The Super Mario Bros Super Show
The Bird, The Bird!
King Mario of Cramalot.
Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid.
Mario’s Magic Carpet.
Rolling down the River.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
A History In Animation- Pokemon Rivals
Pokemon Rivals
Since I’ve got the protagonists done now I thought I’d get the rivals done next since they are the most recurring characters in the games beyond the protagonists. The rivals are basically a character who will usually start their journey at the same time as the player and pick their pokemon team depending on what the player picks (so they’ll pick the starter that your starter is weak to.) The rival then meets up with you at various points in the game and battles you. Sometimes they team up with you too at certain points but these occurrences are very rare. Some of the rivals almost directly appear in the anime, whereas others have similarities but are not direct counterparts.
Blue Oak/Gary Oak
The most famous of the rivals and possibly one of the most definitive is Blue. He not only appears in more games than any of the other rivals, but he also was the one who achieved the most in the games than any of the others, becoming the champion of the Kanto League. Blue was infamous for appearing always ahead of the player and gloating about how much further ahead he was in comparison to the player. His name would be on the list of challengers who beat the gym leader in every gym you travelled to as well. Blue did change however as when he’s beaten by the player at the very end of the game he loses his position as champion. In the next game the player could travel to Kanto and would find that the gym that was originally owned by the Team Rocket boss Giovanni now has Blue as it’s leader. He’s still as cocky as ever though and badmouths the player until he’s beaten, then he promises he’ll beat him next time. Gary is pretty similar in comparison. Firstly he looks far more like the original game art for blue with the blue shirt and pendant or whatever around his neck. In appearances after the Johto series he starts wearing his outfit from the remake of the original games. Personality wise he’s exactly the same, being an arrogant jerk who’s always one step ahead of Ash. The anime takes this to even more of an extreme by giving him a group of cheerleaders who follow him around and a red car he drives around in (and they’re meant to be about 10 years old I believe…) In later series Gary, similar to Blue becomes less focused on becoming a Pokemon Master and less arrogant, but unlike his game counterpart he tries to follow in his grandfathers footsteps and becomes a Pokemon researcher. Gary is different from Blue in the fact that Blue must be beaten to progress through the game, therefore in the story of the game Blue never beats Red (except possibly in the very first battle which can be lost.) Gary on the other hand has beaten Ash all but once, and even after he became a researcher he managed to beat Ash. Finally in both versions Gary and Blue are Professor Oak’s Grandson.
Silver/Paul?
Silver is a real departure from the other rival characters. He is possibly the worst of them all as his first Pokemon (in Johto at least) is stolen instead of given to him and it’s implied that he abuses his pokemon. He’s constantly saying that he despises the weak and he physically attacks the player on occasion (usually just pushing them out of his way.) A rather important plotpoint (that is also a spoiler so please don’t read this if you’re planning to play through the new G&S remakes.) is that he is Giovanni’s son. This is only implied in the original games but is shown in the secret Celebi event in the remakes.
When looking at Silver’s anime counterpart(s?) we have a problem. The reason for this is that in the anime special, ‘Legend of Thunder’ with Gold’s opening we see a character who is meant to be Silver in the anime (the redhead with the rhino above.) There is however another character who in my opinion is actually the anime counterpart of Silver. Paul is the main rival of Ash in the most recent series. Paul is very similar to silver, firstly whilst his hair’s not red, it’s a similar style to silver’s. Secondly is his personality. Paul despises weak Pokemon and throws away the ones he deems weak. He pushes them to the extremes and calls them (as well as most other people) pathetic when they fail him. This is best shown in him making his Chimchar basically get beaten up by his other pokemon just so he can use his special ability (which only happens when Chimchar is under extreme stress.) Paul has some backstory but as of yet nothing indicates that he is related to Giovanni at all and he didn’t make any comment on Team Rocket when they attack (then again he barely took any notice of the Trio and as such might of not believed that they were part of Team Rocket.) I believe that Paul is the same character from the opening to the special episode, the reason why is because it’s revealed that Paul has been through Johto, Kanto and Hoenn, meaning that they could be the same character. Paul also enters competitions without the real ambition to win, often simply using them as a way of testing out which of his Pokemon is deserving of being on his team. At the end of the day, the guy’s an asshole, even more so than Gary or any of the other rivals.
Wally/Drew
Sadly I am not actually all that up on Ruby and Sapphire so I don’t actually know much about this character. He’s pretty unique compared to most rivals as he doesn’t actually become a rival until part way into the game and is a sickly kid (with what some believe to be asthma). Drew on the other hand is always going around with a rose and is very confident and critical, as well as popular. He’s also a co-ordinator which means he’s not a trainer who battles for badges but in contests instead. The only reason I think Drew is at least an adaptation of Wally is because his hair’s green and he’s May’s rival in the anime.
Barry
Barry is pretty much the only rival other than Gary who’s pretty much his game counterpart in the anime. In the games, Barry is always rushing around and hyper, saying he’ll fine people if they don’t meet him or do something quickly enough. Barry is probably the least jerkish of the rivals (other than Wally but he’s sort of a semi-rival.) and is just overly self assured and cocky. He rarely badmouths the player. In the anime Barry’s pretty much the same rushing around everywhere and being overly cocky. One strange difference is that in the anime Barry is in awe of Paul and believes he’s the perfect trainer. Barry isn’t like Paul however as he doesn’t mistreat his Pokemon, but he does release ones he thinks are weak. Barry’s father is Palmer who’s part of the Sinnoh battle frontier.
Since I’ve got the protagonists done now I thought I’d get the rivals done next since they are the most recurring characters in the games beyond the protagonists. The rivals are basically a character who will usually start their journey at the same time as the player and pick their pokemon team depending on what the player picks (so they’ll pick the starter that your starter is weak to.) The rival then meets up with you at various points in the game and battles you. Sometimes they team up with you too at certain points but these occurrences are very rare. Some of the rivals almost directly appear in the anime, whereas others have similarities but are not direct counterparts.
Blue Oak/Gary Oak
The most famous of the rivals and possibly one of the most definitive is Blue. He not only appears in more games than any of the other rivals, but he also was the one who achieved the most in the games than any of the others, becoming the champion of the Kanto League. Blue was infamous for appearing always ahead of the player and gloating about how much further ahead he was in comparison to the player. His name would be on the list of challengers who beat the gym leader in every gym you travelled to as well. Blue did change however as when he’s beaten by the player at the very end of the game he loses his position as champion. In the next game the player could travel to Kanto and would find that the gym that was originally owned by the Team Rocket boss Giovanni now has Blue as it’s leader. He’s still as cocky as ever though and badmouths the player until he’s beaten, then he promises he’ll beat him next time. Gary is pretty similar in comparison. Firstly he looks far more like the original game art for blue with the blue shirt and pendant or whatever around his neck. In appearances after the Johto series he starts wearing his outfit from the remake of the original games. Personality wise he’s exactly the same, being an arrogant jerk who’s always one step ahead of Ash. The anime takes this to even more of an extreme by giving him a group of cheerleaders who follow him around and a red car he drives around in (and they’re meant to be about 10 years old I believe…) In later series Gary, similar to Blue becomes less focused on becoming a Pokemon Master and less arrogant, but unlike his game counterpart he tries to follow in his grandfathers footsteps and becomes a Pokemon researcher. Gary is different from Blue in the fact that Blue must be beaten to progress through the game, therefore in the story of the game Blue never beats Red (except possibly in the very first battle which can be lost.) Gary on the other hand has beaten Ash all but once, and even after he became a researcher he managed to beat Ash. Finally in both versions Gary and Blue are Professor Oak’s Grandson.
Silver/Paul?
Silver is a real departure from the other rival characters. He is possibly the worst of them all as his first Pokemon (in Johto at least) is stolen instead of given to him and it’s implied that he abuses his pokemon. He’s constantly saying that he despises the weak and he physically attacks the player on occasion (usually just pushing them out of his way.) A rather important plotpoint (that is also a spoiler so please don’t read this if you’re planning to play through the new G&S remakes.) is that he is Giovanni’s son. This is only implied in the original games but is shown in the secret Celebi event in the remakes.
When looking at Silver’s anime counterpart(s?) we have a problem. The reason for this is that in the anime special, ‘Legend of Thunder’ with Gold’s opening we see a character who is meant to be Silver in the anime (the redhead with the rhino above.) There is however another character who in my opinion is actually the anime counterpart of Silver. Paul is the main rival of Ash in the most recent series. Paul is very similar to silver, firstly whilst his hair’s not red, it’s a similar style to silver’s. Secondly is his personality. Paul despises weak Pokemon and throws away the ones he deems weak. He pushes them to the extremes and calls them (as well as most other people) pathetic when they fail him. This is best shown in him making his Chimchar basically get beaten up by his other pokemon just so he can use his special ability (which only happens when Chimchar is under extreme stress.) Paul has some backstory but as of yet nothing indicates that he is related to Giovanni at all and he didn’t make any comment on Team Rocket when they attack (then again he barely took any notice of the Trio and as such might of not believed that they were part of Team Rocket.) I believe that Paul is the same character from the opening to the special episode, the reason why is because it’s revealed that Paul has been through Johto, Kanto and Hoenn, meaning that they could be the same character. Paul also enters competitions without the real ambition to win, often simply using them as a way of testing out which of his Pokemon is deserving of being on his team. At the end of the day, the guy’s an asshole, even more so than Gary or any of the other rivals.
Wally/Drew
Sadly I am not actually all that up on Ruby and Sapphire so I don’t actually know much about this character. He’s pretty unique compared to most rivals as he doesn’t actually become a rival until part way into the game and is a sickly kid (with what some believe to be asthma). Drew on the other hand is always going around with a rose and is very confident and critical, as well as popular. He’s also a co-ordinator which means he’s not a trainer who battles for badges but in contests instead. The only reason I think Drew is at least an adaptation of Wally is because his hair’s green and he’s May’s rival in the anime.
Barry
Barry is pretty much the only rival other than Gary who’s pretty much his game counterpart in the anime. In the games, Barry is always rushing around and hyper, saying he’ll fine people if they don’t meet him or do something quickly enough. Barry is probably the least jerkish of the rivals (other than Wally but he’s sort of a semi-rival.) and is just overly self assured and cocky. He rarely badmouths the player. In the anime Barry’s pretty much the same rushing around everywhere and being overly cocky. One strange difference is that in the anime Barry is in awe of Paul and believes he’s the perfect trainer. Barry isn’t like Paul however as he doesn’t mistreat his Pokemon, but he does release ones he thinks are weak. Barry’s father is Palmer who’s part of the Sinnoh battle frontier.
A History in Animation- Various Mario Power-ups
Power-ups
Since I’ve already done an article on the Fire Flower, which is amongst the oldest and the power-up with the most changes, it won’t be included in this article which tackles the majority of other power-ups.
First of all is the only power-up other than the Fire Flower and the Super Mushroom that debuted in Super Mario Bros, the Starman. In the games the Starman allowed Mario temporary invincibility, which meant he could run into enemies unharmed, but also it allowed him to kill enemies by simply touching them. In the Super Mario Bros Super Show, the Starman would often turn Mario, Luigi or the princess into Super (Name) which gave them super strength, fire powers and even on one occasion the ability to fly. They were not completely invincible however and also unlike the games, they could keep the ability for a long time. When the Starman appeared in AOSMB3 and SMW it was exactly like the game version. Mario or Luigi would flash different colours whilst gaining invincibility (which usually consisted of the super strength to throw enemies like Koopa, Sledge Bros and even some Wrigglers into space). Appearance wise the Starman followed the original version perfectly, as did invincible Mario.
Next up we have what is many people’s favourite power-up, the Racoon Leaf, or as it’s called in the show, the Super Leaf. This power-up has only appeared in SMB3 (and remakes) and so it only appeared on TAOSMB3 too. It was probably the most common power-up on the show apart from the Frog suit, it also played a slight role as the mascot since Racoon Mario appears on the title screen for each episode and the DVD case. It was a perfect adaptation of the game version except they seemed to be able to fly indefinitely, whereas in the game it was only available after running and for a short time. 
Since I’ve already done an article on the Fire Flower, which is amongst the oldest and the power-up with the most changes, it won’t be included in this article which tackles the majority of other power-ups.
First of all is the only power-up other than the Fire Flower and the Super Mushroom that debuted in Super Mario Bros, the Starman. In the games the Starman allowed Mario temporary invincibility, which meant he could run into enemies unharmed, but also it allowed him to kill enemies by simply touching them. In the Super Mario Bros Super Show, the Starman would often turn Mario, Luigi or the princess into Super (Name) which gave them super strength, fire powers and even on one occasion the ability to fly. They were not completely invincible however and also unlike the games, they could keep the ability for a long time. When the Starman appeared in AOSMB3 and SMW it was exactly like the game version. Mario or Luigi would flash different colours whilst gaining invincibility (which usually consisted of the super strength to throw enemies like Koopa, Sledge Bros and even some Wrigglers into space). Appearance wise the Starman followed the original version perfectly, as did invincible Mario.
Next up we have what is many people’s favourite power-up, the Racoon Leaf, or as it’s called in the show, the Super Leaf. This power-up has only appeared in SMB3 (and remakes) and so it only appeared on TAOSMB3 too. It was probably the most common power-up on the show apart from the Frog suit, it also played a slight role as the mascot since Racoon Mario appears on the title screen for each episode and the DVD case. It was a perfect adaptation of the game version except they seemed to be able to fly indefinitely, whereas in the game it was only available after running and for a short time.
Next up and related to the Racoon suit is the P-wing. In the game this was the racoon suit, but with ability to fly constantly as opposed to having to gain speed. In the cartoon this wasn’t a factor with the Racoon Suit so there’s no real difference other than the P that appears on them. The P would appear on their chest in-game too, but only on the map screen.
Finally for SMB3, is the Frog Suit. Basically the suit is exactly the same as you can see above it’s a suit that allows Mario, Luigi or whoever else to swim far better. They even humorously talk about it as if it was a raincoat telling people to wear their Frog Suit out as it’s raining. You might be wondering why There’s a pic of a Blue Toad above? Well it’s because this is the closest the games have come yet to a Toad version of the Frog Suit. I can’t compare anything as they’re too different but I thought I’d put it here anyway.
Next up, a SMW exclusive, Cape Mario. Cape Mario in the show is practically the same as the game, in fact even more than the Racoon Suit as sometimes he does the open parachute move that you see above rather than hover on the spot. He also does the cape spin to attack enemies. Not much more to say, it’s probably the most true to the games power-up on here.
The Super Mario Bros Super Show Episode 1
Title- The Bird, The Bird!
New/Guest voices
Lou Albano — Mario
Danny Wells — Luigi
Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool, Birdo, and Shy Guy
John Stocker — Toad, Mouser, Koopa Troopa and Beezo
Harvey Atkin — King Koopa and Tryclyde
Robert Bockstael — (Additonal Voices)
Dorian Joe Clark — (Additonal Voices)
Rob Cowan — (Additonal Voices)
Denise Pidgeon — (Additonal Voices)
Paulina Gillis — (Additonal Voices)
Greg Morton — (Additonal Voices)
Joyce Gordon — (Additonal Voices)
Greg Swanson — (Additonal Voices)
Diane Fabian — (Additonal Voices)
Marilyn Lightstone — (Additonal Voices)
Marla Lukofsky — (Additonal Voices)
Well this is probably one of the most popular of the Mario Cartoons, and whilst it’s not my personal favourite it’s definitely better than the other shows with Mario in them (excluding aosmb3 in my opinion.) It’s also the longest running one, with over 50 episodes produced. Mario has one of his best voice actors ever, the late Lou Albano. Luigi’s pretty good to, I mean I grew up with aosmb3’s Mario and Luigi, so I do prefer them, but these two did a great job too. Toadstall’s the only other member of the main cast who was a different voice actor to the other two series, I said before that she seemed to spacey, but to be honest, I prefer her to aosmb3’s Toadstall now I think about it. Toad and King Koopa are the same as they were in aosmb3 so I won’t repeat my comments on them from those reviews.
There is another thing despite the length that sets this apart from the other two Mario series (which in the canon did follow on from this series) One is that there was a very cheesy comedy part detailing Mario and Luigi’s regular life with them often having guest stars appearing asking them to do some plumbing for them. It’s kinda funny, if only for the fact that it’s two 30-40 year old Italian plumbers as opposed to the typical teen’s like Hannah Montana that are all the rage nowadays. I usually skip these parts when watching the episodes though, and since this is Nintendo Animation System I won’t be covering the live action segments.
Finally before going onto the actual episode, I want to go over the format and details on the animated sections. Basically, the show is based on Super Mario Bros 1+2. Whilst Bowser wasn’t the main boss in 2 he has the troops that Wart used in two as well as his usual ones. I find this kinda interesting as after this show, some of Wart’s troops actually started showing up in the games as Bowser’s forces (a key example being the Shy Guys who made up the bulk of Wart’s army.) Also a key feature of the episodes, were there were a heck of a lot of parodies, with episodes being based on various popular culture, from Star Wars to Hercules. These would sometimes be parody adaptations, and sometimes just feature a similar setting. King Koopa (Bowser) would often take on the role of a villain from the parody (such as Count Koopula, Koopenstien, Darth Koopa etc.) and sometimes Mario would refer to himself as a character from the same parody (Mario Skywalker, Sherlock Mario, Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid etc)
So what’s this first episode like? Well it has good and bad parts. The good parts all really involve Koopa and the Mario Bros. There are a fair few enemies that appear from the games here, mainly snow based Flurries, but also Albatross and the main character of the episode, a Birdo. They’re pretty faithful except the Birdo who can fly (I guess they took the name too seriously) has a baby and is an old and blind as a bat, as well as pretty deaf too. Also the Birdo is a female, not the transexual or whatever from the games.
Another good point is the characters. In this show both Mario and Luigi can be pretty funny, Mario doing stuff usually for food and Luigi being a complete coward. Koopa’s also pretty funny at some points.
The Birdo, which is the main story of the episode is the main bad part of the episode here. The whole story is tedious and the Birdo is incredibly annoying. Also she has all this saliva coming out of her mouth all the while, it’s actually pretty disgusting and ruined the episode for me.
Overall a pretty disappointing first episode, and probably one of the worst in the series.
New/Guest voices
Lou Albano — Mario
Danny Wells — Luigi
Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool, Birdo, and Shy Guy
John Stocker — Toad, Mouser, Koopa Troopa and Beezo
Harvey Atkin — King Koopa and Tryclyde
Robert Bockstael — (Additonal Voices)
Dorian Joe Clark — (Additonal Voices)
Rob Cowan — (Additonal Voices)
Denise Pidgeon — (Additonal Voices)
Paulina Gillis — (Additonal Voices)
Greg Morton — (Additonal Voices)
Joyce Gordon — (Additonal Voices)
Greg Swanson — (Additonal Voices)
Diane Fabian — (Additonal Voices)
Marilyn Lightstone — (Additonal Voices)
Marla Lukofsky — (Additonal Voices)
Well this is probably one of the most popular of the Mario Cartoons, and whilst it’s not my personal favourite it’s definitely better than the other shows with Mario in them (excluding aosmb3 in my opinion.) It’s also the longest running one, with over 50 episodes produced. Mario has one of his best voice actors ever, the late Lou Albano. Luigi’s pretty good to, I mean I grew up with aosmb3’s Mario and Luigi, so I do prefer them, but these two did a great job too. Toadstall’s the only other member of the main cast who was a different voice actor to the other two series, I said before that she seemed to spacey, but to be honest, I prefer her to aosmb3’s Toadstall now I think about it. Toad and King Koopa are the same as they were in aosmb3 so I won’t repeat my comments on them from those reviews.
There is another thing despite the length that sets this apart from the other two Mario series (which in the canon did follow on from this series) One is that there was a very cheesy comedy part detailing Mario and Luigi’s regular life with them often having guest stars appearing asking them to do some plumbing for them. It’s kinda funny, if only for the fact that it’s two 30-40 year old Italian plumbers as opposed to the typical teen’s like Hannah Montana that are all the rage nowadays. I usually skip these parts when watching the episodes though, and since this is Nintendo Animation System I won’t be covering the live action segments.
Finally before going onto the actual episode, I want to go over the format and details on the animated sections. Basically, the show is based on Super Mario Bros 1+2. Whilst Bowser wasn’t the main boss in 2 he has the troops that Wart used in two as well as his usual ones. I find this kinda interesting as after this show, some of Wart’s troops actually started showing up in the games as Bowser’s forces (a key example being the Shy Guys who made up the bulk of Wart’s army.) Also a key feature of the episodes, were there were a heck of a lot of parodies, with episodes being based on various popular culture, from Star Wars to Hercules. These would sometimes be parody adaptations, and sometimes just feature a similar setting. King Koopa (Bowser) would often take on the role of a villain from the parody (such as Count Koopula, Koopenstien, Darth Koopa etc.) and sometimes Mario would refer to himself as a character from the same parody (Mario Skywalker, Sherlock Mario, Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid etc)
So what’s this first episode like? Well it has good and bad parts. The good parts all really involve Koopa and the Mario Bros. There are a fair few enemies that appear from the games here, mainly snow based Flurries, but also Albatross and the main character of the episode, a Birdo. They’re pretty faithful except the Birdo who can fly (I guess they took the name too seriously) has a baby and is an old and blind as a bat, as well as pretty deaf too. Also the Birdo is a female, not the transexual or whatever from the games.
Another good point is the characters. In this show both Mario and Luigi can be pretty funny, Mario doing stuff usually for food and Luigi being a complete coward. Koopa’s also pretty funny at some points.
The Birdo, which is the main story of the episode is the main bad part of the episode here. The whole story is tedious and the Birdo is incredibly annoying. Also she has all this saliva coming out of her mouth all the while, it’s actually pretty disgusting and ruined the episode for me.
Overall a pretty disappointing first episode, and probably one of the worst in the series.
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