Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games

MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Today, let's begin the Mario and Sonic Olympics games, a crossover series promoting the Mario series, the Sonic series, and the Olympics. With a couple of exceptions, these games have come out contemporary with the current games and are set in the respective cities the games took place that year, this first game held in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Please note, I will only be covering the console version of the game this time, and will cover the handhelds at a later date.

The game features eight playable characters from each of the two main franchises represented here. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser represent the Mario side, while Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Shadow, Blaze the Cat, Vector the Crocodile, and Dr. Eggman represent the Sonic side. Other characters, like Toad, Cream the Rabbit, Lakitu, and Espio and Charmy from Team Chaotix act as referees, and other enemies (Koopas, Boos, Egg Pawns, and the like) tend to fill up teams when needed and appear in the audience and background often. It should also be noted that, much like our other guest characters so far, the Sonic characters will not be talked about here, as they will be covered when I get to their own series.

As mentioned before in other series, no gameplay here is inherently connected to any specific character, so there won't be too much updated. Rather, the gameplay is all the various sports played at the Olympics, with the characters simply standing in for real-world athletes. For thoroughness's sake, though, let's go over the sports played. We have 100m freestyle swimming, 100m freestyle swimming with a team of four, archery, 100m run, 400m run, 100m relay with a team of four, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, hammer throw, javelin throw, fencing, gymnastics with a trampoline, gymnastics with hurdles, rowing, skeet shooting, and table tennis. The game also includes four "dream events" which include the more fantastical elements of the Mario and Sonic series, sports that could not normally be pulled off easily or safely in the real world. These include a Dream Race through a Mario desert world, Dream Platform which includes you skydiving through a fleet of Egg Planes, Dream Fencing which gives your characters special moves to use, and Dream Table Tennis set in a sci-fi world with special moves of its own.

I suppose that's really about it to go over. The only items are generally equipment used in the respective sports.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario

Luigi

Amy Rose

Blaze the Cat

Sonic

Shadow

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Princess Peach

Waluigi

Tails

Dr. Eggman

Knuckles

Vector

Wario

Bowser

Stages:

100m freestyle

4x100m freestyle

100m

400m run

4x100m relay

110m hurdles

400m hurdles

long jump

triple jump

high jump

pole vault

hammer throw

javelin throw

fencing

trampoline

hurdles

rowing

skeet shooting

table tennis

Dream Race

Dream Platform

Dream Fencing

Dream Table Tennis

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the next game in the series, for the 2010 Vancouver games.

Super Mario Series Roster, Updated

  SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

SUPER MARIO BROS.

Here's our next update. This time, we only add the Super Team from Super Mario Strikers.

1. Mario
2. Fursuit Mario
3. F.L.U.D.D. Mario
4. Luigi
5. Vacuum Luigi
5e. Professor E. Gadd
6. Princess Peach

6e. Peachette
7. Princess Daisy
8. Rosalina and Luma
9. Pauline
10. Cappy
11. Toad

11e. Toadsworth

12. Captain Toad
12e. Toadette
13. Bowser
13e. Dry Bowser
14. Bowser Jr.
15. Shadow Mario
16. The Koopalings
17. Wart
18. Tatanga

19. Mario Kart

20. Robo Mario
21. Wanda

22. Plum

22e. Kid

23. Alex & Nina

23e. Ace & Clay
24. Perry
25 Sprixie Princess
26. Koopa Troopa
26e. Dry Bones
27. Goomba
28. Piranha Plant
29. Boo

30. Buzzy Beetle

31. Bob-Omb

31e. King Bob-Omb
32. Cheep Cheep
33. Blooper

34. Pokey

35. Lakitu and Spinies

36. Ninji
37. Monty Mole

38. Spike

39. Hammer Bro
40. Chargin' Chuck
41. Wiggler
42. Chain Chomp

43. Thwomp

43e. Whomp

44. Mechakoopa

45. Ghost
46. Honeybee

47. Nabbit
48. Boom Boom
48e. Pom Pom
49. Birdo

50. Mouser
51. Petey Piranha
52. King Boo
53. The Broodals

54. Super Team

There we go! Next up, we'll start in on the Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series. See you then!

Character Sheet: Super Team

SUPER TEAM

Today, we only have one character to cover and that is the robotic villains of Super Mario Strikers: the Super Team! As far as gimmick reps for the Mario football series, go, they're easily our best bet. They can do everything the regular players can do in game, kicking around the ball and trying to get it into the other team's net while a goalie tries to block it. They can also make use of the more fantastical elements from the game, such as the electric walls that shock players, the metal ball that changes color depending on how many times it's been passed, and the super shots and mega strikes. All in all, I think we can make a good moveset out of this.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Pass

The character will normally have a ball out that they're kicking around between their feet. However, using standard B will cause them to kick the ball across the stage in one direction. A different member of the team will appear at the ball's projected destination while the original kicker disappears. The ball can be intercepted but it will cause damage upon being hit. If intercepted, the receiver will disappear instead and the kicker will remain where it was and will have to retrieve the ball. With every full pass, the ball will change color, amplifying the amount of damage it can do.

Side B: Electric Barrier

This one acts as a damaging shield. The team member will put out their hand and the electric wall will appear, electrocuting and sending flying any character that collides with it.

Up B: Flying Kick

The team member will kick the ball straight up into the air and leap up after it, flipping to kick it down toward the ground while also gaining some air at the same time.

Down B: Robo-Kritter

This is a shield and a counter. If a projectile is headed your way, you can press this command to make the Robo-Kritter goalie appear directly in front of you, which will deflect the projectile and send it flying back at the sender.

Final Smash: Mega Strike

In a small cutscene, the four members of the team will gather, kick the ball up into the air, then all four will jump up after it. The three backup members will pound on the ball before the captain comes up with a thunder fist and slams it, sending it flying toward the net, where the move's victim will be trapped. A Kritter in goalie gear will dive to stop it but miss, and the ball will smash the victim through the net.

Entrance: They will jump from an airship over the field.

Taunts: Up, the team member will kick the ball like a hackysack. Side, the team member will touch an electric wall, zapping itself. Down, the team member will kick grass and mud off of its robotic cleats.

Thanks for reading! Let's update the roster, shall we?

Smash Character Review: Mario Sports

SMASH CHARACTER REVIEW

Today, let's go over all characters featured in the Mario baseball games, football games, and the "sports" titles. As most of these are heavily focused on team sports, we saw several playable characters, including several who had never been playable before, simply out of the need to fill up each side's rosters.

Most of the games here tended to include Team Captains, made up of the most famous faces of the Mario series. Although there was some variation, these more often than not featured the faces of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. You may notice they tended to come in pairs. Each frequently had super moves based on the sport being played that revolved around who they were (meaning its not a lot we haven't seen before. Mario almost always used fireballs, Luigi often did too or his vacuum from Luigi's Mansion, Peach and Daisy's were often accentuated with hearts or flowers respectively, Yoshi either used eggs or it was accentuated with a rainbow, Birdo's often had something to do with being "weird," the Kongs often used bananas or barrels, or Donkey simply used his strength while Diddy used his jetpack. Wario and Waluigi tended to vary a bit, with Wario's tended to involve him being sneaky, farting, using his strength, or throwing bombs, while Waluigi also tended to be sneaky, but also featured him multiplying himself, spinning fast enough to cause a cyclone, and using a machine to electrocute other characters. Definitely some stuff in there we can add to Waluigi's moveset. If there's anything in there that you think might work better being switched out for one of these, that's perfectly fine. Lastly we have Bowser and Bowser Jr., who frequently used fire breath, bullet bills, or Bowser Jr.'s paintbrush from Super Mario Sunshine.

Filling out the team, the games frequently relied on many of the most common species from all over the Mushroom Kingdom. Toads appear everywhere here, mostly on Peach and Daisy's team or generally as possible teammates. This includes both Toadette and Toadsworth, the latter in his only playable appearance ever (except in this hypothetical game this blog is crafting, obviously). Other frequent flyers appear here as well, such as Koopas, Paratroopas, Shy Guys, Fly Guys, Boos, Hammer Bros, Dry Bones, and Wigglers, alongside lesser seen faces like Piantas and Nokis from Sunshine, Monty Moles, Goombas and Paragoombas, Magikoopas, Bloopers, and Spikes.

Outside of enemy characters and captains, we also saw a number of other major characters making appearances across the games (especially in the baseball games), including the baby versions of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Donkey Kong, DK series alums Dixie Kong, Funky Kong, Tiny Kong, King K. Rool, and Kritters (including an unusually prominent role as the goalies in the football games), and major bosses King Boo and Petey Piranha (who acts as a hoop in the basketball games (love it!)). Rosalina sadly only appears in Mario Sports Superstars, largely because most of these came out around the mid-2000s before Rosalina had been firmly established as a staple of the Mario series. Boom Boom and Pom Pom also appear in Superstars, as do Metal Mario and Pink Gold Peach.

The first two Mario Sports games were crossovers with Square Enix, and as such featured Moogle, Cactuar, Ninja, Black Mage, and White Mage as special guests from the Final Fantasy franchise, and Slime from the Dragon Quest franchise. While many of these likely will see slots eventually in this blog, I will not be covering them in full until I actually get to those respective franchises.

That just leaves us with a few series staples acting as background or obstacles. Lakitu more often than not plays the perennial role of referee, a role they seem made for. Piranha Plants, Chain Chomps, and Thwomps play the roles you generally expect them to as field hazards, as do Klaptraps from the Donkey Kong series. Finally, we have Miis, who were included as playable in Mario Sports Mix.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's add in our one new playable character, Super Mario Strikers' Super Team!

Mario Sports Superstars

 MARIO SPORTS SUPERSTARS

Now, going off the name, you'd think this game would be a sequel to Mario Sports Mix, maybe with more sports on top of the four already featured, maybe more Mario and Final Fantasy/Square Enix characters, so on. You would be wrong. In reality, it's more like a big combination game between all of the other Mario sports franchises. You know, the ones with sequels. You have tennis, golf, baseball, soccer/football, and . . . horse racing? Where you have to raise and train your own horse? Um . . . okay. I'm not sure where that one came from, but I guess I'm not complaining. Each sport plays pretty much the way each sport was played in the series proper, with special attacks and other fantastical elements that you would have come to expect from each. The horse racing, I guess, you could compare to Mario Kart, but much slower and generally more focused on avoiding or jumping over obstacles, as well as the simple raising and training mechanics within the pasture.

Our playable characters this time around include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Rosalina, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Boo, Bowser, and Bowser Jr., with Metal Mario and Pink Gold Peach as unlockable. For the team sports like football and baseball, you also have a number of sidekicks to fill up the team. These include Toads, Koopas, Magikoopas, Shy Guys, Goombas, Hammer Bros, Spikes, and Boom Boom and Pom Pom as goalies.

Each sport has four different stages that they can be played on. Tennis has a Grass Court, Hard Court, Clay Court, and a Night Court, most of which should be pretty familiar to Mario Tennis players. Golf has Emerald Woods (a standard course), Gold Links (a rougher course), Crystal Beach (a beach), and Wild Valley (the toughest course). Baseball has a Country Field, Town Park, Big Field set in a city, and a Harbor Park. Football has a Village Stadium, City Stadium, Kingdom Stadium, and a Grand Stadium. Finally, horse racing has Green Farm (where you start out), Cobalt Lake (going around a lake), Yellow Leaves Hill (set during Autumn), and Sky Peak (a mountainous course).

That's about it. Most of the items are mostly just accessories, like the balls, baseball bats, golf clubs, tennis racquets, and clothes for the horse.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball, Super Mario

Luigi: green fireball, tornado, Super Luigi, vacuum

Peach: heart ball, Freeze Frame

Daisy: flower ball, Crystal Smash

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball, Egg Roll, flutter jump

Birdo: weird ball, suction, Extreme Egg, egg shot

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel, Thunder Wham, dunk, ground pound

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana, Red Card, rocketbarrels

Wario: phony ball, Gas Mask, butt bash, bomb

Waluigi: liar ball, Wall-Luigi, cyclone spin, electricity machine

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath, Fire Storm

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush, Sonic Roar

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole: Dirt Drill

Toad: Fire Meteor, mushrooms

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Blast

Dixie Kong: barrel cannon

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa: Shell Smash

Paratroopa: fly

Boo: Possess, teleport

King Boo

Petey Piranha: Mud Slinger, act as hoop

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro: Hammer Throw

Dry Bones: Shocker

Lakitu: hold hoop

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter: goalie

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots, Mega Strikes, Special Abilities, metal ball

Fly Guy: electric spear

Moogle: dance, teleport

Cactuar: needles

Ninja: leaf veil, shadow clones

White Mage: holy magic, light beam

Black Mage: meteor, lightning

Mii: energy ball

Slime: duplicates

Rosalina

Boom Boom

Pom Pom

Spike

Metal Mario

Pink Gold Peach

Boss:

Behemoth

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

The Vice

Thunder Island

The Sand Tomb

The Classroom

The Lava Pit

The Wastelands

Crystal Canyon

The Dump

Stormship Stadium

Galactic Stadium

Mario Stadium

Koopa Beach

Peach Field

Sunset Beach

DK Cruiser

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Garden

Malboro Garden

Wario Factory

Jr. Street

Bowser's Castle

Glare Desert

Sherbet Land

Bloocheep Sea

Pirate Ship

Rainbow Ship

DK Dock

Toad Park

Western Junction

Bowser Jr. Boulevard

Waluigi Pinball

Ghoulish Galleon

Behemoth's Domain

Grass Court

Hard Court

Clay Court

Night Court

Emerald Woods

Gold Links

Crystal Beach

Wild Valley

Country Field

Town Park

Big Field

Harbor Park

Village Stadium

City Stadium

Kingdom Stadium

Grand Stadium

Green Farm

Cobalt Lake

Yellow Leaves Hill

Sky Peak

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

False Panel

Freezie

Mimic

Mini Mushroom

Thanks for reading! Now that we're done with all of that, let's go over our character updates one more time!

Mario Sports Mix

MARIO SPORTS MIX

Although not specifically a basketball game, Mario Sports Mix is essentially a sequel to Mario Hoops. It too was produced by Square Enix, and features most of the characters appearing in that game. The big difference, however, is that this game features basketball alongside volleyball, dodgeball, and hockey, all in one. The mechanics for the four games are about what you'd expect. Basketball has two teams trying to toss a ball into a hoop, volleyball has two teams on either side of a net lobbing a ball back and forth, dodgeball has two teams pummeling each other with surprisingly hard balls in a gruesome battle to the death, and hockey has two team playing, well, sort of basically soccer but on ice and with sticks. If you know the games, you know the games.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. all return from the previous game, alongside the Moogle, Cactuar, Ninja, White Mage, and Black Mage of the first game. New characters include Toad, Slime from the Dragon Quest series, and Miis. Each brings with them a special shot just like before. Mario uses a fireball, Luigi uses the Poltergust, Peach uses hearts, Daisy uses flowers, Yoshi uses rainbows, Donkey Kong pounds the ground, Diddy uses a banana boomerang, Wario uses a bomb, Waluigi uses electricity, Bowser breathes fire, and Bowser Jr. uses his paint brush. Toad makes mushrooms pop up on the field, and the Miis use a generic energy ball functionally similar to Mario's fireball. On the Square end, the Moogle teleports the ball, the Cactuar fires needles, the Ninja uses Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the White Mage uses a beam of light, the Black Mage uses lightning to shrink opponents, and the Slime creates copies of itself to stun opponents.

The stages in the game are pretty similar to the original game, but they are altered slightly for each individual sport. These include: Mario Stadium, Koopa Troopa Beach, Peach's Castle, DK Dock (similar to the raft from the last game), Toad Park (set in an Amusement Park), Luigi's Mansion, Western Junction (based on the Old West), Daisy Garden, Wario Factory, Bowser Jr. Boulevard (very similar to Times Square or the Vegas Strip kind of thing), Bowser's Castle, Waluigi Pinball, Ghoulish Galleon (a haunted pirate ship), and the flying Star Ship from the first game.

One major notable feature here is the presence of a story mode, where after you have beaten all the tournaments, a boss called the Behemoth King appears and challenges you. It is mostly a big snarling monstrosity that attacks with its tail and claws, sometimes charging at you and body-slamming you. Sometimes it uses lightning, fireballs, and meteors to attack you. You and your team have to use all the sports together to defeat it.

Finally, we have a few items to go over. We have the banana, the Bob-Omb, the coin, the Green Shell, Red Shell, and Star, all acting as you expect them to do, and the Mini Mushroom, which will shrink you down.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball, Super Mario

Luigi: green fireball, tornado, Super Luigi, vacuum

Peach: heart ball, Freeze Frame

Daisy: flower ball, Crystal Smash

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball, Egg Roll, flutter jump

Birdo: weird ball, suction, Extreme Egg, egg shot

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel, Thunder Wham, dunk, ground pound

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana, Red Card, rocketbarrels

Wario: phony ball, Gas Mask, butt bash, bomb

Waluigi: liar ball, Wall-Luigi, cyclone spin, electricity machine

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath, Fire Storm

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush, Sonic Roar

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole: Dirt Drill

Toad: Fire Meteor, mushrooms

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Blast

Dixie Kong: barrel cannon

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa: Shell Smash

Paratroopa: fly

Boo: Possess, teleport

King Boo

Petey Piranha: Mud Slinger, act as hoop

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro: Hammer Throw

Dry Bones: Shocker

Lakitu: hold hoop

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter: goalie

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots, Mega Strikes, Special Abilities, metal ball

Fly Guy: electric spear

Moogle: dance, teleport

Cactuar: needles

Ninja: leaf veil, shadow clones

White Mage: holy magic, light beam

Black Mage: meteor, lightning

Mii: energy ball

Slime: duplicates

Boss:

Behemoth

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

The Vice

Thunder Island

The Sand Tomb

The Classroom

The Lava Pit

The Wastelands

Crystal Canyon

The Dump

Stormship Stadium

Galactic Stadium

Mario Stadium

Koopa Beach

Peach Field

Sunset Beach

DK Cruiser

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Garden

Malboro Garden

Wario Factory

Jr. Street

Bowser's Castle

Glare Desert

Sherbet Land

Bloocheep Sea

Pirate Ship

Rainbow Ship

DK Dock

Toad Park

Western Junction

Bowser Jr. Boulevard

Waluigi Pinball

Ghoulish Galleon

Behemoth's Domain

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

False Panel

Freezie

Mimic

Mini Mushroom

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Mario Sports Superstars, which, despite the name, is very much not a sequel to this game!

Mario Hoops 3-on-3

 MARIO HOOPS 3-ON-3

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is a collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix, and the Mario series's only full foray into basketball. The basketball mechanics are pretty standard, with two teams of three vying for control of a ball that they toss into a hoop at either end of the court. The game comes with all the fixings, like dribbling, dodging, passing, and defense, with a few fantastical elements like special shots for each character and coin panels on the floor that you can dribble on to get coins.

The game starts with ten characters, standard Mario staples including: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser Jr. Unlockable characters include Bowser, Birdo, Dixie Kong, Boo, Paratroopa, and Fly Guy, alongisde five guest characters from Final Fantasy: a Moogle, Cactuar, Ninja, Black Mage, and White Mage. Mario and Luigi use fire for their shots, Peach uses hearts and Daisy uses flowers, Yoshi performs a flutter jump, Donkey Kong just dunks it very hard while Diddy uses his rocketbarrels, Wario does a butt bash and Waluigi performs a spin, and Bowser Jr. uses his paint. Bowser uses his fire, Birdo shoots an egg, Dixie shoots from a cannon, Boo teleports, Paratroopa flies it up, and Fly Guy uses an electric spear. Our guests (while we won't be covering them too much here) perform their moves by the Moogle dancing, the Cactuar uses its needles, the Ninja uses leaves to disappear, the White Mage levitates it, and the Black Mage calls down meteors.

Our stages include Mario Stadium, a basic court; Koopa Beach, a beach court with a pirate ship in the distance; Peach Field, an island with cliffs on both sides; Sunset Beach, more or less the same as Koopa Beach; DK Cruiser, a raft going down a jungle river; Luigi's Mansion, based on Luigi's Mansion; Daisy Garden, with two Petey Piranhas acting as the nets (awesome); Malboro Garden, very similar but with Final Fantasy enemies instead; Wario Factory, set in a factory; Jr. Street, a casino-themed court; Bowser's Castle; Glare Desert, a desert level; Sherbet Land, an icy level; Bloocheep Sea, an underwater level; Pirate Ship, featuring Gooper Blooper as a hazard; and Rainbow Ship, set on a flying ship.

Lightning, Mushrooms, Poison Mushrooms, Stars, Bananas, Bob-Ombs, Fake Panels, Green Shells, Red Shells, Spiny Shells, and Freezies all appear as items, acting pretty much exactly like your mental picture of them would that you just brought up. Mimics from the Final Fantasy series also appear, which will chase after the character with the ball.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball, Super Mario

Luigi: green fireball, tornado, Super Luigi

Peach: heart ball, Freeze Frame

Daisy: flower ball, Crystal Smash

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball, Egg Roll, flutter jump

Birdo: weird ball, suction, Extreme Egg, egg shot

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel, Thunder Wham, dunk

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana, Red Card, rocketbarrels

Wario: phony ball, Gas Mask, butt bash

Waluigi: liar ball, Wall-Luigi, cyclone spin

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath, Fire Storm

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush, Sonic Roar

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole: Dirt Drill

Toad: Fire Meteor

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Blast

Dixie Kong: barrel cannon

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa: Shell Smash

Paratroopa: fly

Boo: Possess, teleport

King Boo

Petey Piranha: Mud Slinger, act as hoop

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro: Hammer Throw

Dry Bones: Shocker

Lakitu: hold hoop

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter: goalie

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots, Mega Strikes, Special Abilities, metal ball

Fly Guy: electric spear

Moogle: dance

Cactuar: needles

Ninja: leaf veil

White Mage: holy magic

Black Mage: meteor

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

The Vice

Thunder Island

The Sand Tomb

The Classroom

The Lava Pit

The Wastelands

Crystal Canyon

The Dump

Stormship Stadium

Galactic Stadium

Mario Stadium

Koopa Beach

Peach Field

Sunset Beach

DK Cruiser

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Garden

Malboro Garden

Wario Factory

Jr. Street

Bowser's Castle

Glare Desert

Sherbet Land

Bloocheep Sea

Pirate Ship

Rainbow Ship

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

False Panel

Freezie

Mimic

Thanks for reading! Now, let's go on to the sort-of sequel to this game, Mario Sports Mix!

Mario Strikers Charged

 MARIO STRIKERS CHARGED

Mario Strikers Charged, or Mario Strikers Charged Football depending on your region, is the sequel to Super Mario Strikers, and the second Mario football/soccer game. The football mechanics in the game are much the same as you'd expect, a much more extreme version of regular football, with only five players to a team, skill shots and special abilities, high-powered electric walls around the edges of the field, and a special metallic ball that tracks how many times the ball has been passed, becoming more powerful on the fifth pass.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Waluigi all return as captains, and are joined by Bowser, Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr., and Petey Piranha. Each comes with a Mega Strike, like before, but they all also come with an item-based Super Ability. Mario and Luigi can become giants; Peach can freeze the area around her; Daisy causes a bunch of crystals to burst out of the ground, clearing the area around her (don't know where she got that power from); Yoshi rolls around in an egg; Wario farts and fills the area with toxic gas; Waluigi can create a bunch of thorny vine walls to block opponents; Donkey Kong punches the ground to make a shock wave; Bowser breathes fire; Bowser Jr. lets loose a sonic boom; Diddy Kong uses a red card to remove players for fifteen seconds (alrighty then); and Petey Piranha pukes up a bunch of muck on the ground.

Hammer Bros, Toads, Birdos, and Koopas all return as teammates, alongside Boos, Dry Bones, Monty Moles, and Shy Guys. They all have special shots as well, mostly based around them and who they are. Hammer Bros smack with a hammer, Koopa turns the ball into a spinning shell, Birdo spits an egg with it, Boo possesses it, Monty Mole burrows underground with the ball to distract the goalie, and Shy Guy uses a Bullet Bill. Kritters once again act as the goalies. Sadly, the Super Team does not feature this time around, except for a single cameo at the end of the game's credits.

Our stages this time include: The Vice, a standard grassy field; Thunder Island, a stormy mountaintop; The Sand Tomb, a desert level; The Classroom, a futuristic science lab; The Lava Pit, a Bowser's Castle type stage; The Wastelands, a rough, snowy region; Crystal Canyon, a canyon surrounded by enormous crystals; The Dump, sorta similar to the Underground of the previous game; Stormship Stadium, set inside a huge spaceship; and Galactic Stadium; set on a chunk of debris floating out in the abyss of space.

All of the items from before return and perform the same basic functions.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball, Super Mario

Luigi: green fireball, tornado, Super Luigi

Peach: heart ball, Freeze Frame

Daisy: flower ball, Crystal Smash

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball, Egg Roll

Birdo: weird ball, suction, Extreme Egg

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel, Thunder Wham

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana, Red Card

Wario: phony ball, Gas Mask

Waluigi: liar ball, Wall-Luigi

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath, Fire Storm

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush, Sonic Roar

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole: Dirt Drill

Toad: Fire Meteor

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Blast

Dixie Kong

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa: Shell Smash

Paratroopa

Boo: Possess

King Boo

Petey Piranha: Mud Slinger

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro: Hammer Throw

Dry Bones: Shocker

Lakitu

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter: goalie

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots, Mega Strikes, Special Abilities, metal ball

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

The Vice

Thunder Island

The Sand Tomb

The Classroom

The Lava Pit

The Wastelands

Crystal Canyon

The Dump

Stormship Stadium

Galactic Stadium

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

Thanks for reading! Now, let's move on to the Mario series' foray into basketball, Mario Hoops 3-on-3!

Super Mario Strikers

SUPER MARIO STRIKERS

Today, let's cover Super Mario Strikers, or Mario Smash Football in Europe and Australia, a football (or soccer, depending on where you live) game for the Mario series. It's got a lot of the standard football mechanics of a typical game, except that the game typically includes five players to a team instead of the standard eleven, the borders of the field are guarded by an electric barrier that fries anyone who runs into it, items are available for use in game, and the captain of the team can perform a special shot.

The game features eight team captains: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Waluigi, as well as four sidekick characters to fill up the rest of the team: Toads, Koopas, Hammer Bros, and Birdos. Kritter from the Donkey Kong series acts as the team's goalie no matter what. Most of the captain's special shots are typically just strong kicks with slight effects, such as Mario lighting it on fire, Donkey Kong using his fist, and Wario using his belly, but not too much of note, per se. The game also features original antagonists in the form of the Super Team, alien robots with robotic Kritters of their own to act as goalies. (Guess who's gonna be the gimmick rep).

The stages in the game include: The Palace, based on Peach's Castle; Pipeline Central; the Underground; Konga Coliseum, based on Donkey Kong; Crater Field, based on Yoshi's Island; Battle Dome, based on Bowser's Castle; and Bowser Stadium, set in outer space. Most of them, and the game in general, tend to be a lot grungier than one is used to with the Mario series, but you can still see the inspirations.

The game's items include Banana Peels, Green Shells, homing Red Shells, freezing Blue Shells, Spiny Shells, Bob-Ombs, Mushrooms, Stars, and a Chain Chomp that rampages around the stage (0_0).

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball

Luigi: green fireball, tornado

Peach: heart ball

Daisy: flower ball

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball

Birdo: weird ball, suction

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana

Wario: phony ball

Waluigi: liar ball

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole

Toad

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy

Dixie Kong

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa

Paratroopa

Boo

King Boo

Petey Piranha

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro

Dry Bones

Lakitu

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the game's sequel, Mario Strikers Charged!

Mario Super Sluggers

 MARIO SUPER SLUGGERS

Today, let's cover the sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball, and last full baseball game made. (Which is really a shame. I'd love to see a more modern game with Rosalina, a few Lumas, Nabbit, Pauline, Peachette, the Koopalings, a few Wario Ware characters and so on. This would be the game for it.) This game was made for the Wii, and as such made use of the Wiimote motion controls and all that, but all things considered, it was mostly the same game, same basic baseball mechanics if a little updated.

Our twelve captains all return, with much the same super moves except that Luigi now uses tornadoes instead of fire (not totally sure why, but okay), Yoshi's pitch uses rainbows, Birdo uses her sucking in and shooting abilities from her odd little mouth, Donkey Kong uses barrels now, Bowser uses his fire breath, and Bowser Jr. uses paint like in Super Mario Sunshine. All of the support characters return, alongside Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Baby Donkey Kong, Funky Kong, Tiny Kong, King K. Rool, Wiggler, Blooper, five more Yoshis, and four Kritters.

The story mode of the game takes place in the Baseball Kingdom, an island that features all of the main fields. These include: Mario Stadium, the same from before; Peach Ice Garden, an ice rink that someone had the bright idea to play baseball on; Yoshi Park, much the same; Wario City, a big Vegas-style city fitting of Wario; DK Jungle, very similar; Luigi's Mansion, a Luigi's Mansion-themed field; Daisy Cruiser, taking place on an ocean liner; Bowser Jr. Playroom, a giant toybox playroom type of level; and Bowser's Castle, very similar to the original.

There are a few more "item" items that you can use in gameplay, including a Green Shell, a Fireball, a Mini-Boo to turn the ball invisible, a Bob-Omb, a POW "Ball," a Banana Peel, and a Lightning Bolt. Most of these function the way you would think they do in a Mario game.

That's all we've got for now! Here's what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: fireball

Luigi: green fireball, tornado

Peach: heart ball

Daisy: flower ball

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball

Birdo: weird ball, suction

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana

Wario: phony ball

Waluigi: liar ball

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole

Toad

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy

Dixie Kong

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa

Paratroopa

Boo

King Boo

Petey Piranha

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro

Dry Bones

Lakitu

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's tackle the Mario football games, starting with Super Mario Strikers!

Mario Superstar Baseball

 MARIO SUPERSTAR BASEBALL

Take me out for a video game! Take me out for a round! Buy me a headset and controllers. I don't care if I ever get done. For it's root-toot-toot for the development team; if they messed it up, it's a sham. For it's one-two-three lives, you're dead in this old video game!

Press start!

Ahem, sorry about that. Couldn't resist. Today, we're covering Mario Superstar Baseball, one of the Mario series' two (full) forays into the sport of baseball. For the most part, the mechanics are all there, exactly what you'd expect from a baseball game. You have batters, pitchers, catchers, outfield, and infield. If you've watched a baseball game, you get the gist. Honestly, the most depressing thing here is that out of all the sports we've covered, baseball probably has the most to offer in terms of a Smash moveset but there's no real stand-out "Mario baseball" reps: no original characters like the RPG characters from the Golf and Tennis series. (That's okay though. It's not like this is the last time we'll encounter baseball in this blog series).

Speaking of characters, we have a butt-ton here, enough to make six full teams if you wanted. There are only twelve captains, each in pairs as the heads of the respective six teams. These include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. From there, the rest of the characters fill out each team, but can be mixed around any way you want them. On Mario and Luigi's team, we get three Piantas, three Nokis, and a Monty Mole. On Peach and Daisy's team, we get five Toads, Toadette, and Toadsworth. On Yoshi and Birdo's team, we have Baby Mario and Luigi, and five Shy Guys. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's team features a Goomba, Paragoomba, two Koopas, two Paratroopas, and Dixie Kong. Wario and Waluigi's team features a Boo, King Boo, Petey Piranha, and four Magikoopas. Finally, Bowser and Bowser Jr.'s team is filled out with three Hammer Bros. and four Dry Bones.

The captains all have special moves while pitching or batting, but most are pretty standard here. Mario and Luigi use fireballs, Peach and Daisy use hearts and flowers, Yoshi and Birdo's make it bounce around all weird (like an egg), Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong use bananas to make it rebound like a boomerang, Wario and Waluigi's make the ball go a different direction than you expect, and Bowser and Bowser Jr.'s turn the ball into a Bullet Bill. A lot of what you'd expect from most of these characters.

We have a number of stages, each correlating to a respective team. First we have Mario Stadium, a standard course that takes some inspiration from Sunshine (hence his team full of Piantas and Nokis). Then we have Peach Garden, a field set in her castle's shadow, with blocks floating in the air that disrupt the ball's course. Next is Yoshi Park, based on Yoshi games, with Piranha Plants cropping up here and there. We also have Donkey Kong Jungle, a jungle course with a river flowing through it and Klaptraps crawling out sometimes. Wario's is Wario Palace, a desert level with a Chain Chomp hazard. Finally, we have Bowser Castle, full of fireballs and lava and Thwomps that crush balls and players alike. There's also the Toy Field, a special field for practicing where you can collect coins based on where the ball lands.

There are items in the game, but they're mostly special bats and gloves you can purchase with coins rather than in-game items like in Mario Kart.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball

Luigi: green fireball

Peach: heart ball

Daisy: flower ball

Yoshi: egg ball

Birdo: weird ball

Donkey Kong: banana ball

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball

Wario: phony ball

Waluigi: liar ball

Bowser: killer ball

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole

Toad

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy

Dixie Kong

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa

Paratroopa

Boo

King Boo

Petey Piranha

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro

Dry Bones

Lakitu

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Items:

Bat

Glove

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the game's sequel, Super Mario Sluggers!

Smash Character Review: (Not) Mario Golf

 (NOT) MARIO GOLF

This shouldn't take that long either. We just ran through all golf games that feature Mario but don't technically qualify as "Mario Golf" games. Mario appeared in all of them as a player character, seemingly for no other reason than "Mario boosts sales." For the most part, he was the only one, although some later games also featured Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, and Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew. Kid, Grace, Tiny, and Gene Yuss, stars of the first two handheld Mario Golf games, also make appearances. Lastly, we have a bunch of new human characters: Tony, Billy, Steve, Mark, Ken, Napple, Thread, and Lisa. Since we already have the two sets of golf protagonists, I don't see any reason to worry about them, except maybe to include them as color swaps or as color swap references.

That's it for today! No roster changes this time, so next up, we'll start on the other Mario sports games with Mario Superstar Baseball!

Mobile Golf

 MOBILE GOLF

Mobile Golf is another golf game, this time made for the Game Boy Color. Unlike some of the others though, this one is a bit more tied to the Mario Golf games, with characters like Kid, Grace, Tiny, and Gene Yuss appearing as challengers, as well as Mario, Peach, Yoshi, and Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew showing up as well. It has a set of four human protagonists as well: Ken, Napple, Thread, and Lisa. If you really want to mix them in with the other characters as color swaps, go ahead. Have fun. As it is, I don't care nearly enough at this point to do so myself.

Here's what we've got so far!

Characters:

Mario: golf

Luigi: golf

Peach: caddy

Daisy: caddy

Yoshi

Toad

Donkey Kong

Foreman Spike

Kid/Grace/Tiny/Gene Yuss

Tony/Billy/Steve/Mark

Ken/Napple/Thread/Lisa

Stages:

Golf Course

Japan Course

U.S. Course

Game Boy Course

Australia Course

France Course

Hawaii Course

U.K. Course

Mobile Course

Thanks for reading! Now that we're finished, let's go over our characters again!

NES Open Tournament Golf

 NES OPEN TOURNAMENT GOLF

NES Open Tournament Golf is a second game for the NES, released later in its life with a bit more complex mechanics and elements to it, as you might expect. Mario appears, as has become standard with Nintendo golf games for some reason, but we also see Luigi as another playable character, Peach and Daisy as their caddies (Daisy's first role outside of Super Mario Land), and Toad and Donkey Kong in minor roles. A handful of human characters also appear as challengers, but as they're not playable, I'm not going to worry about them too much. The game gives you a number of courses set in Japan, Australia, France, Hawaii, and the UK, or the US, Japan, and the UK in the overseas version . . . for reasons.

That's pretty much it. Here's what we've got so far!

Characters:

Mario: golf

Luigi: golf

Peach: caddy

Daisy: caddy

Toad

Donkey Kong

Tony/Billy/Steve/Mark

Stages:

Golf Course

Japan Course

U.S. Course

Game Boy Course

Australia Course

France Course

Hawaii Course

U.K. Course

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's finish things off with Mobile Golf for the Game Boy Color!

Golf (Game Boy)

GOLF

This one's going to be really quick. Golf was a simple golf game released for the Game Boy, sort of a port of the NES version but drastically simplified to work on a handheld system. Once again it had Mario at the tee, and that's pretty much all I can say about it.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: golf

Stages:

Golf Course

Japan Course

U.S. Course

Game Boy Course

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover NES Open Tournament Golf!

Family Computer Golf: Japan Course and U.S. Course

 FAMILY COMPUTER GOLF: JAPAN COURSE and U.S. COURSE

So, these are kind of two games, but also kind of not. Basically, they're simple golf games released for the Famicom system, not too much more complicated than the original NES title, but with courses based on real Japanese courses, and then later with courses based on real American course (never released in America though). Both started Mario as the golfer . . . because. Really not much else to say here, except to note Mario's stars and stripes costume from Smash originates here.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: golf

Stages:

Golf Course

Japan Course

U.S. Course

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the first Game Boy golf game, also called Golf!

Golf (NES)

GOLF

Today, let's begin our coverage of the handful of "Mario Golf" games that happen to feature Mario, but really aren't Mario Golf games exactly. Basically, Golf was one of the many basic sports titles Nintendo released for the NES alongside Baseball, Volleyball, Hockey, and several others. Pretty basic, a very minimalistic representation of the sport being played, not too much to say about it. Unlike many of the others though, this one used Mario as the player character, because reasons. (Captain Rainbow differs a bit on that point but we'll get there when we get there). As it is, that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

Here's what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: golf

Stages:

Golf Course

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover the Famicom golf games, both the Japan and U.S. Courses!

Super Mario Series Roster, Updated

 SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

SUPER MARIO BROS.

Here's our next update. This time we add in the protagonists from the Mario Golf games, Plum and the other players from the N64 game, and Kid and the other protagonists from the handheld games.

1. Mario
2. Fursuit Mario
3. F.L.U.D.D. Mario
4. Luigi
5. Vacuum Luigi
5e. Professor E. Gadd
6. Princess Peach

6e. Peachette
7. Princess Daisy
8. Rosalina and Luma
9. Pauline
10. Cappy
11. Toad

11e. Toadsworth

12. Captain Toad
12e. Toadette
13. Bowser
13e. Dry Bowser
14. Bowser Jr.
15. Shadow Mario
16. The Koopalings
17. Wart
18. Tatanga

19. Mario Kart

20. Robo Mario
21. Wanda

22. Plum

22e. Kid

23. Alex & Nina

23e. Ace & Clay
24. Perry
25 Sprixie Princess
26. Koopa Troopa
26e. Dry Bones
27. Goomba
28. Piranha Plant
29. Boo

30. Buzzy Beetle

31. Bob-Omb

31e. King Bob-Omb
32. Cheep Cheep
33. Blooper

34. Pokey

35. Lakitu and Spinies

36. Ninji
37. Monty Mole

38. Spike

39. Hammer Bro
40. Chargin' Chuck
41. Wiggler
42. Chain Chomp

43. Thwomp

43e. Whomp

44. Mechakoopa

45. Ghost
46. Honeybee

47. Nabbit
48. Boom Boom
48e. Pom Pom
49. Birdo

50. Mouser
51. Petey Piranha
52. King Boo
53. The Broodals

There we go! Tomorrow, we start on the other Golf games. You know, the ones with Mario in them but aren't really Mario games, per se. You'll see what I mean.

Character Sheet: Kid

KID

Today, let's go over our two newcomers from the golf series. It was a little difficult this time, as with the tennis reps, I just split it up by game, with Alex & Nina representing the first and Ace & Clay representing the second. This time however, we have three groups of characters, all from different games, but I have no desire to go past a single echo fighter limit. I feel if I did that, there'd be no point to any of this. So, I opted this time to divide them up by the console characters from the N64 game, and the characters from the handhelds. Neil and Ella from the second handheld are basically just new members of the same group anyway, so it works.

1. Plum

2. Kid

So, today, we will be covering the characters from the handheld games, both the Game Boy Color version, as well as Advance Tour, as most of the characters appear in both. If we don't go past eight color swaps, then it will be the starter playable characters from both: Kid, Sherry, Joe, and Azalea, alongside Neil and Ella, with a couple of other color swaps. If we are willing to break past, then we will include Putts, Grace, Tiny, and Gene Yuss as well. As this is an echo, I guess we don't have anything else to talk about.

Here's the moveset I came up with!

Standard B: Fore!

Pretty much the same, probably quite different in the stats department.

Side B: Flag

Also the same, probably different flags and such.

Up B: Tornado

We could change it up and use the coin tornado that appeared in the Game Cube game.

Down B: Sandtrap

We could go Rough on this one instead of Sandtrap if we wanted to mix it up.

Final Smash: Golf Club

Whether we only have the six or the full ten, all ten will appear on stage and perform the move as described previously.

Entrance: The character will come out and set up their tee.

Taunts: Up, the character will hold pull a club from their bag and look it over. Side, the character will spin the club lazily like a cane. Down, the character will turn a ball over in their hands as if studying the dimples.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's update the roster!

Character Sheet: Plum

PLUM

Today, let's go over our two newcomers from the golf series. It was a little difficult this time, as with the tennis reps, I just split it up by game, with Alex & Nina representing the first and Ace & Clay representing the second. This time however, we have three groups of characters, all from different games, but I have no desire to go past a single echo fighter limit. I feel if I did that, there'd be no point to any of this. So, I opted this time to divide them up by the console characters from the N64 game, and the characters from the handhelds. Neil and Ella from the second handheld are basically just new members of the same group anyway, so it works.

1. Plum

2. Kid

This first character will be the five characters from the N64 game as color swaps: Plum, Charlie, Sonny, Harry, and Maple. I figure each would have a second color swap and then we'd end up with ten, and then the next character can be all eight cast members of the GBC game plus Neil and Ella, and they'd all match up. This character is basically a golf rep, but with some of the more fantastical elements that the Mario series adds on to it. At a first glance, it seems difficult, what with swinging your club as more or less the only "move" per se, but if you factor in things like hazards and such, we can make it work.

Here's the moveset I came up with!

Standard B: Fore!

This one's the basic move. You will swing your golf club and smack a ball as a projectile. Like real golf, most likely how long you press and different directional inputs will alter the way the ball flies and how much power it strikes with.

Side B: Flag

It's a bit of a stretch maybe, but I could see this working like Isabelle's stop sign, putting down a flag in a hole and stopping an opponent in their tracks.

Up B: Tornado

This one is one of the more fantastical elements. Tornadoes crop up as part of this series quite often, so it fits well. A tornado will appear, but rather than send the ball flying, it will send the character flying instead.

Down B: Sandtrap

This one is based on one of the most common hazards in golf, but it will be in a more portable variety. Plum, or whichever character you are playing as, will toss something down, but it won't be visible immediately. When a character walks over it, the sandtrap will appear and they will end up buried for a short time.

Final Smash: Golf Club

When the final smash is activated, all five members of the club will come out, line up shots with the Ka-Bomb item and hit it off, bombarding the stage and other players with the projectiles.

Entrance: The character will come out and set up their tee.

Taunts: Up, Plum (etc.) will lick her finger and hold it up to the wind. Side, she will hold her hand over her eyes and look out. Down, she will crouch and retrieve her ball from a hole.

Thanks for reading! Next, we'll cover the handheld game reps, collectively called Kid!

Character Review: Mario Golf series

MARIO GOLF SERIES

There's not too much to say here. We'll have our golf gimmick reps, which we'll cover next, but outside of that we don't even really have any specialized individual moves to talk about (which is a surprise, I would think that that kind of mechanic might go hand in hand with this series). So let's just run through them, and that will be that.

Mario and Luigi both appear, alongside Mario variants such as Baby Mario, Metal Mario, and Gold Mario. Peach has always been a mainstay, and so has Daisy, and Rosalina made her debut in World Tour. Toad, strangely, got a bit of the short end of the stick with this series, being relegated to a mere support character for most of it until World Tour. (Sounds like his Smash representation all over again, except World Tour hasn't happened yet). Toadette joined him as DLC pretty shortly after.

Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Wario have all been pretty much a constant, with their partners such as Birdo, Diddy Kong, and Waluigi following not too far behind. As for our villains, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are constants, with Bowser Jr.'s Shadow Mario form also cropping up in Toadstool Tour. Petey Piranha has shown up once, as has Nabbit, and even Kamek in a rare playable appearance. Koopas, Boos, and Paratroopas are the only enemy characters to appear as playable so far.

As for that, our only "guest" character is the Miis this time around, but at this point, they're to be pretty much expected. A number of other random characters appear here and there, mostly as background and obstacles and such (like a Thwomp in the middle of the course that will crush your ball if it lands on it), but most of that is pretty basic stuff we've seen a million times before.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will get into our newcomer gimmick reps, starting with Plum!

Mario Golf: World Tour

MARIO GOLF: WORLD TOUR

Today, let's finish off with the final game in the Mario Golf series, thus far. After a rather long stretch of time without a game, Nintendo put out World Tour for the 3DS. The golf mechanics are pretty much standard here, except they did add in "Item Shots" which let you use items to affect what happens to the ball. The mushroom adds extra roll, the fire flower burns through trees and obstacles, the ice flower freezes the terrain, the Bullet Bill turns your ball into one, the Bob-Omb lets you ignore terrain issues, the boomerang flower alters the draw or fade of your shot, the note block creates a block for the ball to bounce off of, the tornado sucks up coins, the Ka-Bomb drops the ball straight down, and the gold flower gives you coins for every yard it covers.

As for our characters, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Birdo, and Boo all return to the game, alongside Toad (Wow, golf series? Took you that long?), Kamek (hey!), and a Paratroopa. The game also had a Mii option, naturally. DLC for the game also added in Rosalina, Toadette, Nabbit, and Gold Mario.

Stages include: Forest Course, pretty standard; Seaside Course, a beach; Mountain Course, a desert; Sky Island, a sky course; Peach Gardens, set in front of her castle; Yoshi Lake, based on Woolly World; Wiggler Park, one of those tiny-huge deals; Cheep Cheep Lagoon, an underwater stage; DK Jungle, a DK stage; and Bowser's Castle, a Bowser's castle stage. Most of the stages from the N64 version have also been brought back and updated to mirror New Super Mario Bros. U stages.

Here's what we've got!

Characters:

Gimmick rep (Plum/Charlie/Sonny/Harry/Maple): swing club, hole, sand traps, hazards, topspin, backspin, power shot, more fantastical hazards, mushroom, fire flower, ice flower, bullet bill, bob-omb, boomerang flower, note block, tornado, ka-bomb, gold flower

Kid/Sherry/Joe/Azalea (maybe the others): same

Neil/Ella: same

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Bowser

Baby Mario

Metal Mario

Daisy

Waluigi

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Koopa

Bowser Jr.

Boo

Shadow Mario

Petey Piranha

Toad

Kamek

Paratroopa

Rosalina

Nabbit

Toadette

Gold Mario

Mii

Stages:

Toad Highlands

Koopa Park

Shy Guy Desert

Yoshi's Island

Boo Valley

Mario's Star

Luigi's Garden

Peach's Castle

Marion Club

Palm Club

Dune Club

Links Club

Peach's Castle

Golf Guru's Pitch & Putt

Lakitu Valley

Cheep Cheep Falls

Shifting Sands

Blooper Bay

Peach's Castle Grounds

Bowser Badlands

Congo Canopy

Mushroom Tourney

Elf's Short Course

Coo-Coo Course

Forest Course

Seaside Course

Mountain Course

Sky Island

Peach Gardens

Yoshi Lake

Wiggler Park

Cheep Cheep Lagoon

DK Jungle

Bowser's Castle

Thanks for reading! Now, let's go over our characters once again!

Mario Golf: Advance Tour

MARIO GOLF: ADVANCE TOUR

So, remember how the Game Boy Color game followed after the Tennis handheld games, and had an RPG mode with a generic character working their way up through an academy in order challenge the champion, Mario? Yeah, that. Again.

This game, like the others like it, is more or less a simplified version of its console counterpart, with the golf mechanics being much the same. You get two new protagonists, Neil and Ella, respectively, attending the same tournament as before. Kid, Sherry, Joe, Azalea, Putts, Grace, Tiny, and Gene Yuss also appear in the game and can be unlocked as playable. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser all appear as your standard Mario roster.

The Marion, Palms, Dune, and Links courses from the previous handheld game all return, alongside a Mushroom Tourney course, set high in the clouds, and two short courses, called Elf's Short Course and Coo-Coo Course respectively.

That's pretty much all of it. Here's what we've got!

Characters:

Gimmick rep (Plum/Charlie/Sonny/Harry/Maple): swing club, hole, sand traps, hazards, topspin, backspin, power shot, more fantastical hazards

Kid/Sherry/Joe/Azalea (maybe the others): same

Neil/Ella: same

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Bowser

Baby Mario

Metal Mario

Daisy

Waluigi

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Koopa

Bowser Jr.

Boo

Shadow Mario

Petey Piranha

Toad

Stages:

Toad Highlands

Koopa Park

Shy Guy Desert

Yoshi's Island

Boo Valley

Mario's Star

Luigi's Garden

Peach's Castle

Marion Club

Palm Club

Dune Club

Links Club

Peach's Castle

Golf Guru's Pitch & Putt

Lakitu Valley

Cheep Cheep Falls

Shifting Sands

Blooper Bay

Peach's Castle Grounds

Bowser Badlands

Congo Canopy

Mushroom Tourney

Elf's Short Course

Coo-Coo Course

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the final game in the series, Mario Golf: World Tour!

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

 MARIO GOLF: TOADSTOOL TOUR

Today, let's cover Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, the series' entry for the Game Cube. The game gets a bit more complex with its golf mechanics, allowing you to give the ball topspin or backspin, determining the direction it rolls once it lands, and gives you power shots under certain conditions. It also adds in a number of hazards such as wind and rain, pipes that transport your ball somewhere else, mushrooms that bounce your ball away, and enemies like Thwomps and Whomps that stomp on your ball and flatten it, or Piranha Plants that eat the ball and spit it somewhere else.

Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Bowser all return from the previous game, with Daisy, Waluigi, Birdo, Diddy Kong, and Koopa joining on the base roster, and Bowser Jr., Shadow Mario, Petey Piranha (noticing some big Sunshine representation here), and Boo appear as unlockables. Like before, the RPG protagonists of the game's handheld counterpart can be transferred to the game, but we'll talk about them next time.

Our stages this time include Lakitu Valley, a generic course; Cheep Cheep Falls, a wooded area with a waterfall; Shifting Sands, a desert region; Blooper Bay, a beach area; Peach's Castle Grounds, featuring her castle in the middle; Bowser Badlands, a lava-filled course; and Congo Canopy, a DK-themed course.

Let's see what we've got!

Characters:

Gimmick rep (Plum/Charlie/Sonny/Harry/Maple): swing club, hole, sand traps, hazards, topspin, backspin, power shot, more fantastical hazards

Kid/Sherry/Joe/Azalea (maybe the others): same

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Bowser

Baby Mario

Metal Mario

Daisy

Waluigi

Birdo

Diddy Kong

Koopa

Bowser Jr.

Boo

Shadow Mario

Petey Piranha

Toad

Stages:

Toad Highlands

Koopa Park

Shy Guy Desert

Yoshi's Island

Boo Valley

Mario's Star

Luigi's Garden

Peach's Castle

Marion Club

Palm Club

Dune Club

Links Club

Peach's Castle

Golf Guru's Pitch & Putt

Lakitu Valley

Cheep Cheep Falls

Shifting Sands

Blooper Bay

Peach's Castle Grounds

Bowser Badlands

Congo Canopy

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover this game's counterpart, Mario Golf: Advance Tour!

Mario Golf (GBC)

 MARIO GOLF

So, remember the tennis games? How the handhelds had to have an RPG mode, featuring generic human characters going to an academy and working themselves up through the league to eventually challenge the champion? Yeah, that.

The game is pretty basic, just like its 64 counterpart, with pretty basic golf mechanics. Mario, Luigi, and Wario are the only main "Mario series" players, while your RPG protagonists include two male and two female options: Kid, Sherry, Joe, and Azalea. There are also four unlockable characters from the story mode, basically challengers you face. These are Putts, Grace, Tiny, and Gene Yuss. The other characters from the 64 game can appear when you link the games, but not as playable. Kid, Sherry, Joe, and Azalea can also be played on the 64 game when linked up.

The courses are pretty basic, considering the limitations, the RPG moving you through the Marion Club, the Palm Club, the Dune Club, and the Links Club, and finally to Peach's Castle, as well as a mini-game called the Golf Guru's Pitch and Putt.

That's pretty much it. Here's what we've got!

Characters:

Gimmick rep (Plum/Charlie/Sonny/Harry/Maple): swing club, hole, sand traps, hazards

Kid/Sherry/Joe/Azalea (maybe the others): same

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Bowser

Baby Mario

Metal Mario

Toad

Stages:

Toad Highlands

Koopa Park

Shy Guy Desert

Yoshi's Island

Boo Valley

Mario's Star

Luigi's Garden

Peach's Castle

Marion Club

Palm Club

Dune Club

Links Club

Peach's Castle

Golf Guru's Pitch & Putt

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour!

Mario Golf 64

 MARIO GOLF

Today, we'll be covering the Mario Golf games, or rather we'll specifically be covering the actual "Mario Golf" Mario Golf games. There's another breed of "Mario Golf" games out there that are "golf games but with Mario in them." We'll be covering those later. As with the Tennis games, we'll likely be looking out for gimmick reps rather than really caring about much of anything the characters themselves do. That's going to be a bit tough, as golf is a pretty simple game, considering most of what you do that would be considered a "move" and not "specifics of said move" is . . . "swing club," but I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out.

Speaking of characters, this game features Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser, Baby Mario, and Metal Mario, with Toad as a support referee character. We also, sort of inexplicably, see five generic human characters: Plum, Charlie, Sonny, Harry, and Maple. I honestly don't know why they exist. The handheld counterpart does indeed have an RPG mode, but that has its own characters entirely separate from them. They're just . . . here. Ah, well, first possibility. Check it!

The game features a number of sprawling golf courses, full of the standard hazards you'd often see in golf, plus some more fantastical hazards, fitting of the Mario-style whimsy. We have Toad Highlands, a pretty standard course; Koopa Park, a more wooded area; Shy Guy Desert, a desert course; Yoshi's Island, based on Yoshi's Island; Boo Valley, a haunted course; Mario's Star, a course set up in space and shaped like various characters; and two mini-golf courses called Luigi's Garden and Peach's Castle.

That's really about it for now. Let's see what we've got!

Characters:

Gimmick rep (Plum/Charlie/Sonny/Harry/Maple): swing club, hole, sand traps, hazards

Mario

Luigi

Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Bowser

Baby Mario

Metal Mario

Toad

Stages:

Toad Highlands

Koopa Park

Shy Guy Desert

Yoshi's Island

Boo Valley

Mario's Star

Luigi's Garden

Peach's Castle

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the game's Game Boy counterpart!