Super Mario Bros

[Moosferatu]

My roommate and a friend of mine just maxed out the score (9,999,990) on the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros by playing the cycle of eight worlds roughly ten and a third times in succession without a continue. I thought it was pretty impressive, but then again I never played Mario when I was a kid. Anyone else here maxed it out?

[Roderick]

You are the Über-Nerd. All hail.

[Moosferatu]

You are the Über-Nerd. All hail.

Hey, I didn't do it. I suck at Mario. It was my roommate and a friend of mine.

[Nick]

My dad maxed out the score counter on columns on the Mega Drive.

[n0wak]

I maxed it out in SMW and beat Link to the Past in one sitting.

ALSO

[Roderick]

Speaking of Mario; something decidedly odd and wonderful happened. I read the absolutely delightful Time Extend article in the new Edge on Super Mario Sunshine and now desperately want to play it again. When I finished it about three years ago, I was quite frustrated with the more difficult parts and the bugginess of especially the hotel level, and how some of the challenges seemed ill-designed. And over the course of time, I even began to think quite lowly of the game and remembered only the bad parts.

Then I read the Edge article, and it suddenly reminded me how many wonderful parts were in it, and how sunny and joyous the atmosphere was. Without merely glossing over the weak points, it rather made a point for both its strenghts and flaws. And in the process, made me want to play it with fervour.

[Jake]

Stop reading Penny Arcade.

[Aussie Ben]

I liked it better when Yoshi was a power up and not a crippling timed piece of juice-vomiting crap. But that's just me.

[Roderick]

Well, there's still a huge amount of stuff that's horrible about Sunshine. Those abstract levels I think I'll be able to digest better now, appreciating their platforming sincerity. But I look forward to once again spending hours trying to reach the top of the huge tree in the Pianta homevillage. That's was fun.

Jake: haha, I know exactly what you mean =) Italics aren't trademarked by PA though, and neither can one escape being influenced ever so slightly by people they admire. As soon as copycat alarmbells go off in your head, don't shy away from mentioning it. But should I emphasize the last word in a diatribe in italics, and that word also by chance be one that's more than a few syllables long, don't cringe immediately. It's not such an uncommon thing.

[Aussie Ben]

Honestly, there were some good bits to Mario Sunshine, but they mostly seemed to be the boss battles. The giant manta ray was my favourite bit of the whole game. Also, rocketing straight up into the sky was wonderful.

Collecting a billion blue coins and red coins and aquamarine coins blows though. As does all that unforgiving jumping puzzle shit (I HATE PACHINKO EVEN MORE NOW).

Oh and Gooper Blooper was great! And the vomiting Petey Pirahna (you might know him, he only starred in EVERYTHING SINCE).

All in all, two and a half Dr. Drakkens out of Shego.

[Roderick]

Favourite piece of the game: in the harbour, negotiating those steel walkways. That, to me, felt like the true Mario spirit, recapturing a bit of the abstraction without giving up the theme completely, and just making for nice, pure platforming action. And it had Gooper Blooper or whatever his names was at the end!

[miffy495]

I actually quite liked Sunshine. It wasn't the best Mario, (hell, maybe it shouldn't have been a Mario game at all) but camera aside, it was quite fun. Those weird out of nowhere platforming parts were awesome. Now I kinda want to play it again, but I think a friend has my copy. I must track him down.

[nsps]

It seems like there was a block in the run up to the flag pole on one of the level three stages (I think it was a nighttime level, anyway), and you could get in a cycle where you kept getting points (and/or coins—I think you could get extra guys). Anyway, I don't think I ever maxed out my score, but that's probably because as a kid, I never really grasped the concept of a high score. I was more about objective, which may be why I got into adventure games. What I like about SMB is that you can play to rescue the princess or to get a high score. Or something. I'll stop talking now.