Comments on: The Anatomy of Super Mario: XXIII. Double blind

By: MetManMas

MetManMas — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 21:51:45 +0000

@MightyJAK: But it is a signature move of Wario’s. He has it in some form in almost every playable appearance he’s had in a platformer starting with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3’s Bull Hat, and he had it before that as an attack during Super Mario Land 2’s final battle. The game designers (presumably) just liked the move enough that they made it standard for Yoshi, Mario, and others in later games.

Though if you want to get technical, Bowser was the first to butt stomp (in a Mario game), during his Super Mario Bros. 3 boss fight where you had to make his fat ass bust through the floor if you didn’t (or couldn’t) bring fire or hammers to the fight.

By: MightyJAK

MightyJAK — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:26:35 +0000

@MetManMas
So in Japan, Buzzy Beetle’s name is short for “helmet”.. I’m guessing this is the same for the Mets of Mega Man, huh? I’m used to seeing abbreviations and nicknames made by cutting off the end of a word or name rather than the front, so for the longest time I thought MM’s Met was short for “Metropolitan”, being they were likely construction crew for big-city skyscrapers and such.

Mario’s butt-stomp… I can’t bring myself to play any of the games where he uses that move. It just seems like it should be a signature move of Wario instead.

By: MetManMas

MetManMas — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:06:59 +0000

@Rey: Actually, there’s four hidden blocks altogether. Three are set up like stairs (with the topmost one screwing you over if you’re anything but Small Mario), but there’s also a fourth one right to the southwest of the topmost hidden block that makes it a little easier for a little Mario to get up on the platform with the vine.

Now Buzzy Beetle, an interesting thing about that enemy that while its shell is reminiscent of a beetle’s (black and round), you’ll notice in official art and renders is that it’s not really a beetle, but another offshoot of the Koopa family. Its Japanese name is Metto/Met, basically meaning “helmet”.

Buzzy’s also another member of the 2D Super Mario Bros. family that’s gone neglected in 3D. Much like Lakitu is harder to make a threat when you can just run around the Spinies he rains down, that third dimension makes it harder for Buzzy to be taken seriously when its main characteristic is being a fireproof Koopa Troopa.

I could see Lakitu working in 3D under the right conditions – heck, Spinies and Hammer Bros. came back in the most recent 3D games – but Buzzy will probably be stuck doing 2D games and RPGs since its main threatening trait is such a non-issue now. Mario can just crush it with a butt stomp these days, anyway.