The 'Shroom:Issue 169/Strategy Wing
Director Notes
Written by: Hooded Pitohui (talk)
Hello, readers of The 'Shroom, and welcome to the April edition of Strategy Wing! It's warming up, and that's awful, but there are more birds around, so I suppose that makes up for it. You aren't here to read my thoughts on the weather, though, so let me jump into the news around here.
This month, we bid farewell to Zelen as she covers the final two characters in Kingdom Battle Ramble. It's been a delight to have the section here in Strategy Wing, and perhaps one day she'll be back again armed with a sequel or she'll come back with a new section. For now, though, be sure to give her finale a read and give her a shout if you've enjoyed the section. Also in the news, there is no So You Want to Conquer Japan this month. Apparently, Shoey went to inspect his rice fields but ended up in a pasture full of sheep and started trying to plant rice there... or something to that effect. Either way, it's not over, so look forward to more conquest in the future.
In the meantime, we still have our usual assortment of great sections for you, so, please, go on and give them a read!
As always, if you have any topic you'd like to write in detail about, take a look at our Sign-up page! We'd be happy to have you join us as a member of the Strategy Wing Team! Whether you want to follow Parallax's example and provide a guide on a topic you know well or you would like to make your own version of Mach Speed Mayhem or Kingdom Battle Ramble to teach us everything about some obscure interest you have, we can find a place for you.
Section of the Month
The conqueror of Japan conquers March's votes! Shoey's (talk) campaign against to take over Japan started in earnest last month, and, that, along with the analysis of Yoshi, Rabbid Yoshi, and Spawny provided by ZelenPixel (talk). Thank you all for voting, and please keep casting your votes to support our writers!
| STRATEGY WING SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | So You Want to Conquer Japan? | 7 | 28.00% | Chester Alan Arthur |
| 2nd | Kingdom Battle Ramble | 6 | 24.00% | ZelenPixel |
| 3rd | Mach Speed Mayhem | 5 | 20.00% | Superchao |
| 3rd | Racing Like the Staff | 5 | 20.00% | Yoshi876 |
Kingdom Battle Ramble
Written by: ZelenPixel (talk)
It's ya girl once again! ..So they're finally here, performing for you!!! If you know the words, you can join in too!!! Put your hands together if you want to clap, as we take you through this monkey.. I can't come up with a rhyme! Who are the they're? Why, they are the three playable characters in the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC! One of them has been reviewed in my first issue, obviously, so today we're focusing on Donkey Kong and Rabbid Cranky!
First, here are some general thoughts on the campaign. It's pretty good in terms of gameplay and cutscenes and humor! The campaign only has three playable characters total to use, and that means they could have a larger focus on character interaction within cutscenes! It even shows in the victory animations, which get individual animations with the whole trio instead of each character doing their own thing, if that makes sense. The new stuff introduced in battles is really cool as well, with gimmicks never seen in the base game! Except for Smugglers. Those are not cool at all, sorry. But we have a few more hazards, toying more with the Super Effects, entirely new conditions for winning battles, entirely new enemy types as well.. It's just pretty cool! It's exciting to think about just what they could include in a sequel, judging by what's done here!
Now, in terms of actual Donkey Kong series rep, I'm not sure it fares as well... To spare you the rambling, it's mostly DKC1 stuff, with a few DK64 references due to Grant Kirkhope working on both, and a few others. Some things here also remind me of Tropical Freeze, in particular the concept of Puzzle Pieces (with the same SFX, even!) and... the playable characters are kinda similar?
Wow that was a lot of words! In short, the campaign has fun gameplay and cutscenes, but not much in the way of DK fanservice. It's good overall, even if a little short! If you've played and enjoyed the base game, I can definitely recommend it!
Donkey Kong
He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well! He's finally back to kick some tail!!! I'll stop with the DK Rap, probably, sorry. DK acts like usual, and from the voice clips, you can tell he's just enjoying his time. He just shows up at the start of the campaign to scare off some Ziggies and save Rabbid Peach, for whatever reason, and the team quickly joins together after that. Donkey doesn't really seem to interact with the other two much, besides, like, one specific moment for each of them I can recall, and also trying to punch Rabbid Kong for being a big 'ol meanie. There's probably more of what he does than I'm making it seem, but I'm going off of memory, to be honest!
Battle
| Health Points:* | 280-350 |
|---|---|
| Area of Movement: | 6-8 Cells |
| Pipe Exit Range: | 3-4 Cells |
| Dandelion Dismount Range: | 3-5 Cells |
| Throw Range: | 6-8 cells |
| Enemy Throw Damage: | 20-70 DMG |
| Primary weapon: | Bwananarang |
| Secondary weapon: | DK Ground Pound |
| Hairy Eye: | 100%-150% DMG Cooldown 3-2 Turns |
| Magnet Groove: | 6-8 Cells Cooldown 4-2 Turns |
| *Maximum HP doesn't account for global health upgrades throughout the game | |
The in-game description states: "He's the Ziggy crushin', high jumpin', cover point luggin', king of the ground-pondin' apes who never backs down when his friends (or his banana supply) are endangered." Donkey Kong is the most mechanically complex character in the game with a lot of really unique traits! Overall, I'd say he's particularly good for offense and movement.
A note about the stats for these two is that some of the maxed-out stats, namely damage, will just consistently feel lower on the Donkey Kong Adventure characters, than on the base game ones. It's not a noticeable thing in the actual campaign - it's just that it has tinier numbers overall! Including the stuff required for Skill Trees, by the way, so that's neat! DK has a rather unique stats table over here due to some of his unique traits, but generally, his HP and movement range is pretty average overall (with the worst pipe exit range, tied with Mario and Peach), but in practice, his movement is actually really good!!
Donkey Kong just.. doesn't get any kind of Dash or Team Jump. Instead he can pick up allies, enemies and also cover, and throw them, which has a lot of uses! He can grab one person or thing at a time with the movement options, and carry them around until the point he actually stops, where he can throw them at a certain cell around him, and I believe an enemy will end up landing slightly farther away from where they've been thrown, including off the battlefield entirely. On allies, being thrown essentially acts as a free Team Jump (with the associated abilities for Rabbid Cranky), and plus enemies and cover can be thrown at other enemies or cover for some damage! Additionally, throwing enemies will sometimes activate his Hairy Eye technique, for yet even more damage! This one move is incredibly versatile, and contributes a lot to DK's uniqueness!
He actually has a few other entirely unique movement options. He can easily climb up walls as if it were any normal part of the terrain, whereas other characters would have to Team Jump or be thrown up there, and, also, the battlefields in this campaign have another unique feature. The edges of some walls have those blue DK panels, which can be used by DK himself only, and they launch him a considerable distance towards the opposing panel. Well, really, he just swings on a bunch of dandelions that appear, which is all the skill tree refers to. So he can cover a lot of ground with just these alone! Not to say there's no limits, though. If the walls and panels are set up in a particularly inconvenient way, he may struggle getting anywhere your other team members can get to easily via Team Jumps. From experience, though, I don't think that's frequent, so you probably should be free to zip all over the place!
Donkey Kong's primary weapon is the Bwananarang. Fittingly, this weapon is also really unique in function! It deals pretty average damage as-is, but the most unique trait is that it automatically homes in on multiple enemies, and has a certain trajectory, if that makes sense. You'll need to select a certain enemy to attack which will maximize the amount of enemies the banana will hit. Really cool! The secondary weapon (technically - DK uses his bare hands here) is the DK Ground Pound, not to be confused with Yoshi's Team Jump ground pound. This is the classic move of DK slapping the ground repeatedly, seen in many other games, and in here it's a devastating attack! It's sort of like Melee weapons, but with slightly more range, and the shockwave is centered all around DK instead of around the one enemy you select. The Ground Pound's maximum AOE is 4 cells, which is more than Melee's 3! It even has a pretty good chance of critting, and thus, dealing a Super Effect! And, considering one of DK's techniques is just Magnet Dance But Awesome, this is just a really really good attack to use.
The primary weapon alternates between Bounce, which bounces the enemy, potentially off the battlefield, and Burn, which will cause them to frantically run around and inflict Burn on anyone else they touch. The secondary weapon only has Bounce, however. I believe that makes it the only weapon that doesn't have two or more Special Effects to choose from, curiously enough!
Donkey Kong's first Technique is Hairy Eye. Are you tired of those line-of-sight techniques yet? This one can only be used once, but it deals up to 150% of the weapon's damage (which is tied for the best percentage alongside Yoshi's Egg Beater), and it still uses the Bwananarang's homing properties! The second Technique is Magnet Groove, which is the aforementioned Magnet Dance But Awesome. You know Magnet Dance from Rabbid Mario's moveset? He also has a melee secondary weapon, taking advantage of both! Both of these Techniques attract the enemies within range towards the user, but what makes DK's Magnet Groove more awesome is the fact that it can be upgraded to consistently attract all the enemies within range right next to DK, instead of just closer to an extent, which is really good! The maximum range of effectiveness is actually a cell shorter than Rabbid Mario's, and it doesn't recharge as quick either, but the fact that you can get everyone right next to you and use the Ground Pound to obliterate them (or, maybe, grab and throw some people or whatever else) is good enough to compensate!! Donkey here has a really strong moveset, overall, and it's really cool!
Rabbid Cranky
Ok, honestly, as annoying as the usage of this word may be to some, the best way to describe him is that he's a boomer. From his interaction with Rabbid Peach, you can tell this guy has had enough of her selfies and phone obsession, outright just mocking it at some point! He definitely thinks something along the lines of "phones are evil and they brainwash everyone to play the pokemans!!! And also they're Cell Phones because people are the prisoners of their phones, or something!" Anyway, Rabbid Cranky has no particularly interesting introduction. He literally just slowly walks on screen before the first battle and makes everyone fall asleep, somehow. He also bullies Beep-0 and then proceeds to use him as a wheel for the rest of the game (while you're out of battles). Past that point, his story moments mostly involve Rabbid Peach in some way, though there's one point where he tries to insert a key into a keyhole with no success, before Donkey Kong just picks the whole guy up to use the key properly.
Curiously, it looks like Rabbid Cranky actually ends up befriending Rabbid Peach by the end of the campaign, which is also pretty evident in her Instagram posts. This one suggests that maybe he's gone from the kinda guy to hate phones viscerally to the kinda guy who installs a billion viruses on his poor phone while trying to look up a cookie recipe, or something. Such a thing has never been mentioned, actually, but it just makes sense and is also my headcanon. Whoops! Headcanons!
Battle
| Health Points:* | 200-270 |
|---|---|
| Area of Movement: | 6-8 Cells |
| Pipe Exit Range: | 3-5 Cells |
| Dash: | 20-40 DMG |
| Stomp: | 6-8 Cells |
| Primary weapon: | Boombow |
| Secondary weapon: | Barrel Bolt |
| Stink Eye: | 70%-100% DMG Cooldown 3-1 Turns |
| Long Story: | 6-8 Cells Cooldown 3-2 Turns |
| *Maximum HP doesn't account for global health upgrades throughout the game | |
The in-game description states: "The irascible Rabbid Cranky may not be as fast as he used to be, but he doesn't need to be when he has a Boombow and short-ranged Barrel Bolts as explosive as his temper." Compared to how complex Donkey Kong is, this one is much more similar to the characters in the base campaign in terms of how he functions, so this has more of what we're used to. Some of his features aren't exactly like that of any of the other Rabbids, though!
I may have mentioned this when talking about Luigi, but Rabbid Cranky has the second lowest HP stat in the game - and he's still 70 HP ahead of Luigi and 10 behind Rabbid Luigi, which is something alright! So really, he's just a little frail. He also has average movement ranges all around, but he does get the strongest weapons in the campaign! Not that much to speak of, I think.
So by now, if you've been reading my section, you may have noticed a pattern: the non-Rabbids get special Team Jumps and line-of-sight techniques, and the Rabbids get special Dashes and shield techniques. But Rabbid Cranky actually conforms to the former! So that means he's got a rather pathetic and singular Dash (only dealing 40 DMG, though Rabbid Peach also gets 70 max in the DLC...), and his Team Jump ability being Grump Jump. Rabbid Cranky will only use it when near enemies, and he does it by shooting the ground right below where he will land. It has a decent AOE range of 3 cells, pretty decent damage, and it will also 100% guarantee Freeze on whoever's been hit. Curiously, it completely doesn't activate if he doesn't land near an enemy, unlike Yoshi's Ground Pound (why is that the second time I'm mentioning it this issue), which kind of acts similarly otherwise. I don't think Grump Jump destroys cover as hard, though!
Rabbid Cranky's primary weapon is the Boombow. It's a lot like the Boomshots of Rabbid Mario and Peach, but with a narrower damage cone and, like, a sharper drop-off in how much damage it deals depending on the distance, if that made any sense. Oh, and one more cell of range! A neat touch is that this is also the cane that he carries around all the time, even out of battles - and it even keeps the same appearance as the primary weapon itself he has equipped! The secondary weapon is Barrel Bolt, which is sort of like like Grenaduck, both just being thrown explosives. Barrel Bolt actually has worse range, cover damage and AOE than Grenaducks, but it's completely unaffected by cover, to compensate. Both weapons alternate between Ink, which prevents the enemy from using their weapon for the turn, and Vamp, which absorbs some of their HP. Vamp will prove greatly useful, as it can help the teammates heal at a distance, and also on every turn, as long as there are enemies present to deal Super Effects to. Rabbid Peach has the Heal technique too, but, sometimes, you can't really use that! And Ink may also be useful, of course!
The first technique is... I swear, this is the last line-of-sight technique for now. The last one! It's Stink Eye, and it deals comparatively less damage than DK's Hairy Eye, but, unlike that one, it can actually be used twice! And his primary weapon is a little stronger, anyway! This is another one that may potentially accidentally hit your allies too, so be careful! Rabbid Cranky's second technique is Long Story, the name of which is a lie because all he does is do a big 'ol yawn. The effect is that it puts enemies within range to sleep. What this does is that it basically acts like the Stone super effect (which is, apparently, completely absent from the campaign itself), preventing them for using anything at all for the turn! That's pretty useful, isn't it? The difference from Stone, however, is that it'll wear off if you hit an enemy after they've been put to sleep, so make sure to use it at the end of your turn, if you can. It's also got a big range of effectiveness! It also adds some unique animations for the enemies, and the Smashers (and Smugglers, I believe) will just use their block as a bed to sleep on. I love it!
I just noticed that, for some reason, the Skill Tree description for this Technique is "Puts enemies within range to sleep, sparing them Rabbid Cranky's latest political rant or complaints about the post office." Rabbids are aware of politics???
Back to the similarities of our trio here to the playable characters in Tropical Freeze.. Excluding Diddy (and Funky for that matter), of course, we've got Rabbid Cranky, which is obvious, and you can't deny Rabbid Peach and Dixie Kong have more similarities than you'd expect. I think they should let both the girls appear in a Mario + Rabbids sequel, as a treat (for me. I'm very very biased)
So anyway... I guess this is it, huh? I'm not saying the section is entirely over, with the very real possibility of a sequel coming along (the devs have stated that they'd be happy to make a sequel, and they keep borderline hinting at it being a thing), which I absolutely can't wait for, but we're done for now. I'd like a break for now anyway, considering the fact that, as I've mentioned, I've been way more into the Donkey Kong series for the past few months than I have this game...
That said, final note for now! Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is still a really good game! I still definitely recommend getting it, if you're interested, especially considering how frequently it goes on sale! I know I'll still be playing it every once in a while. I've enjoyed writing this section a lot, and doing so really did help me through some harder times! So, bye bye, for now! I know I'll be returning to The 'Shroom in one way or another!
Parallax
Written by: Ray Trace (talk) and Bazooka Mario (talk)
Welcome to Parallax. This is a section in Strategy Wing where you will be taught by a Literal Baby In Armor everything you need to know 3D modeling-related (oh and it's co-hosted by a sockpuppet of mine but we don't talk about that). From how to create cubes, to how to create many cubes, and how to make ice cubes out of your cubes, anything dealing with the magical third dimension and how to build and improve your craft regarding it, this is the section you may want to give a go.
Last month, we discussed the myriad of model file formats available. From the known to the not-as-known-but-still-as-known, from the closed to the open format, models come in a variety of types! When downloading the archives, there are also file formats that are much more recognizable to you: the image formats! Every time you see an image format in a model, those are textures, which will be our subject to talk of today.
What is a texture?
When conjured in our mind the definition of a texture, we think of how an object feels, such as how smooth or soft it is. Obviously, in terms of 3D modeling, you can't feel a 2D representation of a 3D object (unless you want to touch the computer screen; if so go right ahead), so the word "texture" generally applies to a 2D map that is applied to a model. Of course, HOW a 2D map is coordinated in a 3D model is determined by a model's UVs, in a process called UV mapping, but that is an entirely different subject that has its own processes (expect to hear that a lot when I write these sections). Anyway, by default, whenever you make a new model, it usually isn't colored at all. Just like sculpting a figurine or a marble sculpture, it comes in a default state with a mono-color. Of course, theoretically, you could color parts of a model in a method called vertex coloring; in fact, this was commonplace in the early days of modeling such as how Mario was rendering during the Nintendo 64 era and in its games as well. Texture sheets were extremely simple, composing of simple colors and were very tiny to boot for character models (a typical size for a texture is 32x32 in dimension, which is around beetle-sized really). The showcased texture of Mario is from the Nintendo 64 Mario Party entries.
This is also why some characters can look horrifying in texture format by the way: it's technically a representation of their smashed model!
As model polies increased, so did the resolution of the textures, Nowadays, rendering textures can well go far above 4k in resolution size and far more details have been added than ever. With the advent of advanced materials and normals and PBR-based rendering, we also have an increased quantity of textures too, not just color-based, all which are steadily increasing in size. Because of our increased quantity of textures, I'll go over some you may encounter, especially if you're generating textures yourself through dedicated texturing programs such as Substance Painter (I strongly recommend this program for ANY aspiring 3D modelers, it's the industry standard and it's amazing to use).
The images provided are the clothes from my character, Ray Trace. These are the textures I used for his render above.
A list of some textures
| Textures and what each of them do | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
 Albedo |
This is the default color, the base texture, known as "Base Color" in Substance Painter by default, and it also can be referred to as a diffuse map. The first textures are all in this format, including Nintendo games up to Wii (where the most shaders we got are the metallic ones and rim lighting). This is the most easily understood, it's just your character looking as is. |
 Normal |
This format dictates how a normal gets lit, using the color channels. It's primarily used to give the illusion of depth and texture to the model without actually increasing polies, so you'll see it used for cracks, bumps, folds, and crevices. Blue means that no depth is applied, while darker shades and different colors apply different depth. Nintendo models did not start using this texture for their models until the Wii U era, but even then, it was commonplace in higher-end PC games well into the late 2000's. Ray Trace's clothes uses a liberal amount of folds and wrinkles, so this is where the normal map comes in to signify that rather than actually modeling them. |
 Height |
Not often seen in games, but a height map is similar to a normal map in which it assists in elevation and lighting. Unlike normal maps, they encode heights rather than change the angle the vertex is facing at, and they use grayscale maps rather than normal. Black signifies depth while whiter areas are height. Just like above, the height map for Ray Trace's texture here signifies wrinkles and folds on his clothes. |
 Metal |
Self-explanatory: a grayscale map that shows you how metallic an object is. Black means no metal while whiter parts are more reflective and metallic. Since the textures I'm using are clothes, very little, if at all, metals are rendered here, with the grayer parts being on his hat. |
 Specularity |
A grayscale map that controls how shiny the model is, with whiter areas having more shine while black areas are less shiny. The following image is Baby Luigi's specularity map from Mario Kart 8, it is a darker shade of gray due to his clothing not needing to be shiny. |
 Roughness |
This grayscale map controls glossiness vs matte. It is the inverted variant of a glossiness map, depending on what gets outputted, but most programs allow you to invert glossiness and roughness maps to get the desired result. In roughness maps, darker areas are glossy while whiter areas are matte. Because Ray Trace wears regular clothes, the roughness map is mostly a lighter shade of gray while his hat has some degree of glossiness on the edges. Glossiness shouldn't be confused with specular textures, as glossiness controls the clarity of the reflection. |
 Ambient occlusion |
A grayscale map that simulates shadows rather than letting the render software create them for you. They tend to give a model a more realistic vibe to color shadows that aren't really there as well as save processing power, especially in games. One example you may be familiar with is coloring the shadow underneath Mario's mustache. The ambient occlusion texture is used for my armor bits; these are generated by baking a model and simulating how light interacts with them. You can additionally overlay and multiply these over an albedo texture to simulate the effects without need of an additional map as well. |
 PRM Texture |
I've decided to throw this map in because Super Smash Bros. Ultimate uses this to simulate PBR lighting rather than other games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which uses traditional maps, even if it's technically not a unique map. What this essentially is is ambient occlusion, metallic, roughness, and specular reflectivity maps all shoved into one texture. How this is achieved is that the aforementioned texture uses the RGB and alpha channels allocated to each texture to accomplish this, and the primary goal of using this map is to save space rather than make way for a bunch of files for textures. I thought this was a pretty clever way to save on space thus I felt like mentioning it here. |
Of course, as predicted, there ARE more maps for more specific purposes than the listed ones here. We have opacity maps, which control how transparent your model is, and even helps out crop out 2D bits such as grass or hair. There are also emissive maps, which can make your model appear to glow in the dark. The above, however, are prevalent in almost all modern models and all of its components it may have. Some of these textures, you can't really see in your program's output window and you have to render it to see well. This is where I tend to use Marmoset Toolbag for my rendering purposes, it makes rendering a breeze and live-renders all of your applied maps in a very pleasing way. Another day, I'll talk over the program and showcase what it is capable of to make your model shine.
By the way, almost all textures from games render textures in a digit divisible by square powers of 2. This is why you'll see 512x1024 or 64x64 dimensions in nearly all of them. This was done to maximize compatibility with older graphics cards which had imposed that restriction likely related to performance though modern graphic cards do have this restriction lifted and you may see odder dimensions in newer textures, though it is still recommended you keep them in these dimensions to maximize optimization.
Anyway, I think I've done good for a general overview on textures, as they're fairly self-explanatory otherwise: they are the ones that give color and life to your figure and can help create the illusion that they're alive (though materials also assist a lot), and so much has been advanced in creating that said illusion, especially taking account hardware performance in mind, hence the creation of normal and height maps. I hope some of my explanations may clear up what that weird blue map is supposed to be if you download a zip of a model from a more modern game from the Model's Resource and maybe you can take advantage of those said maps yourself to make a model really shine. I'll see you next month in May, stay tuned to this section for further information!
Racing Like the Staff
Hello readers and welcome to Racing like the Staff, a section where I do 150cc on different Mario Kart games, but the twist is, I take on the Grand Prix by using the combination that a staff and expert staff member used in that Cup. If you're still a little confused, by this I mean if the track is in the Mushroom Cup, then that's the Cup that I race in. Unfortunately, I don't have copies of the Mario Kart games before Mario Kart 7, so it's only that, 8 and Deluxe that will be getting this treatment.
There are a wide variety of racing games out there, and I suck at most them, but one I've never tried is Excitebike. And I Must admit, I love this little circuit in the game, I love the music, the constantly changing layout, oh and did I mention the chiptune music? Out of all the DLC cups, I think the Egg Cup really brought it with the tracks, though Yoshi Circuit might make me partially biased.
The combination for the staff for Excitebike Arena is Mario with the Standard Bike, Slim tyres and the Super Glider, and the stats are as follows:
- Speed – Just under four bars
- Acceleration – Just over three bars
- Weight – Just over three bars
- Handling – Four bars
- Grip – Three bars
Yoshi Circuit
I don't really know where I was by the first set of Item Boxes as they appear so quickly, but past them I was straight into second place and my Red Shell took out Wario way before we even got to the nose section. I thought this could be it, but like last section a Blooper came and I went off-course a couple times and then hit Wario's Banana, which put me in third behind Princess Peach. I caught Peach before we entered the nose tunnel, and through drifting caught Wario before the end, before then giving him a taste of his own medicine by hitting him with my own Banana. I then sailed on to the end, although some Red Shells tried to get me out.
Excitebike Arena
Although Princess Peach got an excellent start, we managed to get ahead of her before we even got to the first corner, and from there on in we just sailed through. A Red Shell hit me at one point, but that barely dented the lead that I had built up.
Dragon Driftway
Once again, Princess Peach got an amazing start, and with all the twisty corners I struggled to catch her, but a Mushroom landed in my favour. And although I was expecting a tight race, it was anything but, and this was proven near the end when I was hit with both a Spiny Shell and a Red Shell, and Wario was still a decent distance behind.
Mute City
This was essentially a repeat of the last race, in which Princess Peach got ahead of me, and then through boosts I got past her, and then built up a lead so large that getting hit by a Red Shell and a Spiny Shell didn't put me under any pressure from second place.
I generally dislike the standard sets because I prefer the whackier and zanier combinations, but this combination didn't put a single foot wrong and allowed me to get out decent leads. Of course items and other factors helped, but I feel like I still could've gotten first place on an itemless run of the course. Veterans could find a lot of use with this combination and it's also a perfect starting place for newcomers.
Mach Speed Mayhem
Hello, 'Shroom readers! After the success of Super Arrow last month, people got together and decided it should be couple's week (couple's two months?) here at Mach Speed Mayhem. For that reason, this month we're covering #21: Mrs. Arrow! The loving wife of Super Arrow, Mrs. Arrow is happy to take charge both on and off the track, to support her husband however she can!
Main Series
Debuting alongside her husband in F-Zero X, Mrs. Arrow is introduced to us as the wife of Super Arrow, and... that's about it! X backstories are Pretty Vague. It does clarify that she has past racing experience and that as a result, she's the better racer, but outside of that? Not much. F-Zero GX, as always, steps in with the extended information! She strives to defend her husband, whether it's in or out of the home... especially on the racetrack. That past racing experience is extensive, and while Super Arrow had no idea what he was doing when he first entered, Mrs. Arrow had already spent plenty of time on the track before this! She featured as a circuit model even before that, someone showing off her body for titillation before the race. Mrs. Arrow just decided she liked the racing better than the modeling, and went behind the wheel instead. She's also an equal partner in crime-fighting with her husband, but we'll get to that.
When interviewing Mrs. Arrow, she makes it clear who's the boss. She plans to donate her winnings to charity (Super Arrow will still get his allowance), and she says his racing needs some more work. She's even the one who proposed when Super Arrow was waffling too much. Don't worry, though - they might fight, but their relationship is built on trust and understanding! While she might love and care for her husband, though, her rivals and the forces of evil? No mercy to be found there. At least she's kind enough to offer driving lessons to her rivals. Her fight against evil is made clear by her lack of a vacation - the Arrows go where evil is, so she's gotta skip one to continue battling alongside her husband. They're both superheroes, after all! Interestingly, she mentions that one of her goals is to live on in both the records and in people's memories. Gotta go down in history! Unfortunately for that goal, Mrs. Arrow doesn't appear much in the GX story mode. She makes a cameo alongside her husband at the start of Chapter 3, but doesn't join the BET Race. She does, however, help round out the 30-car field in Chapter 7 - everyone's got their eyes on this prize!
On to her machine! The Queen Meteor is the original of the two Meteor machines, Super Arrow's King Meteor designed after it. This one, made by the Arrows' support team member Professor Hollow just like the King Meteor, is instead based on a familiar ride for Mrs. Arrow. The Queen Meteor is based on her first F-Zero machine, the one that she used before getting married when she was a solo racer. This one has been upgraded in capability and ease of control, and like the King Meteor, its listed stats are E Body, B Boost, and B Grip, only differed by being the heavier machine. In X, it comes out pretty well - not quite on the level of the King Meteor, but still a useful intermediate machine that allows for a lot of good play. When it comes to F-Zero GX and its wacky wavey inflatable arm flailing different stats, the Queen Meteor is one of the machines to come off worse in the match. The capabilities are largely simpler to the King Meteor, except with much less in the way of handling or control. Picking the Queen Meteor in that game is a self-imposed challenge, but hey, F-Zero IS a series all about challenge!
GP Legend series
You know how Super Arrow in the anime was a comic relief character? Well, Mrs. Arrow does avoid that fate... by becoming the straight man to Super Arrow's wacky antics. Like her husband, she only makes a handful of appearances during the show, the first one being in episode 7. And there's... honestly, not that much to say about her there. She spends the entire episode playing support to Super Arrow, setting up several jokes at his expense, and that's really it. Really! At least during the second appearance of the Arrows, Mrs. Arrow gets to play an important role in the climax. After Miss Killer manipulates Super Arrow into giving her the boost she needs to win the race, Mrs. Arrow is the one to swing in at the last minute and give Rick Wheeler a boost, allowing him to intercept Miss Killer and ensure that the forces of good win the race. It's okay, though - Mrs. Arrow forgives Super Arrow. After all, he was just trying to be the greatest hero he could be and help someone he thought was in need, and that's why she loves him to begin with!
The next time the Arrows are relevant is... "The Disappearance of Mrs. Arrow". So you know she's important! We actually see how the disappearance itself happens pretty early on - while practicing on White Land in order to win the race in her husband's place, Mrs. Arrow gets attacked by Zoda and his goons. While they can't land a hit, they're able to knock her down into a chasm, resulting in the aforementioned disappearance. This does mean she's out of action for a while, but she's able to get an SOS out to her husband. Super Arrow, naturally, drops everything except Rick as the two of them go out to find her, searching White Land high and low and only finding Zoda and his goons instead. Super Arrow gets knocked around and sent down a pit by said goons, but it all works out for the best when he finds Mrs. Arrow down there! The superhero couple help Rick foil Zoda's plans, and then both of them join the race, where Mrs. Arrow is the one to claim victory in the race of the day. Good work!
Mrs. Arrow's final appearance of any substance is in the Ladies' Race episode, which is exactly as it sounds - an episode all about a women-only race to claim the title of Miss Galaxy!! Which means all the ladies who've appeared as racers so far get a chance to shine... kinda. Mrs. Arrow probably gets the worst of it - she gets kidnapped pretty quickly in the episode (after reassuring Super Arrow that if she becomes Miss Galaxy she'll stick by him), and makes another appearance in a prison cell with Lisa Brilliant and Kate Alen, the three women getting into a spat over who really deserves to win the Ladies' Race. By the time that we're on the course itself, everyone in the race is ready to take each other out! ...And Mrs. Arrow becomes the first casualty, crashing right at the start of the race. Unfortunately, she goes out on a low note, that being her last non-cameo in the anime.
The F-Zero: GP Legend game... did you expect it to add much? It doesn't, Mrs. Arrow only appearing as a normal part of the roster. F-Zero Climax adds a bit more, as it always does - most of Mrs. Arrow's bio restates what we already know, but it emphasizes that she's actually a top-level pilot, the kind of racer who would normally be winning consistently! The only problem is, she primarily focuses on protecting and watching over her husband instead, and keeping track of Super Arrow consumes most of her focus. Still, it's nice to know she's got the skills. Once again, I don't have much in the way of other information, so come over to the forum thread and get me May's decision!
| The 'Shroom: Issue 169 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • 'Shroomfest Highlights |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Photo Contest • Ultimate Location Battle |
