#Luigi's Escape Plan Comic

[supershowideasandfics]

So I decided to make something for jell-o so I present gacha fanart of her comics Luigi's Escape Plan! This took a good while to make I even had to get some help to figure out how to make certain aspects of there character look accurate but it was really fun to make! Especially drawing from ibspaint x it was REALLY hard though since i've never fully drawn on ibspaint paint before so that was a challenge to tackle but it was a great learning process and while hard and tiring it was also fun at the same time! I hope you guys like it and have a good day!

[luigixfanxayjay]

@jelly-fish-wishes

Heard this corrupted video game music, and immediately thought of this. Had planned on adding Luigi, but changed my mind because I couldn't tell what instrument he was playing lol

Don't worry, King's just tired... 😅 (and most definitely not dead)

[jelly-fish-wishes]

OH BOY I AM HEAVILY DEBATING THIS BUT OH WELL. Both outcomes are angsty as hell but still give off a bittersweet result. Now, I want you guys to make the decision for me to utilize in Luigi’s Escape Plan

[gracegootee]

A fan edit for @jell-o101 of her comic: “Luigi’s Escape Plan”!

The comic is about what if Luigi escaped Bowser’s prison and my goodness the feels and tears in this comic! It’s a little dark as the story goes but it’s so good!🥺

My poor Lu deserves so many hugs!!🥺💚

☕️Support me on Ko-fi

🍄My website

[megamagimugi]

now here’s where we ✨uno reverse✨and you get a question and some praise.

What got you into the Mario fandom? And also!! Your bio says your a fan of TMNT, but which version do you like the most? The 2003 and 2012 version are pretty nostalgic to me, but I loved the 2012 one the most, their designs are personally my most favorite! ROTTMNT I know is a really good one; I started binging it last summer but never got around to finishing it :(

Now praise! I know I’ve said this in your ask for me, but I just REALLY love your art. Your redraws are on another level, you effortlessly nail the M&L style— seriously, why is it so hard for me?? I’m too perfectionist when it comes to them. 😂 I knew once I saw your drawings of Zahra’s amazing Anything for Him story that I’d be hooked. And your attention to detail is just 🤌🏾🤌🏾🤌🏾 like that water from your beach redraw I’m still not over.

And you’re always so supportive of my art, and it means more than words 🥹 especially with the anticipation of my upcoming animation, my motivation fluctuates. I want to pick up my Apple Pencil and just do it, but it’s like something holds me back. Honestly just talking about my art with people is a good source of drive for me, and you’re definitely one of the best sources of motivation ♥️ thank you for being so kind, and thank you for being you! You’re so loved 🫂

Okay, storytime it is! (This is most definitely going to be my longest answer to date; hope you don't mind).

Let me give you some background first. Unlike most people I didn't get into gaming as a little kid. My household was basically video game-free - my father wasn't into gaming, neither was my older sister and my mother was even somewhat against video games. Under these circumstances the first video game I ever played was the Sims, as my sister had a short-lived phase when she liked it. I found it incredibly boring. Sometimes I'd watch my cousins or friends play other games when I visited, but they'd never let me play xD Still, that made me realize that I enjoyed (=wanted to try) racing and action/adventure games.

At one point, when I was a little older, my still humble gaming experience led me to finally playing my first Mario game: Mario Kart. I look back at that experience fondly as I also won against my friend at the time on my first try. He wasn't particularly great at gaming either but hey, a win is a win.

Anyway, I got curious about these characters and started searching for more info, and for more games to try out. I finally got to the Super Mario Bros. series, discovering my love of 2D platformers along the way. There's a retro gaming museum in my area where you can play on old computers and systems so you bet I spent some time there playing the oldest of Mario games, which was a big step in me getting into this genre as a whole and this series in particular.

I also tend to gravitate towards brothers in media and well, Mario and Luigi are obviously brothers so I guess I got curious about their relationship and how it plays into the lore of the games. Which brought me to the Mario & Luigi RPGs, which I loved. I guess you could say I got Hooked On The Brothers™ But honestly, the carefree and fun atmosphere as well as the sort of wacky fairy tale setting were very appealing to me too.

I started slowly but surely collecting whatever Nintendo game consoles and games I could find and afford, and watching playthroughs of those I couldn't. I even played a couple fan games, such as (Mario) The Music Box - despite it being so very different from the source material LOL

And of course, the 2023 movie got me to appreciate the franchise even more and be more active in the fandom, reading more fanfics etc. Which eventually brought me here. I started reading Luigi's Escape Plan by jelly-fish-wishes and some other comics on Tumblr and the site tried to force me to register so often that I eventually gave in, annoyed. I definitely don't regret that decision though!

And look at me now, creating my own content - well, only fanart really - for this lovely fandom. And interacting more and more with other fans.

Now for the Turtles. I've been a fan since I was like 11 and first started watching the 2003 series (only the first 3 seasons were available in my country at the time, but a few years later I found the rest on YouTube). I've watched all versions other than the 1987 series and Michael Bay movies, and read some of the comics (I really love the original Mirage comics!), yet that first series still remains my favorite. My favorite animated show of all time even. You could chalk it up to nostalgia, but it's definitely more than that as nostalgia is rarely a big factor for me when it comes to genuinely enjoying things. I just really like this version of all of the major characters the most, as well as the humor, the dialogue and the action scenes (those fight choreographies were amazing tbh), and the plot overall. As well as the art style in the first 5 seasons. Sure, the show wasn't perfect due to the frequent animation mistakes and the painfully bad Japanese (the fake kanji were bad enough but the horrible pronunciation, man... the pronunciation...), but everything else more than makes up for it.

In case you're curious, overall I did enjoy the 2012 series too. Really, I enjoyed most of the Turtle media. Tbh I have a bit of a weird love-hate relationship with RotTMNT though.

And last but not least, thank you so much for your kind words! It's so interesting that some people here praise my style while it was something my old professor criticized as too generic in my digital art and animation when I was applying to college. And people like you saying I pay a lot of attention to detail when my art teachers and professors criticized me for going too abstract in my paintings and not precise enough in my drawings. It's been healing some of these old art related insecurities stashed away somewhere in my brain, ngl.

I totally get your struggle with perfectionism. It's my old frenemy that to this day rears its ugly head more often than I care to admit, especially when it comes to art. It's important to relax and do your thing anyway. I'm sure you'll make some sick animations and I'll be here cheering you on along the way. You got this, girl!

And I appreciate what you said about me at the end. If there's anyone in this world who makes me feel loved and like I'm actually worth something, it's you and other amazing people in this community. Thank you so much :))

[brave-little-pauper]

https://www.tumblr.com/brave-little-pauper/714711313069244416/what-if-kamek-was-successful-in-kidnapping-baby I love this AU idea but how about an AU where the bros grew up separately? How would that affect the game and movie events if they grew up separately but met again as adults with this strange feeling they know each other?

Apologies for the delay. Now that the comic is done, we can begin!

(Strap in, folks. This is gonna be a long one)

In my take of the Mario Bros origin story, game and movie elements are combined, so I'd imagine the separation would occur at the end of Yoshi's Island. The divergence starts when Kamek does not take defeat lightly and decides to try kidnapping the babies just one more time.

The stork is on its way to deliver the twins, and Baby Mario peeks out from the cloth. Suddenly, he sees Kamek flying towards them. Without Yoshi to help him this time, Baby Mario makes a choice.

He leaps off.

Having gone through a dangerous journey to save Baby Luigi, he is willing to become a prisoner if it means his brother's safety. And it works. By the time Kamek sees and catches the baby, the stork has already escaped with the other. Kamek begrudgingly accepts that he can only get one child and hopes keeping them separated will be enough to stop the divination.

I don't know if the bros' parents were expecting twins, but if it were the case, they would be devasted that one is gone. They shelter Luigi as a result. Growing up, Luigi tries avoiding trouble whenever he can. If he gets bullied, he stays quiet. Perhaps he was told about a twin, but he wouldn't bring the subject up for worry of upsetting his parents.

On Mario's side, this becomes Minion AU adjacent as he grows up training to serve Bowser. The difference here is that without someone close to hold him back, Mario, or rather "Red", is more impulsive and bullheaded, constantly trying to prove himself worthy much to his fellow soldiers' chagrin. Being the sole human in the Koopa Troop, he feels lonely (not that he'd ever admit it).

Years go by and we cut to Luigi ending up in the Mushroom Kingdom (how he got there is a spoiler for my Origin Story plotline). He is absolutely lost. When he makes it to the village, he asks where he is and accidentally bumps into the toads and their property, making a scene that gets him taken to the castle by guards for questioning. Luckily, Peach doesn't see Luigi as a threat and says he can stay the night and she'll send a guide to take him back to the city in the morning.

However, news of a mysterious human spreads to Bowser's castle. This upsets Kamek in particular for reasons he refuses to explain. Hoping this could get on his King's good graces, Red sneaks out and searches for this human to capture them.

As Peach shows Luigi around the Kingdom, Red dashes for him, ready to strike with his hammer. Just like with Wario in the latest comic, Luigi's hat is what throws Red off. He becomes so focused on it that he doesn't register Luigi cowering and completely misses his shot, fumbling onto the ground. He shakes it off and the two look face to face. Red feels a tear going down his cheek and his heart aches, baffling him. He runs off without a word.

"Do you know him?" Asks Peach, pulling Luigi up. "No, but he looked at me like I was familiar.." Luigi feels a tug at his heart too, though he interprets it as being homesick. Since this would-be assailant was masked, Luigi doesn't notice the resemblance.

Seeing that he's targeted by Bowser's army, Peach decides to train Luigi on the obstacle course, taking him on her journey for aid.

For failing his mission and making his presence known to the enemies, Red dares not to return to the Troop and face punishment. He goes into hiding, believing he can redeem himself by learning the heroes' plan and reporting back. He follows them and observes Luigi from afar, looking for whatever makes him so special and, more importantly, why he teared up at the sight of him.

In reminiscent of the campfire scene, I picture Luigi looking out into the sky, the others having fallen asleep. This is where Red comes in, threatening to attack his sleeping companions unless he answers this one question:

"Where did you get that hat?"

"I-I was born with it…?" Luigi sheepishly answers.

"Mock me all you want, but I don't think Lord Bowser would be pleased."

"What do you want from me? I'm not a warrior. I never even met this Bowser guy. How am I a threat?"

"Exactly! While it'd be fun to see, what point is there in him curbstomping you just like that? At least learn how to put up a fight!"

Red offers to teach Luigi a quick lesson in hand-to-hand combat. Maybe he even lets him hold his hammer, which Luigi proves to be a natural at since he's part of the wrecking crew.

For a moment, it seemed less like enemies quarreling and more like a boy teaching his little bro how to stand up to a bully and that heartache comes back…

Aaaand that's where I left off. At the moment, neither know the truth about each other. Maybe in terms of the movie, Luigi accepts the deal in fighting DK with his new skills, which would make the hidden Red facepalm…which would then prompt him to question why he cares all of a sudden.

Anyone is free to add their own take or build off of what I wrote. I don't know if I'll make this its own AU, but I had a lot of fun brainstorming this concept.

Thanks for reading!

[give-me-one-good-reason]

Some fanart for @jell-o101's comic Luigi's Escape Plan. Let them rest, Jello. They deserve it.

[dumbass-duo-showdown]

DDS mod here with an update!!!!

So I was planning on doing a most submitted post. BUT I MADE THE LASAGNA SCALE! And here are the stats!

HERE IS THE FORM! TRIOS ARE OFFICIALLY ALLOWED BUT THEY NEED AT MINIMUM 6 SUBMISSIONS

LASAGNA STATS

Basically if you would trust your duo on making lasagna

With 33,1% of the submissions. 1/3 of the characters are probably banned from the kitchen. WITH A SIMPLE 0

After that with 17% of the votes. Comes duos with a 2 on the scale with 52 submissions.

Now our least voted options are 6,7,8,9 and 10 on the scale. Let’s reveal those characters

Now I won’t reveal how many submissions each got. Some got 4, some 3, some are just solo submissions

6 on the scale

We have

The Dr & Donna from Dr Who

Porsche and Pete from Kinnporsche: The Series

Henchman 21 & Henchman 24 from The Venture Bros

Yor & Loid Forger from Spy x Family

Elder Price and Elder Cunningham from Book of Mormon

@gregorygerwitz & @kitthekazoo (yes I allowed real people and people submitted themselves)

Bill Preston & Ted Logan from Bill & Teds excellent adventure (this was the second highest score they got)

Walter White & Jessie Pinkman from breaking bad

Pete Wentz and Gabe Saporta from Bandom

Calvin & Hobbes from uhh… the comic of the same name

Now for our 7, where 11 duos landed

We have

Bill Preston & Ted Logan, again!

Jack O'Neill & Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG-1

Mayday & Zuke aka Bunk bed junction from no straight roads

Laura Hollis & Carmilla Karnstein from Carmilla

Allison & Paige. I still need your URLs please DM me

Kotetsu T. Kaburagi & Barnaby Brooks Jr from Tiger and Bunny

Alec Hardison & Elliot Spencer from Leverage

Rean Schwarzer & Crow Armbrust from Trails/Kiseki series

Madoka Kaname & Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Mayday & Zuke, again

Eustass "Captain" Kid, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Luffy from one piece (oh yeah about uhh Luffy is in another duo with like an equal amount of submissions and I won’t allow him to go in twice. Hes stupid but not a cheater)

7 duos have gotten an 8 on the save

We have!

Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took from lord of the rings

Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter from Agents of SHIELD

Jessie & James from Pokémon

Lup & Taako from the adventure zone (credit to @arojovela for the fanart!)

Nathan and Jacob from drawfree

Shadow/cid kagenou & beta from the eminence in shadow

Monkey D Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Sanji from one piece

Time for the 9s!

We have 6 characters here!

Romana(dvoratrelundar) & Leela from Gallifrey (Doctor Who expanded universe)

The Bros from the bro duet

Mary Quinn & Sarah McCool from Derry Girls

Dana Scully & Fox Mulder from the X-files

Sokka & Zuko from Avatar: the last airbender

Someone’s mom and dad (they said I could draw stick figures)

Now for the 10s, let see who we can trust in the kitchen

Here. They. ARE!

TK Strand and Evan "Buck" Buckley from 911/911 lone star (I know I make jokes about being followed by OP fans but buck has followed me more. I CANT escape him)

Lanz and Sena from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (credit to Illius on pixiv for the fanart)

Spongebob & Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants (they also got a 0)

Nozaki Umetarou & Mikoto Mikoshiba from Monthly Girls' Nozaki Kun

Billie and Thea from Bill & Ted Face the music

@mb-blue-roses & @sungsyc-amore

Rin Okumura & Kuro from Blue exorcist

kirika akatsuki & shirabe tsukuyomi from senki zesshou symphogear

Mario & Luigi

TK Strand and Evan 'Buck' Buckley, again

(Btw sup @tournamentdirectory)

[pepperycar]

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745221378492514304

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745242958025129984

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745321612932415488

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745388013500121088

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745431787661066241

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745513328769630208

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745596227314466816

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745678162169610240

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/pepperycar/745680619273699329

Here are all the parts together.

Thanks again to @silenzahra and @itsavee4117 for the inspiration.

Also to @gracegootee for getting me to cave in and get Tumblr and read @jell-o101 Luigi’s escape plan comic and start my own fan fictions.

Enjoy some brotherly love and hurt/comfort between these two ;)

[luigixfanxayjay]

How I think @jell-o101 's Luigi's Escape Plan comic is gonna go:

(That "hop hop hop" was so vile I'm so sorry)

[jelly-fish-wishes]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner.

Luigi's Escape Plan?

This will be in more of the film's tone, so it will be comedic. This will start after Luigi has been caged.

EDIT- This will ACTUALLY start after Mario agrees to beat DK. It just fits better in the timeline of the film.

[gaast]

Shoutouts to Paper Mario for making Bowser feel like an actual threat through the whole game.

Honestly, just, shoutouts to Paper Mario, especially the end sequence. Like, what a fucking ride? You go through all of Bowser's Castle and you finally get Mario to Peach's Castle, where his game started and where you played as Peach, feeling hopeless and powerless the whole game. Here you are, Star Spirits assembled, ready to totally neutralize the only thing Bowser has going for him. And you do. You storm through the castle and fight a 50-HP Bowser and you can use the Star Beam to make him vulnerable just like the game spent hours telling you you would. It's all right, but it's so wrong, too, because isn't this TOO easy? Isn't it anticlimactic?

And you win and he runs away and you find out, wait a minute, he actually PLANNED for Mario to gather all of the Star Spirits, he EXPECTED it, he decided not to just rely on the Star Rod by itself as a simple source of invincibility, no, he made it STRONGER, strong enough to overpower the Star Beam, and they even make you use it against him in the final battle just for it to fail, just for him to laugh at you for thinking it would work. Like, fuck. If we're back where we started, regardless of how strong Mario got in the process, Bowser's still gonna fuck us up, no question. It's just a matter of time.

Then you get that whole goddam sequence where Peach and Twink fight Kammy, and sure it's scripted but like, dude, these two FINALLY get to show off their own character development and belief in each other, with Peach's wishes powering him--just like they should!--to get stronger and stronger, to beat Kammy, and to join the other Star Spirits to make the Star Beam just strong enough to overpower Bowser's plans, and like, man, I wish more RPGs actually made it fucking feel like your ultimate victory wasn't inevitable, like the antagonist could actually pull everything off at the very last minute. And how often does a game actually make BOWSER seem like a credible threat? When he shows up at the beginning of the game, even HE celebrates beating Mario's ass. "I finally did it!" Dude took Peach AND her castle to the fucking SKY. And he spends the whole game actively trying to fuck up Mario anyway! He never once let up on the gas.

And shit, he may have been comic relief in the sequel, but even there they manage to let him have the fucking incredible moment where he and Kammy come in right after you beat Grodus so you have an honest to god pretty tough back-to-back boss fight literally the room before the final boss of the game. And honestly, the Shadow Queen is easier than that sequence imo.

RPGs is where Bowser works as a villain for me. Really the RPG space is where Mario consistently has genuine and credible threats through a whole game? There's just no fucking drama in ANY of the other games. Like, Odyssey, Galaxy, Sunshine, you name it, if it isn't an RPG the antagonist isn't threatening. Fucking, the ONLY part of Odyssey that feels REMOTELY threatening is the escape sequence at the very fucking end. Where you take control of Bowser. So like. Yeah. Cool.

And god do I think the Super Mario series gets that so fucking wrong. All you gotta do is fucking step on their heads three times and that's it. There's no drama. Compare that with even Bowletta, a post-final boss boss that literally doesn't let you attack so you have to demonstrate mastery over the game's unique mechanics, but used in a way you haven't really seen before. Contrast that further with Sunshine, where you just do the same old shit as always but it makes FLUDD die for no reason.

Even Luigi's Mansion makes a really good play by making you THINK Bowser's in play the whole time because holy fuck imagine fighting that guy with nothing but a VACUUM, which makes the final boss fight feel so fucking cool ultimately just because Bowser isn't the THREAT, he's the WEAPON.

Super Mario-series games have this weird tendency to try to rehabilitate Bowser somewhat and like, much as I love the read where Mario, Bowser, and Peach do everything they do because they literally all enjoy it and are all having fun (with Mario and Peach genuinely enjoying Bowser kidnapping Peach and fighting Mario, etc), it doesn't make for an interesting game AT ALL. You beat the Tower boss and they just fly away to a later level until you step on Bowser a couple of times. Ooh. Game Over. Meanwhile there's so many Mario-branded games that have genuinely cool and dangerous villains. The Shroobs fuck things up! The X-Nauts and Shadow Sirens get everything they want! Dimentio literally kills all of the protagonists, corrupts Luigi, and becomes an ultimate evil through the magic of world-destroying power AND LUIGI HIMSELF. There's so much creativity there and Nintendo and Miyamoto absolutely hate it because Nintendo and Miyamoto absolutely despise creativity and fun.

I want Nintendo to die a horrible horrible death.

[gracegootee]

Get your auditions ready! A comic dub series of Luigi’s Escape Plan by the amazing and incredibly talented @jell-o101 is happening!!💚🐧⭐️

[birdsareblooming]

While taking a shit I had the idea of Sans and Papyrus starting a comedy show on the surface and by god i need this to be a thing.

The episodes have zero structure and it’s mostly the brothers doing random shit.

They constantly have audience participation. That can range from answering a weird-ass question to getting covered from head to toe in buckets of spaghetti and getting to take a bobble-head of a disturbing monkey home.

An entire episode is dedicated to Sans getting a high-school science teacher to explain to Papyrus that humans do have skeletons inside them at all times.

Yeah the show has no structure but there will be a ten minute segment of the brothers trying to tell human history and butchering it.

They have their friends on as speical guests constatly but the squad are never told what they’re going to be doing. 

(about the above) For all they know it’s a cooking contest, an obsticale course, or a fucking battle to who can speedrun through Sonic 06 and finish it first.

An entire episode was the same very tired high-school teacher from before explaining going to the bathroom to the skeletons.

Frisk is a regular victim to this show bc they’re free like all the time and once one of the challanges they’re put through is seeing how many members of the audience they could flirt with without the audiance member laughing. If they don’t laugh they get a friendship bracelt. If they do laugh they get a friendship braclet. 

One of the episodes was just the bros and the lesbiens playing D&D

The annoying dog shows up on the show constatly and once just fell asleep on an audiance member’s lap for the whole episode.

One episode Sans is sleeping the whole godamn time so Papyrus has to improvize off of his unconious body.

Papyrus has broken at least 2932023 of the set peices.

The show is “safe for kids” so everytime some one is about to swear Sans pulls out an air horn and bleeps them.

Once Papyrus was mad so he stole Sans’ air horn so he could swear, but Sans pulled out another air horn. This repeated unitl there was a pile of discarded air horns on the floor.

Sans WILL air-horn bleep himself. 

For a whole episode Papyrus spoke excusivly in spanish and no one could stop him.

Underneath at least ONE audiance member’s seat is a whoppie cushion and everyone sits down with such causion. 

An episode was Toriel trying to teach Sans and Papyrus to cook pie but it goes terribly in the best way you can think of.

Flowey does appear in the show but with no warning and whenever he wants.

He once did a surprise pop up when they were making golden flower salad and no one planned this. This was followed by five whole minutes of awkward staring as Flowey gazed in horror upon Papyrus and Sans holding salad making utensils and his fallen brethren. 

Mettaton makes regular appearence but unlike every other speical guest MTT’s are pre planned for weeks. His entrance not what he’s doing he never knows what the skeletons have in store for him.

No one knows what Papyrus is going to wear when he enters the building.

There’s a running gag backstage with the crew of this fucked up rubber ducky that the brothers hide in the most random places and whoever finds it gets a bag of spaghetti. 

A whole episode was Sans staking things on audience member’s heads. 

Sans eats actual feces on screen.

Once Papyrus walked in to the episode not wearing any clouths but he’s a skeleton so no one could tell him it was wrong.

They had Undyne fight an actual toaster.

Once some shit was going down and Papyrus solmly put his hand on Sans’ shoulder and Sans just nodded and Papyrus yelled. “WHAT THE FUCK.” 

Papyrus intoduces himself like Julia Morris:

“hi i’m sans” “AND I’M FORMER EXORCIST, PAPYRUS”

“AND I’M THE MASTER OF SLUGS, PAPYRUS”

“AND I’M THE THING THAT’S UNDER YOUR BED”

“HI, I’M IN DEBT.”

“AND I’M THE SECRET THIRD BROTHER........AMERICAN TYPEWRITER.”

“HI I’M LUIGI AND THIS IS MY BROTHER MARIO.”

“AND I’M THE SEXY FOREST NYMPH YOUR GRANDMA WARNED YOU ABOUT”

“AND I’M RUDOLPH THE-I DON’T HAVE A NOSE.”

“i’m sans hello-” “FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIIIIIIDE.”

“AND I’M THE ROBOT PRETENDING TO BE, PAPYRUS.”

“I’M HERE, I’M QUEER, SO DEAL WITH IT.”

“AND I’M SKELETOR THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE.”

“I’M THE SHADOW OF THE MOON AT NIGHT, FIILLING YOUR DREAMS TO THE BRIM WITH FRIGHT.”

“WHAT UP! I’M PAPYRUS, I’M 23, AND I NEVER FUCKING LEARNED HOW TO READ.”

“AND I’M UNKILLABLE.”

“HELLO I AM SANS.” “and i’m papyrus what’s good.”

“AND I’M AN EDRICH GOD TRAPPED IN ETERNAL SLUMBER.”

“HI I’M PAPYRUS AND THIS” [holds up a worm] “IS YOUR NEW LORD AND MASTER, GRAPLEOGADUS”

“AND I’M THE ONE WHO REALLY BURNED DOWN ROME.”

“hi i’m comic.” “AND I’M PAPER.”

“AND I’M GAY.”

“yo it’s me ya boi what’s good famalam.” “WHAT’S POPPIN MY HOMIE BROTHER.”

“hi i’m former scientist sans.” “AND I’M FROMER ESCAPED LAB EXPIRIMENT, PAPYRUS!”

“hoi i’m sans.” “AND I SMELL YOUR MONDO FART.”

“AND I’M....ALEXANDER HAMILTON.”

“yo world i’m sans.” “AND I’M-” [does a 180 spin then splits] “PAPRIKA”

“hello there.” “I’M THE ANGEL FROM YOUR NIGHTMARE.”

“HELLO I’M [car alarm noises from hell]”

[dragonkeeper19600]

Super Mario Bros.: Fallen Star AU (Part 1)

This is an AU I’ve been developing for a while. It’s basically my take on the stock “Bowser defeats Mario and conquers the Mushroom Kingdom” scenario. I haven’t decided if I want to do this as a fan fic, a series of fan fics, a comic series, whatever, so I decided I might as well lay out the basics here. 

The name “Fallen Star” is a double entendre. The first meaning refers to the weapon Bowser uses to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom: a star that fell from the sky. The course of history in the Mario world is often determined by the presence of stars and other celestial bodies on Earth, the Power Stars, the Beanstar, the Dark Star, the Shine Sprites, the Cobalt Star, etc. All of these entities contain great power and great capacity to be used for either good or evil, but one star proved itself more devastating, more uncontrollable than all the others. This was the Havoc Star, which fell to Earth in a fiery blaze. 

The Havoc Star crashed into the ocean, and the force of its impact was so great that it caused flooding in coastal cities around the world. Bowser’s forces found it smoldering in the sea depths, the water around it broiling to a white heat. They managed to contain it with Kamek’s magic and unleashed it as a weapon on the Mushroom Kingdom.

All stars are living beings, but this star seemed heedless of any attempts to communicate with it. It couldn’t be controlled or reasoned with, the only voice it had seemed to be a scream. Bowser didn’t see it as a sentient being and instead as an infinite energy source to be pointed in the general direction of a target.

The devastation this thing wreaked on the Mushroom Kingdom was total, and there was a lot of collateral damage even among Bowser’s own forces, as Kamek’s attempts to wrangle it relied a lot on trial and error. Even Bowser grew uneasy at the extent of its power, but he was far too prideful to admit to his fear and carried on laying waste to the Mushroom Kingdom. 

Mario and Luigi had no way to fight this thing. They decided to focus their efforts on evacuating as many of the Toads out of the Kingdom as possible, hoping to buy time for the Star Sprites to find a solution. But, they are only two men, and the star was more powerful than both of them. Luigi is captured, and Mario and Peach are forced to go into hiding. Bowser takes the opportunity to install himself in the now vacant Peach Castle.

Alone together, Mario decides to make one final bid to stop Bowser. Peach will run for the border while Mario takes one last stand against Bowser.

And this is the second meaning of “Fallen Star” because Mario never returns from this encounter.

Mario throws down with Bowser inside of Peach’s Castle, but when Mario gains the upper hand, Bowser orders Kamek to unleash the Havoc Star on the castle with the two of them still inside. 

Kamek is alarmed and refuses at first, but Bowser is seeing red. 

He’s basically razed the Mushroom Kingdom to the ground and still Peach eludes his grasp?

The only thing left for it is to burn everything.

So, the Havoc Star is set loose upon Peach’s Castle, where it proceeds to tear it apart. 

Bowser manages to escape by the skin of his teeth. 

But, Mario is pinned under falling rubble and unable to get away,

So the castle collapses with him inside it. 

When the smoke clears, and there’s nothing left of the castle but blackened stone,

Bowser is in a state of shock. 

Somehow, he didn’t expect Mario to actually die. 

The reality of it is only now sinking in.

And, he doesn’t know what he feels.

Meanwhile, Luigi is being held prisoner in the dungeon of Bowser’s castle

Because he’s too dangerous to let loose.

Bowser actually gives him the news in person.

He’s halting and awkward with it. He doesn’t attempt to console Luigi, but there’s something almost regretful in his words.

Luigi’s brain is a blank.

He can’t comprehend what’s being said to him. 

All he knows is that Bowser must be lying.

He sits in that dungeon for months, waiting for Mario to rescue him.

And as each day goes by without any sign of his brother, 

A horrible, all-consuming terror takes hold of Luigi’s soul.

What if it’s actually true? 

Three months go by of Luigi trying, with increasing desperation, to stamp down the awful possibility.

But then, finally, one day, there’s chaos up above.

Someone is storming the Bowser’s Castle. 

Luigi hears crashing, blasting, all kinds of foundation-rocking noise

Before a masked person drops into his cell. 

The person with the mask blasts a hole open in the wall,

And pulls Luigi out into a waiting airship.

Only when the airship is flying away does his rescuer remove their mask.

It’s Daisy. 

Daisy is overjoyed to see Luigi, but Luigi only has one question:

“Is Mario with you?”

The look on Daisy’s face says it all. 

For the first time in three months, Luigi breaks down completely. 

Everything, everything is gone.

Everything has lost its color.

Daisy just holds him as he cries. 

When they arrive back in Sarasaland, they are greeted by an anxious Peach.

She made it out. 

She, and the other Toads that managed to escape, are hiding out in Sarasaland. 

Daisy and the rest of the Sarasaland nobility have been spreading rumors of Peach taking refuge elsewhere. 

They have most of Bowser’s forces convinced that Peach has run to the Lunar Kingdom with plans to head deeper into the galaxy.

Only Daisy, her father, and the other four kings know that Peach is actually in Sarasaland. 

For the first few weeks of his own exile in Sarasaland, Luigi doesn’t see much of Peach.

He seems to be numb to the world. He sleep walks through his day. 

At night, he’s wracked with sobs and can’t catch a single wink.

Daisy, to her credit, doesn’t leave his side during all this time. 

She spends all day with him, she encourages him to eat, she lies next to him at night.

She feels overwhelmed. 

She’s grieving for Mario, too, but she knows Luigi is feeling an anguish beyond her comprehension.

She feels inadequate. 

But, Luigi clings to her desperately each night. 

After a month, Daisy tells Luigi she has to tell him something important. 

It’s a struggle for Luigi to hear what anyone else is telling him.

But Daisy has such a serious look on her face that Luigi summons the effort to pay attention.

“Maybe we should’ve told you sooner, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you with so many things at once.

“Peach is pregnant. 

“You’re going to be an uncle.”

Shock. Even greater than the moment in the cell. 

When? How?

Daisy admits she doesn't know all the details.

“After all. I wasn’t there.”

But, apparently, that last night before Mario left to fight Bowser,

Peach and Mario knew there was a decent chance they might both die.

They didn’t want to leave anything unsaid or undone.

Daisy wonders if perhaps a baby was the outcome Peach was hoping for. 

To carry on his legacy, you know? 

Luigi is distraught. 

It’s Mario’s baby. He should be here.

Daisy agrees. Mario should be here.

But, Luigi is here. 

Peach needs him.

Daisy takes Luigi to see Peach immediately after.

Her smile is apologetic. 

She asks Luigi how he feels.

He says he doesn’t know.

Which is fair.

It’s a lot to process.

Peach says the baby is doing well. 

Toadsworth was evacuated too, and he never leaves her side.

Luigi doesn’t need to worry.

She tells Luigi the baby will probably have a lot of questions about its legacy.

Luigi will be able to answer questions that she doesn’t know the answer to.

Also, she wants the baby to know Italian.

Mario taught her some things, but she isn't fluent. 

She doesn’t want the baby to lose that part of its heritage.

She’s gushing, saying too many things at once. 

She’s wrought with emotion, too. She hardly knows what she’s saying.

But, the last thing she says is,

“I’m so glad you’re here, Luigi.

“I give thanks everyday that you’re here.”

It’s strange, but the news of the baby seems to rally Luigi.

While obviously still grieving, the darkness that had weighed him down seems to lighten somewhat.

He seems more awake, more alive.

Whenever Peach asks for something, its practically a race between him and Toadsworth who can get it to her first.

Luigi, as the younger, has the advantage. 

He holds her hair back when she needs to puke, he gets up in the dead of night to make her food.

Though she knows it isn’t fair, Daisy grows jealous. 

Luigi is spending so much time with Peach, and the baby seems to unite them in a way that leaves Daisy feeling left out. 

Besides, she knows that Luigi never really stopped being attracted to Peach.

But, Daisy is enough of an adult not to go to Peach with these feelings.

Instead, she communicates them to Luigi in a very apologetic, mature way. 

She admits she feels like a failure. She wasn’t able to help Luigi like Peach was.

Luigi is surprised that she thinks of herself that way.

He tells her he’s immensely grateful for how kind and patient she has been with him.

How patient she’s still being with him.

Daisy saved his life. He’s never forgotten that.

Daisy presses her hand to her mouth to hide her smile.

But, she can’t hide her tears.

She though she hadn’t been able to help Luigi with his grief.

But all this time, Luigi thought of her as his hero. 

The months pass, and the time comes.

In a cottage hidden away from the world, Peach goes into labor.

Luigi and Daisy wait outside while Peach is attended to by a doctor.

After a while, Daisy is called into the room.

Peach has asked for her.

Daisy is taken aback.

“Why me!?”

The nurse says she doesn’t know. Peach asked for her specifically.

Daisy heads inside nervously.

She don't know nothing about birthing no babies.

Luckily, Peach just wants Daisy to hold her hand.

She tells Daisy she didn't ask for Luigi because she didn’t want him to panic.

Daisy laughs nervously.

Joking around like this, it almost feels like old times.

Eventually, Luigi hears the baby cry.

Daisy comes outside and gives the thumbs up.

It’s all good.

In the months leading up to this moment, when Peach and Luigi were discussing names, Peach admitted she didn’t want to name the baby after Mario.

Mario’s name would already be a huge part of the baby's life. 

Peach wants the baby to have its own identity.

Luigi is touched that Peach understands.

Anyway, it’s a moot point, since the baby is a girl.

The doctor tells Luigi he can go in and see them.

He goes.

Peach looks exhausted, but happy.

The baby is sleeping. 

Luigi can’t believe how beautiful the baby is.

Peach agrees.

“We did good, huh?

“Would you like to hold her?”

Luigi is nervous.

He’s afraid he’ll drop her.

Peach says she trusts him.

Luigi takes the baby.

She’s so light. 

She doesn’t wake up, only stirs under the blanket.

They’re a banished princess and a disgraced hero, both living in exile,

But home is right here in his arms. 

The Italian word for star is stella.

It seemed like a perfect name.

“Hello, Stella.

“I’m your uncle.”

[mysmashplaythroughs]

Mario Playthrough

Fighter: Mario

Game: Super Mario 64 DS. Wii U virtual console (DS). First Released on November 21st 2004.

Fighter Bio.

Mario is a plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom. Over the years he has taken on many jobs and gone on many adventures, most often fighting Bowser and his minions who seek to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. This however, is very much an understatement of who Mario is, a character who not only represents Nintendo as a whole, but arguably gaming itself in a manner similar to how Mickey Mouse could be argued to represent western animation. There is only one other character I would argue possibly is iconic enough to represent gaming as a whole as much as Mario, who we will get to down the line, but unlike that character, Mario has been a consistent presence on the gaming landscape since his debut.

Mario started off as a carpenter called Jumpman who had to chase his escaped angry pet gorilla, a certain ape that we’ll get to later, up a construction site to rescue his then girlfriend Pauline from his clutches. Following this, Mario did many different jobs such as working on a demolitions crew, at a cement factory, as a soldier, as a golfer and then as a plumber. It was after this Mario would first appear in the world he’s now best known from, the Mushroom Kingdom. There’s no canon timeline or anything really with regards to this, in the past in some countries such as America, it was said that Mario and his brother Luigi travelled to the Mushroom Kingdom from Earth down a warp pipe, and with Super Mario Odyssey it seems to be implied recently that the earlier games in Mario’s life before Super Mario Bros might have taken place in New Donk City. Either way, in Super Mario Bros, Mario took down Bowser for the first time saving the Mushroom Kingdom and became its protector, a role he’s carried on to this day, fighting not just Bowser but a variety of different villains and groups over the years and travelling all around his world and beyond to other worlds. Mario’s best strength is that he is so adaptable, not being the strongest, the fastest or able to jump the highest, but still being capable in all those areas. Mario is often the most well-rounded character in every game he’s in, being a good character for beginners to use to learn how to play various games, but also still useable by those who are more experienced.

His personality, similar to other characters we’ll get to, has been purposefully left fairly bland in order for him to be able to fit into many different roles over the years. This does not mean he has none however and over the years he has been portrayed often as excitable, energetic and in some cases with a bit of an ego and over competitive element, a contrast to his brother Luigi who tends to be somewhat quieter and more nervous. Personally, I feel whilst Mario can be summed up as bland, he still is a fun character that deserves his place as the main mascot of Nintendo and due to his vast interesting history and countless great games, his place as a gaming icon.

Friends: Mario has had many friends over the years, the most immediately apparent being his brother Luigi and Princess Peach. Given how long Mario has been around and how many characters he’s teamed up with on various adventures, listing every single one would be a tough task, from the obvious ones such as Toad and Yoshi to the characters who appear more in group events such as Rosalina, Princess Daisy and Diddy Kong, to the more seldom seen such as Geno, Goombella, to finally the very obscure such as Wanda the fairy. There’s a reason he’s seen as the superstar of the Mushroom Kingdom beyond simply saving the world various times after all, Mario tends to be willing to help all sorts of people with all manner of small problems. As such even when he is in a place that’s unfamiliar with him, he manages to build a reputation fairly quickly.

Enemies/Rivals: Mario of course has also amassed many enemies and rivals through his willingness to always stand against those plotting to do wrong, from invading lands, stealing things to kidnapping people. It would take some time to go over every enemy Mario has ever made similarly to how many friends he’s made over the years, but the most obvious enemy of Mario’s is King Bowser Koopa who whilst not his oldest enemy (although, they did battle as babies long ago) is his longest running one. Bowser’s minions also share the sentiment in most cases, especially when it comes to his son Bowser Jr and the Koopalings who have assisted Bowser in his plans many times over the years coming into conflict with Mario numerous times. Bowser’s soldiers have less of a vendetta against Mario in most cases and are more seeking to see Bowser’s will is done. In some cases, they can be quite civil with Mario and in others they can be decidedly not. Some such as Piranha Plants often seem to simply be creatures who wish to devour whatever comes close, Mario often being in their path.

When it comes to rivals, Wario has always been more of an annoyance to Mario than a full-on enemy, often trying to one-up him at various sports and only in his debut appearance ever being anything like a true enemy to Mario, taking control of his Castle. Donkey Kong has a fairly complicated relationship with Mario, the original Donkey Kong that Mario fought in his very first game is now an older ape called Cranky Kong, and the current Donkey Kong is either the son or grandson of Cranky (it’s not very clear to anyone it seems). He had a somewhat more friendly relationship with Mario than Cranky, however his impulsiveness has brought them into conflict which led to the Mario vs Donkey Kong series. Even in that series however, when DK calms down, he often reconciles with Mario and the two have often helped each other out in various spinoff games. Diddy Kong has never had any conflict with Mario only really meeting with him in various sports games and other spinoffs, not helping Donkey Kong in his occasional feuds against Mario. There was one small case of another crossover with the two but I will detail that more in Diddy’s own entry down the line.

Crossovers with other Smash characters: Mario being as prolific as he is has crossed over with many other gaming characters outside of Smash Bros. For the sake of this not getting any longer, I will only detail cases where this has happened in games rather than cases such as Megaman appearing in German Club Nintendo comics alongside Mario, even though I do love that there are such obscure appearances. Down the line I might mention crossovers in animated series for other characters, but despite numerous tv series Mario never actually crossed over with other characters in animation (well, beyond an extremely obscure Mario and Kirby learning video which didn’t really cross them over so much as they both had segments on the same video) I also will only mention appearances in person rather than things such as costumes in Super Mario Maker (which would be practically every character in Smash) or Kirby having a poster in Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga.

Anyway, outside of characters from Mario’s own series such as Donkey Kong, Mario has met Samus and Link (A Link to the Past’s incarnation most likely) for brief cameos in Super Mario RPG. Mario appeared in Kirby Super Star in the audience for both the Megaton Punch minigame and Kirby’s Battle in the Boxing arena with King Dedede. This is a little bit of a cheat but it’s fairly notable, in Mario Kart 8 there was a Mii costume for Captain Falcon, along with the Blue Falcon as a kart and two F-Zero tracks. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there is also Link in both his Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild incarnations as well as both default Inklings, two human Animal Crossing Villagers and Isabelle who are playable. Mr Game & Watch is an interesting case as not only did he specifically cross over with Mario in the Game & Watch Gallery series, he technically has been Mario in the original Game & Watch versions of various games such as Mario’s Cement Factory. I will go more into this in Game & Watch’s post. Pit actually had a small cameo crossover with Mario and various other characters back on the NES in Tetris, where he would appear playing a harp alongside characters such as Mario, Samus, Link and Donkey Kong.  Next up is probably the biggest crossover for Mario, his past rival from another console Sonic. Sonic and Mario, besides in Smash, only crossover in person in one series being the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series. Olimar brings up a somewhat sad example as the only cameo where he crossed over and met Mario is one that never happened. It was found in the files for Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga on GBA that Olimar, Toon Link, Wario, Fox McCloud, Samus Aran and an Excitebiker were originally planned to appear for short cameos giving Mario and Luigi various special items in the Starbean Café for blending new drinks alongside Professor E Gadd. E Gadd was the only one who appeared in the actual game. This would have been Olimar and Toon Link’s only direct crossover with Mario. Little Mac and Mario had quite a big crossover, as Mario was the referee for Little Mac’s matches in the NES version of Punch-out. He also appeared in the audience to watch the boxer in the arcade versions of Punch-Out. Pac-Man has crossed over with Mario in the arcade Mario Kart GP series which really feels more of a crossover than specifically a Mario Kart game. Whilst Mario has never directly crossed over with any of the Hero characters from Dragon Quest, many of the Fortune Street games have featured crossovers with the Dragon Quest and Mario series, with many other Dragon Quest characters interacting with Mario. Whilst Banjo had many links to Donkey Kong, he did not have any official crossover with Mario, although interestingly if you over analyse the Mario franchise as I do, an argument could be made that Banjo is technically part of it, still I’ll leave that for when we get to the Bear and Bird’s own post.

As you can tell, Mario has crossed over with a lot of franchises over the years. I doubt any other character coming up will have as many examples as this, so hopefully there shouldn’t be as much to say. I think now it’s time to move onto the main event.

Why this game?

Super Mario 64 is the definitive 3D Mario title. Does that mean I think it’s the best 3D Mario title? Personally, I don’t think it’s the best of all of them, but I do still feel that doesn’t mean it can’t be the definitive one, similar to how I would rank Super Mario Bros 3 as the definitive 2D Mario game. Super Mario 64 defined many of the staples for Mario going forward as well as 3D platformers in general, with large 3D worlds to explore, a hub world leading to the various levels, and many other features which were fairly new at the time, even if perhaps it wasn’t the first to do many of them, it was the game that popularised them. Every other 3D Mario game that would come later would aim to have a specific “gimmick” (I dislike that term but it’s the best I can think of currently) to set it apart, Sunshine had F.L.U.D.D. the Galaxy games had the gravity system, 3D Land and World tried more to directly translate the gameplay of 2D Mario games to 3D and Odyssey had its capture mechanic along with other things. This leaves Mario 64 as the Mario game that was more straightforward in being about Mario in 3D. This, alongside a lot of other things I will detail in the later section regarding specific aspects of the game relating to Smash, is why I chose to play this game to represent Mario. You have likely noticed at this point I have repeatedly talked about Super Mario 64, not Super Mario 64 DS.

Super Mario 64 DS was a launch game with the new DS system, and in order to show off the capabilities of the DS to handle 3D games, I assume Nintendo again wanted to use Super Mario 64 similar to how they used it originally to demonstrate the abilities of the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 DS in my opinion is a great game, however it does not replace the original. It changed a lot of the models updating them to closer resemble the artwork for the Mario series at the time, closer reflecting all sorts of characters looks. The game also featured three other playable characters, Yoshi, Wario and Luigi. I will not go too into detail regarding these characters as they will have their own posts later and this is mostly meant to be Mario’s entry.

The controls however were the most often cited issue with the game. The DS did not have a control stick, and as such there were two main options to play the game, the first being to use the Dpad to move around. Due to the lack of a control stick to pick up on the sensitivity with which players wished to move their characters, the game instead had it so you had to hold the Y button to run and would just walk quickly otherwise, something which was often not seen to be as satisfying as the original controls for the N64 version. The second option which was more popular than the Dpad was using a thumb strap on the touch screen to recreate the controls of a joystick, I believe this is used in some phone games. (I admit I’m not that familiar with mobile phone platformers that use these controls) The issue with this however is unlike a joystick there’s not a physical object you can feel and get feedback from, so it can be hard to control as precisely as when using one. With the 3DS having the circle pad, and the Wii U virtual console having a control stick, I feel that playing Mario 64 DS on these systems is a big improvement over the originals and that is why I wanted to play through that version of the game for this. With that said, you still have to hold the Y button to run on these systems, which is still an issue people have with the game.

My past with this game.

It’s probably a thing that’s been repeated countless times by others, but when I first played Super Mario 64 as a kid and was in Peach’s Castle grounds, it truly felt like the largest area I had ever seen in a videogame. Running around the grass I thought I’d get lost. It’s bizarre now as even back then after a couple of days of playing I was more aware of the actual size of the garden, but that first time playing was just an experience which I will never have again I think, which is fine as I don’t need to, it was amazing to be able to experience something like that for the first time rather than growing up with it being the norm for games. The rest of the game was a truly incredible experience, exploring the castle, entering the paintings, exploring areas such as Bob-omb battlefield, taking on the King Bob-omb on the summit, taking on Bowser for the first time, it’s something no other game will be able to match in some ways. The greatest strength for Mario 64 however is that even to this day it is still a very enjoyable game to go back to. It’s not a hard game (although not without its challenge, especially when playing it for the first time) but it’s still got a lot of content in it, to the point I’d say it’s one of those games that’s perfect to just play through to 100 percent completion from time to time.

The game also due to its more simplistic style to many other later games has always had a bit of a mysterious air to it. I remember as a child often being a little creeped out in Peach’s Castle as it felt so empty that I could believe Bowser was constantly watching me. There were also plenty of rumours surrounding the game, one of the biggest of which was the absence of Luigi, with various fake ways to ‘unlock Luigi’ floating around the playground and even in some cases done as a joke in gaming magazines, which back then were the main way I would get my gaming info. Beyond this legacy, if you frequent youtube a lot you’ve likely seen just how many speedruns and intense analyses of this game there are, finding all sorts of tricks and secrets, ways to do all sorts of incredible things in the game. Even if I again might personally prefer some of the other 3D Mario games, this game is still an absolutely important and amazing game that deserves the place it often finds on people’s greatest games of all-time lists.

When it comes to Super Mario 64 DS and my personal history with it, I remember being extremely excited for this game. The initial trailers made it seem like the game would let you play through the game in a co-operative multiplayer, which sadly it seems didn’t pan out, but I was still very much excited to play through the game I loved with characters who weren’t in the original, the biggest to me being Luigi who’s absence from the original game led to all sorts of urban legends regarding how to unlock him. When I got the game, I loved it. Now, as we go through these posts, you will all probably come to realise I am notoriously easy to please, to the point it’s fairly rare that I will full on hate a game, therefore whilst I definitely got where people were coming from with the controls, personally I still really enjoyed the game and found I could adapt to the controls to the point they were mostly not a problem to me. As I’ve said before, I do not feel this remake replaces the original game and I still feel there is plenty of reason to go back to the original version again. I personally feel Super Mario 64 DS has its own good points, with a lot of new content, models changed to fit better with the general look the series has nowadays and the additional three characters being some examples. Whilst I wouldn’t rank it as highly as the original game, I still really enjoyed it and was excited to see it come to Wii U virtual console, meaning I can play it on the big screen for the first time. It’s a shame the graphics for DS games don’t look too great on a tv screen, but beyond that I’d say either the Wii U VC version or playing the DS game on 3DS are the best ways to play it.

My Smash Playthrough.

So, returning to this game again how did it go? Well, one of the key aspects of this specific playthrough, is it was the start of this whole project I’d set myself on. As such, it was the game where my initial false start took place. It’s hard to remember now as I believe I beat the game in 2017, but I had started it and my list much earlier, possibly in 2016. It’s interesting as this began some time after Corrin and Bayonetta finished off Smash 4’s DLC but before Ultimate was revealed, although I believe it was somewhat known at the time there would be a Smash Brothers game on Switch, just not officially at this point. Also 2017 brought something else with it which motivated me, the closing of Miiverse. Due to this, I realised if I didn’t get a move on, I would miss out on using it to get screenshots as I had hoped to do, many of which I am using in this specific post you’re reading. With this motivation I decided it was time to truly commit to this goal I had and in order to do it properly from what I remember, I restarted Super Mario 64 DS from scratch rather than continue my original run.

It’s hard to bring up things specific to my playthrough seeing as it was a few years ago now, however I am able to remember some aspects of that playthrough. It was my first time playing through the game on Wii U to 100% completion as I had wanted to save doing so for when I really wanted to go through with this project. As said before, this made two things apparent, firstly that 3D DS games don’t look good blown up on a bigger screen, secondly with the screen a bigger size to what it would have been on the DS, it made differences between the control in the N64 game and DS game clearer, sometimes being somewhat harder to make precise moves. This could make some of the tougher challenges a bit more irritating in some cases, but I still mostly had a lot of fun replaying the game, which was part of the reason I decided I wanted to 100% the game even though that was and is not my plan for every game.

I haven’t played through Super Mario 64 from start to finish many times, but I have returned to my completed files on the game many times before. So seeing the various small events again when playing from the start always gave me a nice nostalgic feeling, such as Bowser’s laugh when you arrive in the castle for the first time, and having the power of the stars you’ve found unlock each door for the first time. The levels were as fun to go through as always, from the simple ones like Bob-omb Battlefield to later stages such as Tall Tall Mountain. Regarding the most difficult stages, I’d say Tick Tock Clock didn’t give me as much trouble as I expected and that the stage I had the biggest issue with was Hazy Maze Cave. I believe even now I remember having gotten roughly 99 coins a couple of times just to get killed there and have to start again from scratch. Notable standouts in that level that stick in my mind are the poisonous gas in the cave as well as the arrow platforms that you had to use to find the red coins, which I remember having a fair bit of trouble with. On this note, the 100-coin stars were as always some of the most irritating ones as nothing in the game is worse than reaching around 90 coins and making a mistake getting killed meaning I have to start from scratch.

The bosses were fairly fun although in a lot of cases fairly simplistic. This is a strength with the DS remake I would say as it added some content including new bosses in new stages which were how you unlock the other playable characters. Of these new bosses, Goomboss is probably my favourite as it was so unexpected (and still is) seeing anything from Paper Mario make its way into another game in the Mario series, the Goomboss being clearly inspired by the Goomba King from the very first Paper Mario game. The star of the show when it comes to iconic bosses in Super Mario 64 however has to be Bowser, with this being definitely one of the top Bowser boss battles in the series. All three boss fights with him are fun, but the music and atmosphere in the final battle make him amongst my favourite Final Bosses in gaming. One of my favourite aspects is that you actually fight Bowser rather than having to trick him into breaking the floor under him, or hitting a switch to drop him off a bridge, with you grabbing him and swinging him by the tail. Whilst the model used for Bowser here looks very nice and definitely matches his more standard appearance, I’ll admit the original N64 model probably looked more intimidating, despite its obvious simplicity.

Then we get to the ending of the game, probably one of my favourite game endings of all time, from Mario (or in the remake Yoshi) looking up into the sky before heading in for the celebrations, the music to the shots of every stage you’ve been through it’s the perfect send off to the adventure and to this day still leaves me with a happy if somewhat melancholy feeling. (which is something I always feel with endings, even if obviously this was far from the end of the Mario series by any stretch of the imagination.) Ending on the final shot of the cake and Mario thanking you for playing his game. Overall this was a fantastic game to start off with and definitely eased me in for what was to come.

Specific aspects about the game relating to Mario in Smash.

Now, this section is where I would mostly go over specific equipment, setups and character choices I made based on the way Super Smash Brothers portrays the character, however in this case Mario doesn’t really get any equipment in the game, with the closest thing to it being he can lose his hat, which obviously I made sure to keep hold of through the game. What exactly does Mario take from this game then? Well, a lot. Most of Mario’s basic attacks, movements and jumps in Super Smash Bros are based on his moves in this game, with specific examples being his standard punch, his punch punch kick combo, jump kick attack, sweep kick, slide kick, and various jumps. What’s interesting is that Mario would never use the majority of these moves in later games, instead relying more on jumping and a straight forward spin attack in most cases. One final inspiration in his moveset that Mario took from this game is from the boss fights with Bowser where Mario will grab him by his tail, swing him around in circles before letting go flinging Bowser forward, a move that Mario uses in some of his throws in the Super Smash Bros series. Finally Mario’s entrance in Smash Bros mirrors his appearance at the beginning of this game, with a pipe appearing from the ground, Mario jumping out and the pipe then descending again. In future I will not tend to go into details on the origin of the majority of a character’s moves, but this is a special case as so much from this game specifically became part of Mario’s overall moveset and there wasn’t really ‘equipment’ to go over for him this time.

Credits.

For information on this game including dates of releases I must give credit to Super Mario Wiki.

The screenshots in this post are taken by me using Miiverse before it shut down.