Random posts about retro stuff... Because life's to short not to live in the past!
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| Super Mario Bros. 3 |
With
Super Mario Bros. 3 maintaining the pole position, James Bond wrestles with the Planet
of the Apes.
The Force is also strong with young Skywalker. Keep trying
to warn everyone that the kid grows up to be Darth Vader, but no one seems to
listen...
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| GoldenEye 007 |
Dusted off some mail after a decades-long hiatus.
Some people claim to have read every single edition of the Mailbag. (They're obviously lying - No one could ever be that bored)
It seemed appropriate for this milestone. A hundred Posts going far beyond the basics of our favorite games, and exploring off the beaten path.
Just how many letters are floating around?
Comparable to the mailroom on the TITANIC (and some of it nearly as old).
Mailbag #54: Special GoldenEye Edition
http://goldeneye64.blogspot.com/
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| Super Mario Bros. 3 |
World 3-8 (44 coins to unlock the White Mushroom House)
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| World 3-8 |
Normally opt for Firepower against Boss Bass - But in this stage, the furious fish seems to "respawn" so quickly that disposing of him doesn't seem to matter.
Tried it with Frog Mario and was more than pleased with the results.
Excellent jumping to catch the coins, and anytime Mario fell in the water, he actually held a slight advantage over the voracious predator.
Especially as Frog Mario, the world itself isn't overly difficult - Just gottta pay attention to the constant rise and fall, mainly to avoid foolishly hopping somewhere where the big fish can make a meal
out of you - Kinda like being a real frog!
As the level rises and falls, I prefer to see the multi-coin block when I start hammering away at it. This way, I can keep track of my coin count, and try to bank 11.
Nothing crazy from hereon in...
A quick hop here, and a quick hop there...
Last coin is actually a hidden 1-Up for the effort.
Frog Mario gets it done.
The White Mushroom House contains a useful P-Wing.
Actually liked the Frog Suit so much that I
kept in on for the duration of World 3...
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| World 3-9 |
Relatively few enemies in the next level, World 3-9. But with the impeccable placement of Piranha Plants, Para Goombas, Bob-Ombs and Bullet Bills, most players will happily skip right past this area racing for the goal.
Raccoon Mario can break the bricks with his tail, gaining access to the tube that leads underwater.
By swimming counter-intuitively to the left, Mario can find a secret pipe that leads to a Frog Suit.
Gotta hold to the right as Mario falls from above so he can land near the big question block.
A few obstacles and Cheep Cheeps offer virtually no challenge with the Frog Suit.
Only really tricky part as Frog Mario is the
Koopaling Airship...
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| World 3 The Doomship! |
Gotta hop on a cannonball and get a boost by holding the jump button to get to the safer upper portion of the ship. Frog Mario can't easily hop through the
narrow space without losing his Frog Suit to cannon fire.
Wicked Wendy O. Koopa!
The Frog Prince...
Mario wears one of his best suits to meet the King.
Survive a Doomship and the Koopaling battle while wearing one of the special suits and a special message from His Royal Highness.
See Alternate Messages From The King.
World 4-2 (24 coins to unlock the White Mushroom House)
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| World 4-2 |
The "biggest" world actually has the lowest coin count requirement for the Secret Toad House.
Mario risking his life for a few coins...
There is a Starman available in the question block... But I find the timing of collecting the item slows me down just enough that I can't race all the way down the bridge to get the rest of the coins...
Grabbing the very last coin!
A bit of back-tracking to get the coins that were bricks just moments ago...
Finally, made it off the Cheep Cheep bridge and heading towards the exit pipe.
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| Super Mario Bros 3 |
Unlocking the White Mushroom House by collecting 46 coins in World 7-2. A special Toad House will appear on the map, awarding Mario with a P-Wing.
Not sure if I had ever performed this trick in Super Mario Bros 3.
Was hoping to do it on the original NES version.
Requires some precision moves, and the controls are so brutally unforgiving that I just could not get Frog Mario to navigate properly.
Definitely recall this challenging "obstacle course".
Most of the stages in the World 7 Pipe Maze are a bit tricky.
Some advance preparation is also needed, because Mario needs the speed of the Frog Suit.
There are Frog Suits found later on in World 7 - But this is just the second stage of World 7, so Mario needs to have collected one during his travels (obtained in World 2 or World 3).
World 7-2 has a stash of coins and bricks below the level itself, accessed via pipe. Only Frog Mario is fast enough to retrieve all of the brick-turned coins before the time runs out.
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| Hop to it! |
A precision jump over this block proved to be considerably difficult.
Made it through a couple times, but missed a coin or two - So it doesn't count!
Will eventually go back and try again... Someday.
Determined to succeed, attempted it on the Super Mario All-Stars version.
Got it almost instantly. Even though it's the same game (and I'm using the SAME physical controller), the controls are a bit more forgiving, allowing me to better maneuver Frog Mario.
46 coins to collect, although there's no need to count.
Pretty much located in the same area, in three "blocks".
This late in the game, we can definitely expect a challenge.
It's practically deserving of its' own walkthru...
(46 coins to unlock the White Mushroom House)
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| Pest Control |
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| Being a Frog |
Must be careful not to accidentally smash any bricks in the underground area...
Even busting a single block will prevent Mario from getting the necessary coin count.
The easy 18 coins should be collected before hitting the "P-Switch".
Returning to the water, with precision swimming.
Collecting the time-sensitive block-turned coins quickly and efficiently.
The task needs to be performing without wasting a stroke.
After a failed attempt, I'd go back and swim the course a few more times anyway, just to nail down the timing.
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| A Quick Swim |
This narrow gap is another snag. Mario swims very fast in his Frog Suit.
But one wrong move into a block or wall, and he just won't have enough seconds on the clock to grab all the coins.
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| Move it, Froggy! |
Swimming straight up and hopping out of the water to grab the near coins, followed by delicate hops to the far corner.
Even missing one or two coins just won't cut it.
Gotta obtain every last one of them.
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| Musical Interlude |
After leaving the water area, Mario gets trapped in a pit with a Koopa. Gotta punch out just enough invisible Note Blocks to make a bridge. Back underground again, returning back up to cross relatively safely...
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| Piranha Plants Hungry for BBQ Frog Legs |
A quick maze of Venus Fire Traps awaits Mario.
Try to keep the high ground, jumping for the highest pipes, immediately as the creature goes back into its' home.
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| Make it down this pipe... No more enemies to deal with! |
At the end of the "maze", the exit pipe is the only one leading into the ground.
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| Special Mushroom House, here we come! |
Our reward is a P-Wing...
But in reality, it's the satisfaction of pulling off the stunt.
In the Super Mario All-Stars version, the "White Mushroom House" is actually blue.
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| World 7-3 |
"I Am Invincible!"
The next stage of Pipe Maze is World 7-3, which offers unlimited Invincibility - The only catch is Mario must race to the next question block while still Invincible (otherwise the item box will contain one lousy coin instead).
Collect a Starman at the beginning of the level, and race towards the goal.
The subsequent blocks will contain a Starman if Mario is still Invincible.
Despite Frog Mario's incredible jumping ability, a few areas pose a challenge.
A few awkward jumps with the Frog Suit.
Lakitu also shows up midway - All the more reason to be Invincible!
While Frog Mario can jump incredibly high, sometimes getting him to land exactly where you want can be difficult - Therein lies the challenge.
The course itself was designed for Super Mario or Raccoon Mario...
Essentially "bridging the gap" between the two levels by making it all the way through 7-3 with the Frog Suit.
It's not easy being green...
