To celebrate Mario Day, March 10th, the Steves discuss and review three amazing Mario classics that have been combined into the mega-pack, Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
Happy News:
Pokemon Presents (Diamond and Peark Remakes and Pokemon Legends: Arceus Announced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTZeVNwAmkk
Binge and Purge:
Kylie Minogue's Disco Album
Wrong Turn (2020) (Amazon On Demand): Binge
BioShock Infinite (Everywhere): Binge after the first two
Super Mario 3D All Stars
To celebrate Mario Day, March 10th, the Steves discuss and review three amazing Mario classics that have been combined into the mega-pack, Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
Happy News:
Pokemon Presents (Diamond and Peark Remakes and Pokemon Legends: Arceus Announced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTZeVNwAmkk
Binge and Purge:
Kylie Minogue's Disco Album
Wrong Turn (2020) (Amazon On Demand): Binge
BioShock Infinite (Everywhere): Binge after the first two
Super Mario 3D All Stars
Hello returning happies and new listeners. This is Steve Bennet Martin.
Stephen:And this is Steven Martin Bennet. And welcome to a lifetime
Steve:of happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, TV shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy. We'll hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way. And today
Stephen:we're celebrating March 10th, better known as Mario day. Kind of the birthday of the most recognizable video game character of all time. Yossi.
Steve:No. All right. Y'all Oh, you mean.
Stephen:Yes. That's
Steve:what I mean. Okay. Yes. Oh, well, before we get into Mario, my love of what has been making you happy.
Stephen:So music is always a thing that is easy to make me happy. And I am very late to the game on this, but Kylie Minogue, new CD disco is so good. As I say, Dennis
Steve:told you to listen to that back in our golden girls episode. I
Stephen:know, and I didn't do it. But I am now and he was right. It's
Steve:fantastic. Okay. Do you want to repeat that one more time for Dennis? If he's listening, you were right. Okay. And if you need me to save that as an audio gram for you, Dennis, let me know. But
Stephen:darling, what is making you happy?
Steve:I would say, you know, listeners of ours are well aware that we're fans of drag because we talk about how we're oftentimes benching drag race. What's making me happy though, is we actually got to go to our first in-person drag performance. Oh, well, over a year it was a dragon drive. Drag saves 2021 with all of Ru's
Stephen:girls. Yes. There were so many of the Ru girls that we absolutely love. It was in a parking lot next to the Brandon town center. Yes.
Steve:There are lots of jokes about drag Queens performing in parking lots,
Stephen:and it was fantastic. You got us VIP access. So we were actually. Front and center and you had to stay either at your car or in your car so that it was COVID safe and everybody was doing that, which was great. And it was really a lot of fun. It was 90 minutes of drag and everybody did, like, they came out one time, but they did like two or three songs in that one set. Yeah.
Steve:And they were great performers and
Stephen:Cameron Michaels was fantastic.
Steve:He was my favorite. Yeah.
Stephen:Yep. And it was emceed. Bye Bianca, Bianca Del Rio, who we love.
Steve:Yes. Who was super kinds? Yes. Yeah.
Stephen:That was, they were all superheroes like Cameron was she Hawk, which I don't know how they got away with, yeah. I
Steve:don't know how they got away with that for licensing, but I mean, because she's always known as like the strong queen. Yeah. That made sense. But Naomi was like Dazzler. Yeah. So yeah, they had a lot of fun ones, but Bianca being the mean girl, that, that was just fun because it was basically super kind of changed like five or six times a thousand times. Yes. Yeah. So I love that. That wasn't making me happy and we got to bring Remy along. Cause it was an outdoor concert.
Stephen:Yes. And so that was Remy's first live drag performance. And he had a great
Steve:time. He said yes. Puppies. Yes. He did say
Stephen:that. And he threw some puppy shade.
Steve:Yes, he did. It was one of the opening Queens from Tampa, but we won't say who.
Stephen:That's not true. I actually, all of the opening Queens did suck a good job. I was
Steve:so proud of our local coins, especially I love the little mermaid rip off part of your world play was done for drag.
Stephen:I love doing this so good. So any of the local Queens that performed with that, and I apologize that we were a little late getting there. We didn't get you the names, right. You guys did a great job.
Steve:Yes. So thank you
Stephen:all. So now it's time for binge and purge and luckily we have another all binge week. Yes we
Steve:do. Because we binged wrong turn. Yes.
Stephen:And it's the new wrong turn? Not to be confused with the six movie. Series about inbred cannibals from West Virginia. Yes. I still have an issue with that.
Steve:I was gonna say you were very happy with this, cause this is kind of a rebirth of the franchise and it certainly was a binge. I would definitely say watch was really, really good. It was very, very well done. Do not go in expecting more of the same because it is not. And so the point where they make a joke of it at the end, but I, that I won't spoil, but it, it was, you know, Not about Stephen's long. Last second, third cousins from the Hills of West Virginia. I'm getting the evil eye of love.
Stephen:Part of that was correct. Yes.
Steve:So it is not about that, but it is fascinating. The idea of taking the idea of a group of young coeds, getting lost and taking a wrong turn in the woods and what that could lead to. And
Stephen:this one takes place in Virginia. So it's still the Appalachian mountains. It's just not West Virginia, specifically. It was yesterday. Martin
Steve:family says, thank you for that. Yes,
Stephen:it was very, very good. You can find it on Amazon prime. It was only. Four 99 or five 99 to rent. So that was in it's definitely.
Steve:I was going to say, and if I was to go back in time and redo it, I probably would have paid the extra$3 to buy it and just own it digitally because it's really something that I'll re rewatch eventually. So yes, definitely bins that and
Stephen:yeah, I am currently playing Bioshock infinite on the Nintendo switch. It is the third in the Bioshock trilogy that I have been bingeing. In order and it is very good. So it's not unwrap, sir, is it? It is not. It is not under the sea. That's next week. It is not under the sea, like rapture. It is a week. You're right. It was last week. I'm all conveying
Steve:podcast. Magic confusion.
Stephen:Anyway, it's a city in the clouds. It's really good. So feel free to just. Take my recommendation and get the Bioshock trilogy for the Nintendo switch. It's very good. Yes,
Steve:for sure. I mean, you've been binging them all along. They've all been binges and I also am very excited for what brings us to happiness. Cause that's more video game related news as well.
Stephen:Yes. So this is the 25th anniversary of Pokemon. Yes.
Steve:Which I can't believe Pokemon has only the, what does that make it 10 years younger than Mario? Cause this 35th anniversary,
Stephen:this was the 35th anniversary. Marianne
Steve:feels so much older than Pika Chu does. Yeah. That's wild. Okay. Well, anyway, that just shows you how crazy fast video games have grown since we've been growing up. Yeah, but yes, Pokemon is celebrating its 25th anniversary and they did a great Pokemon direct and it started off with just this amazing montage of how Pokemon has taken over all of the entire world.
Stephen:They actually went over every main Pokemon thing that has been released over the past 25 years. There was a lot of training cards, anime. But it also
Steve:had some just like amazing it's like technology pieces for the games that they've been very intuitive of trying new things you normally wouldn't expect in terms of system accessories in terms of the pretty much what they sell in terms of retail, of anything you slap on a Pokemon and they've made it. Yeah. So, I mean, it just, it was a very well done, but the big two announcements that really were the happy part of the happy news or the diamond and Pearl remakes. Yes.
Stephen:It's going to be brilliant diamond in
Steve:shining simmering, Carl. Yeah. And they are done in like traditional remake style, which is what I was hoping for. It looks
Stephen:fantastic. I think I'm very excited.
Steve:I, as you did not, you, this is your first trip to Sunoco.
Stephen:Yes, I am late to the Pokemon game. I did not start playing Pokemon until 2013 X and Y X. And Y you were Y correct. I was, I wanted to be generation X, but that was you too. It took that one.
Steve:Yes. I always get first dibs normally because I have the picky preferences to the Pokemon
Stephen:and I'm just like, I'll take the other one. It's fine. Yes. And then also there was a brand new first. In the series, Pokemon legends. Yes.
Steve:Pokemon legends Archaeus, which is the God Pokemon. So even if you don't know all, you know, 800 billion Pokemon at this point, just know that if you don't know his name, he is the God of Pokemon. He created all Pokemon, according to lore. And it's again in Sunoco, but this time it's like an open world. Like they did the exact same opening pan that they used for breath of the wild. Yup. So that's kind of the scope that they're going with. But for Pokemon
Stephen:and it is takes place in ancient feudal, Japan, it looks like. Yes. And so that looks fantastic. And it's going to be new gameplay, new art style. Yeah.
Steve:Like where you can like sneak around and throw the ball at the Pokemon in real time. And we're not sure
Stephen:how the story's going to progress.
Steve:Like it's really cool. So, yes, it was just very happy gameplay news.
Stephen:Yep. So any Pokemon fans out there, if you did not see this Pokemon direct, go to youtube.com or your YouTube app and search for the Pokemon company. And that should probably be their first video up there for you to see.
Steve:Yeah, or I'll try and link to it in the show notes even better if I remember no promises. All right. Excellent. Yes. Well, baby, are you ready to go on over to the mushroom kingdom? I am
Stephen:so
Steve:ready. You know, who was also ready? So as we're getting into our discussion of super Mario 3d all-stars yes. Most of our listeners probably already are aware from recent episodes, even our jokes about my mispronunciation of super Mario,
Stephen:really? I mean, how do you say it wrong? I
Steve:grew up before Nintendo 64. When you actually heard him say his name out loud and say. for the first time. I was convinced after just reading it outline. And after being around all my fellow new Yorkers, that it was Oh
Stephen:yeah. And for the rest of us who. Actually I never mispronounced it, but also there was the super Mario brothers super show on TV. And then there was super Mario three, the cartoon. And then there was also a super Mario world.
Steve:I was not as exposed, I guess, to the
Stephen:audio. Saturday,
Steve:but yeah, past this little beginning part for listeners, if you wanted to play a drinking game, or if you're not drinking or somewhere where you can't be drinking, you can just call it a T he game, but we're going to be counting at every time that I mispronounced that by playing So Steven will be in charge of prompting me to play it as punishment for whenever I say, Oh, the wrong way.
Stephen:And I just have a feeling that no matter how many times we do it, it's still going to be your go-to is just, I'm
Steve:about 50 50 right now. But getting into the game itself, super Mario 3d all-stars is a 2020 compilation of 3d platform games for the Nintendo switch.
Stephen:Yup. It commemorates the 35th anniversary of Nintendo, super Mario franchise with HD ports of super Mario 64 from 1996, super
Steve:Mario sunshine from 2002. Yeah. And super
Stephen:Mario galaxy from 2007. The game was released on September 18th, 2020. And allegedly you can purchase it until March 31st, 2021.
Steve:Yes. And the gameplay was reviewed positively because. It's three amazing Mario games, but the critiques were on the trios presentation and lack of extras in its release, as well as the fact that it's planned to be a limited release. So
Stephen:at first I was thinking, Oh, you know, I'm sad there aren't extras. Or I'm sad that certain things like they didn't rebuild 64 and sunshine from the ground up and make it like, run it through Odysseys engine or something like that. And then I realized we're getting three full games that have each 20 plus hours of gaming for 60 bucks. I don't have any room to complain about the price and the lack of extras at that point. The, you know, like honestly, if they had rebuilt things from the ground up, I think they would have had to have release them individually. And I'm okay that there aren't any extras because. I only got up to play the games. I'm not going to sit there and look at artwork or concept art. Now, some people would.
Steve:Yes. And I, and I do agree that if you were the type of person who loves to get, you know, the, the launch additions of games to get the extra books with the art designs and love to get into the lore and the behind the scenes. I'm sure that there was plenty of material out there that they could have added that they didn't, but that's not what most gamers are there for. The only of the three where I felt somewhat cheated with this port was that the super Mario 64 already was ported to the 3d. Yeah. Yes.
Stephen:And it was, and it was a superior version, unfortunately. On the 3d S because you could play as different characters.
Steve:Exactly. And so going back to having it be the original, rather than the improved 3d S one was slightly disappointing. But other than that, I was very happy with what we got.
Stephen:I was too, and I still am hoping at some point, Nintendo's like, you know what we're doing Mario 64 HD it's in the Odyssey engine. We've made some quality of life improvements. Here's a new game. Yes,
Steve:yes. That would be great. And, but another thing that right now, people are, the trolls were kind of complaining about was that it is one of the first full, you know, limited releases they've done smaller, free to play kind of gimmicks, like the Tetris 99, correct. And the Mario 99, is that what it's called or what's the Mario on that? They have a,
Stephen:I think it's. Mario 35. Yeah, you're playing against 35.
Steve:Okay. Yes. And so, you know, they have these ones that are basically, you know, free to play and enjoy and they're multiplayer. So it makes sense. But I know a lot of people were unhappy with the idea that this collection is only available till the end of March.
Stephen:And I, in certain ways I can see that and I can get that. But I also know that there were. Millions of people like us, that as soon as it was announced, we were going to buy it on release day. Like it, wasn't going to be a thing of. Well, what happens if I don't buy it by March 31st? Yeah.
Steve:And I feel like, I mean, it is one of those games where fans are gonna want it forever, you know, and like fans that have been wanting it are gonna buy it as soon as it comes out. And it gives you more than enough time. I also don't think that Nintendo is going to pull a Disney from back in the day and lock it in a vault for another decade. I just think that the collection. Is only going to be available, but I'm sure that they'll have some sort of, even if it's a downloadable only, but 40 bucks per game, and then just make more money off of it. Having them be sold individually. Cause the collection's no longer available after the March 31st, but they've put all this, you know, this effort into making the game available. I'd be shocked if they don't split them up and sell them off one by
Stephen:one. And I would be shocked if like I could totally see them releasing it digitally as three separate things like the Bioshock collection. It's all on one cartridge, technically. But it downloads three different games. So you have to go into each one individually. I could see it being something like that, that you buy. And then it's three different things on your home screen. Yeah. And
Steve:one thing that it really brought this home for me in the idea of like, I saw a lot of friends that have spawn, I mean, children, where they were showing, you know, their kids playing Mario 64 or, you know, super Mario galaxy for the first time and getting there. Your reactions or thoughts on it all. And that's kind of the same experience that I had with what it's named after, which is the 1993 compilation of super Mario all-stars, which is on the super Nintendo.
Stephen:So I remember when this was coming out, I had a subscription to Nintendo power at the time. And. At the back of Nintendo power, there was a little teaser blurb that had pictures comparing like Mario one, two, and three of what they looked like on the NES and how they were going to look on the SNES with the all-stars thing, because they did. Increase them, they added backgrounds and stuff. It was very, very exciting at the time and you'd be able to, you know, save your game. I remember looking at that page over and over and over again, leading up to the release of it. And I made sure to play through all of them in order, including lost levels. Right. And that's the hard one. It is the hard one. And without taking any work pipes at all, so that I played every level. And when I played lost levels, you can choose to play as Mario or Luigi. And I played the Luigi game. Where's your dad. Of course he did, because he's the best, but that's super Mario all-stars. Is amazing. And I repurchase that when it came out for the week. Yeah,
Steve:let's see. That was my one of my first Mario games because I got the Mario land for the game.
Stephen:It is not Mario land. You bought Mario land.
Steve:Well, back then, that's what it was because it was on the game boy before I knew how to say it correctly. But yes, that counts as one. Yes. And then, but then from there I got the super Nintendo combo pack that already had super Mario world and the all-stars.
Stephen:Yeah. So that came out after, because for all the rest of us, we had to buy super Mario world. It came with our SMS. And then super Mario all stars came out and then I noticed a year later around Christmas time, they're like, let's do a bundle. You now get five Mario games when you buy. An Estonia.
Steve:Yes. Yeah. And you know, going into the game, James in this compilation are the 64 sunshine and galaxy. The first I remember playing 64 and sunshine when they first came out and I played the hell out of them, like a hundred percent of them. But galaxy was in a time in my life where I must not have been. As much of an active player, it was on the week, correct? It was on the week. I kind of half-assed that console.
Stephen:So I remember 64 came out and everything was released in November. I believe somewhere. It wasn't around Christmas time. I was, got it for Christmas. And so I had bought, I had sold my SNES and games to buy the in 64 and. I remember, like back then I could not sleep on Christmas Eve. Like I wanted to get up early and open presents. And so I, it still happened again that I woke up and I was like, I want to open presents, but you know, it was for, so everyone was asleep, but thankfully I had super Mario 64, so I did super Mario 64 until everyone woke up. And so I will always remember that first Christmas morning with it just playing, but there's, and we'll get into other stuffs GameCube. I was late to the game with GameCube because I had come out of college and I hadn't gained much during college. Cause I didn't have much time. And so there was already. A good number of games on the game cube. By the time I got one
Steve:GameCube, I remember playing the hell out of, I had so many games and love them all, but yes, going into super Mario 64, you know, I remember just, even when you first open up the screen and have him there and you could play with his face, but then, you know,
Stephen:well that, I mean, it was shocking to like, You weren't expecting any of that. And it was really good. Interesting.
Steve:Yes. And I mean, even just hearing the sounds instantly bring you back into it. Yes.
Stephen:And so nostalgia immediately. Yes.
Steve:And so, I mean, I remember just exploring even outside of peaches, castle, just for. So long before I even got into actually, you know, going into the castle to start that first world and just learning how the physics worked with the jumping spinning
Stephen:and running around in circles. Yeah. I absolutely remember that. Like at first, you know, you have like, you come out of the pipe and a lack of two is coming and he's the camera man, but he was also like, Terror for me in the past, because like lack of twos in all the other Mario games that send out the spiny he's like, that was
Steve:not good. No, in this one, he was the one that gave you that camera ankle that ended up becoming either your best friend, because you loved the idea 3d or your worst enemy, because it wasn't cooperating some levels, but I
Stephen:totally took time to explore outside. And everything before going into the castle,
Steve:you exploring thoroughly and wow. Wow.
Stephen:Nine out of 10 times it pays off.
Steve:Yes, for sure. It does. But then, you know, getting into the worlds, what would you say was your favorite world in the game?
Stephen:Favorite world? It has to be cool. Cool mountain and. I think that is because of the
Steve:slide, but I have so many memories of that slide level in
Stephen:particular. Like, I didn't want it to be over, like you do it. And I was like, well, now I want to redo it. Short cut. Yeah. Oh, it was so, so cool. Cool. I loved it. And you know, you hadn't done anything like that. In a platform in game.
Steve:Yeah. That point I was going to say, and now it's a, it's a Mario staple where they always have some sort of racetrack game like that.
Stephen:So on. Cool, cool. Mountain. Did you throw the baby pink one off the side?
Steve:Yeah. Did you? Yeah, I threw the vein penguin off the side more than once and just T heat as it just disappeared off and then go, poof.
Stephen:It didn't you didn't feel
Steve:bad?
Stephen:No, no, no, I couldn't do it.
Steve:Yes. But I mean, I, I had a lot of fun in that one and just memories of that, but that one, and then I had so many just, it felt like I was running in the sand forever and shifting sand lands. And I know, and I know that, you know, nowadays, especially with the scope of some of the other games that we play, that world felt so huge and massive until I played the new one and Odyssey. Yeah. But
Stephen:I loved like getting, just exploring side that pyramid and things. One of my other favorites was. Near the end of the rainbow ride where you were on the rainbow magic carpet or you're on the magic carpets and following along. The rainbow. That was just cool for me.
Steve:Yes. And similarly, near the end of the game, Tik TOK clock was just something that was just the physics of it and the way that the level played out and the difficulty.
Stephen:Well, that was because you had to look at the hands on the clock and jump through. At the right time, because it made it harder or easier for
Steve:you. I was going to say kids nowadays are screwed if they don't know how to tell time with that, if they're
Stephen:well, and of course, There was the first level, the BombBomb battlefield. And so that was your first real experience of getting stars well, that, and just Mario level with enemies in the 3d space. And. Getting to the point of like jumping underneath blocks, trying in a 3d space. Yeah.
Steve:And like learning how to jump on the Goomba without having it be timed off the right way. For the first time,
Stephen:it was definitely a learning curve for anybody that had only done side scrollers to that
Steve:point. Yeah. Yeah. But speaking of learning curve, one thing that every Mario game typically has is at least one boss fight with Bowzer. But this one we were blessed with not one but three. Boss levels and they did a great job. I feel a progressing in the difficulty as you go on with the battles could create the very typical three beat almost in bosses. Right. But you know, w what was your favorite of the Bowzer fights?
Stephen:Oh, you know, I don't know exactly which one. I just remember the first time, like you grabbing him by the tail. Yeah. And
Steve:then swinging him around with like pure
Stephen:glee. Yeah. And, but again, it was one of those things that. You weren't really sure how to do it the first time.
Steve:Yeah. Especially cause I mean, that was still early enough in the day where people were in doing YouTube videos or doing game facts
Stephen:did not exist.
Steve:Exactly. So I was saying people didn't Oh, this was back where if you really wanted help, you'd have to have a mom and dad who loved you enough. You could pay like the 99 cents a minute or whatever to call the Nintendo hotline for help. Yeah.
Stephen:No, my
Steve:parents wouldn't allow that. No, not at all, but yeah, I mean, it was just a fun game to play through and just like any Mario game, it also had its fair share of power ups. Yes.
Stephen:And just like in the Mario games, they try to do something different in each of the 3d ones where in the side scrolling ones, you know, usually have your Mushroom that the super mushroom that'll make you bigger. You've got the fire flower and, but this didn't really go that route. They went with different hats that you could wear that gave you the different powers
Steve:I really leaned into and Odyssey. Yes. But yes. I mean the, the, one of the first ones you remember you get when you play was metal, Mario. And that would help in the water levels. Cause you'd sink. Cause you were a metal and I made you, I think, resistant or you could walk through fire or something. Maybe not. I don't know, but I
Stephen:had it, I think so. Yeah. But winged, Mario was my favorite because then you could fly.
Steve:Yeah. And I, then you could fly on top of the castle and you can get Yoshi
Stephen:and then there was invisible Mario. Which
Steve:for me was almost my memory of using that power was invisible until I was researching this podcast because, you know, that was something that I didn't remember that power playing through it. Yeah.
Stephen:But just like legend of Zelda, Ocarina of time changed adventure games in a 3d space, super Mario 64 changed the game in platform and for 3d everything else. Took the cues from this game. So for me, this is a game that everyone should
Steve:play. Yeah. It's certainly is a binge and we will, you know, typically most people would think of playing in the, in the order of one, two, three. I think we'll wait until we talk about all three to figure out kind of what the play order might be nowadays for newcomers. But that means that we're going down to aisle Delfino. yes. And so super Mario sunshine is a 2002 platform action adventure game. It was published by Nintendo for the game cube and it was directed by Yoshiaki Kazumi and Kenta. We, you see and produced by series creator, Shakira, Mia motu and Takashi Tezuka.
Stephen:Yup. It's sold 6.28 million copies, but it was not a launch title for the game cube. The. Quote, Mario launch title for the GameCube was Luigi's mansion.
Steve:Yes. So that does, you know, slightly explained by the numbers were low, a little bit lower than super Mario 64, which sold 11.9 million because, you know, that was kind of a very high attachment rate. Which is the term we learned with our resolve the episodes.
Stephen:But this game was also harder than 64. Yeah.
Steve:Yes, it's certainly was. I know that I enjoyed my play through of it, but, you know, because it was one of those long lost gems that hasn't had a remake and was so one of a kind but I certainly had no intention of 100% in it.
Stephen:So the game takes place on the tropical Island Delfino. Where Mario toad, princess peach, and some more toads are taking a vacation and they get there and there's ink everywhere. And there's a villain resembling Mario. It's not Bowzer, it's not Bowzer, but he's vandalizing the Island with graffiti and paint. And Mario gets arrested and convicted for making the mess. And they tell him, well, you made the mess, you have to
Steve:clean it up. And it's one of the cuter openings of any of the Mario games that I remember really
Stephen:as this one is kind of like the super Mario two of the 3d Mario games is definitely the different, most different. Yeah.
Steve:I mean, this was one that the biggest difference between N any Mario game beforehand, or since then, it was just the fact that one of your basic ways of getting around or moving was the flood, the flash liquid ISER ultra dowsing device, which is a fancy way of saying the water tank.
Stephen:Yeah. You got your water tank that had the water gun and so you could use it to clean up. The paint that was everywhere. You could use it to
Steve:hover across the water
Stephen:or rock it up. And it was fantastic. Like, especially once you got the hang of it and things, it really opened up exploration a lot.
Steve:Yes. And I mean, the, it made the game so colorful because the ink, it wasn't just black ink. It was this rainbow ink. It felt very.
Stephen:Splatoon it now
Steve:it did. And you know, we, we love that. Even the idea of like Epic Mickey was another game, similarly with a paint motif that we really liked. So, you know, just things with bright colors like that. I mean, it worked really well with the Mario aesthetic.
Stephen:Yo that's dope. Dope
Steve:Mateo. I Q counts. Yes. But yeah, I really enjoyed having the flood in the gameplay. And when I first hopped back into the game with this remaster, I just was squirting everywhere and loving it.
Stephen:And one of the things that I really loved about this is that. Delphino Plaza is the hub world for everything. And there is so much to explore in Delfino Plaza. There are so many hidden shines and things to clean up and battles. It's
Steve:fantastic. Yes. I mean it is. And you know, as much as peach has Castle's iconic because of its first one in the series in a 3d world, the castle itself is very barren. And it is completely empty and this is just this vibrant city with people that you can jump on and talk with and throw fruit at, you know? And so, you know, I all Delphino as much as it was the hub world, it really was its own character almost. Yes. In terms of the, the worlds that they weren't as iconic necessarily as some of the other games, but I did love Bianca Hills that first world
Stephen:first. And so that's kind of like your. BombBomb area for this. And you just like in 64, you go back into the areas for multiple shines and Bianca Hills is great because you've got your climbing in your water and things. Actually, one of my favorites is Serina beach and that's the one that always takes place at sunset that has the hotel. Oh,
Steve:yeah,
Stephen:that one is nice. That one, it should me always. That's one of the ones that whenever I think of Mario sunshine, I always think of that one. And.
Steve:I think if peanut park, Oh,
Stephen:well, peanut park is great because it's an amusement
Steve:park. Yes. And the amusement park with Mario, or you got to flood your way all the way up and to the pirate ships and rollercoaster,
Stephen:like one of the things to get a shine, you have to ride on the rollercoaster and shoot the things. And so that was, you know, they did a lot with this game where they're like, okay, We were good with platforming and everything. Let's see in 64, let's see what we can push the envelope for sunshine and especially the way even on the beach outside of peanut park there You had the rocket launchers and things coming at you and I have to use the water cannons and stuff. Like they just really did a lot of really
Steve:fun things. And that is also where you meet baby Bowzer.
Stephen:Yes. And that's where you find out that Bowzer Jr. Or
Steve:he
Stephen:was led to believe by his father, that peach was his birth mother.
Steve:Oh yes. Oh, the birds and the bees talk or I guess the dinosaurs and the humans talk that you have your.
Stephen:Sure. One of the ones for me that was really fun, but frustrating was Rico Harbor. Oh, was
Steve:it because of the surfing on the
Stephen:squids? Not the surfing on the squids. It was whenever you're high up and you have to walk along their girders to do certain things. And if you fall off, you have to like backtrack in the water, find a way back up and then get back. Or, Oh,
Steve:yes. I mean, that was a really well-designed level.
Stephen:Oh, Because, especially the first boss fight with the giant blooper. Yes. Oh, that was so
Steve:good. Yes. And so definitely binge it. It is known that the end game is excrutiatingly difficult. I beat
Stephen:it. And did you get all of them? Yeah, I beat I a hundred percent of this game. Forgot
Steve:about that. Like I did when it came out, but I did not. The second
Stephen:time, the hardest part of this name is when you go into the dark world things and you don't have your flood pack because you get used to it. Yeah. You get used to it platforming with the flood and the little bit of extra help that like, if you're not going to make it to a ledge and then you press it and you get over and all of a sudden you're back to platforming just with your own skills. And there was. One level. I think when we were playing that, it took me 34 tries to get through that dark world level, but I got every single shine in this game and you get to the final level and it's Corona mountain. And so you're in all this lava and everything. And I actually felt that getting through Corona mountain. Was harder than the final boss fight.
Steve:Yeah. Well, I mean, and that can often happen. I mean, you, you love Mario games because of the game. Yeah. It was close because of the game play, but their boss fights have never been horribly challenging. No, I don't think that that's necessarily the purpose of it, but this game was a great ramp. Right. Oh, and
Stephen:I think this one actually aged extraordinarily well,
Steve:I agree. I completely agree, because there was one where people were on the fence of this one more than any of the other ones and they were harsh for it on the reviews. And I really didn't understand it as much because I really enjoy well,
Stephen:and this was the one that I was most excited to get because I had already replayed 64, like you on the DS. Yes. I had most recently played galaxy, so this was the one that hadn't been. On any other platform and without having my GameCube anymore and stuff, it was time to like, wait and see if it was as hard as I remember. Yes, it was because I actually, whenever this came out, I. I guess you could call it rage quitting. I just gave up with the game and I was like, I'm not finishing this. So that was the first Mario game that I had not finished. And now I can honestly say that there's not a Mario game that I haven't finished now.
Steve:Excellent. Well, I can't say the same thing because as we get into super Mario galaxy, that is one that I've now started twice and neither time was able to complete. So,
Stephen:and I remember. Cause we were playing it at the same time and we were going along at the same pace. And then all of a sudden you're like, I'm done. Yeah, I
Steve:don't, I don't know what happened or what it is about that one that it just, it never clicked with me the same way as the other ones did. I think I was almost overwhelmed by how many different worlds there were. And how much smaller they were and that I th I don't know. I don't know. I also think that, you know, after, you know, when I, when I played it, when it came out, that was back in 2007 on the, we, the, we wasn't my favorite system to play on. It was one where I believe. It was at a time like around my, my college and everything where I wasn't playing as much I was working and going to school. You would have
Stephen:been 21 at the time?
Steve:No, I
Stephen:graduated in urine, born in 1986. This was 2007. Subtraction. Okay.
Steve:Well, well, anyway, I, wasn't playing a lot of games clearly, and I'm a little bit fuzzy about, but how's going on in my life back then, but I never got her beating it because not only that, but in this one, not only are you saving the princess from Bowzer and you meet Rosalina, but you collect the 121 power stars only then unlock Luigi to get to do it all over again.
Stephen:Yes. So does this one have an iconic theme that goes with
Steve:it? I don't know. I think they were going for something a little. Cosmic.
Stephen:It's kind of like if star Wars met Mario
Steve:and they had a little love child, I think that that's exactly what they were going for with the theme for
Stephen:that. I loved this game so much. I, when I played it in 2007, I got all 121 power stars. And at that point though, whenever they're like, okay, now you have Luigi and you can do it again. I did say hell now.
Steve:Yeah. And meanwhile, I would've thought Luigi would have been incentive for you.
Stephen:I and Nintendo, I doubt you're listening to this and that you will ever hear this, but there is nothing wrong within any of these games letting you choose to play as Mario or Luigi from the beginning.
Steve:Yes. Like back in the 2d ones,
Stephen:like. I would love to be able to do Odyssey and all that stuff and just get to play as Luigi, like 3d world. It just was re-released on the switch. You can pick to play a Luigi in every level. And I will.
Steve:Yes. Now this game is also one of the ones to be the first one in my. Life that I really introduced a new character there outside of the core group that you've come to know of. You have Mario, you have Luigi, you have peach, you have toad, you have Bowzer, you have, you know, his little siblings all over the place, but you actually got to meet Rosalina. Yes. And who she be?
Stephen:Babe? Well, Technically in this, she is kind of like the guardian of the galaxy. Yes.
Steve:Not one of the guardians of the galaxy. Not to be confused with Marvel.
Stephen:Yes. But she and her star friends oversee the galaxy, making sure that everything is going well. And as you're playing through this game and you earn more stars, you get to go to Rosalina story hour. And you get to hear this lovely fairy tale and it's the artwork in the book is so beautiful. Like it's so, so impressive. I really, really like it. And it's got some really great galaxy levels in this. Did you have any favorites you want to talk about and then I can go for the ones after you quit?
Steve:Sure. Yeah. I mean, I'll definitely start with honey hive galaxy, because that was probably my favorite one because it was early. So I got around to playing it and you got to play as the bee and it just like, I had memories of flying around as be Mario and I really liked that.
Stephen:I love honey hive galaxy, because just like you said, it's the one where you get to be the bee and you're flying around and you get to really experiment with. Like you only can fly for a certain amount of time. And then there were things you could cling to the walls in the HMI sections,
Steve:learning how to fly in the 3d, where you can, you know, to have the gravity working against you or with you in some factors, it was, it was very well done. The gravity gimmick. Well, it wasn't I guess gimmicks makes us sound bad, but the gravity thing got old for me after a while I think was part of it. But they, it was really well thought
Stephen:out. Yeah. And you start out in the good egg galaxy.
Steve:Yes. I just remember the big Pronto's that PD
Stephen:PD, the Parana. And that's how you first start out. And he's your first villain and
Steve:that sticks around in other iterations. Now PDs can
Stephen:actually. In some of the tennis games and stuff. Yeah. But this was really interesting because you get out there and there are all these smaller planets and you can jump from planet to planet and you can run in a full circle. And it was really neat how they did that. There were some other ones that were. Really creative, like there was the loop-de-loop galaxy where you're riding on a manta Ray on a giant wave. So it's Oh, that was like
Steve:their race or their snow Hill.
Stephen:And so, yeah. You have to work against the waves that are coming and you don't want to be going too fast. Cause there's some really tight corners that a
Steve:couple of those. Yeah. Yeah.
Stephen:I really enjoyed that. That was a lot of fun. I also. Liked rolling green galaxy that one. So you would have, the shines were in a plastic ball. Mario would get on the plastic ball and you would move and Mario would run on top of the ball and it was kind of like those Children's games where you tilt the right side, tilt the left side to try to get the marble and not fall into the holes along the path. That's what Roland green galaxy was a lot.
Steve:Yes. And I don't know what world it was from, but it was more of the collecting eight red coins. But when you got to turn Mario into a plink of him, yeah. When you got to turn him into a Plinko game, that was fine. And then I also loved bouncing around a spring. Mario a
Stephen:spring, Mario was really fun and that one took some getting used to, to because you, if you hit it the right time, you'd get a really big jump. But then you would also like. Bounce like a slinky around. So you had to make sure that you could control how he was moving. I just thought it was a very clever design. It was very clever design.
Steve:Yes. And any other powers or worlds of note that you loved using or going through?
Stephen:The freeze frame galaxy was really interesting cause that was a mixture of lava and ice. So Yeah. You know, you're skidding along the ice and then you can't fall on the lava or you'll burn up and die. So that was an interesting one. Boom, REO came into play later because you could use it to go between bars and things. You could go invisible and kind of like shout out cat your way through
Steve:stuff. Got it. Gotcha. Yeah. I think that I had left before I played it as him where I don't remember. And
Stephen:so I still think that this one is a binge.
Steve:Yeah. And I don't have anything against it to explain why I didn't stop. So I'm going to abstain. I am not going to say purge it because there was nothing about the game that made me stop. It just didn't click with me. But overall, I mean, that's all three, in a nutshell, what are your final thoughts on them as the trilogy?
Stephen:So I absolutely love them. And I, and some people would say well, why wasn't galaxy to included? And I do have an answer for that. Go for it. So in 64 and sunshine and galaxy one, you have a hub world that you keep going back to to do all the mini missions with galaxy too. You're kind of progressing on a board. And so. It's the setup is different and I know people see galaxy one and two as a thing, but. I think these three actually fit together better as more of like the 3d Mario as they were talking about.
Steve:The only other option would have been to have them do 64 and sunshine together and then do galaxy and two together. And I don't want that. I like that this collection as it is, I do too. However, I don't necessarily think that if I was to introduce a new player, who's never played any of the Mario games before. I don't know whether I would tell them to start with 64. In terms of how the mechanics in the game play have aged and how. They haven't. So
Stephen:if somebody has not played any 3d Mario games, like they haven't played Odyssey on the switch and anything, and this is their first time doing a 3d Mario. I think I might actually start them on galaxy.
Steve:Yeah, I would, I would agree at least for the parts that I've played through, but it did seem a lot more user like, like not easy because it certainly had its challenges from what I understood
Stephen:it, it does. It's, it's a hard game in certain parts. And that was,
Steve:it has a very nice, you like a learning curve. And especially in those first couple of galaxies because of the gravity and always being tied to a planet, I think, especially for children and girlfriends or boyfriends or whoever that you try and get into playing it, they might get frustrated at the, you know, the falling and dying part. And it's a little bit harder to die in the first couple levels as you're getting.
Stephen:Yeah. And, but I do think that. Before you do sunshine, you should go back and do 64 and 64 has so many interesting things with the way that it's set up, just from, you know, earning the stars and you have to get a certain number of stars to progress. Two different
Steve:areas, very well done and set kind of a standard for that for, for the lease to the rest of it's console life.
Stephen:And there's a lot of great fun things with that. Like Mario swimming underwater in all the 2d games, Mario could swim underwater for as long as he wanted, because there were entire levels that were underwater with this you're underwater and it starts taking away. Air and you only have a certain amount of time before you can either get a coin or resurface. So I thought that was definitely interesting because like it, it made Mario grow up. Yes.
Steve:Now with wrapping up on this idea of a compilation, thinking ahead, maybe five years from now for Mario's 40th anniversary, what three games would you want in a compilation at that point to help celebrate. His history.
Stephen:Okay. I would put super Mario world, because I think that is the best 2d platformer for Mario. I would do Odyssey because I think Odyssey may be the best of the 3d games. Yes. And I would add in 3d world. I think because then you've got super Mario world, which is 2d, super Mario Odyssey, which is full exploration, 3d. And then you have super Mario 3d world, which is 3d, but it's almost in a 2d space type of thing. It's hard to explain. You don't have the full exploration like you do. In 64 or Odyssey and stuff like that. So I think those three would be a great way to capture all the ways Mario can move. Yes.
Steve:I agree. With the first two, and then I was going to go completely wild with the third one and I would say, you know, do the super Mario world and maybe even do it as like a fully upgraded, like super Mario maker type of with the new Mario skins. But have it be the levels as is and then do either Odyssey or like probably Odyssey at that point. Cause that that's at that point, it's like,
Stephen:It'll be many years old because it's already many years old, surprisingly.
Steve:But then I was going to say the third being a surprise, being a full HD ramp from the ground up built up of super Meyer RPG. So you can really get to know all of them as characters.
Stephen:Well, that doesn't count because
Steve:that's, that's so bad. I want a new super Mario
Stephen:RPG. I do too. The super Mario RPG legend to the seven stars. Oh, it was for the SNES and it was so good. It was a, I think
Steve:it was my first direction. It wasn't that
Stephen:good, but because you would have been seven,
Steve:I don't know when it came out, but yes. So. I definitely love all these Mario games and I can't wait to keep on talking about them, hopefully in future episodes. So let us know what you think of Mario.
Stephen:Oh, and that brings your grand total. Two way surprisingly low for yes.
Steve:Well, I also did talk a little bit slower than I normally do in our episodes. So I will take that. I hope if you've been playing along that you enjoyed that little as counting game, I
Stephen:should have like, said it for every time you say it wrong. I get five bucks or something
Steve:you can do better than five bucks with me, babe. I know. All right. Well, let us know what you think. By emailing us@happylifepodatgmail.com.
Stephen:You can also interact with us on all the socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all at happy life. Pod H a P P Y L I F E P O D. And until next time everyone stay
Steve:happy.