Blog Archives
Trying to Get Back in the Groove!
Hey guys! This post isn’t going to be anything special. I’m just trying to get back in the habit of blogging.
I might work on getting a Games I Played Recently post going. As I have been playing a ton of Zelda and Star Wars. I can also post a Manga haul as well as a video game What Not Haul.
So, those may be some posts to keep your eye out on. As far as animes go, I’ve just been slowly chipping away at One Piece. Though, I’ve mostly be watching the NBA playoffs.
Alright. That’s all I got for today! Thanks for reading!
A Creative Pitfall.
Hey guys! I love blogging on here. But every since I had my daughter that has gotten tougher. When we had our daughter, we went to a single income household. That didn’t make life easy for the first few months adjusting to that new lifestyle. At the same time, my job reduced its staff almost in half. We lost 3 retail employees and a warehouse employee. What did this mean for me? The guy who handled our online inventory? Suddenly, I had to pick up shifts downstairs on the retail floor. I had to cover lunch breaks. On the warehouse side of things, I was still putting on the same amount of inventory. Only now, we had one less pair of hands to pull and ship. So, a few days out of the week, I would have to go over to the warehouse to assist them. Basically, I went from 1 single focused job to being split into 3 different departments.
As Covid has shriveled up people’s disposable income, we’ve had to get creative with how we sell items and generate extra income. This meant turning to Whatnot to sell comics. I now stream 4 days a week for us on top of the other 3 departments I help out in. Trust me, I actually thrive here, and it’s not too much of a burden to juggle all these things. However, when I get home, I just want to focus on family. I still play games, watch shows, and read Mangas and Comics. The main difference now is that I don’t always feel like writing and scripting in-depth blogs about the matters. My recording setup has also become clunky at best. All this cuts into setting time aside for blogs and YouTube videos.
Lastly, I’m trying to switch from a consumer to a saver. This means I don’t want to be forking over money to keep up with the latest items to do reviews and such. A lot of my free time is going into looking into personal finances. I also realize I need a paying side hustle/side job. I fought that idea for a while because it felt counterintuitive. If I start putting all this time into a side hustle, that’s time away from my family. Which would be the antithesis of what I’m trying to accomplish. However, I’ve given so much of myself to my current job. I have more questions than answers about it’s long-term future. I want a more diverse skill set than the one I have here at work.
Long story short, I want to start blogging again- but as a hobby. I tried really hard to monetize it. To help justify it. I tried to pump out quality content while being pulled in a lot of different directions. It got to a point where the posts I was just putting out there were subpar and short. It may take me a while to find the balance of enjoying the content I’m making again without it feeling like a second job.
Here’s to hoping something productive will come out of this. If not, this will always be my little corner of the internet to vent and document my life.
Thanks for reading. Having a great day!
My NFL Power Rankings as of October 4th, 2022!
This week saw multiple teams in my top 10 face each other. As a result, we got some good shakes up coming today. The Chiefs routed the Bucs in a game that was rarely close. The Bills had an heroic comeback to edge the Ravens. All the while the Rams solidified they aren’t ready to be the premier NFC team to beat this season.
#10 Buccaneers– I was tempted to drop them out of the rankings but the Rams stunk it up on Monday night. This allows the Bucs one more week to get it right. They find themselves on a two game losing streak which would be more concerning if the losses were not to the Chiefs and Packers. The division looks beyond dreadful, so it’s not all doom and gloom, yet. Fittingly, Bucs and Falcons play each other this week for the right to be atop the woeful South.
#9 Bengals- Two weeks ago the Bengals were in a whole different position. They lost to the Steelers and Cowboys and were 0-2. They looked as if they were superbowl hungover or got lucky last year. Well, they’ve turned it around quickly. They grabbed a pair of wins over the Jets and Dolphins. They now play fellow top 10 rival, Ravens, this weekend. A win Sunday could go a long way to repeating as AFC champions.
#8 Cowboys- Move over Eagles, Cooper Rush is also unbeaten. Not only is Rush undefeated, he’s got some quality wins to his name. In his debut, he beat the Bengals. He then followed that up by handing the Giants their only loss of the season. If the Cowboys beat the Rams, it will officially cause a narrative shift. The NFC East will go from disfunctional and downright awful, to the best division of football. While over on the West, all those teams could end up being overrated and bad. What a year this could be.
#7 Packers- Packers are scoring high on everybody’s list. Maybe rightfully so. This is not a star studded team. But they are getting wins some how. They had multiple chances to blow it last week at home against a 3rd string rookie. But they didn’t. They held on. If they can handle the Giants this weekend in London, maybe they can crack the top 5.
#6 Vikings- Just like the Packers, a win is a win. Outside of thoroughly rocking the Packers in week 1, the Vikings have failed to impress. The Saints should have been overwhelmed without Winston, Kamara, or Michael Thomas. Still, the Saints found a way to only lose by 3. With that said, the Vikings have managed to keep a winning record going. I expect them to secure the win over the Bears this weekend as this is not the game they want to be slipping on.
#5 Ravens- I continue to give the Ravens a pass. The Ravens have, 2 out of the last 3 weeks, looked like they were going to make statement wins and climb to number 1 on the rankings. Yet, here they are at 2-2 because they cannot close out games. They were up 20-3 before letting the Bill’s score 20 unanswered. 2-2 is still a respectable record with losses to two teams ahead of them on this list. But a lose to the Bengals will shake this whole list up.
#4 Dolphins- We’ve come full circle. Everybody made excuses when the Dolphins beat the Ravens and Bills in back to back weeks. Now, on a short week, coming off of two emotional wins while watching their QB get knocked out of the game concussed, we find the Dolphins with their first loss. Dolphins are dropping hard on peoples rankings, but I’m going to give them 1 more week to prove it was a fluke this weekend. They play the Jets which should be a game they come out swinging in. Win it for Tua, boys.
#3 Bills- The Bills have not looked nearly as dominant lately as they did to start the season. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind they are one of the best teams in the league. They needed late game heroics from Allen, which you expect from a guy like him, and some questionable coaching from the Ravens, which you don’t expect from them, to snatch the win. If they rip the heart out of the Steelers then everything is back on track in Buffalo.
#2 Chiefs- As long as the Chiefs have Reid and Mahomes, they will always be my pick for the AFC. The AFC is fierce this year with at least 6 legitimate contenders and a handful of dark horses, but they continue to step up and just out last the best teams. I knew the Colts game was a fluke, but they don’t need anymore performances like that with all the talented teams chasing them.
#1 Eagles- I don’t know what to make of the Eagles at the moment. I would pick the Chiefs to beat the Eagles if they played tomorrow. However, if this defense keeps getting better, the Eagles will keep making the strongest case for #1. Falling down 14-0 early against one of the most red hot teams in the league didn’t matter. They forced 5 turnovers on young Trevor Lawrence. Many will wonder if it didn’t rain that game, would he have had as many turnovers. We don’t know. Maybe we can get a superbowl rematch?
My AP Top 10 Today! October 2nd, 2022!
Two top 10 teams fell to two ranked teams. There’s little shame in that, but some big shakeups. I have 2 new teams joining the top 10 while the others get shuffled around. Georgia looked beatable two weeks in a row, while Alabama and Ohio State continued to separate themselves. Here’s a breakdown of our top 10 college football teams.
#1 Ohio State- I’m convinced of 1 thing this weekend. There will be a new number 1. And the debate of Ohio State or Alabama will continue to rage on. For the last two weeks they have looked on another level after Georgia continues to struggle.
#2 Alabama- I’m not stressing about the ordering at this point in the season. Alabama took a quarter off against Arkansas before reminding them who their daddy was. Both Ohio State and Alabama have big matchups left. Eventually one of them will pull away in the voting, but for now they are equal in my eyes.
#3 Clemson- This very well could be Georgia, but Clemson has impressed me the most out of the remaining teams. They never looked bad this season. Their game with Wake was up in the air for most of it, but Wake Forest might turn out to be really good after all. They just bounced former top 10 team NC State. It appears as if Clemson is moving upward in momentum, whereas Georgia seems to be slipping as the season goes on.
#4 Georgia- Last week, I felt like you could slide Georgia down and it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Still, they had earned enough goodwill that I let last week’s performance go. I chalked it up to a fluke. I assumed they were playing down to lesser talent. However, this weekend reinforced Georgia might be actually struggling. Georgia’s defense saved them, holding Missouri to 5 field goals. This included a FG on a drive that got to the Georgia 1. The first half was miserable and hard to watch. Georgia got it going in the second half and eventually snatched the lead with mere minutes to go. Georgia needs a few get right games or they may continue to fall.
#5 Michigan– The biggest issue for Michigan remains that they haven’t played anyone, whereas Georgia will continue to be held up by the thrashing they put on Oregon. The offense seems to have slowed down a bit now that they are in conference play. That’s fine, but now they aren’t beating teams by 50. That’s kinda a big deal when you aren’t playing ranked opponents. Michigan desperately needs some big wins or some of the teams below them could jump them as the season progresses.
#6 USC– The same could be said about USC. Their offense is still humming along though. And the defense remains serviceable. As Lincoln Riley is finally not having win shootouts each week. The close game against Oregon State remains a knock against them moving higher, but if they rout Utah in addition to being unbeaten, USC could jump to #4.
#7 Oklahoma State- Okla State took a huge step forward in solidifying their top 10 status by ousting Baylor. The Big 12 looks to be stacked top to bottom, but will ultimately be hindered for not having any elite schools. Still if Oklahoma State can take care of business this season, we will see how high they climb.
#8 Tennessee– The slide for Tennessee is fairly easy to explain. They were on bye while USC and Oklahoma State had chances to impress, also, factor in Pitt losing, which was one of their resume builders. It all adds up to a week that doesn’t exactly help you move up.
#9 Ole Miss– There’s a chance in the AP Poll the committee just moves Ole Miss to 7, taking Kentucky’s spot. I’m opting to put them here for now. The SEC West will provide opportunities to keep climbing. Still they edged out fellow SEC overachiever Kentucky, which never hurts your case.
#10 Utah- I view the 10 spot as a 4 headed race. Penn State would be a front runner if we were going off records, but Penn State has not impressed outside of a good showing at Auburn. Oregon has bounced back tremendously after week 1 thumping to Georgia, but not enough to jump into the top 10. Kentucky barely lost on the road against a now top 10 team. I would understand completely if you left Kentucky at 10. Though. My vote goes to Utah. They gutted a team that just took USC to the wire. They, too, have rebounded nicely from their week 1 let down, which could’ve been a fluke at this point.
So there’s my top 10 for this week. I’m feeling pretty good about it. By my estimations there are six teams getting removed from the top 25: Oklahoma, Texas A and M, Florida State, Minnesota, Arkansas and Pittsburgh. Baylor is probably on a short leash now, or out as well. That opens the door for a few teams such as UCLA, Kansas, TCU, LSU, Mississippi State, Cincinnati or Washington State.
What do you guys think of the rankings? Where would put teams? Let me know in the comments down below.
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Ranking Whomp’s Fortress Stars!
Today we will be ranking the 7 stars of Whomp’s Fortress. Remember, we base this off of fun factor with a mix of iconicness. I tend to value things like exploring the level and fun tricks more so than degree of ease or difficulty. With that in mind, let’s rank em.
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#7 Blast Away the Wall- This was an easy one. Some people may rate this higher for its pivotal role in speed runs, but I don’t care for this star. I should take a minute to add that this is one of the most notorious stars in Mario 64 history. It may seem pretty simple at first. Hop into the cannon and, well, blast away that wall. But Speed runners found a way to clip through the wall, obtaining the star cannonless. This became an early barrier to entry into speed running Super Mario 64. Your run often henged on hitting cannonless first try. As a kid, this star was iconic in my mind for being one I had to google. How was a 6 year old suppose to find this star? As a kid, I thought this was such a cool star. As an adult, it is just kind of boring.
#6 Fall Into the Cage– The first star we’ve come across that I actively don’t like. The owl mechanic seemed so cool on paper. But this star would absolutely drain me sometimes. Especially if I haven’t played in awhile. This star has accounted for so many deaths it is not funny. As it doesn’t take missing by much to fall to your death. Once you get the hang of the owl, this is a pretty neat star. And it can be done fairly quickly for what that’s worth.
#5 100 Coin Star- I typically go to bat for the 100 coin stars. And I do think this one is pretty good. However, this is the first level to introduce insta death. Which means as you are ascending the level and inching closer to that 100th coin, death is always a misclick away. I like it, but for that, I got to drop it a bit.
#4 Shoot into the Wild Blue- This star confused me as a kid. As I thought you literally had to shoot off the map. I also was not good with the cannons. After countless misfires, my brother and I tried so many different ways to get this star including trying to drop from above to it. I don’t remember when we discovered wall jumping, but that is exclusively how I get this star now. As I still don’t trust those cannons.
#3 Chip Off of Whomp’s Block- Just as I go to bat for the 100 coin stars, I tend to not like many of the boss fights in Mario 64. They’re fine for the time, but they are easily one of the least favorite parts about the game. Whomp is no different. He’s just a variation of King Bomb Omb. The phasing glitch makes him one of the easiest bosses, too. So why is this #3. It’s because, which is a common theme with boss fights in this game, it encourages you to explore the whole map. The next two stars have even more to explore and aren’t derailed by a boss fight. So Whomp sits here at 3.
#2 Red Coins on the Floating Isle- There’s two things that bug me about this star. First, the floating isles are not unlocked immediately. This means if you are someone who likes to get 100 coins first, thus getting the 8 red coins, you really can’t. But you can still get like 5 before you learn about the isles and have to do it all over again later. Secondly, I think only 3 of the coins are found on the isles. What kind of false advertising is this? Outside of that, this a fun level to explore and the isles were always a neat section to me. Wish they had just embraced the name and made the section bigger with all 8 coins.
#1 To the Top of the Fortress- If you know me, you probably knew this was number 1. I still cannot explain where the tower came from, but this is one of my favorite stars in the game. Koopa the Quick in Stage 1 took a bit of a hit for ultimately feeling like a rehash of the previous star. TtTotF adds on to its former star by adding a small new obstacle, the tower. It too, is not dragged down by the boss fight, meaning this star is more platforming bliss. I could see either this or the 8 red coins being my favorite. But the Tower always stood out to me. As an adult I wish they would have expanded both the Tower and Isles. Either way, The Tower takes my #1 Star.
Whomp’s Fortress was never my favorite, but the level was fun in the way it moved upward. It never felt like it had the same sandbox energy as Bomb-Omb Batflefield, but it does have some neat sections and fun stars. So how would you have ranked all the stars?
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My NFL Power Rankings as of September 28th, 2022.
Alright. This wacky year of NFL where no one is safe continues. Giants and Lions sat outside my top 10 last week and each choked away games they probably should have won. The Chiefs and Bills lost but that was nothing compared to what the Cardinals and Chargers went through. Here’s my Top 10 heading into week 4.
#10 Jaguars- Boy, oh boy. Jaguars were a popular dark horse heading into the year. T-Law was expected to make the leap in his sophomore season behind a new coaching staff. I get that. What I didn’t see happening was two fold. A. Them to blow the Colts and Chargers out. B. For the AFC South to be awful like this. Colts and Titans were suppose to be competing all season for that division. The Titans were the #1 seed last year and the Colts were a mistake free QB away from the wildcard. All this while the Jags were the worst franchise in the NFL last year. What a difference one year makes.
#9 Buccaneers- This defense might keep them in the top 10 long enough to get their offensive playmakers back. I do believe a healthy Buccaneers team will be one of the ten best teams at the end of the season. However, there is no denying that this team is extremely beatable in the meantime. The Bucs play the Chiefs next week. If that game gets ugly, Buccaneers could be out next week. Brady and this defense are going to try to keep the cannons firing though.
#8 Packers- This was a big win for the Packers. There’s no denying that. Both teams entered banged up and the Packers escaped with the W. This puts them firmly ahead of the Bucs for now, while slightly behind the Vikings. At the end of the day though, there’s not too much more to add. Like the Bucs and Chargers (and I’m sure a few more teams), they need to get it together and get healthy by post season.
#7 Vikings– Things were dicey there for 3 and half quarters, but the Vikes avoided being the Yikes. Week 1’s thrashing of the Packers seems like a whole season ago at this point. As they followed that victory up with getting embarrassed by the Eagles on Monday night. Than again, by trailing the rebuilding Lions for 80% of the game. There are definitely some 2-1 teams getting better each week that are nipping at a top 10 spot (such as Cleveland), that would love for 1 more uninspired game. All that said, they are worthy of the 7 spot. They beat fellow top 10 team in the Packers, and extinguished the Lions fire, who was America’s sweetheart. Their only lose was to the Eagles who are out here stomping everyone.
#6 Rams- Standing right outside the top 5 are the Rams. They had one of the better wins pulling away from the Cardinals. Which is good as they have looked Superbowl hung over prior to this weekend. They play the 49ers, which could be a statement game. With the Bill’s and Ravens facing each other this weekend, The Rams could jump in the top 5 with a clean victory.
#5 Ravens- Well, the Ravens have as good an argument for #1 as about any team on this list. People seemed to forgive the loss to the Dolphins due to defensive injuries. This is the NFL though. Last year, the Ravens were beating people with their 3rd string QB. They were a defensive meltdown away from being the number one team in the league. I can’t make excuses either because you have Lamar, everybody’s MVP favorite right now. Run the clock and get out of there. Lamar continued to shine against the Patriots. If he destroys the Bills, the Ravens could have a claim as the number 1 next week. Remember, win and all is forgiven.
#4 Chiefs– I told you guys with a loss they wouldn’t fall out of the top 5. Now, if they lose at the Buccaneers this weekend it could be a different story. I’m still not sure how you lose to the Colts, but I’m gonna say that was there one stinker and they get right this weekend. Otherwise we will see how far they fall. As, in hindsight, their close win against the Chargers might have been more telling then we realized.
#3 Bills- For two weeks in a row, people disrespect the Dolphins. Again, I’m not making excuses for the losing team here. The Bill’s had the ball for 40 minutes and even got a safety. I continue to hear that the Dolphins beat another banged up secondary. Which has some merit, but why couldn’t this Bills high powered offense score more than 19? The Dolphins only scored 21. Josh Allen should get 22 on a bad day. The Bill’s and Ravens are set to square off in the Excuse Bowl next week. The winner moves into top 3 if not higher. Should be an awesome game.
#2 Dolphins- I’ll be the one person to give Tua and the Dolphins some darn respect. They beat arguably the two best teams in the league. Sure there were injuries and its still early in the season. But for ranking purposes, we have to respect the results. They do not look as dominant as the Eagles, but their wins are easily the best of anyone this season. I know if they lose the press will come after them, so I’m going to let them enjoy it while it last. Fins up, baby.
#1 Eagles- I wish the Eagles and Dolphins could play each other this week to settle things. This was a hotly contested argument in my head. I almost went Dolphins, again off of their wins. Everyone I have talked to says Eagles for #1. At the end of the day, if they did play tomorrow, I would go Eagles. The Eagles really need to start facing some tough opponents though. This matchup against Jacksonville should give up a better picture.
My New Comic Picks Ups September 21st, 2022.
Hey guys, Jessica and I picked up 9 comics this week. Let’s take a look at em.
The comics are as followed: Vanish, Teen Titans Bloodpact, Usagi Yojimbo, Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special Artgerm Variant, Edge of Spider-Verse #4, DC Vs Vampires All Out War, Titans United: Blood Pact Chew Variant, Poison Ivy 4 Frison Variant and Radiant Black.
DC provided many good cover buys this week while one of my favorite characters, Usagi Yojimbo, continues his adventure. Two new number 1s hit shelves this week in Teen Titans and Vanish.
So, by all accounts, this was another awesome week in comics, guys. What all did you guys pick up and what are you reading? Let me know in the comments. Thanks so much for reading guys!
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My AP Top 10 Today! College Football Predictions!
For some reason this post never published. I’m going to publish it, then immediately start working on this weeks, September 18th, 2022.
Week 2 is in the books. This means it’s time for my top 10. Now I say predictions, but I would be surprised if this is exactly how it shakes out. Truthfully, this is just how I feel about things. Be sure to check the actual AP website for the official Top 25.
#1 Georgia- Through 2 weeks Georgia appears to be the clear favorite. They landed the signature win over previously number #11 Oregon. They then followed that up by cruising past Samson with a shutout.
#2 Ohio State- On one hand, OSUs slow start against Notre Dame looks worse considering Notre Dame went out and wet the bed. However, they did pull away in the end, which is more than Alabama can say about Texas.
#3 Alabama- For once in recent memory, Alabama looked very flustered. A lot of that was that Texas home field advantage. I lost count of how many penalties Alabama got. They did manage to win by 1 point, which was beyond close when you factor in that Alabama escaped a would be safety and Texas missed a close up field goal. The good news is the West looks down this year.
#4 Michigan- Michigan has looked in total control this year. They’ve stomped both opponent’s handily, but they haven’t played anyone of substance, which the top 3 can all say they’ve had a tougher schedule up to this point. With that said, they look like a top 4 team so far.
#5 Clemson- Clemson is suffering the same fate as Michigan, only they haven’t looked nearly as dominant yet. Still 2-0 counts for something after how brutal last week was.
#6 USC- We will see if the hype in South California is real as the season goes on. For now, they look like a potential candidate for best offense this season. An impressive showing in back to back weeks and a bevy of upsets allow the Trojans to keep jumping in the rankings.
#7 Oklahoma- We all expected a slow down from the offense this year, but the defense seems to be improving. Still it will be hard to guage where this team truly is until conference play. Suddenly Baylor looks worse while Texas looks infinitely better than anyone could have guessed.
#8 Oklahoma State- Oklahoma State found themselves in a shoot out last week, which hurt their perception. Still, they tightened that side of the ball up and got a nice 34-17 win this weekend.
#9 Michigan State- Number 9 is where I start to get less confident in my picks. There is a mountain of bodies this week with 3 top 10 teams, and at least 1 more of ahead of MSU, all losing this week. Nevertheless, I’m putting Michigan State here for their dominant performance this weekend.
#10 Arkansas- Arkansas took care of a fellow SEC team, South Carolina. Admittedly my eyes were glued to Texas/Alabama in this time slot, but they did manage to pull out a double digit win, which counts for something.
I’m very interested to see where some teams lands following one of the craziest week 2s of recent memory. Notre Dame is probably out of my top 25, even if the AP Poll leaves them in. Texas A and M could slide to #10, a move I believe is likely if Miami slides in the top 10. This is to ensure a top 10 match up for next week. I don’t think Utah should move in the top 10 considering they have that 1 loss. And that loss was to Florida, who turned around and also lost. I know Tennessee and Kentucky will be big movers, but I’m not sure they will crack the top 10. BYU will also move into the top 15 if I had to guess.
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Manga Monday! August 22nd, 2022!
Today, we have a themed Manga Monday. Each manga is a volume from one franchise. That franchise is The Legend of Zelda!
If you follow the blog or the Youtube channel, you know I love the Legend of Zelda. So when I stumbled across a store that doesn’t really sell mangas, I could not pass them up! Check out this sweet haul!
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So to recap, we scored:
Ocarina of Time Volume #1.
Ocarina of Time Volume #2.
Four Swords Volume #1
Four Swords Volume #2
Oracle of Seasons
Oracle of Ages
Phantom Hourglass
Majora’s Mask
And Minish Cap
Want any of these mangas in your collection? Pick them up on Amazon here!
These are some of my favorite video games from the franchise, so they were welcomed additions to my manga collection.
So what Mangas have yall read or bought here recently?
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My Five Favorite Super Mario Power Ups!
A month ago or so The Completionist put out a video ranking every Super Mario Power Up. If you haven’t seen his video, make sure to watch it here! Now I am not that ambitious, nor have I played every Super Mario game. Thus, I am not qualified to speak on every power up. With that in mind, I will be writing about my five favorite power ups. This isn’t the five most iconic or powerful power ups. It’s MY favorite. As a result, you might disagree with my picks. That’s fine. Leave your five favorite in the comments below.
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#5 Super Leaf (Super Mario 3D Land)
Tanooki Mario kicks off the list. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of the 2D side scroller Mario games. 3D Land marked a change for me. This was the first game I got for my 3DS. Naturally, I played this game out and got pretty addicted to it. The takooni suit definitely played a role. It checks a lot of boxes for me. It granted an additional point of health, which, to be fair, most Mario power ups do as well. It gave Mario an additional attack with his tail. It helped exploration, but not to the same extent the other power ups on the list do. It gave Mario the ability to sort of flutter. This eased his fall allowing more precise landing. Not quite as game breaking as other power ups, but certainly welcomed!
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#4 Ice Flower (Super Mario Galaxy)
The Ice Flower in the 3D games was a welcomed addition. It truly added a layer of complexity to your standard world traversing and platforming. This is in thanks to how it granted Mario the ability to interact with water. he was now able to run across water surfaces as well as wall jump off waterfalls. Yes, these seem pretty simple and straightforward compared to the dynamic of something like Cappy. Nonetheless, it gave Super Mario Galaxy some welcomed layers, making the exploration of it’s galaxy all the more fun.
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#3 Super Star (Super Mario Bros.)
The original Super Mario Bros did give us plenty of iconic power ups from the Mushroom to the Flower Fire. Most of these power ups were insanely powerful in the original game. However, most, if not all, of those OG power ups have been power crept. The classic super star is no exception. Plenty of the newer games give insane invincibility effects such as the Leaf and Bell. Still, I am giving the Super Star the nod for being so darn iconic. After all, the Super Star would go to become the games measuring stick for progress in most of the 3D adventures. As in Super Mario 64, the more stars you had, the more doors you could unlock. With all these factors in play, I believe it is worthy of the number 3 spot.
#2 Cloud Flower (Super Mario Galaxy 2)
Truthfully, this is arguably one of my favorite power ups in any game. This power up is so perfect for a 3D Platformer. If you are unfamiliar with the Cloud Flower, here’s how it works. When Mario gains the power of the clouds, he is able to create 3 cloud based platforms. If you thought I gushed about the Ice Flower, that was nothing compared to the Cloud Flower. I absolutely loved the way Mario was able to create a revolutionary power up while keeping it within the Mario charm. This powerful ability feels balanced by only allowing Mario to create 3 platforms, yet this still grants a lot dynamics to exploring the levels. Now you will want to start seeing where you can now go. I just think this power up is extremely interesting. Whenever Mario returns to more traditional power ups, this is one I definitely hope makes a return.
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#1 Super Bell (Super Mario 3D World)
Cat Mario was a true game changer. In my opinion it did everything you want a power up to do. It makes you better. It grants an extra hit to Mario’s health. Which, in a Mario game is huge. It also makes you more powerful by granting Mario a new attack. With this ability he can lunge his newly gained claws towards enemies. And finally, it mixes up exploration. Now, Mario has the ability to climb walls. This grants Mario access to new locations, higher areas and short cuts. It was a tight race between Cloud Flower and Super Bell for me. However, I feel like Cat Mario just providers a wider dynamic change for the game. Where Cloud Flower really only aids in exploration, Super Bell does that as well as makes Mario actually stronger. It’s for that reason I give the slight nod to Super Bell.
Don’t have Super Mario 3D World? Purchase it here!
So, there you have it. Those are my favorite power ups. Which ones are yours? Let me know down below!
Remember, you can us my Robinhood referral link to sign up and get a free stock!
Robinhood referral link: https://join.robinhood.com/wesleyh-69f6fa
Continued Reading:
Ranking The Bob-Omb Battlefield Stars!
Video Game Grail? (A Response to the MetalJesusRocks Facebook Page)
Da_Hubbz 