Mario and Luigi Sofubi Figures

I don't think I've posted pictures of these Mario & Luigi Sofubi figures before; my wife got them for me for Christmas a few years ago. 

From what I can gather, Sofubi is a kind of soft vinyl toy produced in Japan. I've kept them in their packaging, as I don't have anywhere to stand them, so they're hung up on the shelves next to the SNES games.

Day 48 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: T-Shirts and Hoodies

I had a wander through some more photos and came across this one of Oscar and Rosie as kittens (I think they're about 4 months old), and me in my Sonic T-Shirt.

So I thought I'd share the rest of my gaming wardrobe... 

My Fave

Hmm, now that I look at these photos I think I could do with some more gaming clothes, like this. ^_^

Top 3 Football Games

Since the World Cup is in full swing I thought I'd share my top 3 football games. 

1. Mario Strikers Charged Football- What do get if you take the mayhem from Mario Kart and use it in a football game? The answer is Mario Strikers Charged Football; a fantastic game that sees you in five a side football matches against stars from the Mario series.

Each player has their own unique abilities, for example Mario has the ability to grow in size so he stomp on the opposing team and Yoshi can roll around in a giant egg. There's also plenty of weapons on offer; shells, fire flowers and bob-bombs all make an appearance. The levels even have character as I can't imagine many World Cups have been played in a castle surrounded by lava, or on top of a tower against howling winds with cows flying by. 

2. World Cup Striker- I consider this a SNES classic because it plays absolutely beautifully and has a ton of options for you to enjoy. You can play through the World Cup, Friendly matches and Penalty shoot outs. The best feature however, is the five a side indoor matches, some of best multiplayer available and thanks to the smaller pitch the pace is fast and exciting.

3. World Cup 98- I've lost track of the number of hours I've sunk into World Cup 98 but since there's some great multiplayer on offer and tons of content, I really don't mind. The control scheme on the N64 is very well executed and it's easy to impress as most tricks can be pulled off with some simple button combinations. The matches are also fully customisable with different stadiums, weather conditions, referee capability, and lots more.

Day 25 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo Land

Spent a majority of the night playing this one so this blog is a little late.

This was the free game we chose from the Mario Kart 8 promotion, and if you haven't claimed yours yet what on earth on are you waiting for?! We chose Nintendo Land as we wanted to boost our library of offline multiplayer titles, and the Wii U has plenty, but we were heading over to my parents and thought this had a great selection of mini-games that everyone could enjoy.

You can tell the game has been purely designed to show off the capabilities of the Wii U, something that Nintendo Land does very well however, a lot of the time games like these are fun for five minutes then left to gather to dust. Nintendo have really pushed the boat out in the hope that Nintendo Land has the same level of re-playability as Wii Sports, and while I don't think they've succeeded to that extent, I'm certain this is a game that will always be considered whenever you're playing multiplayer with your friends and family.

I'm going to detail some of the mini-games that we played last night but in total there are 12 games, with 6 supporting simultaneous multiplayer, and the other 6 having alternate multiplayer.

Luigi's Ghost Mansion- A great little ghostbusting game that will have many players shrieking with terror, quite surprising when you consider how adorable this game is. One player controls a ghost via the Gamepad and has to hunt down the 'busters before they can fry him with their torches. The only clue that the 'busters have of a nearby spectre is the chilling rumble of their Wii Remotes, so better be quick with those torches or your ghost busting days are over.

Animal Crossing Sweet Days- There's trouble in the world of Animal Crossing and only the Gamepad controlled police officers can sort things out. Players have to work together to capture a set number of sweeties before the local constabulary can come and throw them in jail. The only problem is pigging out on all those sweets diminishes your ability to run, so consider your diet otherwise the fuzz will put you away.

Mario Chase- This was by far our most favourite game of the night as it's completely bonkers. The player with the Gamepad controls Mario and has to elude a group of Toads until the timer runs out. It's a simple hide 'n' seek affair but Nintendo have applied some great level design to make this one a big hit. There are areas where the Toads can gain higher ground so they can seek out Mario and guide their team to victory, but Mario can use power-ups to evade his mushroom shaped captors, so the Toads have to work together. And best of all when the game is over you get to see a little replay of how close the Toads came to snaring a little Italian plumber.  

Day 16 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario Kart

With only 7 days remaining until the release of Mario Kart 8 (I've got my pre-order), I thought it would be a good idea to look at the game that started it all; Super Mario Kart for SNES.

Super Mario Kart set the standard for the future of the series introducing imaginative track design, multiplayer fun and showing what Nintendo's Seal of Quality really meant. The game had a total of 8 playable characters; Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool/Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa Trooper, Bowser and Donkey Kong Jr. There are a total of 20 tracks on offer from all over the Mario universe; Donut Plains, Bowsers Castle, Choco Island and the now notorious Rainbow Road.

Players could compete for various cups in the Mario Kart GP mode racing solely against the computer across 5 tracks in each competition, or they could have a friend join in too. There were two difficulty options available, 50cc and 100cc, and if you managed to earn gold in the first three tournaments you'll gain access to the Special Cup with the remaining 5 tracks. If you reached the top spot in a tournament you would see a wonderful animation showing your character with their trophy, with a different animation depending on the character you chose.

You could also race one-on-one against your friends or compete in a Time Trial across any of the 20 tracks, but my favourite has always been the Battle Mode. In Battle Mode you and a friend could fight it out across 4 arena-type stages, firing weapons at your opponent to burst the 3 balloons attached to their kart. Unfortunately you're unable to get any AI controlled opponents to fight in Battle Mode, but the arenas were just the right size for 2 players.

Super Mario Kart, as previously mentioned, also had a selection of weapons available. Thankfully the Blue Shell was yet to make an appearance, but banana skins, green/red shells, mushrooms and many more were there to make or break your race. The computer also had their own weapons to use against you, for instance Yoshi is able to leave Eggs around the track for you to crash into, but as far as I'm aware a player controlled racer is unable to access these exclusive weapons (which was a bit strange but it kept things interesting as you didn't know what was going to attack you next).

Super Mario Kart was a fantastic game and the hype for Mario Kart 8 has built to ridiculous levels, and with an amazing series behind it it certainly has a lot to live up to.
         

Day 13 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo Playing Cards

Long before Nintendo became a video games company they manufactured playing cards, and since we had over 3000 points on Club Nintendo, we decided to choose these Premium Mario Playing Cards to see what all the fuss was about.  

The first thing you notice when you open the pack is that they're not even made of card, they're a strange reflective plastic, and the second thing you notice is the care and attention to detail that's gone into making these things. Each suit has a different image of Mario (King), Peach (Queen), Luigi (Jack), while Bowser takes his place on the Joker cards. The numbered cards and Ace cards have pictures of Mushrooms and Coins on them, and I love the way they printed the design so only part of the reflective surface is visible. I'm also glad they decided to use the Super Nintendo-era designs, rather than the more modern designs, as the bolder outlines and colours really make them stand out. 

We're thinking of taking them out of the pack and fitting them into a big frame to go up on the wall, which is going to look pretty amazing with the light reflecting from them. And since Nintendo has been the main focus of the last couple of days I'll if I can find something a little more unusual for tomorrow's blog. :)

Day 12 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Nintendo 'Cool Stuff'

Nintendo have revealed their 'cool stuff' page on the UK website today and to be honest I'm quite impressed. A lot of the Nintendo merchandise I find when I'm out and about can be quite poor, and while some of that is also present on the cool stuff page, there's also some great exclusive items to purchase as well.

This Ganondorf statue will set you back a whopping £281.99, but the attention to detail is phenomenal. The statue is 23 inches tall and cast in high-quality polystone, which has been hand crafted and hand painted. What I really like is hand tailored fabric cape, and the fact it looks so bloody sinister. Awesome.

Another item I feel I should draw your attention to is this Tanooki Mario Figurine with a Leaf power-up.  The price is £150, which I think is hideously over-priced, but it's still a very nice piece all the same. It's 15 inches tall and is made from high quality polystone resin, there's also another version without the Leaf Block for £130.

The cool stuff page stocks everything by character and you can find hats, bags, phone covers and other knick-knacks to show your love for Nintendo. The only problem is, like Club Nintendo, a lot of these exclusive items are selling out faster than a red shell rebounding off a drain pipe. So if you want something, be sure to get it quick.