Shake a Fat Man

[Crazy Penguin]

I love the Koopalings, they really do have great designs.



Even without dialogue or character profiles you just know that Wendy is the spoiled daddy's girl, Iggy is the demented nerd, Morton is the bully and tough guy, Lemmy is the scatterbrained little kid, Roy is the cool guy. Larry and Ludwig are initially hard to pin down. The one constant for Larry in all of the art work and more detailed sprites is his smile, so I get the impression that he's a happy-go-lucky kind of character. I always took Ludwig as being the closest to a mini-Bowser due to his attack patterns, and he always has that look on his face like he's planning something mean.

One of the things I really liked about Super Mario World was that you didn't fight the Koopalings in the same order as SMB3. Mixing them up each game removes any sense of hierarchy and makes them all equals. I think Yoshi's Safari had them in a different order too, apparently. In Super Star Saga you just fought them in the same order as Super Mario World, which was a little bit disappointing. They were also going to be in the SMW order in Super Princess Peach, before they were scrapped from the game altogether.

^Funny thing is Alpha Dream's M&L games are dripping with quirky personality as much as IS's Paper Mario games, but when the Koopalings appeared in M&L:SS...well, they just attacked you. Not even one snippet of dialogue or anything else that indicates a personality. They were just generic bosses.

That was kind of weird. But it was also kind of weird that they just followed Cackletta's orders and didn't seem to show much concern for their father. Maybe they were under some kind of mind control?

[Rob-Bert]

Another thing they did in M&L was have some of the Koopalings be palette swaps of one another with similar attack patterns, which also sucks. If you ask me,

- I say Larry is an overconfident punk, and probably a rocker. One version of the SMW manuals specifically stated that he likes punk rock. He has the blue mohawk going on and all. It's easy to picture him fighting with a guitar or something, like that one Organization XIII member from KH. He's probably pretty agile but not physically powerful.

-Iggy looks to me like a mad scientist. Given how easily defeated he was in both SMW and SMB3, I'd say he'd rely on technology for his battles. I do remember hearing somewhere that he was the one who built the mechs that the Koopalings pilot in Yoshi's Safari, and it's also worth noting that out of all of them, he's the only one that you don't hit directly. If he doesn't have any machinery, he'd probably resort to throwing flasks of chemicals at you.

-Wendy is a spoiled brat, and would probably fight with stereotypical girly-but-dangerous weaponry. Those rings she throws at you in both SMB3 and M&L seemed pretty sufficient to me already.

-Lemmy looks mentally retarded to me, and also the puniest. If he isn't, he probably just has a lazy eye. Then again, he didn't really attack in SMB3. He just danced around on a rubber ball and threw even more rubber balls at you. That, along with his rainbow hair, makes him look like a clown. If they decided to go down the circus route with him, he could potentially be the creepiest of the Koopalings.

-Morton looks like he's always angry, and probably a big eater, as he appears to be the shortest and fattest of the bunch. I could imagine him using his fatness and rolling around like a ball, or puffing himself up like he did in those unused Super Princess Peach sprites. I also find it interesting how he's the only one with dark skin, and a head that looks like it was modeled after Paul Stanley from KISS. Maybe he could be a rocker like Larry. Another odd thing about Morton is that Bowser Jr. physically resembles him the most, and he was even colored green within SMW. Maybe he and BJ are the same person? I did read that one version of the SMW manual says he was the oldest one...

-Roy is definitely a monster. He looks to be the biggest and most muscular of the Koopalings. I can easily picture him as a mindless beast that can even speak properly but is pretty good for smashing stuff. I'd wager the sunglasses are there because his eyes are sensitive to light or something.

-Ludwig looks flat out insane. The mad hair and roving eyes do it. He probably likes to hand out in the scariest parts of the castles and is probably the most destruction-obsessed. If anything, he might even want to eliminate all his siblings and his father just so he can take the throne. Yeah, I picture him as being that power-mad. Given his German name, it's not hard to picture him speaking with an accent, which only adds to the persona I already talked about...

[Crazy Penguin]

It took me years to realise that the mark on Morton's face is a star.

[Ngangbius]

Larry and Ludwig are initially hard to pin down. The one constant for Larry in all of the art work and more detailed sprites is his smile, so I get the impression that he's a happy-go-lucky kind of character. I always took Ludwig as being the closest to a mini-Bowser due to his attack patterns, and he always has that look on his face like he's planning something mean.

I do remember reading somewhere in wikipedia and some other GHZ-equivalent Mario site is that Larry is the youngest koopa kid, and Ludwig is the oldest with his hobby is music. I guess Ludwig being the oldest makes since considering he's the last koopaling you'll face in SMB3 and his fight in SMW is specifically unique from his siblings. Larry does look like a happy guy without being demented-looking like Lemmy.

[G.Silver]

I believe the order you fight them in Mario 3 is youngest to oldest. In the Nintendo Power bios Lemmy was listed as being the one who wants to run away and join the circus.

[Rob-Bert]

I have never seen it written anywhere that their order in SMB3 was according to their age. The fact that they're in a different order in their next two appearances kinda throws that off.

[Crazy Penguin]

Within the context of Super Mario Bros 3 itself I guess it kind of makes sense, but the following games undermine that premise. I think it was Nintendo Power or some other American source that said you fought them from youngest to oldest, but since it was an American source that named them in the first place it's not something that can be easily disregarded! Personally I still think of Lemmy as the youngest, but Ludwig as the oldest seems about right.

[Rob-Bert]

Lemmy could theoretically just be born with a deformity (as if the lazy eye and mentally retarded appearance weren't enough), but I'd say the three oldest ones were Roy, Morton or Ludwig. If left to my devices, Morton would be the oldest and heir to the throne, but Ludwig would be the second oldest and would want to overthrow him, like Starscream to Megatron or something.

[G.Silver]

I think Ludwig has to be the oldest because he has gray hair in Mario World.

[Rob-Bert]

So do Larry, Lemmy and Iggy. None of their in-game colors are the same as they are outside of the game.

[G.Silver]

Ok then, he's also the biggest.

[Rob-Bert]

No, Roy is. His trademark is quaking the ground, and his sprite is clearly bigger than Ludwig's in SMB3.

[Ngangbius]

But Morton also uses ground quakes in SMW.

I still say Ludwig is the oldest because his fight is unique in SMW, and he's the only one of the kids who can actually breath fire. The last three koopa kid battles in that game were just variations of the first three.

[G.Silver]

What about in Mario World? He's also the only one who isn't a repeat, suggesting he's got something to stand out about him (such as being the oldest!)

I'm pretty sure he was biggest there.

[Rob-Bert]

Yeah, but that's only because Roy was a palette swap of Morton, unlike in SMB3 where each Koopaling had their own unique look and fighting style for the most part.

[Shadow Hog]

Am I the only one who never gave a DAMN about the Koopalings? Sure, it's a little disappointing that Bowser Jr. gets the highlight but they don't, but at the end of the day, I really couldn't care less.

[FlashTHD]

Am I the only one who never gave a DAMN about the Koopalings? Sure, it's a little disappointing that Bowser Jr. gets the highlight but they don't, but at the end of the day, I really couldn't care less.

Nerd betrayer!

*runs*

[DackAttac]

This has gone so in-depth I'm not sure if it's tongue in cheek or not anymore.

[Crazy Penguin]

What was the deal with the Koopalings not getting mixed up colours in Super Mario World anyway? Every other character and item sprite in the game had colours that matched their drawn artwork. It's not like the Koopalings were even new characters.

[P.P.A.]

I was about to say palette limitations, but then the SNES isn't a Mega Drive and has plenty of colours. Not to mention all the boss fights are in front of an entirely black background anyway, so that definitely can't be the reason.

[Ngangbius]

Wild theory, but maybe they were a last minute idea to use as end level bosses instead of something more original? Maybe they were intended to only be used in Super Mario Brothers 3, and SMW would use a whole new cast of bosses sans Bowser. But the koopalings proved to be popular with the audience so Nintendo rushed to use them which is why a few look like palette swaps with their in-game colors being inconsistent with the official art.*shrugs*

...Or it could be Nintendo just going plain random with the colors because the can. I mean Link's sprite in Legend of Zelda:A Link to the Past has pink hair. Pink hair?

[Esrever]

Well, I mean, come on... Luigi doesn't match his artwork either, since he's just a Mario palate swap in-game. I don't think consistency was a super high priority!

[Crazy Penguin]

Interestingly Luigi got his own sprite in Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World. I'm surprised they even bothered.

http://themushroomkingdom.net/games/smassmw

[Dasher]

I have that game! its a must for Mario fans, I loved the new Luigi Animations, and I'm glad they bothered.

[Ngangbius]

Bigger screens of Wario Shake-man from neoGAF:





Looks anime-ish. Need to see it in action. :)

Nintendo of America PR:

Wario Land™: Shake It!, a classic side-scroller for the Wii console launching Sept. 29, stars Wario, the smelly, bad-mannered alter ego of Mario™. With the Wii Remote™ controller turned sideways like an old-school controller, veterans and newcomers alike can run, jump and smash their way through hectic side-scrolling stages. Players shake the Wii Remote to help Wario take down his enemies, empty bags of treasure or cause earthquakes. Best of all, there are numerous stages each offering multiple missions to keep players coming back again and again to unlock everything, collect more coins or just improve their best times.