Mario is a short pudgy weakling. He runs around the Mushroom Kingdom completely vulnerable to all the enemies rushing to kill him. The only advantage he has is his shoes. Apparently his shoes are spiked with needles laced with cyanide, and can murder any foe who doesn’t have a spike sticking out of their head. Now, in a world as dangerous as the Mushroom Kingdom, it would be awfully pointless for Mario to try and survive if he didn’t have a little help. Lucky for him, there are many magical power-ups to be found to protect Mario’s fragile mortality. So without further ado, here are the top ten Power-Ups to be found in the world of Mario.
#10- The Magic Mushroom- Its the first power-up Mario ever encounters, (not counting the hammer in Donkey Kong). The mushroom makes Mario twice his normal size, and also able to withstand a violent attack without dying. When I was a kid, I always thought the Mushroom made Mario his normal adult self, as if his small pudgy starting point was the effect of some kind of Koopa Kurse or something. But the reality is, the small Mario is the real Mario. Assuming Mario has normal human height of about 5 foot 8 inches, the mushroom makes him over ten feet tall! That in turn makes you realize that these goombas and koopa troopers are the size of regular people…scary! The reason this mushroom is ranked low on the list is because despite its usefulness, its the most plentiful power-up, and therefore the most boring to encounter. (more…)
I can’t think of 3 things form the 90s more iconic than the dazzling, 16-bit glory of the SNES, the exciting, alternative taste of Pepsi, and the bone crushing power of ultra athlete, Bo Jackson. The question is, what would happen if you put all three together? Would aliens come down to Earth? Would the city of Atlantis rise from the watery depths? Would Cindy Crawford’s mole fall off? Scientists have speculated for years, but don’t you know it, a meeting DID occur between these three titans of 90s iconography, and it went a little bit like this…
The Sega Activator seemed amazing at the time, but of course this became one of the stupidest controllers ever. For 80 bucks, you got a large ring that you stand in and wave your arms and legs about like an idiot. Here is the set up and training video you got when you purchased the thing.
Still somehow think the Activator is cool? Well that was a promotional video made by Sega, here is some actual dingbat TV hosts using the thing. They are playing a 2D boxing game, and have to box 2 dimensionally while looking strait ahead at the screen. This is really funny.
I wonder if its just me, but video game commercials from the 1980s still sell me the future better then any modern video game advertisement. Take a look at these ads for the classic Sega Master System. There was something so amazingly other-worldly and awe inspiring about these things. I love the glowing graph paper style motif going on in the whole thing.
My parents never bought me any video game systems, but when I was six or seven years old, my family had these friends we’d visit on Long Island somewhere, and they had a Sega Master System with all the accessories, and like 100 games. I had never seen anything like it. Whenever we went over, it was like stepping into one of these commercials, especially because I only had access to that stuff for an hour or two.
I love this last ad, here we learn about the Master System’s amazing features like scrolling backgrounds, 64 colors (not bits), and digital sounds! And what’s that? Holy shit, 3d video games??? This ad is so awesome that I want all this stuff right now…in 2010!!!
Check out this video where this guy Vincent Ocasla manages to beat an unbeatable game, ie Sim City 3000. He spent years studying the efficiencies of Sim City design elements and ultimately created this masterpiece of a city known as Magnasanti. It’s a city with the maximum population achievable, zero crime, and flawless transportation. The only downside that it’s an aesthetically uniform police state, with very high pollution, and low life expectancy. Watch, and fear for the future.
#10- The Magic Mushroom- Its the first power-up Mario ever encounters, (not counting the hammer in Donkey Kong). The mushroom makes Mario twice his normal size, and also able to withstand a violent attack without dying. When I was a kid, I always thought the Mushroom made Mario his normal adult self, as if his small pudgy starting point was the effect of some kind of Koopa Kurse or something. But the reality is, the small Mario is the real Mario. Assuming Mario has normal human height of about 5 foot 8 inches, the mushroom makes him over ten feet tall! That in turn makes you realize that these goombas and koopa troopers are the size of regular people…scary! The reason this mushroom is ranked low on the list is because despite its usefulness, its the most plentiful power-up, and therefore the most boring to encounter. (more…)
