The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

  

In the world of video games, everything old seems to be new again. With the pouplarity of online download services like Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo's Virtual Console, gamers seem eager to queue up a few bucks to relive some of the memories from their youth. So it's probably no coincidence that Shout! Factory has been releasing box sets of TV adaptations of games that were popular back in the day. Their latest offering is "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3", an entry from the long-forgotten "old days" of 1990.

The plot is familiar to millions of gamers out there. Mario and his brother Luigi have to try and stop the evil King Bowser from taking over the world. What makes SMB3 a bit different is that it takes the duo out from the game world of the Mushroom Kingdom and places them in real-life situations. This results in some very odd "guest stars", including George Bush Sr. (it's not really him, of course) and, for some unfathomable reason, Milli Vanilli (more on that one later).

This could make for some fun times, but unfortunately, the execution isn't all that hot. US TV cartoons varied wildly in animation quality at this time, ranging from wonderful stuff like "Animaniacs" to quick and cheap entries like this. The show premiered shortly after the game came out, and (like many of the cartoons of this time) at many times comes off as little more than a commercial for the product it is based on. The writing and voice acting don't help matters any. Compared to Mario's portrayal here, Captain Lou Albano's work on "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show" comes off like a promo for the Italian-American Defense League.

The cartoons themselves are presented competently enough in this box set. The episodes (all twenty-six of them) span two discs, with a third disc containing the extras. Visually and aurally, this is definitely not the DVD you're going to be putting in to show off your system -- but in Shout! Factory's defense, the source materials probably weren't in the best shape to begin with. As for the extras, which mostly consist of static screens giving you "valuable" information like plot run-downs, I could have lived without them, especially since it would have made the package a good deal cheaper.

Now, as for the aforementioned Milli Vanilli appearance, there has been some talk amongst animation geeks on the net about how the episode featuring them ("Kootie Pie Rocks") has been altered. Of course, after the original run of the show, the group was proved to be nothing more than lip-synchers, and so "their" songs were removed from the syndicated version and replaced with fairly generic music. Okay, so it screws up a few of the jokes in this episode. But, come on, it's Milli Vanilli.

At any rate, despite the flaws with the box set and with the show itself, I still feel it's worth a look for all you Gen-X and Gen-Yers out there. There's kind of a goofy charm to this show which lets you forgive some of its' shortcomings. But just keep in mind that trips down memory lane can sometimes be rocky affairs.

RATING: 5

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