Mailbag
09 Mar 2011
MEGAߥTE
MEGAߥTE
Limitless links
David Dayton
David Dayton
Mailbag menace
Deezer
Deezer
Bug backlogged
Sapphira
Sapphira
Pasta ponderer

Fungi Forum moderators The Chef and Kimimaru help answer the first mailbag of 2011.

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Hi,
Here is something for the Errata (the "OOPS!") section:
After Mario triumphs over O'Chunks in Chapter 1-3, the defeated henchman of Count Bleck says this: "Maria, ey? 'Tis an odd name, yeh, but yeh can bet yer bebby I'll remember that!" Tippi corrects him by saying: "His name's not "Maria" ... It's "MARIO"!" O'Chunks still goofs on Mario's name, though, saying: "Yeh remember this, Maria!" and "... And while yer at it, why don't yeh wax that bonny 'stache of yours, Maria?"
- Ben

MEGAߥTE: I wouldn't really call that errata. It's just O'Chunks goofing again. It fits his personality.

DavidDayton: Errata is reserved for mistakes in the game. This text, as MB pointed out, was intentionally wrong -- O'Chunks is supposed to be getting Mario's moniker wrong.

Where did you get that picture at the bottom of the WTMK page?
- Sebby19

Deezer: From the BS Super Mario Collection 3 intro.

DavidDayton: The Mushroom Kingdom, of course.

Sapphira: What I've always wondered about that picture is who that brunette girl(?) next to Toad is.

MEGAߥTE: She's apparently Yūki Nae, one of the radio personalities involved with the Satellaview broadcast. Somebody actually recorded some of it, and you can view it here! And this probably isn't her, but this is what such a broadcast looked like in real life:

The Chef: It's like Nintendo predated streamed Let's Plays by years...

Hi I'm new to the site. My Question is (Drumroll...)...
Where can you find mario gameboy games, Super Mario World Advance 2 in particular? Cheap? Like under $30, local to upstate SC?
OR if you have an unwanted copy of it, shoot me an email to let me know so I can send you my address.
- JW AWSUM

DavidDayton: I was surprised by your difficulty in locating Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2, but it appears that there is a high demand for the title. However, you might try the GameStop stores in Anderson Mall and Clemson Station; a quick search of the GameStop web site implies that both of those locations have a copy in stock for $19.99.

Sapphira: eBay? Something interesting/frustrating I've discovered is that Yoshi's Island DS, a DS game, for crying out loud, hasn't been carried in stores for at least a couple of years. Considering its popularity, if it was discontinued, I'm curious to know why.

The Chef: Easy: It's a crappy game. :B

Why is it that SMB3 is generally regarded as solidifying Mario's clothes as being red shirt/blue overalls, even though, despite the art, his overalls are clearly BLACK. Of course, I realize the NES's palette sucks really bad, and that black outlines look better than the weird blue ones in Mario 2, but it just makes no sense to me.
Also, why is it that Super Mario All Stars gives the Mario Bros. gloves in Super Mario Bros. (Lost Levels) and Super Mario Bros. 2 but it doesn't give the Mario Bros. gloves in Super Mario Bros. 3?
Best regards,
- coolkid~

DavidDayton: As far as SMB3 goes, you must remember that in game art and character art are not necessarily the same thing. The box, manual, and other character art created for Super Mario Bros. 3 created the standard "Mario look" we're used to today. (Or, at the very least, it solidified it.)
The gloves are fairly simple to explain: Super Mario All-Stars featured entirely new graphics for the first two/three Super Mario titles, but it generally only had additional coloration for the character/sprite art in Super Mario Bros. 3. Perhaps if all the artwork for SMB3 had been redrawn, Mario would be wearing gloves; however, it appears that the intent of the Mario team was to retain SMB3's distinctive look.

Sapphira: Previous games' art depict Mario in a blue shirt with red overalls. It wasn't until SMB3 that Mario's color scheme was flipped to his classic red shirt and blue overalls. Note that this is the artwork, NOT the sprite art. With the gloves, I figured they forgot to recolor them. They "fixed" them in SMA4, I believe.

MEGAߥTE: The Super Mario World unauthorized Famicom port included a Mario with blue pants and outlines for his body and black for his head. That wasn't a bad idea, though like most of the game, it wasn't put together perfectly.

BP: Alternate explanation: Mario used to have several changes of clothes, overalls in blue, brown, black, red, and probably even yellow. Then something terrible that can be blamed on Birdo happened and only his blue and red outfit survived. This is canon now.
As for Luigi, he just messed up on his laundry.

Didn't see this site in your list of links so I figured I'd submit it to you. http://www.smbmovie.com/
- Jon M.

Deezer: It's there now!

DavidDayton: What's funny is that I believe I have a full press kit for the film, and that's the last big update on their site.

MEGAߥTE: There's a lot of really cool stuff on that site like in-depth interviews -- that's why we added the link! Everybody should check it out. Speaking of the movie, there have been a few props on eBay over the past year... I thought about buying this:

BP: Who needs a security system when you have that thing in your foyer?

The Chef: I've been on that site before. Sadly quite a few of the links are broken. What bugs me most about this is that they apparently once had a full copy of the original draft of the movie's script, which was supposedly much closer to the games (It even has friggin' Kamek in it). :(

You may be interested in the unused content found in this page.
http://wiki.rustedlogic.net/Tetris_%26_Dr._Mario
Also, there is a debug menu for Dr. Mario, and it can be accessed with this PAR code.
7E0BAF0A
Be warned that this code is just an area modifier for Tetris & Dr. Mario, and that I have yet to find the ROM address for a properly working debug menu.
- nensondubois

DavidDayton: I've visited The Cutting Room Floor many times. Great website.

Hey, I listen to your radio nearly everyday. How did you make this radio? Can you teach me? :)
- Jackson W.

DavidDayton: Well, first you need to swing your arms (from side to side, that is) . . .

BP: What he means is, "No way! If I do that you won't listen to mine anymore!"

Sapphira: Aw, come on! Enlighten us all! :P

The Chef: Isn't it obvious? David sold his soul to the devil in return for the radio.

Previously, I thought you guys were the #1 glitch source for Mario games. However, I looked at the SSBM page, and you were missing a very important glitch: play as Master Hand!
NO, I'm not trolling, spamming, etc. This actually works! It's been known since 2009. Here I've linked and quoted from Smash Wikia:

http://super-smash-bros.wikia.com/wiki/Master_Hand_glitch
"The Master Hand glitch is a glitch in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It allows the player to use and control Master Hand on any stage. A glitch for other non-playable characters cannot be done. Although any player is capable of being Master Hand, only the third player is capable of actually controlling the character.
Method One (One controller)
This method works on all modes except Tournament, but many things freeze the game.
You must have a controller in slot 3. Using this controller, place the cursor over the name field on the character selection screen. Now press the A and B buttons at the same time, and you will come to the name selection. Hold the B button, but release the A button, then go down with the cursor until you are over the "name entry field". Then press the A button at the right time. The game should want to go back to the menu, because you held the B button, but it should also want go to the name entry screen, because you pressed the A button over "name entry". If performed correctly, instead of going to either of these, the game should go to the stage selection screen (or, in Single Player, straight to the game). After selecting your stage, you will be playing as Master Hand.
Method Two (Two controllers)
This method is much simpler, but it only works in Melee mode. To perform it, simply have two controllers, and have one be in the third controller port, and the other in any other port. Have the controller that's not player three select a character, and then hover over the back button, while the one in the third port goes to select a name, and have them hover over the new entry button. Both controllers must then hit A at the same time, as to select their option, and the stage select screen will appear(there is slight leeway between selection, but very little, less than a second). On whatever stage selected, player 3 will be Master Hand.

If you could add the glitch, that'd be great!
- Paul F.

Deezer: That is one crazy glitch. It's pretty amazing how people find this stuff.

DavidDayton: I remember when this was discovered. I believe I added it to my code book... which I really should update some decade.

BP: You thought right--SSBM technically isn't a Mario game...

MEGAߥTE: Here's a video.

A long time ago, when Kraft did the Mario themed macaroni and cheese, I saved the back of one of the boxes, which happened to be for Super Mario Kart. The images that were included do not make sense. Sure, at a glance they look like screenshots from the game. But it looks more like what the game would look like if it were on the NES. Look at the character sprites! They look horrible, as does everything else... Did somebody just do up a quick drawing? Why didn't they just include actual game screenshots?
Anyway, this piece of cardboard has been filed away for at least 15 years, and remains a mystery to me. I thought you guys might appreciate it.

- Ty G.

DavidDayton: Perhaps they had screenshots, but they were deemed to be of poor quality, especially for full color printing on the back of the boxes. I suppose someone could have taken the screenshots and sketched over them to create a more usable piece of box art.
What interests me is that the SMK logo appears to still have a bit of visible pixelation.

BP: Looks like Luigi's interested in that too, he looks completely bewildered right there.

Sapphira: I remember that macaroni! Well, the commercial for it, more than anything. (Is it just my imagination, or does the shaped pasta actually taste better than normal macaroni? It tastes like EPIC!) Anyway, yeah, it looks like the screenshots were probably enlarged, traced, and redrawn.

DavidDayton: Sapphira likes eating shaped pasta.

MEGAߥTE: Given technology back then, it's probable that either the screenshots were of poor quality or they were not in a form suitable for printing. Without digital imaging, somebody probably had to trace the designs, possibly in a larger format onto film. It's amusing how much attention was given to detail in the shots, yet the characters were given a goofy look.
Incidentally, I used to eat that macaroni too, but the so-called "cheese" is disgusting, so I added my own marinara sauce.

Kimimaru: Very interesting! My guess is that they got some quick mock-up screenshots because it might cost more money to put some actual ones on the boxes. The characters in that first screenshot look drawn, though.

The Chef: I still remember the commercials for this. They were done in stop-motion animation and Mario traversed through these bizarre Indiana Jones-esque landscapes that had bugger-all to do with the games.

I recently encountered a glitch in Super Mario All-Stars, that is probably in Super Mario 2 (US). In any level with mushroom blocks, (I did it in 7-1) Pick up the mushroom block, the put it down. Now immediately after doing so, walk towards the block while it is going down and you should be able to walk inside of it. It is fairly easy to do, and could possibly be done in other levels. Also, another minor bug with All-stars is that, even though its incredibly difficult, you can wall jump in SMAS. I was playing around as Peach in level 1, and I jumped at the rock wall in the room with the short cut to Birdo, and some how I jumped into it. I stayed for a second not realizing what I had done, until I jumped. Thanks for your time.
- cory t.

DavidDayton: I seem to recall bugs like this being in the original game.

MEGAߥTE: Yes, these kinds of glitches come up because of some simplified math the programmers used to calculate certain events. SMB2 seems to be particularly bad about them, and SMAS didn't do much to fix them. They're hard to reproduce on demand because the "glitch" behavior only occurs in specific conditions for a small fraction of a second. TASVideos has a great run-down of how many of them work.

Why is the special stage music from Sonic 2 playing on WTMK? It's not April 1!
-Listener of 10 years
- Cheeseball701

DavidDayton: It probably snuck in when I added Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. I'll have to remember to fix that!

Sapphira: GASP! TEH HORRORZ!!!1!!1!11!!11one!!1! YOU MUST FIX THIS NAO!!!!!!!1!!!!11!!!11!eleven!!1!

DavidDayton: Why, Sapphira, I didn't know you cared..

Sapphira: Mock hyperbole, good sir.

BP: I care!

Sapphira: (~Luke Skywalker)

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