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.

Super Mario Mug

Whilst on a trip to visit my Dad I discovered this rather marvellous mug hidden in his room.

The year stamped by the handle is 1993 and Mario yells 'One Lump or Two' on either side, pretty snazzy.

Day 97 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Amiibo

Merry Christmas everybody!

As you see we got a whole bunch of amiibo's for Christmas; Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, Fox and Yoshi.

You scan amiibos into various games using your Wii U gamepad, or your 3DS, to access new features. Smash Bros imports a copy of your scanned character into the game for you to train and do battle against your mates, whereas Mario Kart 8 unlocks additional outfits for your Mii.

We've had a bit of a debate and Fox McCloud is arguably the best one here, there's so much detail on the figure in comparison to the others, Zelda and Link probably tie for second. The only figure leaving a little to be desired is Luigi, why not have him pose with his Poltergust rather than doing a planking meme, it would have looked so much better!

Well, I'm going to go back to stuffing my face with sweets and chocolate, and maybe play a little Smash Bros. Hope you're all having fun. \ (^_^) /  

Day 86 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Mario Maker Trailer

Last week at The Game Awards, Nintendo unveiled a new trailer for Mario Maker; a Wii U title that allows you to create your own levels in the Mario universe.

Earlier at E3 we were told you could design levels with Super Mario Bros and New Super Mario Bros graphics, now Nintendo have thrown in SMB 3 and Super Mario World graphics too! Plus it seems you can actually change the graphical style mid-game as well.

It appears we'll have a vast choice in the kind of levels we can create as well. Aside from the simple above ground platform world we'll also have underground, castle and for the sadist/masochist, underwater levels.

The level customisation in Mario Maker also appears to be spectacular, as we were treated to cannons firing spinys and coins, huge Goombas and Koopa Troopas (a la Super Mario Bros 3), 

All I want for Mario Maker now is Yoshi and a place where created levels can be uploaded for everyone to play, hopefully this will added to Miiverse. ^_^

Here's a link so you can check out the trailer for yourself.

Day 74 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition

Okay I know I've already included Super Mario All-Stars in 100 Happy Gaming Days, but I wanted to focus on the 25th Anniversary Edition released on Wii for today's blog. I'm also aware many people didn't like the 25th Anniversary Edition because the game was a direct port of the SNES, Nintendo hadn't even bothered to remove images of the SNES controller from the menu screens, but I like this set for two reasons.

1. This was a much appreciated Christmas present from my Wife.

2. The extra goodies in this set (pictured below) are a must have for any Mario fan.  

This set contains contains a Soundtrack CD with tunes from all of the games featured in Super Mario All-Stars, plus a number of later games (e.g. Super Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy etc), AND it even has 10 sound effects bundled on to the disk as well (they make great text tones for your mobile).

Alongside the CD comes a neat little booklet detailing the history of everyone's favourite Italian plumber, with comments from Mario's creators (Mr. Miyamoto, Koji Kondo and Takashi Tezuka). The best of the book is that it includes some of the original concept designs for Super Mario Bros. 

It's great to see how the Super Mario developed into one of the most beloved gaming characters of all time.

Bowser

I had a late shift at work so just a quick post for today.

Here is a drawing of Bowser copied from the manual for Super Mario World. 

I drew this about a week ago as I wanted to practice my colouring, and I also wanted to fix the colouring of the tail as it's green in the manual for some reason.

I don't think I did too bad, the proportions are a little funny in places but it was fun to experiment with the copic markers, and also the copic glitter pens I used to outline Bowsers hair.

Day 50 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Cuddly Toys

We're fifty days into our 100 Happy Gaming Days Challenge, so let's celebrate hitting the halfway mark with some gaming cuddly toys! \ (^ o ^) /

Day 49 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario World

After losing poor Snezzy I can't help but feel sad as my Super Nintendo collection slowly gathers dust. Still I can reminisce about gaming days gone by...

Super Mario World was a huge step up from Super Mario Bros 3. It had a huge map to explore with no shortage of secrets to discover, a whopping 96 levels, plenty of power-ups and best of all, Yoshi! A loveable dinosaur who could gobble up enemies, fly, and shoot fireballs from his mouth, the perfect ally for rescuing princesses.

The game takes place after Super Mario Bros 3 with the Mario brothers and Princess Toadstool (Peach) taking a holiday to Dinosaur Land. The Princess inevitably goes missing, so Mario and Luigi start searching until they come across a giant egg. Suddenly the egg hatches to reveal Yoshi, who informs the Italian Plumbers that he was imprisoned in the egg by a group of monstrous turtles! Mario and Luigi both agree tht this must be the work of Bowser and set off on a brand new adventure.

I think I got Super Mario World with the SNES in Christmas 1992, alongside Super Mario All-Stars, and it was fantastic. I think I spent the whole day in front of the TV glued to Super Mario games.

Super Mario World literally went all out to show off the power of the SNES. The game is beautifully designed with big colourful sprites and delightful animation. The variety of enemies in the series also grew from just a handful to absolutely hundreds, I like the football players the most. I also enjoyed wandering around the map and watching Dinosaur Land transform as I unlocked new areas.

There was even a version of Super Mario All Stars that included Super Mario World, as if the bundle couldn't have gotten any better! Super Mario World has also been released on GBA and Virtual Console, so if you've never gotten around to playing one of Mario's greatest adventures, give it a try because you won't be disappointed.

Day 46 of 100 Happy Gaming Days: Super Mario All Stars

Super Mario All Stars is possibly one of the greatest bundles in gaming history. Super Mario All Stars included four of the greatest Mario games of all time, plus they were all remastered from 8 bit to 16 bit quality, AND best of all it was bundled with the console! Let's take a closer look at the games bundled with Super Mario All Stars.

Super Mario Bros - What's your favourite Super Mario Bros memory? It may have been discovering that you could run in front of the scoreboard in world 1-2 and warp to later levels. It may be when you finally defeated Bowser and saved the Princess. Or perhaps uttering your first profanity when you get killed by those &#%$@£! Hammer Bros.

Whatever your memory, Super Mario Bros established Nintendo as a gaming industry juggernaut that has dominated the market in some form or another for decades. Super Mario Bros not only set the standard for Nintendo, but for every platform game since we first set foot in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels- The NES version of The Lost Levels was never released in the West, so we were getting something we'd never played before, which sealed the deal for most people buying Super Mario All-Stars.

It looked just like Super Mario Bros, which was the reason it was never released in the West in the first place, but beneath its deceptive exterior lay a game so gruesomely evil it reduced grown men to tears.

I finished The Lost Levels for the first time when I was 8 years old, my Dad even promised me £10 if I could finish it. After about 2 weeks of playing I thought I had finally completed The Lost Levels when I beat World 8-4...only for the game to go on to World A-1, so technically I didn't finish it and therefore I couldn't have the £10 prize. The Lost Levels = Pure Evil!    

Super Mario Bros 2/ USA- This was released in the West instead of The Lost Levels, and it was either a love it or hate it experience. I personally couldn't stand it as a kid as it wasn't like your traditional Mario game, and it seemed to be lacking in comparison to the other games in the bundle.

Instead of jumping on enemies to defeat them you had to pick them up and throw them into other enemies, which I found interesting for about 5 minutes, but then it became really frustrating when enemies couldn't be killed as there wasn't another one nearby. I only got around to finishing Super Mario Bros 2 for the first time recently and it wasn't as bad as I remembered it, but when compared to other Mario games, I'd rather play the others.  

Super Mario Bros 3- The biggest game in the whole bundle. Super Mario Bros 3 improved on every aspect of the Super Mario Bros series with 8 massive worlds to conquer, a whole new host of power-ups and competitive/co-op multiplayer so you could annoy all of your friends! The Mario Bros Arcade game was even included so you could annoy your friends even more.

This was another game I didn't finish until recently as I kept getting stuck in World 8. I had no feathers, frog suits or fire flowers, and I just kept getting killed over and over again. After leaving the game for a few...years, I finally defeated King Bowser and his Koopa Kids. Truly a happy gaming day!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've had a very busy schedule over the last few days, meaning I haven't had a chance to write any blogs, but I thought I'd give you little recap of the gaming side of things and I'll get back to the 100 Happy Gaming Days feature tomorrow. :)

Last weekend I was one of many caught up in the Nintendo UK/Yodel Mario Kart 8 launch fiasco. Yodel was the courier responsible for delivering Mario Kart 8 pre-orders with many being delayed and damaged in the process.

I didn't receive my copy until 31/05/2014 (a day late) and the outer packaging looked as though it had been savaged by Wolverines, whilst the presentation box had suffered a blow and had been squashed, with nothing to protect it other than some inflated contraceptives and a Bullet Bill T-Shirt. The disk however was perfectly fine and the Blue Shell figurine also survived so I'm not complaining too much.

The big problem was I was also waiting for my Wii U to be delivered which I ordered on 30/05/2014 (for next day delivery via Yodel) but it didn't arrive until 02/06/2014, so I got to spend the whole weekend looking at the box for Mario Kart when I could have been playing it.

The wait however, was certainly worth it as Mario Kart 8 is a fantastic game which seems to have turned the Wii U's fortunes around for the time being. And since I ordered the Mario Mega Bundle from Nintendo UK I also have Super Mario 3D World, New Super Mario Bros U + Super Luigi U, an extra controller and a Mario Hat.

I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from ordering anything from Nintendo UK, as they have a great catalogue of exclusive products, just don't arrange for special delivery as the courier will be Yodel and they're notoriously unreliable.

I've been very impressed with the Wii U so far, especially the Miiverse which gives you the opportunity to discuss your favourite Nintendo games with gamers from all over the world. There's a healthy selection of games available on the Nintendo eShop as well and I'm wondering how long I can hold out before I get Pikmin 3...

Check back tomorrow as 100 Happy Gaming Days continues.

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.

Day Three: Super Mario Bros Wii K'nex Figures

I think these figures are fantastic. They ooze quality and I'm looking forward to collecting all 9 in the set. I currently have the Blue Yoshi the Yellow Toad, I'm hoping to pick up Fire Mario next!