Mailbag
2005 Oct 31
Lizard Dude
Lizard Dude
Alpha and Omega
David Dayton
David Dayton
Not a Halloween mask
Sapphira
Sapphira
Emoticon artist
Deezer
Deezer
I have never failed to fail
Chupperson
Chupperson
Luna oculum percussit
MEGAߥTE
MEGAߥTE
From coast to coast

Got something you want us to answer next time? Send it in!

Hullo, oh all-knowing Mario knowitalls! Well, maybe not ALL knowing, but you get my point =). As I'm sure you've guessed, a few questions have occurred to me to ask you, and like some of my last questions, you probably won't be able to answer some of them ^^; BUT I'm asking anyway, because i can!!! X3 Bwahahaha... Ahem, ANYway, my first question is this: is Daisy really Peach's cousin? Most people (myself included) seem to think so- especially evident in fanfics and such. But there are a few people who are adamant in denying this claim. Has Nintendo ever said how the princesses are related, if at all? Which brings me to my next question: Toad and Toadette. Their relationship is a little more foggy; I've heard equally as often that they're siblings as I've heard that they're just friends or an item. Normally I wouldn't care (I'm not overly fond of Toadette XP) but I was just playing Double Dash, which made me think of it. I also have another question concerning Sarasaland. Does anyone know where it is in comparison to the Mushroom Kingdom? If not, any guesses? Don't ask why I'd care to know, because I'm not sure myself ^^; Just curious, I suppose. My last question (hallelujia) is an opinion question. Wouldn't it be cool if they made another Mario movie? The SMB movie was really more of a parody than anything, I think, since it strayed so freaking far from the original plotline XP I was thinking it'd be cool of them to make a cg movie, with the same graphics/voice actors as in the games. The storyline could be original (that'd actually be pretty cool ^-^), as long as the themes and things remained faithful to the original game plotline (because as far as I'm concerned the games are the most reliable). Ha! Another opinion question just occurred to me XD I'm almost afraid to ask, but.... Luigi and Daisy or Luigi and Peasly? =P Yyeeah, you don't have to answer that one. I'm just feeling really bored tonight XD. Anyway, that's all I have to ask. Until the next mailbag.... X3 Bwahahaha....
- @~`~ Amayzee Dayzee

Lizard Dude: I guess I'll give you the boring official answers. Daisy and Peach have no relation. Toad and Toadette have no official relation. No one knows where Sarasaland is in relation to the Mushroom Kingdom. The manual just says that it's a "world" and Mario makes a "journey" to it. I've gotta say... Luigi and Daisy, although your other option intrigued me.

David Dayton: To make matters more confusing, NOA seems intent on making sure that Toad and Toadette are generic terms for any Mushroom person now, and not the proper names of a single individual. Granted, that's how it's been in Japan for ages (Kinopio being the name of the "race", so to speak), but it's a little annoying.
Please... no more Mario movies, unless they are animated. A Zelda film would work better anyway... or perhaps a live action Metroid.

Sapphira: Hey, it's that girl who uses more emoticons than ME! :O Anyway, Nintendo has never said anything about Daisy and Peach being related--or unrelated, for that matter (unlike what LD said). Has anyone ever actually heard female Toads referred to as Toadettes? I only know of the individual being called that. I think of Sarasaland as a group of four small kingdoms, possibly its own continent, part of the Mushroom World...but that's me. A Mario movie with 3D animation would be pretty cool, as long as it's consistent with the game series. Definitely NOT real-life actors like before. Luigi and Daisy... Yeah...um...definitely...

Lizard Dude: If Nintendo never said anything about their relation, shouldn't we assume they are not related?

Hey, I was just wondering a few things.
I remember seeing an episode of Icons on the G4TechTV network on Donkey Kong. It says that Miyamoto doesn't like Rare for, in his words, "ruining the character by making DKC series and DK64" but I was wondering, even with his supposed hatred of Rare, do you think that Nintendo would ever try to make a new DK64 style game for the Gamecube or possibly for the Revolution? If so, do you think it'd be a good seller, because in my opinion it would be.
I also wanted to clear something up between me and my friend. In all the classic Super Mario platformers, Mario puts his hand close to his mouth when shooting his fireballs as "Fire Mario" and my friend says that he's spitting it from his mouth. For one thing, I completely disagree with him for alot of reasons. Why the heck would a plumber spit fire? It just doesn't make sense, and in SSB:Melee for GameCube, he is clearly shown shooting fire from the palms of his hands. Although my friend still doesn't believe me. Could you confirm this, just to shut him up. :D
Thanks!
From,
- Matt (MajinPiccolo)

Lizard Dude: I'm not sure. Nintendo seems to be using Donkey Kong for more innovative stuff these days like Jungle Beat and King of Swing. A straight platformer would seem a bit weird right now. Who knows, though?
Mario definitely shoots the fire from his hand. Like you said, look at Melee, or look at the old cartoons.

Deezer: In Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World, Luigi spits fireballs in Super Mario World.

David Dayton: I need to see that special -- I'm a bit skeptical about this "hatred of Rare" I keep hearing about. To be honest, I think it's more likely he didn't like the shift in focus and design concerning the Donkey Kong character -- I don't believe he had anything against Rare as a company. If he did, why would his team use Rare's version of DK?
Luigi doesn't spit fire in SMAS+SMW -- he just jumps up, scrunches his eyes, and shouts when he flings fireballs!

Chupperson: I also rather doubt that Miyamoto disliked Rare that much. I mean, he apparently liked Dinosaur Planet so much he wanted to stick his own characters into the game (ending up with Star Fox Adventures) as well as wanting to buy certain characters from that game for future use... As for fireballs, maybe they both spit and throw, depending on what they feel like.

Before I say anything else, I would like to say a heartfelt apology to all the staff of TMK. I was in the wrong to backlash such as that, and I will not surprised if most readers will regard my previous e-mail as little more than spam. Another apology to David Dayton, in which I'm deeply regretful for trying to ruin his good name just for a petty argument. Originally, I just found a topic on the specified forum which showed posters saying... Eh, distasteful things of the Country series. Seeing David Dayton posted in said forum and topic, I naturally assumed he had also joined in the "bashing". My wrong. While I still stand by strongly about what I said about Jungle Beat, I was in no position to force my own opinion down your throats. And seeing as DKC is now counted as a main game on your site, I feel even worse, as I insulted your site so. I also noticed that Donkey Kong Jr. isn't counted as a main game, so I guess I was proberly messing with some game organising system you guys have I'll never get.
Now to end this on a much lighter note, I'm looking very forward to Dance Dance Revolution with Mario/ Mario Mix, and while listening to the Japan soundtrack, I recognised some tracks you missed in your Japan list. You missed out Yoshi's Cookie. I'm looking forward to this deeply, and I can already see Konami's doing a great job of referencing Mario, even down to really obscure games like Yoshi's Cookie and Wrecking Crew.
- Rory

MEGAߥTE: While it is true that Minna de Party Time and Yoshi's Cookie music B share the same music, the former was not based on the latter; they were both based on a classical piece. We listed the piece that the game listed as the source of the music. Likewise, Turkish March has been featured in DDR Mario Mix, Donkey Konga, and even the C64 version of Mario Bros., but the original really is Turkish March, not one of the games. Classical music is also shared between Yoshi's Cookie and Band Brothers.

David Dayton: Hey, I like Donkey Kong Country -- it's DKC2, DKC3, and DK64 I'm not very fond of... nor of the "Kongs" Rare created in those sequels. Donkey, Diddy, and Cranky are fine in my book, however.
While it's true that those songs aren't being attributed to the other Mario games they appear in, I do think it's a minor Mario reference... especially in the case of Yoshi's Cookie.

Sapphira: Why does it feel like I'm the only one who likes DKC2, 3, and DK64? I like all those much better than the first DKC, which I still enjoy.

Lizard Dude: I agree with Sapph. I can understand not liking DK64 because it's pretty different, but how can you like DKC but not like DKC2...?

Hi,
I really enjoy your site; it is one that I check often for information. This is my question. In Super Mario Brothers 3 after you beat Ludwig Von Koopa, instead of getting a letter from the Princess, you get a letter from Bowser. This letter says "while you were running around, I have captured the Princess, come and get her if you dare." What is he referring to when he say's "while you were running around"? Is he talking about the events of Super Mario Land, or about while Mario was getting the 7 wands back? If it were the former, that would make sense because that means Bowser captured Peach while Mario was saving Daisy. If the latter is the case, then that would mean the Princess was not captured then, or even at the beginning of SMB3, she was captured during SMB3 while Mario was saving the 7 kings. I discovered this a while back, and it is kind of bothering me. It is something I need to know for my story about Mario that I am writing.
Thank you!
- Protoman

Deezer: I always figured it meant "while Mario was running around SMB3". Toadstool sends letters after you beat a world, so she obviously is not captured until sometime around World 7.

David Dayton: Yep. She's kidnapped while you are busy running through Pipe World/Maze/Zone/Region/State.

Deezer: If you warp to World 8, I guess she gets kidnapped while you were running around the world you warped from.

Sapphira: From what I gathered, Mushroom Kingdom was left perfectly alone at the beginning of SMB3. (I vaguely remember the story in the manuals saying that Peach and Toad waved goodbye as the Bros. embarked.) Mario set off to retrieve the wands of other kingdoms, and while on his quest, Peach wrote letters and aided him. Sometime during World 7, Bowser then kidnapped her. Maybe he caught on to her helping the Bros.

MEGAߥTE: Yep, from the manual: "The Mushroom Kingdom has been a peaceful place thanks to the brave deeds of Mario and Luigi. The Mushroom Kingdom forms an entrance to the Mushroom World where all is not well. Bowser has sent his 7 children to make mischief as they please in the normally peaceful Mushroom World. They stole the royal magic wands from each country in the Mushroom World and used them to turn their kings into animals. Mario and Luigi must recover the royal magic wands from Bowser's 7 kids and return the kings to their true forms. 'Goodbye and good luck!,' said the Princess and Toad as Mario and Luigi set off on their journey deep into the Mushroom World."

I've been a loyal Nintendo fan ever since the NES. And up until recently I thought I always would. But for me the Game Cube has been such a big disappointment that I really think I wont buy the revolution. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not simply ranting here, but it seems that Nintendo has some sort of reverse Midas touch. They've got the characters but they're not using them right. I think we'd all like to see another Mario platformer rather than Mario Party 215. And why are they just rubber stamping Mario onto these sports games? Mario Golf was okay but now they're just getting carried away. Though something that just made absolutely no sense to me is that the Game Cube never went online. Does Nintendo really think that doesn't matter? But for me the final straw was this Mario Dance Dance Revolution. I'm a real DDR junkie and got excited since Nintendo hasn't ever put out a DDR game. I though I could stop wasting my money at the arcade. But then I saw that track list. And god did they screw that up. It looked like there were only 30 or so tracks, and they all had to do with Mario. There were none of the great classics, tracks which every DDR game needs to have to be great. But not only that. There are less and less games coming out that I really want to play. Many of the Game Cube's games are marketed to a much too young audience. I mean just look at some of the DS games. The real money, especially now, is with older teenagers and increasingly adults.
At least this is how I feel.
- Warne Goodman

David Dayton: I. There are 206 fewer Mario Party games than that.
II. Most of the Mario sports games are quite fun -- interesting, arcade-like sport titles; a welcome change from the EA grind. I will, however, grant that letting EA slap Mario into their own titles was a bad idea. Then again, why would you want to buy a game made by EA anyway?
III. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it be worse if the GC DDR featured nothing but tunes taken from other DDR games? This one consists of new material for a DDR game.
IV. I'm looking at the DS games. I see Advance Wars now, and I see Mario Kart in the future. Explain to me how those are limited to "a young audience"?

Chupperson: I have yet to see why online GCN games are needed, useful, or feasible.

MEGAߥTE: ...

Lizard Dude: ...

I feel kinda stupid writing this, but I've gotta make sure this is all right. Okay. Now, I've recently been poking around the Internet Movie Database website, and uncovered something unusual. A little startling, really. I looked up a very well-known TV voice actor, whose name is Jim Cummings (famous for Winnie the Pooh and just about every other TV show). Well, I looked down his list of recent works and was surprised to find that he had played a part in Super Mario 64 DS. When I got a better look, I saw that he played the voice of Wario. Now, this certainly can't be right, I thought, so I looked at SM64's page. I was even more startled to find that the only voice that Charles Martinet was listed as playing was Mario's. The other voices in the game were listed as being played by miscellaneous voice actors. But what struck me as being the most ridiculous about all of this was that Frank Welker, who we all remember well as being Fred on Scooby-Doo, was the voice of Bowser. This certainly can't be right, but I'm gonna ask you guys anyway. Charles Martinet did the voices of every character in that game (excluding Yoshi, Peach, and Bowser, who sounds more like a synthesized voice), didn't he?
- Moosemastr

Deezer: IMDb is wrong. The US Mario 64 DS game cartridge credits the following people for "Voice":
-Charles Martinet
-Leslie Swan
-Kazumi Totaka
-Jen Taylor
Based on previous games, C.M. probably voiced Mario, Luigi, and Wario; K.T., Yoshi; J.T., Toad and Peach. Not sure what L.S. did, but in the original Mario 64 she voiced Peach. I don't think Bowser has a voice, but I'm not positive because I don't own the game.

David Dayton: I believe Leslie Swan voiced Peach yet again in this game. I am probably wrong, but the voice sounds more like the SM64 Peach...

Sapphira: I would guess, then, that Jen Taylor just did Toad's voice, while they used the same voice samplings of Peach from SM64 by Leslie Swan. Being that I don't own the game either, I don't know.

Chupperson: Actually I'm pretty sure they got Leslie Swan to do new lines for Peach in SM64DS for some bizarre reason. She says different things at the end, but it's still the L.S. voice. As for Bowser, he just roars and laughs like in the original.

Hey TMK.
Something has been really bothering me lately. It's with people comparing Kingdom Hearts to Super Mario RPG, which is just plain wrong. Now I have nothing on Kingdom Hearts (except the fact Disney is the unholy god of evil, no more, no less) but they are two completely different games. However...
1. The word "Square Soft", or should I say "Square Enix", is behind both games. They both have the same music composer. However one has Mario and the other has Donald Duck with weapons.
2. Super Mario RPG is still better then Kingdom Hearts. And sadly, it takes KH's follow-up for S-E to fix the mistakes.
3. Mario RPG is not on PS2.
Really crappy reasons, but what is your opinion guys (and gal)?
- Matt Mclennanm

David Dayton: 1.) They are both Square games. That is the primary connection, I suppose. That and being a Square game using licensed characters.
2.) If SMPRG > KH, then Paper Mario > KH! This is interesting stuff.
3.) That's rather obvious.

Chupperson: However, SMRPG > PM.

Sapphira: SMRPG, PM, and PM2 are all awesome in their own ways. There's no way I could decide between a favorite, so let's just leave those > and < alone when comparing the different Mario RPGs. > or < could be okay, though. :P

Deezer: In my opinion, David's opinion is better than Chupperson's opinion.

Hello.
I while ago I found this strange but somehow great picture and don't know the artist or where it comes from.
Maybe you know? I would really like to know who made this and if there are more.

- fleder

Deezer: I love it. I hear it's from the i am 8-bit exhibit, but I don't know who the artist is.

David Dayton: I heard someone say it was by an Italian artist. No clue if that's true, though.

MEGAߥTE: I wish I could tell you who made that image, but I don't know either. There is this odd Japanese Mario art site, though...

I happened to stumble upon an old mailbag entry from 2001, within which somebody asked about Hotel Mario for the Philips CD-I. The reply was that it was a "god-awful" game that was not even licensed by Nintendo.
I just had to say that I completely disagree with that statement. First of all, the game WAS completely licensed by Nintendo. It was part of an agreement with Nintendo to allow Philips four licensed titles. Three of them were terrible Zelda titles (the last was never released), the last was Hotel Mario. There was going to be one more, titled "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds", developed by Novalogic, that was to be a "true" sequel to Super Mario World. It was never completed, and only three prototypes are known to exist; one apparently was sold on Ebay for approximately $1000.
Anyway, that's beside the point. The answer concerning Hotel Mario was harsh, and worse, the author of the answer had apparently never even played the game. I owned it, as well as a Philips CD-I, several years ago (they were both stolen), and must say that it is one of the Mario games that I enjoy most. It was sometimes cheap difficulty-wise, but the actual task of closing doors among hallways all the while defeating known Mario enemies is a lot funner than it seems. It would be good if you guys were to actually post some more info on the game or something, because it really is a good Mario gem for both a collector and a player. It really is the only game on the CD-I worth playing; it's audio and visuals were far ahead of their time, the cut scenes, while sloppy, were still okay (and certainly not much worse than those in Super Mario Sunshine!), and the gameplay gets really fun and quite intense. Pictures just don't do it justice; they make the game look like a puzzle game, which it certainly is not. Hotel Mario is much more of an action game, and it gets really difficult and fun. In fact, I would say it is definitely the hardest Mario adventure game ever made, or at least very close to it.
- Johannes Nova

Deezer: It's usually not a good idea to take JJ's mailbag answers seriously.

MEGAߥTE: I have a store demo copy of Hotel Mario, and it is a pretty fun game. However, I only have a mouse for control on my Sony Portable CD-i, so it's kinda hard for me to play. The cartoon animations are pretty bad, though not as bad as the first two CD-i Zelda games. Also, we've covered Super Mario's Wacky Worlds on this site several times.

Check out what I found!
http://www.archive.org/details/xoc_SMW
- Mr. Mime

Deezer: You're late to the party, but at least it's still going.

MEGAߥTE: We added this to the WTMK playlist shortly after it came out, which was several months ago.

Hey, TMK!
I found another Mario reference in Robot Chicken in "Episode 18: The Sack". Well, it's about the game "Donkey Kong" and Mario starts going through stage. Suddenly, a bunch of soldiers from "Halo" come in and crack Mario's head open. Then, they climb up the stage, place a motion sensor bomb below DK, snatch Pauline and leave as the bomb explodes and kills DK. I died laughing! Seriously! I could put a clip here but unfortunately, I don't have a digital camcorder. Sorry. Well, it's a good thing I have TiVo, which I used to record the episode. Heh heh. See ya!
- Deven711

MEGAߥTE: Got it!

Hey, everyone. Have you ever been to "mario.tv"? It's a cool site. It has a bunch of T-shirts designed by various people to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. (Apparently they all forgot about Donkey Kong but whatever.)
My favorite is Yuji Naka's shirt. SONIC WITH A MARIO HAT!!!
- Pokemario

Deezer: Yes, yes I have.
They didn't forget about Donkey Kong. Nintendo's "Happy Mario 20th" campaign celebrates the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., which came out in 1985. Next year is Mario's (and DK's) 25th anniversary, so it'll be interesting to see what kind of awesome goodies Nintendo releases in Japan that they will never release here.

Super Mario 64...when I got it in 3rd grade it was my life. I played it about 22 hours a day 7 days a week. It was the best game ever! I got 117 stars, and swore to myself that I would get 120 someday. Then, 4th grade started and school started getting harder. I found myself with little time left to play my beloved Nintendo 64, and the time I had was spent on newer games. When I was in 5th grade, I put the Nintendo 64 in the closet for the new systems. I bought a GCN, and Luigi's Mansion. I beat it in 3 days. In 2002 I got Super Mario Sunshine and beat it in two weeks. After that, my interest Mario died. I bought a PlayStation 2 and found all my video gaming time taken over by a certain Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Those games are addictive).
Now, I am in high school, and my family recently got their carpets cleaned. As I am sure you are aware, it is a tedious process. It requires you to get everything put up so some hick can come in and vacuum your halls. While I was cleaning, I found something in my closet that I had not thought about in 5 years. My N64 and Super Mario 64. I hooked it up, and played.
I told myself that I would beat my 117 stars by at LEAST 1 star. My goal was to get all 120. Well, it has been a VERY hard struggle to get 54 stars. All I can say is that I must have had some gift at 10 that I do not have at 15. I have had quite a good time playing the game, and yes, I actually have some questions for you:
1. Is their any name of the song that plays when you are in the halls of the castle? I like that music very much.}
2. What are all of the castle's secret stars. I am having trouble finding them all.
Thank you for all your help. My goal is to get all 120 stars before I am out of high school. By the way, your site is still #1 in Mario information. I used to go to The Mushroom Kingdom every day when I was obsessed with Mario. I am starting to think that I will be visiting many more times in the near future.
- alspeer706

Deezer: You played it 22/7? That's almost pi! Bad joke!
1. The SM64 soundtrack calls it "Inside the Castle Walls"
2. See the SM64 FAQ

1)Some people ask why mario not getting older. Thats why for almost every game they change mario to another. in sm64 and in sms there is not the same mario.
2)Can you give me a clue wheres the secret page is. (i've been looking for it since September 2004.
- Simon Z.

Deezer: 1) It's still the same Mario, although his appearance has changed over the years as video game technology has improved.
2) What once was lost, now is found. Or is it the other way around? Run to the end. Look to the sky. Don't try to jump--it's up way too high. Nine of us in all, unlocked by the sound.

MEGAߥTE: 1) You're getting Mario confused with Link. As explained in The Wind Waker, there were many Links throughout the generations. However, this is not true of the Mario series. It's always the same Mario.

Honorable staff members of TMK,
You are cordially invited to my Animal Crossing town when the game comes out... please? The Planet GameCube mailbag said yes, so you might meet new friends.
- Grad

Lizard Dude: I'll be there! Just send your info when the game's out.

The Mushroom Kingdom \ Mailbag \ 2005 Oct 31