The DS Ultimate Strange Awards of Gaming

Screw Game of the Year and Best Game Ever, here's for something you don't see every day, an awards list about the most strange and random stuff in video games. I mean, it's a given Ocarina of Time will win best game of all time for the next 60 years running, and it's also a given Mario will come up on the list of 'Most Famous Video Game Characters' for pretty much eternity, so instead, here's a set of interesting awards nobody will ever have considered, added because hey, anything's better than guesswork about the DSi and you're all gonna buy Mario and Luigi 3 anyway.

Worst Series for Coulrophobics

In case you didn't know the meaning of 'coulrophobia', that's 'fear of clowns'. Ignoring the obvious fact that anyone with that fear actually trying to play a video game, watch a TV series or watch a film will end up traumatised by a whole lot of cases (considering the Joker, this must suck if you're a fan of Batman), the series worst for them by Nintendo... Wario Land.

No joke here, Wario Land uses a heck of a lot of evil clowns as villains. First you've got Wario Land 3, which uses Rudy the Clown as a villain (and this is Rudy Image of Rudy the Clown from Mario Wiki), then you've got Clown a Round in Wario World, and the just as disturbing Chortlebot in Wario Land The Shake Dimension. Heck, if Wario's Woods counts, you've also got a clownish boss called Harley Quin (no relation to the Batman series villain).

Considering also a few creepy factors (Rudy is a freaking demon clown, Clown-a-round looks just uncanny valley to the extreme (and throws his head at things) and Chortlebot laughs at you... while using the flamethrower type attack, those afraid of clowns should pick a different series.

The Character and Game Elements More Liked by the Fans than the Creators

As my previous articles and blog posts will say, there are a lot of nominations for this based on appearances in the actual series compared to appearances in fan work, but a quick run down of the winners anyway:

1. Marx (Kirby Super Star)

In simpler terms, the one boss from the Kirby series that has appeared in more fan games and hacks than official appearances, and the one boss which has influenced future games more than it would even appear. Seriously, it's got to be worrying by now that he's had at least three appearances in Mario World hacks and exactly ONE in actual Kirby games.

2. Bramble Blast and Stickerbrush Symphony (Donkey Kong Country 2)

As far as I know, there were exactly two Bramble themed levels in Donkey Kong Country 2, and those used the (awesome) Stickerbrush Symphony music. But regardless of that, the fans seem to absolutely love both parts of this entry, and both the whole bramble theme and music has been a standard in fan games and hacks for absolutely years now.

3. Koopalings (Super Mario Bros 3)

Note, before you claim that the Koopalings aren't obscure or rarely used characters, that the the award title is that the fans like/use them MORE. But seriously, these guys, who have appeared in:

1. Super Mario Bros 3
2. Super Mario World
3. Mario is Missing
4. Yoshi's Safari
5. Hotel Mario
6. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

They were also meant to be in Super Princess Peach, but were scrapped.

However, despite only these relatively few game appearances, the Koopalings got massively popular. Maybe it was due to the TV series (at least the later two series) using them as the main villains, but the fanbase today is far, far larger than you'd ever expect of these characters. You've got whole websites dedicated to them. Fan art and fan fiction with them. Games and hacks with them. Heck, you've even got message board posters claiming to be the koopalings by now! In all honesty, I don't think even Nintendo knew the popularity these guys would go through when Super Mario Bros 3 is being made, and I doubt they still know much about how popular they are (damn you Bowser Jr!)

The Most Luck Based Nintendo Series Award

No, it's not Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros, no matter what some really sour people online have said in comics and forum posts, but good old Mario Party. If only because Mario Party pretty much wins the lifetime award for 'luck based game of the century', with absolutely everything relying on luck. Board game maps and dice rolls? Luck. Chance Time? Luck. Mini games? There's at least one blatantly luck based game per released game (Get a Rope and Game Guy's games come to mind here). That doesn't even count the awards at the end where certain players get stars for 'achievements', or the sheer chaos caused by the randomly found items/capsules/candy. If you think Mario Kart is luck based, then you should probably stay away from this series like the plague, at least if you value your sanity.

Most Blatant Examples of Games using Fake Difficulty

Super Smash Bros. Mario Kart, Mario Party and Pokemon. Heck, any multiplayer enabled Nintendo game in single player probably counts here. Nothing's more annoying than the time trials in Yoshi's Island DS though, where the timer keeps going even through animations, cut scenes and talking!

The Series Where the CPU Most Blatantly Cheats Like Hell

Pokemon, with Mario Kart rather closely behind. But why Pokemon you may say, wondering away like usual? Well, one very obvious way to sum that up is the Elite Four, who, at the end of the first few games in particular flat out disobeyed the game's physics/battle system in order to game an advantage.

Let's look at some blatant examples first. You've got opponents with Pokemon sometimes ten levels below that of which the pokemon should have evolved at, including Lance in Pokemon Gold with multiple level FIFTY Dragonites... which evolve into that form at level FIFTY FIVE.

His Aerodacytl learns ROCK SLIDE, which couldn't be learnt until the recent games.

They've apparently got infinite full restores.

And to top it all off, completely silly 'random' number generators in their favour. Their chance of attacks hitting is probably about twice yours for the same attack, and someone on TV Tropes apparently had the CPU land four attacks of GUILLOTINE (instant one hit KO move) in a ROW.

Plus, to top that off, they've got Pokemon they just shouldn't be able to have. I've heard that one trainer has a Raichu with surf, which is nearly impossible to get legitimately, another has a MEW, which is a one chance only event Pokemon not found in the game normally, and some in the Battle Towers even have Pokemon like Regirock/ice/steel and Latios/Latias, which there are supposed to be only ONE of in the ENTIRE STORYLINE GAME WORLD.

Runner up is obviously, Mario Kart. In Mario Kart 64 and the like, they've gone like, twice the maximum speed due to rubber band AI to catch up to players using half the track skipping uber shortcuts, and in the other games, the rubber band mixed with item unbalance is just ridiculous. Triple red shells in SECOND PLACE? Not to mention the times at the end, which are complete rubber band fabrications (I used a shortcut to skip over three quarters of the track, three laps in a row, and the opponents actually BEAT the WORLD RECORD with the time given. See screenshot).

World record beating AI

Quickest Villain Downgrade/Upgrade

Fawful. He went from the right hand man of the main villain (Superstar Saga) to lowly shop owner in the castle sewers selling badges (Partners in Time) to the main villain of the game who tries to take over the world (Mario and Luigi 3). Shop owner to tyrant, that's a big upgrade in rank!

Most Popular Failed Games Console Accessory

One word... ROB. He originally came as an accessory for the NES back in the 80s/90s, and was compatible with a massive two games or so. Yes, his novelty helped get the NES into stores, but in the early phases, at least according to Nintendo Official Magazine UK's Nincyclopedia, the response to him was more of horror than admiration from the test audiences. Never the less, this was a damn well popular CHARACTER in games themselves later, with him being surprisingly playable in Mario Kart DS and Super Smash Bros Brawl, and a pretty funny boss in WarioWare Smooth Moves.

ROB with a machine gun vs an Arwing? WarioWare is weirder than I thought...