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this music brings the very essence of joy to ones soul; it lures children and adults alike to the room where it is created. with wonderful graphics and sound effects to accompany the most amazing music ever invented for a video game it only increases the outstanding story lines that have come through mario these many years. this is why mario has starred in countless number of games besides his own video games even if it isn’t clearly evident to some: donkey kong, the legend of zelda: majora’s mask, zelda: ocarina of time, pilot wings 64, super smash brothers, f-1 race, link’s awakening, pokemon, and i could go on forever. 13 different mario games have already been released this year alone. how i wish i lived in japan so that i would be able to play a new mario game on a weekly basis! ‘yes’, you are saying to yourself now, ‘yes, mario has been an amazing game, its music has inspired me, mario has the same long lasting effect as superman does in the comic book world,’ but you are also thinking ‘what is the point of this article, i already know all this...’ well, my question to you is, do you?

recently i have been involved in a mario game which has changed my outlook on video games forever, maybe even life. believe it or not this game came through the game boy advanced. the game’s title, ‘mario and luigi superstar saga’. the alliteration only begins to show the brilliance of the people who created this game. so, do you remember how wonderful it was to control mario or luigi? well, what about controlling mario AND luigi at the same time, on the same screen? i will give you a second to once again regain consciousness and close your jaw.......... excellent to have you back, yes, you read correctly in ‘mario and luigi superstar saga’ the fun doesn’t stop after reading the name, it continues on screen as you control both mario and luigi at the same time. why do you ask are mario and luigi required once again to save princess peach? well, i will tell you.

the story begins when an evil witch replaces princess peach’s voice with explosives (causing small explosions to occur whenever the princess speaks), the brothers are once again called to action. luckily, peach’s explosive vocabulary repels bowser, who arrives shortly afterward to kidnap peach. now the amazing deux and bowser have a common enemy, and decide to join forces to get peach’s voice back. that is the basic outline of the story and i will stop there so i will not give away the whole amazing plot. the game really is truly amazing and even takes a zelda type approach to a lot of the levels with puzzles that you must solve while battling enemies mario and luigi style. give your enemies a taste of the mario and luigi ‘hops’ or do a team attack where luigi and mario do a combo attack using each other to kill all that stands in there way. coming across what i like to call mini-games you have to get used to controlling mario and luigi at the same time while enemies attack them at the same time, jump roping and the mine shaft level being my personal favorite at the moment. the mine shaft level may be one of the most well created parts about this game. it is similar to the donkey kong levels if you recall flying down and jumping to avoid enemies, but this game takes it to a new level. mario and luigi hop in different mining cars and are going down separate tracks but only mario has a flash light and it is pitch dark. the goal is to obtain all the diamonds which lie on both mario and luigi’s tracks. the fun does not stop there, so controlling mario and luigi separately down these tracks trying to get these diamonds with the only visible part of the screen being the light from the flashlight. and it gets better, the flashlight losses power very quickly and while avoiding falling enemies mario must do many things: 1)obtain batteries to keep the flash light working, 2) miss falling enemies, 3) obtain diamonds, and 4) keep the light shining on luigi so you can find the diamonds and miss the enemies in the back ground on luigi’s track. wow. i suggest you go buy this game before your drool starts flooding your house.

could this possibly be the best game...ever? with all the hype about halo 2 coming out today do not forget the plumbers. this game has all the original mario music that has serenaded so many, plus new music which has all the same effect on all those who hear it. so when faced with decision of what game to play or buy, let us not join in the crowed of ravaging haloians, but let us be calm and pull out our old nintendo or game boys of any sort and play some good ol’ mario so we can remember all the wonderful characters, music, and the stories that we all have come to love, let us not forget the italian brothers, let us not forget the plumbers. ∆

wow and hoover dam.if you remove the president from the latter group of text, you get the two words that best describe the microsoft masterpiece, halo. the game launched in the winter of 2001; a time that was wrought with worldy turmoil, Cougar domination, and an intense study of mechanics. I was working through those intricate difficulties that inclined planes pose when my friend to the north, dr. joel nelson, informed me that my playstation 2 "sucked". I quickly retorted that my hardware performed no such function, claiming that Metal Gear Solid was the reigning king among video games and that its only challenger was not of the xbox assortment, but rather was a nintendo favorite: mario sunshine. Dr. Joel followed that remark with a lengthy discourse on the superior graphical presentation, unparralled control schematics, and musical mastery of this mysterious game, halo. the sermon was interrupted by the other doctor[of the sneaky gene assortment] and the last words from joel's mouth were "play it and you'll see hansen, you'll see". I of course, couldn't see anything, let alone the excellency of said game.

since that time, the world has eroded, the cougar dynasty has crumbled, and the study of sliding blocks has transformed into the study of blocking slides[as the catcher for my softball team]. my ignorance however for halo remained; I had played it of course, yet I felt that it was grossly overrated: the graphics were beutiful, the controls were perfect, and the music was just as engaging as the dr. had said, but something was missing, something that prevented me from giving it the credit that so many proclaimed it deserved...

college rolled around and thus the missionary movement began. My belief was that our abode would be decorated with the usual r.m. decorum: foreign flags,church magazines,scriptures,pictures of converts, extc. My surprise was at a absolute maximum however, when I found that my place of rest was not outfitted with religious paraphernalia but rather it was adorned in technological wonders.there were dvd systems,a surround sound setup, integrated radio dialator, an xbox, and of course its loyal partner, halo. After checking to make sure I was in the right apartment, I thumbed through the dvd selection which was nothing more than 5 copies of each of the lotr movies;ah bliss...

one day whilest pondering which of the 3 non-married members of our apartment should take out the trash, It was proposed[no pun intended] that we should determine who the "garbageman" would be by whomever lost first in a round of halo. the notion was carried and the gaming commenced. I quickly had the trash kicked out of me, and thus kicked the trash out of our apartment. Upon my return I demanded that I be allowed to play the game's campaign mode to improve my skill. The roomies relented, and thus my journey through halo's campaign began.

On October 29, 2004, almost exactly three years after it was first released, I finished Halo. The experience to be exact, was legendary. Just like its cousin Goldeneye, the joy of Halo was not found within its multi-player domain; it was found in the solo-missions. No first person shooter can compare to Halo; not graphically,not sound-wise, not control-wise, not story-wise, and definitely not gameplay-wise.There aren't enough words that can amply illustrate its greatness;myself being partial to palindromes and curse words gave you two examples at the begginning, yet pages could be spent describing its glory and illuminating its mastery. If you have doubts of these bold remarks then I bring to your remembrance a wise doctor's orders:"Play it and you'll see".I played it.And I saw.∆