Shy Guy

Now, moving on to our shortest roster of the bunch, here's our Yoshi characters!

Long before Yoshi was even a twinkle in Nintendo’s eye, his most common adversaries made their debut in Super Mario Bros. 2, originally enemies in Doki Doki Panic and minions of the evil frog Wart.

These were the Shy Guys, inhabitants of Subcon who hide their faces behind masks and hoods. They would go on to be constant enemies of Yoshi in his adventures, I’d like to think because Kamek summoned them there from Subcon. They would prove to be versatile fighters with nearly hundreds of different variations and abilities.

As fighters, they will have average stats behind them, being the most basic of enemies. Their moves will pull from all of their different varieties, including Snifits, Fly Guys, Spear Guys, Stilt Guys, and so many more.

Likelihood rating: Good possibility

Character Sheet: Team Captains

TEAM CAPTAINS

Today, let's go over the last batch of characters that video games are going to give us, at any rate. Obviously there will be many more offered up by the movies, television series, manga, comics, and other media, but that's it for the games. This time, we have five, appearing across the Mario, Yoshi, and Mario RPG rosters. They are:

1. Cat Mario

2. Mr. Blizzard

3. Team Captains

4. Best Fitness Friends

5. Poochy

It occurs to me that I actually forgot to do the Character Review for all the characters already on the roster. So . . . as far as I can recall at the moment, the only big changes would be Robirdo being added as Birdo's final smash, and the fire move and special dashes from Mario Golf: Super Rush being added to our Golf reps' movesets. Honestly, the fire move would work as a Standard B if we just wanted to treat the normal golf ball hit as an A move or something, and the special dash might be an option for Side B.

Anyway, on to today's character! The Team Captains are the main characters of the Bowser's Minions expansion of Superstar Saga and appear as potential party members in Bowser Jr.'s Journey as well. They are comprised of a Goomba, Shy Guy, Boo, and Koopa, each with a flag on their head, and would be stylized in the Mario & Luigi style in order to visually differentiate them from the regular playable member of their race. Likewise, the four would move in one solid group, acting as the squad rather than having a full squad of troops like in the game.

Now, the Bowser's Minions gameplay relies on using three different types of fighter well. You have the melee fighters that attack up close, the aerial fighters that fight from the air, and the long-range fighters that throw projectiles. Within this character, Koopa will be the primary melee fighter, Boo will be the aerial, Shy Guy will cover long range, and Goomba will be in charge of all Captain maneuvers. Speaking of Captain maneuvers, the captain can deny to prevent an enemies attack, rally his troops by cheering them on, summon a block for a bonus, play dead for a while, call down lightning, parry an attack, throw a Bob-Omb, and summon a Thwomp to slam down.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Lightning

So I think it might be fun to treat this character in a way similar to Min Min. However, rather than A and B being assigned to specific arms, the different directional inputs will be assigned to the four members of the squad. All upward inputs will be assigned to the Boo, and downward inputs will be assigned to the Koopa, all side inputs belong to the Shy Guy, and all non-directional inputs are the Goomba's. As such this move is the Goomba's and he will use his lightning attack.

Side B: Spear Guy

This move belongs to the Shy Guy. He will pull out a spear like he uses in one of his base attacks and throw it as a projectile.

Up B: Team Lift

This move belongs to the Boo. He will grab his three companions and float upwards as a recovery move.

Down B: Shell Strike

This move, of course, belongs to the Koopa. He will tuck into his shell and spin forward at high speed just as he does in his base move.

Final Smash: Squad Rush

The Goomba captain will do a rallying call, and he and the three other captains will charge forward, followed by a horde of minions, made up of all the types of minions that can be recruited in the original game.

Entrance: The Goomba will appear first, and send out a rallying call, with the other three rushing to his side.

Taunts: Much like with all of their other moves, the directional inputs are tied to a specific member. Up, the Boo will do his rallying cry; side, the Shy Guy will do his; and down, the Koopa will do his. A fun secret taunt could have Goomba go into one of his big motivational speeches.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we cover the villains of Bowser Jr.'s Journey, the Best Fitness Friends!

Mario Party 9

MARIO PARTY 9

Mario Party 9 is the next game in the series, rather notorious for being the introducer of a certain very unpopular game mechanic, but more on that later. The game also tosses out the whole stepping stone roster thing it had going, shaking up and building on the previous roster every two game, with only Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, Waluigi, and Toad returning, Toadette, Boo, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro, and Blooper being dropped, and Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, and Magikoopa (or Kamek) being added in. The game follows the story of the characters watching shooting stars before they see Bowser sucking them all up and going after him to get them back.

Now for the elephant in the room. Rather than letting the characters move around the board on their own, this game introduced a special car that all four characters had to ride in together. Much and more has been said on this topic since its introduction, so I won't go into it here. The spaces are a bit different, with green, red, blue, and other such color spaces appearing, but with a slight variation on it. Blue spaces generally just mean something good for the player, reds are something bad, greens are pure neutral, yellow spaces cause minigames, and white spaces give you stars, generally speaking. While items this time are basically narrowed down to different dice blocks that help or hinder your progress.

Our stages this time include: Toad Road, a more-or-less basic Mario level; Bob-Omb Factory, a factory level; Boo's Horror Castle, a haunted house level; Blooper Beach, a water level; Magma Mine, an underground lava level; Bowser Station, an outer space level; and DK's Jungle Ruins, a more DKC Returns-themed stage. Each of these comes with both a mid-level boss and final boss: Lakitu and Wiggler for Toad Road; Whomp and King Bob-Omb for Bob-Omb Factory; Dry Bones and King Boo for Boo's Horror Castle; Cheep Cheep and Blooper for Blooper Beach; Spike and Chain Chomp for Magma Mine; Bowser Jr. and Bowser for Bowser Station; and Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong for DK's Jungle Ruins; against whom you'll have to play a specialized minigame.

Across the 78 minigames, you will: bounce on clouds, chop wood, roll balls, launch rockets, count Goombas, fly Bullet Bills, swim, climb a chain, platform, skip rope, avoid Mechakoopas, put together a jigsaw puzzle, grow vines, ride dolphins, butt bash, climb a wall, pull vegetables, play cards, hide, slip on ice, bowl, escape a haunted house, fire cannons, float in a bubble, paint, drive snowmobiles, feed Piranhas, open treasure chests, fish, balance, avoid Thwomps, look through binoculars, eat pizza, control fire jets, draw in sand, roll boulders, play football, drive cars, whack Monty Moles, sled, drive a mech, pop balloons, run a maze, climb on a cage, play Bumper Cars, and pedal. The boss minigames see Lakitu throwing Spinies, Whomp slamming down, Dry Bones playing cards?, Cheep Cheep just kinda swimming around, Spike tossing spike balls, Bowser Jr. piloting a giant robot, Diddy Kong shooting barrels, Wiggler storming around, King Bob-Omb throwing bombs, King Boo playing Bejeweled?, Blooper swimming around, Chain Chomp rolling, Bowser throwing blocks, and Donkey Kong collecting bananas. Most of that's pretty standard.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Gimmick Rep: play music, fight in a giant bubble, run on a conveyor belt, run up a tower, collect coins, snowboard, make a picture, look for ghosts, collect honey, shoot targets, smack Pokeys with a hammer, zap opponents, drive karts, pop a balloon, stop a clock, throw darts, do math, avoid bombs, spray water, shoot balloons, avoid a spinner, drive tanks, use a flashlight, use a slot machine, use a pickaxe, bounce on a pogo stick, run on a wheel, box with a giant robot, avoid a shark, avoid Bullet Bills, fly a bug, ground pound, work through a maze, play cards, pull crops, hop around, fly, roll a ball, shoot Piranha Plants, match puzzle pieces, shoot Piders, fly helicopters, avoid getting smacked by Monty Mole, get through a maze of pipes, drive a boat, avoid Cheep Cheeps, squash Goombas, run from Ukikis, jump across platforms, make smoothies, row a kayak, jump rope, throw hammers, ride rocking horses, fix pipes, play hot potato with a bomb, jump over barrels, climb vines, slide down a slide, collect bananas, roll on barrels, avoid Mechakoopas, open treasure chests, climb a wall, play air hockey, fight Bowser, capsule, spacesgraffiti, playing baseball, punching a statue, water skiing, raising a flag, cleaning a Chomp, driving karts, steering a leaf, platforming, shaking soda, setting a clock, driving a scooter, protecting an Ukiki, snowboarding, walking a tightrope, catching coins, dropping bombs, flying a plane, shooting snow, jumping rope, playing football, playing bumper cars, rowing, shooting paint, decorating a cake, playing King on the Mountain, shooting Boos, stealing plants, shooting cards, flying a flying saucer, getting a boat's attention, swinging a lasso, driving a minecart, slaloming in a space station, shooting lava, building things, balancing on a ball, blowing up King Bob-Omb, running around a Mr. I, shooting basketballs, snipping a rope to not get flung by a catapult (my favorite), trying to stay on an iceberg, stamping, and fighting Bowser, vehicle, bounce on clouds, chop wood, roll balls, launch rockets, count Goombas, fly Bullet Bills, swim, climb a chain, platform, skip rope, avoid Mechakoopas, put together a jigsaw puzzle, grow vines, ride dolphins, butt bash, climb a wall, pull vegetables, play cards, hide, slip on ice, bowl, escape a haunted house, fire cannons, float in a bubble, paint, drive snowmobiles, feed Piranhas, open treasure chests, fish, balance, avoid Thwomps, look through binoculars, eat pizza, control fire jets, draw in sand, roll boulders, play football, drive cars, whack Monty Moles, sled, drive a mech, pop balloons, run a maze, climb on a cage, play Bumper Cars, pedal

MC Ballyhoo and Big Top: second block, third block, slowing the roll, spring, zap opponents, turn into a vampire, 8-bit version, tornado, trio of tiny clones, ball, stone block, Bullet Bill, Bowser, fiery dueler.

Mario: fireball

Luigi: fireball

Peach: flower

Daisy: flower

Wario: vacuum

Waluigi: vacuum

Yoshi: egg

Birdo: egg

Toad: mushrooms

Toadette: mushrooms

Boo: magic wand

Dry Bones: magic wand, play cards

Hammer Bro

Blooper: swim

Koopa

Shy Guy

Magikoopa

Diddy Kong: barrel cannons

Donkey Kong: bananas

Koopa Kid

Bowser Jr: giant robot

Bowser: throw blocks

Lakitu: throw spinies

Wiggler: charge

Whomp: slam

King Bob-Omb: throw bombs

King Boo: play Bejeweled

Cheep Cheep: swim

Spike: throw spike balls

Chain Chomp: roll

Stages:

MSS Sea Star

Grand Canal

Pagoda Peak

Pyramid Park

Neon Heights

Windmillville

Bowser's Enchanted Inferno

DK's Treetop Temple

Goomba's Booty Boardwalk

King Boo's Haunted Hideaway

Shy Guy's Perplex Express

Koopa's Tycoon Town

Bowser's Warped Orbit

Toad Road

Bob-Omb Factory

Boo's Horror Castle

Blooper Beach

Magma Mine

Bowser Station

DK's Jungle Ruins

Items:

Capsules

Candies

Dice Blocks

Thanks for reading! Next up, Mario Party 10!

Mario Power Tennis

 MARIO POWER TENNIS

Today, let's cover the Game Cube entry in the Mario Tennis series, Mario Power Tennis! As tends to be the case, each consecutive game adds a little more to the complexity of the tennis mechanics, but the basics are all there, mostly based on top spins, slices, and lunges, with combinations one can make off of them. All of the items from before return, including the Green and Red Shells, Mushrooms, Bananas, Stars, and Lightning. The biggest new feature takes a bit after the Mario Kart's Game Cube entry and gives each player two special shots, one an offensive shot and the other a defensive shot.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Koopa, Boo, Shy Guy, and Paratroopa all return from previous games as they are joined by Diddy Kong replacing Donkey Kong Jr., Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha fresh off their debut in Super Mario Sunshine, Wiggler, and Fly Guy. Mario uses a hammer and spin jump in his special moves, Luigi a squeaky mallet and his poltergust, Peach a spin and a kiss, Daisy a whole lot of flowers, Wario thunder and an Ultra-Hand, Waluigi spinning and swimming in the air, Bowser his fire breath and shell, Donkey Kong a barrel and a banana, Diddy adding his jetpack, Yoshi an egg and flutter jump, Bowser Jr. his paint brush, Koopa a whole lot of water for some reason, Boo the standard ghostly powers, Shy Guy the spears of Spear Guy, Fly Guy tornadoes, Paratroopa energy and flight, Wiggler his anger and butterfly wings, and Petey Piranha his sludge. A lot of it is pretty standard stuff normally tied to the characters, although there's a couple surprises.

As for stages, we have the Peach Dome acting as the central tennis arena, with hard, clay, and grass courts available. Then we have a bunch of gimmick courts that get a bit more creative. These include Luigi's Mansion Court, based on Luigi's Mansion; Delfino Plaza Court, based on Super Mario Sunshine; Wario Factory Court, based on typical factories with conveyor belts moving and stuff; Gooper Blooper Court, with moving platforms that drop you into the water below; DK Jungle Court, based on the Donkey Kong country series; Bowser's Castle Court, just like the Bowser's Castle Court in the previous game; and Mario Classic Court, based on the original Super Mario Bros. game.

That's about it. Let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Alex/Nina/Harry/Kate: serve, lob, top-spin, singles, doubles, slice, drop shot, flat shot, smash shot, charge shot, Banana, Mushroom, Lightning Bolt, Star, Green Shell, Red Shell, offensive special shot, defensive special shot

Mario: Iron Hammer, Spin Jump Return

Luigi: Squeaky Mallet, Poltergust Return

Princess Peach: Super Peach Spin, Sweet Kiss Return

Toad

Yoshi: Rainbow Flutter, Rolling Egg Return

Koopa Troopa: Water Bomb, Water Shell Dash

Donkey Kong Jr.

Daisy: Wonder Flower, Flowerbed Return

Baby Mario

Birdo

Donkey Kong: Barrel Cannon Blast, Boomerang Banana Return

Wario: Thunder Cast Shot, Ultra Hand Return

Waluigi: Whirluigi, Swimming Return

Bowser: Fire Breath, Spinning Shell Dash

Boo: Boo Blast, Boo Brigade Return

Shy Guy: Lightning Spear, Spear Dance Return

Paratroopa: Energy Ball, Sky Dive

Diddy Kong: Acrobatic Banana, Barrel Jet

Bowser Jr.: Magic Paint, Rolling Brush Return

Fly Guy: Tornado Twist, Tornado Return

Wiggler: Anger Management, Flutter Return

Petey Piranha: Sludge Racket, Piranha Swingback

Piranha Plant

Lakitu

Stages:

Tennis Court

Open Court

Hard Court

Clay Court

Grass Court

Composition Court

Bowser's Stage

Royal Academy

Castle Court

Tropics Court

Jungle Court

Star Court

Warehouse Court

Peach Dome

Luigi's Mansion Court

Delfino Plaza Court

Wario Factory Court

Gooper Blooper Court

DK Jungle Court

Bowser's Castle Court

Mario Classic Court

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover the game's handheld counterpart, Mario Tennis: Power Tour!

Mario Kart 8

MARIO KART 8

And now we come to the end of our run of mainline Mario Kart games, with the most recent entry in the series, Mario Kart 8. This blog will focus solely on Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U specifically, and it's DLC, not on anything added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch. All of that will come later. Now, on to the game. One specific detail of note is that this game introduces the concept of Zero-Gravity, allowing the racers to cover all sorts of terrain at all kinds of insane angles that they wouldn't have been able to before. This might factor into the final character model's mobility, but probably not that much into the moveset specifically.

Our roster this time around brings back all of our main eight and Koopa, plus Daisy, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Waluigi, and Toadette from Double Dash, Shy Guy from DS, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Rosalina, and Mii from Wii, and Lakitu and Metal Mario from 7. Sadly missing a bunch this time, like regular favorites such as Bowser Jr., Birdo, and Diddy Kong. In their place, we instead see the long awaited introduction of all seven Koopalings, plus Baby Rosalina and . . . Pink Gold Peach? What even is . . . never mind. At least seven of them are awesome. The DLC also brings in Tanooki Mario, Cat Peach, and Dry Bowser and special guests Link from Legend of Zelda, and Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing, as well as several color variants for Yoshi and Shy Guy.

The Lakitu Ref also appears, of course, alongside regular and bone Piranha Plants, Boos, Chain Chomps, Deku Babas, Dry Bones, Fire Snakes, Freezies, Goombas, Keese, Mechakoopas, Mr. Resetti, Pokeys, and Thwomps as background and obstacles. New items to the game alongside old items include the Boomerang Flower, which lets you throw a boomerang at opponents; the Piranha Plant, which holds the plant out in front of you and lets them bite at opponents who get to close; the Super Horn, which you hold up and blast when someone gets too close to send them spinning, and the Crazy Eight, which is just the Lucky Seven all over again but with one more item in the mix.

The game once again follows the old tradition of having sixteen new tracks and sixteen retro tracks. The new ones this time are: Mario Kart Stadium, our standard generic starter; Water Park, a half-submerged amusement park; Sweet Sweet Canyon, remember Sugar Rush from Wreck-it Ralph? That; Thwomp Ruins, a huge ancient temple made of Thwomps; Mario Circuit, the standard track surrounding Peach's castle but specifically designed to show off the whole anti-grav thing; Toad Harbor, a San Francisco-esque port; Twisted Mansion, a haunted house level; Shy Guy Falls, a desert mine and canyon with a waterfall you can drive up; Sunshine Airport, an airport; Dolphin Shoals, a water level that lets you drive on the back of an Unagi; Electrodrome, sort of like Music Park but for techno music; Mount Wario (I'm sure Mona would love to), a huge snowy mountainous ski track; Cloudtop Cruise, a sky level with an airship included; Bone-Dry Dunes, a desert level; and finishing off with our standard Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road as always.

Really not much to talk about with the Battle stages this time. Someone at their development team must have taken a sharp hit to the head and decided what people really wanted to battle on was the tracks from the game, just without Lakitu telling you you're going the wrong way. Crazy, right? Glad someone stepped in and said that probably wasn't a good idea before it could make it to the final game. Dodged a bullet there. Could you even imagine?

Our DLC tracks came with sixteen more tracks, this time a huge mix of old and new, not divided by cups. The new ones here are: Excitebike Track, based on the Excitebike games; Dragon Driftway, a huge swirling serpentine track; Mute City, based on the F-Zero games; Ice Ice Outpost, an icy level; Hyrule Circuit, based on the Legend of Zelda; Wild Woods, a twisting forest track; Animal Crossing, based on Animal Crossing; Super Bell Highway, a subway based on Super Mario 3D World; and Big Blue, also based on F-Zero.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario Kart: drive, brake, jump, turn, skid, etc., Banana Peel, Green Shell, Red Shell, Feather, Mushroom, Star, Ghost, Coin, Lightning, Egg, Fireball, Poison Mushroom, Triple Mushroom, Super Mushroom, Fake Item, Banana Bunch, Triple Green Shells, Triple Red Shells, Spiny Shell, dual driver, Blooper, Bob-Omb, Bullet Bill, Mega Mushroom, Thundercloud, POW Block, parasail, swim, Super Leaf, Lucky Seven, anti-gravity, Boomerang, Piranha Plant, Super Horn, and Crazy Eight.

Mario: fireballs

Luigi: fireballs

Peach: heart

Yoshi: giant egg

Bowser: Bowser shell

Donkey Kong Jr.

Toad: golden mushroom

Koopa: triple shells

Donkey Kong: giant banana

Wario: bob-omb

Daisy: heart

Birdo: giant egg

Baby Mario: Chain Chomp

Baby Luigi: Chain Chomp

Toadette: golden mushroom

Paratroopa: triple shells

Diddy Kong: giant banana

Bowser Jr.: Bowser shell

Waluigi: bob-ombs

Petey Piranha

King Boo

Dry Bones

ROB

Shy Guy

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Rosalina

Funky Kong

Dry Bowser

Mii

Metal Mario

Honeyqueen

Wiggler

Lakitu

The Koopalings

Baby Rosalina

Pink Gold Peach (but still no Kamek, huh?)

Fursuit Mario

Cat Peach

Dry Bowser

Link

Villager

Isabelle

Toadsworth

Kamek

Boo

Piranha Plant

Cheep Cheep

Monty Mole

Thwomp

Chain Chomp

Penguin

Mr. Blizzard

Bob-Omb

Hammer Bro

Little Mouser

Mechakoopa

Pianta

Goomba

Pokey

King Bob-Omb

Wiggler

Spiky Topman

Tiki Goon

Deku Baba

Keese

Mr. Resetti

Bosses:

Big Bully

Eyerok

Goomboss

King Boo

King Bob-Omb

Chief Chilly

Wiggler

Stages:

Mario Circuit

Donut Plains

Ghost Valley

Bowser's Castle

Choco Island

Koopa Beach

Vanilla Lake

Rainbow Road

Luigi Raceway

Moo Moo Farm

Koopa Troopa Beach

Kalimari Desert

Toad's Turnpike

Frappe Snowland

Choco Mountain

Mario Raceway

Wario Stadium

Sherbet Land

Royal Raceway

Bowser's Castle (64)

DK's Jungle Parkway

Yoshi Valley

Banshee Boardwalk

Rainbow Road (64)

Peach Circuit

Shy Guy Beach

Riverside Park

Mario Circuit (SC)

Boo Lake

Cheese Land

Luigi Circuit

Sky Garden

Cheep Cheep Island

Sunset Wilds

Snow Land

Ribbon Road

Yoshi Desert

Lakeside Park

Broken Pier

Bowser's Castle (SC)

Rainbow Road (SC)

Big Donut

Block Fort

Double Deck

Skyscraper

Luigi Circuit (DD)

Peach Beach

Baby Park

Dry Dry Desert

Mushroom Bridge

Mario Circuit (DD)

Daisy Cruiser

Waluigi Stadium

Sherbet Land (DD)

Mushroom City

Yoshi Circuit

DK Mountain

Wario Colosseum

Dino Dino Jungle

Bowser's Castle (DD)

Rainbow Road (DD)

Cookie Land

Block City

Nintendo Gamecube

Pipe Plaza

Luigi's Mansion

Tilt-a-Kart

Figure-8 Circuit

Yoshi Falls

Cheep Cheep Beach

Luigi's Mansion (DS)

Desert Hills

Delfino Square

Waluigi Pinball

Shroom Ridge

DK Pass

Tick Tock Clock

Mario Circuit (DS)

Airship Fortress

Wario Stadium (DS)

Peach Gardens

Bowser's Castle (DS)

Rainbow Road (DS)

Nintendo DS

Twilight House

Palm Shore

Tart Top

Luigi Circuit (Wii)

Moo Moo Meadows

Mushroom Gorge

Toad Factory

Mario Circuit (Wii)

Coconut Mall

DK Summit

Wario's Gold Mine

Daisy Circuit

Koopa Cape

Maple Treeway

Grumble Volcano

Dry Dry Ruins

Moonview Highway

Bowser's Castle (Wii)

Rainbow Road (Wii)

Block Plaza

Delfino Pier

Funky Stadium

Chain Chomp Wheel

Thwomp Desert

Galaxy Colosseum

Toad Circuit

Daisy Hills

Cheep Cheep Lagoon

Shy Guy Bazaar

Wuhu Loop

Mario Circuit (7)

Music Park

Rock Rock Mountain

Piranha Plant Slide

Wario Shipyard

Neo Bowser City

Maka Wuhu

DK Jungle

Rosalina's Ice World

Bowser's Castle (7)

Rainbow Road (7)

Honeybee Hive

Sherbet Rink

Wuhu Town

Mario Kart Stadium

Water Park

Sweet Sweet Canyon

Thwomp Ruins

Mario Circuit (8)

Toad Harbor

Twisted Mansion

Shy Guy Falls

Sunshine Airport

Dolphin Shoals

Electrodrome

Mount Wario

Cloudtop Cruise

Bone-Dry Dunes

Bowser's Castle (8)

Rainbow Road (8)

Excitebike Track

Dragon Driftway

Mute City

Ice Ice Outpost

Hyrule Circuit

Wild Woods

Animal Crossing

Super Bell Highway

Big Blue

Thanks for reading! Next up, we will cover our old characters in one big bundle (no need to go through them all one by one) before starting in on our two brand-new characters!

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Revision)

 SHY GUY

This will largely be our last run of revisions, for the Mario series at least. Now that the RPGs are over, pretty much every game left is either something we've already covered for the most part (Remakes, etc.), or run on a core game mechanic not unique to any one character (the Sports games). So, once these are done, I will do character sheets for new characters added and just a general sum up for everyone else. With all that said, let's get into it:

1. Mario 
2. Luigi 
3. Professor E. Gadd 
4. Princess Peach 
5. Toad 
6. Toadette 
7. Bowser 
8. Dry Bowser 
9. Bowser Jr. 
10. Koopalings 
11. Koopa Troopa 
12. Dry Bones 
13. Goomba 
14. Piranha Plant 
15. Boo 
16. Cheep Cheep 
17. Blooper 
18. Bob-Omb 
19. Lakitu 
20. Monty Mole 
21. Spike 
22. Hammer Bro 
23. Chargin' Chuck 
24. Wiggler 
25. Chain Chomp 
26. Birdo 
27. Petey Piranha 
28. King Boo 
29. Paper Mario
30. Yoshi 
31. Baby Mario 
32. Baby Bowser 
33. Kamek 
34. Shy Guy

Today, let's cover the Shy Guys, who, of course, appear throughout the Mario & Luigi series, and in Origami King, though nothing particularly as creepy as their role in Color Splash. The most notable Shy Guy appearance would be as Sergeant Guy, a member of the backstabber trio from Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team. Nothing special, but there.

Here is their current moveset:

Standard B: Snifit

Side B: Mace

Up B: Fly Guy OR Pogo Stick

Down B: Spear and Shield

Final Smash: Pirate Ship

Entrance: Drifts to the ground via parasol.

Taunts: A number of their appearances playing around in the background of various games offers up a number of possibilities.

Next up: Let's begin our new characters. We have several this time, both unique to Mario & Luigi or just various regular Mario characters who finally found the chance to shine here. We will start with Peach's faithful steward Toadsworth.

Yoshi Series Roster, Updated

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

YOSHI'S ISLAND SERIES

Today, we have one single character to add to the Yoshi series roster, all thanks to a little thief named Ms. Mowz!

1. Yoshi
2. Yarn Yoshi
3. Baby Mario
4. Baby Bowser
5. Kamek
6. Shy Guy
7. Bandit
8. Ukiki
9. Tiny Mouser

Following Tiny Mouser will be a navigation option to the Mario series roster, followed by a random button.

Next up, we compile a comprehensive Mario RPG roster!

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Paper Mario+)

SHY GUY

Today, let's let the floodgates burst forth. The RPGs, being RPGs, have proved a wellspring of brand-new characters and possible major revisions of pre-existing characters. Since there are so many, I will start by covering all of the revisions first. Here they are:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Princess Peach
4. Toad
4e. Toadette
5. Bowser
6. Bowser Jr.
7. The Koopalings
8. Koopa Troopa
8e. Dry Bones
9. Goomba
10. Piranha Plant
11. Boo
12. Blooper
13. Lakitu and Spinies
14. Monty Mole
15. Hammer Bro
16. Wiggler
17. Chain Chomp
18. Birdo
19. Petey Piranha
20. Yoshi
21. Kamek
22. Shy Guy
23. Bandit

Shy Guys, as you'd expect, feature throughout all of these games, as usual being jacks-of-all-trades, with all sorts of moves to their name. Their most notable appearances are in the first Paper Mario, where they act as the main villains of a chapter, lording over an enchanted toy box and led by their leader General Guy. Their variants here include flaming Pyro Guys, floating Sky Guys, camouflages Spy Guys, Spear Guys and Snifits, and potion-carrying Medi-Guys. In Color Splash, they take on a slightly more sinister role, as they are directly responsible for draining the color from the world, and are frequently encountered carrying around buckets of paint they stole and with straws used for doing the dirty deed.

Here is their current moveset:

Standard B: Snifit
Staying the same.

Side B: Mace
Staying the same.

Up B: Fly Guy OR Pogo Stick
Staying the same. Both still appear frequently, so can't quite decide between them.

Down B: Spear and Shield
Also appears frequently, so staying the same.

Final Smash: Pirate Ship
Although could be switched out for General Guy's tank, but the Pirate Ship is still pretty frequently shown off.

Entrance: Drifts to the ground via parasol.

Taunts: A number of their appearances playing around in the background of various games offers up a number of possibilities.

Next up: Let's cover the Bandit enemy!

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Side Character Spinoffs)

SHY GUY

Today, we begin our next round of character sheets, with updates for every major character who appeared in the Luigi's Mansion series, Super Princess Peach, or Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker. Most of these should be fairly simple, with only four newcomers to speak of. They are:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Princess Peach
4. Toad
4e. Toadette
5. Bowser
6. Koopa Troopa
6e. Dry Bones
7. Goomba
8. Piranha Plant
9. Boo
10. Blooper
11. Lakitu
12. Hammer Bro
13. Chargin' Chuck
14. Wiggler
15. Chain Chomp
16. Petey Piranha
17. King Boo
18. Kamek
19. Shy Guy
20. Vacuum Luigi (New)
20e. Professor E. Gadd (New)
21. Perry (New)
22. Ghost (New)

Today's pretty simple. Shy Guys appear as an enemy in Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker, acting sorta like Goombas throughout the game, but pretty simple from there. The first Luigi's Mansion game also has ghost versions of them whose masks you have to suck off before you can capture them. (Its probably one of the only times we get a glimpse at their real faces too).

Here is their current moveset:

Standard B: Snifit

Side B: Mace

Up B: Fly Guy OR Pogo Stick

Down B: Spear and Shield

Final Smash: Pirate Ship

Entrance: Drifts to the ground via parasol.

Taunts: A number of their appearances playing around in the background of various games offers up a number of possibilities.

Next up: Let's start in on our newcomers with Luigi in his Luigi's Mansion form!

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Yoshi Miscellaneous)

SHY GUY

Today, let's begin our last round of Yoshi games with the character updates. It will be almost all revisions this time, but it shouldn't be too many. Here we go:

1. Mario (Revision)
2. Princess Peach (Revision)
3. Bowser (Revision)
4. The Koopalings (Revision)
5. Koopa Troopa (Revision)
6. Goomba (Revision)
7. Piranha Plant (Revision)
8. Boo (Revision)
9. Blooper (Revision)
10. Lakitu and Spinies (Revision)
11. Monty Mole (Revision)
12. Chargin' Chuck (Revision)
13. Yoshi (Revision)
14. Baby Mario (Revision)
15. Baby Bowser (Revision)
16. Kamek (Revision)
17. Shy Guy (Revision)
18. Ukiki (Revision)
19. Wiggler

As versatile as Shy Guys time and time again prove themselves to be, this is probably one of the few times they didn't really offer up much. Basically, they appear in Tetris Attack, specifically as Fire Guys, in Topsy Turvy swinging around maces, and in Touch and Go as basic Shy Guys. That's pretty much it.

Here is their current moveset:

Standard B: Snifit

Side B: Mace

Up B: Fly Guy OR Pogo Stick

Down B: Spear and Shield

Final Smash: Pirate Ship

Entrance: Drifts to the ground via parasol.

Taunts: A number of their appearances playing around in the background of various games offers up a number of possibilities.

Next up: Let's cover the Goombas.

Yoshi's Island Series Roster

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

YOSHI'S ISLAND ROSTER

Today, let's create an entirely separate roster for the Yoshi series. This one will be significantly smaller, as the Yoshi series is much more heavily tied to the Mario series than the Donkey Kong series is, but still enough to warrant its own roster.

1. Yoshi
2. Yarn Yoshi
3. Baby Mario
4. Baby Bowser
5. Kamek
6. Shy Guy
7. Bandit
8. Ukiki

That's it for now, though there are a few I suspect might get added when I get around to the RPGs, but for now, an eight-man roster is not too shabby. A Mario series navigation would appear directly after Ukiki on the roster.

Thanks for reading! Next week, let's cover all the "miscellaneous" Yoshi games, starting with . . . Yoshi. Huh.

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Yoshi Main Series)

SHY GUY

Today, let's get started on the Mario spinoff series/prequel and all the characters that appeared there. As before with the Donkey Kong series, this will result in a split roster, but for now, let's just cover them all together.

1. Yoshi (Revision)
2. Bowser (Revision)
3. Kamek (Revision)
4. Koopa Troopa (Revision)
5. Shy Guy (Revision)
6. Goomba (Revision)
7. Piranha Plant (Revision)
8. Boo (Revision)
9. Blooper (Revision)
10. Lakitu and Spinies (Revision)
11. Monty Mole (Revision)
12. Yarn Yoshi
13. Baby Mario
14. Baby Bowser
15. Bandit
16. Ukiki
17. Chain Chomp

At long last, we leave the shadow of Super Mario Bros. 2, and see the Shy Guys where they really shine. The Yoshi series adopted the Shy Guys as their main common enemy, and they soon proved to be remarkably versatile, demonstrating a number of skills all across the board, some applicable to Smash, and some more cosmetic in nature. Let's get into it.

Throughout the six games, the Shy Guys are shown to fly with propellers, walk around on stilts, throw bombs, carry around a spear and shield, swing a mace around in a circle, crank a machine to pull up and drop a larger mace, bounce on pogo sticks, carry a limbo stick, drive a pirate ship, descend through the air on umbrellas or balloons, bounce, copy your movements, wield knitting needles, ride unicycles, throw surikens, and glide on gliders. They also have fat, flaming, ghost, giant, and metal forms, and their cousin, the Snifit, appears as well.

Here is their current moveset:

Standard B: Snifit
I'm keeping this one exactly as is. It seems to me the best and most iconic basic move to include, though we might switch out the pellet shooting for the fire breath.

Side B: Mace
The Shy Guy will pull out a mace and spin it around in a circle really fast, damaging anyone hit by it and throwing it in a random direction as a projectile.

Up B: Fly Guy OR Pogo Stick
Fly Guy is probably more iconic, but I felt the pogo stick worked really well as well. As Fly Guy, a propeller would appear and carry the Shy Guy high into the air, but as Pogo Stick, he would bounce on the ground and spring into the air.

Down B: Spear and Shield
The Shy Guy will produce a spear and shield, holding up and hiding behind the shield to protect from projectiles while holding out the spear, which will damage any who try to get too close.

Final Smash: Pirate Ship
At the moment, this is the best one I've got, but I want General Guy to be the one eventually. A pirate ship carried by balloons and manned by Shy Guys will appear, circling the stage and firing cannonballs at the fighters.

Entrance: Drifts to the ground via parasol.

Taunts: A number of their appearances playing around in the background of various games offers up a number of possibilities.

Next up: Let's cover the Goombas.

Yoshi's Story

YOSHI'S STORY

Yoshi's Story was the big Yoshi series entry for the Nintendo 64, and arguably the one that solidified the series as its own apart from the Mario series. The game follows a cutesy storybook style format, of a group of Yoshis going on a quest to stop Baby Bowser who has captured the "Super Happy Tree," with their completion of a level contingent on collecting the required amount of various fruits, rather than a goal line.

Yoshi and all his color variants act the same as Yoshi normally would: running, jumping, flutter jumping, butt bashing, eating enemies, creating eggs, throwing eggs, and so on. Even being launched as an egg at a certain point. Poochy appears once again, mostly just wandering around and finding secret items for you. Miss Warps are also frequent allies, teleporting you to other areas.

Baby Bowser is our villain for the game, Kamek sadly being absent this time around, and he battles you by riding around on his pets (green ghostly enemies), while jumping around and spitting fireballs at you. He is carried off by Toadies when defeated.

Shy Guys are once again our most common enemy, and they are seen flying by propeller, walking around on stilts, driving submarines, bouncing on pogo sticks, dropping giant blocks, using limbo sticks, and sailing on a pirate ship. Other returning enemies include Piranha Plants and Nippers, Cheep Cheeps, Boos, Goonies, Ravens, Bumpties, Lakitus (who can rain now), Bob-Ombs, Bullet Bill, Spiked Fun Guys, Blarggs, Huffin Puffins, and a big Fuzzy Wiggler.

Brand new enemies include: Pak E. Derms, elephants carrying around stop signs to halt your progress; Spikes (not the ones your thinking of), little metal enemies that jump around; Teehee Butterflies that change color; Gabons, who are basically the Spikes you were thinking of; Jellyfish who float; Mr. Eels and Snorkel Snakes who swim around in the water, accompanied by Big Blurps and Frogs; Spiders who dangle; Peepers and Combats who fly; Do Drops who drip from the ceiling; Vine Slimes that crawl around on vines; a giant centipede that crawls around; a dragon who swims through lava; and Attacky Sacks, which are little balls that bounce around.

We have a few bosses this time around. The first two are mainly mini-bosses: a multi-headed Bone Dragon that breathes fire, and a Giant Slug with weak points in its eyes. The other full bosses include: Cloud N. Candy, a giant cloud of cotton candy who hops around; Inviso, an invisible ghost you have to watch for; Cloudjin, a giant cloud genie who breathes fire and throws spike balls; and Don Bongo, a large Gabon who stomps around and drops things from the ceiling.

The game works its way through a course of six levels, four different times. These six include: Beginning, a basic grassland-type stage; Cavern, a generally lava-themed stage; Summit, a snow stage; Jungle, a jungle stage of course; Ocean, an underwater course; and Finale, a castle/fortress-themed stage. The general setup is mostly the same each time, though the four versions vary.

The main item this time around would be the fruit. Fruit, fruit, fruit, all kinds of fruit. They're delicious, apparently.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Yoshi: run, jump, eat, make eggs, flutter jump, throw eggs, butt bash, breathe fire, ice, spit seeds, helicopter, mole tank, train, submarine, ski, fire as egg
Baby Mario: float in bubble, cry, super cape, float with cape, run on walls and ceilings.
Kamek: fly on broom, cast spell, teleport, sweep, giant spell
Baby Bowser: stomp, shockwave, fireball, drop rocks, jump, ride pets
Poochy: walk across hazards, find stuff
Shy Guy: propeller, stilts, fat, bombs, spear and shield, swing mace, fire, ghost, submarine, pogo stick, blocks, limbo stick, pirate ship
Koopa
Goomba
Piranha Plant
Boo
Lakitu: rain
Wiggler: wings, fuzzy
Chain Chomp: bounce, incoming chomp, Chomp Rock, Chomp Shark
Bandits: steal things, toss ball, pop balloon, Green Glove, Slugger, Zeus Guy, Grunt
Little Mouser: steal
Grinder: bounce, climb vines, eat fruit and spit seeds, drop bombs
Gabons: basically Spikes

Bosses:
Burt the Bashful
Salvo the Slime
Bigger Boo
Roger the Potted Ghost
Prince Froggy
Naval Piranha
Marching Milde
Hookbill Koopa
Sluggy the Unshaven
Raphael Raven
Tap Tap the Red Nose
Cloud N. Candy
Inviso
Cloudjin
Don Bongo

Stages:
plains
cave
fortress
sky
forest
lava
lake
valley
sewer
snow
Beginning
Cavern
Summit
Jungle
Ocean
Finale

Items:
Eggs
Stars
Clouds
Chomp Rock
Fruit!!

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll cover Yoshi's Island DS!

I now have a patreon at: patreon.com/prastarkeepers

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

SUPER MARIO WORLD 2: YOSHI'S ISLAND

Here we go, the prequel/sequel to a Mario game that launched a series of spinoffs. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was a sequel to Super Mario World starring the fan favorite introduced in that game, Yoshi, and functioned as a prequel to the Mario series as a whole, telling the story of how Bowser's advisor Kamek foresaw the brothers' role in opposing his master and tried to kidnap them while they were being carried by the stork. He failed to nab Mario, who ended up falling into a herd of Yoshis, who agreed to help him save his brother.

Yoshi is our main playable character, with eight different colors for each level. His moveset is pretty much what you think of for Yoshi: eating enemies and actually turning them into eggs, getting great distance in the air with a flutter jump, throwing his eggs, pounding the ground with a butt bash, breathing fire and ice and spitting seeds. He also transforms frequently, turning into a helicopter, mole-like tank, a train, a submarine, and a skiing vehicle, all getting him through a specific course.

Baby Mario mostly rides around on Yoshi's back, floating in a bubble and crying any time he is knocked off. However, upon gaining a super cape, he can run on his own, running up walls and across ceilings, and floating through the air with his cape. Baby Luigi and the stork who was carrying them are both the token "damsel in distress" character to be rescued, so don't really do that much. Finally, we have Poochy, a very good boi who you can ride across dangerous terrain like spikes and lava.

Our villains consist of Kamek and Baby Bowser. Kamek flies around on his broom, making sweeping passes to try and hit Yoshi at times, casts magical spells made of Playstation shapes, teleports, and casts his iconic biggification spell that he uses to create the various bosses in the game. Baby Bowser appears as the final boss, stomping on Kamek and flattening him, and after being enlarged, breathes fireballs, drops rocks from the ceiling, and creates shockwaves. Kamek also has a squad of Toadies who can fly and descend on a crying baby if not picked up quickly enough.

The enemies of the game include a massive assortment of Mario series regulars as well as brand-new enemies that would soon become staples of the Yoshi series. The returning enemies include Shy Guys, who establish themselves pretty firmly as the go-to common enemies of the Yoshi series, using propellers to fly, walk around on stilts, get fat and heavy, drop bombs, carry around spears and shields, swing around a mace, and run around on fire. They also have a ghostly version.

Other returning enemies include Koopas, Goombas, Piranha Plants and Nippers, Boos, Lakitus (who like to hide behind a wall here as well as fish and do everything else they're known for), Fuzzies, Bullet Bills, Snifits, Pokeys (who bounce Needlenose enemies on top of them), Wigglers with wings, and Chain Chomps, who like to bounce up and down to make earthquakes, leap from the background to take out sections of the stage, chase you while eating up the stage, and have a frequent item called the Chomp Rock appearing in the game. Hmm, I think somebody's finally trying to make a case for themselves.

The new enemies appearing in the game include: Crazee Dayzees, singing flowers who make bubbles; Cloud Drops that fly back and forth; Lantern Ghosts, who walk around with lanterns; Bandits, who steal items and babies while in game, but also host minigames involving throwing balls back and forth and popping balloons; Sluggers and Green Gloves, very similar enemies to Bandits who deflect items with bats and can catch eggs and throw them back; Burts, bouncing enemies who come in pairs; Blarggs and Nep-Enuts, large red and blue creatures that live in lava and water respectively and try to eat you; Fangs, the resident bat enemy; Melon Bugs and Huffin Puffins that can be used as projectiles; Tap-Taps and Spiked Fun Guys, walking maces who roll over when hit; Mildes and Barney Bubbles, little bubbles who pop when stepped on; Spray Fish and Hot Lips, who spray streams of water and lava; Little Mousers, who like to steal things; Gusties, who fly around; Boo Blahs, ghosts attached to the ground; Grinders, little monkeys who like to bounce, climb on vines, eat fruit and spit out the seeds, and throw things at you; Loch Nestors, Flopsy Fish, and Piscatory Pete, the resident basic fish; Frog Pirates with long tongues; Clawdaddies, crabs with rabies; Harry Hedgehogs with spikes; Preying Mantas, who rise through the water; Lunge Fish, who will stare at you blankly before lunging at you; Cage Ghosts who try to crawl out from drainage pipes; Hootie the Blowfish (nice), which are flying ghostly piranha plants; Bumpties, little penguins who can fly or slide around, and can be bounced off of; Dr. Freezegoods, skiing snowmen; Goonies, birds who either fly or walk around and come with a skeletal version; Dangling Ghosts, who just kinda hang from the ceiling; Georgette Jellies who squish when stepped on; Sluggies who drop from the ceiling; Ravens who can walk around upside down and sideways; and Spookies, who pretend to be ghosts.

The bosses are generally regular enemies who have been enlarged by Kamek or enhanced in some way. Burt the Bashful is a Burt whose pants drop a little any time he is hit; Salvo the Slime is a giant slime who makes a bunch of smaller slimes; Bigger Boo is a giant Boo who inflates until he pops; Roger the Potted Ghost is a ghost stuck in a pot who can breathe fire at you; Prince Froggy is a frog who eats you and then you have to fight his uvula while he drops eaten Shy Guys onto you; Naval Piranha is a giant Piranha Plant who can swim, headbutt you, attack you with its vines, and drop nipper spores on you; Marching Milde is a giant Milde who can split into duplicates; Hookbill Koopa is a giant Koopa who charges, belly flops, and slams down on you; Sluggy the Unshaven is a giant Sluggy who you have to make indents in to get to his core; Raphael the Raven is a giant Raven that kicks you to the moon and then charges around and makes shockwaves; and finally, Tap Tap the Red Nose is a giant Tap Tap who jumps and rolls around.

The game is made up of six worlds, each made up of eight stages each. Although these stages have general themes and biomes, they can't quite be divided into nice clean themes per world, instead being a nice mix of all. The general biomes include plains, cave, fortress, sky, forest, lava, lake, valley, sewer, and snow.

Items vary from Chomp Rocks, stars, clouds, and eggs, and  so on.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:
Yoshi: run, jump, eat, make eggs, flutter jump, throw eggs, butt bash, breathe fire, ice, spit seeds, helicopter, mole tank, train, submarine, ski.
Baby Mario: float in bubble, cry, super cape, float with cape, run on walls and ceilings.
Kamek: fly on broom, cast spell, teleport, sweep, giant spell
Baby Bowser: stomp, shockwave, fireball, drop rocks
Poochy: walk across hazards
Shy Guy: propeller, stilts, fat, bombs, spear and shield, swing mace, fire, ghost
Koopa
Goomba
Piranha Plant
Boo
Lakitu
Wiggler: wings
Chain Chomp: bounce, incoming chomp, Chomp Rock, Chomp Shark
Bandits: steal things, toss ball, pop balloon, Green Glove, Slugger, Zeus Guy, Grunt
Little Mouser: steal
Grinder: bounce, climb vines, eat fruit and spit seeds, drop bombs

Bosses:
Burt the Bashful
Salvo the Slime
Bigger Boo
Roger the Potted Ghost
Prince Froggy
Naval Piranha
Marching Milde
Hookbill Koopa
Sluggy the Unshaven
Raphael Raven
Tap Tap the Red Nose

Stages:
plains
cave
fortress
sky
forest
lava
lake
valley
sewer
snow

Items:
Eggs
Stars
Clouds
Chomp Rock

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll cover Yoshi's Story!

I now have a patreon at: patreon.com/prastarkeepers

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Main 3D Games)

SHY GUY

Now that we're done with all of the major 3D Mario titles, I think we need to now go through and update our characters, starting with revisions for any characters included so far that appeared in any of these games. Out of the 24 so far, 17 need revision:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
6. Pauline
7. Princess Toadstool
8. Toad
9. Yoshi
10. Bowser
13. Koopa Troopa
13e. Dry Bones
14. Shy Guy
15. Goomba
16. Piranha Plant
17. Boo
18. Lakitu
19. Hammer Bro
20. Chargin' Chuck
21. Magikoopa

Okay, technically speaking, Shy Guy has no business being revised in this section. He did not appear once in any of the five games covered, at least in his standard form. However, in Super Mario 64, two enemies appeared who are . . . related to Shy Guy, and thus need to be at least considered for his moveset. First was Fly Guy, a Shy Guy with a little propeller on his head that hung around areas like Shifting Sand Land and breathed fire at you. Second was Snufit, a little Snifit but with the body of a Boo, I think? It hung in the air in Hazy Maze Cave and spit pellets at you the way normal Snifits do. And, there we are.

Here is the moveset as it stands:

Standard B: Snifit

Side B: Autobomb

Up B: Fly Guy
A propeller pops out of Shy Guy's head and spins him upward, acting much like the propeller powerup in some of the "New" Mario sidescrollers.

Down B: POW Block

Final Smash: Armies of Subcon

Entrance: Enters through a Subcon door

Taunts: Not much yet, not much character shown.

Next up: Let's cover Goombas, who actually got quite a bit this time.

Character Sheet: Shy Guy (Original Sidescrollers)

SHY GUY

Now that we have all of the original sidescrolling Mario titles for the NES and SNES under our belt, I think it's time we go through and evaluate every character we have picked so far as being playable.

Now let's move on to the enemy characters. I have narrowed down the field to all of the enemies that have an immediate yes, even if they might not have a moveset just yet. My final count is twelve:

1. Koopa Troopa
1e. Dry Bones
2. Shy Guy
3. Goomba
4. Piranha Plant
5. Boo
6. Lakitu
7. Hammer Bro.
8. Chargin' Chuck
9. Magikoopa
10. Boom Boom
11. Birdo

Today, we'll cover Shy Guys, the most common enemy in Super Mario Bros. 2. Although they will go on to be staple of the Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi series, for now they only appear in Super Mario Bros. 2, meaning that that is what we will draw their moveset from.

Shy Guy doesn't do a whole lot in the game itself, mostly walking around and being general obstacles. However, much like the Koopa Troopa, the Shy Guy comes with a number of offshoots, specifically (for this game at least) Snifits and Beezos. Snifits have a slightly altered mask from which they can fire pellets, while Beezos have wings and tridents, preferring to fly around the level. Shy Guys have also demonstrated the propensity for riding around on vehicles, specifically autobombs and Ostros.

Here is the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Snifit
Shy Guy sprouts a Snifit mouth and fires off a line of pellets, doing minimal projectile damage.

Side B: Autobomb

Shy Guy hops on top of an Autobomb, which he can then ride around on as it fires off far more damaging projectiles. The Autobomb can be unwieldy as it drives around.

Up B: Beezo

Shy Guy sprouts a pair of Beezo wings and pulls out a trident, launching himself upward while thrusting with the trident, doing damage to any opponent it connects with.

Down B: POW Block

This one is mostly based upon their game of origin, rather than the character himself. Basically, the Shy Guy will pull a POW Block from the ground and throw it down, causing an earthquake that launches anyone on the ground.

Final Smash: Armies of Subcon

This one mostly exists to show off a number of the enemies not currently appearing in the game. Basically Shy Guy will make a shout and call in a number of his fellows, including: multiple Shy Guys and Snifits, Tweeters, Cobrats, Flurries, Phantos, Albatosses, Pidgits, and so on, doing massive damage to all on stage.

Entrance: Enters through a Subcon door

Taunts: Not much yet, not much character shown.

Next up: We will cover the Goomba, which may raise some eyebrows, but after seeing Piranha Plant work in creative ways, I have studied Goombas and think they have enough to do the same with. (Although maybe not quite yet.)

Super Mario Bros. 2

SUPER MARIO BROS. 2

Next up, we have the North American version of Super Mario Bros. 2, a reskin of the game Doki Doki Panic, a promotional game developed for Fuji TV for their Yume Kojo '87 event. After Nintendo of America decided the real Super Mario Bros. 2 was too difficult for American audiences, Nintendo chose to change the main characters to Mario and his friends and release it in the West, so as not to create confusion when Super Mario Bros. 3 came out a year later.

The game plays quite differently from almost all other Mario games, but it's inclusion led to a number of features that became staples of the Mario series, including Luigi's higher jumping ability, Shy Guys, Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, and so on.

The game features Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad taking the place of Imajin, Sister, Mama, and Papa respectively. Each use the exact same abilities, the only differences being their stats such as speed, strength, and jumping ability. The abilities made available to the characters include jumping on top of and picking up enemies and items, an extra-high jump after crouching long enough, digging into the ground, plucking vegetables and items from the ground, climbing vines, and riding around on items or enemies in order to reach out-of-reach areas. They can also access the Starman invincibility for a short time. Most of these abilities could easily be worked into a Super Smash Bros. skillset.

Next, we have six major boss characters to consider: Birdo, Mouser, Tryclyde, Fryguy, Clawgrip, and Wart. As Birdo, we know, will go on to have a larger role in further Mario games, I will say yes now to her inclusion, although her moveset for the time being is limited to moving back and forth, jumping, and firing eggs and fireballs from her mouth. She also stands guard outside of an Eagle Mask shaped Gate, which later comes alive and attacks, meaning it could be incorporated into her moveset.

As for Mouser, Tryclyde, Fryguy, and Clawgrip, we may have our first characters who work better as bosses then characters. I will still hold out as tentative for them, but as this is one of their only games, I doubt they will give us enough to make a full moveset. Mouser is a large shades-wearing mouse who throws bombs. That's about it. Tryclyde is a giant, three-headed serpent who breathes fire at you. Fryguy is a giant ball of fire who spits fire at you and splits into smaller balls of fire. Clawgrip is a giant crab who chucks rocks at you, and who replaced a third Mouser fight from the original game. All work well as solid boss fights, so I think I can be okay with that.

Then we have Wart, the main villain who kidnapped a bunch of fairies called Subcons in order to rule the dream world. For his boss battle, all he really does is spit bubbles at you, which doesn't seem like he then would function as a character, however, Wart has the unique advantage of being the main villain, meaning his moveset can be made up of references to the game as well, and he can incorporate many of his minions into his moveset. For instance, his throne room is decorated with Phantos. All he has to do is make use of them. He also has Bob-Ombs he can throw, Autobombs he can ride and so on. He's not without potential.

Now for our enemy characters. Super Mario Bros. 2 features eighteen enemy characters: Shy Guys, Tweeters, Ninjis, Hoopsters, Pidgits, Beezos, Snifits, Phantos, Trouters, Sparks, Cobrats, Pansers, Pokeys, Ostros, Porcupos, Albatosses, Bob-Ombs, and Flurries. Shy Guys, Snifits, Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, and Sparks are the main enemies that have carried on into later Mario games so its fair to start with them. Shy Guys fall in alongside Koopas, Goombas, and so on as some of Mario's most iconic enemies and have also proven versatile enough to say that they will in fact be included, as even in this game they have moveset potential if you factor in Snifits and Beezos as their offshoots and their ability to ride Ostros and Autobombs. Pokeys mostly just wiggle in place and for now probably work best as obstacles on a desert-themed stage, and Sparks mostly just circle platforms. Bob-Ombs I won't write off entirely as characters, as they do have a few variants in later games, but they probably work best as items. (Dropping from an Albatoss would be a solid entrance animation though).

As for the rest, the main thing acting against them is their lack of appearance in later games. For this game, Tweeters simply bounce forward, Ninjis jump in place or toward the player, Hoopsters crawl up and down on vines, Pidgits ride flying carpets, Beezos fly forward, Phantos come to life and chase you when you pick up a key (they'd be a great stage hazard), Trouters jump, Cobrats jump and spit pellets, Pansers launch fireballs, Ostros give rides, Porcupos crawl, Albatosses drop Bob-Ombs, and Flurries slide around. None of them particularly give you much to work with as playable characters, so for now, no.

Next up are the stages. As they are divided into seven distinct worlds with individual themes, we can easily make a stage out of all seven with not much difficulty. World 1, 3, and 5 are all mostly grassland types, but 5 is set at night, and 3 is set in a waterfall/cave area. World 2 and 6 are also both deserts, so it might be reasonable to combine similar worlds, but seven stages is perfectly manageable, so I don't think there's much need.

As for items, we see the return of Mushrooms, 1-Ups, Starmen, POW Blocks, and Koopa Shells, most of which can perform the same function. We also see vegetables, bombs, timers that freeze time, potions that make doors (because that makes sense), and rockets that carry you higher into the stage. All of these can be easily incorporated.

Now, lets see what we've got!

Characters:

Mario: Jump, Fire Flower, Starman, Axe, Springs, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet

Luigi: Echo of Mario, Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet

Bowser: Jumping, fireballs, hammers, minions

Princess Toadstool: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet

Toad: Pick up, pull vegetables, climb vines, super jump, dig, bombs, ride autobomb, ride carpet

Wart: spit bubbles, Phantos, reference character?

Birdo: jump, spit eggs, fireballs, drop crystal ball, Mask Gate

Koopa: Shell Tuck, Shell Spin, Paratroopa Wings, Hammers?

Shy Guy: Beezo wing, Beezo trident, Snifit pellet, ride Ostro, ride Autobomb

Lakitu: Float on cloud, throw Spinies

Goomba: Nothing

Piranha Plant: Bite

Hammer Bros.: Jump, throw hammers

Buzzy Beetles, Bloopers, Cheep Cheeps, Pokeys, Bob-Ombs, Tweeters, Ninjis, Cobrats, and Flurries all tentative


Bosses:

Mouser: Throws bombs

Tryclyde: Breathes fire

Fryguy: Breathes fire, splits into smaller fryguys

Clawgrip: Throws rocks


Stages:

Mushroomy Kingdom

Mushroom Kingdom

Kingdom I

Mushroomy Kingdom (Underground)

Sky Plateau Stage

Mushroomy Kingdom (Underwater)

Fishing Bridge Stage

Giant Mushrooms Stage

Fortress Wall Stage

Bowser's Castle

Sky Stage

World 9 (Weird Stage)

World 1 (SMB2)

World 2 (SMB2)

World 3 (SMB2)

World 4 (SMB2)

World 5 (SMB2)

World 6 (SMB2)

World 7 (SMB2)


Items:

Super Mushroom

Life Mushroom

Fire Flower

Starman

Fire Bar

Bullet Bill

Bullet Bill Blaster

Spring

Poison Mushroom

Vegetable

POW Block

Bomb

Bob-Omb

Shell

Timer

Door Potion

Egg

Rocket


Thanks for reading! Join me next time for Super Mario Bros. 3