Why the Mario Bros. cartoon DIDN'T work.

Many of you probably don't know about a little cartoon called the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Which is a good thing. Because this cartoon wrecks everything about anything good that the Super Mario Bros. universe had going for it.

To start, this show ruins the iconic theme tune as the intro.


While at the time that the cartoon aired, Mario and the rest of the gang's personalities weren't established to their current modern day counterparts, what they did kind of wrecked the series. Mario and Luigi made pasta puns right, left, and center, and that was mostly all the personality that they had. Is it any wonder that this show is part of the Youtube Poop sensation?

Ugh, I'm having such a hard time making myself watch all these clips. Or at least look for them.
The above turns Mario into a jerk, and Luigi just...I don't like these characterizations of my favorite video game icons. And the writing is really weak as well. I mean, Mario is trying to help organize cavemen (Okay, where in ANY of the games have there been cavemen??) to...build the next Stonehenge? I don't know, but it makes no sense, but here comes Luigi with a stone football and OH! Let's use football to teach "organization and teamwork."
Ugh....I hate these cartoons. Why can't cartoons ever be just entertaining? WHY DO THEY HAVE TO HAVE A POINT?!

The Offical characterization of Luigi is that he's a bit of coward, kind of stuck in Mario's shadow. Mario, in my mind, is a bit cocky that he's the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom (which the cartoon never seems to take place in), but at the same time, he's also a big brother, so he looks out for Luigi. And they're not above and beyond a few scuffles now and again...But the cartoon just wrecks this!

I think the biggest issue with the cartoon is that it came far too soon. I think the cartoon, with the right people involved, could have been well done. I mean, look at Pokemon. How many seasons does that show have? Proof that a video game CAN have a good cartoon (at least...until season 4. After that it's like, "Really Ash? You're still not a Pokemon master?")

The video game series was still in its childhood when the cartoon was developed and created. So there wasn't a lot of depth to it...which shows, horribly. The series, and Nintendo as a whole, took off on the N64, which gave a lot of its series lots of backstory/adventure.

Not only that, but Mario got a voice for the first time, the wonderful Charles Martinet gave Mario his classic, "It's-a me, Mario!" Keep in mind, his vocal audition was pretty much improvised on the spot, and he decided to NOT go with a tough New York accent for Mario. He went with a lighter and softer version...and the rest is history.

So what can we learn from this? Just because something is popular doesn't mean it will make a good cartoon. Super Mario Bros was everywhere, so it only makes sense to make a cartoon about it, right? WRONG. This, along with the Zelda cartoon (DO NOT. GET. ME. STARTED), and the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon (not Sonic X. That one was much better), took characters from the video games and turned them into EVERY SINGLE OTHER CARTOON of the day. Y'know the "Here's what you're supposed to learn, today, kids, because you can't just watch cartoons for entertainment, no you must learn something!"

Gosh, this is half of why I hate cartoons today. They're either smacking you upside the head with a message that you need to learn, or they're just so stupid that you feel your brain cells committing suicide. This show is no exception.

Also, this show RUINED the Legend of Zelda, and is probably why they STILL haven't given Link any dialouge. It can be summed up in four words...."Well, excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess." Way to be a jerk, Link. Way to ruin the greatest hero ever, random company playing upon the tender fandom of Mario and Zelda.

...I'm gonna go look up fanart that makes me feel better now...

Resonating

A thing I've noticed about my fandoms is that each thing strikes a cord with me in some way. For my animes, I have always loved the story that each series presents. I love the characters. And in some way, I always find a character or two that I latch onto as my favorite.

I think with Avatar: The Last Airbender universe, I have a thing for child heroes. I love seeing a little kid shoulder responsibilty way before they're supposed to, and they win. Legend of Korra just amps things up. While Korra may be older than Aang, I love a good female protaganist, and they portray her realistically; being girly while at the same time being tough, admitting that she herself has flaws while being awesome. Each character is well developed, and we get enough backstory for each character that we can make our own assumptions why they act a certain way, but we're not given their entire life stories in one sitting.

For video games: I prefer acting out a story with a character than mindlessly shooting down bad guys because I want to watch the blood and guts spill out. To be honest, I don't see the lure of first person shooters. It all seems the same to me. Which is when I'm on an adventure as Mario or Sora or Link or whoever, it just seems more natural to me. It's like reading a book. Only not because I've got a controller in my hand.

I don't know how to explain how each thing just clicks in my brain.

It's either story or characters. Yeah, I'm gonna go with that.

Software update!

As a cool head's up, I finally got Sims 3 Generations. This expansion pack is PERFECT for how I play the game, and it's even more perfect  for the 100 Baby Challenge! So after a certain point (I have quite a buildup of photos from the summer) you'll start to see some changes in the game. Super stoked about this! now to go try it out!

Surprise! And 3 more Pieces of Heart

Surprise! Did you miss me?! I hope so!

So I found a good use for this bliggity bloggity blog of mine. Not only does it get to be a log of me and my video game pleasures, it's also going to be the home for my Sims 3 Story/Challenge.

What do I mean by challenge? Well, as a fun thing to do with The Sims, because, let's face it, after so long, you get bored of watching your Sims go to work everyday. So the gaming community presents challenges to keep us Simmers occupied.

My challenge? The 100-Baby challenge. It's very much possible to do in Sims-world. So far I believe I'm at...17? so...i'm 17% done. A lot of the fun I've been having is dealing with the mulitple love triangles, and just the oddities of life.

I had nothing to do with this shot. This is all my Sims. My Sim in question, Roxanne, was pregnant during a birthday party for her second set of triplets (she looks amazing for having had so many kids), and her water broke. And when Mom's water breaks, everyone freaks out. It just so happened that this occured at two big life moments. It's also the funniest thing that's ever occured to me while playing, so I'm glad I've got a record of it. Seriously, Carl's face is hilarious.

 

So, yes. In a few days, expect a new tab and a new page and a new adventure!

 

Speaking of adventures, I dusted off Skyward Sword today, and began setting out after my 4 missing pieces of heart (by the end of the game, which I'm very close to, you need to have 20 hearts. I've only got 19). Three of the pieces in question are only attainable by winning mini-games *groan of disgust* while the fourth is a piece in a dungeon I completely overlooked. Thank heavens for the internet, otherwise I would have been trapsing all over Hyrule (or whatever it's called) for hours checking all the dungeons again.

 

As another adventure note, I also started playing New Super Mario Bros Wii, so now I'm rockin' the Mushroom Kingdom as well. Except they make those Star Coins so freakin' hard to find! I've found a few...but I'm about to venture into unknown territory. At least I learned how to save my stupid game...had to start all over on my adventure because I didn't save properly. Who makes a game where your save spots are only at the mini-bosses?! What the heck, Nintendo?

One Last Post?

Since my classes are ending, that means the reason I need to update this blog is also ending. But part of me doesn't want to give up on this. I've had a lot of fun geeking out to no one in particular, and I've been keeping an eye on my writing, watching it improve (or at least, what I consider to be an improvment). I've slowly gotten more comfortable sharing my doodles with the internet, and I hope that I'll become a better artist and be able to webcomic with the big boys.

For now, though, I just need to decide what to do with this blog...do I keep it? Scrap it? I'm not really sure at the moment.

For any of my readers out there (I know you're out there!) what do you think?

Save and Quit?                               Continue?

Are you sure you want to quit?

Yes!                           No!

Never doing that again

So last night I pulled my first real "all-nighter" to finish a project for a class. At around 6 this morning, i decided to sleep for an hour to somewhat offset my tiredness. Yeah, no, I woke up at 9:36. My class starts at 9:30. I live 10 minutes(ish) from campus. and I still had to get ready.

I've often wondered how video game people can just run around all over their world and never get tired. The only time Mario sleeps is if you leave him alone long enough. Link just shuffles around and stretches, Sora doesn't even have an idle animation, I don't think. Yet these guys go MONTHS without sleeping (except in Skyward Sword. It's hilarious where Link can sleep in that game) or any type of rest. They run everywhere, and they never stop for a break.

I can barely function on a lack of sleep, and these guys haven't slept in forever. Whatever, I gotta go get some sleep. Nap time.

Dear Dad

Dear Dad, I know you worry about me and my fandoms. And I can understand why. After all, I don't want to lose my grip on my sanity either. But the problem is, Dad, is that I owe all these people something.

In high school, I owed my life to video games. They saved me from finding other, more destructive forms of escape. I hid how hard I was hurting from you and Mom pretty well. But I was desperate, Dad. Desperate for someone, anyone, to care about me. So that's why they're a permanent part of me now, better than a scar, but less than a tattoo. Which I don't want anyways. So I owe them the adventures we went on together, and I need to share them with the world.

Ponies came to me when my own friendships were suffering. I learned what my friendships should be, and seeing how drastically wrong they were at the time. Ponies brought me a friend, one that is irreplacable, and I owe them the same Loyalty they emphasize in the show. Ponies have been a beacon I can turn to when my times get dark. I can't tell you how many times Smile has made my crappy day just a little bit better.

Lindsey came to me last year, and in that year, she has become a huge inspiration to me, for me. She emulates so many positive qualities that we share...and I think about how I'm not sharing them. How I'm too worried that others won't like what I have to offer. How daring she is, how willing to take risks she is. Something I know I need to do more of. The funk I got in over the summer was helped a little by her music, but I needed to meet her, to watch her live, to hear her play, just for me, to snap me out of that funk. She gave me back my motivation. Who knows where I could have ended up if I hadn't seen her? I know I'd be living with the regret that I missed the chance to see her live. I owe her something, Dad. I have to pay her back for what she did for me. She saved me.

Dad, you may not understand how I feel about all my fandoms. And that's okay. You don't have to. But I do want you to understand that I owe all these people, real and fake, something, because they saved my life. They brought me out the darkness. They have kept me from straying further into it, into a place where I might not be the same person anymore. I consider all these people my friends, even if they're not real. While you may not have been there, they were there during those times when I felt alone. They provided a safe place where I didn't have to deal with Mom potentially dying. I could be myself. And that was the greatest gift I was given by them.

And I'm going to forever be indebited to them for saving my life. But I'm okay with that debt. It's high time I started paying it back. Without all these people, Dad, you wouldn't have...me.