Mailbag
01 Jun 2001

J.J. Canadian

Got something you want us to answer next week? Send it to tmk_mailbag@usa.net.

Smash Bros. Melee looks sweet, but who are those eskimo looking people?
Thanks,
-RKlpunk

J.J.: Ah, a very good question indeed. They are no other than Popo and Nana, the main characters from the long-forgotten 1984 NES title, Ice Climber.
Nintendo's decision to include them could mean one of the following two things:
A) There will be a new Ice Climber game on the GameCube, and Nintendo is trying to raise awareness of the characters at an early stage, or
B) Smash Bros. Melee will have lots of really old, obscure Nintendo characters in it.

Personally, I'm hoping for "B".

1. What's up?
2. Who is your favorite SSB character?
3. Do you like the Donkey Kong Country 3D cartoon thing?
4. What animal do you think of when thinking about Mario?
5. Is Sega making Sonic games for the N64 too?
6. Will Sonic ever be in a game with Mario, Kirby, and all the Nintendo guys?
That would be cool.
7. Is it illegal for me to make Mario fan computer games and Mario fan movies just for fun and not to post up online or sell?
-Super Frog

J.J.: Another wacky list, containing 25% actual questions.
1- You mean besides the sun?
2- Yoshi
3- I do enjoy the show now and then. Especially Bluster.
4- See "2"
5- that would be like putting treasure on a sinking ship.
6- Sega's just making games for Nintendo. The two companies aren't getting married, people.
7- No

I saw the screen shots for Luigi's Mansion and it looks like it could very well be a Ghostbusters crossover since the ghosts look similar to the ghosts in the Ghostbusters movies and Luigi seems to wearing a "Proton-Pack"

What do you think?
-Sean Kelly

J.J.: I think Nintendo wants to create a very gimmicky game for their new system's launch, so they stuck Luigi in a setting in which he does not belong.

Hey,
I was just wondering, what ever happened Kamek? Has he appeared in any games since Yoshi's Island, besides Tetris Attack? I thought he was kind of a cool character, so I was hoping he was in another game.
Thanks!
-Trevor Powell

J.J.: He's never appeared by the name "Kamek" in any other titles, but prominent Magikoopas have been featured in both Mario RPG and its sequel, Paper Mario.

ello whoever takes charge of the Mailbag this time... I have 2 Questions:
1)(if you know) How many "Gate Guy" (MP3) Minigames are there?
2) With SSB2 coming, do you know if Bowser is REALLY a playable character? I'd love to use him to kick some Mario ass!
Thanks!
-Snoopy1951

J.J.: 1) there are seven Gate Guy type minigames in all, including two hidden ones. The list goes: Gate Guy, Arrowhead, Pipesqeak, Blowhard, Mr. Mover, Backtracks, and Waluigi's Island.
2) Bowser is indeed in SSB2, aka Smash Bros. Melee.

In last weeks' mailbag, I noticed you said something about "Mario Advance 3". Is this game really coming out or are you guys just guessing it will? Since SMB3 is my all-time favorite game, and i'd love to see it.
-smb3fanatic

J.J.: Yes indeedy, Nintendo has announced that there are indeed plans to release some form of SMB3 on the Game Boy Advance.

Hey guys. Great site. Here is something you may want to know. Did you know that once you get 120 stars, get the super jump from Yoshi, and go to a lava stage, triple jump and while doing the rolling star jump, hit the lava, and Mario will be unharmed. However, once Mario lands, he will get burned. Is this a cool trick?
-Luigi007

J.J.: The answer, sadly, is no.