My name is Marianne, I'm a fangirl. Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, you name it. I love pretty much everything. Today's topic is Mario.

The only Mario game I played as a kid was Super Mario World, but I never got past the first level. The only reason I'd been playing it was because my brothers really liked Mario, and they let me play a bit.

Ten years later as a 13-year-old, I'd received a 3DS from my mother as a Christmas Gift, and it was programmed with the game Mario and Luigi Dream Team. I instantly fell in love with the game, and I got into the entire Mario franchise.

I played a lot of Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, and even subscribed to YouTubers like SullyPwnz to see more of the red plumber. And to this day, Super Mario World is my second favorite game of all time behind Mega Man X.

Why don't I mention who my favorite Mario is in my Bio? Uh, I think it's obvious my favorite character is Luigi. I don't know anyone whose favorite character isn't Luigi!

But, you're not here for that, are you? No. You're here to learn what had happened to me.

It was a few weeks ago. I had just beaten a game called Mega Man X9. To recover from my shock the game had left on me, I'd decided to go to a Game Stop. To my surprise, a new Mario and Luigi game had come out! `Mario and Luigi: Mysterious Stone.'

"Awesome!" I said. "What's Mysterious Stone, though? That doesn't sound like something Nintendo would put on their games. Oh well! Let's do it!"

I bought it, went home, and immediately popped it into my 3DS for another adventure with my man Mario and my other man Luigi.

The game started up, and I immediately chose a new slot.

It started with Peach pacing around in a dungeon. After a few seconds, her textbox popped up:

"It's been an hour! What's taking Mario so long to save me!?"

Bowser suddenly crashed into the room. The Mario Bros. hopped in. Luigi hopped over to the Princess and got in the protective stance while Mario faced Bowser in a fighting stance, and I was put into a fight. This was obviously the intro boss.

"Mario!" Peach cried as she ran over to me. "It's been a while since y-"

"Aaaaaauuuuuugh..." I just skipped over all the tutorials Peach spouted. The rest played out as you'd expect, Bowser goes down, and Mario gains some EXP.

"Thank you Mario!" Peach said. The castle started coming down. "Oh no!"

Mario swooped her up bridal style, and the trio hopped out of the castle.

Mario's textbox popped up.

"Y'know, special one-"

"HOLY FUCKBALLS, DID HE JUST TALK!?"

Luigi's textbox popped up.

"What was that!?"

"What? I didn't hear anything."

Yes! They were talking! And not just muttering something in Italian, or exclaiming "Mamma Mia!" They were actually talking! I lightly squealed, thinking that I might get to explore Mario's personality a bit more. But what did Luigi hear earlier?

"As I was saying, special one," Mario said, "I'm getting tired of my girlfriend getting kidnapped every minute. Don't you think it's time we did something about this Bowser problem?"

"Yes, I'm beginning to get tired of this myself. And I hate having to burden you and Luigi like this! Something has to be done about Bowser, let's consult with Toadsworth."

The game cut to the castle.

"PRINCEEEESS!" I knew immediately who would be popping on screne any second. Toadsworth. "OH, PRINCESS! I HAVE BEEN FROUGHT WITH WORRY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? THAT BOWSER DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU DID HE!?"

"I'm fine, Toadsworth. Now we have something to discuss with you."

The screen cut to black, and then faded back with Toadsworth serious and calm.

"I see. So you want to go into hiding, my Princess?"

"Yes. But where can we hide me?"

"Hmm... I'll check into this matter. Master Mario, Master Luigi, why don't you patrol the Castle while I check the map for a place to hide Princess Peach?" He walked up to us. "By the way, Master Luigi, you ha-"

I just smashed the B button through all the tutorials.

I walked out of the room, and went through the Castle. It hadn't changed much since Partners in Time, but the layout was a bit different. There were several item blocks around, but all they gave me were a few coins. While I was still moving, Luigi's textbox popped up.

"Hey, Mario, while Lady Peach is hiding then what'll happen to the Mushroom Kingdom? We need a ruler."

"Special one needs protection. We can protect the Kingdom until we can confirm Bowser's given up."

What was this? Sense in a Mario game!?

Soon, I found why I'd been given so many coins. There was a shop near the left coridor. I bought some Mushrooms, Nuts, and Syrup Jars. I ended up using all the money I had. Why? Cuz I knew I was gonna fucking need these items!

I knew that was probably what I had to do before I went back to Toadsworth. So I did, and immediately once I stepped in, his textbox popped up.

"Master Mario! I think I have found a place where Princess Peach can hide!" It showed pictures of a cave on an island with Toadsworth talking over it. "It's called Paradise Cave. It's located on Paradise Island. It's a very well guarded place, and the cave is reserved as a private area. Perhaps our Princess could hide here?"

"Yes!" Mario said. "That's a very good place to hide!"

"Please escort me there," Peach said. "I'm scared to go alone, I heard there are monsters on the way."

"Master Mario, if you drop her, I will fucking kill you!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go!"

"What the fuck," I whispered, "did Toadsworth just curse...?"

"I've already called the island's mayor, he said he'd be pleased to hide Princess Peach in the cave. Take care of her, Masters. I mean it!"

Mario swooped Peach up bridal style, and our adventure began. Little did I know that Nintendo was taking a terrible turn.

I was knocked into a grassy area with trees to the side of the plumbers. Mario was still carrying Peach, and you had to carry her throughout all the walking areas. But luckily, she didn't slow you down. After a few minutes of walking, Peach's textbox popped up.

"What is this?"

On the ground was a necklace with a crystal on the end.

"Did somebody drop it?" Luigi asked. "Let's hang onto it until we find who lost it."

Peach put it around her neck, and immediately after that a Gumba charged at us. Now would be a good time to explain the different gameplay. When you jumped with Mario, you could do a triple jump! First Mario jumps on the enemy, then tosses Peach in the air and hops on it again. Then Peach lands on it, dealing even more damage!

Luigi was pretty much the same as before. Aw, why didn't Luigi get an upgrade!? Oh well. I don't use Luigi to jump anyway. For some reason, I always made Mario attack by jumping and Luigi attack with a hammer. And I always liked Mario's best stats being Pow and Speed, and Luigi's Def and HP. But, we didn't have a hammer on us, so Luigi had to jump for the time being.

After a few more fights, a cutscene triggered. Weird Ninja-goblin things popped out and surrounded us. Luigi's textbox popped up.

"AAAHH! WHAT ARE THESE CREEPY THINGS!?"

"Whatever they are, I won't let them harm special one," Mario said. "Let's-a go!"

They began to charge, but the crystal around Peach's neck created a blinding light, KOing them. Exclamation points appeared above their heads. The brothers looked at Peach, who looked at the crystal.

"What?" she asked. "What just happened?"