Brandon Inada's Blog

Check out this cool piece of retro-inspired artwork by artist Vladimir Gerasimov (“FullPlateMail” on deviantART) called, simply, “A Tragedy,” depicting the unfortunate consequences of an encounter between Super Mario and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

(A Terrible Mishap In Manhattan With Super Mario And The Ninja Turtles)

Fun stuff.

I love the expressions on their faces, especially Splinter, and the fact that Mario’s drawn with a bald spot up top the way he used to look back in his pre-Koopa stomping, Donkey Kong days.

And here’s another piece in a similar vein, although I can’t seem to recall who to credit for the piece.

Can anybody help me identify the artist?

(Mario's About To Get Stomped On)

Looks like Mario’s back to his villainous ways, a la Donkey Kong Jr.

It’s payback time for the Turtles apparently.

Love the nerdy Koopa with the spectacles!

You know, I really like this one.  (I don’t know the creator’s name.  If anyone knows, let me know so I can give proper credit.)

Unlike some of the other 3D, NES-inspired artwork I’ve posted in the past, the image above goes a step further and does a decent job of conveying a mood.

You really get a feel for the immensity of the task set before Mario (and his brother).   There’s an army of unfriendly Goombas, Troopas, and pesky Hammer Bros. lying in wait for our plucky, princess-rescuing plumbers.  World 1-1 stretches out as far as the eye can see.  There are enemies, and there are obstacles, and really, not much else.  The lengthening shadows and the hazy sun setting on the horizon only adds to the sense of dread.

“It’s been a long, hot day, and there are still 31 more levels to go.”

The original 8 Worlds of Super Mario Bros. are challenging as all get out to complete.  The quest is a lengthy one if the player chooses not to take advantage of the Warp Zones.  And to top it all off, even after successfully beating Bowser in World 8 and saving the Princess, the game simply plops you right back at the beginning of a new quest with even tougher enemies and smaller platforms!

It’s all a bit demoralizing, really.

Agree?  Disagree?

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One a related side-note, Goombas used to look pretty menacing back when they first made their appearance (even if they weren’t exactly the toughest voes to vanquish).

Nowadays, Goombas look like this:

A little cuter, albeit with the same angry eyebrows…

Stumbled across these fun Super Mario Bros. related images online and decided to share them with you:

(Click on the pics to see them full-sized.)

Very cool. 

I love the Ninji, Mario, Princess, the Goomba, Wart, and the little black and orange bird thing from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.  The way Toad’s depicted kind of reminds me of the old Super Mario Bros. Super Show cartoon…

It’s titled “Pipe Dreams” by Dan Schoening. 

Next up, an uncredited Super Mario Bros. 2 themed pic that I find utterly hilarious…

And finally, Keith Webb’s promotional art for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console:

There’s tons of cool stuff here.  I love the lil’ dudes from PuyoPuyo, the ultra-cute Metroids (!), the Goomba floating around in one of the Bubble Bobble bubbles, King Hippo, Raccoon Pac-Man, Birdo and his/her giant egg, the Moogle, Dr. Wily, and the uber-cute kiwi bird from that one old school NES game… you know, the one with the kiwi birds…