Awesome / Super Mario Bros. Z

A double whammy; displaying awesome moments from the series and real life.

This is Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dragon Ball Z all rolled into one package. That alone sounds plain awesome and hype inducing, but what's even more awesome is that it works. Let it never be said that Mark Haynes (a.k.a. Alvin Earthworm) doesn't know what he's doing with this series, making it one of the most popular web series known.

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

---

Original Run

• A villainous one; Mecha Sonic merely SHOWING UP causes a Mass "Oh, Crap!" for pretty much everyone in attendance. Considering this guy is on the level of Frieza and Cell on the evil scale, every ounce of fear is very, very justified.

• Episode 2: While the fighting and animation this early on was relatively primitive, there are still a few bouts of SMBZ awesomeness here and there, like the fireball clash and Mario's razor cape attack.
• Episode 3: Yoshi fighting Mecha Sonic. Sure, Yoshi loses, but he put up a pretty good fight. Notably, Yoshi's egg defense at the start of the fight was very resilient; Mecha Sonic had to expend a ridiculous amount of effort just to break it! This fact alone essentially disqualifies the fight from being a one-sided one.

• Episode 5:
  • Yoshi shows up to save Mario and repel Thunderfoot with one kick.
  • The explosive collision between the heroes, the Koopa Bros., and the Axem Rangers... and the sheer maelstrom of attacks that follows.
  • Shadow trashing Axem Yellow.
  • Mario slams Axem Red and the red Koopa Bro through a mountain.
  • Luigi's lightning uppercut.
• Continuing the three-way battle from the last episode, Episode 6 is considered by some fans to be the absolute pinnacle of the original run. And for good reason...
  • The 3 way battle between the Koopa Brothers, Axem Rangers and the heroes.
    • When Wario and Waluigi show up, they see the explosive effects of the battle from miles away.
    • Yellow splits the upper portion of a mountain!
    • Axem Red and the red Koopa Bro briefly gang up on Mario and overwhelm him. Then Mario grabs a Fire Flower and easily stomps both of them in a matter of seconds.
    • The sheer power of the Breaker Beam.
  • Then there's Mecha Sonic's arrival.
    • Armed with two chaos emeralds, Mecha Sonic pierces right through the Koopa Bros. special attack, and then he tanks the Breaker Beam and destroys the Blade! And then he had four...
      Mecha Sonic: Fools! If you're all so eager to throw your lives away, THEN SO BE IT!!! (transforms to his semi-super form) I'LL CRUSH YOU!!!
    • In his Moment of Awesome, Semi-Super Mecha Sonic horrifically and absolutely destroys the Axem Rangers. Hell, Red's secret weapon does absolutely nothing.
    • Aside from the Starman, Mario's initial fireball attack is the only thing that noticeably affects Semi-Super Mecha Sonic. Not a lot, but that's still quite a feat...
    • When Mecha goes Semi-Super, Shadow's the ONLY one who is able to FIGHT EVENLY WITH HIM. Sure, he was overpowered shortly after, but still...
  • Mario and Sonic also get their own CMOA after they utilize the power of a Starman. Mario becomes Invincible Mario and Sonic becomes Super Sonic. Cue "Open Your Heart" from Crush 40 blaring in glorious spades. Attacking at the same time knocked all four of the Chaos Emeralds Turbo Mecha Sonic had while in his semi super form. Super Sonic quickly gathered the four Chaos Emeralds and attempted to send his worst enemy straight to Hell with a powerful wave motion attack (it didn't last though). Now, look at Turbo Mecha Sonic's expression as Sonic does so: pure terror. This is literally the only time we ever see Turbo Mecha Sonic, a character arguably more badass than the entire cast who induces fear just with his name and presence, show outright fear. A wonderful demonstration of how powerful a Starman can make anyone, and it is also cathartic for those who wanted to see that evil bastard have the tables turned on him. This goes to show that even a Knight of Cerebus can experience fear. This makes the moment all the more awesome. Invincible Mario and Super Sonic are two forces that should not be messed with by anyone.
• Episode 7: Sonic and Mario vs Mecha Sonic, including in the Minus World.
  • Special mention to the Pipe Maze portion of the fight. After nailing Mecha Sonic with the Light Speed attack, Sonic doesn't stop to assess the impact or assume the attack put Mecha down, he IMMEDIATELY starts preparing for another. Everyone's seen what this robot can do, and nothing short of deader-than-dead scrap is enough to stop him.
  • Then there's Shadow's Big Damn Heroes moment in the Minus World, set to the Wily Castle Stage 1/2 theme from Mega Man 2!
• Episode 8:
  • Sonic calling Shadow out on his Jerkass behavior throughout the series, including just staring Shadow down after pressing his Berserk Button. Asking if it was Maria in Peach's place would Shadow still act this way.

• Fire Sonic, where to even begin? Just the concept alone of what could possibly happen if Sonic the Hedgehog grabbed a Fire Flower sounds great, and his debut gives a fantastic first impression, with Sonic flying around cloaked in flame before slamming into the ground and revealing his new form, clad with glaring yellow eyes. He follows by decimating dozens of Mooks in his path with his new fire-based attacks, showing almost a mastery of abilities despite having never used the form before. He ends up with a higher body count than both Mario and Sonic did together while on deck. All of this while the perfectly fitting Crisis City is playing in the background.
• Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes follow up with a heavy-hitting chain of power moves. Largely involving Tanooki Luigi. Mario bats around enemies with statue Luigi, Yoshi eggifies statue Luigi and Mario hammers the egg through the mooks, Yoshi grabs statue Luigi with his tongue and starts slamming opponents with it and himself, and then unleashes it into a blazing spin that mows 'em down.
• The Mario vs. Basilisx battle.
  • Even the intro's intense. Basilisx unsheaths his Wolverine Claws, and Mario readies his Hammer Mario power-up.
  • Basilisx's power-up mid-fight, blowing Mario away.
  • Mario manages to briefly gain the edge by throwing his hammer at Basilisx, then following up with attacks.
  • Basilisix then uses Luigi as a shield and poison mushrooms to take Mario down.

• The Clip of Episode 9:
  • Luigi breaking free of Basilix's stone gaze and saving Mario by hammering Basilisx into his own soldiers. STRIKE!
  • Made even better when you realize; THE APRIL FOOLS JOKE WAS EPIC FORSHADOWING.

Reboot

• At the end of the intro, Mario looking thoroughly pissed off as he stares down Metallix.
• Episode 1
  • The preview of the first episode. Asura's Wrath Template indeed.
  • The first fight in the reboot is as fun to look at as it is funny to look at.
  • Luigi tosses a star to Mario, saving his older brother from getting torched by Wario and Waluigi's combined attack. The younger brother also taunts the two from the sidelines, pissing them off and causing Wario to snap. Right after that, Luigi joins his brother in taking them on, which says a lot coming from him.
  • The rebooted fight between Mario and Bowser. Considering that fight in the original series was among his earliest works, and as such wasn't as flashy as his later ones, if he can reboot this fight to such an extent, one can only imagine how the later fights will come out now!
  • Bowser utilizes more underhanded tactics compared to the original fight, such as attemping to kill Luigi in order to force Mario to take a bullet (or in this case a fire ball) for him. Bowser actually comes close to killing the brothers a few times.
  • When Mario is about to be body-slammed by Bowser, in order to get out of it, he throws a fireball down, so that the falling Bowser ends up catching it in the face and is flung off. It's a nice little moment that shows there's more to Mario's fighting style than raw power and speed. Not that he doesn't have those; Mario quickly follows up with an impressively explosive fireball.
  • Mario is at the end of his rope while fighting Metal Bowser, In a last-ditch effort, the plumber leaps into the air, puts all his energy into his final fire ball attack, and unleashes the Mario Finale. Although the attack didn't so much as scratch Bowser, everything leading up to Mario giving his all was spectacular.
  • When Bowser is about to ready the finishing blow to an already-down Mario, Luigi steps in to protect his brother, well-aware that he stands no chance against Bowser's new metal form. Bowser even gives him a chance to run away, but Luigi stands his ground. Also doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
    • Implied to be an Homage to Mumen Rider's own Hold the Line moment for One-Punch Man, right down to recreating the sorrowful version of the main theme.
    • When you think about it, this actually did have a meaningful effect (though it would still be awesome either way). Bowser's monologue as a result of Luigi's action buys them just barely enough time for Sonic and Shadow's capsule to crush Bowser. He saved Mario from getting roasted, and he also kept Bowser in the right place to be crushed. That's right: Luigi saved the day!!
  • ATATATATATATATATA WATA!
  • Kamek, of all people, gets one for calling Mario's bluff while holding Peach hostage! It takes gumption to hold your place while the hero bears down on your boss at mach one.
  • Sonic makes a Dynamic Entry by doing a Flash Step over and, with a battle cry, sends Kamek flying with one kick, all while cloaked in shadow. Troperrific!!
• Episode 2
  • The original series had Luigi and Yoshi find an Emerald without much incident before Mecha Sonic's arrival. Here, a whole new sequence is added in with plenty of cool moments.
    • Luigi finds one of the Chaos Emeralds, but encounters Wario and Waluigi, who snag it. They get into their car and drive off, but Luigi grabs on at the last second. When Waluigi finally kicks him off, Yoshi swoops in and picks Luigi up, then eats a Dash Pepper. Suddenly Wario and Waluigi's victorious escape turns into running for their lives.
    • Waluigi tries to take Yoshi and Luigi out by throwing bombs, but Yoshi dodges them expertly. Then, Luigi pulls out his hammer and starts swatting them away as well, before finally hitting one directly back into the duo's car. They stare at it in shock before it blows up.
    • Finally, Wario and Waluigi run up to the top of a cliff (and props to them for outspeeding Dash Yoshi), but get cornered. Cue a four-way Big Ball of Violence over the emerald that only stops when Metallix's missiles herald his arrival.
  • The Metallix vs. Yoshi fight ends with the same resolution it had in the original, but with a few new additions and tweaks that definitely deliver on the promise Mark made that the fight would be more brutal.
    • Starting the fight (and doubling as a Funny moment), Metallix demands the Chaos Emerald Yoshi found. In complete defiance, Yoshi swallows the emerald, and just belches in Metallix's face. Even Metallix can't help but to have a chuckle at the act, before doubling down on his threat to retrieve the emerald.
    • After Metallix shatters Yoshi's defensive shell, it seems the fight is over. Cut to a shot of Yoshi's stomach where the emerald resides, and it starts glowing... Yoshi just jumps back up, stronger than ever, and is ready to put Metallix on the defensive with powered-up egg bombs! The real battle has barely started.
    • The fight starts to seem like it's evened out with Yoshi under the emerald's power, but then the viewer is reminded that Metallix still has his first emerald. And he's finally deciding to use its power. Curb-Stomp Battle doesn't even begin to describe what follows.
    • Yoshi, in a last-ditch effort, eats Metallix. In the original series this was mostly a comedic Hope Spot. Here, Yoshi first has to deal with Metallix throwing him around from the inside and nearly escaping. When he finally gets Metallix into an egg, it starts glowing. Yoshi, rather than freezing up like he did in the original, picks the egg up and chucks it at a cliff. The ensuing explosion is so devastating, you can't blame Yoshi for thinking he won.
    • The moment right after that, when Yoshi thinks he's won the battle, only to hear a drone-like sound coming from the flaming wreck. In what looks like a shout-out to The Terminator, Metallix rises from the burning crater right when Fulgore's theme kicks into gear, slowly walks towards his victim with the deadliest Death Glare a robot can muster and proceeds to hand poor Yoshi the most violent beatdown so far in the series. It's as awesome as it is chilling to look at.
    • At the end of the battle, when Metallix forces Yoshi to literally cough up the emerald, he decides to take a page out of Killer Instinct and beat down on Yoshi to the beat of the audio, before sending him flying into the rocks below. No one would judge you if you thought you were going to hear "ULTRA COMBOOOOO" after said beat-down.
    • Despite everything Yoshi endures to the very end, he still keeps getting back up. Yoshi knows how big of a threat Metallix is and wants to do everything in his power to keep him from getting away, despite the strength gap.
  • When Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Shadow show up to save Yoshi, like in the original, the hedgehogs start arguing over who's to blame for this. Unlike in the original though, rather than just asking what's going on, Mario is incredibly pissed, and even with the gibberish voice clips, you can tell he's not asking nicely about why his friend just got nearly killed. He even keeps a Death Glare the whole time, aside from when he goes to pick up Yoshi.
• The Chaos Emeralds themselves. In the Sega Universe, they're pretty useful and all together they make it possible to fight the final boss, but never to the extent they are in this iteration. In SMBZ, each one on its own packs an INSANE amount of power, almost comparable to a single Infinity Stone from Marvel. In the reboot, Yoshi swallowing one gave him extra powers and strength beyond what he usually has, like bomb eggs and becoming durable enough to fight a sentient doomsday weapon that laid waste to an entire planet.

Real Life

• Series creator Alvin-Earthworm somehow bypassed the 16K frame cap in Flash in the making of some of these episodes. To repeat, the later episodes of this series are more than 16,000 frames long!. For those of you who are not computer programmers, think fitting 20 cubic feet of stuff into a box that only holds 10.
• Newgrounds raised the filesize limit on uploads just so he could submit Episode 8.
• The "big four" (Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Shadow) are depicted in sprites from the rather limited Game Boy Advance games; the former two from Superstar Saga (and only SS, not Partners In Time or Bowser's Inside Story) and the latter two from the GBA Sonic Advance games. Yoshi, Peach, Bowser, and Toadsworth have gotten sprite upgrades, but the big four are pure game sprites and fan edits. Hammmerbro!Mario and Tanooki!Luigi, for example, are in the style of SS but made whole-cloth. Not to mention Fire-Sonic and Basilisx...
  • The first episode of the reboot is apparently taking longer than Alvin expected because he has to MAKE the poses he needs for Wario and Waluigi. Who were already custom fan jobs.

• The people over at Newgrounds are clearly very excited to see this series return. When the first episode of the reboot was released, they gave it a prominent spot at the top of the front page with huge, bolded text that says "SMBZ REBOOTED!"
• Mark Haynes claims during a long lost private conversation in his Deviantart that Monty Oum was inspired by Super Mario Bros. Z for him to take animation. In other words, without Super Mario Bros. Z, RWBY may have never existed.

---