Eggplant Man

EGGPLANT MAN

Starting on the second level of Wrecking Crew, Mario and Luigi would find themselves facing off with odd vegetable-shaped workers running straightforward until they come to an obstacle and have to turn around.

These are the Eggplant Men. Alongside the living wrenches called Gotchawrenches, they make up the majority of Foreman Spike's titular crew. Although they only appear as enemies in the first game, they would go on to have playable appearances in the second game alongside their boss.

As fighters, they will be echoes of Foreman Spike, with their moveset being entirely built off of the unique aspects and elements of the Wrecking Crew games. By comparison, they will be lighter and quicker than Spike himself, with a bit less power behind their attacks.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause.

Second Chance: Eggplant Man

EGGPLANT MAN

It's a bit of a source of personal embarrassment for me, when compiling this list, just how many occurred to me as "Why didn't I make that an echo fighter?" I hope I'm doing better on that front now, but we will have to see. The first here is Eggplant Man, the iconic enemies from Wrecking Crew who work as part of Foreman Spike's crew alongside Gotchawrenches. And, when making this list, I had do ask myself, "Why couldn't they have been echoes of Foreman Spike?"

So I think the biggest problem holding me back is the Gotchawrenches. In the games, there's not too much difference between the two enemies, as both their jobs is to run around the stage and get in your way as you try to destroy everything. One rule I am sticking to is only one echo per fighter, which then makes it feel marginally unfair to the Gotchawrenches if I do make Eggplant Man the echo.

There are two solutions I can see there: 1) Gotchawrenches take up the crew mechanic I established for Spike and remain the same for the Eggplant Man, thus at least getting representation that way. Or 2) I just make Gotchawrenches four of the Eggplant Man's color swaps, since they do fill nearly the same functions. And . . . I think I can be satisfied with either of those solutions. So, my answer is . . . 

YES

Here is their moveset, as well as I remember it for Foreman Spike:

Standard B: Wrecking Crew

Made up only of Gotchawrenches now.

Side B: Hammer

A bit weaker than Spike's.

Up B: Ladder

Probably a bit quicker on the climb than Spike.

Down B: Bomb

Likewise a little less power.

Final Smash: Kanbank

Probably with a different design than Spike's.

Entrance: Breaking through a block based on the original games.

Taunts: Up, it will toss a bunch of eggplants in the air. Side, it will run back and forth as if hitting obstacles. Down, it will strike a block with a hammer and make it crumble.

Kirby Hat: Its black mask covering its face.

Kart: Another type of construction equipment, like a bulldozer.

Special Move: It will release a Gotchawrench to run along the track.

Spirit Battle: A horde battle on Wrecking Crew, with Spike appearing occasionally.

Victory Screen: Several of them will stand back to admire the high-rise they built.

Losing Screen: The building will crash down on top of it.

Color Swaps: Based on the eight vegetables from Ice Climbers, with the standard Eggplant, then Carrot, Cabbage, Zucchini, Corn, Turnip, Pumpkin, and Romaine Lettuce.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's re-evaluate those pesky viruses from Doctor Mario.

Wrecking Crew

And finally, we end with Wrecking Crew, arguably the last major game before the Mario series took a turn into the world of the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Bros. The game took place on a construction site that Mario and Luigi were determined to demolish, the site’s foreman and his crew standing in their way.

Smash currently has a stage based on this game already existing. I would mostly leave it as is, at least in form and function, but change the aesthetic to match the original game a little bit better.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xAOecKb1eA

Foreman Spike

 

Predating Super Mario Bros. debut by a month or two, Mario and his brother Luigi would find themselves in one last foray as blue-collar workers before diving headfirst into the Mushroom Kingdom. This time, they were part of a demolition crew, destroying a construction site while the site’s foreman and his crew worked against them.

This foreman went by the name of Spike. He was a gruff and grizzled worker, with a big beard and a crew of living wrenches and men in eggplant suits at his beck and call. He would only appear once more after this game, in a sequel entitled Wrecking Crew ’98, wherein he forms an alliance with Bowser to build a number of high rises to block out the sun over the Mushroom Kingdom.

As a playable character, Spike will be heavy and strong, preferring sheer muscle over tactical work. His Eggplant Men and Gotchawrenches will also accompany him, letting him summon them to the stage and then mostly running around of their own volition. His moves will include his hammer and tools, make use of his workers on the stage, and will generally represent the Wrecking Crew games as a whole.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause

Character Sheet: Foreman Spike

FOREMAN SPIKE

More games than I've ever covered, and only five new characters offered up. At least they're all fun characters. Here are those added in by the assortment of random Mario games that couldn't fit into a neat group. They are:

1. Builder Mario

2. Foreman Spike

3. Rabbid Mario

4. Ziggy

5. Rabbid Kong

So, I guess Smash treats Wrecking Crew as its own series, with a separate logo and everything. I'm going to just go ahead and ignore that, because I don't agree. Either way, Foreman Spike is the villain of the Wrecking Crew games. He is the foreman of the construction site Mario and Luigi are trying to destroy, and he does everything he can to stop them, alongside his workers: the Gotchawrenches and Eggplant Men.

He will be the gimmick rep of the series, obviously. He will also be a bit along the lines of Olimar, with his two crewmen working for him (albeit a little more independently than the Pikmin. You'll see in a moment). Obviously then, his moveset will pull from the entire series and everything available. This includes his penchant to push characters off of higher platforms, use hammers to destroy things, bombs that explode, the golden hammer item, all the special blocks from '98, and my obvious pick for final smash: Kanbank.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Crew

Pressing this button will summon up Gotchawrench and Eggplant Man in that order. Once they are summoned, they will act independently, running around the stage and generally being a nuisance, but not really doing much direct attacking. Pressing the button when both are out will summon them both back to Spike's side, as a bit of a soft reset. When one of the two is KO'd, pressing the button will resummon them to the stage after a short time.

Side B: Push

I think the hammer will act more as his standard weapon, so his A moves and such will mostly control that, so for his side B, I want to make use of his standard move when he is acting as the villain in the game. Basically, he will just push the character. If they are on a pass-through platform, it will knock them off instantly. If they are on a base platform, they will fall on their butt. In the air, it will act as a spike.

Up B: Bomb

He will strike one of the bombs from the game, which will explode, sending him upwards into the air while setting off a string of explosions directly sideways, doing damage that way.

Down B: Oil Drum

He will drop an oil drum on top of a character's head, trapping them inside for a short time.

Final Smash: Kanbank

This is based on the ultimate attack from Wrecking Crew '98. Basically, the Kanbank block will appear in the sky over the stage and slam down, filling the entire stage and sending every character flying.

Entrance: He will break through a brick block.

Taunts: Up, he will wave his hammer in the air in victory. Side, he will build a block and admire his work. Down, he will pull out his blueprints and look them over in confusion.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the main Rabbid heroes from Mario + Rabbids!

Wrecking Crew '98

WRECKING CREW '98

Today, let's focus on Wrecking Crew '98, a sequel to the original game, set in the Mushroom Kingdom this time rather than . . . Brooklyn, or the New Donk City equivalent of Brooklyn, or wherever all that pre-Super Mario Bros. stuff is supposed to be set, with Bowser contracting Foreman Spike and his crew to build a giant high rise building to block all sunlight from reaching the Mushroom Kingdom's plant life. The game is similar to the original but with a greater emphasis on two-player gameplay and it has a bit of a tetris feel to it, with multicolored panels that you can switch around and line up to destroy. You can still use the hammer but taking out the panels by lining them up causes problems for your opponent. Pink panels will cause an enemy to spawn on their side, blue will add panels to their side, yellow will create metal plates on their side that can't be destroyed, and green will cover all their panels in brick that they have to break first.

We have several playable characters, both from the core Mario series, Wrecking Crew itself, and, um, well, you'll see. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and Koopa Troopa all appear from the Mario side, and Foreman Spike, Eggplant Man, and Gotchawrench appear from the Wrecking Crew side. As for the other, well, there's four weird characters that seem to just be stereotype Japanese culture items for some reason (sorta like seeing a bald eagle, a cowboy, a fat tourist, and a cheeseburger in a random American game). These include a living onigiri, a creepy little ghost girl, a drunk old man, and a clay dogu figurine. I don't know, man. All of these basically play the same, so probably best not to worry about it.

As for the stage, well, it's basically just a series of buildings. It's a puzzle game, so the layout being generally the same is pretty standard. As for our enemies, they're all pretty much original, but are basically just living construction equipment. These include: Forkun, a living forklift; Blonya, a little character carrying around a cinderblock; Buruccho, a living bulldozer; Burnya, another little guy carrying a blow torch; Dumpty, a dump truck; and Jenya, a little dude with a jetpack. I also want to bring up Kanbank, a giant wall with Bowser printed on it that immediately ends the opponent's game by crushing all of their blocks. I bring it up purely because my final smash sensor went "Ding, Ding, Ding!"

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: hammer, bombs, drop drum, golden hammer, pink (enemy), blue (block), yellow (metal plate), green (brick), Kanbank

Luigi: same

Princess Peach

Bowser

Foreman Spike: push, best option for a gimmick character, see all above

Koopa Troopa

Eggplant Man: run around

Gotchawrench: run around

Onigiri

Onnanoko

Oyazi

Dogu

Stages:

Wrecking Crew

High Rise Building

Items:

Hammers

Bombs

Drums

Blocks

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover Mario Paint!