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Episode 565: The Wonder of Mario (Patreon)

Published:
2023-10-06 11:00:05
Imported:
2026-06

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Content

Jeremy: OK. It's time to come clean. This episode is not about Super Mario Wonder. The title this week? Absolutely and shamelessly an attempt at search engine clickbait. 

It is, however, about Super Mario Bros. in a more general sense. And about other games and series that landed at the perfect time and place to become classics. It's about the circumstances of their release, the particulars of their design, and the concepts and qualities that make them enduring classics. 

Stuart, Diamond, and Kevin all join me this time around to share their thoughts on the games they consider part of gaming's timeless canon, and to explain why they rank those masterpieces so highly. 

Edits by Greg Leahy. Art by Amanda Neipris. Tunes this time:

05:39 - Super Mario Bros. Wonder: Pipe Rock Plateau

15:46 - Shnabubula: "Mario Likes Thorazine" (OC Remix #1599)

30:09 - Super Mario Maker 2: Underground Theme (NSMBU Edit ver.)

41:42 - Myst: Mechanical Mystgate

50:25 - PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC: Perilous Pipes

1:00:54 - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: PAC-MAN'S Park/Block Town

1:12:41 - Resident Evil 4 (2005): Ganado II

1:25:51 - Dragon's Lair (NES): Congratulations

1:38:11 - Star Trek Original Television Soundtrack vol. 2: Going Aboard

1:48:53 - Super Meat Boy: The Battle of Lil' Slugger

2:01:29 - Tetris Effect: All Nations

Closing - Elvis Presley: "The Wonder of You"

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Comments

Guillermo Jiménez

I read this as The Wonder of Wario. That would have been some cool alliteration, plus it would fit with your Mario character series. Waaaaggghh!

Guillermo Jiménez

Man, the new Patreon app format doesn't let you have a good look at the episode art. Shame.

littleterr0r

Every time Baby Pac-Man comes up, I have to mention that they have one at QuarterWorld in Portland, so if you're in town for PRGE, you can check it out.

Kormakur Gardarsson

Great picks all round, diverse and interesting. Not the least Kevin’s pick of Star Trek.

Chris (not Benoit)

Stuart Gipp, author of the book “All Games Are Good” declares Milton Bradley’s Pac Man board game “not good”. I haven’t played it, but I trust Stu’s judgement even if it negates the title of his book!

CapNChris

I really liked this thematic approach to retro games. Wonder is a feeling we experience with much less frequency as we get older. I remember the wonder I experienced upon the release of a few of these games, which I enjoyed hearing about. Listening to others' recollection of wonder is also enjoyable.

Alone

Shout out for the Adam Buxton ref! The best Bob Hoskins

JJR

I was just searching on the Xbox store for games that support Kinect. Bizarrely, Dragon’s Layer states it’s fully playable with Kinect. So, not only has this game been ported to everything over the years, they’ve even added support for control fads- and it’s still available for all 6 people who still have their Kinect hooked up

John Learned

Let's see everyone's complete lists, please

Shrunken Shrine

Diamond, who lives in Japan, may be able to speak better to this phenomenon, but I believe that the most important factor in 'the wonder of (early) Mario' is accessibility. 3D Mario games are often considered very important pieces of game design, but their sales absolutely pale in comparison to the 2D entries. A very big number of people from the Famicom and Super Famicom generation were left behind when games went 3D. Gamers often take for granted that many people cannot get on with games that use 3D spaces, because of discomfort or complexity. For many, games began and ended with 2D Mario.

Jon Heiman

I promised myself I'd try not to yuck other people's yums anymore, but I just _cannot_ get into Resident Evil 4. I feel like I'm literally alone on this and it's been driving me crazy for years. There's nothing "wonder"-ful or timeless to me about this aggressively-drab, gray game with enemies that behave _just_ human enough to make me feel bad for shooting them in different parts of their bodies. The opening village-siege that Stuart loved so much just left me feeling icky. And speaking of "movie-like" and "influential," don't think I've forgiven this game for re-popularizing QuickTime events (disagree with Stuart about their game-worthiness too :P ) I forced myself to keep playing until Ashley got put in a dumpster, and she can stay there forever for all I care. I know the problem is me, me and my stupid empathy and love for rich color palettes, but I just had to speak my peace at long last.

Fatamatician

Fantastic Episode. Some great discussions.