Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Wars. Show all posts

Sunday, 31 May 2015

Mario vs Darth Vader - Who Would Win


Mario vs Darth Vader – Who Would Win

Throughout the galaxy humanity is full of many iconic heroes and villains. Today I pit two of the most iconic of all in a battle I’m sure everyone in the universe wants an answer too. Mario, Italy’s greatest icon vs a returning CoolStuff Blog who would win champion and all powerful sith Lord, Darth Vader. In a battle with no outside interference who would come out on top? Let’s find out.

 

 I’ll start with gaming most recognisable figure, Mario. Appearing throughout countless games over many years Mario has a huge array of skills. He can drive, play multiple sports, is an Olympic athlete and has done pretty much anything you could possibly think of in his games except actual plumbing. Being a plumber, his most common activity is often saving Princess Peach, the universes most useless Human Being from the clutches of Bowser.

 

From his adventures it is highly apparent that Mario has incredible speed, agility and strength. He can smash bricks with his fists, crush creatures to death with the power of his stomp and can jump well over his own height. He also has incredible stamina as shown in his games where he can continue to run at full speed without ever needing to pause and take a break. Throughout his games he has also tackled many environments showing he can adapt to multiple environments such as places of immense heat or even under water without any difficulty what so ever.

 

Mario’s physical abilities are all well and good but most of his power comes through the power up’s he finds in his games, the most iconic being those strange red mushrooms that somehow make him grow bigger. This would likely increase his physical attributes and fighting ability. Beyond these super mushrooms Mario’s power ups almost all fit into two categories, exploration and combat. I’ll start off with exploration based power ups.

 

The earliest examples of these power up’s were the frog and Tanooki suit from Super Mario Bros 3. The frog suit does have the weakness of looking absolutely ridiculous however it does allow Mario even higher jumps, increased speed and the ability to swim at super human speeds. The Tanooki suit meanwhile allows Mario to glide and tail whip. Also he can turn himself into a statue however there is a glaring weakness that wearing it will incur the wrath of PETA. Animal rights group aside however the Tanooki suit has a strange bunch of useful movement powers. The Statue leaf also gives Mario abilities very similar to the Tanooki suit.

 

Mario can transform himself into different animal version of himself. The Super Acorn creates Flying Squirrel Mario. This means Mario can glide and cling to walls like a real flying squirrel and perform a mid-air jump which I’m pretty sure flying squirrels can’t do. There’s also the lucky and super bells that turn Mario into Cat Mario who is just like what you’d expect. Cat Mario runs significantly faster and can also climb poles and walls as well as slash at enemies with his claws. A carrot meanwhile turns Mario into Bunny Mario who can slow his decent and hover in mid-air and the penguin suit forms penguin Mario who can slide on his belly, swim freely and throw ice balls.

 

Gliding and swimming is all well and good but Mario has encountered many power ups that give him the power of flight. A good example is the P – Wing which lets him fly and also the cape feather which turns Mario into Caped Mario. Caped Mario can fly, glide and perform and ground smash or cape spin move. The wing cap can also provide Mario with temporary flight as can the bee mushroom, which also gives Mario the ability to walk on clouds and not that it’ll be relevant but stick to honey comb.

 

Mario Galaxy 2 introduced a cloud flower and rock mushroom which I like to think were though up of last minute by looking out a window. Cloud Mario can create up to 3 cloud platforms for himself which he can now walk on in cloud form along with other clouds. His jumps also become floatier. Rock Mario meanwhile can break and destroy things by rolling into them. Mario can also find a power balloon that allows him to inflate and float.

 

Mario’s most well-known combat power up is his fire flower, a flower that gives him the power to shoot fireballs from his hands. He also has access to the Gold Flower which allows him to throw golden fireballs which explode on impact. He can create clones of himself with the copy cap and turn himself into Metal Mario with the metal cap. Metal Mario has a huge increase to strength while losing no agility and gaining a lot of weight for attacking. He also has no need to breathe in this form as he can survive toxic fumes.

 

Mario can shrink to mini Mario with a mini mushroom and walk on water as well as make floaty jumps. A mega mushroom meanwhile turns him into Mega Mario, a savage destroyer of everything he comes across. The boomerang flower allows Mario to throw boomerangs and the hammer suit lets Mario throw hammers.

 

Mario’s most powerful power ups are his stars however. They grant him temporary invincibility and increased speed. He also instantly kills anything he touches. Mario isn’t much of a thinker but has overcome odds thrown at him for longer than any other video game character and is a match for virtually anyone.

 

Darth Vader is a powerful Sith Lord who wields the power of the dark side of the force. Vader at times seems completely invulnerable and undefeatable and yet he can also be extremely vulnerable with many exploitable weaknesses. His most obvious form of attack is his lightsabre. A lightsabre is not capable of cutting through anything, however it can cut through everything Mario has at his disposal outside of his invincible mode after touching a star. Vader is a highly skilled swordsmen, combining raw skill, strategy and the power of the force to overcome his cumbersome armour to be a highly skilled fighter with his blood red sabre.

 

Darth Vader’s armour is extremely tough and can withstand many strong blows. It also increases Vader’s strength and stamina making him physically superior to a normal human. The armour isn’t all good however. Most notably without it Vader cannot survive. It is a life support machine and it is the only thing keeping him alive. It is also heavy and cumbersome meaning Vader is not an agile mover. The armour surprisingly is also not very well optimized and uses out of date technology. It is uncomfortable to wear and limits Vader force potential and can be shorted out with electricity.

 

Don’t let this fool you into underestimating Vader however. Even with this restriction Darth Vader is still one of the most powerful force users ever known. His mastery of the force makes him extremely dangerous, he is quite capable of choking you with his mind. The force also grants him telekinesis and force push abilities as well as use his lightsabre as a throwing weapon, almost like a boomerang. He can also use the force to shield himself from attacks as seen by his deflecting of Han Solo’s shots in the Empire Strikes Back and the force also acts as like another sense, giving him knowledge of his surroundings.

 

The last thing of note to mention with Vader is his anger and how it channels the Dark Side. The angrier Vader gets the more dangerous he becomes. The greater his rage the more powerful the Dark Sides connection with Vader is and he can become almost unstoppable if in a blind rage.

 

Darth Vader is perhaps the most iconic villain in movie history and for good reason. Despite his many flaws he is a powerhouse, a highly skilled and intelligent fighter and surely capable of killing a plump Italian bloke with a silly moustache.

 

Is he capable though? Mario could draw the battle out with his array of movement based power ups. He could fly away, swim away, hide in the clouds or climb up a tall object. Running away won’t do any damage to Vader however and Darth Vader would catch him eventually.

 

It should be noted Darth Vader is a more intelligent fighter than Mario. Most of Mario’s victories over Bowser involve jumping on a switch that for some reason breaks the bridge Bowser in stood on. This will be a lot tougher and in a simple brawl Mario would stand no chance. He can jump higher and move quicker but Darth Vader would have no trouble cutting him down with his lightsabre.

 

Darth Vader’s force deflection and tough armour could protect him from Mario’s power up attacks and a giant Mario would have similar problems, it’s not like Vader couldn’t kill mega Mario in a similar way. Let’s face it, Mario’s screwed … or is he?


What dies Mario excel in in this fight. Metal Mario is completely unaffected by the force choke, he is far quicker than Vader and would have the edge in a large open environment and remember he is very experienced in facing impossible odds. The big thing however are the super stars. Increased speed and temporary invincibility are great and more importantly he kills anything he touches. It doesn’t last very long but does it matter if he can reach Vader before it runs out. In this invincible mode nothing can harm Mario, he would be immune to every force or lightsabre attack thrown at him. Vader isn’t fast enough in that bulky armour to escape an invincible and sped up Mario. There’s no way around this, the winner and I’m very surprised has to be Mario.






Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back - Review


Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back – Review

After the trailer we all saw a few days ago I was really in the mood for Star Wars. It’d been way too long since I had watched the Empire Strikes back and I was curious to see whether it’s as good as I always think it is.  When asked my favourite film I would always proudly admit it was the Empire Strikes back so how was it now? Let you be warned there will be spoilers although let’s face it, everyone in the universe knows what happens in this film.

 

The Empire Strikes Back follows the aftermath of the Rebellion destroying the Death Star. A good film needs a good plot and this film definitely has that. The first film set a great foundation and Empire really ups the stakes. It would have been very easy to unite the same crew as last time and send them all off but instead after a short time our main protagonists get separated. This was a great move as not only did it allow more locations and thus show us more of the world that was being created but also meant the characters had new challenges to overcome.

 

If plot is the bread then characters are the butter and a sandwich with butter is a dry and thirsty experience, so how were the characters? We’ll start with our main protagonist Luke. A bit of a tangent here but when you think of the prequels what is one of the main things that sticks out? For me it’s how irritating Anakin was. I am not criticising the actor, honestly considering what tripe he had to work with I think he did a decent job. This is especially apparent in scenes with no dialogue but the point is he was whiney and stuck up and perhaps most importantly for this kind of story, completely unreliable. Luke could be whiney at times but it was never annoying because we could kind of see what he was saying. He reacted to how many people would but he was still brave and determined and all those good things you want in a hero. Unlike what the prequels did with Anakin, Luke was written to kind of stray the border at times with good and bad and it wouldn’t be unfeasible to see him go either way but at the same time we wanted to see him succeed.

 

The other two main leads, Han Solo and Princess Leia spend a lot of time together throughout the film and take up a lot of screen time so if they had no chemistry this would be a huge problem. Luckily they’re really enjoyable to watch. I’m a huge fan of Han Solo, he’s the kind of character I’d like to think I was similar too even though I know it’s definitely not the case. He’s if nothing else, really cool. More than that though he was a character I enjoyed seeing the growth of. He started out in the first Star Wars as just in it for the money and let’s face it, a bit selfish. He develops though from the guy who shot first into a genuinely good guy, one you could always rely on. He never loses that swagger and bravado that makes him such a great character to begin with.

 

Leia doesn’t quite have such an arc, she doesn’t change anywhere near as much as Luke or Han but that doesn’t mean she’s not interesting. She is strong and she holds her own and she doesn’t need to be rescued all the time. I also like the chemistry between Han and Leia, they do bounce of each other well and again unlike the prequel it is like a real romance. You do believe what’s happening, you don’t just have to assume they’re in love because George Lucas says so.

 

Now I need to talk about Darth Vader. Right. Do villains get any better? I doubt it, Vader was a powerhouse in this film. Like everything else he really stepped it up for the Empire Strikes Back. He was far more evil here and while we saw him do a few cool things in the first film we really get an idea of his power here. He executes people by choking them, he throws stuff at Luke and the lightsaber duel is superb, it really highlights how easy Vader finds it to block Luke’s assaults. Vader is powerful but he’s also complex and while his character isn’t explored that much there are subtle moments with him that I absolutely love. I loved it when we saw the back of his head and how it was all scared and I like seeing him bow to the Emperor. Little moments like that I thought did a great job of showing us a bit more without having to spell it out to us.

 

Of course there are so many great supporting characters it’s hard to fit them all in to one blog post. Yoda was a fantastic mentor character, we are always aware there is more to him but it never just gives it all away and equally we are shown how wise he is. Chewbacca has great interactions with Han, C3PO has some good lines (I especially like it when Han is making his move on Leia and runs charges into the room exclaiming about some random sci-fi gibberish). Lando is like more awesome cool smuggler character and Boba Fett for all 12 seconds he’s there is just plain awesome.

 

There are some amazing scenes in this movie, I’ve already mentioned the show down with Luke and Vader, the chase through the asteroid field is great, the battle for Hoth was cool and one of my favourite ever movie scenes is in this movie. It’s where Han gets frozen in carbonite and it’s a fantastic scene. The line I know was so fitting and such a great way of emphasizing the moment.  The music is perfect and then we see Vader’s helmet through the smoke! I love that scene.

 

There’s so much more I could talk about and I could go on for pages and pages but instead I’ll answer the question of is the Empire Strikes back as good as it has been in my head. Absolutely, the film is a masterpiece and if you’re one of the 3 people on earth who hasn’t seen it then I highly recommend you do.