Paper Mario: Sticker Star

So, I don't know about you, but I'm REALLY excited about Paper Mario: Sticker Star for the 3DS.  The N64 and Gamecube titles in the Paper Mario series are two of my all-time favorite games.  The humor, gameplay, and music in these games is just phenomenal.  The humor in particular deserves a special mention.  I'll never forget the time Kammy Koopa (AKA the Mushroom Kingdom's resident stalker) told Bowser about her latest "Mario sighting" in Rogueport, only to have Bowser reply, "Am I Mario's baby-sitter?  I don't care what he's doing!  Are you going to call me every time that guy blows his nose, or what?"  I nearly died laughing after reading this line, and the dialogue in The Thousand-Year Door stayed just as humorous throughout.

And while I haven't seen the dialogue in Sticker Star yet (for obvious reasons), I'm confident it will be just as funny.  The gameplay looks to be just as sharp as previous installments, with a return to the turn-based battle system of the original Paper Mario games.  And as the title suggests, stickers will play a major role in the game and hopefully provide some...crafty puzzles.

Mario: Sports Star, Super Star, and now Sticker Star...what about Rock Star?

If that's not enough to get you excited, according to the Paper Mario wikia (http://papermario.wikia.com/wiki/Paper_Mario:_Sticker_Star), one of Mario's partners might be a Chain Chomp!  After being on the receiving end of Tutankoopa's Chain Chomp's bite in the original Paper Mario, I'm seriously looking forward to having C-Dawg fight for me.  It will be interesting to see how Mario teams up with him in the first place.  Does Mario infiltrate a heavily guarded fortress and set poor Chompy free from his abusive Koopa captors?  Or does the Chompstar* challenge Mario to a duel--a duel which Mario must win to secure the hungry hombre's partnership?

According to The Guardian, Chain Chomps were inspired by a traumatic experience Shigeru Miyamoto had with a dog tethered to a post (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/sep/13/games-gameculture).  But that still doesn't answer the question of what inspired Miyamoto to create Thwomps.  A traumatic experience with falling pet rocks perhaps?

We'll have to wait until the holiday season this year (an exact date has yet to be pinned down) for the answers to these questions and many more.  In the meantime, tell me how YOU feel about the Chain Chomp joining Mario's traveling circus, as well as anything else you'd like to discuss about the latest addition to the beloved Paper Mario franchise.

*Chompstar, not Chompster--it's more in line with the star motif

-Chain Chomp picture obtained from this link: <http://wii.wikia.com/wiki/Chain_Chomp>.

Spotlight on Boo

So, as I was typing out the title for this entry, I realized how ironic it is.  As anyone who’s ever played a Mario game knows, Boo is a very shy critter who always covers his eyes with his stubby little hands every time Mario or Luigi turns around to confront him.  And with those sharp fangs, Boo could be a vampire ghost, making the “spotlight” thing that much more unlikely. 

Anyways, though, I decided to kick this blog off with Boo because I feel he (or she, depending on which game you’re playing) is slowly gaining the notoriety he deserves.  With prominent appearances in games like Paper Mario, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Mario Galaxy, not to mention his role as a playable character in Mario Tennis Open and Mario Party 5-8, Boo is becoming well…aBOOndant.  But I don’t understand why he wasn’t playable in Mario Party 9.  True, he does don his crown as King Boo, but I’d much rather play as him than take him down.  Whenever I was playing as Boo in Mario Party 6 and my friends started booing me, I would just smile and say, “Yep, that’s my name—don’t you forget it!”  Funny how an insult can turn into a compliment when your name is Boo, isn’t it?