Wario
Wario is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series, designed as an arch-rival of Mario. He first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss, his name is a portmanteau of Mario's name and the Japanese word warui, meaning "bad". Wario was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake, is voiced by Charles Martinet, who voices many other characters in the series such as Mario and Waluigi. Wario has become the protagonist and antihero of the Wario Land and WarioWare series, spanning handheld and console markets. In addition to appearances in spin-offs in the Mario series, he appears in cameos for Kirby Super Star Ultra, Densetsu no Stafy 3 and Pilotwings 64, he has been featured in other media such as the Super Mario Adventures graphic novel. The character has received a positive critical reception. A possible inspiration for Wario first appeared in the 1985 game Wrecking Crew in the character of Spike, a construction foreman. Although he bears a slight resemblance to Spike, Wario did not debut until 1992.
The first named appearance of the character occurred. He was designed by game artist Hiroji Kiyotake. Wario's design arose from Super Mario Land's design team's distaste of making a game based around someone else's character; the creation of Wario allowed them a character of their own to "symbolize their situation". Wario is portrayed as a caricature of Mario, he wears a plumber outfit with a yellow and purple color scheme, a short-sleeved yellow shirt and purple overalls along with an indigo "W" symbol. He wears green shoes and white gloves with an indigo "W" symbol as well. However, in his early appearances Wario wore magenta overalls; the name "Wario" is a portmanteau of "Mario" with the Japanese adjective warui meaning "bad". Official Nintendo lore states that Wario was a childhood rival to Mario and Luigi who became jealous of their success. Voice actor Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario since 1995, is the voice for Wario. During the audition for the part, Martinet was told to speak in a gruff-sounding tone.
He described voicing Wario as a looser task than voicing Mario, since Mario's speaking manner and personality are more free-flowing, rising from the ground and floating into the air, while one of Wario's cornerstones is jealousy. Starting with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario experiences rejuvenating effects from garlic in a similar manner as Mario is powered up by mushrooms. Wario uses bombs, as seen in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario Blast and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The WarioWare series prominently uses bombs as a visual motif to represent the time limit. In video games in which Wario makes a cameo appearance, he is portrayed as a villain. However, the development team for Wario Land: Shake It! Stated that he was not a villain, they did not consider him one during development, they focused on his behavior, which alternates between evil. Etsunobu Ebisu, a producer on Shake It!, considered Wario to be a reckless character, who uses his strength to overwhelm others. Tadanori Tsukawaki, the design director of Shake It!, described Wario as manly, said he was "so uncool that he ends up being cool".
Because of this, he wanted Wario to act macho rather than silly and requested that the art designers emphasize his masculinity. Wario was chosen as the star of the WarioWare series because the developers felt he was the best character for the franchise because he acted stupid. Wario made his first appearance as a villain in the 1992 Game Boy video game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, in which he captured Mario's castle, he served as a villain in the 1993 Japan-only puzzle game Mario & Wario, in which he drops a bucket on the head of Mario, Princess Peach, or Yoshi. This was followed by the first game in the Wario Land series, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, a platform game which marked Wario's first appearance as a protagonist and introduced his first villains, Captain Syrup and her Brown Sugar Pirates, his next adventure, Virtual Boy Wario Land and incorporates the ability to move in and out of the background. A sequel for the Game Boy title, Wario Land II, was released in 1998; this game introduces Wario's invulnerability, allowing him to be burnt or flattened without sustaining damage.
In 2000 Wario Land 3 was released to the Game Boy Color as another sequel. The following year, the sequel Wario Land 4 debuted on the Game Boy Advance, incorporating Wario's ability to become burnt or flattened and reintroducing the ability to become damaged from standard attacks. In 2003, Wario World, the first console Wario platforming title, was released for the Nintendo GameCube. Wario: Master of Disguise was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007; the game incorporated puzzles into the gameplay. The series' most recent release, Wario Land: Shake It!, was released for the Wii in 2008 and reintroduced Captain Syrup. The game uses a hand-drawn animation style, Wario's design required more than 2,000 frames of animation. In 2003, the Wario franchise introduced a new series of games
Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis is a sports video game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. The game was released in North America and Japan in the summer of 2000, released in Europe in November, it is the first tennis-based game starring Mario since Mario's Tennis, the second game developed by Camelot on a Nintendo system. The game is known for being the introduction of Luigi's evil doppleganger and the re-introduction of Princess Daisy and Birdo. A Game Boy Color version developed by Camelot and Nintendo, was published under the same title in Western regions and as Mario Tennis GB in Japan. Mario Tennis was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2010 and on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015; the game's success led to four sequels: Mario Power Tennis released for the GameCube in 2004, Mario Tennis Open released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash released for the Wii U in 2015 and Mario Tennis Aces, released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.
Marking the sixth Mario game for the Nintendo 64, Mario Tennis brings eleven new characters to the Mario Tennis franchise, including Waluigi, Princess Daisy, Shy Guy, Donkey Kong and Birdo. Through the use of a Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak, players are able to import their characters from the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis to the N64 game, as well as the characters' stats. After connecting Mario Tennis for GBC with Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, various options become available. Using the latter four characters, experience points may be earned to transfer back to the GBC version; as the characters go up in levels, one may send his or her improved characters to the N64 version to level up again. A variety of tennis courts can become available to unlock in the Nintendo 64 version after linking with the Game Boy Color version. On the Virtual Console versions, the Ring Tournament mode in Special Games in the N64 version cannot be highlighted and the ability to unlock extra characters and courts through the Transfer Pak in the GBC and N64 versions has been removed, Linked Play, erase N64 data, N64 Tennis data and N64 Tournaments in the GBC version cannot be selected.
The game uses a control system. Shots are performed by pressing one, or both, of the two main buttons, which make the ball spin in different ways. Pressing a button twice strikes the tennis shot with more power and spin. Additionally, pressing the two buttons in a different order can result in a different type of shot altogether, such as a lob or drop shot. Both buttons can be pressed at the same time to hit a powerful smash shot; the longer a button is pressed before contact is made with the ball, the stronger the shot will be. The control system allows players of all levels to become familiar with the mechanics of the game within a short time, whilst encouraging advanced players to take advantage of the variety of shots on offer to come up with different strategies for winning points. A total of seven types of shot are possible using only the two main buttons of the controller; these gameplay mechanics were brought to the newer games of the Mario Tennis series. Mario Tennis received critical acclaim, with critics citing the accessibility and depth of the controls as being impressive.
The game physics and amount of content have been praised. The Nintendo 64 version received "universal acclaim" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Dutch magazine Power Unlimited gave the N64 version a score of 9.1 out of 10, calling it addictive with four players. Mario Tennis sold over 200,000 copies within two weeks of its release, it became the eighth best selling Game Boy Color game in Japan, with 357,987 copies sold. A Game Boy Color version was released on November 2000 in Japan, it features a wide variety of Mario characters for the player to use. The game features mini-games such as a tennis version of a shooting gallery where, as Donkey Kong, the player must hit the banana targets on the wall to earn points in a set amount of time. A role-playing game mode appears on the Game Boy Color version, not in the Nintendo 64 version. In this mode, players begin as a rookie tennis player at the Royal Tennis Academy, who must build up their skill by leveling-up through training and practice matches before entering various tournaments.
The aim of this mode is to be crowned champion at the academy, although the second part of the game involves the player competing in a tournament to face Mario, the best tennis player. The role-playing is playable in singles and doubles doubling the game's longevity. There are training facilities. Official Nintendo Japan Mario Tennis 64 site Official Nintendo Japan Mario Tennis Game Boy Color site Mario Tennis profile in Wii U Virtual Console Mario Tennis on IMDb Mario Tennis at MobyGames Mario Tennis at MobyGames Mario Tennis at Nintendo.com Mario Tennis on the Super Mario Wiki
Mario Party 3
Mario Party 3 is the third in a series of board game style video games for Nintendo platforms, featuring popular Nintendo characters. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan on December 7, 2000, followed by a North American release on May 7, 2001, it was released in Australia on September 3, 2001 and in Europe on November 16, 2001. Mario Party 3 is the third and final Mario Party title for the Nintendo 64 and the final first-party game released for the console; the player can choose between eight playable characters: Mario, Princess Peach, Wario, Donkey Kong from Mario Party and Mario Party 2, newcomers Waluigi and Princess Daisy. Mario Party 3 features duel maps, in which two players try to lower each other's stamina to zero using non-player characters such as Chain Chomps, it is the first Mario Party game to have multiple save slots. The game is notable for allowing characters to have three items at once instead of only one, it is the third game in the Mario Party series. Mario Party 3 is followed by Mario Party 4.
Mario Party 3 has 2 types of board modes: Duel boards. The game has a standard party mode where up to 4 players can play on the battle royale maps or the mini-game library, up to 2 can play a duel map, can control various settings in the game. Battle mini-games, introduced in Mario Party 2, are featured in Mario Party 3 as well; these games are like the 4-player games, but more elaborate. When done on the board, battle games are tense because every player has to put a certain number of coins into a pot. First place gets 70% of the pot, second place gets 30%, a random player gets any coins lost in rounding. Duel games pit 2 players against each other; these are engaged through a Dueling Glove and in the last 5 turns in the game where if a player lands on the same space as another a duel is initiated. In Party Mode, 1 player initiates the bet coins against another player; the winner of the duel wins all of the coins in the bet. New to this edition are Game Guy mini-games; when a character landed on a Game Guy space, he/she is forced to surrender all of his/her coins and play a chance-based mini-game.
If the game is won, the coins of the character are multiplied twofold, but in 2 of the games, it is possible to win up to 64-fold. However, if the game is lost the character will not receive his/her coins back; these games were not continued in subsequent Mario Party games. Mario Party 3 retained Mario, Princess Peach, Wario and Donkey Kong as playable players from the last 2 Mario Party games, with the addition of Waluigi and Princess Daisy. However, the two of them are only playable in Party Mode; the objective, as in the other games, is to take turns moving around the board by hitting a dice block, the game's equivalent of rolling a die, collect coins and stars. The character moves the given number of spaces and may trigger special actions or events by passing or landing on certain spaces. After all four characters have moved, a mini-game begins. Mini-games can be triggered by certain special event spaces, or various in game actions; the player with the most stars at the end of the game wins, but if 2 or more players have the same number of stars, the one with the most coins wins.
If 2 or more players have the same number of stars and coins at the end, they each roll a die and the one with the higher number wins. Coins are found on many spaces on the board and earned in mini-games. Stars are found on the board for purchase and can be acquired through certain items or special events. All types of mini-games can be played on the battle royale boards. Like in the previous Mario Party games, items can be used. Characters can carry up to 3 items instead of just 1, they can be bought from either Toad or Baby Bowser at two locations in each map, or won from an item space that will either make the player play an item mini-game, or have the player answer a question from either Toad or Baby Bowser. The two characters can only provide the items they sell in their shops, depending on which answer is given, the options of items the player can win from the mini game are either Toad's items or Baby Bowser's. Mario Party 3 introduced the duel mode; the players have a health meter in the shape of a heart that goes to 5, the objective is to reduce the opponent's health to zero by battling with partners.
The players use minor Mario characters as a partner. The players each get one partner at the start of the game, can have up to two partners, one in front of them as they move, the other behind; when they get back to start, they get another partner, it can go to front or back, replace the partner, there if there is one. The partners do the battling to reduce the opponents health, defend the player from incoming attack; each partner has its own health, if it reaches zero, they disappear, if the attacking partner deals more damage than the defending partner can take, the player takes damage equal to the difference. If no partner is between the attacking partner and the opponent, they take all the damage directly; the characters cannot attack their opponent directly. Some of the partners attacks cannot be protected against, each partner costs a certain number of coins for the player to keep it, if the player has 2 partners, their salary combines. If the player does not have enough coins to pay their partners, they disappear.
If a partner is attacked by the opponents partner, the attack will miss. When the turn count expires, the winner is decided, it
Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Maker is a side-scrolling platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U game console, which released worldwide in September 2015. Players are able to play their own custom courses, based on Super Mario Bros.. Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U, share them online, download and play courses designed by other players, it was a celebration of the 30th anniversary since the release of Super Mario Bros. in 1985. Super Mario Maker received positive reviews upon its release, with reviewers praising the game's user interface and course editing tools. By May 2016, over seven million courses had been created by players worldwide, played over 600 million times. An adapted port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS, Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, was released in December 2016. A direct sequel, titled Super Mario Maker 2, will be released for the Nintendo Switch in June 2019. Super Mario Maker is a video game which allows players to create their own levels from the Super Mario series, publish those courses to the Internet for other players to experience.
Players can base their courses on the gameplay, visual style of Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. U, which all share the physics of the latter; the gameplay mechanics and enemy behavior varies between the game modes. Some elements are limited to specific game styles while others can be added to game styles that did not have them in the original game, such as Boos in Super Mario Bros. In addition to traditional Mario elements such as Goombas, warp pipes and power ups, players are able to manipulate the behavior of various elements in unique ways. For example, they can stack enemies, have hazards come out of question blocks and warp pipes, use shells as protective helmets, make cannons and Lakitu emit any chosen objects; these combinations are possible because editing tools in the game work in tandem with one another. This allows players to enlarge an enemy by giving it a mushroom, grant an enemy the ability to fly by giving it wings, combine different attributes, more.
The Sound Frog adds audiovisual effects to particular locations, including microphone-recorded sounds, though user-generated sounds are removed from uploaded courses. Editing elements are introduced over a course of nine days, with new elements unlocking as the player spends more time creating courses; the Mystery Mushroom, which can only be used in the Super Mario Bros. theme, dresses Mario in one of about 150 costumes. A Mystery Mushroom has the same effects as a Super Mushroom, except Costume Mario is the same size as Small Mario; each of these costumes can be unlocked by playing through the 100 Mario Challenge, clearing special Event Courses, or by scanning a corresponding Amiibo figurine. Additionally, the 8-bit Mario Amiibo figurine adds a Big Mushroom that makes Mario giant while making enemies look like Mario characters. Once the user is able to play through their own newly created course, that course is allowed to be published to the online Course World. There, all players can browse and play various user-generated courses, or participate in the 100 Mario Challenge, where they can play through a set of randomly selected user-created courses with 100 lives.
Its difficulty levels are Easy, Normal and Super Expert. Alternatively, players can play the 10 Mario Challenge, where they play a selection of the game's pre-made courses with only 10 lives. Players are limited in the amount of courses they can upload online, but by receiving stars from other players, they can earn medals which allow them to upload more courses. Before making Super Mario Maker, Nintendo had explored the concept of a video game editor in the 1990s. Super Mario Maker was conceived as a tool by Nintendo's internal development team, to be used only within the company; the team, however realized the tool's potential as a game and pitched the idea to senior game designer Takashi Tezuka. Meanwhile, Tezuka had been wanting to make a Wii U follow-up to Mario Paint that utilizes the Wii U GamePad. Upon seeing the Mario Maker tool however, Tezuka realized that a course-making tool was more marketable than a mere art program, he noted to Polygon that building courses is "not as difficult or out of reach as drawing is" but that he "was inspired to bring the fun of Mario Paint into this course editor".
The game was directed by Yosuke Oshino, who worked as a programmer on Pikmin, Pikmin 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii; the game's soundtrack was arranged by Koji Kondo, Naoto Kubo and Asuka Hayazaki. The game was announced at E3 2014. Although first revealed via Nintendo's E3 Presentation on June 10, rumors of the title began earlier that month after a photo was taken of Nintendo's incomplete trade show booth which prominently featured the title. Prior to release Nintendo allowed customers to play Mario Maker at Best Buy stores across North America on June 17 and 20, 2015; the game was demonstrated under a new name, Super Mario Maker, on June 14, 2015, during the final round of the Nintendo World Championships event preceding E3 2015. The four courses created by Nintendo Treehouse for the Championships are available to play in the final game. Nintendo partnered with Facebook to host a special "hackathon" event. 150 Facebook employees were tasked with constructing courses using Super Mario Maker, the winning team was given the opp
Portmanteau
A portmanteau or portmanteau word is a linguistic blend of words, in which parts of multiple words or their phones are combined into a new word, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog, or motel, from motor and hotel. In linguistics, a portmanteau is defined as a single morph; the definition overlaps with the grammatical term contraction, but contractions are formed from words that would otherwise appear together in sequence, such as do and not to make don't, whereas a portmanteau word is formed by combining two or more existing words that all relate to a singular concept. A portmanteau differs from a compound, which does not involve the truncation of parts of the stems of the blended words. For instance, starfish is not a portmanteau, of star and fish; the word portmanteau was first used in this sense by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass, in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in "Jabberwocky", where slithy means "slimy and lithe" and mimsy is "miserable and flimsy".
Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the practice of combining words in various ways: You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word. In his introduction to The Hunting of the Snark, Carroll uses portmanteau when discussing lexical selection: Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious." Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first … if you have the rarest of gifts, a balanced mind, you will say "frumious." In then-contemporary English, a portmanteau was a suitcase. The etymology of the word is the French porte-manteau, from porter, "to carry", manteau, "cloak". In modern French, a porte-manteau is a clothes valet, a coat-tree or similar article of furniture for hanging up jackets, hats and the like. An occasional synonym for "portmanteau word" is frankenword, an autological word exemplifying the phenomenon it describes, blending "Frankenstein" and "word".
Many neologisms are examples of blends. In Punch in 1896, the word brunch was introduced as a "portmanteau word." In 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name. Eurasia is a portmanteau of Europe and Asia; some city names are portmanteaus of the border regions they straddle: Texarkana spreads across the Texas-Arkansas border, while Calexico and Mexicali are the American and Mexican sides of a single conurbation. A scientific example is a liger, a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. Many company or brand names are portmanteaus, including Microsoft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software. "Jeoportmanteau!" is a recurring category on the American television quiz show Jeopardy!. The category's name is itself a portmanteau of the words "Jeopardy" and "portmanteau." Responses in the category are portmanteaus constructed by fitting two words together. Portmanteau words may be produced by joining together proper nouns with common nouns, such as "gerrymandering", which refers to the scheme of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry for politically contrived redistricting.
The term gerrymander has itself contributed to portmanteau terms playmander. Oxbridge is a common portmanteau for the UK's two oldest universities, those of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2016, Britain's planned exit from the European Union became known as "Brexit". David Beckham's English mansion Rowneybury House was nicknamed "Beckingham Palace", a portmanteau of his surname and Buckingham Palace. Many portmanteau words do not appear in all dictionaries. For example, a spork is an eating utensil, a combination of a spoon and a fork, a skort is an item of clothing, part skirt, part shorts. On the other hand, turducken, a dish made by inserting a chicken into a duck, the duck into a turkey, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2010; the word refudiate was first used by Sarah Palin when she misspoke, conflating the words refute and repudiate. Though a gaffe, the word was recognized as the New Oxford American Dictionary's "Word of the Year" in 2010; the business lexicon is replete with newly coined portmanteau words like "permalance", "advertainment", "advertorial", "infotainment", "infomercial".
A company name may be portmanteau as well as a product name. Two proper names can be used in creating a portmanteau word in r
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is a platform game published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch on October 27, 2017. An entry in the Super Mario series, it follows Mario and Cappy, a sentient hat that allows Mario to control other characters and objects, as they journey across various worlds to save Princess Peach from his nemesis Bowser, who plans to forcibly marry her. In contrast to the linear gameplay of prior entries, the game returns to the open-ended, exploration-based gameplay featured in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine; the game was developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development division, began development following the release of Super Mario 3D World in 2013. Various ideas were suggested during development, to incorporate them all, the team decided to employ a sandbox-style of gameplay. Unlike previous installments such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3D World, which were aimed at a casual audience, the team designed Super Mario Odyssey to appeal to the series' core fans.
The game features a vocal theme song, "Jump Up, Super Star!", a first for the series. Super Mario Odyssey received universal acclaim and has sold 13.76 million copies since release, making it the Switch's second bestselling game. Many critics called it one of the best games in the series, with particular praise directed toward its inventiveness and originality, it won numerous awards and accolades, including for game of the year. Super Mario Odyssey is a platform game in which players control Mario as he travels across many different worlds, known as "Kingdoms", on the Odyssey, a hat-shaped ship, to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, who plans to forcibly marry her; the Kingdoms in the game return to the exploration-based level design featured in Super Mario 64. Each Kingdom has Mario searching for and clearing various objectives in order to obtain items known as Power Moons, which can power up the Odyssey and grant access to new Kingdoms. Checkpoint flags littered throughout each Kingdom allow Mario to warp to them once activated.
Certain levels feature areas called "flat" zones, where Mario is placed in a 2D side-scrolling environment similar to his appearance in the original Super Mario Bros. In addition to his existing moves, like triple-jumping and wall-jumping, Mario can throw his cap, the physical form of a hat spirit named Cappy, in multiple directions to attack enemies and use as a temporary platform; when the cap is thrown at certain objects, enemies, or non-playable characters, Mario is able to take possession of them, referred to as "capturing", allowing him to use unique abilities. For example, Mario can possess a Bullet Bill to fly across large gaps, a bolt of electricity called a Spark Pylon to climb up electric wires, a tank called a Sherm to fire at enemies and break blocks for passage; some actions can be accelerated by using motion controls in the Joy-Con controllers, but the game is otherwise playable when the Joy-Con are attached to the Switch console. Throughout the game, Mario can pick up coins, including purple ones unique to each kingdom, to spend on items such as new hats and outfits, some of which are required for completing certain objectives.
The game uses a health system similar to the Super Mario Galaxy games, although Mario has unlimited lives. The player can collect items known as'Life-Up Hearts' which grant three extra hit points; the game features cooperative play, in which a second player takes control of Cappy and can attack enemies independently of Mario. The game requires a minimum number of Power Moons to be collected from each Kingdom to move onto the next, though these may be obtained from any source, making major objectives optional. Once Bowser is defeated, each kingdom is repopulated with more Power Moons. Collecting enough Power Moons allows for additional outfits to be purchased and unlocks two bonus areas. One of these areas is a boss rush called Dark Side, with 250 Power Moons required to enter; the other is a level called Darker Side that combines many elements of the game, requires 500 Power Moons to enter. In addition to this, there is a level based on Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64 unlocked by beating the game.
This level allows Mario to face harder versions of previously-defeated bosses and earn additional Power Moons by completing in-game achievements. The game features a photo mode that allows players to use a free-moving camera to take and save screenshots, with additional options such as filters and stickers. Use of the Odyssey-themed Mario and Bowser Amiibo figurines allow for special in-game abilities and unlocking special costumes which are otherwise unavailable until after the player completes the game and collects enough Power Moons. Other Amiibo can be scanned to provide hints to finding Power Moons. A hide-and-seek minigame called "Luigi's Balloon World" was released on February 21, 2018 as part of an update. In it, players have 30 seconds to hide a balloon somewhere in a kingdom, able to be played by others attempting to find it. A leaderboard system ranks the players. Bowser, with the aid of the Broodals, a family of anthropomorphic rabbits serving as his wedding planners, kidnaps Princess Peach from the Mushroom Kingdom and takes her aboard his airship, intent on forcibly marrying her.
Mario attempts to rescue her but is thrown off the ship by Bowser's top hat and falls into the neighboring Cap Kingdom. With Mario gone, Bowser begins his wedding to marry Peach. Bowser leaves Mario's cap shredding it to pieces. A piece of the hat is grabbed by Cappy. Mario meets Cappy, one of the Cap Kingdom's sentient hat-like creatures, learns that Bowser kidnapped Cappy's sister Ti
Cult following
A cult following comprises a group of fans who are dedicated to a work of culture referred to as a cult classic. A film, musical artist, television series or video game, among other things, is said to have a cult following when it has a small but passionate fanbase. A common component of cult followings is the emotional attachment the fans have to the object of the cult following identifying themselves and other fans as members of a community. Cult followings are commonly associated with niche markets. Cult media are associated with underground culture, are considered too eccentric or subversive to be appreciated by the general public or to be commercially successful. Many cult fans express a certain irony about their devotion. Sometimes, these cult followings cross the border to camp followings. Fans may become involved in a subculture of fandom, either via conventions, online communities or through activities such as writing series-related fiction, costume creation, replica prop and model building, or creating their own audio or video productions from the formats and characters.
There is not always a clear difference between mainstream media. Series such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Rocky Horror, Ethel & Ernest, The Dark Knight, Mean Girls attract mass audiences but have core groups of fanatical followers. Professors Xavier Mendik and Ernest Mathijs, authors of 100 Cult Films, argue that the devoted following among these films make them cult classics. In many cases, films that have cult followings may have been financial flops during their theatrical box office run, received mixed or negative reviews by mainstream media, but still be considered a major success by small core groups or communities of fans devoted to such films; some cults are only popular within a certain subculture. The film Woodstock is loved within the hippie subculture, while Hocus Pocus holds cult status among American women born in the 1980s. Certain mainstream icons can become cult icons in a different context for certain people. Reefer Madness was intended to warn youth against the use of marijuana, but because of its ridiculous plot, overwhelming amount of factual errors and cheap look, it is now watched by audiences of marijuana-smokers and has gained a cult following.
Quentin Tarantino's films borrow stylistically from classic cult films, but are appreciated by a large audience, therefore lie somewhere between cult and mainstream. Certain cult phenomena can grow to such proportions. Many cancelled television series see new life in a fan following. One notable example is Arrested Development, cancelled after three seasons and, because of the large fanbase, returned for a 15-episode season, released on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Futurama is another notable series, put on permanent hiatus after its initial 72-episode run. Strong DVD sales and consistent ratings on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block led to four direct-to-DVD films which, in turn, led to the revival of the series in 2010 on Comedy Central following Adult Swim's expiration of the broadcast rights. Space Ghost Coast to Coast had a cult following throughout its eleven season run on television, help pave the wave of other shows of similar style, which had cult followings Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Star Trek: The Original Series is notable in that it was cancelled after three seasons but gained a cult following through broadcast syndication and spawned a successful media franchise.
Another cancelled series that has attained cult status is the NBC teen dramedy Freaks and Geeks which had an 18-episode run. Another series, cancelled but gained a second life with cult status is the FOX teen medical dramedy Red Band Society which had a 13-episode run. Other examples include Firefly, Community, Joan of Arcadia, Twin Peaks, Veronica Mars, Pushing Daisies, Young Justice and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, which had short lives, yet achieved large fanbases. In a BBC review of Farscape episode "Throne for a Loss", Richard Manning said "Farscape is now a cult series because it's being shown out of sequence"; the episode in question was shown as the second episode, after the premiere. Series considered cult classics include the long-running BBC series Doctor Who, The Prisoner and the Australian soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H; some video games attract cult followings, which can influence the design of video games. An example of a cult video game is Ico, an initial commercial flop which gained a large following for its unique gameplay and minimalist aesthetics, was noted as influencing the design of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Rime, among other games.
Other games which have cult followings include EarthBound, a commercial flop that resulted in the creation of a "cottage industry" selling memorabilia to the EarthBound fandom, Yume Nikki, a surreal free-to-play Japanese horror game. Another game with a large cult following is Crash Twinsanity, considered by fans to be the best Crash Bandicoot game post-Naughty Dog era despite only average critic reviews. In particular, it is well known as the turning point in theming for the series. Sleeper hit Underground music Jancik, Wayn
