Table of contents for September 2019 in Mania

WHAT’S VICTOR & VALENTINO? In the small town of Monte Macabre the creatures of Latin American folklore are springing to life left, right and centre! And Victor and Valentino; two half-brothers who couldn’t be more different are right in the thick of it! CHATA Victor and Valentino live with their granny Chata. She’s a nice, old lady who always looks out for the bros, even when they end up getting into a boatload of trouble! VICTOR Victor is the short brother with the shorter temper. He can be a bit of a pain in the neck and likes getting his way, but at the end of the day he just likes having a good time! VALENTINO Valentino is the big brother with the level head. You can always count on…

THE RAT KING A rat king is the name given to a group of rats whose tails have become so entangled with one another that they’re unable to pull apart from each other. This means that the rats become like a single entity with numerous heads, wandering around as a big ball made of rats! Ew! THE CATS WITH 2 HEADS Animals being born with more than one head or face are extremely rare, but there are a lot of recorded cases of cats being born like that, believe it or not! In 2008 a two-headed kitten was born in Perth, which was able to meow with both of its mouths! THE WHITE GORILLA Snowflake the gorilla was most def a one-of-a-kind ape! This pale primate had a rare case…

MAKING WAVES Hatchie is really blowing up for an artist who only dropped her first track in mid-2017. Two of her tracks; ‘Try’ and ‘Sure’ have 3 million listens each on Spotify - that’s huge! BEFORE MAKING IT BIG Before starting her current gig under the Hatchie pseudonym, the dream pop dudette graduated from university and played in two bands; Babaganouj and Go Violets! HATCHIE’S STATS Full name: Harriette Pilbeam Bday: May 4 1993 From: Brisbane, QLD Releases: EP Sugar & Spice & album Keepsake Label: Ivy League, Double Double Whammy, Heavenly Recordings Years in the biz: 9 Fave song atm: Falling Apart - Emma Louise Plays: Bass, Guitar, Piano MANIA: WHERE DID YOU GET THE NAME HATCHIE? Hatchie: “It was a childhood nickname - my name is Harriette, which…

Q: Why did the pelican get kicked out of the restaurant? A: Cos he had a really big bill! A man walks into a library, goes up to the librarian’s desk and says, “Can I please get a big burger meal.” The librarian says “Sir, you do realise this is a library, right?” “Oh, sorry,” he whispers back “Can I please get a big burger meal.” A woman walks into a cafe carrying a huge slab of asphalt under her arm. The barista asks her “Hi, what can I get you?” The woman says, “I’ll grab a milkshake, and another one for the road!” A kid is trying to get some extra cash by going door to door. One guy gives the kid a bucket of paint and a paintbrush…

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch Style: Racing Publisher: Activision Price: $69.95 Gameplay: This is a huge update on a PlayStation classic! Crash Team Racing was a major Mario Kart competitor back in the 90s, and this new version has more levels, more unlockables, and plays better than ever! There’s some cool stuff in here – the handling took us a while to get used to, but we really like the way you can get boosts around corners with well-timed shoulder button taps, and the course designs are fantastic! It also has a full-on story mode that lets you explore a hub world and win races to eventually challenge bosses! Like most kart racers, though, it’s better in multiplayer, so it’s definitely worth checking out if you like to race against…

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC Style: Action Publisher: Cococucumber Price: $$32.95 Riverbond is a hack-and-slash game for up to four players, where you adventure around wild blocky worlds and attack your enemies! It’s a pretty simple game where you’re given objectives and have to explore each level, and it works a bit better with mates! It’s got a cool look with voxel-style graphics and some enemy designs that made us LOL, though! It’s available on Xbox Game Pass, too, which means that if you have a subscription you can give it a shot! HOT! Good, fun multiplayer! NOT! Less fun by yourself!  6/10 GAMING FACTOID Super Mario Bros’ 32 levels stretch just 5.4km, if you do the maths!…

CARMELLA’S STATS Real Name: Leah Van Dale Age: 31 From: Massachusetts, U.S. Height: 165cm Sig Move: Code of Silence Special Skill: Moonwalking Accolades: Money in the Bank winner 2017, SmackDown Women’s Champ Fave colour: Leopard Print CARAMELLA & KOALAS Carmella has visited Australia TWICE but believe it or not has never wrestled here! We’re keen to see her at WWE Live 2019 in October, especially if she faces off against the homegrown Aussie IIconics Billie Kay and Peyton Royce!v MANIA: “DID YOU WANNA BE A WRESTLER AS A KID? Carmella: “I never aspired to be a wrestler. When I was a kid, I never thought it was something that I could do. I was a dancer. But growing up watching WWE with my dad, I idolized Miss Elizabeth; I just…

EAT IT OR WEAR IT WHAT YOU’LL NEED: A mix of yummy and yucky food! Our favs for this challenge are baked beans, whipped cream, tuna and tomato sauce! GROSS! HOW TO PLAY: Write down each food on a piece of paper and put them into a bowl. Each player draws a choice from the bowl and decides if they want to eat it or wear it! EAT it: eat one spoonful! WEAR it: pour the whole thing over your head!! If a player chooses to EAT it, they get to pour the rest onto their opponent!! TOP TIP: Try this challenge in the backyard or in the kitchen for a quick clean up! More time for fun! BLIND BRAND/FLAVOUR TEST WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Choose a type of food or…

EYES ARE THE WINDOW Eye contact in a photo is super powerful – for people AND animals! Capturing a prominent feature of your subject’s face will captivate your audience. Try getting some shots of the animal looking at you, and make sure their eyes are in focus! PRO-TIP: Get down to the level of the animal’s height – it’ll be easier to make eye contact! DON’T HAVE A CAMERA? You don’t need a fancy camera! Ask mum or dad to borrow their phone, and start snapping! SLOW AND STEADY It can be hard taking good photos of wildlife – especially if they’re moving! Be patient and try taking heaps of shots to capture the moment. You can always delete the ones you don’t like! PRO-TIP: to keep action shots in…

ERIC’S STATS Name: Eric Stuart Years in show business: Bday: October 18 From: Brooklyn, New York Stars as: Brock, James, Seto Kaiba Fave anime: Battle of the Planets Cards or video games: Video Games Go-to karaoke song: Burning Love - Elvis Presley Band name: Eric Stuart Band POKÉMON VOICES Eric voices a bunch of Pokémon in the show! His Poké-credits include: Squirtle, Charmeleon, Snorlax, Ariados, Ludicolo, Weezing, Politoed, Pupitar and Beldum! BIG NAME MUSICIANS Eric isn’t only a WIKKID voice actor; he’s also big in the music scene. He’s got an impressive resume, having opened for the likes of Hall & Oates, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ringo Starr of the Beatles! MANIA: WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR START IN VOICE ACTING? Eric: “I’d been playing music and I got a job…

Animal Crossing New Horizons Platform: Switch Style: Simulation Publisher: Nintendo Out: Early 2020 The new Animal Crossing puts you on an island and lets you populate it by cleaning it up! You start in a tent and build your way up from there, and there will be cool new features like eight player mode, a pole for jumping across rivers, and the ability to set your hemisphere – which means you can set it so the seasons in-game match the seasons in Australia! That means it’ll be warm and sunny during summer, which we’re excited about! Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC Style: Action Publisher: EA Out: November 15 This new Star Wars game is looking epic! You play as Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis in-between Revenge…

Platform: Switch Style: Adventure Publisher: Nintendo Price: $33.50 Gameplay: This is like no Zelda game we’ve ever played before! Cadence of Hyrule is actually a mash-up of Zelda and rhythm game Crypt of the Necrodancer, so it’s a Zelda game where you explore while trying to match your movements to the beat! It’s a really cool idea – you can play as either Link or Zelda at the start (we chose Zelda), and you get to explore a randomly generated version of Hyrule, where you need to track down the four dungeons and take down all the baddies! But you need to move in time with the beat, so playing through each screen is like taking part in a dance! It has all the classic Zelda items to find and…

ROBOALIVE DRAGONS Check out these dragons of ice and fire! They stomp around on their own, they’ve got huge mouths full of chompers and they even glow. It’s like having a real dragon in the house! MANIA’s RATING: Rawr-Some MICRO MOTORZ We reckon these little cars have got some go! Not only can you launch ‘em and do doughies all over the place, you also get a cool, little display box so you can show it off to all the lads! MANIA’s RATING: Max Power & Max Fun FART NINJAS These smelly ninja dudes have got us cracking up on the reg! We’ve been hiding them all over the place and gassing our mates when they least expect it hehe. MANIA’s RATING: Wikkidly Stinky HARRY POTTER CLOAK Now this is…

A DEADLY WEAPON RETURNS AGAIN That’s no moon... It’s the Death Star! Is it back for revenge after having been taken out in A New Hope and Return of the Jedi? It looks like its in pretty bad shape. But why are our heroes even visiting it? We are stinging for a look inside this thing now! HYPERSPACE IS LOOKING HYPERSPIFFY It’s pretty cool to think that hyperspace is lookin’ the exact same way as it was back in A New Hope, which was released in 1977! It’s a nice touch considering so many sequels to classic movies update their visuals to the point of being unrecognisable as a film in their series’. BB-8’S BRAND NEW M8 It seems like our fave sequel trilogy bot might be getting a robo-buddy!…

POKÉMON GETS A BIG ADDITION The coolest new thing in Pokémon Sword and Shield is called Dynamax! This brand new feature allows you to make your Pokémon grow to the size of a skyscraper to inflict major damage on your opponent. We are psyched to muck around with this one! POKÉMON NO. 8! With just months left until the release of Pokémon Sword and Shield we have a look at what’s new to the 8th games in the series! GROOKEY TYPE: Grass The green chimp Pokémon! Choose this plant-powered primate if you want to sap the energy straight outta your foes! EVOLUTION PREDICTION: A massive moss-covered orangutan with tree trunks for arms! SCORBUNNY TYPE: Fire The hot rabbit Pokémon! Pick this burning bunny if you’re down to fl ame your…

THE BIG HEAD MYSTERY These huge stone heads are one of the coolest old school artifacts in our books! The Moai are huge stone statues resembling people, which can be found on Easter Island. There’s around 1000 of them and they are said to have been carved by early Polynesians around 1200AD! A GORILLA CALLED DONKEY? Shigeru Miyamoto named Donkey Kong way back in 1981 and the name is not as bizarre as it sounds. Miyamoto, who is not fluent in English, saw that donkeys were associated with stubbornness, and the word ‘Kong’ was associated with gorillas. So DK’s name may as well be Stubborn Gorilla! IS JACKIE CHAN AUSTRALIAN? Classic martial artist and movie star Jackie Chan used to live in Canberra in ACT! His dad moved to Australia…

Platform: Switch Style: Platformer Publisher: Nintendo Price: $79.95 Gameplay: Wow, YAKs – Super Mario Maker 2 is an even bigger and better take on what makes Mario great than the Wii U original! For starters, this sequel has a much better single player campaign mode – there are 100 cool levels here made by Nintendo! But the creation tools that let you make your own levels are the real star. There’s more terrain and enemies and parts to put in your levels, and you can even change the ‘win’ conditions – there are some tricky levels out there that need to be beaten without ever jumping! This is a massive expansion, and it’s more fun to use than ever. Best of all, though, is the new Super Mario 3D World…

Platform: Xbox One, PC Style: Racing Publisher: Microsoft Price: $29.95 We didn’t see this coming, YAKs – the AMAZING Forza Horizon 4 got a LEGO pack! You explore a small island, smashing through everything and slowly completing challenges to build your own LEGO house. It doesn’t have many cars included and the races aren’t so different from in the base game, but there are some cool additions like boost jumps and cool environment changes over the island. It’s a cool new way to play the best racing game on the Xbox One! HOT! Everything LEGO is AWSM! NOT! Not many new cars! MANIA SCORE  8/10…

JAZZA’S STATS Full name: Josiah Brooks Bday: 20/4/1989 From: Gippsland, VIC Subscribers: 4.2 million Total views: 620 million JAZZA 1.0 Jazza’s first channel was Jazza Studios where he uploaded anything and everything from animations to game trailers. It never blew up quite as much as Draw With Jazza but definitely set the foundation for it! MANIA: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR VIDS? Jazza: “I would describe Draw With Jazza as arty entertainment, mixed with insanity and a lot of ambition. I like to try new art materials to create sculptures, artworks and animations. I never know how it’s going to turn out and it’s sometimes a little out there. It can be a masterpiece or a disaster, but its always fun to watch!” MANIA: WHAT GOT YOU ONTO YOUTUBE? Jazza:…

MICAH’S STATS Name: Micah Bday: 16 Sept From: Auckland, NZ Fave food: Pizza Top TV: Teen Titans Go! Best Movie: Cheaper by the Dozen Coolest game: Fortnite Secret Skills: Pranks and anime drawing YOUTUBE CHALLENGE Micah started his very own MANIA challenge based on MANIA’s monthly calendar. Micah is shooting a video for every activity on MANIA’s July calendar and uploading them to his YouTube channel called ‘How’s the Cold Berry?!’ Talk about a true YAK! MANIA: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN READING MANIA? Micah: “I used to get them for my birthdays then I forgot about them... And then I started reading them again in June this year. Now I want to read them all the time!” MANIA: WHAT’S YOUR FAVE SEGMENT IN MANIA? Micah: “Quizzes and game reviews.”…

JAMES’ STATS Name: James Bustar Bday: September 4 1986 From: England Lives: Sydney, NSW Years juggling: 22 Fave thing to juggle: Balls Worst thing to juggle: Fish Hidden talent: Saying ‘Irish wrist watch’ fast! WORLD RECORD HUGGER Along with being a word-class juggler James also holds a world record for most people hugged in one minute. At a rate of more than 1 hug per minute, James hugged a sizeable 70 people! Is there anything this guy can’t do! MANIA: WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD JUGGLE? James: “The first thing to juggle is normally scarves; nice and light so they float up and down slowly so you can learn the juggling pattern, and then you start with juggling balls. Probably not best to start with knives, axes and…