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This article is from the 2006 series of SMBZ and is no longer canon. |
| The Great Doomship Offensive | |||||||||||||||
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The Great Doomship Offensive is the eighth episode of Super Mario Bros. Z. It was released on October 9, 2009.
Synopsis[]
Plot[]
Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach while Mario was away, but this time she's held captive in Bowser's newly constructed, flying Omega Doomship. Mario and company hear about the tragedy through a letter sent from Bowser. In the letter, Bowser states that he's holding Peach for ransom, and demands that Mario and his team bring him the Chaos Emeralds that they currently have.
Everyone agrees to help rescue Peach, except for Shadow, thinking that they would be wasting precious time they should be using finding more Chaos Emeralds before Mecha Sonic does. This starts with a heated argument between Sonic and Shadow, ending with Shadow threatening to kill Sonic. Sonic confronts Shadow and reminds him that he was never like this in the past, never fighting for pride and amusement, and being one of the most compassionate people he's ever known. Sonic asks what changed Shadow, who then has a flashback of him holding the dead body of his friend Rouge, implying that her death was responsible. Shadow relents and leaves the group, feeling that his and Sonic's interests would only end up clashing with each other, thus bidding them to save Princess Peach. As Shadow teleports, Sonic desperately pleads Shadow to come back, but Stuffwell comforts him and tells him that Shadow only wants solitude. Stuffwell informs that the rest of the group will help save Princess Peach.
The remainder of the group (Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Sonic and Stuffwell) then head to E.Gadd's lab. E.Gadd reveals that he had bought supplies for them, anticipating their rescue attempt, and had also fixed up and upgraded the Sky Pop, Mario's old plane. The group then take off in the Sky Pop Mk II (via giant slingshot) in search of the Omega Doomship. Wario and Waluigi make an attempt to ambush the group, by Wario throwing Waluigi to intercept the plane. Their plan spectacularly falls short when Waluigi falls just short of the plane, and plummets down to earth.
The group eventually find the Doomship, and come under attack from the ship's now-operational defenses. Bowser orders Captain Basilisx to fire the cannon twice to hit the heroes but they manage to dodge. After dodging enemy fire, Mario and Sonic jump from the Sky Pop and free-fall towards the Doomship, Mario transforming into Raccoon Mario during this time. The duo land on the hull and fight their way through the troops stationed there. Yoshi and Luigi, still in the Sky Pop then blow a hole in the hull, and charge in ahead of Mario and Sonic. The two end up in a hangar, but unfortunately, they run into an army of Koopatrol soldiers. The army attacks them, but, Mario and Sonic save them. Mario flies Luigi and Yoshi out of the way of the troops, while Sonic attempts to retrieve a Fire Flower Luigi dropped. However, he is overwhelmed by the soldiers and the Fire Flower ends up in a load of Bob-omb.
Sonic survives the explosion, and uses the Fire Flower to transform into the powerful Fire Sonic much as Mario and the gangs surprised. Using his new flame based powers, Sonic starts annihilating Bowser's troops, and is quickly joined by Mario, Yoshi and Tanooki Luigi. Sonic and the group finish off a total of 90 Koopatrols, but are interrupted by Captain Basilisx, an elite Koopatrol soldier with the ability to turn things to stone by gazing at them. After saving the remaining 6 Koopatrols, he demands a one-on-one fight to the death with Mario, wanting revenge for killing his friend, and petrifies Luigi, Yoshi and Sonic, to stop them from interfering.
Basilisx then draws out Wolverine-style claws, while Mario uses a hammer suit to transform into Hammer Mario, gaining armor and dual hammers. As a result of an experiment performed by the mysterious scientist (Dr. Robotnik) working with Bowser, Basilisx is a very good fighter, matching Mario in strength and agility. Mario gains the upper hand against Basilisx by throwing a hammer at him and smashing him to the ground. Seeing this, Basilisx grabs the petrified Luigi statue, using it as a shield to stop Mario from attacking. Unwilling to harm his brother, Mario is quickly defeated. Bowser, watching Mario and Basilisx from a monitor in his throne room with Peach, laughs with a wicked smile, while Peach looks in terror as Basilisx prepares to kill Mario.
Trivia[]
- "The Great Doomship Offensive" is in reference to The Great Cave Offensive, a sub-game from Kirby Super Star and its remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra.
- In the beginning, Bowser's theme originates from Super Mario Galaxy.
- Bowser's Omega Doomship seems to resemble Star Destroyers from Star Wars.
- One of the shots of it in the opening scene was a direct reference to the opening scene for the SNES Star Fox game (called StarWing in Europe).
- For the reboot, Alvin confirmed the model would be upgraded as he would be working with a 3D artist.
- Alvin changes some of the sprites in the episode; notably affected is Peach (starting from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga's to Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story's; the preview used Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time's), but E. Gadd and Toadsworth are affected as well.
- Mecha Sonic does not actually make an appearance in this episode, only mentioned in dialogue.
- Basilisx is an obvious reference to the Basilisk due to the way that he drags his "S's" like a hissing snake.
- Alvin-Earthworm stated when he posted an animation test in 2013 that Basilisx as a character was inappropriately written in (shoehorned), and that he would not appear in the reboot's version of this episode.
- This episode was one in a three-part story-line called the "Omega Doomship Arc".
- Mario's series of uppercuts in the "Fire in the Hangar" scene originates from a combination of Ken's "Shoryureppa" and "Shinryuken" from Street Fighter.
- Basilisx's finishing move on Mario used a move that comes from Vega's Super Attack from the Street Fighter series.
- This is also the first and only time where Sonic used a "Hurricane Kick" in a Power-Up Form, and during the Omega Doomship raid.
- A major error is made in the dialogue by Basilisx; there is no lava in room 2 of Bowser's Castle in Dinosaur Land (Super Mario World), and the only Koopas there are ones climbing on a net. Alvin has stated that it was just supposed to imply "some random koopa that Mario wouldn't remember." It is also possible that Basilisx was lying as an excuse to kill Mario, seeing as Mario could not remember.
- Commenting on this inconsistency, Mark Haynes stated that he made an uninformed guess and was unable to verify it due to how scarce Super Mario World play-throughs were on the internet at the time. [1]
- The note Mario finds at the beginning of the episode is a reference to the infamous Hotel Mario prologue. (Bowser acknowledges this reference by crossing out "at one of my seven Koopa Hotels" and replacing it with the Seven Chaos Emeralds, as well as Mario, when continuing on with the letter after the scene, reading "with that reference out of the way..."). Stuffwell experiences Deja vu.
- Peach's dialogue that torts Bowser's inability to defeat Mario using the Star Rod references the events of Paper Mario.
- The Koopatrol that says, "Main screen turn on!" is a reference to Zero Wing, a video game known for spawning the "All Your Base Are Belong To Us"" meme.
- Stuffwell's line, "Do a Barrel Roll", is a reference to the Star Fox 64 meme.
On a related note, the cinematic of the Omega Doomship arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom mimics the Attack Carrier's arrival on Corneria in the opening of Star Fox.
- The scene where the Doom Kannon first fires uses angles similar to the Egg Carrier's beam cannon from Sky Chase in Sonic Adventure and the Delphinus' Moonstone Cannon in Skies of Arcadia.
- Alvin-Earthworm having used a track from said latter game (Valua Lower City, Skies of Arcadia/Eternal Arcadia) justifies this reference.
- Captain Basilisx has many similarities to Wolverine; his claws (and use of them) and backstory are closely equal to Wolverine's and the Weapon X program from the X-Men series. Bowser's line that explains his efficiency in transformation make a further reference to Weapon X.
- To a lesser extent, it also alludes to Captain America's creation in the Marvel Comics, especially the bit about him inconveniently running out of the formula upon using it on Basilisx.
- Interestingly, Basilisx's voice clips are Imperfect Cell's, a character that is also a biologically engineered being.
- On a similar note, Basilisx's ability to paralyze people by glaring at them was similar to the Psychic Eyes ability utilized by General Blue in Dragon Ball (although a notable difference is that Basilisx's ability outright petrifies them into statues, while Blue merely induces paralysis.). Coincidentally, both Basilisx's ability and Blue's psychokinetic abilities were heavily implied to have been artificially induced, and both characters were implied to be among the strongest members of the groups they belonged to (Basilisx regarding the Koopa Troop, and Blue for the Red Ribbon Army).
- While not directly revealed, Shadow's unusually aggressive, heartless, and impulsive behavior is highlighted via flashbacks that has some explanation for Rouge and Omega's deaths in the hands of Mecha Sonic.
- Episode 8 marks the first appearance of Fire Sonic.
- Sonic briefly references the Tornado, his and Tails' biplane on Mobius when on the Sky Pop MK II.
- This is the first time the heroes, or let alone anyone, have fought "disposable" characters (Koopatrols, Dark Koopas, Hammer Bros. etc,).
- The interior of the Battleship Halberd from Kirby Super Star Ultra is used as the background to the interior of the doomship.
- Fire Sonic receiving an extra live by clearing five enemies at once references the 1-Up mechanic in the Mario franchise.
- The backdrop of the scene where Waluigi falls from a great height and lands in a puff of dust is the aerial view of the region Fillmore from ActRaiser, and the device in effect is the slapstick element found in Looney Tunes shorts involving Wile E. Coyote.
- Continuity/Dialogue Error: The end of Episode 7 shows Peach's castle billowing smoke, implying the doomship used it weapons at that point. However, Bowser states in this episode that he didn't attack before civilians escaped, which leaves confusion as to how the previous scene occurred.
- This is the first episode where the Poison Mushrooms appear.
- Basilisx's line "The Underwhere awaits you!" references Super Paper Mario. The Underwhere is the place in which all video games end; ironically, Mario has been there and escaped. The use of this phrase also has some connotations to Hell being a lowly, moody place.
- Bowser also says this in the reboot's first episode.
- This is the third time the burning wastelands from Sonic 3 is used, in which Shadow has a flashback where he holds Rouge's body on Mobius. The other times were in Here Come the Koopa Bros. during Sonic's flashback explaining fully why he and Shadow needed to go to the Mushroom Kingdom, and Brawl on a Vanishing Island, regarding the immediate aftermath of Shadow and Mecha Sonic's simultaneous Chaos Blast.
- This marks the first episode to have line-drawn close-up shots of characters. These are used for Mario reading Bowser's letter, the following discussion between Mario and Luigi, Sonic and Shadow arguing, Basilisx and Mario growling at one another, Peach worryingly looking up to the Omega Doomship, and Fire Sonic opening his eyes.
- The close-ups that occur when Mario reads the note and talks with Luigi were custom made to mimic the styles of Hotel Mario and Mario & Luigi series.
- This would become used as much in the reboot.
- One of the two Koopatrols at the Doom Kannon's controls are sent flying into a camera lens after Bowser's second loud outburst. A similar mechanic was used in the second episode (and reused in the first episode of the reboot).
- The dialogue was written in part by an unnamed fan[2]
References[]
Characters[]
- Mario (8th)
- Luigi (8th)
- Yoshi (7th)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (7th)
- Shadow the Hedgehog (7th)
- Bowser (4th)
- Doctor Eggman (2nd)
- Kamek (3rd)
- Kammy (2nd)
- Koopalings (2nd)
- Captain Basilisx (1st)
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Princess Peach
- Professor E. Gadd
- Stuffwell
- Toadsworth
- Toad Guards
- Omega Doomship Soldiers
- Hammer Bros.
- Bob-omb
- Gloombas
- Bullet Bills
- Bill Blasters
- Purple Koopa Troopas
- Koopatrol
- Turbo Mecha Sonic (mentioned)
- Miles "Tails" Prower (mentioned)
- Knuckles the Echidna (mentioned)
- Amy Rose (mentioned)
- Cream the Rabbit (mentioned)
- Cheese (mentioned)
- Rouge the Bat (flashback)
- E-123 Omega (flashback)
- Chain Chomps (mentioned)
- Maria Robotnik (mentioned)
Transformations[]
- Metal Mario (intro)
- Raccoon Mario
- Poisoned Mario
- Tanooki Luigi
- Fire Sonic
Gallery[]
| SMBZ Episodes (2006) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intro Bowser's Return • Warriors From Another Dimension • The New Threat • Here Come The Koopa Bros. Troubles On Yoshi's Island • Brawl On A Vanishing Island • Secret Of The Pipe Maze • The Great Doomship Offensive The Two Shell Treaty | ||||