Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars: Part 4

It’s been a couple of weeks since I made a video game journal. I honestly forgot what I was even doing in Super Mario RPG. The first area I went to was this strange, one section plain. The only thing in this area was a single warp pipe. Upon entering the pipe, I found an area that had lava everywhere. I tried to jump across the area, but it was too far. So, I left the area, and moved on to the next one.

The next place I went to was a town called Moleville (I hope I spelled that right), and the inhabitants were (that’s right, you guessed it) Moles. Not long after I entered the town, I was told that a star had fallen into the mine, trapping a father and his children inside. After talking to everyone I could, I headed to the mine, which was conveniently at the edge of town.

On the way, I heard an extremely strange noise. To be honest, it nearly made me jump out of my seat, I thought it was a monster coming to get me and drag me away to its lair, where it would eat me. But it was just Bowser. He and what few minions he had left were regrouping. As Bowser is trying to reassure his troops, he mentions that if Mario found out he was kicked out of his own castle, his reputation would be shot. Well, it’s a little too late to worry about that, Bowser.

After Bowser and his troops left, I continued on to the mine. Once inside, I found out that the Moles couldn’t dig their way into the mine, and that Mario would have to jump off of their shoulders to reach the other entrance into the mine that was above the rubble (convenient entrance is convenient). After jumping off their shoulders, I was in the mine. And there was moving rocks, and living fireballs, and it. Was. Scary.

After I went through a few areas in the mine (and ran in fear for my life from the living fireballs), I came to a three-way crossroad. One of the ways that could be taken was a spring, and being the type of person I am, I tried it first. Which turned out to be what I was supposed to do. Upon trying the spring, Mario hits his head on the ceiling and passes out, leaving him vulnerable to the thieves that come along and steal all of his coins. But at least, in their haste to escape, they cleared the blocked paths in the mine with the bombs they brought along. That’s good, right? While I was chasing them, Geno leveled up, and I realized that he is two levels lower than Mario and Mallow.

 

Eventually, I caught the thieves and fought them until they gave me back my money. After that, I went deeper into the mine and found the father who had gotten trapped down here. He then tells Mario that his kids are deeper in the mine (of course), and asks if Mario can save them for him. Mario agrees to help (like all heroes do), and deeper into the mines they go. While I was trying to find the kids, everyone leveled up. I also had to cross a bridge with four Bob-ombs marching across it, which I found pretty intimidating.

Next came the boss fight. In my opinion, this was the easiest boss fight so far. I mean, yeah, the HUGE Bob-ombs that he had were definitely startling, but he still wasn’t hard to defeat. In an attempt to keep himself from losing, Punchinello brings out the biggest Bob-omb in history. Which, despite Mario and co’s best efforts, exploded. But, at least, the explosion knocked the Star Piece loose, allowing us to claim our third Star Piece. Four more to go!

After defeating the boss, I went even deeper into the mine and found the kids I was looking for. The next step was getting them out of the mine in one piece, and the only way to do that was to ride a mine cart out of the mine. My game glitched while I was riding it and the camera angle was fixed like it is in Donkey Kong Country. The track went up and down like a wave. But, as I was riding here, the track straightened itself out, but Mario and the cart kept going up and down like they were still on the hills! Anyway, after reaching the end of the track (and crashing through the Mole family I was helping’s roof) I stepped outside to find three Snifits trying to catch a beetle. They said they were catching it for Boomer. I’m pretty sure I’ve run into Boomer before (or at least heard of him), but I don’t remember for sure. That’s what happens when I stop playing a game for a while.

Well, that’s all I played today. Hopefully, I’ll have a new chapter of Trainer Strawberry up this week. Then I should stay on track for a while.

Later.

Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars: Part 3

After meeting Mallow’s grandfather, it’s time to head to a new town (I think it was called Rose Town, but I’m not for sure). Along the way, we run into Bowser, who also can’t reach his castle. When we run into him, he is assembling troops, which gives the impression that he is going to war with the giant sword that is in his castle.

 

Upon reaching the town, we find that it (of course) has a serious problem. Arrows rain from the forest, and whenever they hit someone, they are unable to move. But they can still talk, so I still went around the town and talked to everyone I could.

The first place I entered was the Inn. Upon entering, I found a young Toad playing with a Mario, Peach, and Bowser toy. When the little boy realizes that Mario has just walked through the door, he asks him to play with him, Mario agrees. The kid (whose name is Gaz) gets a toy named “Geno”, and gives Mario the Bowser toy to play with. The two then proceed to make their toys battle. During the battle, Gaz has Geno fire some sort of projectile. Even though he was aiming for the Bowser toy, he misses and hits Mario instead, causing Mario to pass out. So much for being the world’s last hope, huh? While Mario is recovering, a shooting star comes along and brings the toy to life. After the toy wakes up, it stumbles around a little, then walks out the door. After Mario wakes up and walks downstairs, Gaz runs into the Inn and says that he saw Geno walking into the forest. Of course, Gaz’s mom doesn’t believe him, much to his dismay. But Mario thinks it’s worth checking out.

Before I went to the forest, I checked out the other buildings in the town. I’m glad I did, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten directions to a treasure.

 

After talking to everyone in town, I headed to the forest. I really liked the background music that played here. I usually don’t notice music in video games (or movies, cartoons, TV shows, and anime). Wasn’t the theme for this place remixed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Anyway, Mario and Mallow leveled up twice while fighting some enemies.

Remember that treasure I mentioned earlier? This is it.

After running through a maze and chasing Geno, I found the boss. His name is Bowyer, and he looks like a bow (very funny, Producers). He even shoots arrows-namely the arrows that plague the town. Go figure, right? He also talks like Yoda, which is a nice touch. Wonder I do, if watching Star Wars the producers had been. By the way, Nintendo and Square, I love the Bruce Lee reference. Anyway, not long after Mario and Mallow find Bowyer, one of his henchmen find the star piece I’m looking for. But before he can give it to Bowyer, Geno shows up and demands that Bowyer stop firing his arrows at the town. Bowyer, of course, refuses. So, Geno proceeds to fight Bowyer. Mario and Mallow then rush to his aid.

  

 

After defeating Bowyer, Geno reveals that he is actually a star, and that he is merely using the doll to move around in Mario’s world. He then proceeds to tell Mario and Mallow that the star pieces are actually pieces of Star Road, and that if Smithy isn’t defeated and Star Road isn’t repaired, there won’t be any more wishes that are granted in Mario’s world. He then tells us that his name is Heart-Music Note-Exclamation Mark-Question Mark, but since that’s hard to pronounce, he says we can call him Geno. Which is good because I don’t speak Symbol-ese. Anyway, that’s all I got done in Super Mario RPG today.

Later.

Super Mario RPG – Legend of the Seven Stars: Part 2

Okay, time to catch that thieving reptile! In the second area of his level, you are required to jump on the yellow blocks to get to the other side to catch him. But, what’s this?! There’s only two blocks to jump on! Good thing the back on moves to the front when you jump on the one in the front. So, all you have to do to get across is just keep jumping. In the third area, all you have to do is follow Mr. Reptile to the other side. There are some enemies in this area, you can avoid them, but I chose to fight them for the EXP points. I have learned from other RPGs that it’s a good idea to level up while the enemies are weak, because they will get tougher later on.

After going through another area with two treasure chests and some enemies (which I didn’t get a screenshot of), the reptile realizes he’s cornered and decides to hide. He is terrible at hide-and-seek, though. Seriously, he hides out in the open! Anyway, you have to sneak up behind him three times before he admits that you have caught him. Now, I know that this sounds easy, and it is, but it is also pretty annoying. He turns around when you get close, and if you wait to long, he dashes off to another hiding place. This probably would have been a lot easier for me if I had known how to run at this time, but since I didn’t know how to run, I had to walk after the guy. I found out how to run later, though; you press the Y button.

When you finally catch the reptile, he pretends to give up, only to turn around and attack you. He’s not difficult to defeat, however, although he could be annoying if he restores his HP enough. Anyway, when he gets low, he will give Mallow back the coin he stole from him before running off.

After he leaves, you will find a wallet lying on the ground and a spring that will take you back to the first area of the level will appear. After you jump on the spring, it’s just a short walk before you leave the level. On the way there, since I fight almost every enemy I see, Mario leveled up.

Upon returning to Toad Town, you find that it has been completely overrun by Shyguys on pogosticks! The first sign of this you will get is the poor Toad who forgot his bazooka at home being chased by one of the Masked Bouncers. After saving him, he will give you ten coins as thanks.

After that, I went to rescue all the other Toads in Toad Town. I don’t think you have to do this, but I wanted to. I mean, come on! They give you items for crying out loud! That should be incentive enough! By the way, Flower Tabs raise your MP level. MP is required to perform special attacks. A special “Thank you” to Stina for telling me this. It made battles a lot easier.

When you enter the castle, you can talk to the Vault Guard (who will be hiding in the guest room) and he will give you a Wake Up Pin, which prevents you from falling asleep. After that, head to the room on the left from the main hallway. There will be some Toads who need your help in the top room. After you help them they will give you a Flower Tab and inform you that the Chancellor is trapped in the throne room. Alright, I’ll go save him. But if he turns out to be a Sith in disguise, and shocks my with lightning from his hands, I’m blaming you, Bob.

Upon entering the throne room, you find that the Shyguys are being led by a bouncing, talking sword name Mack. I know what you’re thinking, “Mack is the best villain name ever.” Well, you’re right. He wasn’t hard to defeat, however, although it would have been easier if he didn’t have so many bodyguards. After I defeated him, both Mario and Mallow leveled up and learned new moves. Another special “Thank you” to Stina for explaining how those worked to me as well.

After defeating Mack, a blue star shows up at the back of the room. It then flies over to Mario, and you’ve gotten your first Star Piece! Six more to go. You then find the Chancellor cowering in the corner. After the guards return, Mario and the Chancellor are at a loss for what to do next. The Mallow suggests that he and Mario talk to his grandpa because “He knows…EVERYTHING!”

 

Unfortunately, you have to go through some sewers before you can speak to Mallow’s grandpa. Which brings up the question, why does Nintendo make the sewers so maze-like in Mario games? After wandering around randomly for a while, I found a treasure chest that had a monster inside. After defeating it you get a Trueform Pin. You’re gonna wanna get that pin and equip it, because, believe me, it will save you a lot an annoyance later on. I didn’t equip it when I got it, and that caused me to take longer to get out of there than it would have if I had worn it. During some of the battles in the sewer, Mario leveled up again.

 

Eventually, I found the right pipe. Inside was a switch that drained the water and allowed me to move on through the level.

 

After going down a pipe that had previously been underwater, the time had come to fight the boss and get outta here. This is where the Trueform Pin comes in handy. The pin prevents you from turning into a scarecrow or mushroom. At first, I thought that was just silly. But it turns out, this boss has the ability to turn you and your partner into scarecrows! While you’re a scarecrow, you can only use special attacks. And eventually, you’ll run out of MP to perform those attacks. When that happens, you’ll just have to defend until the status condition wears off.

 

 

Upon defeating the boss, you find out that he was the only thing keeping the place from flooding! Oops. Mario and Mallow are washed out of the sewer and sent spiraling down a waterfall. Nintendo took this as the opportunity to put a minigame in there. The object of the minigame is to grab as many coins as you can while you fall. If you get sixty of them, the Toad at the bottom will give you a Frog Coin. Unfortunately, I didn’t get sixty coins, but I did nab some of the Frog Coins that are mixed in with the regular coins as I fell down the waterfall. Anyway, when you arrive at where Mallow’s grandpa lives, your first task is to find and talk to him. He then reveals a not-so-shocking fact, Mallow is not actually a frog. Dun dun dun. Apparently, Mallow’s grandpa found him in a basket that had fallen from the waterfall. The name Mallow was written on the baby’s belt, so that is what the grandpa named him. After you talk to Mallow’s grandpa, you can play another minigame of sorts where you have to get the tadpoles to play the right melody in order to inspire a musician that is there at the pond. Upon playing the right song (which a tadpole in another area will tell you), the musician rewards you with an Alto Card. I’m not sure what this does, so I’ll have to look the next time I play. Until next time!

Later.

Whoa…

Current emotion: Anger

So, I had planned on doing a video gaming journal entry. But, instead of playing Megaman, I played Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s World Championship 2011 – Over the Nexus. Let’s just say the NPCs and I don’t really get along. I didn’t get any screenshots, so I guess I’ll just state my victories and losses. I won my turbo duel with Toru (I think that’s his name). His is the first turbo duel you do in story mode. I lost two D-Runner races to this one guy, then I had to go to the D-Runner shop that was near the racing spot so I could upgrade my D-Runner to be as fast as it could possibly be just to beat the guy. After that and a few other things, I had to go back to Crash Town, where I had to duel another guy so I could talk to the guy I was supposed to talk too. I lost to him once, then I defeated him. And when the guy I was looking for showed up-he wanted to duel me too! I lost to him. After that, I decided that I should probably take a break for a while.

Anyway, I had planned on playing Megaman (as previously mentioned), because I realized that there might be some people who really enjoy reading my VG journal entries. My realization was kinda like “I must play Megaman, because:

I’m not sure if I have a fandom or not, but I do have awesome readers. So, how many of you guys want me to get back to making VG journal entries about Megaman?

Later.