It's-a-me! Matthew!
And today on the Tuesday Timeline, I've got a subject that
has brought the fun and the games to the modern day world!
Of
course, that's your only clue. I don't
want to be a real Goomba and spoil the rest for you. Instead, let me take you on a small historical journey through
past September 13th. Shall we get
started?
1501 - Michelangelo begins work on his statue,
David
1541 - John Calvin returns to Geneva after being
exiled for three years to reform the church under Calvinism
1609 - Henry Hudson reaches the river that would
come to bear his name - the Hudson River
1743 - The Treaty of Worms is signed by Great
Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia
1759 - The Battle of the Plains of Abraham takes
place
1814 - Francis Scott Key composes the poem
"Defense of Fort McHenry" during a crucial battle in the War of 1812;
the poem would be the basis for the creation of "The Star-Spangled
Banner"
1848 - Phineas Gage survives having an iron rod
being driven through his brain - the incident prompts more studies in how the
brain works
1898 - Hannibal Goodwin patents celluloid
photographic film
1899 - Henry Bliss becomes the first person to
die in an automobile accident
1922 - The Great Fire of Smyrna begins - the
event would eventually lead to the conclusion of the Greco-Turkish War
1925 - Musician Mel Torme (d. 1999) is born in
Chicago, Illinois
1939 - Actor Richard Kiel (d. 2014) is born in
Detroit, Michigan
1948 - Margaret Chase Smith becomes the first
woman to serve in both the United States House of Representatives and the
United States Senate
1956 - The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced
1987 - In Golania, Brazil, a radioactive object
is stolen from an abandoned hospital which inevitably spreads sickness and
death to many people over the next few weeks
1988 - Hurricane Gilbert - which struck in the
Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico - is named the strongest hurricane in the
Western Hemisphere - at least until 2005 when Hurricane Wilma was recorded to
be even stronger
1989 - Desmond Tutu leads South Africa's largest
anti-Apartheid march
1996 - Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot and killed in
a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged just 25
1997 - Elton John's "Candle in the Wind
1997" is released worldwide
2001 - Aircraft services for American civilians
is restored following the 9/11 terrorist attacks
2008 - Hurricane Ike makes landfall in the Texas
Gulf Coast, causing massive damage
2013 - The United States consulate in Afghanistan
is attacked by Taliban insurgents leaving two dead, and twenty injured
And
for celebrity birthdays, we have the following turning one year older today; Barbara Bain, Robert Bedard, Eileen Fulton, Don Bluth, David Clayton-Thomas, Jacqueline Bisset, Peter Cetera, Noel Godin, Frank Marshall, Anne Devlin, Jean Smart, Randy Jones, Don Was, Anne Geddes, Kim Genelle, Geri Jewell, Bobby Davro, Tavis Smiley, Annie Duke, Jeff Ross, Zak Starkey, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Roger Howarth, Tyler Perry, Louise Lombard, Stella McCartney, Joe Don Rooney, Fiona Apple, Swizz Beatz, Ben Savage, James Bourne, Niall Horan, and Robbie Kay.
Okay,
so what's the date that we will be warping back to this time around?
Why, September 13, 1985!
Yes, I think that's a fine date to Lakitu...erm...I mean, look back to.
After
all...it was the date in which one of my all time favourite video games was
released. And in the 31 years since
that day, that one little video game has spawned a franchise that includes no
more than two hundred different games overall!
Not bad for a little plumber from Brooklyn, huh?
Okay, have I given you enough clues yet? Have you solved the riddle?
Okay, have I given you enough clues yet? Have you solved the riddle?
It's a him! Mario! And on September 13, 1985, Super Mario Brothers was first released in Japan!
Before
I go any further with why I love this game so much, as well as some of the
tricks and gimmicks the game has (which most of you probably already know), I
think we should look at how the game was created.
Even
though Super Mario Brothers was released in 1985, the character of Mario is a
little bit older than that. He made his
first appearance in a Nintendo game in the year 1981. Only back in those days, he was known as Jumpman trying to save
his girlfriend from Donkey Kong.
Two
years later, he appeared in the video game Mario Bros, along with his brother
Luigi, where the goal of the game was to go through the maze of New York City
sewers and take care of the nasty creatures that live down there by jumping
underneath them, kicking them, and smashing gigantic POW blocks to take care of
several of them at once.
As for
how that transitioned into Super Mario Brothers? Well, that came about as a result of the two men who created the
game - Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.
Because in Japan, the Famicon system (which we come to know as the
Nintendo Entertainment System) was outdated and the following system in Japan -
the Famicon Disk System - was set to be released in early 1986, the team
decided to create Super Mario Brothers as a way to say goodbye to the Famicom.
(Of course here in North America, we never received the Disk System. The Nintendo Entertainment System remained supreme until 1991 when the Super Nintendo first hit stores.)
(Of course here in North America, we never received the Disk System. The Nintendo Entertainment System remained supreme until 1991 when the Super Nintendo first hit stores.)
There
was also a growing demand for platforming games around that time, and the
electronic games industry was just beginning to bounce back again after the
Video Game Crash of 1983 - an event that nearly toppled the computer gaming
industry. And Super Mario Brothers was
quite revolutionary at the time as it was one of the few video games that
employed side-scrolling technology. Whereas
most video games prior to 1985 were fixed screen games, Super Mario Brothers
allowed you to go through thirty-two levels of what seemed like a gigantic
electronic world.
And
as we all know, that world became The Mushroom Kingdom.
Now,
everybody knows what the goal of Super Mario Brothers is. You as Mario (or Luigi if you're playing in
two player mode) have to speed through the eight worlds in the game to try and
rescue Princess Toadstool from Bowser's evil clutches. Of course, Bowser has an army of troops that
will stop you from getting there from mushroom shaped Goombas, to Koopa Troopas
and Paratroopas, to Lakitus throwing spiny shells to Buzzy Beetles that JUST.
WON'T. DIE.
Fortunately,
there are power-ups scattered throughout each level. Mushrooms will make Mario grow twice his size. Fire flowers will cause Mario to shoot
fireballs at anything that dare crosses his path. And Starmen will grant Mario invincibility for at least twenty
seconds, which can really aid Mario in getting through some of the toughest
areas.
(Well,
all except the underwater stages of 2-2 and 7-2...there are NO power-ups in
either level.)
There
are other notable worlds to be mentioned as well. World 1-1 acts as a tutorial level, where you learn the basic
mechanics of the game. Worlds 1-2 and
4-2 are underground levels, where you can find the Warp Zones that will allow
you to skip the world you are currently in and play on. And on the fourth level of each world is a
castle filled with fire traps, Podoboos, and the occasional lava pit, where you
have to defeat Bowser at the end - and where you want to punch Toad in the face
for his "our princess is in another castle" speech that he says at
seven of the eight castles.
Now
for some tips and tricks - which granted, most of you probably know
already...but what the heck, I'm going to post them anyway.
1. 1-UP Mushrooms are extremely hard to find in
this game. Most of them are found in
hidden blocks. There's actually one in
World 1-1.
2. Or if you wait until 3-1 where there are two
Koopa Troopas walking down the stairs, you could get infinite lives that
way. You just have to stomp on them and
kick them a certain way...
3. There is a Minus World that one can access
if they find a way to bypass the Warp Zone in World 1-2...but it's really not
worth it because once you get in the Minus World, you can NEVER LEAVE...
4. Every one hundred coins Mario collects, he
receives one extra life. This is a
mechanic that still continues to this day.
5. At the end of every non-castle level is a
flagpole. The higher you land on the
flagpole, the more points you earn up to a maximum of 5,000.
6. If you want to see a fireworks show at the
end of a level, you have to hit the flagpole at the very moment your timer ends
in 1, 3, or 6.
7. There is more than one way to kill
Bowser. The obvious way is to leap over
or run under him to grab the ax that chops the bridge down...but if you have
fire power, just shoot him with a bunch of fireballs.
8. Are you tired of getting attacked by
Bloopers (those squids in the underwater levels)? To avoid them, don't bother swimming! Just run along the floor and they cannot touch you! Just don't forget about the Cheep Cheeps
(the green fish).
All
in all, it was the video game that turned the video game industry around. And until Wii Sports was released in 2006,
the game held the record for the video game that sold the most copies - with
well over 40 million sold. Of course,
part of the reason could be Nintendo's decision to market their game consoles
with a copy of Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt.
At
any rate, this is a game that is so beloved by so many people, including
myself. I still remember the theme
song, the fun I had playing the game (well, at least until level 8-2, which at
the time I found IMPOSSIBLE), and the amount of time and money it took me to
save up for it. I was nine when I first
got my Nintendo, and it took seven months of birthday gifts, allowances, and
tooth fairy money to save up for it.
All this time later...I still think it was worth every penny.
All this time later...I still think it was worth every penny.
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