DVD Review: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Volume 2
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!!! No way! I used to love this show! And after watching it again for the first time since it originally aired, I am completely and totally embarrassed to admit that... especially considering the fact that I was in my last year of middle school at the time. Ouch! What the heck was wrong with me? This is a show for kids around 8-10 years old, not for teenagers! But at least I can take solace in the fact that I wasn't the only one. My good friend and classmate Chris Bailey also used to love the show. Actually, we both admitted that the best thing about The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was the previews for The Legend Of Zelda that would air every Friday.
Anyway, on with the review. Each episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! contains live action skits intermixed with one animated adventure. Both are very kiddy. The live action is all a bit cartoonish, kind of like Pee-Wee's Playhouse was. It starred Captain Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi, but often featured special guests such as Sgt. Slaughter, Vanna White, and Rowdy Roddy Piper. You get treated to these live action sequences at the beginning of the show, at the commercial breaks, and at the end of the show. Then during the end credits, you get to watch the live-action Mario "dance" while singing the "Do The Mario" song... which instructs you on how do the Mario dance... yet the live-action Mario who is singing the song doesn't even follow his own instructions! Both Chris and I always thought that was weird, though now I see it probably wasn't as weird as us actually watching the show....
The animated portion of the show contained it's own musical opening, in addition to the show's musical opening. I guess they must've needed to fill time or something, because the cartoons were pretty short. They typically involve some kind of parody plot, as you can probably conclude from the episode titles listed below. The main good guys consisted of Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad (the mushroom-looking guy), while the main evil-dude was, of course, King Koopa. There really was no depth or character development here, just super-simple kiddy cartoon stories. And they had so much time left over after each cartoon (in addition to both openings and the live action segments) that they were able to show a nice long preview for the The Legend of Zelda cartoon that would be airing on Friday. The Legend of Zelda, now that's a show I'd love to see again!
Unlike a lot of multi-disc sets, each of the four DVDs in this set contain extra features. Besides the typical concept art (which they have a bunch of), they also have an Interactive Tour Of The Mario Bros. Plumbing, a Fan Costume Gallery, and Meeting Mario- A Fans Tale Featurette. Not really anything to write home about, but I've seen worse... much worse! At any rate, if you're looking for pure nostalgia to bring you back to the days when Nintendo ruled your heart and mind (without being required to sit down and struggle through Ghosts & Goblins for an entire week), then this series will most likely give you the flashbacks that you've been waiting for. Otherwise, I'd say it'd really only entertain someone who is 10 years old or under.
This set contains the following episodes:
Disc 1
- The Pied Koopa
- Bad Rap
- Red Baron Koopa
- Mighty McMario & The Pot of Gold
- Do You, Princess Toadstool, Take This Koopa?
- Mark Of Zero
- Bonus Episode - Her Majesty's Sewer Service
- Bonus: Interactive Tour Of The Mario Bros. Plumbing
- Bonus: Character Concept Art
- Bonus: The Worlds of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Concept Art Gallery
Disc 2
- 20,000 Koopas Under The Sea
- The Koopas Are Coming
- Quest For Pizza
- Karate Koopa
- Elvin Lives
- Koopa Claus
- Bonus Episode - Koopenstein
- Bonus: Character Concept Art
- Bonus: The Worlds of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Concept Art Gallery
Disc 3
- The Ten Koopmandments
- The Provolone Ranger
- The Great Gold Coin Rush
- Mario Of The Apes
- Crocodile Mario
- Plumber Academy
- Bonus Episode - The Unzappables
- Bonus: Fan Costume Gallery
- Bonus: The Worlds of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Concept Art Gallery
Disc 4
- Princess I Shrunk The Mario Brothers
- Flatbush Koopa
- Raiders of The Lost Mushroom
- Star Koopa
- Escape From Koopatraz
- Little Red Riding Princess
- Bonus Episode - The Trojan Koopa
- Bonus: Meeting Mario A Fans Tale
- Bonus: The Worlds of SMBSS Concept Art
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was released on October 31, 2006 by Shout! Factory. Check out the official website for more information and clips.
