Mailbag
02/16/2001

Luckily, David Dayton was able to retrieve this week's mailbag from those thieving Shy Guys.
Got something you want us to answer next week? Send it to tmk_mailbag@usa.net.

This in response to the last mailbag where you said Mario & Luigi weren't twins. Actually, in the game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island I think I remember a few parts where they considered Mario & Luigi twins.
-SkunkBNW

David Dayton: Ah yes, the infamous SMW2 twin theory. Most of the die hard fans (i.e., me) prefer to forget some of the story elements in SMW2 that seem to contradict the Mario universe. Technically, if one wanted to press the point, SMW2 does call Mario and Luigi twins. Regardless, I still consider Mario the older brother. Whether he is two years or two minutes older is another question entirely...

Hey, Mailbag! Can you answer something for me? Why is Mario's Time Machine on the NES? It just makes the game more pathetic. Same thing with the Mario is Missing! game. It's stupid, but it's even worse on the NES. It just drives me crazy when Nintendo does these stupid things!!
-Super Frog

The Mailbag: Blame not the mighty Nintendo, but Software Toolworks for that one. Both of those games were "edutainment" titles made with the authorization of Nintendo but with no design or planning by The Company.
Out of curiosity, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Pac-Man, Yoshi's Cookie, and several other games released on both the SNES and the NES... do you feel equally annoyed with all of those? In any case, it should be noted that companies release games on multiple systems to increase sales. Someone with only an NES wouldn't buy Super Puzzle Chomper for the SNES, so the company seeks to maximize profits by releasing the same game on the NES and SNES. This means that the company only has to create the new game idea one time to doubly profit off of it.
...Of course, they still have to have two teams of programmers...

Hi, Deezer and Megabyte!
I was watching a rerun of the old "America's Funniest Home Videos" and to segue into a group of video game clips, he was playing a Game Boy-looking device and he said has was playing "the Mario Sisters. Two women with mustaches run around and hit each other on the heads with mallets." I thought that was pretty cool. BTW, one of the video game clips showed a kid playing Super Mario Bros. for the NES, and you could hear the music for underground levels, and every now and then, he would get nervous and twitch his tounge in, out, and around his mouth. It was pretty funny. Cool site and keep up the good work!
-SquirtleCubone

David Dayton: Deezer and MEGAߥTE are... unavailable right now, so the lowly Code guy will answer your letter. BWAHAHAHAHAAA... oops. Sorry.
I wonder how much geek history will be preserved by AFHV and the new reality shows...

Just how do I go about finding this secret page I've heard of? I've been typing in random URL's all day! Is it a hidden link? Do I have to keep on typing random URL's? Does only Deezer know about it and none of the other staff? If the world comes to an end tomorrow, will you tell us all where the secret page is?
-Grady Martin

David Dayton: Actually, I think I knew where the secret page was before... but I've forgotten. If I did know where it was, however, I wouldn't tell you. It is a mighty TMK secret, to be treasured by the few passionate souls that have found it.

Regarding the BSX... It is known that the BSX did augment the SNES hardware somewhat by providing a little extra memory, and emulation of BSX games might be a bit more successful if more information was known about how exactly the SNES accessed this memory. Of course, hardly anything is known about the BSX as it is, so that probably won't happen anytime soon. Anyway, those interested in running the BS SMB USA games should try using SNES9x 1.29 or earlier to enable the more interesting features. The giant Phanto that appears on occasion is reminiscent of the one that appears in the Mario Advance screenshots...
-Kevin Anderson

David Dayton: Me wantum BSX. Gimme now.
Actually, I seem to recall stumbling across some kind of small BSX hardware faq at some point in my surfing. The fundamental problem with the BSX is the way that the games were used. Small game programs were downloaded via the satellite broadcast at different points during the day. Each individual d/l was a unique program, and I believe that the only way to grab these titles nowadays is to find original BSX units with the programs still in the battery memory on the units. It wasn't like d/l from a menu... everyday, a certain number of programs/etc. were made available. You had to turn your BSX on during the broadcast period and d/l the program at that time. If you forgot to do that, you had to wait until it was available again -- like taping movies from TV.

You've made all these references to all the shows Mario has been in, but no one mentions "The Wizard", which put Mario 3 on the map. Mario 2 was also in the movie as well. And I don't think anyone has mentioned "The Simpsons" yet, where Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and *shudder* Sonic were in the episode where Bart was caught shoplifting, and another episode that had Donkey Kong smoking a cigarette outsite the Noiseland Video Arcade.
-HappyNessGuyTuxKen (from Nintendo.com's Nsider)

David Dayton: I seem to recall Fred Savage pretending to play a video game and magically warping to world 6 within 3 seconds of starting the game.
(Yes, I know that Freddie didn't play the autistic "Wizard" child, but I really can't think of the name of that forgotten actor).
Actually, the Simpsons has another Mario reference. DK appears in one episode as part of a run down "Meet the Original Donkey Kong" thingy outside the Quik-E-Mart.

Hello! I have a new theory about why the Koopa Kids disappeared.
After being beaten for the fourth time Bowser decides to send the kids away to search for a new weapon to be used to rule the Mushroom World. The Koopa Kids take the Air Ship and they leave. So far there has not been any luck, but the truth is no one will accually know untill there is another video game about the Koopa Kids. I have another theory about Wario and Waluigi as well. When Mario and Luigi was sent to earth, Mario and Luigi became plumbers and their boss was Wario. When the brothers fell into a warp pipe Wario came looking for them. Then before Bowser destroyed the warp zone Waluigi came looking for Wario, but Waluigi never found them until recently. Go to my web site SMBCentral and check out the stories and stuff. Soon I will have stuff up about the Koopa Kids and Wario and Waluigi. Well, at least it makes sense then some of the other stories that I have heard. Tell me what you think.
-Mchapman2000

David Dayton: Here's my theory...
Shigeru & Crew got tired of the Koopa Kids.

Hello, mailbag. Don't you think there should be a sequel to Tetris Attack? It'd be cool if the did one for N64!
-Super Frog

David Dayton: There is an N64 sequel to Tetris Attack. It is called Pokémon Puzzle League.

Man have I got great news for sonic the hedgehog fans it appears I went to a site and I read lots info on the next upcoming games. It seems to me that Sonic will be making a title on the gameboy advance. Since I'm a Sonic fan also like that knews to but I am a bigger fan of Mario always was alway going to be. I'v been hoping for a Sonic title on Nintendo games, but I wish it could be on the N64 or the new Gamecube. FINALLY SONIC HAS COME TO NINTENDO!!!!!
-JFC110

David Dayton: It took time, but Sonic discovered the error in his ways and returned to us from the Dark Side. Beware the power of the Dark Side.

Do you know what Mario games will be for the game cube?
-BigTimDogg504

David Dayton: Well, nothing is official yet, but I can make some guesses. I would expect to see a new Super Mario title (the Luigi's Mansion demo points to it) at launch. I predict a Mario Kart and a Smash Bros. game within the first year. If Nintendo and Hudson keep up the friendship, perhaps Mario Party will appear. Further down the road, we might get a sequel to Paper Mario.

Regarding the Booster Tower block--yeah, I was wrong. I don't think the large block above the door in that room does anything. I think it is just Screen Dressing.
-SJ64

David Dayton: Regular, Creamy, or Old Fashioned?

Yippee, it's me again. Just to let you know, Golem the Mario Cult Fan, I already knew about the amount of fireworks you needed to obtain certain shapes. Like you had said, those guides do come in handy! o^_^o Thanks anyway!--SJ64, Super Mario RPG Addict, I'm girl. Don't worry though...I know it was an honest mistake. *shrugs* You are not the first one to assume that I'm a male, when I'm actually a female...But, to get to the point, I obviously thought that they had meant that you had to hold on to the fireworks for things to be more spectacular, not just buy them. Thanks for clearing things up! But then again, I believe had only bought two fireworks in all! Cool, huh?

And...I do have a question. In "Super Mario RPG", you know that if you go to the "hidden" side of house near the "Mushroom Way" entrance, there's a "mystery" character that says something different periodically throughout the game, right? Well, does anyone have any idea who the "mystery" character is? Ciao! o^_^o
-BrockLover (a.k.a. Onyx)

David Dayton: The secret character is Pit, from Kid Icarus. He's been hiding out in the Mushroom Kingdom ever since that unfortunate incident involving Link and an Ice Arrow.
Another female reader? TMK seems to get more than my site does. Dash it all. If this keeps up, I'll have to bug Deezer about installing a TMK Matchmaking Service. Any 20-something ladies out there? ;)

Do you know abut the new sight TMK: the mario kingdom ? It looks like it almost ripped off yours.
-Orobueno

David Dayton: Give us the URL. We'll send Mr. Face over to chew off their legs.

Hi! Remember the question I once submitted to TMK about Wario Blast? I have a new question that has puzzled me a bit. In the same game, how do you beat the Final Boss (the Bomberman clone)?
-Kyle Wightman

David Dayton: I believe you use bombs.

Hey great site! I'm sure many gamers have seen and even played marvel vs. capcom games. I hope Nintendo and SEGA can create a game that can take fighting games to the next level for example Super Smash Heros featuring the famous heros which are the Mario Bros., Sonic, Tails,Knuckles, etc... there are to many to say but you get the picture.
-JCF1110

David Dayton: Well, Nintendo doesn't really tend to team up their characters in games with other companies. The problem is that Sega wouldn't benefit from such a game unless they had publishing rights on OTHER CONSOLES. Nintendo would never allow such a game to appear on the Xbox or the PS2. If Sega becomes a Nintendo second party, I might see such a thing happening. Otherwise... not really.