Nastasia was out, but Mimi had planned ahead. She tossed a Life Shroom in Nastasia's direction, reviving her but with very little health. "Come on! You can do it!"
Nastasia tried to do it. Dodging more blasts and boxes, she hit Dimentio one more time, and the jester seemed weakened again. He managed to hit Nastasia again, but Mimi had prepared for this, too. She used a super shake on herself, putting her in fighting condition again. Realizing that if she used her spider transformation, Dimentio would easily hit her, she flipped out, reappeared above Dimentio, and dropped several Rubees onto his head.
The jester was certainly defeated. "Gaah!" he wailed. "Why can't I defeat you? Why can't I defeat these pathetic minions?"
"We won, and that's that," asserted Mimi.
"Only because you cheated! You two used cheap items to help you. I fought honestly."
"It was either do that or be killed. And we'd rather choose not dying."
"Hm...you both do have strength, I'll admit." He returned to his normal expression. "Ah ha ha ha! It doesn't matter, anyway. The next part of my plan requires me to keep you alive. So watch out!" He disappeared.

Tippi and the five heroes exited the green door. When they descended to the second floor, Merlon was indeed there, along with Mimi and Nastasia. "I trust that you've managed to find the Pure Heart?" Merlon asked.
Here it comes, thought Tippi. "Yes," she answered, proceeding to explain their ridiculous story.
"It seems you've had quite an adventure there," noted Merlon. "Well, that world has been saved, and you've got the Pure Heart, so I guess everything's OK for now."
Wow. He believed us.
"Dimentio attacked again," explained Nastasia. "It was close. He almost managed to kill us. Something he said worried me, though. He said a part of his plan involves him keeping us alive. What could he be planning?"
Merlon thought. "I don't know. I just don't know. That Dimentio is a complete enigma. Who knows what he's planning." He paused. "I have read a very strange passage in the Light Prognosticus. It says this: 'Of three lost friends, only one will survive the chaos that will ensue upon the Chaos Heart's reemergence.' I have no clue what it means. Do any of you have ideas?"
Mario thought. "So it says 'the Chaos Heart's reemergence'? Does that mean the Chaos Heart will reappear? Dimentio will pull off his plan, whatever it is, to reactivate it? It doesn't sound very good."
"I don't think it's a very happy prophecy either, but since the book also implies that you'll find all of the Pure Hearts again, I'm not sure what to think. Well, you all are heroes, anyway, so I think you'll be able to stop him."
Mimi walked toward the heroes. "So the prophecy said there's going to be nine heroes? And O'Chunks is the fifth? In that case, I'd be obliged to join you as well."
"That would be excellent," observed Merlon. "Is Nastasia willing to join, too?"
"Well...um, I think I should tell you guys something." She related the story of her past. "And I'm still troubled by what I did."
"I see. Do you need time to reflect? Perhaps you should stay here in Flipside a while longer?"
"I think so. I don't think I'd be very helpful anyway. And Dimentio said he'd keep us alive, so I think I'd be safe if I stayed. I'll try to improve my power so I'll be a better help if I join the heroes sometime."
"Very well then. Well, heroes, you know what to do. I'll keep reading the Prognosticus. I'll tell you if I find anything else." He walked back into his house.
Mimi turned toward the heroes. "So I'm with you now, huh? This is gonna be fun!"

-Mimi has joined the party!-

"So now we've got to go to Flopside to find the next Heart Pillar," explained Tippi. Our heroes, now including Mimi, descended the elevator to the first floor, walked to the right, flipped into 3D, and walked the pathway to the Mirror Hall. Once there, another flip into 3D brought them to an inverted version of the place they had been in, and it was much darker at that. The door in this area took them to Flopside, the flip-flopped town on the other side of Flipside. Our heroes took the elevator up to the second floor, and a voice startled them. "Oh ho! So you've found five Pure Hearts, have you?"
They turned around, and Nolrem, the Flopside equivalent of Merlon, was standing there. "Merlon told me about your new quest to recover the Pure Hearts. I knew you'd reach this place eventually, but you did it must faster than I expected."
"Well, they're heroes," stated Tippi. "Did Merlon tell you about what he read in the Light Prognosticus?"
"He did," Nolrem answered. "I haven't been able to figure out anything from that book's words either, but two heads are better than one, and you never know, we might discover something useful sometime."
"I see."
"Now, place the Pure Heart in the pillar above here, and continue your quest. Talking will only delay us."
Our heroes took the elevator up to the third floor. The Heart Pillar was in the same place as the first pillar in Flipside. Our heroes set the Pure Heart in the proper place, and the patterns again formed. The pale blue door was drawn on Flipside Tower, which our heroes returned to as quickly as they could. They passed the red, orange, yellow, and green doors before arriving at the pale blue one. It had once lead to the Land of the Cragnons, but there was no telling where it lead now.

276

Fan Creations / Re: Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness

« on: October 22, 2007, 06:52:24 PM »

The traitor, five heroes, and their guide crept through the hallway after entering the nearby door. "This staircase will eventually lead us there," Kara explained, her voice barely audible. She climbed the stairs, leading the heroes. After a few more doors hallways, and staircases, our heroes could see they were walking on a bridge far above the floor below. "This place is huge!" whispered Luigi. "How could the Animauls have built it if they started just a little while ago?"
"Well, the palace existed before then," answered Kara. "It was intended to be a castle, like the one they built in the Bitlands, in which the Pure Heart would reside. But the Animauls have added to it."
"So you know about the Pure Hearts and all that?"
"Yes. I got a firsthand experience, since I was created slightly before the Ancients divided the Purity Heart. It looks like this Pure Heart isn't the same one that was going to be placed here."
Wow. I never would've guessed she was that old!
Eventually, the group arrived at a huge door. "This is the door to the throne room. We have to be absolutely silent." She inserted the key into the lock, opened the door, and they entered the pitch-black throne room.
Suddenly, all of the lights came on.
"So. My suspicions were true. The one I thought to be my most loyal servant has betrayed me."
What seemed like a huge, red pulsating heart appeared before them. It seemed to be made of the same material as most of the other Animauls; it had a stitch down the middle, and part of its upper-right section had apparently been destroyed, leaving stuffing visible. The heart had two eyes that had a very creepy vibe. "I suspected that you didn't support me. Whenever I gave orders, you seemed uncomfortable. Whenever I saw you in other places, you seemed to be just staring off into space instead of torturing those incompetent slaves. Well, I've caught you now, Kara."
"Err..." Tippi began. "Are you King Animaul?"
"Yes, and you are in no position to address me in that manner. Anyone who disobeys my royal orders shall be put to death."
"You can't just kill everyone who doesn't listen to you!"
"On the contrary. I've experienced enough suffering in my lamentable existence. Now it's time for others to suffer for me. Including that boy with you."
"You've suffered?" asked Frank.
"Like no one else. I was once a teddy bear, happy as could be. My girl loved me, and I loved her. But one day, she disappeared. And thanks to your friend Dimentio, I've learned that she just didn't care."
"She probably did care!" argued Tippi. "She might have just outgrown stuffed animals!"
"If that was true, she would've found another place for me. But she didn't. Now that I know what she really thought, I hate her like never before. And your prescence only makes things worse. Your voice reminds me of hers."
"So you're trying to find her? A bear said that to one of the citizens we saw."
"It might be a futile search, but if I can find her, I can force her into the most brutal work in all of the kingdom. She left me to rot. I had a heart stitched on my chest, to remind her of our friendship. Over the years, I've been battered and bruised, and my current state is all that remains."
"Well..." Tippi couldn't think of what to say. How could she convince him otherwise?
"Kara." King Animaul's voice grew even more stern. "Since you've led these slaves here to steal my gift from Dimentio, the Pure Heart, you are hereby convicted of treason, and you are sentenced to almost-death."
"A...almost-death?"
"Despite not having organs that can cease to function, you can still feel pain. I'll have you ripped to shreds, and I'll place your decapitated-but-still-sentient head in the hallway as a warning to any other fools who might be planning something. I've ordered two servants to stay here, because I knew you would bring them here. Come!"
The servants, a doll and a cat, emerged from behind the nearby throne, carrying a spiky metal pole. When they drew close to the shaking Kara, the cat impaled her stomach with the weapon while the doll rushed to carry it from the other end sticking from Kara's back. As she screamed in pain, the minions carried her out the door with the pole.
"You're mad!" shouted Peach. "You'd sentence to...almost-death any Animaul who'd fail to please you. You're a tyrant!"
"Why, thank you. Once all of these barbarians are wiped out, the Animauls will reign supreme over this dimension."
"What!?" exclaimed Mario. "You're going to wipe them out? I thought you were using them as slaves!"
"For now, that is, until the palace is finished. After that, I'll have no use for them."
"Yeh can't do this!" pleaded O'Chunks. "Yeh can't just wipe out all o' them!"
"But I can. You seven will be the first victims. And if I ever find my former girl, she'll be the eighth."
"Wait," said Tippi. "You said you were once a bear?"
"I was, until she left me to rot."
"Wait a minute..."
"Well, we'll make sure you never get your revenge!" announced Peach.
Mario continued. "We aren't going to go down without a fight!" He went into his "confident" pose.
"Oh? Very well then. I'll destroy you in battle, and then I'll launch my plan for revenge. Dimentio told me no one had heard from my owner in a long time, but with his help, I'm sure I can locate that traitor. She was so pretty, too, with that long orange hair...and brilliant face...too bad she has to suffer now!" Two layers of thick transparent plastic appeared over King Animaul, shielding him. A used bandage was attached to the left side of the plastic, the right side held part of a "30% OFF!" label, and a sock was draped over the top. The king rose higher in the air, and boxes appeared below him, supporting him. The boxes advertised playhouses for kids and boxes for dolls. Long wires extended from the top of his square plastic shield, and large, very sharp green, red, yellow, and blue crayons appeared on the ends, two dangling on each side. Two more wires appeared on each side, each holding a half of one of those baby rattle things with noisemaking plastic balls inside them. The place where the central area had been broken looked intensely sharp. "I'll destroy all of you, and then I'll place your bones alongside Kara's head. They'll make a fine traitor collection."

BOSS
King Animaul

The green crayon aimed for Mario, who quickly jumped out of the way before the spiky crayon swiftly collided with the floor.
"I'll take this ugly king!" announced Luigi. He tried to perform the Super Jump and attack King Animaul's shield from below, but the round portion of the right rattle knocked him to the floor, dazed. O'Chunks quickly shoved Luigi out of the way before he was impaled by the yellow crayon.
"I'll try to help." Frank attempted to use the boxes as stepping stones to reach the king, but a crayon quickly shoved him away. He smacked into a wall at the other side of the room.
"Come on, Bowser!" begged Peach. "Help us!"
Bowser had been standing silently in a corner. "Hmph. Well, fine...if he kills all of you, he'll probably go after me next." He flamed the green crayon, charring it but not reducing it to ashes. Seeing his opportunity, Mario used the burnt crayon as a stepping stone to land a jump on the king's shield of plastic. It didn't break like he would've expected, but it seemed dented.
"We've got to attack the shield, guys!" Mario again attempted to damage King Animaul this way, but a huge boulder suddenly blocked his progress. Those rattles were filled with something other than just noisemaking balls.
While King Animaul was distracted with Mario, Peach followed the path Mario had taken, jumped above the shield, and performed a downward parasol spike. The plastic was dented further. "I think one more hit will break it for good!"
"Leave it to me!" bragged Bowser. He walked toward King Animaul from the left, but being slower than the others, he couldn't dodge the spiky crayons as well. Fortunately, when he noticed the red crayon about to smash him, he quickly moved forward so that the crayon hit his durable shell, denting the now no-longer-sharp crayon. Bowser attempted to attack the king, but the yellow and blue crayons still remained threats. Seeing that Bowser would probably be impaled if he wasn't careful, O'Chunks unleashed more gas and pounded on King Animaul's shield from above. As he expected, the plastic broke, but our heroes had forgotten that there were two layers of plastic protecting King Animaul. O'Chunks was flung off of the inner shield as the outer one exploded, sending all of the dangling weapons across the room along with the supporting boxes.
"That wasn't ordinary plastic!" reflected Luigi.
Despite the explosion, King Animaul didn't seem to be harmed. He moved into a slightly lower position, still floating, along with the inner plastic shield. Suddenly, large triangle-shaped sections of the sheild broke apart, although they were quickly replaced. The triangles collided and formed into four shuriken-like objects that floated around the room, bouncing off walls.
"I'll go for it!" announced Frank. He tried to damage the king's new shield, but a shuriken struck him from behind and knocked him to the ground, and it then richocheted off the floor and bounced up to hit Mario.
"Yaah!" Mario cried. "Those things are sharp! What can we do about them?"
"I'll help you." Bowser turned his back to two incoming shurikens, and two more weapons were deflected by Bowser's shell, slamming into King Animaul's shield. A huge nail suddenly shot from the top of his shield, sailing over Bowser's shell. While O'Chunks pointed out that Bowser was about to be nailed (pun not intended), Luigi prepared the Super Jump and cracked the bottom of the king's shield. King Animaul responded by rapid-firing darts in Luigi's direction. Luigi being an expert dodger, most of them missed, but one ended up protruding from his chest.
"Luigi!" exclaimed Mario, rushing to his brother's aid. "Speak to me!!!"
"Hey, it's no problem." Luigi held his arm out, letting the dart fall from his armpit to the ground. The Mario Brothers turned around, and saw that they were the target of the two remaining shurikens. They ducked the first, but Luigi was feeling brave when the second arrived. He thrust his arms upward, scraping his hands, but allowing him to grab onto one of the shuriken's triangle sections. In seconds, he did an amazing backflip and further dented the shield with the shuriken he was holding.
King Animaul again produced four shurikens, but these ones moved much faster than before. "Look out!" shouted Frank to O'Chunks.
While O'Chunks dove out of the way, Bowser located a shuriken and deflected it, using his shell again. Another one came, which he deflected as well. The two shurikens bounced off the ceiling and hit King Animaul's sheild. It looked close to breaking.
"We've almost got him!" joyfully announced Frank. Bowser got to work on the two remaining shurikens, as well as the single remaining slow one. They didn't damage the shield, but he managed to stop them. Frank knew that the king would produce even more, so he ran up to the evil king, jumped, and gave the shield a kick for all he was worth. It shattered. "He's open n-" Frank smacked into a wall once more. "Gee, I've got to stop this, or I could get a concussion!"
Without anything protecting him, King Animaul was finally open to attack. However, it seemed he had one last trick up his sleeve. He extended two more sharp rattle ends on wires, possibly a power granted to him by Dimentio, which he quickly spun around himself in wide circles, making it impossible to reach him. Mario and Luigi were on the left side of King Animaul, but everyone else was on his right side. The king floated to the right, aiming for the side that contained more heroes. Mario and Luigi didn't know what they could do. Soon, the rest of the heroes would be impaled! What can I do!? I...wait! I've got it! Mario flipped into 3D and sped to the other side of the king. He flipped back into 2D. "Bowser, throw me into the air!"
"What? Why would I do that?"
"Just do it!"
"You don't speak to the Koopa King that w-"
"Bowser, I know you're unhappy being with us, but if you don't want to die, throw me into the air!" Bowser didn't have much time to think, but knowing Mario, he probably knew what he was doing. He obeyed, sending Mario toward the ceiling. King Animaul, realizing Mario was more of a threat with his flipping ability, moved upwards to attack him-and the rattles clanged against the ceiling, wedged in a corner. Everyone else saw their chance. They hit King Animaul with everything they had.
The wires broke, and the extra rattles tumbled to the ground. King Animaul fell to the ground as well. "Nooooooo!!!" he wailed. "I've been...defeated! By traitors! First Timpani, than Kara, then these worthless slaves! Will I ever meet someone I can trust!?" He collapsed.

The pale blue Pure Heart appeared before our heroes. "Here's Pure Heart number five," noted Bowser.
Tippi floated toward the still King Animaul. "...Timpani?" she asked.
"...Y...yes. Timpani was my former owner. Why does it matter? You defeated me. You shouldn't care."
"Because..." Tippi remembered it all now. Using the power Merlon had granted her, she reverted to her human form. "...It's me. Timpani."
The king's eyes widened. "T...Timpani...it's you! You were with them the whole time!"
"Yes. You've been a very naughty bear. You were always so strong-minded, but I never would've guessed you would enslave all of those citizens."
"You...remember me? It's been ages since I last saw you. Where have you been?"
Timpani explained everything that had occured to her since she had left him, ending with how she had forgotten her past and remembered the king now that she had seen him. "And now I find you, ruling over a kingdom with an iron fist."
"The king once belonged to you?" asked Mario. "Oh no. We'd better run!"
"No...you do not need to run. I have been defeated...and Dimentio was wrong when he said I would be able to defeat you. And now I have met Timpani again. Timpani...I...I am sorry. For everything I've done. I have done so much evil..."
"You surely have. But, as long as you promise not to act up again next time, I'll forgive you. It's really not your own fault. That Dimentio is a tricky one."
The door behind them opened. Our heroes looked in that direction, and Kara, along with the two servants, were standing there.
"Kara?" asked King Animaul. "How did you...survive?"
Kara smiled. "I guess those heroes defeated you before the servants could almost-kill me. Since they were hypnotized by Dimentio, and it looks like you're sorry after they defeated you, they aren't serving the evil King Animaul anymore." She walked toward him, and they could see that a new white stitch had been placed on her stomach. "I guess you learned your lesson, hm?"
"Yes. I am deeply sorry. Tell everyone to free the slaves and stop what they're doing. This cruelty cannot continue."
"I can't wait to tell Fred what we did!" exclaimed Frank.
"Yeah, whatever," sighed Bowser. "Let's take this Pure Heart now, OK?"
Kara nodded. "It looks like you're getting the Pure Heart after all...and things are changing. You're truly heroes, and that's why you deserve the Pure Heart."

PURE HEART GET!
-END OF CHAPTER-

Our heroes prevailed through yet another of Dimentio's nefarious schemes and claimed their fifth Pure Heart. Bidding farewell to Frank, Kara, and the former King Animaul, our heroes returned to Flipside, another dimension saved from Dimentio's grasp. Three Pure Hearts still remain to be found, so our heroes have no time to waste. They've already thwarted three of Dimentio's plots. Who knows what that mad jester will do when he learns of this?

277

Fan Creations / Re: Super Paper Mario 2: The Tribe of Darkness

« on: October 22, 2007, 06:48:15 PM »

So here's the conclusion of Chapter 4. To be honest, I have no idea where some of these ideas came from.


The large door slammed behind them, and our heroes and Frank found themselves inside Animaul Palace. It had a white tiled floor, pink stone walls, and blue-and-yellow designs on those walls. A sign on the left wall detailed current events, and on the right wall were rules about behavior in this palace. And, of course, there were many Animauls going to and fro throughout the palace.
Our heroes froze.

"It's THEM!"
"Oh my..."
Suddenly, five bears seemed to jump out of nowhere and held swords to our heroes' throats. "Do not move!" one of them commanded. He looked them over. "Yep, you guys are definitely the group of five-"
"Six," corrected Tippi. "Actually, seven, since Frank is with us, but he's not really an...um...hero."
"What? I'm not?"
"Whatever. Anyway, you guys are definitely the group of seven that Kara told us about. We'll have to punish you appropriately. And, of course, force you into slavery to expand the palace for us."
"How are you going to enforce that other punishment?" asked Bowser. "Give me your wost. 'Cause, you know, if this sword wasn't about to prick my throat, I'd be squishing the lot of you like stuffed animals. Oh, wait..."
"Your taunts aren't going to matter here. We're going to hand you over to Kara, and she can decide your punishment." He led the heroes through a door, down some corridors, and eventually to another door. He opened it (with his sword) and ushered the heroes inside. He closed the door, where he remained, guarding it.
Kara was standing in this room. She seemed relatively comfortable, but it was obvious that Bowser had attacked her; a large, dark burned area covered the right side of her hair and a small portion of her head, another one stretched from her left arm to her torso, and a third burn mark covered her right leg. She had a new stitch that encircled that leg. The doll mistress looked at the heroes for a while without speaking. Finally, she addressed Bowser. "Do you anything to say for yourself?" Her voice was weaker as well.
"Me? All I have to say is, you'd better not get in my way again!"
"Your way? What do these friends of yours think?"
Tippi paused before speaking. "We didn't want him to do that. He's not exactly enthusiastic about being with us in the first place."
"Is that so, um..."
"Bowser," he offered. "And yes, these wimps tried to hold me back, but-"
"Then you deserve the highest punishment of your group. What are the rest of your names?"
Tippi explained who the rest of the heroes and Frank were.
"Then, Mario, Luigi, Peach, O'Chunks, Tippi, and Frank, you are hereby sentenced to the unfinished wing of the palace, where you will work with the others to build the south wall. Bowser will be gathering the materials to make that wall, and he must gather enough material to make 30 bricks each hour."
"WHAT!? That's impossible! What am I supposed to be doing!? Gathering stones on the beach?"
"Yes. Take them to the room next to where your friends are working to make them into bricks. The workers there will give you more information."
"I'm not going to..." Bowser started marching toward Kara, probably wanting to attack her again, but the bear guarding the door walked in front of Bowser at an amazing speed and blocked Kara with his sword, which he then threatened Bowser with.
"Fine, fine, I'll do what you wimps say."
"That is all," finished Kara. "You will now be led to your assigned work area."
The bear started to lead them there. Before they were out the door, though, Kara spoke again. "Wait." She walked toward them. "I want to know something. Why did you come to this palace? It seems like you would hide after Bowser attacked me, instead of coming here where you'd be enslaved."
"I'm not sure if I want to tell you that..." thought Tippi aloud.
"As person in charge of all the kingdom, second to King Animaul, I have the authority to have any information I ask of you."
"Well...we're looking for something called a Pure Heart that we believe to be in this palace." She didn't add that her Pure Heart sense was going crazy at the moment.
Kara's eyes widened for a moment, but her expression returned to normal after that brief time. She finally uttered, after a few seconds of silence, "Oh." She paused again, probably thinking this over. "You may be led to your work areas now." As Frank and our heroes were led out of the room, they could see Kara staring at the wall and looking somewhat withdrawn.

"This is torture!" complained Luigi as he carefully set a brick into place.
"You can say THAT again!" agreed Bowser, dumping his 30 hourly bricks next to the others. "Oops, did I just agree with you? I mean...this is awesome! It's the most fun I've ever had!" He dashed to the other room.
"He's still not very happy about being with us," noted Frank. He lowered his voice to a whisper to avoid having the nearby cat slavemaster hear his words. "Which is a bad thing. If we want to have any hope of escaping this slavery, we'll need to pull together."
"Perhaps we can somehow convince Bowser that he needs to keep working with us," suggested Luigi. "It sounds crazy, but it's likely our only shot."
"If we ever make it back to Flipside," began Tippi, "I wonder if Merlon will believe that we were enslaved by stuffed animals."
"He did believe that crazy story about a power-mad ruler who used his own minions to power his battle machine," offered Mario. "He'll probably believe this crazy story about being enslaved by stuffed animals."
"'E betta believe we 'ad to do THIS!" grumbled O'Chunks, lifting a rather large brick.
The sun was starting to descend toward the horizon. "You guys think the work day will end soon?" asked Peach.
"The work day ends when the sky is dark," explained a Flipside boy next to them, who had apparently been working here for a while.
"Oh, great. That's probably in at least a couple of hours. I don't think I can stand a couple more seconds of this back-breaking servitude!"
"Yeah. They don't give us much rest here. We're up and working as soon as the sun rises."
"Ouch."
"You can say that again," agreed a Flipside girl. "I can't fall asleep for several hours after sunset and I'm always too tired in the morning to do anything."
"And THAT'S why all of you need to be in bed as soon as the work day's over," remarked the nearby slavemaster.
"We've got to keep down," whispered Frank.
"Bed?" asked Tippi. "What kinds of beds are there?"
"We sleep in a room inside the palace," explained the boy. "The beds are barely anything but uncomfortable matresses."
When the sun had drawn ever closer to the horizon, their wall and another wall being on by other slaves drew close enough for the slaves on one side to see those on the other side clearly. Frank happened to look at the other wall, and thought he saw someone he recognized. "Fred?" he asked.
Fred turned around. "Frank! You're here! How'd you get caught?"
"Well...it's a long story. I'll tell you later."

Frank did tell him later. As the slaves were walking to the room where they slept, Frank related all the events that had occured to the group.
"Wow," remarked Fred. "I never could've dodged Kara that well."
When it was time for the workers to go to bed, all of the Animauls left the bunkroom except for Kara. "I'll be watching your performance tomorrow. So you all better do a good job." She glanced at the heroes for a few seconds before exiting and closing the door.
"Oh, GREAT!" grumbled a slave. "Now Kara's going to be watching us. We'll never get enough work done to satisfy her!"
Tippi whispered to the heroes. "Why did she glance at us like that?"
"She was like that earlier," responded Mario. "I think she got suspicious when we told her we were looking for the Pure Heart."
"We shouldn't 'ave told 'er that," lamented O'Chunks.
"Not we," groaned Bowser. "It was TIPPI!"
"I HAD to!"
"Whatever."
"You think the reason she's coming in tomorrow is so she can make sure we don't pull anything?" asked Peach.
"Probably," agreed Luigi, sighing. "NOW what can we do? The door's locked. I heard Kara lock it when she left."
Tippi remembered something. "I forgot to say earlier...the Pure Heart is definitely very close to us. My Pure Heart sense is very strong here."
"Maybe we can somehow look for the Pure Heart tomorrow," offered Frank. "Tippi can sense it and give us an idea of where in the palace it is. Though...we probably...won't be able to get there."
"This is hopeless!" cried Tippi. "How are we supposed to find the Pure Heart and save the worlds if we can't go anywhere?"
"The Light Prognosticus has never been wrong," offered Peach.
"But even so...if we are going to find all of the Pure Hearts, how will we? How will we escape this place? How will we find the Pure Heart?"
"The Ancients knew what they were writing about, Tippi. They may not have known that their stuffed animals would revolt and enslave the inhabitants of a dimension, but if it's written that we'd collect the Pure Hearts again, we're sure collecting them."
"Perhaps you're right. Well, we'll have to find out tomorrow. For now, let's just rest."
"Right," agreed Mario. "We can't do anything if we're tired."

Our heroes and all of the other slaves were back to work on the early-morning beach, and Kara was watching them. "You're only making about 20 bricks an hour," she criticized a girl. "You need 30."
"30!? I can't make 30! I'm lucky if I pull 25!"
"30. No less." Kara walked toward our heroes, leaving the girl to attempt to make ten bricks in the next five minutes. The heroes felt quite uncomfortable with Kara watching their progress, but she left to observe someone else after a few minutes without speaking.
"I'm surprised," whispered Frank after Kara had passed out of hearing range. "I thought for sure she was going to say something about us trying to find that Pure Heart."
"I thought so too..." agreed Tippi. "Why didn't she mention it?"
"She probably just wants to keep us in line."
"Probably, but still..."
"Here's your darn bricks," announced Bowser.
"Thanks, Bowser," said Mario. Bowser didn't bother to say you're welcome as he trudged back to the brick room. "I try to be nice, and he doesn't even say anything."
"He's still mad about this," observed Luigi. "But he seems a bit softer than when we were traveling here. Maybe he finally realized that we're in this together."
When the sun had risen to its halfway point, the slaves were allowed a lunch break on the beach. The food was horrible, but it was all they had. "This stuff is horrid!" griped Luigi. "Shouldn't they give us better food than this, given that we're the ones building their palace?"
"Yeh can bet on that!" agreed O'Chunks, cringing as he ate a mushy apple. "Don't they know they're servin' us this trash fer lunch?"
"The Animauls don't have taste buds," pointed out Tippi. "They wouldn't know."
"They probably wouldn't even care that we're eating this garbage," added Frank.
When they had finished, it was back to work. The sun continued its course across the sky, and after they had built a few more feet of the brick wall, Kara again began observing them. Our heroes grew increasingly disturbed by her silence. Finally, after they laid several more bricks down, Tippi could stand it no longer. "Kara? Did you want to tell us something?"
"No, other than you're doing a good job." She left.
"That was odd," observed Frank. "If not the last time, I was sure she was going to mention the Pure Heart this time."
"Yeah, how come she's silent all the time now?" wondered Luigi.
The day dragged on, the walls growing ever so closer together. When Kara came around again, Tippi watched her out of the corner of her eye, which was pretty hard to do considering she didn't have eyes. Kara stared at the heroes for a while, then folded her arms and looked at the ground. She appeared to be thinking about something, but Tippi was afraid of what might happen if she spoke again. Finally, Kara broke the silence. "Did you say you were looking for something called a Pure Heart?"
"Yes," answered Tippi. "We need it to save the world."
Kara hesitated before speaking, "Please come to the group of palm trees outside this room at sundown." She briskly walked away.
"Here it comes," dreaded Peach. "The moment when they execute us with some scary stuffed animal weapon."
"She didn't sound angry," noticed Mario. "I don't think they're going to kill us. But...what does she want us for?"
"Well, certainly something about the Pure Heart," offered Luigi. "But what?"

When it was time for the workers to end their day, the heroes walked between the two in-construction walls and onto the beach. When they reached the group of palm trees, Kara was already there. "So you're looking for the Pure Heart?"
"Yes," answered Tippi. "We need eight of them, and we have four already."
"Then...you must be the heroes that Dimentio said would come. Is that right?"
"Yes. A prophectic book called the Light Prognosticus states that we'll find the Pure Hearts, and Dimentio is trying to stop us."
"And you need the Pure Hearts to save the world?"
"That's true, too."
Kara thought this over in silence for a while. "You need to go into the palace and get the Pure Heart from King Animaul."
Mario was shocked. "Wh...what? You want us to get the Pure Heart?"
"Yes. When I joined King Animaul, I was upset over how we were being treated, like he was. But then he took it to the maximum. He started enslaving all of the toys that now call themselves the Animauls with Dimentio's help. I eventually realized the truth about this, and I didn't want to serve him in this way."
"You didn't? Then why did you pursue us so intently?"
"Because King Animaul would punish me if I didn't. He has some unimaginable punishments for those who don't listen to him. I didn't punish the girl who couldn't make 30 bricks an hour, even though King Animaul would have ordered me to. I've never hated the people that once owned us as much as he does."
"You never supported King Animaul's policies?"
"No. I once belonged to a girl in another dimension. She didn't treat me as just a doll. We were friends. We played together, talked to each other, got hurt together and shared our pain. There was a wooden bridge near where we lived...we were forbidden to cross it because of some nasty creatures and a dangerous volcano on the other side of it. One time," she giggled, "we wanted to see what it was like on the other side, so we crossed it when no one was looking. As soon as we saw one of those creatures, we went screaming back home. We were scared, but now it's something I can look back on. She was a friend...I know from experience that you guys aren't all barbarians." She pointed at them. "That's why I want you to get the Pure Heart. To show King Animaul the error of his ways."
"So you support us? I mean, me?" asked Bowser. "As much as I hate to admit it...um...uh...blah..."
"Go ahead, say it," encouraged Peach.
"...I'm sorry for frying you."
"It's fine, Bowser. I'm not mad at you. You did what you did because you thought I was an enemy."
"Really? You're not mad? Of course, not like it would make any diff-"
"So how do we get into the palace?" asked Tippi. "Won't someone see us?"
"All of the Animauls will be in bed within half an hour. We can sneak into the palace then."
"OK..." Tippi paused. "What will happen if we're caught? And where exactly is the Pure Heart?"
"We'll probably be put to death if we're caught, and-"
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Well, if they found out I let you guys look for the Pure Heart, it would be treason. That's why we have to do this at night."
"Even so...he'd kill all of us? Even you?"
"Yes. Well, to a point, that is...since I'm a doll, and I don't have any vital organs I need to stay alive, I probably can't die. I just have...stuffing." She squeezed her neck, causing her head to expand. She released her grip, returning her head to normal. "You can't kill an Animaul."
"What would he do to you then?"
"I don't know. He'd probably sentence me to life in prison. And that would mean I'd be in prison forever, until the end of the world! That's why you heroes need to get the Pure Heart-to save all of us. And all of the dimensions."
Although she hadn't doubted Kara before, with that, Tippi knew she couldn't be lying. "We'll try our best. Do you know exactly where the Pure Heart is?"
"It's in King Animaul's throne room. I know, it makes our job sound even more dangerous, but he'll be asleep by then. We can sneak into the room, get the Heart, and get back out safely if we don't make any noise."
"But the throne room's locked, isn't it?" asked Frank.
"Not for me. I have the keys to get anywhere in the palace, so we can get to the throne room quickly." She looked toward the palace. "We should start soon. Follow me to the throne room, grab the Pure Heart, and then leave this awful place."
"What about you, though?" asked Tippi. "Are you just going to keep serving the king? And what about all the slaves?"
"I don't know what I can do about that. Maybe I'll try and convince King Animaul...no, that wouldn't work. Once he notices the Pure Heart is missing, there's no telling what that tyrant will do."
"Aren't you worried, then? We can take you back to Flipside with us if you want. I'm sure you'll want to get away from King Animaul once the Pure Heart is gone."
Kara thought. "Well...I don't know. I'd like to leave this place, but...I can't just leave the slaves in a condition like this. I'm probably the only reason half of the slaves haven't been executed by now."
What are we going to do, then... "Well, let's focus on getting the Pure Heart for now, and we'll figure out what to do after that later."
"OK. We'll begin soon."

278

Mario Chat / Re: Mariology (serious posts wanted)

« on: October 15, 2007, 04:55:08 PM »

If anyone cares, I could upload a close-up of it, or pretty much any other place on the map.

There's a lot of places on that map whose names are too small to read at this size...those islands to the right of the South Mushroom Kingdom/Beanbean Kingdom, and the Wario World places as well as that orange place on the S. Mushroom Kingdom continent. Could you say what they are? (Also, is that island to the west of Giant Land anything?) I don't think Shooting Star Summit and Stardust Fields should be merged; Stardust Fields is to the south, shared with the Beanbean Kingdom, and SSS is north of Peach's Castle, so it's unlikely they're close together.

I'm starting to work on my own map like I said, and I've made a list of all the places from the following Mario games: SMB, tLL, SMB3, SMW, SMW2, SMRPG, PM, SMS (Isle Delfino), M&L SS, PM: tTYD, and M&L PiT. I've also included "miscellaneous" locations, which are Sarasaland, Kitchen Island, the Waffle Kingdom, Luigi's Mansion/Boo Woods, Vibe Island, and Jewelry Land/Diamond City. Since I've almost never played any Wario games, I've put down Wario World as well but didn't include any locations, since the places from Wario games don't have much signifigance in anything I'm using the map for. Did I miss anything else?

279

Mario Chat / Re: Canon, plot, style: What's your opinion?

« on: October 15, 2007, 04:24:50 PM »

I think the original plan for Luigi's Mansion was that the ending was not a random Boo operating a Bowser suit, but Bowser's spirit reanimating his own dead body, after having been killed in Paper Mario -- otherwise, we have to deal with a new character talking about "all the trouble you've given me in the past" in his debut appearance.

Well, King Boo appeared in Super Mario Sunshine and other games, so I don't think he's Bowser's spirit. He might have been referring to how Mario and Luigi have defeated his Boos in earlier games by "trouble you've given me in the past".

280

Mario Chat / Re: Canon, plot, style: What's your opinion?

« on: October 13, 2007, 03:24:49 PM »

The Mario games don't fit together and there is no point in trying to make them do so. Plots within games are fine, but it ends there. Leave massive storylines to stuff like Xenosaga.

Yeah, I'm not talking about a massive storyline or anything. I was mainly referring to (gaah, forgot to mention...) inconsistancies within the Mario games; Peach's Castle looking different in every game, Mario supposedly being older but being delievered at the same time as Luigi, etc. These things could use some official explanations without tying the games' storyline too closely. A direct sequel now in then would be nice as well...'Course, that's just my opinion.

Haven't seen the SMG opening (don't want to spoil it for myself) but from what I've heard, it's EPIC. I think I'll really be liking that game.

281

Mario Chat / Re: Canon, plot, style: What's your opinion?

« on: October 12, 2007, 08:28:28 PM »

I'm not talking about a continuous storyline. I'm talking about, perhaps we should have a Mario game that's a direct sequel to another, or one that draws heavily upon another. I wouldn't be happy if all the games became one continuous plot. It wouldn't leave room. >_>

Thanks for the comments everyone. I might form a revised version of my original statement sometime based on the input. (I always forget to say something about one of my opinions. Always. >_>)

282

Mario Chat / Canon, plot, style: What's your opinion?

« on: October 12, 2007, 05:10:08 PM »

Mario's always been the basic example of a video game hero, and that's because he was one of the first. He runs through worlds, saves Princess Peach, beats Bowser, and saves the day every time. He also has lots of spinoffs; golf, tennis, baseball, soccer, basketball, parties, racing games, you name it. And that's because he's popular. People around the globe love playing Mario, and they'll pay for just about anything that contains everyone's favorite hero plumber.

Focus a bit on the Mario's always been the basic example of a video game hero part, emphasis on "basic". Since Mario's that basic model, Nintendo can throw him into pretty much anything, and people will buy it. And because he's that basic model, Nintendo can use the same storyline over and over, and get away with it, because it's Mario, right?

And since Mario's that basic model, he has to be accessible to everyone. That means no overly dark or complicated plots, except maybe in the RPGs, and an easy gameplay style with not-too-difficult levels, right?

And since Mario has to be accessible, the plot of the games can't be too confusing, so each Mario game should be, for the most part, self-contained. Since he's just about fun and not about complex plots, there should be no real continuity linking the games. Right?

I disagree.

The fact that Mario's everyone's basic game hero is why Nintendo tends to keep Mario in a relatively simple, lighthearted environment. He's very "general"-the guy that saves the Princess and all that and can do pretty much anything Nintendo throws him into. Should he be more "specific"-should Mario games have more advanced plots? Should there be a stronger canon? I say yes. Mario's been in the same over-accessible environment for years now. I say it's time we get something of a darker atmosphere and more difficult games.

Of course, doing these things would make Mario less accessible-but not all of the games have to be like this. Some of the RPGs are considerably darker in tone than most of the other games, making them less accessible, but they're perfect for hardcore gamers like myself. And, there's always a brink-Mario shouldn't be too dark or too complicated, but a fair amount so. Super Paper Mario is a prime example of what I'd like to see in more Mario games nowadays, albeit being way too easy for my tastes; it had more in-depth plot, and, me being a big plot enthusiast, I enjoyed it every step of the way.

What are all of your opinions on the subject? Is Mario fine how he is, or should he develop in a more mature direction without going over the brink? Should the games have a stronger canon?

Feel free to disagree with me. Heck, feel free to take apart my argument and point out flaws. I'll gladly accept any agreement/suggestions/criticism/bashing I get (that is, as long as it's polite) so I can improve my argument and better define my position.

283

Mario Chat / Re: Mariology (serious posts wanted)

« on: October 12, 2007, 04:22:54 PM »

There's a few things going on in Mario games, like Bowser presumably dying after Paper Mario and then being revived by King Boo as mentioned by the fortune teller in Luigi's Mansion, or FLUDD mentioning "a strange old man in a white coat" or E. Gadd in Partners in Time saying he'll move his lab to Boo Woods, that seem to imply some kind of continuity, even if it is a very loose one. I guess everyone can decide for themselves if there's a Mario canon or not.

Hey, I just got an idea for a thread.

284

Mario Chat / Re: Mariology (serious posts wanted)

« on: October 11, 2007, 06:39:24 PM »

I was sure I saw some game text reffering it to the Koopahari..

I just thought of something else too: locations in the Mario Party games. Do you really think they are in a different world (as MP6 would have you believe) or do you think they are just in the Mario world that we already know and love?

The only reference (as far as I remember) to World 2 in the in-game SMB3 text is when Peach mentions the "sand dunes" in a letter. Also, the SMA4 guide I have refers to it as the Koopahari only once, and not even in the World 2 section, so I think "Koopahari" was something created later (There's also a Japanese-only SMA4 e-Reader level called "Koopahari Desert" that we were unfortunately deprived of along with the rest...not exactly sure if this has a meaning for the issue, though. Speaking of which, are those e-Reader levels real places, that is, canon?).

Hmm, the Mario Party games...well, I guess we could say that they're the deserts, grasslands, etc. from all the Mario games, but...with spaces all over them? The general concept of the "board game" style leads me to believe that they're some kind of simulated environments, or possibly, like you said, in another world (perhaps there's a Mario Party dimension they travel to whenever they want to have a party? That would make a great idea for my website fan-fiction...).

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General Chat / Re: Randumb Garfield

« on: October 08, 2007, 06:03:37 PM »

Rao's first one (with the time and the milkshake) would be very good if the second and third panels were switched ("What do you think of that?" "It might cause me to spill my milkshake." XD). The others were all good as well.