Section: Mario
Genre: Reality TV Game Show
Rating: 7+- a mostly clean story, with occasional censored language and intense scenes.
Type: TV Show Format
Status: Twelve Episodes In, 95,000 Words
Latest Update: April 23, 2011
Starring Characters: An assortment of the most famous Mario series characters, including two OCs as reps of two Koopa Species.
Description: In an original remastering of the Survivor system, Mindblower creates a game show for the most famous characters of the Mario series.
Review: 99% of the time, if you see a reality TV show based fic... it sucks. Sorry, but usually it does, and at the best is forgettable. With the exception of the above mentioned Amazing Race: Dreamland, though, this is perhaps the most intelligent, most realistic and enjoyable without being a guilty pleasure.
There are two things that make this a great experience. One is that everyone is IN CHARACTER, with one exception. (The one exception is huge, noticable, but intended, so it passes.) You don't have blatant overreactions and using Mario characters as vessels for your own stereotypes, you have the actual characters, and that's pretty much an auto-win for me. In fact, the characters are very enjoyable- her OC Bro Mamma, my pick to win, is a ton of fun to read about and frankly should get her own fic. Mindblower even explores and fleshes out what is already there- the intelligent Bowser is more IC, in my opinion, than typical fanfics and is pretty much the archetype I imagined him to be/ plan to base him off of in upcoming fics.
Jeff met the Hero tribe on the dark side of the island. He handed each member a torch. "Fire represents life. If your torch goes out, so do you.
"Each of you will write a name down on a peace of paper, the name of the person you want most to go home. This person does not have to be the weakest. Keep in mind, throughout the game, that there can only be one Royal Survivor."
The second thing that makes this successful is that Mindblower creates an original Survivor system, called Royal Survivor, hence the name. Whilst Inspector Brown created an unique world, Mindblower creates original rules, almost entirely dissimilar to Survivor but feels entirely like a Survivor fic anyways. I can't name all the changes (the first chapter has a good introduction), but the most notable include coin challenges, regular auctions, and all three teams living on the same island and therefore interacting.
Perhaps the strongest point, however, is that Mindblower takes full advantage of being in control of the show (something that, presumably, reality TV shows are not) and therefore creates great scenes, moments, twists, ideas, interactions and other such things, making sure that you stay tuned for the next chapter.
Overall, a story that breaks the trend of bad Survivor stories and creates a stakehold and sets an example for its successors.
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