Super Mario Bros. DX is a sprite animation series that debuted on Youtube in 2021. Created by user "Smashinity", it is inspired by Super Mario Bros. Z.
In the wilderness of the Mushroom Kingdom, a Toad mother is the only witness to a strange mechanical hedgehog appearing from nowhere in a brilliant surge of energy, before it attacks her. Meanwhile, in the forest nearby, several of Bowser's grunts stumble across a strange gemstone and start bickering over who it belongs to, before the robot hedgehog shows up and takes it from them, killing one Koopa Troopa who stupidly resists.
Meanwhile, the Mushroom Kingdom is holding a martial arts tournament, with Mario representing the kingdom as its champion. Bowser interrupts with the aid of his minions Wario, Waluigi and Petey Piranha. Although Luigi and Yoshi step up to help, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach in the confusion and retreats with her to his newly built reactor, with Mario in hot pursuit whilst Luigi and Yoshi are left behind, where they are confronted by Bowser Jr.
Whilst Luigi and Yoshi ultimately triumph over the Koopa Prince, Mario's battle against the Koopa King takes an unexpected turn when a Super Speedy blue hedgehog named Sonic the Hedgehog appears to lend a hand. Once Bowser falls, Sonic introduces them to his friend Tails, and explains that they have a reason for being in Mario's dimension...
The series currently stands at 6 episodes long, and can be found on YouTube on Smashinity's channel
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Not to be confused with the Game Boy Color port of Super Mario Bros. titled Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
This series includes examples of:
- Battle Aura:
- Mecha Sonic has an aura of ghostly blue flames. Later episodes turn it into a ghastly purple color, particularly when he obtains the next Chaos Emerald.
- Fire Mario can create a literal fiery aura around himself to charge up his abilities.
- Oni Bowser can create an aura of purple flames around himself.
- Rawk Hawk develops a purple fiery aura around himself out of rage at Bowser and his minions interrupting his match with Mario, just before he lays the smack down on Bowser Jr.
- Big Ball of Violence: The Goombas (and one lone Koopa) from the start of Episode 1 engage in this before Mecha Sonic shows up and stops them.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Rawk Hawk, of all people, emerges from the boulder pile where he was buried in Episode 1 to save Luigi and Yoshi from Bowser Jr. in Episode 2, destroying Jr's Magic Paintbrush to do so.
- Sonic saves Mario when Oni Bowser seems poised to finally kill the Mushroom Kingdom's champion.
- Toadette reveals in Episode 3 that Knuckles saved her from Metal Sonic's attack on her in the opening minutes of Episode 1.
- Bloodier and Gorier:
- Downplayed, but when Mecha Sonic kills the Koopa Troopa at the start of the series, all that's left of them after his energy blast is a visibly blood-stained skeleton that sways on its feet and then collapses, the impact popping its bloodstained skull off and sending it bouncing over to land at Mecha Sonic's feet. That's a lot more visually gruesome than anything in Super Mario Bros. Z or in Super Mario Bros. Calamity...at least, so far. And when the heroes find the scene in Episode 4, they're pretty disturbed themselves.
- A flashback from Kooper in Episode 3 shows Metal Sonic grinding a Koopa Troopa under his foot, resulting in first his spine audibly snapping, and then the unfortunate turtle exploding in a burst of blood from the pressure.
- Episode 5 continues the trend with Mecha Sonic yet again when he finishes the fight against Knuckles with Akuma's Shun Goku Satsu, and blood is visibly seen flying out for the first few hits when Mecha Sonic lays into Knuckles.
- Counterpart Combat Coordination: Episode 1 features a Mario vs. Wario and Luigi vs. Waluigi clash.
- Dark Is Evil:
- Bowser Jr. as Shadow Mario has a palate made up of different hues of dark blue, offset by glowing red eyes.
- The single Inverse Crystal-charged Oni Bowser from episode 2 has a darkly hued palate of blue and purple, offset by dark pink spikes/horns. After taking it to the next level in "Rage Form", his color darkens to black and gray, though retaining the bluish-green hair and dark pink spines.
- Doppelgänger Attack: Bowser Junior's upgraded Magic Paintbrush in episode 2 lets him create multiple "Shadow Mario" minions to fight at his side, as well as turning into Shadow Mario himself.
- Face–Heel Turn: Despite normally being a heroic (if grumpy) character, Shadow in this series is introduced stealing Chaos Emeralds from innocent bystanders and attacking Sonic for suggesting they work together. Episode 5 reveals how Sonic and others ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom in the first place which Shadow had previously (and rather understandably) blamed Sonic for and attacked him for.
- Friendly Enemy: King Bob-omb is one to Mario. When the heroes challenge the King for the Chaos Emerald he has, he decides that if they can beat him in a fight, then he'd give them the Emerald. After Mario and Sonic beat the King, he keeps his promise and gives them the Emerald.
- The Glomp: Amy, naturally, makes her debut in Episode 3 with a tackling embrace on Sonic from behind so enthusiastic that she propels him meters through the air to land face-down in the dirt.
- Golden Super Mode: Mario's "Super Star Mario" form is Cape Mario with a golden shirt and hat contrasted by glowing white cape, gloves and overalls. A pity it doesn't last long to beat Oni Bowser...
- Improbable Weapon User: Bowser Junior's preferred weapon of choice is, of course, his Magic Paintbrush.
- Metronomic Man Mashing: Bowser does this to Mario when he gets the upper hand in Episode 2, with Mario screaming in pain as he does.
- Moveset Clone: Invoked; just like in the game where it debuted, Bowser Junior's Magic Paintbrush allows him to shapeshift into a dark-colored, Obviously Evil doppelganger of Mario. In this form, he gains Mario's fighting abilities.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Yoshi Kid from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door appears briefly in the initial scenes of the Yoshi herd in Episode 1.
- The upgraded Metal Sonic seen at the start of the first episode is referred to as "Mecha Sonic", the name generally attached to the robotic Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles whose sprite he uses.
- Lady Bow the Boo from Paper Mario appears during the scene of Bowser's minions patrolling a jungle at the start of Episode 1.
- When Bowser learns that he wasn't invited to the Mushroom Kingdom martial arts tournament, he angrily complains about not being invited to Mario's little "Mario Party".
- Bowser Jr's "box of toys" is full of different powerups and items using classic Mario item sprites, including a Mecha-Koopa, a Frog Suit, item box and Movable Spring (all from Super Mario Bros. 3) and a classic Fire Flower.
- When Bowser Jr goes to the storage room to ride the Clown Car, he finds his Magic Brush, and even notes he hasn't used it since he vacationed on Isle Delfino.
- Kammy is said to have been vacationing on Gelato Beach from Super Mario Sunshine.
- Rawk Hawk from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door shows up in Episode 1 specifically looking for a rematch with Mario due to Mario's defeating of him in Glitzville.
- Wario fights with shoulder charges, referencing his primary attack method in the Wario Land games, and Fartillery, as made popular by his appearances in Super Smash Bros..
- Waluigi engages in a brief bout of Bob-omb tennis with Luigi during their duel, referencing his strong association with Mario Tennis.
- When charging up his fire breath to deliver what he believes will be Mario's death blow in episode 2, Oni Bowser uses the "vacuum breath" effect from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
- When Sonic fights Bowser for the first time, at one point a successful combo results in him striking a pose as a speech bubble with the word "Stylish!" flashes on the screen, in an homage to the Stylish Moves system from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
- Sonic's attacks include animations taken from Sonic Battle.
- The classic Sonic spring and spindash are used on occasion when Sonic jumps or builds up speed.
- When Shadow is approached by a mysterious cloaked figure at the start of Episode 3, the track "Mephiles' Whisper" from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) plays.
- In Episode 3, when we first reach Mushroom City, Goombario from Paper Mario can be briefly spotted chatting to Pennington, the incompetent Bumpty detective from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
- In Episode 3, our heroes are accompanied by a blue and yellow toad named "Bucken Berry" and "Ala-Gold", the semi-official nicknames for the playable Toad characters from New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
- In Episode 3, Luigi, Bucken Berry and Ala-Gold temporarily run off to grab a new video game: "Paper Mario All*Stars", a compilation of Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario clearly styled after Super Mario All-Stars.
- Shadow makes his official entrance in the third episode stealing a Chaos Emerald from a jewelry store in Mushroom City. Sonic lampshades that this is very similar to how they first met, back in Sonic Adventure 2.
- Kooper, the Koopa companion from Paper Mario, shows up as an Exposition Dump in the final minutes of episode 3.
- Bombette from Paper Mario makes a cameo in Episode 3, telling Bucken Berry and Ala-Gold where to find King Bob-omb's new factory, which might house a Chaos Emerald.
- Jerry from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door also shows up in a brief cameo appearance speaking to Ala-Gold and Bucken Berry during the fifth episode.
- Also in the fifth episode, Knuckles quotes his famous line from the second live-action Sonic film "Do I look like I need your power?" right before he Turns Red just like in the movie.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Episode 5 reveals that the reason Sonic, Mecha Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles are in the Mushroom World is because of the fight between Sonic and Metal Sonic back on Mobius in which Sonic carelessly kicks Metal Sonic into the container which held the Phantom Ruby in it and celebrating his victory too soon leading to Metal Sonic getting the Phantom Ruby and plugging it into himself, distorting reality around them and absorbing other robots to become Mecha Sonic.
- No-Respect Guy: Bowser Junior, in contrast to his old man, does not command the fear of the Mushroom Kingdom. A Toad sasses him to his face in Episode 2, even calling him an "oversized coconut".
- No-Sell: Oni Bowser, charged up on an Inverse Crystal, is able to shrug off everything that Fire Mario throws at him.
- Pint-Size Powerhouse:
- Mario may not be much taller than a Toad but is still strong enough to keep up with the far larger and heavier Rawk Hawk, and then the even bigger Bowser.
- Kirby is smaller than Mario but gives him a legitimate challenge in their initial duel.
- Power Trio: Both Mobius and the Mushroom Kingdom are represented by teams of three fighters; Mario, Luigi and Yoshi for the Mushroom Kingdom, and Sonic, Tails and Knuckles for Mobius.
- Punch Parry: Happens at multiple points, thanks to the Dragon Ball Z influence. The Mushroom Kingdom martial arts tournament literally opens with Mario and Kirby pulling this off.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Luigi, in Episode 2, lets out a girlish shriek (literally: it's a stock sound clip of a screaming woman) as Bowser Jr. chases after him in his drill-tank Clown Car.
- Shout-Out:
- Kammy the Magikoopa's Simlish is Gruntilda's.
- Rawk Hawk uses sound-clips of Mister Satan for his Speaking Simlish, just like in the reboot version of Super Mario Bros. Z.
- In Episode 2, at one point, Bowser Jr. shifts his Clown Car into a mode in which it develops twin drill arms and wheels before trying to run down Luigi. In this mode, it looks very similar to the Eggmobile boss from the Emerald Hill Zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
- Metal Sonic's (first) empowered/upgraded form is represented by the sprite of Mecha Sonic from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, similar to Neo Metal Sonic from the original Super Mario Bros. Z.
- In Episode 3, rather than set out to ask about the Chaos Emeralds, Luigi, Bucken Berry and Ala-Gold instead decide to goof off by playing Street Fighter II on their Nintendo Switch.
- Episode 4 introduces a pair of skeletons named Berlin and Onyx. One look at their physiques and outfits, and it's clear they're meant to be Sans and Papyrus. Their textboxes are even black with white lettering, and their names even match the font of their respective dialogue.
- Onyx thinks that 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10 km run is a perfectly reasonable training routine.
- When the heroes arrive at the entrance to King Bob-omb's new factory, Chuckya denies them entry into the factory. Their exchange is a shortened version of the dialogue between Conker the Squirrel and a stone gargoyle that wouldn't let the former cross a bridge in Conker's Bad Fur Day.
- Mecha Sonic's fight against Knuckles contains a few notable moments such as implementing Broly's infamous wall scrape used against Goku in Dragon Ball Super, and Mecha Sonic ends the fight with Akuma's infamous Shun Goku Satsu (specifically how it appeared in Street Fighter V).
- Super Mode:
- Bowser gets one in Episode 2 by powering up with an Inverse Crystal. It amplifies his abilities, especially his Super-Toughness, and lets him fire energy blasts from his hands. The text boxes refer to this as "Oni Bowser", and he later boosts himself even further into a state called "Oni Bowser: Rage Form".
- Mario gains a last-minute Golden Super Mode of his own called "Super Star Mario" to defeat Rage Form Oni Bowser. Unfortunately, it doesn't last as long as Oni Bowser.
- Knuckles unleashes his powered-up form when on the verge of defeat, taking cues from the second Sonic live-action film, coating himself in a fiery red aura and tinting his body a deeper shade of red as he takes on Mecha Sonic. While powerful enough to get in several few good hits on Mecha Sonic, it is not enough to remotely make the robot sweat and Knuckles is seemingly unable to trigger it again, leading to a sound defeat.
- Taking You with Me: After Mario and Sonic beat Bowser in Episode 2, Kammy summons a giant pink Bob-omb, forcing them to grab Peach and escape Bowser's reactor before it explodes.
- Technicolor Fire:
- Oni Bowser uses purple flames both as a Battle Aura and as his charged up Breath Weapon attack. This trait is also shared with Mecha Sonic in the form of a ghastly aura.
- Rawk Hawk's Battle Aura in Episode 2 is made of purple fire.
- Villain Respect: When Oni Bowser is poised to finish Mario off in Episode 2, he declares he will fondly remember their epic rivalry, the many battles they fought, and even the times they teamed up against a common foe.
- Villain Team-Up: Bowser hires Wario and Waluigi as mercenaries to assist him in his latest attack on the Mushroom Kingdom in the first episode.
