Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Super Mario Land Is One Of The Strangest Mario Games

jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Recently I went to the Portland Retro Games Expo & Northwest Classic Games Enthusiasts Retro Game Swap Meet. It was a pretty special time as this was the first full fledged video game event I took my son Finley to. He's seven months old and I had him attached to me in a baby carrier the whole time, but i'd like to think he was impressed with all the old retro games and systems. The swap meet was fun and I didn't have as much time as I wanted to due to heading in a bit late because earlier we were at the Portland Women's March. That said, I arrived in the events final hour which was enough time to check out each table and pickup a few games that i've wanted for... Read All Recently I went to the Portland Retro Games Expo & Northwest Classic Games Enthusiasts Retro Game Swap Meet. It was a pretty special time as this was the first full fledged video game event I took my son Finley to. He's seven months old and I had him attached to me in a baby carrier the whole time, but i'd like to think he was impressed with all the old retro games and systems. The swap meet was fun and I didn't have as much time as I wanted to due to heading in a bit late because earlier we were at the Portland Women's March. That said, I arrived in the events final hour which was enough time to check out each table and pickup a few games that i've wanted for some time.

I picked up NBA Jam on Sega, Super Mario Land on Gameboy and a box for New Super Mario Land DS to put my game pak inside so I can set it next to the other DS games I own.

Super Mario Land Is a Strange Mario Game

Super Mario Land was one of the launch titles when the Gameboy hit the market in 1989. I remember it fondly because my brother bought a Gameboy and Super Mario Land was one of the first games he had. If you are familiar with Mario games, Super Mario Land is very similar but contains some strange elements that haven't been repeated in modern Mario games. First off the traditional fire Mario super ability is replaced with a super ball variant. Mario shoots the superball and if it doesn't hit an enemy it bounces off walls until it hits an enemy or gives out. This allows you to collect coins in hard to reach areas and occasionally you can bounce a shot to hit a bad guy but most of the time it's just weird. I like that they tried something different and it's possible the super ball power was easier to program back then but I prefer the traditional fire flower power as it's easier to rely on and time the shots of.

Super Mario Land contains the same tight platforming of nearly any Mario game except, at times, I missed certain jumps by falling through a platform. It's rare but since i've never seen it in a Mario game, when I happened I was surprised. Again, I imagine this is due to the early nature of this Gameboy title and it's lack of horsepower even compared to the NES but it's something I noticed.

Super Mario Land keeps up the strangeness in that it also contains auto scrolling levels. You can control Mario in a Submarine and Airplane and beyond the levels being a bit easy they are also pretty fun. Auto-scrollers aren't something you see in a Mario game and having them here is so odd it feels like some kind of extra bonus game.

Even though Super Mario Land contains some gameplay elements not seen in any other Mario game the strangest part of all is the story written in the game manual.

"Once upon a time, there was a peaceful world called Sarasaland. In this world there were 4 kingdoms named Birabuto, Muda, Easton and Chai. One day, the skies of Sarasaland were suddenly covered by a huge black cloud. From a crack in this cloud, the unknown space monster Tatanga emerged to try to conquer Sarasaland. Tatanga hypnotized the people of all the kingdoms so that he could control them in any way he liked. In this way he took over Sarasaland. Now, he wants to marry Princess Daisy of Sarasaland and make her his queen. Mario came to know of these events, and he has started on a journey to the Chai Kingdom where Princess Daisy is held captive, in order to restore peace to Sarasaland. Can Mario defeat Tatanga, release people from his interstellar hypnosis, and rescue Princess Daisy? It's all up to you and Mario's skill. Go for it Mario!"

I picked up the Super Mario Land game manual at this years Portland Retro Game Expo and laughed as I read the games backstory. At the time I did wonder why Bowser and Princess Peach weren't in the game but I figured Mario went on other adventures and maybe this happened while Mario was on vacation? The story seems so arbitrary and whipped up it borders on parody but as someone that loves campy stuff, I also love it.

Super Mario Land is a really unique entry in the Mario-verse and one I don't mind coming back to. I think my most beloved Mario games are some of the strangest and i'd put Super Mario Land up there with Mario 2 as some of the ones I enjoy coming back to reliving over again.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/02/2017 at 04:21pm

I agree with all parts except the auto-scroll. Those levels have been a part of Mario games since the NES. Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World had a few each.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AutoScrollingLevel

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/02/2017 at 04:32pm

Oh right, good point. Maybe I can save ultimate face here and say there have never been RIDING IN SUBMARINES & PLANES AUTO SCROLLING LEVELS. *cough* yeah that's what I meant.

Somehow those levels, even though I played them, never really stood out to me. And yeah, come to think of it they exist in New Super Mario Brothers as well.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/02/2017 at 04:41pm

They stood out to me because they were the ones I always messed up on the most :D

But yeah the addition of subs and planes does make them unique. That game was truly odd.

vdogmr25 wrote on 02/03/2017 at 08:56pm

I played the ever-living crap out of this game. Only beat it once.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/03/2017 at 09:24pm

It's really hard. No save means I really only got so far myself.

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Crescent Loom: Kickstarter campaign is a go go go!

Heya! So, I just launched the Kickstarter for my neuroscience Kerbal Space Program-meets-Spore underwater creature creator Crescent Loom!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wickworks/crescent-loom-stitch-muscles-weave-neurons-create

And here's a pre-mortem I wrote last night where I talk a bit about the prep work I did in getting the campaign ready: http://wick.works/the-storm-before-the-storm/

I'm excited! I'm nervous! aaaaaaaaaI'd love to hear what you think!

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/01/2017 at 04:32am

One part about this I like is that it's a direct sequel to Starship Rubicon.

"After the events in Starship Rubicon, the planets of both humanity and the bio-engineering Alien Nemesis lay in ruins. Most surviving humans now sleep in cryopods collected by the Pilot on her warpath towards the Nemesis homeworld.

The Pilot now returns to one of the planets that she burnt from orbit and begins using a piece of Nemesis technology called a "Crescent Loom" in order to begin healing the planet and build a new home for humanity and the Alien Nemesis to live in peace. Despite your good intentions, many creatures of this world remember you -- and not fondly.

Unable to communicate directly, you must learn an unfamiliar piece of technology and let your creations speak for you through their actions and movements."

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/01/2017 at 03:50pm

I can't wait for this game to get fully backed! Playing the Alpha demo is a lot of fun, I recommend it!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/03/2017 at 11:12pm

This is only $237 from being fully funded on Kickstarter and was Greenlit on Steam in just 19 days! (It took Starship Rubicon 193 days to be Greenlit)

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Bethesda Rolling Out Fallout 4 HD Texture Pack Next Week on PC!

https://images.contentful.com/rporu91m20dc/5qj2pLlI9GiscMYy8ucIO6/0a0eb18997ad629cef648e983a30e15a/FO4_PS4Pro_FULL.png

Bethesda is shipping a couple updates to Fallout 4 next week. PC users are getting a 58 gig download option in the form of a HD high resolution texture pack. If this is anything like the Skyrim update, this should offer up an incredible visual upgrade to Fallout 4! Bethesda has released the recommended specs on the HD pack and i'm not sure I know someone that meets the minimum spec GPU wise.

Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i7-5820K or better

GTX 1080 8GB

8GB+ Ram

Love to hear how well this texture pack works for you on your current rig so make sure to come back and let us know your specs and how it runs. Bethesda is also dropping an update to Fallout... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 01/31/2017 at 08:34pm

Hahaha, 58gb and the best computer possible. I'll get right on that! :D

Seriously that's awesome of them for doing this but like you said, this is applicable to only the most elite, at least for now.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/01/2017 at 04:48am

I installed the Skyrim HD texture pack and had to scale down the resolution to run and it seemed... mostly OK even if my specs were way under the line. Hoping we can do that here...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/07/2017 at 03:35am

And it's out: http://store.steampowered.com/app/540810/

Travis Admin wrote on 02/07/2017 at 04:02am

If I have 60 gigs free at the end of my billing cycle I'll give it a shot.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/09/2017 at 04:17am

So today's the last day of my billing cycle and I had like 200 gigs free somehow.

Amazingly, my computer handles this just fine. The Steam page lists the bullet points you listed up top as the *minimum* requirements, but I don't come near the CPU or GPU listed. It's an AMD of some kind that wasn't killer when I got it 6ish years ago, and a GTX 960 with 2gigs of video memory. Even downtown Boston (I went there first).

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As Frank Ascends To Second Banana Heaven - MST3K Samson VS. The Vampire Women

As the wait for the new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix continues(i've heard rumors of a March release) I am continuing my journey of watching each original episode in order. I just finished season 6, which to date is my least favorite season. All that said it does contains some great episodes like Code Name: Diamond Head, Kitten with a Whip and High School Big Shot. The season 6 finale is Samson VS The Vampire Women and is the last episode to feature Dr Forresters assistant TV's Frank. Samson VS The Vampire Women is a crazy movie and Frank leaving the show adds a more somber tone to the episode. In the MST3K timeline MST3K The Movie came after... Read All

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/29/2017 at 06:26pm

Where are you watching all the seasons?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2017 at 05:34am

Good question. SO as a long time MSTIE I bought the huge digital DRM free video pack on Vimeo that launched in 2014.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mst3k

Basically you can buy 83+ episodes for $300 to stream and/or download which comes out to about $3.60 per episode. So I did that, downloaded them all and supplemented the rest through YouTube on their official channel or other channels.

There are 26 full episodes on the official YouTube channel which is an incredible collection of great episodes. If you want a zero dollar legit option to dive in, that's your best option. If you want to own a DVD Shoutfactory has great collections available but I haven't gone that route.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYy4ZargUluf-iyr4vFpe-xaJ46GEDpBI

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/31/2017 at 04:38pm

I have some of the DVDs, not many. I am checking out this site: http://www.club-mst3k.com... Looks like they have links to streams, but I don't know how many of the link exist/work. But it is good start.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2017 at 06:35pm

You can search for the episode on YouTube that works for me.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2017 at 06:36pm

Oh, which collections do you have?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/31/2017 at 06:58pm

Volumes 1, 2 & 6...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/01/2017 at 04:47am

Cool. I'd like a few DVD cases for my shelf. Or find some VHS tapes somewhere. That would be fine too

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 02/01/2017 at 11:38pm

I had some VHS copies back in the day.

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In Space No One Can Hear You Testing - Prey Launches May 5th!

The Prey reboot has received a new trailer that showcases a bit of the story as well as the new release date. Apparently you are in a science space station where they are experimenting on aliens and are also a testing subject/scientist. The tone of the game seems very Bioshock, Portal and Alien-esque with a very clean and polished look that is fairly impressive. I'm intrigued by this game but am still not certain i'll be picking this up at launch. To help entice people to pre-order Arkane Studios is offering special DLC bonuses and if you like cosmetic shotguns(oh my!) then you're going to be very happy. I mean, unless you don't like that sort of thing, then it's not... Read All

The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable is Dead. LONG LIVE CHEERFUL GHOST RADIO

We’re going through changes. The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable is entering its chrysalis, and when it emerges it will be Cheerful Ghost Radio, the new podcast by members of the Cheerful Ghost community.

What does this mean for you?

Better quality audio. Taking video out of the equation should improve the audio quality since it won’t be compressed like in Google Hangouts.

Better visuals. You no longer have to look at our ugly mugs.

More options. You are no longer tied to Youtube so you can listen whenever you want, wherever you want.

What does this mean for us?

We no longer have to put on clothes to record an episode!

We’d like to hear what you want from Cheerful Ghost... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/26/2017 at 04:36am

Personally the clothing thing was really hampering my creativity.

/rimshot

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 01/26/2017 at 04:50am

Wait, we were *required* to have clothes? Huh. I just always happened to be dressed when we started filming. Good thing you mentioned it; that could've made the last episode awkward.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/26/2017 at 04:53am

So, just removing the video aspect of the Roundtable and publishing the audio discussion?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/26/2017 at 03:26pm

Radio? Who needs a radio?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/26/2017 at 03:27pm

But seriously, I love the new name. Looking forward to listening!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/26/2017 at 05:46pm

> So, just removing the video aspect of the Roundtable and publishing the audio discussion?

Simply, yeah we are. More specifically we think that making a podcast will be a bit better for the kind of show it is and how people consume this kind of thing. For instance, it's hard for many to sit down and watch and hour+ show but it's not too hard to play a podcast while your driving, working or whatever.

When the show launched 5 years ago(it's really been that long) video streaming was a new thing. So new that I thought doing a game show that way would get us more attention and sort of ride the tech train to viewers. That... didn't happen so we are going Podcast because it's a better way to do what we do. PLUS we can publish to iTunes and the wide word of Podcasting sites to get, possibly, more attention. I also thought putting the videos on YouTube would get us some cross views, but YouTube has made it's search algorithms such that people simply never find our show.

Well that or it sucks and no one cares but it's my semi-solid belief it's a fine show that can find a bigger audience.

So in that spirit and trying to improve things, we are doing a Podcast.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/26/2017 at 05:48pm

> Radio? Who needs a radio?

Mock. Yeah. Ing. Yeah...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5f_gbzo4Q0

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/26/2017 at 06:43pm

Will they happen more often now that you guys don't have to be camera ready?

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/26/2017 at 06:54pm

At this point the plan is to keep doing them monthly. I'll admit this is might be more to my schedule than everyone else's.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/26/2017 at 09:13pm

Does anyone think we should do more than monthly?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/26/2017 at 11:22pm

The reason we ended up going from twice-per-month to monthly was because we were trying to find content. Monthly, there's always content for us to discuss.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/27/2017 at 02:20pm

Maybe that's a good question, too. What would you guys like to hear in a CG podcast?

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/27/2017 at 10:27pm

I think what you guys already talk about is great. I didn't realize it was on a monthly basis. It would be cool if you guys could get some interviews during the podcast!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/27/2017 at 10:31pm

I agree, I'm pretty happy in general with the current content. I already use it as a podcast when I'm working, so no changes would be perfect for me :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/27/2017 at 11:19pm

Will: I've thought about doing interviews and I think it will be easier in the podcast format. Thanks for bringing it up, i'll think more about doing them that way.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/28/2017 at 12:24am

Awesome Jon!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/28/2017 at 03:26am

Yes, that's a great idea Will!

rettisawesome wrote on 02/02/2017 at 07:13pm

@jon I've thought for a long time you guys should have done the show while also recording an audio track. then you have the live version which is great, you can stream it on youtube and twitch, then take the audio and publish it as a podcast. This coming from a podcast guy though... not a video guy. Either way, exciting to see new things!

rettisawesome wrote on 02/02/2017 at 07:16pm

and further Jon, as far as timeline. The schedule depends on what you want. Weekly podcasts seem to garner more followers. Having a lot of interaction with people (weekly) helps grow that. And when new people come on, they listen to a current episode, then start in on your back catalog. The more there is, the more they'll listen (i know, obvious). If it doesn't work with your schedule. You might try longer recording sessions once a month, and divide them into multiple episodes monthly. If you have a base that knows what you are doing, once a month is fine. But if a new listener joins the ranks, they may forget you in a month.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/03/2017 at 04:01am

I like the idea of recording multiple things during a session. I'll think about how to do that.

> But if a new listener joins the ranks, they may forget you in a month.

How I listen to Podcasts is buy subscribing on iTunes podcast thingy and if I don't love, I unsub. People will also hear it embedded on our site. Maybe they will forget but it will be in their Podcast app, but I hear you that more regular content is better.

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More Incredible Speedruns From AGDQ 2016

As I continue watching the many speedruns from Awesome Games Done Quick I have a couple I wanted to share y'all could watch. The first one above is the Fallout New Vegas run by progamingwithed that took 24 minutes! It uses a strat I haven't seen before in that you can exploit a reload animation to travel very fast and jump incredibly high. If you like pacifist runs this is very close to that as progamingwithed needs to only kill a couple people making this one of the most peaceful Fallout runs i've even seen.

Contra Race

This years AGDQ featured a lot of great races and this one is a must watch. Themexicanrunner and toad22484 complete Contra in 10:40 and I don't want... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable S5 E1: Switching Up The New Year & Bonus Arrival Discussion

It's now 2017 and the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable is here to ring in the new year! We always start things off talking about what we're playing which is a fun mash of the new Nintendo Classic, Ocarina of Time 3D & Let it Die. Moving quickly into the fresh news of the day being the reveal of the full title of "Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi." What does this new title mean, why is the title red and will Jar-Jar be finally revealed as a Sith? Finally we end things off with our discussion of the Nintendo Switch dropping our thoughts on the new system and if we will be picking it up.

This is a special episode in that Scrypt and I stayed on longer at the end to have... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/24/2017 at 04:38am

WTF is that screencap, lol

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/24/2017 at 04:39am

Of all of the choices Google gave me, that one was the best. If you can imagine and i'm not trolling you on purpose.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/24/2017 at 05:18am

It's totally fine. I just think it's funny, some of the scenes it decides to capture. ;)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/24/2017 at 05:53am

Agreed.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/24/2017 at 10:24pm

I'm not a fan of "The Last Jedi," but I'm still looking forward to the movie.

Considering we're still discussing what "The Force Awakens" means, I don't think we have to take The Last Jedi literally (at least I hope it's not literal. I'd rather not have the main plot line spelled out clearly in the title)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/24/2017 at 10:32pm

I don't think they "Ferngullied" Star Wars either.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FernGully:_The_Last_Rainforest

/hopes

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 01/24/2017 at 10:36pm

We now know that episode 8 will have a crawl and start in space: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPqBSPZBRoo/

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Breath of the Wild Compared To Previous Zelda's And Skyrim

When Ocarina of Time came out in 1998 it was one of the biggest game worlds i'd ever experienced. As games like Fallout and Skyrim came out Ocarina now seems quaint but Nintendo seems ready to take on the the challenge of building a much larger Zelda game this time around. As you can see in the image above, Breath of the Wild dwarfs previous Zelda games as well as Skyrim. I'm not sure creating a larger game world makes a game better on it's own but having more space to play in will make the game much more immersive.

Massive Steam Update Brings Generic Controller Configuration Support & More

One cool thing about owning a Steam Controller is the ability to customize it for each game in your Steam library. Say you don't like the standard controller mapping for Terraria? You can change them it your liking or use a popular community control scheme to suit your needs. The native Steam Controller configurator has been a really cool part of Steam and in a recent Steam update Valve finally opened it up to other controllers.

"Added XBox 360, Xbox One, and Generic X-Input controller configurator support. This allows all recognized controller types to use the advanced mapping features of the Steam Controller Configurator. Note that because X-Input currently lacks... Read All