The 'Shroom:Issue 211/Palette Swap
Director's Notes
Welcome back, spooky spirits and cozy creatures! It’s the October issue of The ‘Shroom!
This month is a special issue to celebrate Hypnotoad (talk)’s 100th issue as Critic Corner Director! Congratulations, Anton, and welcome to the 100 club! Writing for Critic Corner all these years has been a lot of fun and your signature snark and love of snacks has made this place feel like the coolest hangout. I’m happy to have had you as our team director and I’m looking forward to seeing what you have planned for the future!
Anyone see Alarmo? “Nintendo Alarm Clock” was not on my 2024 bingo card, but I have to say, it looks cute. I wouldn’t say $100 cute, but still. As someone who is still using the clock radio she received for Christmas when she was still a single-digit age, I wouldn’t have a ton of use for it, but I still think it’s a neat little idea. I’m not sure about having an alarm clock that’s connected to the internet, but if they don’t use the Breath of the Wild Guardian attack theme to give you a panic attack to get you out of bed, they’re missing the point. Speaking of physical products, they’ve really been laying on the marketing for Mario Party Jamboree, haven’t they? Multiple pre-order items for you to choose from, is this 2008 again? To be fair, I still have my Princess Peach Showtime cup, and it’s honestly one of the better bonus items I’ve picked up over the years. If you miss out on getting the special edition (r.i.p. the XC3 special edition), at least you can get a freebie if you keep your eyes out. I hope all of you who are looking forward to the Jamboree won’t be disappointed when the game finally comes out.
This month, we are once again sticking to comics. Sports Report: The Movie will be moving to a bi-monthly schedule, so you’ll be seeing it less often, but ClawgripFan has a lot more in store for everyone. I won’t hold you back any longer, so proceed on to check out everything we have in store for you this month! ~FunkyK38
Section of the Month
It's time once again for Section of the month! Once more in the top spot, we have winstein (talk)'s The ? Panel! Following up we have our two guest sections from last month, with Waluigi Time (talk)'s TV Tomorrow Tribute art in the second place spot, celebrating 100 issues of our Fake News TV Guide, and then Shoey (talk) with another volunteer Random Image of the Month. Thank you to everyone who voted, we really appreciate it!
| PALETTE SWAP SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | The ? Panel | 23 | 57.50 | winstein (talk) |
| 2nd | TV Tomorrow Tribute | 12 | 30.00% | Waluigi Time (talk) |
| 3rd | Random Image of the Month | 3 | 7.50% | Shoey (talk) |
Random Image of the Month
Hello and welcome to Random Image of the Month, a very voluntary section that takes a look at various images from the Mario series, except for last month! Last month we looked at the box art from my favorite Putt-Putt game, Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon. This month, we return to the world of Mario by taking a look at an image from my favorite 2D Mario platformer, Super Mario Bros. 3.
For starters, what a weird thing to give official art. The Hand Trap from the Dark Land, the thing you see all of like three times and might not see at all? That's what gets official art? The Hand Traps were a weird thing in general. You step on a space, a hand pops out to drag you to the hell dimension, and then at the end there's a Super Leaf. It's probably the strangest concept for a Mario level and I'm not surprised it never came back. Anyways, back to our subject, this is just a really weird thing to see getting official art. There's only five total in the last world, and you're not even guaranteed to see them! It would be like if the Warp Cannons from New Super Mario Bros. got their own artwork. Like, why of everything in Super Mario Bros. 3 are the Hand Traps being featured???
As for the the image itself, I like it a lot! I miss the days when Mario could show weakness, back when he was a young up-and-coming hero. Now he's so grizzled and experienced that nothing fazes him and a lot of his artwork is very generic, colorful, and bubbly Mario (you know what I'm talking about). Could you imagine New Super Mario Bros. U Mario showing this kind of personality in his artwork? No, you can't, because Mario is so experienced he just reacts with that standard happy-go-lucky "wahoo!" attitude of his. Seriously, the contrast between early Mario artwork and later Mario artwork is staggering, especially in the Wii U era where it really was just generic Mario images for all the official artwork. But here? Mario's allowed to react to a fucked-up situation. I mean, for god's sake, a giant hand has emerged from out of the ground to take him to a hell dimension! It's probably even that stupid mean one full of infinite fish (you know the one). He's rightly terrified by the situation! I love how he's Raccoon Mario, 'cause you gotta always be plugging the new hot power-up. And I love how it looks like he's flapping his arms to try to get away, which he should be doing! He doesn't know where this hand is taking him! For all he knows, the hand is going to drag him into a lava lake! How would he know it's just a weird, kind of short level with a free Super Leaf at the end of it?! It's a great image that really shows the charm and humor of early Mario artwork and which makes me wish we could get back to silly art like this.
Waluigi Time Comic
Drawn by: Waluigi Time (talk)
"Half-Baked Advertising" - Waluigi Time Comic
Panel 1
[Kameron the Magikoopa is sitting in a chair wearing robes that resemble Anton's and looking at himself with a hand mirror. Waluigi Time is standing behind him holding a matching hat and wig.]
KAMERON: And why am I dressing up as Anton again?
WALUIGI TIME: So you can play him in our Inverse Pretzels commercial
Panel 2
[Waluigi Time puts the hat and wig on Kameron's head.]
KAMERON: Why isn't he doing it?
WALUIGI TIME: Because he has actual standards and these are terrible, but I have to clean out some space in the warehouse
Panel 3
[Waluigi Time holds a ball of salt with pretzel chunks in it with a grumpy expression.]
WALUIGI TIME: Turns out there's a reason pretzels are mostly pretzel and not mostly salt. Probably a week's worth of sodium in these things
Panel 4
[Kameron looks nervous while Waluigi Time nonchalantly shrugs. Anton's silhouette can be seen in the background.]
KAMERON: Won't he be mad that you're using his likeness for advertising?
WALUIGI TIME: Ehh, he probably won't find out
Panel 5
[A disgruntled Anton scolds Waluigi Time with a frustrated scribble above his head. Kameron nervously wrings his hands.]
ANTON: Identity theft isn't cool, Waluigi Time
The ? Panel
{Mario, Peach, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong are in separate spaces, Mario on a green Koopa Bank space, Peach on a red space, while Yoshi and Donkey Kong are on blue spaces;this indicating that it will be a 1 vs. 3 minigame}
Mario: The turn ends! What shall we play this turn?
Panel 2
{A Bomber Bill flies past the sky and leaves a trail of white smoke. Everyone looks in the sky with a serious expression}
Panel 3
{The white smoke settles, revealing the next minigame: "Look Away"}
Mario: Looks good! Well then, let's a go!
Yoshi: {Excitedly} Weep woop
Peach: Ooh...
{Peach is disappointed to be the one player in the 1 vs 3 minigame}
Panel 4
Caption: Later...
{The scene cuts to the Look Away minigame background, where the characters' heads are floating in their respective spots: Peach's head at the top of the rainbow, while Mario, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong's heads are at the bottom of the rainbow. They are not in their cowboy clothing during this part}
Panel 5
Caption: Meanwhile...
{On the board proper, the bodies of the characters are lifeless without their heads on their bodies. Koopa Troopa looks at the headless characters with a gaping mouth, indicating dumbfoundedness}
Caption: After the minigame...
{Coin bags are placed next to Mario's, Yoshi's, and Donkey Kong's bodies, indicating they won the match}
{However, the heads are at the wrong bodies: Yoshi's head is attached to Mario's body, Peach's head is attached to Yoshi's body, Donkey Kong's head is attached to Peach's body, and Mario's head is attached on Donkey Kong's body.}
{Yoshi is surprised at the sight, Peach is frustrated from losing the minigame, Donkey Kong holds Peach's dress and looks at the thin body in disappointment, and Mario is admiring Donkey Kong's tie}
{Koopa Troopa collapses out of witnessing the absurdity}
Toad: Sorry folks, we'll sort this out shortly...
| The 'Shroom: Issue 211 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | The 'Shroom Staff-Baked Reviews |
