Our Imposter Syndrome cancels out our Dunning-Kruger

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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

10 Comments

  1. Josh Marsfelder
    October 7, 2016 @ 9:57 pm

    Could we not also say, however, that Yoshi’s Island is on one narrative level just another production being put on by the Mario acting troupe?

    I’m not sure the Mario Universe can ever be subjected to the same levels of retcons and master narratives Zelda is subjected to c.f. Link to the Past because of this, though that’s not to say I don’t grant your larger point of this game marking an ending of sorts.

    The play wasn’t a success. All their recent productions for the past 10 years or so have been reimaginings of Super Mario Bros. 3 because of their shrinking audience. But they’re playing in new venues now, so maybe things are looking up again.

    Reply

    • Daibhid C
      October 7, 2016 @ 10:34 pm

      I’m probably being absurdly literalist here (it’s a failing of mine) but it seems to me that there are some limits to the acting troupe analogy, and one of them is when the characters are suddenly babies. Baby Kermit in Muppet Babies (or even in the dream sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan) isn’t seen as being played by Kermit the Frog, no matter how dedicated a Muppet fan is to the conceit that the Muppets are actors who mostly play themselves.

      (On the other hand, the actors in this production do eventually join the regular troupe; with the baby characters appearing alongside their supposed adult selves in later Mario Karts; a fact which very much confused my nephew.)

      Reply

      • Josh Marsfelder
        October 7, 2016 @ 10:39 pm

        Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are not the same people as Mario and Luigi, hence Mario Kart.

        Alternatively, this is a fairy tale being read to people as part of a live storytelling session a la kamishibai, hence the art style.

        Reply

      • The Flan in the High Castle
        October 12, 2016 @ 7:02 pm

        Time travel is an established part of the Mario series (see Partners in Time, which actually has Mario and Luigi interacting with their baby selves), so I’ve always assumed that this was the official in-story explanation for any occasions where characters race younger/older/alternative versions of themselves (insofar as Kart games need one).

        Reply

    • The Flan in the High Castle
      October 12, 2016 @ 5:25 pm

      Do we have an acting troupe reading for stuff like Super Mario 64: Last Impact? The troupe deciding to perform on LSD might work, but I also like the idea that it’s a rival group stealing their concept and really going off the rails with it.

      Reply

  2. Daibhid C
    October 7, 2016 @ 10:17 pm

    Yoshi’s Island, on the other hand, exists deep in the twilight of the Super Nintendo

    I hadn’t realised that. It says a lot about my own idiosyncratic relationship with video games in those days that I had four Super Nintendo cartridges and this was one of them (while Super Mario World wasn’t). All inherited from my sister, along with the machine, once she got a Playstation, although I think she may have had some other games that stopped working before then.

    (Come to think of it, I still have four Super Nintendo cartridges, although learning whether they still work is dependent on finding a TV I can plug the Super Nintendo into and manually tune…)

    Reply

  3. Lovecraft in Brooklyn
    October 10, 2016 @ 1:17 am

    This is the only classic Mario side-scroller i’ve completed (my first console was an N64) and I love it. I beat it fully last year and it’s so pretty…and ‘Sluggy the Unshaven’s Fort’ is the best Level name. That or ‘Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy’

    Reply

  4. Jarl
    October 10, 2016 @ 9:44 am

    Touch Philly, Get Dizzy

    Reply

    • Jarl
      September 10, 2018 @ 2:17 pm

      scrambles in out of breath two years later
      Touch Lizzy, Get Dizzy

      Reply

  5. Mark P
    October 13, 2016 @ 8:35 pm

    If you’re taking requests, Phil, would love to see you review Super Mario RPG next.

    Reply

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