Super Koopa (episode)
Super Koopa is the twenty-sixth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and its series finale; it aired alongside another episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 entitled "The Venice Menace".
Plot Synopsis
In his laboratory in Koopa Castle, Kooky Von Koopa, with assistance from Hip and Hop Koopa is in the midst of creating another invention. Telling Hip and Hop to pull a switch, Kooky watches as energy pulses into a nearby pendant. After the pendant is done absorbing energy, Kooky grabs it and proclaims that with it, Bowser will gain the same powers Mario and Luigi and begins to gloat over his genius. As Kooky continues his self-praise, Bowser appears and, after congratulating Kooky, Hip and Hop, takes the pendant; only to be informed by Hip and Hop that the pendant will only function in the real world. Bowser doesn't seem to be concerned with this though, as he will still have the advantage, as Mario and Luigi are unable to use their own powers on Earth.
While traveling, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool are suddenly confronted by Bowser and his Doomship; Bowser proceeds to, with a lasso, grab Luigi and, after traveling a few feet, dumps him and himself into the Warp Zone, with Mario and Princess Toadstool following closely behind; with the complaining Toad told to stay behind in the Mushroom Kingdom by Princess Toadstool.
Emerging from the Warp Zone, Mario and Princess Toadstool find themselves in a manhole in Paris, France. Seeing Luigi being held by Bowser, Mario and Princess Toadstool begin to give chase to him. Bowser, believing now to be a good time to use his power, releases Luigi and, after zapping a fire hydrant with his pendant, kicks it over, revealing a Super Leaf. Grabbing the Super Leaf, Bowser instantly grows a tail and raccoon ears and, calling himself "Raccoon Koopa", takes flight.
Watching in disbelief as Bowser dives towards them, Mario and Luigi are unable to do anything as Bowser grabs Princess Toadstool and flies-off towards the Eiffel Tower. Landing on the Eiffel Tower, Bowser proceeds to tie-up Princess Toadstool and suspend her from the tower. As Bowser finishes tieing-up Princess Toadstool, he is approached by Mario and Luigi in a helicopter. Unfazed by Mario and Luigi's sudden appearance, Bowser proceeds to simply knock Mario and Luigi's helicopter out of the sky with one punch.
Spinning out of control, Mario and Luigi are fortunate enough to land on a submarine that had raised from the ocean. The captain of the submarine, after exiting the vessel, proceeds to ask if Mario and Luigi are alright. Mario and Luigi suddenly point-out Bowser, who is about to dive-bomb them. Retreating into the captain's submarine, Mario, Luigi and the captain fail to notice Bowser zap a nearby crate with his pendant.
Diving into the crate he zapped, Bowser suddenly transforms into "Frog Koopa". Diving underwater, Bowser proceeds to kick the submarine with enough force to beach it on shore, hurting his foot in the process. Climbing on shore, Bowser manages to capture Mario, Luigi and the submarine captain and dumps them in the Bastille.
Returning to the Eiffel Tower, Bowser begins to tell Kooky, Hip, Hop and Kootie Pie Koopa through his wand that Paris and all of Europe is now defenseless. In the Bastille, Mario and Luigi begin to bemoan their fate, realizing their no match for the super-powered King Bowser Koopa. As Bowser begins to travel through Paris, becoming annoyed by with all the looks he's getting, Mario and Luigi begin trying to dig their way out of the Bastille with a spoon, which Luigi accidentally bends.
In a one of Paris' shopping malls, Kootie Pie begins trying on outfits, causing all nearby bystanders to faint at her appearance. Inside the Louvre, Hip, Hop and their Paragoomba minions begin to vandalize all nearby paintings, as well as putting up their own, crudely drawn crayon drawings.
At the Eiffel Tower, Princess Toadstool, managing to get one of her arms loose, manages to toss a scroll asking for help down below. The scroll, after bouncing a few feet, lands in a manhole and, after traveling through the Warp Zone, lands near an angry Toad. Grabbing the scroll, Toad, after reading it, rushes to Princess Toadstool's aid, after collecting dozens of Power-Upss and stuffing them in a chest.
In the Bastille, Mario, Luigi and the submarine captain are surprised when their Sledge Bro. guards says they have a visitor, who is delivering a birthday cake. The visitor turns out to be a disguised Toad who, after delivering his birthday cake, leaves. Tearing apart the birthday cake, Mario discovers a Super Block in it. Hitting this Super Block, Mario gains a Super Leaf and becomes Raccoon Mario. Using his new powers, Raccoon Mario busts down the wall of his cell, releasing himself, Luigi and the submarine captain.
As Mario, Luigi and the submarine captain escape, the Sledge Bro. guard manages to call Bowser, who, after hearing this news, stops his drive around Paris and flies-off as Raccoon Koopa. Seeing Bowser in the sky, Toad tosses a Super Leaf to Luigi, transforming him into Raccoon Luigi. Lifting off into the air, Mario and Luigi give chase to Bowser, who manages to smack Mario with his raccoon tail, regressing him back to normal; luckily, Luigi manages to grab Mario before he falls to the ground.
At the Eiffel Tower, Toad manages to untie Princess Toadstool and the two toss a Fire Flower to Mario, transforming him into Fire Mario. Using one of his fireballs, Mario hits Bowser, turning him back to normal and causing him to fall into a nearby lake. Dragging himself from the lake, Bowser notices a nearby boot, which he manages, with help from his pendant, transform into a Karoobi's Shoe, which he proceeds to hop into.
Chasing Mario and Luigi, Bowser uses his pendant to transform himself into a near unstoppable form, combining the powers of a Fire Flower, Raccoon Suit and Karoobi's Shoe together. Blasting Mario and Luigi with a fireball, Bowser transforms them back to normal, only for them to power-up once again with a Fire Flower. Zapping Bowser with fireballs, Mario and Luigi see their attack is ineffective, Bowser can simply power himself up again after being damaged.
Hitting Mario and Luigi with fireballs, Bowser has his attack reflected back at him when Mario and Luigi become invincible through the use of a Starman. Unfortunately, Bowser simply power himself-up again using his pendant and begins trying to crush Mario and Luigi with a Karoobi's Shoe. Chasing Mario and Luigi, who have Frog Suits on, Bowser, seeing that Princess Toadstool and Toad have been supplying Mario and Luigi their powers, grabs them and tries to fly-away with them as Raccoon Koopa.
Luckily, Mario and Luigi manage to beat Bowser and rescue Toad and Princess Toadstool. Bowser, desperate, tries to crush Frog Luigi with his Karoobi Shoe, only to be stopped by Mario, who has his own Karoobi's Shoe, given to him by Princess Toadstool.
Losing his Karoobi's Shoe, Bowser tries to power-up again, only to see his pendant has overloaded. Eventually, the pendant explodes violently, hurtling Bowser back to the Mushroom Kindom through a manhole, with Kooky, Hip, Hop and Kootie Pie following him.
With Bowser and the Koopalings vanquished, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool celebrate, with Toad getting lots of praise for bringing the Power-Ups to Mario and Luigi.
Trivia
- The Kuribo's Shoe is never actually referred to as such in this episode, instead it is called the "Karoobi's Shoe". Also, this is the only episode (sans the opening sequence) in which it appears.
- Coincidentally, this episode shares it's name with an enemy from the game Super Mario World.
- In one scene of the episode, Bowser's Karoobi's Shoe is depicted as blue. Additionally, Mario briefly turns green despite being Fire Mario.
- Though the havoc that Hip, Hop and Kootie Pie caused in Paris is shown, what Kooky did there, if anything, is not.
- Toad complains about always having to stay behind, despite having really never stayed behind much in the past.
- When Bowser informs the Koopalings they can go to Paris, the only thing Kooky seems to be interested in is the French fries and the writers bible states he only eats candy and fried foods. This is the only episode that hints it is true
- Due to a problem with the master tape, the Shout! Factory DVD release of this episode contains many glitches, such as the audio disappearing and the screen turning grey at certain moments.
- It is not possible in the normal game to combine a Super Leaf and a Fire Flower, as Bowser does when he's in the Karoobi shoe.
- The fact of Toad bringing the treasure box filled with power-ups to Mario, is a reference in the real game, Toad has three treasure box in the Mushroom shops to give to Mario or Luigi.
- This episode is the final appearance of Toad, The real world, and the mushroom kingdom.
- This is the only episode where King Koopa is seen using fire to fight, even though it is from a Fire Flower and not his own fire. In fact, it is unknown why he needed a Fire Flower in the first place, when he can breathe fire without any item.
