Jumpman

With Pauline trapped at the top of a tall construction site with an angry gorilla keeping her close, it was time for the main playable character to jump into action. This was her boyfriend and the gorilla’s owner, a gruff blue-collar worker, probably a plumber, with a unique talent for jumping.

Though he would eventually be renamed Mario, this figure was originally simply known as Jumpman. For most of the early 1980s, before he became entangled in the political battles between magical mushrooms and turtles, this man found work across the gamut in the field of heavy labor. He frequented construction sites and cement factories, working as part of a demolition crew, cleared out turtle and crab pests from the sewers, and even wrapped presents over the holidays.

This version of Mario represents that time period in his history. He will likely be heavier than regular Mario, with attacks that hit harder, though still with extraordinary jumping abilities. His moveset will pull from the original Donkey Kong arcade game, as well as Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Wrecking Crew, and even the Game & Watch games Mario’s Cement Factory and Mario’s Bombs Away.

Likelihood rating: Probably not

Super Mario Roster, Updated

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

SUPER MARIO BROS.

Today, let's add in all five newcomers from the random other games covered!

1. Mario
2. Jumpman
3. Fursuit Mario
4. Dr. Mario
4e. Dr. Luigi
5. F.L.U.D.D. Mario
6. Builder Mario
7. Luigi
8. Vacuum Luigi
8e. Professor E. Gadd
9. Princess Peach
9e. Peachette
10. Princess Daisy
11 Rosalina and Luma
12. Pauline
13. Cappy
14. Toad
14e. Toadsworth
15. Captain Toad
15e. Toadette
16. Bowser
16e. Dry Bowser
17. Bowser Jr.
18. Shadow Mario
19. The Koopalings
19e. Koopa Kid
20. Foreman Spike
21. Wart
22. Tatanga
23. Mario Kart
24. Robo Mario
25. Wanda
26. Plum
26e. Kid
27. Alex & Nina
27e. Ace & Clay
28. Tumble
29. Brighton & Twila
30. MC Ballyhoo & Big Top
31. Mini Marios
32. Perry
33. Sprixie Princess
34. Rabbid Mario
35. Koopa Troopa
35e. Dry Bones
36. Goomba
37. Piranha Plant
38. Boo
39. Buzzy Beetle
40. Bob-Omb
40e. King Bob-Omb
41. Cheep Cheep
42. Blooper
43. Pokey
44. Lakitu and Spinies
45. Ninji
46. Monty Mole
47. Spike
48. Hammer Bro
49. Chargin' Chuck
50. Wiggler
51. Chain Chomp
52. Thwomp
52e. Whomp
53. Mechakoopa
54. Mini Donkey Kong
55. Ghost
56. Honeybee
57. Ziggy
58. Nabbit
59. Boom Boom
59e. Pom Pom
60. Birdo
61. Mouser
62. Petey Piranha
63. King Boo
64. The Broodals
65. Rabbid Kong
66. Super Team

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the Game & Watch stuff!

Character Sheet: Jumpman

JUMPMAN

Today, we have one single newcomer, and it's not one I expected to add. As I revisited some of these early Mario games, I started to notice that there was a distinct difference between the Mario we all know and love, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom who bounces around, eats mushrooms, and jumps on turtles, and the pre-Super Mario Bros. era Mario. In all of those early games, Mario had a much greater focus on construction, hammers, jacks, filling up cement trucks, and fighting gorillas. So, with that wide of a gap between the two eras of the character, a distinct name to help differentiate, and a few design possibilities to go off of to be able to distinguish the two characters on screen, I think I have enough of a case to make two separate characters.

For reference, the possible design ideas include going the 8-bit pixelized route, base his design off of those early Donkey Kong posters, or even possibly pull from his appearance in Saturday Supercade. Either way.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Hammer

Now, I'm a little iffy here because some of Mario's other alt forms likewise use a hammer, but Paper Mario's would function significantly differently, and Builder has a lot of other unique aspects to him that I think it's fine. If there's any version of Mario the hammer is essential to, it's this one.

Side B: Klaptraps

An old move that had been in Mario's early movesets when I only had the arcades to rely on. This is based on Donkey Kong Jr. where Mario would flick a whip to send a Klaptrap forward to attack his opponent. The Klaptraps would be pixelized to differentiate from other characters that might use them.

Up B: Jack

This one is based on the springs that tend to crop up in a lot of the early Mario games and other games that hearken back to the early games. Basically, he'll just drop the jack on the ground and bounce off of it, somewhat Sonic-esque.

Down B: Cement

While there are a few others I can go with, this game was the one that finalized Jumpman's differentiation in my mind, so I went with this in honor of that. He will pull a cord and a cement dispenser will appear in the sky and drop a load of cement on top of anyone standing under it.

Final Smash: 100m

So, 8-bit Donkey Kong is an option, but I rather like a different option I've thought of. The layout of 100m from the Donkey Kong arcade will appear above the stage. Jumpman will jump across it, hopping over each of the removeable hinges and making them disappear, causing all three of the center floors to come crashing down on top of the stage.

Entrance: He will climb up a ladder onto the stage just like he does in Donkey Kong.

Taunts: Up, he will hold up a finished cake from Mario Bros. (Game & Watch). Side, he will flick his whip. Down, he will flop down onto the ground dead, just like his current Smash taunt.

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

Character Sheet: Mario (Arcade Series)

MARIO

Now that we have all of the Arcade Donkey Kong/Mario titles under our belt, I think it's time we go through and evaluate every character we have picked so far as being playable.

This time we have six:

1. Mario

1e. Luigi

2. Donkey Kong

3. Donkey Kong Jr.

4. Stanley

5. Pauline

First up, we have Mario. Now, Mario will go on to have a very successful video game franchise of his own, which will yield up far more iconic moves for the character, but for now, let us simply build a character from what we have.

Like his counterpart in Smash, Mario will likely still be a jack of all trades with middling stats and an above-average jump (he is the Jumpman after all). Throughout the arcade games, Mario makes use of a hammer as his main weapon, a whip that he doesn't seem to use himself, but instead uses it to send dangerous animals after his enemies, a POW block, and possibly a Shellcreeper shell. He was also shown to have a helicopter at his disposal, which he used to escape Donkey Kong Jr.

Here is the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Hammer

Mario swings around his hammer from Donkey Kong. It is a basic attack that does heavy damage.

Side B: Whip and Animals

Mario uses his whip from Donkey Kong Jr. to send an alligator forward to snap at opponents. Its a mid-to-long range attack that does damage but little knockback. Opponents can also be hit by the whip.

Up B: Helicopter

Mario clings to the rope ladder hanging from his helicopter. The helicopter has solid recovery distance, but does little damage.

Down B: POW Block

Mario throws down a POW Block from Mario Bros. on the ground, causing an earthquake and knocking all in the vicinity off of their feet.

Final Smash: Giant Hammer OR Power Plant

The first would come from Donkey Kong and function similar to the Hammer item in Smash but with greater KO potential, while the second would hearken to Donkey Kong Jr.'s third level as Mario pulls a switch and sends live balls of electricity all over the stage.

Entrance: Flies in on his helicopter.

Taunts: Uncertain. Very little personality demonstrated in these early arcade games.

Next up, we'll tackle Luigi, who (for now) is merely an echo fighter.

Donkey Kong (Arcade)

DONKEY KONG

First, we'll start off with Donkey Kong, the original arcade game from 1981, the game best known for the introduction of both Mario and Donkey Kong, two of video gaming's most prolific mascot. Fair enough to say, I think we'll be seeing both of them here.

The game features one more character, Pauline, the fair damsel in distress that Mario must rescue from the violent gorilla. Pauline does appear in later games though her appearances are sparse, and often as little more than a background supporting character (up until the release of Super Mario Odyssey). For now I will place her as a Tentative.

As far as movesets go, Mario does little more than jump and swing around a hammer for a short time, which we can set as his standard jump and his forward special until we know more. It is also worth noting that the hammer in question already exists as an item in the Super Smash Bros. games already, but for now it's all we've got.

For Donkey Kong, he spends most of the game up at the top of the level throwing either barrels or jacks at Mario to keep him from reaching him. Obviously these both can be attacks, probably a special or side special, but it is worth noting both exist as items as well.

Pauline, for the most part simply stands beside the great ape, doing nothing but waiting for Mario to rescue her. This is the main reason why I put her at tentative for now. While I know she will feature more in the future, there is simply nothing to build off of her at the moment. If anything, a moveset from her might simply be a series of references to this game itself (the barrels, jacks, and hammer listed above, alongside the moving fireballs that dot the stage) similar to Duck Hunt and Mr. Game & Watch before her.

As far as stages go, the game is made up of four levels, named 25M, 50M, 75M, and 100M respectively. 75M is already a stage, and likewise all four stages would all fit as stages, either recreations like 75M or updates like Wrecking Crew and Mushroomy Kingdom. The other three are much more basic than 75M and so would arguably work better than 75M does. Most could come with hazards such as the thrown barrels and jacks, and fireballs crawling around the stage, while 100M specifically would probably include the feature of the eight wedges that disappear when walked over, leading to the collapse of the center of the stage when all eight are removed, leading to a possibly interesting stage dynamic. All in all, I approve of all four.

So now, let's do a count:

Characters:
Mario, with jumps and a hammer

Donkey Kong, with barrels and jacks

<Tentative> Pauline, with nothing (though possibly built on references to the game)


Items:
Barrels

Jacks

Hammer


Stages:
25M

50M

75M

100M

Join me for my next post covering the games' sequel: Donkey Kong Jr.