Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin'
Encyclopedia
Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin' is a compilation album released by Nintendo
in 1991. In spite of the appearance of Mario
on the cover, only the first song on the album has anything to do with the Super Mario franchise. The booklet enclosed with the CD featured a comic story based loosely on the Super Nintendo
game Super Mario World
.
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page.
, who had produced the Nintendo Comics System
. Over the course of the story, characters mention the titles of the songs on the album, prompting other characters to say "Song cue."
The story opens with Mario
, Luigi
, and Princess Peach
arriving for their vacation in Dinosaur Land, but the Princess, the only one who has thought to read the guidebook, suddenly vanishes. Mario and Luigi go searching for her, but they only find a dinosaur named Yoshi
, who explains that "a big ugly turtle has been muscling in around here". Realizing that Yoshi is referring to Bowser, the Mario Bros. figure that he's kidnapped the Princess.
Over at his castle, Bowser is telling Peach about his plan to reduce Dinosaur Land to fossil fuel, and then join OPEC
as an oil tycoon (despite her criticism that he's too ignorant for that occupation). Later, the Koopalings
visit the Princess's cell, intending to torment her for Bowser's pleasure, but she instead reads to them from her guidebook, which they warmly accept because Bowser never reads to them. Peach later briefly escapes from her cell and steals a page from Bowser's spellbook, intending to make sure the Mario Bros. don't fall into Bowser's clutches.
Soon, the Mario Bros. and Yoshi find a large rock with a note from Peach, warning them to avoid the Valley of Storms. Luigi decides that he and Mario should split up and have Yoshi ferry further messages between them. Unfortunately for this plan, Yoshi has bad memory and doesn't know how to read or write, so Mario agrees to teach Yoshi how to do these.
When Bowser finds out that the plumbers are coming, he decides to use a really nasty spell on them, but being rather illiterate himself, he has Lemmy recite the spell. Eager to show off the reading skills he'd learned from the Princess, Lemmy reads the spell, which unfortunately for Bowser, transforms the entire countryside into a medieval motif and turns Mario and Luigi into armored knights and boosts their confidence.
The medieval illusion fades away by the time the heroes reach Bowser's Castle, so the Koopa King sends an army of Mecha-Koopas to deter them. When they finally get to him, they find that he has placed the Princess in a high-tech cage which then begins to lower into a molten lava pit. Seemingly too late to save her, Mario is too grief-stricken to put up a fight against Bowser. But just then, Peach leaps into the fight, revealing that she managed to escape because Bowser left the operating instructions in the cage.
With help in the form of a tip from Lemmy, the good guys defeat Bowser, and the Mario Bros. and Peach decide to return to the Mushroom Kingdom; unfortunately, all the Warp Pipes connecting Dinosaur Land to anywhere else have been cut off. Luckily, the Princess has found a spell in Bowser's spell book that can send them home, but one of them will have to stay behind to read it. Yoshi, having learned to read thanks to Mario's lessons (although he thinks Luigi taught them), volunteers to read the spell.
Audio preview from Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
in 1991. In spite of the appearance of Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
on the cover, only the first song on the album has anything to do with the Super Mario franchise. The booklet enclosed with the CD featured a comic story based loosely on the Super Nintendo
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
game Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
.
Audio preview
"Ignorance Is Bliss" can be previewed in its entirety on the JellyfishJellyfish (band)
Jellyfish were a power pop band from San Francisco. It formed after Beatnik Beatch broke up in 1989. The core members were drummer/singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Roger Joseph Manning, Jr...
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Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
page.
Track listing
- "Ignorance Is Bliss" (performed by JellyfishJellyfish (band)Jellyfish were a power pop band from San Francisco. It formed after Beatnik Beatch broke up in 1989. The core members were drummer/singer/songwriter Andy Sturmer and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Roger Joseph Manning, Jr...
) - "How Have You Been?" (written by John SebastianJohn SebastianJohn Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
, performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash) - "Magic in the Night" (performed by Bombshell)
- "I Drove All NightI Drove All Night"I Drove All Night" is a song written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly and made famous by Cyndi Lauper. The song was originally written for Roy Orbison, who recorded it in 1987, but his rendition was not released until 1992, after the song had become a top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic for...
" (performed by Roy OrbisonRoy OrbisonRoy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
) - "Iron Hand" (performed by Dire StraitsDire StraitsDire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
) - "Into the Fire" (performed by AliasAlias (band)Alias was a Canadian album-oriented rock/hard rock supergroup band, formed in 1988 by vocalist Freddy Curci and guitarist Steve DeMarchi of the Canadian arena rock band Sheriff , along with Heart founding members Roger Fisher, Steve Fossen, and Mike DeRosier.The band released its self-titled debut...
) - "She Was" (performed by Flesh for LuluFlesh for LuluFlesh for Lulu was an Alternative rock/Gothic band formed in Brixton, London, UK, and was active between 1982 and 1992. Their music was a mix of the New York Dolls and Rolling Stones with gothic rock's gloomy atmosphere and aesthetics.-History:...
) - "Line of Fire" (performed by TrixterTrixterTrixter is an American hard rock band from Paramus, New Jersey. The band achieved moderate success in the late 1980's and early 1990s but disbanded for several years as glam metal lost mainstream popularity...
) - "Turn On" (performed by Britny FoxBritny FoxBritny Fox was an American Glam metal band from the Philadelphia area, initially active from 1985 to 1992 then subsequently reforming in 2000. They are best known for their music video for "Girlschool" and their hit "Long Way to Love" .-History:...
) - "Forever Friends" (performed by Sheena EastonSheena EastonSheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
)
Comic synopsis
The comic book enclosed with the album was produced by Voyager Communications, parent company of Valiant ComicsValiant Comics
Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...
, who had produced the Nintendo Comics System
Nintendo Comics System
The Nintendo Comics System was a series of comic books published by Valiant Comics in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with Nintendo, featuring characters from their video games and the cartoons based on them.- The comics :...
. Over the course of the story, characters mention the titles of the songs on the album, prompting other characters to say "Song cue."
The story opens with Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
, and Princess Peach
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
arriving for their vacation in Dinosaur Land, but the Princess, the only one who has thought to read the guidebook, suddenly vanishes. Mario and Luigi go searching for her, but they only find a dinosaur named Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
, who explains that "a big ugly turtle has been muscling in around here". Realizing that Yoshi is referring to Bowser, the Mario Bros. figure that he's kidnapped the Princess.
Over at his castle, Bowser is telling Peach about his plan to reduce Dinosaur Land to fossil fuel, and then join OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
as an oil tycoon (despite her criticism that he's too ignorant for that occupation). Later, the Koopalings
Koopalings
The , also called the Koopa Kids, are a group of seven fictional characters in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. Their names are Ludwig von Koopa, Lemmy Koopa, Roy Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr. and Larry Koopa. They first appeared in the NES game Super Mario Bros. 3, and...
visit the Princess's cell, intending to torment her for Bowser's pleasure, but she instead reads to them from her guidebook, which they warmly accept because Bowser never reads to them. Peach later briefly escapes from her cell and steals a page from Bowser's spellbook, intending to make sure the Mario Bros. don't fall into Bowser's clutches.
Soon, the Mario Bros. and Yoshi find a large rock with a note from Peach, warning them to avoid the Valley of Storms. Luigi decides that he and Mario should split up and have Yoshi ferry further messages between them. Unfortunately for this plan, Yoshi has bad memory and doesn't know how to read or write, so Mario agrees to teach Yoshi how to do these.
When Bowser finds out that the plumbers are coming, he decides to use a really nasty spell on them, but being rather illiterate himself, he has Lemmy recite the spell. Eager to show off the reading skills he'd learned from the Princess, Lemmy reads the spell, which unfortunately for Bowser, transforms the entire countryside into a medieval motif and turns Mario and Luigi into armored knights and boosts their confidence.
The medieval illusion fades away by the time the heroes reach Bowser's Castle, so the Koopa King sends an army of Mecha-Koopas to deter them. When they finally get to him, they find that he has placed the Princess in a high-tech cage which then begins to lower into a molten lava pit. Seemingly too late to save her, Mario is too grief-stricken to put up a fight against Bowser. But just then, Peach leaps into the fight, revealing that she managed to escape because Bowser left the operating instructions in the cage.
With help in the form of a tip from Lemmy, the good guys defeat Bowser, and the Mario Bros. and Peach decide to return to the Mushroom Kingdom; unfortunately, all the Warp Pipes connecting Dinosaur Land to anywhere else have been cut off. Luckily, the Princess has found a spell in Bowser's spell book that can send them home, but one of them will have to stay behind to read it. Yoshi, having learned to read thanks to Mario's lessons (although he thinks Luigi taught them), volunteers to read the spell.