Cicada rocking the Metroid, telling us why, offering more.

While blundering aimlessly around the Internet as I so often do, I ran into a site offering remixes of some classic Metroid tunes. Never one to turn down anything Metroid related, I clicked, and downloaded. It turns out what I downloaded is the work of a guy who goes by the name Cicada, who’s got quite a lot of music on offer. Very little of it, in fact, is from the Metroid franchise, but it would all be of interest to gamers like us.

Impressed with the audio, I dropped the artist a line, and here’s what he had to say.

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Et tu, Mario? Then fall Yoshi.

I enjoy the twisted motivational poster-style artwork phenomenon that has exploded over the web. I think the first one I saw was the “My Pokemans” one, actually.

This one’s subject was always something that bothered me while playing Super Mario World, so when I saw this, I just had to share. Maybe not this maneuver specifically, but moreso that it was OK to just let Yoshi drop to his doom at any time because you could always just hatch another fruit-eating dinosaur… really, at your leisure.

Before you click through, note that the linked page has some amount of NSFW content. Just so you know.

Source: EvilMilk

Game scenes in LEGO bricks? Brilliant! *clink*

While it’s nothing new to see sprites built out of LEGO bricks, or even entire screenshots built of them, here’s something entirely new to me: scenes from classic games, built in 3D, out of LEGOs.

I suppose if I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be the scene from the first boss battle in Castlevania. Highly excellent. Now all we need is a scene from a Star Wars videogame, and our heads can all implode happily.

Source: Ironic Gamer

Wii Shop Channel adds more Mario, Sonic, and Bonk. Er, Zonk.

So, today I got an email about last week’s Virtual Console releases in the Wii Shop Channel, so it must be time for this week’s releases! Now, in the Wii Shop Channel, Nintendo is celebrating the Wii’s first year with some headliner retro titles. Well, actually, they’re not really the headliner titles you might expect. Wrecking Crew brings some Mario action, Sonic 3D Blast brings some extremely poor Sonic the Hedgehog software, and Super Air Zonk brings what is reportedly an excellent scrolling shooter Bonk’s Adventure spinoff. If that makes any sense.

Read on for more on this.

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Super Mario Galaxy dethrones Ocarina of Time on GameRankings, Orange Box pwns Tekken 3.

Recent releases Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) and The Orange Box (PC) have taken possession of two of the top five slots over at GameRankings.com. Galaxy taking over Ocarina’s slot is a big deal, because that position’s been held fast for about a decade now. The last game to break the top five was Resident Evil 4 on GameCube, which has now slipped to eighth. Soul Calibur (Dreamcast) is still kicking at four. Orange Box for 360 sits in position six.

Now naturally, this needs to be seen for what it is: a measure of the average of these games’ reviews. There’s no way to accurately measure which game is “best,” and I disagreed with the thought that Ocarina was the best game ever even when it held that slot on this list. Perhaps I would have liked the game more if I had played it when it was new.

Infendo, which is a Nintendo-centric blog, points out that this puts Mario, Zelda, and Metroid (Prime) in the top three, in that order. Good for Nintendo, but I still see Orange Box more likely to take game of the year.

Source: GameRankings via Infendo.

The Many Mustaches of Mario

If Mario were to take on the role of a famous person who also sported a mustache of some sort, what would the Plumber look like then? We’ve seen Mario sans ’stache in the past, but for some reason his facial hairs are an integral part of his persona. Atomike Studios created this interesting illustration of Super Mario’s ’stache as it would normally appear on Ghandi, George Michael or Prince for example. My favorite would have to be the Burt Reynolds rendition - I see a lot of Burt in Mario If you glance at a few photos of him. Plus, Burt has some tie-ins to video games, too with this Grand Theft Auto: Vice City voice over work in 2002.

Go Super Mario: Boogie Nights!

Atomike Studios

Mario 3 in the Shop Channel… Nintendo has a clue.

Nintendo did an admirable job of promoting Corruption with their Month of Metroid on the the Wii, and it’s becoming clearer over time that this smart advertising move was not a one-time deal. Yesterday’s Virtual Console releases in the Wii Shop Channel included Super Mario Bros. 3 from the NES, and it’s hardly a coincidence that Super Mario Galaxy comes out for the Wii here in about a week. Good for them, I say. If you’re a company who can promote one item by selling another, I’m all for it.

Also of note this week is Nintendo’s import game surcharge, which is still in effect. The Genesis (Megadrive) release this week is an import, and carries a 100 point bump as a result. I still don’t like that.

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Ones to Watch for Wii in November

A look at the most anticipated titles coming to Nintendo Wii in November, 2007.

When a Mario platformer appears, it is an event. Ever since Super Mario Bros came to the NES, whether you’ve liked them or not, it is inarguable that every Mario platformer has innovated the platform genre in a way that, for better or worse, set a new standard. November will mark the release of Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo Wii, perhaps the biggest title for the platform this year, and one which is certain to sell extremely well. What do you put up against Super Mario Galaxy? You’ll be surprised at the guns developers are bringing to bear this month as they crowd to be a hot new game on Black Friday.

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Super Mario Galaxy Video Footage from E for All

Super Mario Galaxy is another in a long line of Super Mario games over the years. No longer content with being in Super Mario World, Mario has set his sights on something bigger, the known Galaxy. This is a new Mario property from the genius mind of Shigeru Miyamoto that will take Mario gameplay to new and epic heights.

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Preorder bonus announced for Super Mario Galaxy: meh.

I love preorder bonuses. Sometimes, they’re very nice, like when preordering Tales of Symphonia for Gamecube got me a great book of art from the game, which I still own. Other times, they can surprise you with their quality, like when Portrait of Ruin’s preorder had to come in its own box, because there was just so much damn stuff in there. Still other times, it’s just fun to pull a fast one by preordering, buying, and then returning the game the next day. But usually, when it’s Nintendo offering the preorder bonus, it’s not even worth your time. Super Mario Galaxy is a good example.

Preoder Super Mario Galaxy before its release (that means you have until November 11th), and you get a single “silvery” Mario coin when you pick up the game. No idea what it might look like or be made of.

Source: Nintendo

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