3 Games the New Mario Bros. Series Should Borrow From

So New Super Mario Bros. 2 has been continuing the tradition of the New series by incorporating elements from the NES Mario Bros. games and mixing some new material and a fresh coat of paint. This has been met with mixed reviews, ranging from favorable to mediocre---with more mediocre reviews coming from the latest installment that has come out in early August.

Now, while I am a fan of linking to the past to try to create a new future of more fun Mario games, I feel like they aren’t digging into the past enough. While major Mario games are getting their ideas imitated, there are dozens of other ideas from smaller-key games that can really deliver some added mayhem to 2-D Mario. Here are a couple of Mario games from the past that delivered great gameplay experiences that should be repeated for future installments.




#1: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

Arguably the most underrated video game I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, Yoshi’s Island has dozens of incredible ideas that have yet to be repeated since the this-never-happened Yoshi’s Story. Where do we begin? The creation and throwing of eggs, the vehicles Yoshi transforms to, the extremely lengthy levels that the later worlds became notorious for, the villains changing appearance depending on the atmosphere, the very diverse boss battles, and just the overall sensation of brisk insanity combined with clever 2-D gameplay. So why couldn’t New Super Mario Bros. 3 have some Yoshi’s Island-style levels?

For every level that has Yoshi, when you hop to his back, you take control of Yoshi, who can hover, make eggs, throw eggs, and reach places that normally Mario could not reach. Instead of just running with him, you can transform Yoshi into essentially a separate and yet effective character. But we should copy more than just Yoshi’s arsenal of attacks. Mario Land also did this, but the upcoming Mario games can definitely benefit from a few vehicle levels in which Mario can take control of a submarine or an airplane. Mario Land’s best levels involved vehicular battling, and Yoshi’s Island was no pushover either. And the last thing I would like to see copied from Yoshi’s Island is that the boss battles should differ greatly from one another. I do like the Koopa kids don’t get me wrong, but each one should have their own niches and strategies for victory—as opposed to just avoiding attacks and hitting them three times. It is games like Yoshi’s Island that makes the New Mario Bros. games look mild and unfulfilling. Borrowing from one of the all-time greats could definitely fix this.




#2: Wario Land II and III

Now, these games may not feature Mario, but this is a unique take of the Mario run-jump-platform formula. These two handheld gems introduce many cool ideas that could really spice up some Super Mario levels in the future. For one, why not make a level in which Mario cannot die? Instead, he winds up in the beginning of the level, adding more frustration as opposed to just going back to a checkpoint. That’s one way to spin the franchise another direction—an exclusive world with no death whatsoever.

Wario Land 3’s take on platform was impressive, but never imitated. They run through a day-night system in which the level changes looks and changes appearance depending on what time it is. Super Mario can definitely benefit from this and become much more diverse by creating two different levels out of one level multiple times. Secrets, hidden exits, and different enemies will pop up depending on whether the moon is out, or the sun is out. How much fun would that be?



#3: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

RPG gameplay in a Mario platformer? Utter blasphemy. But, hear me out. Donkey Kong Country 3 had this fun feature in which you could collect items and trade them around with different bears throughout the adventure, leading to secrets, updated vehicles, and more exploration. Mario RPG also did this, but it led to mini-games left and right. How much fun would it be if New Super Mario Bros. 3 also features a treasure hunt/trading aspect of the game in which you can find random items throughout your journey and trade them with different Toads in exchange of secret levels, secret mini-games, and more? Mario RPG’s longevity was greatly attributed to the utterly inane amount of secret items you could find.

Long after the quest was over I was still riding the mine carts (This was sooo much fun), gambling in a secret casino, searching for secret flags, and also trying to find a shiny stone for more fireworks. New Mario 3 can really be more fun if they added quirky moments like these to keep you engaged after Bowser’s expected defeat.



Bottom Line: The idea of jump-starting a new 2-D Mario series was a good one, but one must also try to find ways to push the franchise forward as well as borrow the fun elements of the past. This combination is what made games like the Mario World series, Super Mario 64, and Mario Galaxy pure gems in my eyes. Going from left to right doesn’t have to be repetitive, you can really toy around with the recipe. The NES games were great but its time to look into the Game Boy and SNES days to take the better ideas and utilize them. From Yoshi’s Island to the underplayed Wario Land 3, New Mario Bros. 3 has a lot of references to look into when trying to become the perfect game. But with Mario 3D Land selling over 5 million copies, New Mario Bros. 2 approaching 2 million BEFORE a U.S. release, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii selling 23 million copies, I doubt Nintendo would listen to me.

But seriously, a Mario World/Yoshi's Island hybrid would be too much fun.

The Identity Crisis of the Boston Red Sox

So the Boston Red Sox are failing miserably this season. And to an extent, I am glad, oh so very glad.



Let me repeat it, I am very, very, very, very happy.

On the other hand, it makes me wonder how after years of suddenly winning, and actually taking home two World Series titles within the past decade is this franchise falling apart at the seams with very little hope of the future. After four straight years of playoff appearances, they had missed out the last couple years---and a third consecutive year seems to be a reality. 2002 was the last time they missed the playoffs a third straight year.

So what happened? Very simple: The Red Sox lost their identity. They don’t know who they are. They don’t have a personality; they don’t really have a common goal. The collective group of players and managers do not represent Red Sox baseball. The Red Sox used to be those lovable losers that would always try to play bully against their far more successful rival; they used to be that ragtag group of players that so desperately wanted to win they would sacrifice themselves in exchange for a ring.

They no longer have that touch, that desire of momentum. Every team has a personality---years of history, tradition and a blend of the behavior of the city molds the squad into a specific image. And yes, the city does add to the aura of the team. Do you honestly seeing the city of Toronto molding a new version of the Bad Boy Pistons of the 80s and early 90s?

The New York Yankees have that high-class above-the-norm aura of themselves, which is why we hate them so, but is also why they’ve had so much success.

The St. Louis Cardinals have the Hometown look and feel to them, which explains why of course a local becomes the hero (David Freese) in the previous World Series—and why their fans remain the best in the entire sport---seriously those fans are knowledgeable of the farm teams associated with St. Louis.

The Tampa Bay Rays have the personality of the go-for-broke, low-budget, new-school style of baseball that caters to the bay area college crowd---which clashes with all the traditional teams like the Orioles, Phillies, Red Sox, and especially the Yankees.

The Giants have this personality of the subculture rag-tag group of individuals that combine into a formidable team while at the same time appeal heavily to the carefree existential style of San Francisco. Let’s be honest, can you see The Freak, Brian Wilson, and Kung Fu Panda surviving in the confides of Pittsburgh or Kansas City?

The Chicago Cubs are the high-class lovable losers with the extremely dedicated and friendly fanbase that are still waiting for that day in which they can finally win the entire thing. Post-Note If I am running the Cubs, I would be sure to fill the roster and coaching staffs with people that had never ever even gone to the World Series.

So what are the Red Sox now? A Yankee wanna-be. They spent insane money on players that left other teams in hopes of piercing together a championship team. They lack the local flavor of the Boston Celtics and Bruins, they lack the anti-Yankee touch of the Rays, and they now lack the lovable loser feel of the Chicago Cubs. They don’t try to build their teams through minor league farm systems like the Rays, Cardinals, Nationals, and (surprisingly) the Yankees. The Red Sox are an inconsistent mess and didn’t focus on who they were getting. They saw numbers, but didn’t check the personalities attached. Carl Crawford is a low-key ballplayer who spent years far away from the media when engaged with Tampa. Adrian Gonzalez also avoided media exposure because of his time in San Diego.

In order for them to be the Red Sox we know about, they need to be more Boston. They need to have the blue-collar personality they used to pride themselves in. They need more hometown talent, they need more dig-in-the-dirt players that get ugly wins, and biggest of all they need a manager that doesn’t have any New York in them. Bobby Valentine has too much glamor in him—New York and L.A. Now, this Boston team is mismatched, out of sorts, and in need of a makeover.












Or you could just not listen to me and keep losing. I honestly don’t mind.

The Fable of Baseball in Miami

After a great first impression of Marlins Park I decided to visit again to see how the fanbase has improved (if possible) and to see how the stadium has been holding up in its first year. I went to see the Dodgers/Marlins game since I had never watched the Dodgers in person. For those that don’t know, the Marlins’ new stadium is smack dab in the middle of Little Havana, a popular Hispanic community within the outskirts of Downtown Miami. After years of a depleted fanbase, Miami decided to revamp the image of the Marlins with new colors, a new destination, and a new park. While the team hasn’t been doing so hot, the amount of visitors has definitely improved.



Part of the new appeal is the new park itself, which is gorgeous and practically the first true blue ballpark built for an MLB team in Florida. Before the Marlins played in a football stadium, while the Rays play inside a regurgitated industrial refrigerator. It has a retractable roof (in case Florida weather misbehaves), a more personal feel with lesser seats and more space while being nice and close to the field---which has larger dimensions than most modern ballparks. There is a big Miami vibe in this place, starting with the statue that is God-awful but very Miamiesque and continuing with the Hispanic food courts and nightclub sequel to a South Beach staple. So if the game is a blowout, fork over a few extra bucks and hang out in a pool with beautiful women. Or you can wait until after the game, then fork over extra bucks to do the same thing.

Marlins Park is essentially a good mix of old-school ballpark and a modern South Florida twist. The area housing the park is inside a Hispanic neighborhood, which means before reaching the park you’ll be strolling down neighborhoods, local businesses, and thousands of locals that span multiple generations. Parking here is much easier than most spots as it features parking garages that sprinkle the backend of the stadium. The building itself looks clustered but never looks claustrophobic as it doesn’t take up as much room as your usual stadium/arena. Getting inside is also a cinch as there are multiple ways of getting inside. And once you are inside, the rest is history.

For 30 bucks I was able to get a seat on the third base side and wind up just a dirty dozen feet away from the field itself. There is a lot of open room within the ballpark that makes for great ventilation and more of a spacious feeling. The first floor features most of your food places, including the Taste of Miami section that features food popular in the South Florida area. For the record, there are over 100 different menu items available amongst all the foodie locations in the park, so this review is just me scratching the surface barely. I skipped the usual pizza, hot dogs, burgers, and popcorn and decided to give the Taste of Miami a shot. Wound up with a cheese empanada (Venezuelan style) and a Cuban sandwich. Both good foods, but after some research I’ve learned that there’s still a lot to see in terms of food.


The biggest issue I have with Marlins Park is the same I have with Tropicana Field---the ambiance is totally dead. While most of this can be attributed to its depleted fanbase, which I will get to later, the lack of a true DJ or a decent organist doesn’t help at all. The organist sometimes goes quiet for entire innings, and does not hold a candle to the organist for the Cubs, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Honestly, can you not play anything other than “Rich Girl?” At least spice it up with some variety. And then there’s the DJ, who barely plays anything between innings, rarely offers a theme song for all the players, and just doesn’t musically enhance the ballpark. Not sure if you remember, but Miami has taken over the musical scene in recent times with its blend of dance/techno/hip-hop. But you wouldn’t see it here in the ballpark because they rarely utilize the crisp speakers.

It can get downright quiet in this park, and that’s with 28,000 people in the park. It was quite sad when the loudest reception came from seeing LeBron James win the Gold for the Americans. This was well-deserved, but the fans rarely cheered over a strikeout, over a good play, over anything. Yes there was a no-hitter being thrown for 3/4ths of the game, but Wade LeBlanc had 7 innings of 6-hit ball with 4 Ks and had 5 left on base. Barely any reception when he left. Not much momentum or fan pressure here, not yet anyway. The loudest fans in my area were actually Dodgers fans, while everyone else did little other than roll their eyes. I can promise you he couldn’t do that in San Francisco or in Philadelphia without getting some resistance.


All in all, Marlins Park is gorgeous beyond any means, and the pictures I have thrown in here don’t do it justice. The biggest challenge that the Marlins organization will face in the future is its constant attempts to have new fans. Unlike football and baseball, which are very bandwagon-heavy sports, baseball has a strictly traditional core of fans. In the NFL, people from all over the world are Packers fans. In basketball, the fanbase of the Heat has essentially tripled since LeBron joined. The Giants when they won the Super Bowl managed to also receive support from Jets fans and Colts fans simply because of the Patriots being in the other end. Baseball doesn’t work that way. Mets fans do not become Yankee fans all of a sudden. Phillies fandom gets passed down from generation to generation almost in a religious stature. And try finding a more knowledgeable grouping of fans than those of the St. Louis Cardinals. To be honest the only baseball teams with consistent bandwagon jumpers are the Yankees and Rangers---we all hate the Red Sox now. And now we have Florida---which is a melting pot of people not just from around the world, but also from the very same country.

We get retired, snowbird, and second-life (Those that want to leave their original life in search of something better) people from the Northeast, we get people from out West, and don’t get me started on the New Yorkers, which is its own group of people. Did you know that Tampa and Clearwater, two places right next to each other, have massive fanbases of totally different teams and neither of them are the TAMPA BAY Rays? Clearwater is pretty much Philly Nation to the nth degree, while expect Tampa and its surrounding legions to be Yankees all the way. Some can argue that this may affect the future of the Rays as they desperately try to gain new fans but with no support. Here’s how bad it’s gotten: a Rays radio broadcast was being blocked because the Buccaneers had a preseason game going on at the same time. Yes, the same Buccaneer team that’s been in the playoffs just twice in the last 8 years. And its preseason. No wonder the Rays will be leaving Florida in the next decade.


Miami suffers this same fate. The Marlins already have enough problems competing against the beaches, clusters of dedicated fan of other teams, nightlife, and slews of other entertainment options within the South Florida borders. Football is already on a nasty downward spiral, hockey in Miami has never been big, while Heat basketball only thrives because of their winning ways, being one of the few NBA franchises that can consistently compete, and because of its thriving connection to the South Beach life. Marlins have so much going against them that it’s going to remain a challenge to develop the success of your larger-market teams like the Giants, Phillies, Yankees, Cubs, and Rangers.


So in order for Marlins Park to truly succeed, it needs to be more like Miami. It’s not enough with its location and colors, you need to turn that ballpark into more of a party. You need more live Hispanic music, more ambiance, more noise, better production value from the people in charge of spicing up the game, more mayhem. Miami can turn any shack into a party with the right folks involved. Marlins Park is no different. It has the look, space, and potential to truly be a staple to the South Beach lifestyle. But until more effort is placed within inning one through nine, the Marlins will continually struggle to entice fans and visitors. There are few things in life livelier than a Hispanic baseball game---I once went to a World Baseball Classic match between the Dominican Republic and Australia. Let’s just say the party got so wild, the cops inside the stadium were dancing.



Miami Marlins, you have a beautiful new park. Now, utilize it to its full potential.

Individualism vs. Socialism

The 2012 Elections can be summed up in a very simple way: Individualism vs. Socialism.

What type of country do you want to see run? What type of society do you want us to become? Do you want to see this nation run in a socialism manner which appeals to broad spectrum of helping the community as a whole? Or do you prefer the individualist approach which emphasizes almost total pure freedom while abiding by the “every man for himself” rule? Are you for the United part or for the States part? Not in recent history has there been an election with two such different candidates heading for the White House.




On the challenger side we have Mitt Romney. Despite everything the opposition has said about him, Romney isn’t a tyrannical douchebag that we’ve been painting him out to be. The truth is remove all the hatred and you’ll find a man that was born and raised with a golden spoon in his mouth. How can you hate him for this? The road to success was paved for him so well, there’s no need to hate him for that. He does not know what it’s like to worry about money. If anything, our issue is his lying about his success at Bain. He comes off as almost embarrassed of his success over the years fighting and defeating the system of taxes and jobs.

Guess what, Bain was at its prime with Mitt during the late 90s, a time period in which unemployment was never an issue and neither was the economy. Businesses like these didn't have the negative tone that they carry today, because back then we didn't care (Unless you were one of the victims). Guess what, he is doing what we all would love to do, find loopholes involving taxes. Guess what, if the economy was like in the mid 2000s before the massive crash his past would not be such a hothead issue. Mitt Romney is an individualist, one that fights and claws his way to the top and is willing to bring down people in the process.

We can yell all we want, but American society has developed into that kind of lifestyle with the education system getting shackled and the job market being extremely competitive. Under Romney, all the major federal campaigns would be threatened, and power would be transferred more to the individual—and I mean people as well as businesses. Success won’t be taxed as much under Romney, as the rich will be looked at in the same level as the middle and lower class. The federal government would be more a facilitator instead of a helper as I can guarantee you the states will gain a little more power to run themselves in the manner they deem fit.

While that would economically kill stupid states like Arizona and well, Arizona, I am sure they are one patch of land that would love to gain some power back after losing some of the Immigration laws to the government.



And on the current champion side, we have Obama. Mr. Obama, a man whose sole and main purpose is to redistribute the power so that the US doesn’t look like an hourglass financially. He has (in a subtle manner) attacked the upper class for not trying to contribute to the collective attempted saving of the nation. His ideals are very much socialist, but I am not saying it in the negative tone. Obama wants to help those who are less fortunate and wants everyone to chime in to help the suffering and the underprivileged—whether you like it or not. Health Care, Immigration, and raising Taxes have been three hot button issues that have infuriated some and have helped others during Obama’s run.

He is looking out for everyone, not just one or a few. While it looks like Obama is hunting down the more lucrative businesses and people in the nation, what really is happening is that he knows how ugly the outlook is and is going through sources that have the stability to contribute extra and remain afloat. This could explain the financial cutbacks on Iraq, Afghanistan, NASA, among other things. But it is fun to see the power of Big Business when the White House has trouble supporting Obama’s views, decisions, and aspirations.

So what is the point of me pointing this out?

Very simple.

Despite the barrage of attacking ads, despite the biting cynicism amongst the two parties, neither of the two candidates are actually bad. Romney is a business-savvy man with a successful background (even mirroring some of Obama’s ideas including Health Care) and can actually use some of these skills to help the United States pull out of the red. Barack Obama is a man of his word, and is one of our most down-to-earth presidents in history. Obama has excellent worldwide appeal while at the same time scare the crap out of terrorist groups with his swift yet quiet approach to just assassinating the guilty out in the Wild Wild Middle East.

Both people have their strengths. But neither of them can truly achieve anything if the fighting continues. Both people have good ideas, have good ideals, have potential in saving this nation. What we need is time, patience, and lastly a willingness to work together. Obama accomplished less than what he desired because Senate and the House can’t agree on anything---everyone is fighting over small and large issues. Instead of finding a common ground we remain attacking each other with no basis, no proof, and an unnecessary layer of hatred. The sheer fact that it took us years (AFTER Bush’s two terms) to begin to compensate the brave men that saved lives in Ground Zero during 9/11 is purely ludicrous. And what’s worse is the battling in the White House and around the nation will not go away for quite a period of time.

So this leaves us with the 2012 Election and what it would mean if either party wins. If Mitt Romney wins, expect a much more individualist approach—expect rules and regulations to reflect your personal growth as opposed to growth of your neighbor and the neighborhood. If Obama wins expect more of the same universal approaches he has committed in the past, expect him to fight for the stability of the entire neighborhood, even if it means a few neighbors losing a little. It all boils down to who you are:

Individualist? Or Socialist?