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Mario VS Donkey Kong is a game that I have a little bit of a odd history and nostalgia with. While I never actually played the original, I did have a Game Boy Advance around the time that the game, along with Mario Party Advance released, and I used to see it in the Argos catalogues back in the day, and was always interested by it. A 2D Mario game where you go up against Donkey Kong? My parents had given me two little handheld Game & Watch games keychains featuring Mario and Donkey Kong before, so seeing it here always got me interested. However, in spite of that, I never actually received it. I don't know if I just never put it on a Christmas list, or I did, but by the time I did, it was too late to get the game and it had gone out of stock. For me, my Mario experience on GBA would be Superstar Saga, and the Advance games. Yet, a few years later, after receiving some money for various celebrations, I bought the very first console I ever bought with my own money - a Nintendo DS Lite, and I had just enough money to buy 3 games with it. The games? Madagascar (The tie-in games were surprisingly very good platformers in their own right), a game I can't recall exactly, and... ...whoops. Yeah, so when I saw that Mario VS Donkey Kong was on DS, and it was in stock when I bought my DS Lite, I just had to get it. It says a lot that apparently kid me decided to pass up Super Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS, Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, and Sonic Rush in favour for this game, but here we are. Apparently, that's what I decided to do. My parents would later gift me Mario Kart DS and Sonic Rush for Christmas that year at least. But still, it came as a surprise that instead of the Donkey Kong games I had played before in the past, instead I had this weird game where I had to draw on the touch screen and guide these little Mario toys to the end of the level, rather than actually play as Mario. But still, I enjoyed the game for what it was, and even finished the game on my own. I even remember specifically trying to chase after the additional toy variants like Toy DK, and Toy Peach. Although it did annoy me a fair deal that my favourite character - Luigi wasn't in the game. Anyways, with that - that's my experience with this series. The first game remaining a little curious oddity from my childhood, and the second game being one of my first DS games. After that, I pretty much never touched the Mario VS DK series again. Skip ahead to 2023 and out of nowhere, a remake of the original game is announced out of absolutely nowhere in time for it's 20th anniversary, becoming one of the first 2024 Switch exclusives. I didn't really have much of a want to get it though. Curiosity aside, £40 for a remake of a GBA game with nothing else additional was absolutely ridiculous. However, between the want to finally satisfy that childhood curiosity, and Amazon offering a bit more of a discount for the game brand new, I decided what the hell. So I'm sure we all know the story by now - Donkey Kong, while watching TV catches a glimpse of a brand new Mini-Mario toy that causes the primate to rush to his nearest store to purchase the newest fad-...er, sensation. Except all those pesky scalpers beat him to it, proving that really - scalpers are the true villains of the Mario universe. DK, wronged by the world then opts to instead go to the factory and channel the scalping mindset - stealing all of the toys for himself, and leaving Mario to chase after him, presumably because he's about to lose a whole lot of licensing royalties, and his home with it, chasing the ape through eight worlds in order to retake all of the toys. Honestly, a bold choice by Nintendo to tell a story about Amiibo collecting, but one that paid off, I feel. What that brings us to is a modern take on the traditional Donkey Kong arcade gameplay, where Mario has to jump through 126 stages of puzzle platforming, collecting various collectibles in the form of presents, collecting a key that unlocks the doorway to the second part of each level, and figuring out how to get it to the door, and dodging various enemies and hazards along the way, if not using them as a means of platforming through the hazards that surround him, with a Mini Mario marking the end of the level. After six stages of this, you'll then do two unique stages - 1 where you control 6 Mini Marios to the end of the stage, and of course - fighting Donkey Kong via various means, like throwing trash barrels at him, redirecting bombs at him and more. But it doesn't end there - there's then an additional eight hard worlds, along with expert levels that the remake adds, where the gameplay flips to Mario needing to guide a Mini-Mario to the end of the stage, meaning if either he, or the Mini-Mario dies, it's a life taken out. Honestly, while I wouldn't say that it's as faithful a translation as the early Donkey Kong '94 (which may or may not be happening in this blog series), I think it's a really damn good way of taking the gameplay of Donkey Kong, and adapting it into a unique puzzle platformer, especially with how it even brings in some of Mario's 64 moveset in order to enhance the gameplay further. The difficulty level here was pretty much just perfect imo, never feeling too challenging, even as far as the expert levels, and I think they do a very good job of using the new gameplay to justify new kinds of gimmicks from other games like Mario Madness, using enemies as platforms to traverse the world. It should also be noted that the visuals is just absolutely fantastic. I love seeing unique locales in Mario games, and this game is absolutely no exception, with worlds such as Donkey Kong jungle, feeling a lot more inspired by DK Junior as well with it's rope climbing, Merry Mini-Land being a big carnival, and especially the last world - Twilight City, a cityscape that's lit up with the night sky, enhanced with the game's wonderful animations as well (Although the remake did remove a lot of the more Crash-esque death animations Mario had in the original). Unfortunately, what you might be noticing is all of this applies to the standard game, and that's because the remake doesn't add anything to it, other than two worlds named Merry Mini-Land, and Slippery Summit, but this only amounts to about 24 levels added. Other than that, there's the cutscenes being very well animated, and some good QoL changes such as making only the presents required for completion (whereas the original required high scores), the game is just a extreme bare bones remake. There's barely anything new, so unless you really want to see the game in the best style possible, with some additional levels, there's really nothing lost from playing the GBA original over this. Although on the other hand, the original is also a lot harder to come by now. But really, that's the biggest downside here. Mario VS Donkey Kong is a wonderful puzzle platformer. A fantastic adaption of the original DK arcade games to a new playstyle, and having finally gotten to play it after so many years of interest, I really had a ball, with me having even 100%'d it thanks to how much I enjoyed it. But for £40? It's ridiculous just how barebones this really is. It'd at least be one thing if it was a Advance Wars scenario where they at least remade two full games. If Mario VS Donkey Kong had remade both DK 94, and Mario VS DK? This would be a easy recommendation. Very easy. But as is? Nearly full price for a barebones remake of a GBA game? I honestly don't think I can easily recommend it, despite thinking it's a legitimately fantastic puzzle platformer and a wonderful Mario spinoff title. If you're seriously looking to give this a try and don't give a shit about paying full price for a GBA remake, barebones as it is? Go for it. I did admittedly get a few days of game time out of it. Otherwise? If you can get it for a sale? Like say - £25-30? Then yeah, I'd say at that point, definitely don't sleep on it. Mario VS Donkey Kong is a good game, and it'd be cool to see the series make a comeback with the original gameplay style, rather than become a rather rehashed series like the Minis caused it to become. If nothing else, let's at least hope for a remake of DK 94. Or add it to the GB Online service. Just give me a way to play it on Switch.

I really can't stand all of these 2D Platformers coming out in recent times. For one, most of them don't offer anything new besides a gimmick, which is interesting at times, but get boring quick. On top of that, these retro callbacks have really overstayed their welcome. Back when Megaman 9 and Bionic Commando: Rearmed came out, these games we're interesting, fun, and nostalgic. But now, because it's all we see, it seems like all the devs are becoming lazy and focusing too much to catering to old gamers. And while there still is some 3D platformers, do I need to mention that literally 90% of them are just 2D platformers in 3D?! Games like Super Mario 3D Land/World and Sonic Lost World are just 2D platformers in 3D. Similar stage design, boring level tropes, very small scope, linear stages, unappealing visuals, not a lot of "wow" factor, very underwhelming (especially compared to gems like Super Mario 64 and Sonic Adventure) There's no worlds to explore or objectives to do, two key factors to 3D platformers. This is why the 6th generation of gaming was the best in my eyes because they had a slew of interesting 3D platformers that capitalized on what the 5th generation brought us. They had worlds to explore, objectives to complete, basically having more, oh I don't know, EFFORT! All the 3D platformer goodness that we got from the last generations are slowly fading and I don't see them making a return sadly. So all in all, the platformer genre is getting really boring because they just keep doing the same shit they've been doing for decades now. I'm getting really sick of this trend and it needs to stop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otXQyRT9Ygc Metal Sonic Hyperdrive is a heavy modification of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) by Darkon360/GothicReaper/LoneDevil for the Sega Genesis. with brand new Zones, Sonic CD style gameplay, Music, Playable Characters, and Modes. Starting Metal Sonic, taking Sonic's role as the main protagonist to stop Dr'Robotnik's greatest inventions yet. Also starting special guests such as Kirby, and Somari. (who're meant to be Unlockables due to technical difficulties, also there for the lulz.) Story: One Day, after the defeat of Dr'Robotnik by the hands of Sonic. Robotnik decided to rebuild Eggrobo to travel Mobius to search for the Chaos Emeralds. Eggrobo kidnapped Tails in the Mystic Ruins, by sending him into Metallic Madness, but luckily, Tails escaped. he decided to sneak into Robotnik's lab and grab the parts of his robots and pieces. Tails later go to his home in the Mystic Ruins and created a new robot, based off Metal Sonic's classic model, Codename: METAL. with the ability to feel and behave almost exactly like Sonic. Tails was able to track Eggrobo to where hes heading by using his Radar, so Tails sent Metal Sonic to Resort Isle, where Eggrobo was heading to. in hopes to find the Chaos Emeralds and destroy Dr'Eggman's plans once and for all. Controls: METAL SONIC Jump + A/B/C - Jumpdash Jump + Up + A - Super Transformation Up + A/B/C - Super Peel Out Down + A/B/C - Spindash (Sonic CD style) Extra Characters LONE DEVIL Jump + A/B/C - Mid Air Dash Jump + Up + A/B/C - Vertical Hell Scythe Jump + Down + A/B/C - Free Fall KIRBY Jump + A/B/C - Float/Fly Down + A/B/C - Inhale Up + A/B/C - Run SOMARI THE ADVENTURER Down + A/B/C - Quick Spindash SONIC THE HEDGEHOG Down + A/B/C -Spindash (Sonic 2 style) Hints: Obtaining Chaos Emeralds: To obtain all 6 emeralds, find and destroy emerald monitors to enable the Giant Ring. (no Special Stages required) Extras Menu: Press C button on the Title Screen to access the special extra features, including character selection and Survival Mode. Credits: Half of the Metal Sonic Sprites - Yuski and CS Somari Sprites - Marioguru64 Smash Bros Melee Kirby Sprites - Drshnaps Music Ports - KCEXE Music - Nineko Sonic 2 Level Select & Options port - Esrael Sonic 2 Clone Driver - Tweaker Extras Menu, Magnetize Rings, and Splash Screen code - HckTrox Peel Out, and Extended Camera - Selbi Sonic 1 Custom Title Screen Font - Dr-Luxcario More Info in Metal Sonic Hyperdrive Homepage Download Rom Boxart Covers USA/NTSC-U Europe/PAL Japan/NTSC-J Cart Stickers USA/NTSC-U Europe/PAL Japan/NTSC-J BONUS HACKS The Metal Sonic Classic Trilogy are rom hacks of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, featuring Metal Sonic as a full playable character. (Sonic CD dosen't count) Metal Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog Metal Sonic in Sonic 1, the real deal this time. Complete with 3 different play styles. Controls: ORIGINAL - Original Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay, speed caps included. SPINDASH - Based off Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Spindash included. HYPERDRIVE - Based off Metal Sonic Hyperdrive, Jumpdash and Sonic CD Spindash enabled. Credits: Half of the Metal Sonic Sprites - Yuski & CS Sonic 1 Custom Title Screen Font - Dr-Luxcario Sonic CD SFX - KCEXE Download Rom Metal Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Metal Sonic in Sonic 2. Complete with 2 different play styles for Metal Sonic. Controls: ORIGINAL - Original Sonic the Hedgehog 2 gameplay. HYPERDRIVE - Gameplay based off Metal Sonic Hyperdrive. Jumpdash and Sonic CD Spindash enabled. Credits: Half of the Metal Sonic Sprites (Player) - Yuski & CS Sonic 1 Custom Title Screen Font - Dr-Luxcario Sonic CD SFX - KCEXE Download Rom Metal Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1U19jC3Cyw Metal Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Complete with additional special moves. Alternate Title Names: Metal Sonic & Knuckles Metal Sonic in Sonic 3 & Knuckles Sonic 3 & Metal Sonic MS3K Sonic 3 & Knuckles & Metal Sonic Controls: Jump + A/B/C - Jumpdash or Fire Shield Jump + Up + A/B/C - Double Jump or Electric Shield Jump + Down + A/B/C - Downwards Jumpdash or Bubble Shield Jump + A - Super/Hyper Transformation Credits: Very Half of the Metal Sonic Sprites (Sonic 1 basic) - Yuski & CS Download Rom

As of next Wednesday (19th March), anyone in the UK who finds themselves in the vicinity of a McDonald's (i.e. anywhere) can pick up some nifty new pieces of Nintendo merchandise - that's right, Super Mario is coming to a Happy Meal near you! Wahoo! The toys will be available until 29th April (presumably rotating which toys are being given away where every week or so) and is tied in with a "Run, Jump and Power Up!" promotion themed around Super Mario to get kids being more active while they chow down on their greasy burgers carrot sticks and fruit bags. There's eight toys to collect, pictures of them all can be seen here: If you'd rather have something other than a Happy Meal or would just rather not eat McDonald's food at all, I think you can buy the toys separately for about £1 each (or at least that's what they used to do - haven't bought any Happy Meal toys for ages now!) Anyone going to be rushing to their nearest fast food outlet to get their hands on these goodies? Do you think it might give Nintendo and the Wii U a much needed boost? Or are you just against McDonald's and everything it stands for? Whatever the case, it now begs the question - Ronald McDonald for Smash Bros Wii U/3DS confirmed?

http://nintendoeverything.com/super-mario-mobile-ripoff-among-latest-unauthorized-nintendo-apps/ Well, if you thought Flappy Bird was a ripoff, get ready to be rocked by this. China-based studio Beijing Flyfish Technology has crafted a Super Mario Bros. rip-off in an attempt to cash in on the plumber's good name. Most games that intend on using Nintendo's iconic mascot for inspiration usually attempt to mask the fact. However the studio's recently released app is actually named Super Mario, and features a number of slightly tweaked assets. Beijing Flyfish Technology feels that because there are numerous Mario flash games, there isn't a need to gain permission from Nintendo. Yasuhiro Minagawa told Bloomberg that "Nintendo has not approved these applications. Our legal team will investigate them from now." http://www.cubed3.com/news/20557/1/nintendo-to-crack-down-on-mario-mobile-clones-from-china.html#.UwffyajxqmI And now the chase begins. Feel free to discuss the debacle and update about it here.

http://www.twitch.tv/twitchplayssmb Oh that's right you better believe it folks. We've got Twitch Plays freakin' Super Mario Bros! Platformer controls and everything. Enjoy the madness! Now..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBOB_aJWVO4 Are you a girl? No Yes! Do you like Nintendo? Yes! Then you'll love the new Nintendo Girls Club YouTube channel! also I hope you guys appreciated the Punch-Out!! reference in the title, what with Little Mac being topical at the moment Hosted by actress Jorgie Porter from Hollyoaks (a UK soap opera for those not in the know) as well as a few other female celebrities (Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City to name one), Nintendo has launched a brand new YouTube channel that's strictly aimed at its female demographic. It will feature videos, trailers, and more all specifically tailored for the girl gamer market, with an apparent emphasis on the 3DS/2DS but with a few Wii U titles like Super Mario 3D World and - yes! - Sonic Lost World thrown in for good measure. The big question is though... is this a good idea, and a step forward for women's rights in the world of gaming? Or is it a bit of a misfire, seemingly reinforcing as many stereotypes as it attempts to break, what with its princess-themed logo? And more importantly, will it actually do Nintendo any good in these troubling times? In all honesty it'll probably amount to nothing, and just be a little thing they're doing to keep appealing to their female fans. But that doesn't mean it can't prompt some discussion! Oh... and... umm... did anyone else find this bit of the intro video really creepy? "It's-a me, being a pervert behind-a the curtains! Wahoo!"

This topic is for any ideas that could evolve into a really good Sonic and Mario game. Not a game like the Olympics series, but more like a full-blown release of a serious game. I have NO influence in the games SEGA makes, this is only a brainstorm because I've always wondered how a game like that would end up.

I say quest, but really it has become more of a company-wide obsession, driven it seems by leadership which doesn't understand the videogames market at all. http://www.dromble.com/2013/12/10/nintendos-obsession-with-finding-one-game-that-can-sell-consoles/ She makes a solid point: A system will not sell on the back of one game alone (although it is true that some may bite if the price is right). I mean sure, you can have that one big title to help draw people toward buying your system; it's always great when it's there and people are like, "Hey, this one big game's on this system, it must be pretty good after all." However, if you want to seal the deal and promote strong sales over the long term rather than just the immediate term, what you absolutely need is to have as diverse a library as possible, which ticks as many of the boxes as possible. As third parties seem no longer to be a part of the Wii U equation, Nintendo should be sweet-talking indie studios, getting them to develop new entries from the enormous back-catalog of Nintendo IPs which have been absent for years or decades. Sony is already doing this, recently having green-lit new Shadow of the Beast and Lemmings titles from small indie studios, and I've been hearing on the grapevine that there are more games on the way from the old Psygnosis library. If Nintendo can start covering a larger selection of genres, genres appealing to wider audiences, then the Wii U will inevitably become more attractive to gamers and developers alike.

Awesome Land comes out on iOS in February. There have been a couple of really sleazy Mario clones on iTunes store before like Super Jump World and Super World Adventures, but this one looks great. It's to Mario what 3D Dot Game Heroes was to Zelda, a proper tribute as opposed to a quick ripoff. Crazy unique art style too.

Well since there doesn't seem to be one. This is the Mario Kart topic. And now I'll say something's on the newest game. Mario Kart 7. Mario Kart 7/3DS is an upcoming racing video game for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is being developed and published by Nintendo, slated for release in December 2011. Similar to other games in the Mario Kart series, it incorporates various characters from theMario games racing with one another on Mario game-themed tracks. New additions to the game include hang-gliding attachments for karts and the ability to drive underwater. While carrying on from the traditional Mario Kart gameplay, Mario Kart 7/3DS introduces some new gameplay features. One of these includes a hang glider attachment which allows players to drive off ramps and fly through the air in order to clear across obstacles or take alternate paths throughout the course. Driving underwater adds a propeller to the kart, offering a different style of handling. Another new feature is the ability to customize a character's kart, such as changing its tires which effects its handling on certain surfaces. Coins make a return from some of the previous entries in the series, which will allow players to increase their speed or strengthen defenses against attacks. Discuss your memories and favorite things from the games and what you hope for in the future. And Also. Has there been any recent gameplay videos or news on MK7 at Gamescon?

So this is a thread for those that are unsatisfied with what's been shown with Episode 2, and wanna improve it in their own way. This is also the opposite thread for the Positive thread, so think of it also as: Negative things in Episode 2 you're bummed out about and wish to improve? Or as A Match in Oil Ocean Zone said: "BASH THIS PIECE OF SHIT" So what do you wanna improve in Episode 2? Graphics? Level Design? PHYSICS? UNCURLING? KEN BALOUGH'S MUSTACHE? Discuss and hope this clears up the tension made. also the eggplant wizard gets the credit because he thought about it and you are all awesome

Hey, SSMB! It's been a long time since I've contributed any stories to this board, but I've had this idea filed away in my head for a long time now, and am finally beginning to turn it into a full-fledged story! This will be a very long-running crossover story starring Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Tails as they team up to stop the dastardly Bowser and Dr. Eggman from taking over both their worlds! Plenty of other Mario and Sonic characters will appear, and they'll definitely have important parts to play, but the aforementioned six are our main cast for the long haul. This story's gonna be long, let me reiterate. However, I plan to periodically update this first post in the topic with a handy navigation guide linking to each chapter, organizing the story arcs for easy reference. Most importantly, I wrote this to entertain everyone, so I hope I succeed at that! All feedback, including criticism, is awesome. ----- Chapter Links ----- Prologue: Terrible Team-up! (It's in this post) So, without further ado, the story! -------------------------------------------------- Mario & Sonic Adventure by Dr. Mechano Prologue: Terrible Team-up! - - - - - - - - - - It was a typical night at Bowser's Castle. The sturdy keep was bustling with activity as the officers of the Koopa Troop filed into a large conference hall, decked out with imposing stone columns and even more imposing statues of their commander. Surrounding the stage was a moat of lava, rife with Podoboos who watched from the sidelines, occasionally leaping up to get a better view. It was a full house, packed mostly with Goombas and Koopa Troopas, though the occasional Boo, Thwomp, and Chain Chomp could be spotted throughout the crowd. Amidst the adoring cheers of his underlings, King Bowser Koopa stood at a little podium, completely dwarfing it with his towering frame. Though a Koopa himself, he greatly differed from the diminutive turtles in his army, bearing a spike-covered shell, sharp claws, and a mane of bright red hair. He gave a hearty laugh and waved to his troops, before gesturing dismissively to calm them down. As the crowd's chatter quieted, the Koopa King spoke up. “Bwa ha ha! Have I got an awesome scheme for you guys!” the royal reptile chortled, taking a step forward and dramatically throwing his hands in the air, “This time, we're gonna kidnap Peach, crush Mario, and conquer this measly Mushroom Kingdom once and for all!” A lone Paragoomba fluttered in through a window and began awkwardly sifting through the crowd toward the stage. “Ack! ...Excuse me... Sorry!” Bowser continued, “We're gonna do this thanks to my totally great strategy, which is... is... Er...” Bowser's eyes darted down and to his left, at the Paragoomba hovering mere inches away, a look of urgency on its face. Bowser's own face took on an annoyed scowl, “What is it? Can't you see I'm in the middle of my big bad rousing speech?!” “Sir, I hate to interrupt-” the flustered Paragoomba said, before being cut off. “Then don't,” Bowser said in a clearly irritated tone. “It's kind of an emergency...” the Paragoomba mumbled. “Whatever it is can wait, can't it?!” Bowser snapped, causing the small creature to flinch reflexively. “Er... N-no sir, it really can't,” the minion mumbled. Bowser just raised an eyebrow and frowned, silently gesturing for him to get to the point, with a look on his face expressing that it had better be important. “Sir,” the Paragoomba whispered timidly, “Our intelligence has reported a heavyset mustachioed fellow in red clothes, storming the castle at this very moment!” A mustached man? In red? “Mario...” Bowser growled, his chipper mood utterly ruined. What was he doing here now? Bowser hadn't even done anything yet! No matter- If the portly plumber was here, Bowser wouldn't back down. Bowser turned back toward his troops, who were all looking on curiously. “Alright, you guys! Looks like that loser Mario decided to show up and crash our party!” Surprised at the news, the troops began to murmur amongst themselves. They clearly weren't expecting to have to deal with Mario this soon. The king raised a fist to the air, and shouted “Let's show him what we think of uninvited guests! Crush him!” Shouting a battle cry, Bowser's troops poured out of the room to confront their enemy. Bowser, meanwhile, snapped his fingers as the stage rose to the next floor like an elevator. From the roof, he'd be able to keep an eye on the action. Peering over the edge of the roof's fortified walls, Bowser caught sight of his army rushing out to meet the intruder below. “What the...?” Bowser squinted at the man in the distance, as he leaped over lava pits and dodged the castle's automated traps, floating by them gracefully with the aid of a jetpack-like contraption strapped to his back. When Bowser's underlings did arrive, the intruder made short work of them, blasting them with a beam that froze them in their tracks. “Heehee!” the man snickered, “How nice of you all to come out to greet me! Regardless, I'm not here to see you, so why don't you take some time off while I have a word with your boss?” From this scene, Bowser quickly noticed a couple of things: First, this obviously wasn't Mario, which he figured anyone could deduce from a moment's glance; Getting the Paragoombas glasses would be a top priority after he took care of this. The man wore a bright red jacket adorned with golden buckles, draped over a black pair of pants seamlessly connected to his metallic-heeled shoes. Though his face did bear a large mustache, his his head lacked a familiar hat (and hair), and beady pince-nez spectacles obscured his eyes. The second thing Bowser noticed was that this strange man was absolutely wrecking his army. He seemed unfazed by the castle's defenses, and giddily rushed forward, grinning with manic glee as he fired away with his blaster. “Who's this chump think he is?!” Bowser shouted, furious at the newcomer for just waltzing into his castle and making fools of his troops. “I won't stand for this!” Bowser took two steps back, then charged for the edge of the roof, leaping down to the ground below. Leaping slightly in place, Bowser raised his fists in a fighting stance and called out his uninvited visitor, “Alright, wise guy! I don't know what your game is, but it ends here! C'mon, let's go!” “Ooh hoo hoo!” The man in red casually strode toward him, away from a pileup of frozen minions a few feet behind, undaunted by Bowser's growing anger, “Bowser, old boy, is that any way to welcome a guest into your humble- dare I say, very humble- home?” Bowser tilted his head curiously, but maintained his fighter's stance. This guy was familiar with him- annoyingly so- but Bowser had no idea who he was. “Just who are you supposed to be? And whaddya want with my castle anyway? I don't even know you!” The gentleman smiled, “I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, scientist extraordinaire. You can just call me Dr. Eggman. I'm from another world, and I came all this way to meet you! As for why I'm here... Heh heh heh...” Bowser scowled impatiently as Eggman chuckled to himself, still quite on edge. “Aw, come now- Relax.” Eggman smirked, “I'm not here to fight you, that's for sure. I've done a bit of reading up on you, Bowser- And you seem like just the sort of guy I want on my side! Ergo, I'm offering an alliance!” “An alliance? You've got a funny way of showing it, coming in and attacking my men!” Bowser gestured to his stasis-frozen troops a short distance away. “That's hardly fair,” Eggman shrugged nonchalantly, “Your troops attacked me first, before I could even meet with you. Chalk my actions up to self-defense.” ...Bowser's troops did do that, he admitted to himself. “Don't worry about them. I simply used a harmless freezing ray on your troops to keep them out of my hair! It's one of my...” he raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn, “...non-lethal weapons. Give them an hour or so, and they'll be just fine.” Bowser unconsciously eased up a bit, lowering his guard, but he was still pretty apprehensive of this “Eggman” character, regardless. “Be that as it may,” Bowser responded, “What makes you think I have any interest in working with you?” Eggman wrapped his arm around Bowser's shoulders, careful to avoid his spiny shell, “Bowser, my friend... You and I actually have a lot more in common than you'd think. Much like you, I'm a man of vision! I plan to take over my world and establish a glorious new age under my rule! I'm sure you can relate.” Bowser glanced at him, annoyed, but remained silent. “Of course you can,” Eggman smirked, before frowning slightly, “But there's always been one little hindrance to my otherwise-perfect schemes- An irritating little rodent named Sonic, whose heroic meddling always ruins everything! But you know what that's like, don't you, Bowser? It must be grating to be bested by the same plumber time and time again. Which brings me to my proposal...” Bowser hesitated momentarily, before responding, “I'm listening.” Eggman threw his arms up merrily, breaking into maniacal laughter, “Aaaah ha ha ha ha! Oh, you'll love this. What if I told you that, with a little work, we could acquire enough power to instantaneously conquer both our worlds and crush our enemies forever?” “I'd call you crazy,” Bowser responded, before adding, “...but go on.” “Your world has seven powerful items called the Star Pieces, which are said to grant wishes...” Eggman began, “Am I right so far?” Bowser nodded, “Well, sure...” Eggman continued, “Excellent. And my world has a similar set of seven items- the Chaos Emeralds, mystical gems that hold untold amounts of energy. However, even with these powerful gems in my possession, I've been bested by Sonic. Powerful though they are, their ability to stay charged up is incredibly limited, and they can only put out so much energy at a time. To my understanding, your Star Pieces can only grant so many wishes at a time as well, so I imagine harnessing their power would hardly be foolproof either. But that brings me to my main point...” Bowser looked on with great interest as Eggman kept talking, “By combining the Star Pieces and the Chaos Emeralds, I've calculated that we would be completely unstoppable. The two sets would continuously power each other up in an infinite cycle, preventing either from running out of juice! That means...” “Limitless energy... and limitless wishes,” Bowser finished Eggman's sentence for him. Eggman's smile grew even wider, “Exactly. With both the Star Pieces and Chaos Emeralds in our possession, reality itself would become our plaything! And not even our mutual foes could stand against us. Still, it's a daunting task, and I want to make sure you're interested... So how about it, Bowser? Do we have a deal?” The scientist extended his hand toward Bowser expectantly. Bowser hesitated slightly before answering. “Hmph, deal,” Bowser extended his own arm, meeting Eggman in a handshake. “Oh ho ho! Wonderful! I just know that this is the start of a fantastic partnership!” Eggman turned dramatically, “Let's get going then! There's so much to do, and I simply can't wait to get started!” TO BE CONTINUED...

Super Mario Galaxy is a great game. As a matter of fact, it's my third most favorite Mario game ever. It's a well-polished, beautiful 3D platformer that really shows that Nintendo is a force to be reckoned with. Awesome soundtrack, fantastic art direction, and a plot that is simple, yet beautiful and strangely deep. SMG 1 and 2 are definitely a must-haves for the Nintendo Wii. However, I still can't help but think why everyone (and by this I mean reviewers and critics) think it's the best game ever. Super Mario Galaxy (the first, at least; never played the second one, and I'm thinking of buying it) has various glaring flaws that are being ignored. For example, the controls for the Manta Ray Race could seriously use some work. There have been times that I've fallen through the track because the controls are extremely wonky at times. I also dislike how linear Galaxy is. No, I'm not asking for a sandbox type of Mario game, but I think that the game could have used a few more alternate paths to go through the levels and all. Galaxy only has like a few pipes, and some planetoids have in their opposite axis a few Star Bits and coins, and that's pretty much it. The game forces you to continue on to another place. I also don't like how Mario's powerups are essentially useless. Not to ride on the nostalgia bandwagon, but I seriously loved how (in my opinion anyway) games like Mario 3 and Mario World used powerups to reach places you could never reach before, allowing exploration and some better replayability. Not to mention, SMG is way too easy. This is understandable, as making a hard mode for a complicated Platformer like Mario is absolute murder for development. But they could have at least made the last few Stars, Stars of which completionists would bother collecting, hard as nails. There were very few occasions in SMG of which I had a hard time passing through, and it was always some of the Blue Star parts. I also can't find myself replaying Mario Galaxy again after beating both Mario and Luigi's games. There's nothing making me want to play it all over again. It's just weird; I find the game to be an amazing one, but I just can't play Galaxy again after beating it. It's not like other games I've played, that I can play it over and over again. Mario Galaxy just wore out for me, in spite of the AAA excellence it has. In my opinion, Mario Galaxy is far from perfect. It still needs some polishing up to do for me to consider it light-years better than Super Mario World, or Mario 3. I hope Super Mario 3D Land solves that problem. That's my take on it. What do you guys think? And you can point something I have said wrong, too. I never played Mario Galaxy 2. and I intend on doing so very soon. And I apologize if a topic like this already exists, or something.

Sonic the Hedgehog, reporting in for his first day of work... at Nintendo! Yeah, we thought this bit of PR was a little wacky ourselves, but it's all in good fun. Nintendo's official website covered the initiation of SEGA's mascot, which featured the two characters shaking hands and having a great time. Apparently Sonic is also fast at magazine cover turnarounds too. You can read the whole update on Nintendo's website, but we've also included it below so you can read it here as well. View full story

No, this is not a blatant lie - there is very big rumour that Sega and Nintendo are indeed in working on a game. But - and get this - this will be a landmark game that'll bring Sonic and Mario together for the very first time! According to the latest issue of the UK 'N64' magazine by Future Publishing, the news sounded pretty much like it was no rumour - so if this is true, it will bring a tear to many feuding Nintendo/Sega fans of old. Truly remarkable news. Sonic and Mario, joining forces it seems, the thought of it is just... wow! And I mean WOW! View full story