Princess Peach Evolution

Super Mario Bros., Video Games 5 Responses »
Feb 262010

I’ve been a fan of the Super Mario Bros. franchise for a long time. So I put together a character evolution post on one of the top damsels of the video game world.

1985: Princess Toadstool started out in the original Super Mario Bros. NES game as the damsel in distress Mario and Luigi head out to rescue from King Koopa. Although her look at the time was pretty shoddy as an 8-bit character, it was still exciting to see her in the game. Considering that you had to get through eight different castles to find her.

On a side note, 8-bit characters can be a little misleading. Would you believe I used to think that the Goombas were angry bird heads with feet?

1988: When the Super Mario Bros. 2 NES game came along, there was the option to play as the Princess. I find that as useful as it is interesting. The Princess may have been the slowest runner and the slowest at picking up items, but she could float in the air for long distances with her jumping skill. I wonder if it has something to do with that dress.

1989: In Super Mario Land for Game Boy, Mario rescues the Princess from an alien named Tatanga. It’s revealed that her first name is Daisy, but is it really the same princess? It only took four castles to find this one.

1989: Later that year, Princess Toadstool’s look really started to change when The Super Mario Bros. Super Show premiered. As she travels with Mario, Luigi, and Toad, it’s revealed that she’s not spoiled. (Thank goodness.) The Princess is a fighter and good ruler. She just can’t help getting kidnapped by King Koopa so frequently.

1990: Next up in the Super Mario Bros. 3 NES game, Princess Toadstool provides special items for the Mario Bros. after defeating a Koopaling like magic P-wings and happy faced clouds that let you skip levels. Unfortunately, after getting through World 7, King Koopa kidnaps the Princess again. At least we know where to find her this time.

1991: Then we have Super Mario World for the Super NES. King Koopa kidnaps the Princess yet again. This time it’s in a clown copter. I admit, she sure looks good when she peeks out and screams for help.

1992: At around this time, “Nintendo Power” magazine started having comics based on Nintendo characters in Manga style animation. One of my favorites was Super Mario Adventures. Throughout this story, the Princess can be pretty fierce when she’s angry. Was King Koopa trying to turn her people into statues again?

1993: When Super Mario All Stars was released for the Super NES, Princess Toadstool had a more graphic look as both a heroine and a damsel.

1993: Samantha Mathis plays the Princess in the Super Mario Bros. movie and is one of several damsels in distress. Her name is Daisy, so maybe the princess in Super Mario Land is the same girl.

1996: After Mario saves the Princess and her kingdom in Super Mario 64, Princess Toadstool decides to prepare a cake for him as a reward. That’s nice. It sure beats a second quest.

1999: I stand corrected on the Princess’s name. On Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for Game Boy Color, Princess Toadstool’s first name is now revealed as Peach. In a perfected version of the original Super Mario Bros. game, along with some newer challenges and extra courses, Princess Peach awards Mario and Luigi with medals for completing their quests. Come on now, Peach. Is this supposed to be a competition based on a nostalgic rescue mission, or something?

 

2006:  When Super Princess Peach came out for the Nintendo DS, things got turned around. Peach has to rescue Mario from King Koopa. On this quest, she’s armed with a talking parasol and vibe power. I never realized how emotional Peach could really get.

2006: Not to worry. Princess Peach goes back to her damsel roots in New Super Mario Bros. DS as Bowser Jr. quickly drags her from tower to castle to tower and so on. I wonder how she manages to keep her dress clean through all that fast dragging.

2007: It wasn’t until the Mario Party games, like Mario Party DS, when we find out that there are two princesses in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach and Daisy. The difference between them is that Peach is noble and graceful while Daisy is spunky and sassy. I’ll tell ya. Daisy would’ve made a great character on the Super Mario Bros. cartoons as well. Frankly, so would Wario and Waluigi, but that’s beside the point.

2008: Here’s where things really get interesting. On Mario Kart Wii not only is there an option to be either princess, but also either baby princess. They’re both adorable and wild in those vehicles. I wonder if that’s what they were like during their childhood.

2009: Last, but definitely not least, we have New Super Mario Bros. Wii when Princess Peach gets kidnapped by all eight Koopalings and the Mario Bros. chase them while she sits helpless in the airship before getting dragged into King Koopa’s castle. Fighting Bowser is easy. The hard part is dodging those waves of lava as you cross the platforms to where Peach is.

Whether a damsel in distress or a fierce fighter like on Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii, Princess Peach has come a long way as a fan favorite. King Koopa must really have a thing for Peach if he keeps kidnapping her all the time. I can only think of three possible reasons for it. He either wants something from Peach, use her as bait to get to the heroes, or just personal pleasure. It’s hard to say what King Koopa’s motivation really is. There were times when Bowser wanted to marry Peach. Ewe! Apparently, Bowser also wants her kingdom. But he ain’t getting it as long as Mario and Luigi are around.

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Street Fighter 2 Animated Movie

Anime, Video Game Adaptations, Vinnie's Personal Favorites No Responses »
Feb 242010

This isn’t really a sequel to the Street Fighter movie, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is an Anime feature with all 16 characters from the video game as well as all of the projectiles. Some of these characters are only shown briefly, but they’re all recognizable in their signature outfits.

In this film, Bison uses computer cyborgs to track down the greatest fighters from all over the world so he can brainwash them into his own personal soldiers. His biggest target is Ryu, because he’s the only fighter who was able to defeat Sagat the champion Maui Thai fighter. Since Ken trained in the same dojo with Ryu, he’s become a major target for Bison as well. Ken claims that Ryu was the only fighter who has ever been able to defeat him in combat. It’s like Ken is just right there near the top as the best fighter in the world.  Ryu is Ken’s friend and lives as a drifter, so I don’t see why Ken should feel so insecure. Ryu and Ken’s sensei is never shown. He’s only featured as a voice in a mini dojo during the flashback scenes. I don’t understand, it’s not exactly Charlie’s Angels here. Meanwhile, both Guile and Chun-Li want revenge on Bison. Chun-Li tries to tell Guile that duty comes first. On Street Fighter, it’s the other way around. Isn’t that odd?

There were some interesting bouts in this film like Ryu vs. Fei Long, Ken vs. T. Hawk, Zangief vs. Blanka, E. Honda vs. Dhalsim, and Chun-Li vs. Vega. They all use their special moves the same way as in the video game, which makes it relate more to the game itself.

The cyborgs collect a lot of statistics on each fighter they see. I recognize some of it, only because some of the personal information on each character is featured on the video game, including their blood types. You’d probably have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the rest of it.

Personally, I found the Zangief vs. Blanka match very interesting. Zangief uses the spinning pile driver on Blanka, it’s a good move on the video game. If it didn’t require a 360 on the control pad, which is always very hard to do. As for Blanka, he is fearsome. When he bites Zangief on the shoulder, he tries to pull Blanka off by his hair. Big mistake. As Ace Ventura would say, “Nobody messes with the do!” Afterwards, Vega was quite the peeping tom when he broke into Chun-Li’s apartment while she was in her nightgown. Chun-Li was brave against such a tough advisary. Let’s just say that she kicked Vega out. Boy, did she kick him out.

I admit that I’m not hugely into Anime, but because this movie is based on the Street Fighter 2 game, it’s a must-see for Street Fighter fans. To be honest, most Anime features don’t make much sense. But that’s not gonna stop us from enjoying them, right?

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Blondie Concert

Celebrities No Responses »
Feb 222010

      

Just last Saturday evening at Mardi Gras in “Universal Studios” in Orlando, Blondie performed live in concert. Deborah Harry sang many of her biggest hits, including ones I’ve never heard before. She also sang a couple of cover songs like Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.     

Like many stars of the 70s and early 80s, I first heard about Blondie lead singer Deborah Harry from her appearance on The Muppet Show, where she performed two of her hit songs, “One Way or Another” and “Call Me”. She also sang “The Rainbow Connection” with Kermit.      

Then the album The Best of Blondie not only had those two hit songs, but other good ones like “Heart of Glass” and “Hanging on the Telephone”.      

In addition to being a rock star, Deborah Harry has also been in several films. The one I remember best was Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, where she played a witch preparing to cook a paperboy for dinner. It was clever how the boy was trying to stall the witch by telling her some tales of horror.      

According to the Internet Movie Database, Deborah Harry has more soundtrack credits than anything else. Some of which are uncredited. And I thought Smash Mouth had a lot with that song “All Star”. It also mentioned that Blondie broke up in 1982, then reunited in 1998. That’s a long time. During that duration, Deborah Harry had five solo albums and acted in several movies and TV shows.      

    

Since Blondie’s last gig was in Las Vegas, Deborah Harry mentioned that last time they performed in front of a bunch of gamblers. This time it’s for riders and whiplash victims. She was really nice. Here’s something interesting; Though many performers have water bottles during their acts, she uses coffee mugs.      

Is that a straight jacket she's wearing?

  

 Deborah Harry also mentioned that Blondie has new songs in the works. They were recording a new album, but none of those songs were performed at the concert. I wasn’t disappointed though because I still enjoy the classics.      

      

I had a terrific time at that concert and Deborah Harry still looks great after all these years. I’m not sure when Blondie’s next album will be released, but it would be interesting to find out what kind of new material they’ve come up with.

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Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Part 2 of 2

Celebrities No Responses »
Feb 202010

Welcome back. I first met Dana Snyder, who is the voice of Master Shake, at Spooky Empire 2008. “Why Spooky Empire,” you ask? There was gonna be a showing of a short horror feature with Master Shake, but it got cancelled. Anyway, Dana Snyder was a funny guy. On his autograph photo he wrote, “Always remember… Meatwad stinks!” But I liked Meatwad. So he made up for it with a different one. “Always remember… Meatwad’s the greatest thing in the universe and I’d never say he stinks in a thousand years.” Dana even drew lips on Meatwad saying, “I love you. You’re delicious.”

Later, Dana Snyder had a Q&A session with a presentation about what’s on his iPod. It had music like “Miss Piggy’s Aerobics”, “Polka Disco”, an Orson Wells ad or frozen peas, and other unusual material from old records he had. I felt so at home because it reminds me of my taste in music. One question I do remember being asked was, “What flavor is Master Shake?” All Dana said was, “You don’t want to know.” That was one of the best Q&As I’ve been to.

The second time I met Dana Snyder was at Spooky Empire 2009 with another iPod presentation after a Q&A panel with two other voice actors. The selection was even bigger than before. There were two songs about bowling, one square version and one awesome version. Which would you prefer? Then there was Leona Anderson, who is an awful singer, performs music from the opera “Carmen”. It’s so bad it’s hilarious. After that came Shooby Taylor singing scat. It sounds silly because you can’t understand a word of it. And just when you think he’s done, he keeps going. Next up was Bill Cosby singing “Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. I thought that was performed very well. Last, but not least, was Sam Sam the drummer man, a very famous jazz drummer, performing an imaginary trip around the world on the SS Rhythm. He jumps from place to place pretty fast with his drum playing. Believe it or not, it’s on a children’s album. Even Dana Snyder wondered why any child would want to listen to this.

As you can see, I made a point to wear the same shirt here as I did at that other convention. I didn’t get a chance to tell him that it came from “Kohl’s” department store, though.

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Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Part 1 of 2

Vinnie's Personal Favorites No Responses »
Feb 192010

Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Vols. 1-6 is an “Adult Swim” series I came to enjoy. Next to Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Robot Chicken. Dr. Weird, a mad scientist who wears no pants, created three mutated food creatures known as Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad.

Now they live together in a rundown neighborhood as a team of detectives called the Aqua Teens. Sometimes they go after the deadly creations of Dr. Weird. Other times they have misadventures at home. Like when they’re visited by different kinds of aliens. The most common ones include the Mooninites, who look like characters from an Atari game, and MC Pee-Pants, who uses his music to control people. Meatwad is always the first to know when he’s around.

The Aqua Teens’ next door neighbor is Carl. They sometimes like to take advantage of him for his swimming pool. Carl is funny when he gets mad, I’ll tell ya.

What was truly exciting was when I got to meet some of the voice actors from this hilarious show.

At the convention in Atlanta, where I met Samantha Newark, one of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cast members I met was Carey Means, who was the voice of Frylock. He was a funny guy, even though Frylock is the straight man and father figure of the trio. He liked my shirt, but was very surprised to find out that it came from “Kohl’s” Department store. C. Martin Croker, the voice of Dr. Weird, was there also.

Carey Means was also part of a Q&A panel with several other “Adult Swim” cast members. It wasn’t the greatest Q&A, but very memorable. For starters, it turns out that at least half of the dialogue of each episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force is adlibbed. Normally you’d think that wouldn’t be permitted for a cartoon, but the animation used makes it easy to cover up.

Venture Bros.was another huge topic of conversation. With the uncensored DVD box sets, they spent like ten minutes talking about animated penises. I didn’t really care for that. Carey Means couldn’t take it, so he left the room for a minute. All that penis talk had to make him use the restroom. The panel continued… with the same topic. Carey comes back and says, “You guys are still talking about that?” I’ll tell ya. That panel was so into that conversation, they hardly got any questions in. Whoa, dude.

These “Adult Swim” people are a fun group. And this series is great too. I also met Dana Snyder, the voice of Master Shake at a couple of different conventions. Check my blog for part 2 to find out more.

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