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Post by PDoogan on Nov 22, 2007 20:04:44 GMT -5
I know we already have a star topic, but I want this to be about something a little different. Super Mario Galaxy has really made me question the true definition of the Mario world "star".
Now this next part is more of just a little tidbit of info more then a spoiler: Lumas are said to grow up to be suns, planets and most importantly: power stars. But your probably thinking "But what about the star people in Paper Mario? Well that where I've come up with a theory.
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Power stars and Starmen are most likely two different things.
Power stars really don't do anything but create power. There not alive, or they are and just can't talk, like a mushroom or fire flower. They are created when some lumas grow up.
Stamen. on the other hand on those guys up in Star Haven, i.e: Twink, Geno, Star Spirts, ect. Star kids become star men. (duh)
Now, there may be a third kind of star, the kind that makes Mario invincible, or it may be one of the other two. Considering Mario never encountered a power-up that talks to him, I would guess it's probably the power star.
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Post by Toomai on Nov 22, 2007 20:40:52 GMT -5
Definately agreed that there's a division between sentient stars and inanimate stars. It's interesting how Lumas only turn into inanimate things, though. (Planets, Sling Stars, certain mushrooms, etc.)
And I would say that the Invincibility Star is a third type. It's different from a Power Star in that it bounces around (as in, affected by gravity), it's temporary (Power Stars seem to be infinite), and they have a specific use (Power Stars can really be used for anything).
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 22, 2007 20:42:19 GMT -5
The official name for the invincibility star is starman, though. :/
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Post by Toomai on Nov 22, 2007 22:08:41 GMT -5
Not in all games. Sometimes it's just called a "Star".
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Post by PDoogan on Nov 22, 2007 22:37:19 GMT -5
They've gotten away from calling it a starman. That most occurs in the older games. I'm not sure if that's because of Paper Mario, or just the fact that the power-up possesses no man-like qualities.
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 1:02:00 GMT -5
Not true; every instance in which it grants invincibility calls it a Starman, including newer games such as New Super Mario Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Whenever it's called a star it doesn't grant invincibility. (Except in SMRPG, but this holds true for the majority)
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Post by Toomai on Nov 23, 2007 7:34:29 GMT -5
Whether it's being used today or not, I think using the term "Starman" for invincibility stars is a little archaic. The reason being that no other powerup in SMB had eyes; maybe they wanted to "explain" why it had eyes and the others didn't. Nowadays everything has eyes, so if they were set on continuing the trend, we'd have "Flowerman" and "Mushroomman".
And besides, it's only ever called a "Starman" in the instruction books (and trophy hall). I don't think a character has ever said the name "Starman". (And I don't think the players call it as such, either. They just stay "that dude ran me over with a Star.")
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 11:09:19 GMT -5
The word "star" in reference to invincibility is a word almost entirely invented by fans. It is by no means official. In fact, although I haven't played Galaxy yet, I can't think of a single instance in which they were called Starmen and didn't grant invincibility. Also, quite a bit of the official art for Super Mario Bros. showed a mushroom with eyes.
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Post by Toomai on Nov 23, 2007 12:25:12 GMT -5
Aha! I think I have an idea.
Starmen that give invincibility are just living Starmen that have been trapped in "Star Shells". Mario (or Luigi) grabbing a Starman would break the Star Shell, freeing the Starman. The Starman would protect them for a little while as a reward. As for the Star items in games like Mario Kart, they're Starmen that willingly entered Star Shells (I don't imagine it'd be uncomfortable, just isolative).
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Post by PDoogan on Nov 23, 2007 13:28:36 GMT -5
Responding to what SG said: In Mario Galaxy, considering there is so much talk of stars and power stars and stuff, they deiced to make it less confusing to the players by calling the invincibility power-up a "rainbow-star". It does the exact same thing as the star power-up in every other Mario game, but just has a different name so you know it's not the kind your collecting.
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 14:21:27 GMT -5
Ah, OK. That works out. And Toomai, that seems like a plausible theory. I would like to change it slightly, though; in Mario Kart 64, the official name is "Super Star." Maybe it's a slightly different variety? This could help explain the speed boost.
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Post by PDoogan on Nov 23, 2007 15:14:25 GMT -5
Oh hey, I got it! Toomai's theory make sence, but instead of the starman being trapped in a shell, they could be stuck inside the item block. After all, if they weren't in the block, they would just bounce away before Mario got there, right?
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 16:06:35 GMT -5
Well...yes and no. Occasionally in Super Mario World, you will find a solitary Starman. They bounce only after coming out of the block. I think it's something to do with propulsion, as the suits in SMB3 bounce in the same fashion.
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Post by Toomai on Nov 23, 2007 16:38:44 GMT -5
Yeah, everything that pops out of a block gets thrown upwards ('cause they're hit from below) and then it bounces around.
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 17:20:29 GMT -5
Not everything. Any type of mushroom just slides, coins are automatically collected somehow, Fire Flowers, Keys, P-Switches, and Blue Shells don't move at all, P-Balloons float horizontally, and Cape Feathers slowly glide down. Hmmm...curious. Some of those don't make sense.
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Post by PDoogan on Nov 23, 2007 18:43:05 GMT -5
Yeah, well the bouncing part wasn't really the part I was tring to make. The important thing is, Mario frees the starman trapped in the block.
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 23, 2007 19:37:55 GMT -5
That would make sense, however, like I said, there are Starmen that stay in one place without a block and grant invincibility.
While we're on the subject of power-ups, how exactly does the random-item block work? (In SMW)
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Post by Meta Black Yoshi on Nov 26, 2007 2:30:44 GMT -5
Some kind of dimentional portal? Maybe we could just attribute some of the things to in-game only stuff. Or maybe, It's just some kind of special box containing multiple items and when hit, randomly releases one and then closes off. Kinda like a free lottery or something....:/
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Post by shadowgoomba on Nov 26, 2007 13:01:46 GMT -5
The only problem with that theory is that it continues to change after released.
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Post by Meta Black Yoshi on Nov 26, 2007 23:45:00 GMT -5
Oh that's right...wait, I havn't played in a while, I don't remember what it dose.
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