andPOP » mario

Mario’s Arrest Related to Mother’s Drug Addiction

Megan MacKay — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:29:53 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Remember when we reported that Mario was arrested for assaulting his mom? Well apparently there’s another side to the story.

Radar Online is reporting that Mario’s physical and verbal outbursts in his luxury high rise stemmed from the singer’s frustration with his live-in mother’s drug addiction. A documentary made in 2007 entitled “I Won’t Love You To Death” followed the mother and son as he tried to help her quit heroin, but it’s become clear that her journey towards clean living isn’t quite over.

Police were called to the apartment after they received complaints of a disturbance at Mario’s home. When the cops arrived on the scene, they discovered shattered mirror and glass and a broken door. Mario’s mama was found waiting in the lobby while her son fumed in their shared living space a few storeys up.

Mario’s legal team is describing the run-in as “an unfortunate incident between a loving son [and his drug-addicted mother].”

We feel bad for Mario as this is obviously a tough issue for him to face, but violence is never the answer!

R&B Singer Mario Arrested

Jacob Morris — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:30:32 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Remember Mario? The let me looove you guy? According to TMZ, he was arrested Friday morning for allegedly assaulting his mom.

The singer‘s mother told police that Mario had been “throwing and damaging property” and pushed her in the apartment that they share.

Police said that there were indeed broken items found in the apartment, including a china cabinet, a hole in a closet door and a broken mirror. Seven years bad luck won’t help his career…

The 24-year-old Mario Dewar Bennett was released on $50,000 bail after being charged with 2^nd degree assault.

Apparently there was no good love and protection going on in this relationship.

Game Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

sarge-ak47 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:24:32 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Red box means you will buy it the second you see it

Return of the king

I was very skeptical about the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For starters it seemed like the DS game was ported over to the Wii and given a slight visual upgrade. Also when compared to its 3D counterpart (Mario Galaxy) the title seemed very “last gen” to say the least. So I questioned how a decade old game with a new paint job would ever keep my attention.

Oh boy was I in for a surprise.

Super Mario Bros. Wii is unlike anything out there. Sure the same old story of Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser and his Koopa Kids is far from original, but the gameplay is classic Mario at its best. Granted it’s a reinvention, but does it pack enough variety and value to merit your hard earned cash?

Gameplay
The gameplay is platforming at its purest. Which means you have to navigate 8 large worlds with ten stages each (more than 80 levels) to reach the grand finale. Each world has its own unique theme to add to the variety- my personal favourite being the tropics. You navigate each level by jumping, bouncing, sliding, and butt stomping your way to the end before the timer runs out. Along the way expect to run into various enemies that you can stomp on and create point combos. You have your classic assortment of power ups like the Red Mushroom, Fire Flower, Star and a couple of new ones like the Ice Flower, Propeller Cap, Tiny Mushroom and the Penguin Suit. The Tiny Mushroom (as seen in the DS release) allows Mario to become micro and run on water and leap great distances. The Propeller Cap allows insane leaps and momentary flight/ glide abilities as well as a drill attack from the air. Finally the Penguin Suit is much like the Ice Flower and allows you to freeze enemies with ice shots, but also adds more stability to Mario snowy surfaces and allows him to slide at high speeds on land and water.

These new power ups play nicely to the variety of levels and will ensure you have a blast finishing each world. Controls are simple and have you holding the Wiimote sideways while using the D-pad to move. Jumping is relegated to the 2 button and 1 is the action button used for fireballs and holding down for running. You can grab shells and other players by holding 1 and shaking the Wii mote and some areas even have you tilting the Wii mote to slide and move objects. Don’t worry about the waggle part since its plays out naturally and never breaks the flow. In fact lightly shaking the Wii mote becomes second nature as you pick up shells toss em in mid air or jump up and do an extended air spin. You can play with the Nunchuck connected, but you are better off playing it classic style – trust me.

Momments later Mario landed with an atomic explosion

To keep up the variety in the game play department each progression is marked by harder platforming sections and levels that defy the traditional convention. A good example is a level where you navigate the skies on flying manta rays or the level where you are thrust into the world that is pitch black save for the 3 steps in front and behind you. There are some truly insane levels here that will leave you smiling- I will not spoil them for you. And then there’s a few toad carrying challenges in every world that are only available when you play by yourself. We could have used a lot more of these missions as they are some of the most challenging ones. Good incentive to play the game alone once in a while. You will also never be away from collecting power ups to use before levels. The game lets you hold on to bonus round items in an inventory screen accessible only during level selection. With the many toad huts across each world be sure to collect you power ups and 1 Up Mushrooms.

By now there is no surprise that you have the ability to have 4 players play along. I’m honestly glad this functionality is kept as simple as drop in and out. The second player becomes Luigi while the third and fourth players are yellow and blue Toadstools. It is a shame they did not utilize other characters from the rich Mario universe to be a part of this game. Having two different Toadstools be the other characters feels rather cheap, but that’s just a minor gripe. It’s not like they function any different- in fact all characters jump and perform the exact same manner. Having 3 of your friends play along comes highly recommended. It is tremendously fun and actually makes the main quest richer and far more entertaining. If you have played Little Big Planet you will be at home here; after all the game was inspired by Mushroom Kingdoms platform action – though the platforming is much better and controls much tighter. There are a couple of new mechanics that open up when you play with friends. One of these is the ability to grab and throw your team mates which can be very useful for scaling high unreachable secret areas as well as being an annoying, destructive tactic. The other mechanic is the bubble – which is designed to help you from falling behind. Simply at any time you can enter a bubble that will leave you immobile until someone can pop it. We found some truly awesome ways to use this mechanic by tossing our friend over the edge to get that impossible to reach Star Coin- only to have him activate the bubble just before he dies thus keeping him in the alive. I believe the developers intended for such uses with novice players to keep up with the advance ones.

In the middle east we hunted piranha plants instead of foxes..

Now a feature that has gained some controversy is the ability to have an auto guide finish the level for you. This happens when you die 8 times in a row in a particular level and from what I gather only in single player. A green block pops up and Luigi then finishes the level for you. I’ll say it is a nice feature for those poor souls who have never played a Mario game. During any point of the run you can resume play and tell Luigi to beat it. This Super Guide feature is nice for the new gamer, but I doubt any of you will run into it. I had to die purposely to see it in action.

Finally you can use your hard earned star coins to watch videos of Nintendo pros doing speed runs and skill runs. These are remarkable videos that will leave you in awe. It is a shame the game has no ability to record videos of your play sessions that could be shared with friends online. I mean Smash Bros. Brawl did it so why can’t this game?

I create ice so you can tread on water

Graphics
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not going to win any awards for its graphics. The game uses 3D characters and puts them on a 2D plane. The animation is solid for each character and the design aesthetic works wonderfully. There are nice subtle effects like volumetric clouds and sand storms but for the most part the game retains the simple feel of the classics. It is not the most gorgeous Wii game, but frankly I wish it was. Go ahead and boot up Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and marvel at how they handled 3D elements presented on a 2D plane. The graphics can definitely be a lot better, that being said the game looks much sharper and cleaner than its DS cousin (obviously) and has some truly scenic moments. Very few 2D elements are present in the game and for the most part these are background elements. Aside from the small gripes the over all package is a nice surprise because of the sheer number of locations this game visits.

Mario grabs on and recreates a scene from Die Hard

The game is pretty, but is not all that it can or should be.

Sound
No complaints here since all the classic sound effects and music are presented in such clarity. Something about hearing the warp pipe or collecting coins makes me smile. All the nostalgia you will feel is because of the brilliant sound design. The level music is whimsical and very appropriate – even changing with each new world and infectious enough to be stuck in your head. Rounding the list there is an audience clapping sound effect that plays out when you collect all 3 Star Coins or manage to pull off an impossible feat, I found its inclusion refreshing and most appropriate.

Replay
Now here is where I look over the multiplayer options. The game allows you to select Free Play and Coin Battle. Free play allows you to play with your friends from a select list of levels in the game. In the end, Free Play boils down to just fooling around in some of the games most chaotic levels while trying to get the most points and lives. Coin Battle on the other hand tasks you to collect more coins than your friends in each level. This mode is the more competitive of the two and often yielded the most hilarious moments between me and my friends. Trying to grab a hold of your opponent and tossing them into the abyss while collecting their loot was as hilarious as it was fun.

But I found one multiplayer game on the DS missing in the Wii game. It was a game of collecting Stars on a looped level. This multiplayer mode was insane on the DS and it is a shame they didn’t include it here. But lets be fair the game is all about playing the main story mode with four of your friends. Sure there are added challenges if you go it alone but nothing beats playing with your friends.

Having no online hurts but when you begin to realize the game is about having your friends over and just having a good time you understand why online play just wouldn’t be the same. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have used some decent leader boards and other share functionality. Even an online only multiplayer mode could have been a great addition.
In the end you have 80 plus levels with tons of hidden passages and Star coins – ensuring multiple replays for the hardcore.

Tilt the Wii mote to move the light

Verdict
I have always found something very unique about how platforming is executed in Mario games. You would think that jumping on to a platform is a simple animation, but there is something about the dynamics of this action that is perfectly created here. It is the best platform game out there, a true masterpiece of 2D gameplay. I feel sorry for gamers who did not grow up with a Mario game, for them this is a chance to understand why this little plumber is king of the platform.

New Super Mario Bro. Wii is the definitive title to own this season. The game packs enough nostalgic elements to keep the fans happy while throwing in some new power ups and refined gameplay mechanics to create a very satisfying experience. The game plays it very safe by not doing some of the advance functionality we take for granted. I just would have loved the ability to record my speed runs with friends or some online functionality. Throw me a simple level designer and I would have been floored.

But in the end it is all about the gameplay and in that case this title has it in spades.
A must buy for every Wii owner. Go play this with your friends!

Gameplay 5/5
Graphics    3.5/5
Sound          5/5
Replay         5/5

Outer Panel Haven 21

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:21:13 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

My review of the New Super Mario Bros is on its way.
Playing the game I couldn’t help but wonder why the other Koopa Kids got the short end of the stick.
The game is insanely fun with four players and is a true surprise this holiday season.
Oh and honestly I had forgotten how many kids Koopa had..let alone how he had them in the first place.
It is best not to think about it and just enjoy the game.

Click on the image for the full sized glory

Outer Panel Haven 21

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:42:22 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Modern warfare 2 has taken a lot of my time.
In fact most if not all the PSN friends I have are now glued to the game. Then out of nowhere came New Super Mario Bros. a game that has brought back that good old 4 player offline magic of the N64 times. Trust me the game is addictive.
I can’t really comment on sales of the game and how it’s doing in direct competition to MW2 but I will say this – don’t pass it up!
As always click on the image for the full size deal.

Game Review: Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

April Apoong — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:19:34 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Adam Sandler once sang in The Wedding Singer,”All I wanna do is grow old with you,” which for many, whether we intended to or not, happened in the case of Mario and friends . Till this day, we can still see small children getting introduced to the ever flourishing franchise.

Who are we talking about? We are talking about the short, confident, Italian plumber who wears a trade mark red hat and overalls. Throw in his taller, more socially awkward younger brother who sports an identical outfit only in green. Also in the mix would be the dragon like figure bent on kidnapping a certain princess of the mushroom Kingdom.

Now Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess Peach and many other familiar faces are back for another game. So what’s happening in the world of Mario now? There are so many examples that could be used to explain the whole situation but the most simple is one quote:

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Like in WWII there was a common enemy that wanted to take over the world. As in the textbooks, two opposing forces will become one in order to overcome this greater evil. Whether they wanted to or not, they’re going to inadvertently work together.

Enemy: Fawful

Goal: Save the world so life can go back to normal.

Well at least they get the job done, unlike Aquaman

At the start of the game, we quickly debriefed about the situation of the Kingdom. It seems that the citizens have developed a sickness which occurs when the victim is exposed to a Mushroom called “Blob Shroom”. The victim inflates to a tremendous size and rolls around without control of what direction. With the situation getting dire and the cure not becoming apparent, a plan of action must be made in order to bring order and peace back.

So, a meeting is called, and in attendance is important figures like, Starlow a representative of the Star Sprites, Princess Peach and of course the Mario brothers. However, their meeting was cut short by non other than our favorite Villain King, Bowser, who ruins the meeting. Of course he’s not welcome in the meeting and is thus kicked out. Such a quick defeat for our friend Godzill…. Bowser.

Now with Fawful as the antagonist in this game he has two problems to deal with.

1. Mario and Luigi
2. Bowser

How does he deal with them? Well kill the head of the beast and the rest will fall? His kooky plan: Make Bowser eat everyone that could possibly put a fight against him. His assumption, the oaf can be defeated easily with him and his infinite knowledge. As in the traditional stories, the saying never give up, never surrender comes into play. That is exactly what we see because they need to find the cure and save the princess by kicking Fawful butt. Everyone is of course is safe in the belly of Bowser and so Mario and Luigi do their part by helping Bowser out from the inside when the going gets tough.

How does this story play out you ask? Well give it a try and see if it’s your cup of tea. For now, shall we get into the nitty gritty of this title? Hear, hear! That’s why we’re all here!

Gameplay
It can look nice and all that jazz but does it work well? Beauty and no brains can still equal to an enormous flop with the people. Being the bearer of news, this game has an excellent grasp of where it needs to be and how it should play out.

Burn baby burn

As you play the game you are given control over Bowser, Mario, and Luigi. Playing as either Bowser or the brothers really is an experience. The battle format remains the same as you enter into battle as one or the other party. It is all simply choosing the attacking and pressing the button at the exact moment to make the damage larger against opponents. For special attacks it varies from the different choices. Memorizing game where you must remember which barrel each brother is hiding within to have a greater damage. While some other attacks are more on controlling the character to catch certain items.

To help out in the heat of battle are badges, certain combination can really get you out of tough situations. The gauge meter for it depends on how well you perform an attack, the more excellent hits you get the gauge goes up. When the gauge is filled and when the time is right you can activate it and either receive more health, or more power with each hit. It all really depends on which badges you combine.

When playing are the brothers you control their actions with the A and B button. For example pressing both buttons simultaneously will make both brothers jump. Or pressing them one at a time will make one brother act first. As you get further into the game more actions such as going underground and gliding will be added to the list of actions available. The triggers at the top allow you to choose which action to use.

For most part though a lot of the game is played as our favorite baddie. All his actions like Mario and Luigi are on the X and Y buttons, changing his actions are controlled via the triggers. When playing as him there are few little perks that have been added.

Like mentioned earlier this game is about co-operation between the three. On several occasion Bowser will need help from the brothers whether he knows it or not. Having earned the ability to eat enemies which will be dealt with swiftly by the brothers.

This gives the "keep your enemies closer" quote a whole new meaning

Aside from switching fights from time to time between them. For Bowser there is a special Giant Battle mode, when playing there will be a few battles where you face the enemy as a giant. The controls are at its best really. Unlike the regular battles where you press buttons in correct time in order to have a greater attack. You are given the opportunity to have a more interactive battle. Throwing a punch would require sliding the stylus across the screen as quickly as possible. And my personal favorite breathing fire has you breathing into the mic. Although I did run into a few problems with the response with some of the touchscreen games which made it difficult for me.

The battle system explained, we can take a look at just how everything really does work in the game. Everything being a whole point A to point B, the whole story progresses with getting past certain obstacles of course. Getting past them is always a unique experience, aside from the typical boss battles there are many mini-games that will greet you along the way. For example to make Bowser boost up in order to further the story, as Mario and Luigi you must find a way to stimulate his muscle. The mini-game encounter is one that depends on you to hit the energy orbs into the muscle in correct order which also requires timing. At times though the sheer amount of mini-games really can leave a person weary. There were just too many of them for my own liking.

Graphics
What is there really to say? The graphics look great. At first glance you would assume that it’s the same ol’ thing. But second glances are well worth it as you see that the movements of the characters are smooth. The designs of the characters are well done and look superb really. My only problems with the graphics were during the giant battle mode, with the characters looking slightly pixilated. Aside from that there are really no big complaints about how it looks. I really loved the victory poses they struck every time they leveled up.

Sound
Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken. They most certainly didn’t do anything drastic to throw off long time followers of this game. Mario and Luigi are still speaking gibberish in the game although it is really entertaining to listen to them as other characters really tell us what the two are saying. Each character making their own specific sound to simulate them actually speaking as the speech bubble appears above them. Although I’m not really fond of Peaches voice in this one, something about it is unpleasant and annoying to my ears. Sound effects from jumping from one point to another, using the hammers and other actions still haven’t changed.

When it comes to the music itself in the game, you won’t mind listening to these tunes throughout. They don’t ever become boring; they become tunes that simply get stuck in your head. The music has also been carefully selected to fit the mood or the moment. Music was perfect in my ears.

Replay
In terms of going over and replaying the game again and again and again. There are many extra things that you could go back to try and find such as beans and scattered puzzle pieces. There’s even a challenge area which consists many of the challenges from earlier in the game. Although there are many things to go back for, at moments during the game you could turn back and look for these items and do these challenges. It never is too late to go back and find those items. There really isn’t much to go back for and one would only do so out of the sheer love of the story.

Verdict
This has got to be one of the best Mario games out there. The script is amazing and even I was surprised when a few giggles escaped from me when playing. Controls are easy to get hang off and despite being a new Mario game it takes a lot from the older games and improves upon it. Although there are a few minor problems and an awful lot of mini-games, it is something that can be overlooked because this game is just that great. With the gaming taking out a good 20+ hours of your time, Mario enthusiast will positively love his.

Gameplay   4.5 /5
Graphics      4.5/5
Sound               5/5
Replay         3.5/5

Gamer’s Mind Blog: E3 of the North, a peek at Nintendo’s upcoming titles

Josh Salem — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:00:46 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

There are three things I love about this job: being able to talk about gaming all the time, getting a chance to play alot of the newest titles and write about them, and special events. Now, these special events…well, they’re very special. They could be as big as going to E3 (maybe next year?) or as small as a demo station in a hotel lobby. Either way, it’s a break from the ordinary and it can lead to very unique experiences (such as playing NHL 10 with Patrick Kane and John Tavares likes we did earlier in the week).

Recently we were invited to another special event, the E3 of the North as they called it. We got a chance to not only sit down with Matt Ryan of Nintendo Canada (along with other members of the Nintendo family) but we also got an opportunity to try out some of the biggest titles that were revealed at this year’s E3!

Lets start with the DS titles.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box was available, and while I only had a chance to play two puzzles (and complete them successfully might I add) I felt that this was very similar in puzzle solving and style to the first title, which by all means isn’t a bad thing. Who wouldn’t want more puzzles to play on the bus or on their couch? And hey, if you finish all the puzzles quickly, you can always download more as Nintendo will be providing more puzzles for free as the weeks go on!

You mess with me, you mess with my Phantom... and my choo-choo

I was also fortunate enough to try a demo of the upcoming Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. This demo, while only sporting three scenarios to play with, showed me a number of things. First off, this Zelda takes place 100 years after The Phantom Hour Glass (the last DS title). One interesting new feature in Spirit Tracks is the ability to use the Phantom (a bady guy from the last DS title) as a partner to help Link get through the game, by drawing a path for your phantom to follow, you can use him to help you fight against new monsters, or protect you from the elements such as fire. As well I had the opportunity to play against a giant bug boss in which you utilize a new wind weapon to blow poisonous gas away from the bug’s rear (yes, we may all chuckle) to expose it’s weak spot. I found Spirit Tracks to be a beautifully animated title, which no doubt expands on the last Zelda game with everything you loved in the first one, brought up to a whole new level.

DSi ware was also on hand as players had a chance to try out Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, the third in this series, what’s new about this title is that as of now at least, you cannot actually purchase it in stores. Minis March Again is a downloadable only game for the DSi from any wi-fi hotspot and loaded straight onto your DSi. By solving puzzles and figuring out how to proceed to the next level, players can create their own levels and put them online for others to see and play as well! Also in the DSi ware I had a chance to experience Flipnote studio, an application that allows gamers with an artistic flare to create short cartoons complete with artistic features in a flip book style creating one frame at a time. Now while I have zero artistic capability, I saw some previous examples of what was made, and with a little time and skill you would be amazed at the amount of detail this DSi unit can provide for animation!

Now moving onto the Wii, while I had the chance to try Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort, AND Super Mario Brothers Wii, I missed out on actually playing the Wii Sports Resort, which, with the Motion Sensor Plus, looked like a blast giving 1:1 movement for every swing and waggle of the Wii controller. In Wii Fit Plus I was able to cross off one of my things to do before I die because, yes that’s right, I got to fly across an ocean as a giant chicken! No, there isn’t any metaphor there, one of the Fit Plus games has you flapping your arms and leaning to fly and land on specific targets with the final goal of landing on a boat before the time runs out. While I was skeptical regarding how flapping my arms on the Wii Balance Board would work, it actually did as every flap of my own arms was registered into the game and even flapping backwards to slow my speed worked! Now, while I landed near centre of every target and was told I did a great job, I later saw a toddler who couldn’t have been older than 6 years of age shatter my North of E3 chicken flying record with ease… my how the mighty have fallen.

Sure it looks cool... but where's the giant chicken?

Super Mario Brothers. A name so famous, if you asked 100 people I would wager at least 75% of them knew of the Super Mario Brothers, and as such, Nintnedo has found yet another way for us gamers to enjoy their company. This time however, Nintendo has found a way to mix the old with the new. In what seems to me to be a mix of the recent DS New Super Mario Brothers title and the Wii Capabilities, Super Mario Brothers Wii is a 2D side scrolling title very so much like the original Mario games of the NES days with new bad guys (as well as old favourites), new powerups (as well as old favourites), and new motion controls (shake the wii-mote to make your character do a spin jump). This New mario title however, has something no past Mario title has before though… are you ready for it? wait for it… here it comes, FOUR PLAYER CO-OP! and not in the sense that four players can wait and take turns playing like past Mario games, but that four players can play together AT THE SAME TIME! Now, this leads to very new and exciting dynamics in the game as players can work together to progress through the title, or compete with one another to get the most points by jumping on each other, throwing each other, or with the help of everyone’s rideable dinosaur, eat each other via Yoshi tounge! Playing with Matt from Nintendo, his associate, and Jennifer from andPOP we got right into the four player chaos holding the Wii-mote on it’s side like an old school NES Nintendo controller, we soon found out that this was as far from old school as possible as Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad starting running around in a chaotic motion trying to outplay each other and survive to make it to the end of the level. 20 minutes flew by before we relized it and one thing was certain, this game was fun for everyone… and addictive as I didn’t want to stop playing any time soon. As each level ends, players tally up their scores to see who played best for bragging rights as well as to target that player in the next level as a threat to your all time high score. By far in my opinion Super Mario Wii was the highlight of this event and I can’t wait for some good old four player chaos on my couch with some competitive buddies.

So there you have it, the inner workings of a gaming sneak preview. Full of all the whimsy and magic gamers expected from closed door gaming events, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a blast to be there, but hey, it’s only a preview and before we all know it, these games will be hitting retail shelves across North America!

Game Review: Super Mario Galaxy

Josh Salem — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:26:06 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Why does the galaxy hate Mario? Why is it that no one ever hands him a star directly but only after he completes their demeaning tasks then they throw it a few feet away from him, making him crawl, skulk to the shiny star and pick it up like a slave groveling for a morsel of bread.

Everyone’s favourite feisty Italian plumber is back for another romp in Super Mario Galaxy, exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, naturally. Released in November of 2007, Galaxy returns to the basics fans love after Mario’s stint as a janitor in Super Mario Sunshine for the Nintendo Gamecube. Expect platform jumping, star collecting, and costume changing a-plenty in this all-new adventure across the universe.

The story is as classic as can be. While celebrating the centennial star festival, Bowser attacks the mushroom kingdom and kidnaps Princess Peach. A tested and true Mario story, but here’s where things get a little different. Bowser’s not alone this time as he comes flying in not only with his airships, but also with a giant UFO. As the entire castle gets lifted into the outer reaches of space, Mario is slung off the castle steps and finds himself on an observatory deck surrounded by astro-puff people known as Lumas and a mysterious woman named Rosalina. As it turns out, this observation deck runs on star power and, is stranded in space as Bowser stole all the stars to power his own evil plans. It’s once again up to our favourite underdog to collect the stars, stop Bowser, save his friends and rescue the princess. All in a day’s work for a servant of the pipes.

Super Mario Galaxy utilizes the Wii’s next generation capabilities to the max by taking 3D one step further. Gone are the majority of flat levels and introduced is the concept of gravity. Most levels take place on multiple small planets where Mario can be launched from gravitational field to gravitational field, more often then not using the momentum and force to his advantage in unique and intriguing ways. As well, each galaxy contains a specific theme, from the Good Egg galaxy to the Honey Hive galaxy, and each theme usually creates a diverse set of scenarios Mario must overcome to collect the stars and bring a little power back to the Lumas’ observatory. Some of these planets have special mushrooms unique to their world and as we all know, Mario’s a sucker for a ‘shroom. These special mushrooms are more than flavorful fungi, they transform Mario into one of eight special suits including bee Mario, ice Mario, and invincible rainbow Mario. Much like Super Mario Brothers 3, these dress up additions do more than improve the Italian’s fashion sense and help him proceed through treacherous galaxies and eventually save his princess.

Nintendo did an amazing job creating innovation with a system that is nothing close to ordinary. They take the aspects that make the Wii unique and exploit them to new levels. Take for instance when Luigi goes missing in search for a star, turn on your Wii and you have Wiimail from Nintendo saying Luigi is missing and gives you a hint on how to find him. Or another great example is on one of the boss battle stages you traverse on multiple moving platforms with different sections of the world having different gravitational pulls, in all directions so you constantly have to jump to a different side of the platform to avoid being sucked into a black hole. Sometimes you have to use your Wiimote as a joystick while others as a target. Mario Galaxy offers a lot of variety in getting to the end of the game, with a number of different meteors that change up galaxies such a meteor which gives you one life on a mini-boss battle, or a meteor that forces you to race against a space Mario clone, or one that speeds up the bad guys. As well, when you achieve certain goals, specific one star galaxies open up that seem more like fun mini-games than new stages. Some galaxies even contain secret stars that can only be obtained by feeding a hungry Luma enough star bits (which are found throughout the galaxy and are used to feed Lumas or stun bad guys) or using a specific item in a novel way. Nope, not done yet, You can also gain new stars by finding Luigi when he gets stuck in older galaxies get red stars or green stars that affect the game in different ways, collect purple coins on secret stages, or find Lumas hanging around the observatory looking for a snack to open new secret galaxies. There’s plenty to explore like the library where Rosalina tells her back-story or getting high coin scores. Once you get ALL the stars, you can play the game all over again using Luigi, who plays a little differently than Mario and changes the story up a little bit.

While Galaxy lures players into the game with a subtle but effective tutorial system near the beginning of the game, gradually adding in new aspects, differently controlled gameplay, unlockable features and intense boss battles keep the player in for the long haul. The only times I find myself annoyed with Mario and his friends are when the gravity becomes too much for me, jumping from the tops to the bottoms of surfaces often disorients me for a little while and I still find myself having trouble controlling Mario underwater. The controls are amazingly simple yet robust and even with changing gravity and camera angles, you still have the option (most of the time) to change your angle of viewing to see what’s around you, maybe find a way to a new secret star or some out of reach star bits.

Mario Galaxy is by far one of the best looking games out there for the Wii and offers special particle and lighting effects rarely found outside of a Nintendo brand title. Glitches and spazzes are few and far between and through the chaos of gravitational pulls, multiple bad guys, coins, star bits and flying Bullet Bills – I have not experienced the slightest sense of slow down or even as much as a hiccup in gameplay. Small details in gameplay such as Mario’s hat popping up and down, or Goomba facial reactions give the simplistic art style extra flair in a title that prides itself on simple complexity. Super Mario Galaxy pulls off the toughest feats by sucking the player into a world so obscure it has to be fantasy driven, in space no less.

The game sounds amazing, from the first time you hear Mario utter the title to the epic and familiar background music. Utilizing Dolby Pro Logic II, Mario sounds the best he ever has. With the amount of things going on all around him in the more chaotic stages, it definitely helps to be able to hear enemies waddling towards you from whichever direction the sound is coming from. There really isn’t much voice acting in this game, but true fans wouldn’t want it any other way. Instead as always, he lets his fists do the talking with a random ‘Yahoo’ thrown in for dramatic effect. The music is orchestrated on such a level that in certain galaxies, you may feel a strong sense to survive, not because if you die you let down the princess and the Lumas, but because you just cannot allow for such intense music to die along with you.

In terms of lasting appeal and gameplay, you can play this huge game twice before replaying anything, once as Mario and again as Luigi. On top of this, if you’re one of those people who can’t stop playing when friends come by, don’t fret, Nintendo provides players with a great little addition that changes the way people will look at single player games for years to come. Now a second player can join in at any time with a second Wiimote. Although player two doesn’t control an actual character, they can use the Wiimote to grab and hold enemies and projectiles, shoot and gather starbits, help Mario jump further and hold moving platforms in place. At times it feels like this type of help is required for some of the tougher stages (and believe me, the stages can get pretty hard). If your buddy gets bored he can change from a helpful addition to the antichrist, forcing you to jump when you don’t expect it, wasting your starbits and being a nuisance over all. The only real problem I have with the Mario Galaxy game is that every time you turn on your Wii you lose all the lives you had saved up in your previous session. Fortunately, you are given a letter from Peach every time you start up, offering you five extra lives right off the bat. In the end all these free tries and resets make the concept of having a certain number of lives pointless as you can always just go get more lives if you start to run low.

All in all I would say that after the somewhat disappointing Super Mario Sunshine for the Nintendo Gamecube, this title is more of an apology to gamers who miss their Mario the way he used to be. Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii is by far the best platformer for the Wii, the best platformer in the history of next gen systems, quite possibly the best platformer ever created to date. With innovative controls and design, the basic yet required story, and familiarity to those who had an original NES system, Super Mario Galaxy is one of those games that make you want to go out and buy a system for that title alone.

Graphics: 5.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 5.0 / 5.0
Sound 4.5 / 5.0
Replay value 4.5 / 5.0

‘Dancing With The Stars’ Cast Announced

andPOP Staff — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:09:09 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

The eclectic new cast of “Dancing With The Stars” was announced yesterday, featuring everyone from young R&B artists to infamous figure skaters.

The men in the running are comedian Adam Carolla, Chilean actor Cristian de la Fuente, “Police Academy” star Steve Guttenberg, 21-year-old Grammy nominee Mario, illusionist Penn Jillette and NFL star player Jason Taylor. Lovely ladies Priscilla Presley, “American Pie” actress Shannon Elizabeth, Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, the original “Tracy Turnblad” Marissa Jaret Winokur, tennis champ Monica Seles and Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin will also tear it up on the dance floor.

Stars will be paired up with their professional dancer partners this morning, and fans will get to see them in action on March 17. They’ll have to prove themselves right away, as the March 25 episode will be a double elimination – the first in “Dancing with the Stars” history.

Review: Mario Strikers Charged

andPOP Staff — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:40:03 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

I don’t know if this is a sequel, an expansion or a whole new soccer game with familiar characters. Next Level Games, a Canadian developer located in British Columbia, introduces Mario Strikers Charged just two short years after releasing Mario Strikers for the Nintendo Gamecube and I have to ask myself, was it really needed?

For those unsure of what a striker exactly is or why it would be charged, this is the second installation of Next Level’s view on soccer (or as you UK blokes call it, football) with all your favourite Mario characters from Donkey Kong to Wario. Complete with power-ups like shells and Wii specific motions this is more of an upgrade then anything new or overly exciting.

The game’s presentation fits the bill, and with the use of the Wiimote, it makes selecting your game types and options a lot easier and somewhat more involved then with just the analog stick or D-pad. However, selecting between options, screens and pretty much any time the screen menu changes, it feels cut off and doesn’t seem to have a very smooth transition. Selecting characters and now their sidekicks (with their own special moves as well) can be decided upon by using the Wiimote to see their strengths, weaknesses, and playing style and with 12 captains to choose from the Mario universe, 8 sidekicks, and at least 17 arenas, selecting your game may take the longest amount of time to decide upon.

There is definitely a lot to keep you busy in this game, the sheer amount of players to try out, tournaments in which you win different trophies as well as little extra achievements like the brick wall award or the golden foot award, which unlock new arenas to play in, a detailed and expansive tutorial system, various challenges in which you may have to do something fairly easy such as score 2 goals in 2 minutes with an easy computer opponent, to the extremely hard scoring 7 goals in 2 minutes AND win the game against an extremely tough AI opponent, completing these challenges unlocks cheats to use in the game. On top of all these options, you still have the normal versus mode, AND a fully functional online play mode. This option allows you to play against a friend or a random person from anywhere in the world with little lag noticed and stats to back up your trash talk. The only downside to online play is that you cannot actually trash talk, it would have been nice to chat online, or even text chatting before or after a game.

The graphics and sound are more or less a slight improvement over the Gamecube original, however there are still improvements. The colour and animation style are a lot more vivid and smoother. When your character gets blasted with a fireball or electricity, you see it on their bodies in cut scenes after goals and games. When captain super-shots are done, there occurs a little 5 second animation in which they become supercharged (hence the name) and do their personal power shot. It’s very pretty and fun to watch, but after a few of these shots, and not being able to skip the animation, you may start to tire of them. The stage designs are truly stunning, with crowds cheering on the sidelines for some levels, tractors being blown over the field in others and just all around chaos occurring in most stadiums with no signs of slowdown the game is a visual treat to play as long as your not looking for the best graphics in this next generation system. As for the sound, the music is where it’s at; each character has their own theme music, from Bowser’s heavier beats to Luigi’s salsa-western fusion, each captain has their own style of entrance and knows how to work their fans. The sounds in the game usually consist of characters yelling for the ball, explosions, and roars from your crocodile goalie.

As a Nintendo Wii game, you would assume the controls to be very motion sensitive, this is not the case with Mario Strikers Charged and I feel this is a good thing. So many developers these days are trying to use as much motion as possible in their game to justify the Wii’s capabilities, but Next Level Games knew better than to do this. Instead they only infused the motion sensitivity when it would enhance the game. It’s used for menu selection to change your item you flick the nunchuck, to hit your opponent when you don’t have the ball, and my personal favourite and an improvement from the original title, when a power shot occurs, instead of it being almost always a guaranteed goal, the setup is more like a Mario Golf swing where you charge up, push B near the end of the ‘swing’ to select how many balls to shoot (from 3 to 6), then B again to determine the speed of the balls. From here the goalie takes control in which a set of hands show up on the screen and you control it entirely with the Wiimote, blocking balls as they appear on random spots on the screen. The benefit to this is that if you’re good enough, you can easily block all 6 shots, or if not, totally miss and have 6 goals hit you like a hurricane. The controls are tight and responsive, and the layout for each button, although you cannot alter them, works well for this fast paced, chaotic game.

The gameplay itself can be both amazingly fun and intense or extremely annoying at times, depending on your playing style you could be winning 20-0 or 2-1, on the other side of the spectrum, you could be losing 0-20 or 2-1. If you can find the perfect opponent online you could be seeing a 10 minute sudden death overtime period, which can keep the average player on the edge of their seat the entire match. Sidekicks are also a lot more to worry about as they each have their own special moves, which when done correctly can almost guarantee a goal. From the hammer brother’s hammer toss to the toad’s fireball shot, each can leave the goalie stunned for enough time to hit the rebound with no defense. The items in the game have pretty much stayed the same with one new exception and that is each captain now has their very own special item, Mario and Luigi grow to super sizes, Bowser gets a blast of fire breath, Diddy Kong and his red card attack and more.

If you’re a fan of the original Mario Strikers, or Mario sports games in general and want a game that’s quick and easy to pick up with a friend, either in the same room or across the globe, Mario Strikers Charged is the perfect Mario driven soccer follow-up. Then again, it would have been nice to have more than one save slot for career mode.

Graphics: 3.5 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.0 / 5.0
Replay value 4.0 / 5.0