There Will Be Brawl: In-Jokes, Analysis, and Serious Geeking Out

By now, most web-savvy gamers (is there any other kind?) are well-acquainted with the newly minted classic, There Will Be Brawl. If you haven't seen it already, check it out above (mildly NSFW). It's a grim, Noir-ish look into the Mushroom Kingdom, and features awesome production values and appearances by the biggest names in Smash Brothers history (and those who aren't in Episode 1 are on their way...we hear the Pokemon Trainer is next up for the spotlight! Can Pikachu be far behind?).

I recently wrote a detailed review of the show, which you can read at Tilzy.TV. But more importantly, our resident Nintendo specialist Degan was good enough to take meticulous notes on the series, including annotations for the show's many in-jokes and references. You can play the video and read along, or just skim through to see all the nerdy references you may have missed the first time.

• Abductions and mutilations? I'm not sure if this is a yet-to-be-revealed plot point or a reference to some character i'm not thinking of... are the abductions referencing the weird trophy-fying gun that Bowser uses on the characters in the brawl story mode?
• Toad people! Its not the mushroom kingdom without Toads!
• I believe the first Noir music cue is a tune from Mario 2.
• Wii fit ad a nice touch ("unseen arbiter").
• Creepy mask guy in the hallway is from Mario 2.
• "Pileup on Moonview Highway to Moo Moo meadows" is from Mario Kart.

More after the jump? You better believe it.

• Lakitu newscaster is from a bunch of games, but the fact that he's a newscaster is a reference to Mario Kart, where he's the cameraman for the instant replays, and fishes you out after you throw yourself off a cliff. Here, he's complete with fishing pole, and if you look closely you'll see his desk is cloud with eyes.
  
• Luigi's drinking the classic red health potion (I believe first seen in Zelda-but its such a video game convention that I'm not even sure anymore). [edit: there's some debate on the TWBB forums about this potion... many there seem to think its the warp potion from Mario 2... I still maintain that it's regular old health potion. For one, they never drank the warp potions... they threw them on the ground to create doors! So in the context of the scene, it doesn't make much sense for Luigi to be drinking a warp potion... unless he's trying to commit suicide by "internal door".]
  
• Police chief Link and his "Hylean" brand justice-reference to Lake Hylia in Hyrule... apparently an authoritarian police state... never knew. [edit: apparently the "Hylians" are the people of Hyrule... not just lake Hylia]
  
• Awesome violin Mario music that starts as the Mario Death tune and leads into the classic Mario Theme!
• Power up boxes! sweet! And power up mushrooms complete with Mario World sound effects!
• Wario's awesome! And those ice climbers are super creepy... why does Nana need a monobrow?!?
• Roy and Pichu are two characters who didn't make into the line-up for Smash Brothers Brawl...now we know why.
  
• More reference to the mutilations and "tiny guts"? Is that just cause Pichu is tiny... or is there some shrinking thing I'm not picking up?
• Blinking Wario growth a nice touch too
• "Tunic-wearing fairy"- nasty way to refer to Link... "his pigs"? Either just your typical slur for police or possibly a reference to the pigs of Ness' New Pork City? Are there even pigs there though? I don't know...
• Mario Dungeon Theme when Mario confronts Wario and Luigi (actually its the Haunted House theme from Mario World)
• I love the princess' undercover-celebrity-glasses and hoodie! At first I thought the princess was terribly acted... then i realized she's trying to do that obnoxious high-pitched monosyllabic speaking style she always has in the games... pretty clever.
• Mario's medical practice! Dr. Mario reference, natch. [edit: it only just occurred to us the reason for Mario's "failed medical practice"... Dr. Mario isn't featured in Brawl-it's how they killed him off (like they did Pichu, Roy, and MewTwo)]
  
• Shrinking noise from Super Mario World when Mario attacks Wario.
• Ha, "Been a referee (Punchout), been a doctor (obviously Dr. Mario)". Man, Mario's been around.
• Is there tension between Waluigi and Wario? He seems pretty touchy about the issue.
• Awesome awesome ringtone! Sonic Boom! The theme song from the barely played Sonic CD for the even more barely owned SegaCD (I think I owned the only one) I guess that means she's in contact with Sonic... Also surprising they used this since I was one of 7 people who owned SegaCD.
• Ha, "dance around in your skin!" Cause that's kinda what Kirby does!
• "Her own court anymore?" And since when have the Mario Bros not been useful? Not sure if these are game references or again, yet-to-be-revealed plot points...
• Megavitamins.... that's what Dr. Mario used!
• Kirby's a scary freak!

That he is, Degan, that he is. No, seriously. When I had to check the credits for my review, I put my hand over the screen in case I went too far back and ended up on a still of him. Not joking, people.

Weekanerd NYC: Secret Missions, Brawlin', and Wild Stallions

Friday, March 7

• Causing Scenes: Improv Everywhere Discussion and Presentation
• 7:30 @ The New Museum Theater, 235 Bowery, Manhattan

Improv Everywhere is gently subversive organization responsible for the No Pants Subway Ride and recent internet video sensation, Frozen Grand Central Station. In their seven year history, the group has executed over seventy missions full of frivolity and good natured mischief. They're like the bizzaro version of Anonymous. This event is $8, and will include screenings of some of their past missions and a talk with founder Charlie Todd (ATTEND THE TALE). You should show up with no pants on, I bet they'd think that was hilarious.


Serious brawls and bogus journeys after the jump...

Saturday, March 8

• Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament
• 5pm @ Best Buy, 622 Broadway, Manhattan

This is actually the grande finale of a four-state tour, and the winner of NYC's qualifying round will go directly into the finals, battling it out with winners from across the nation. Full rules are on the official page, but basically 256 people can sign up, and registration starts at 3pm....so if you want to play you better plan on making a day out of it. Brawls are one-on-one, which is total bullshit, but whatever. The grand prize is a crystal-coated Wii (oh America/Japan and your embarrassing decadence), a home theater system, and of course the game. There are three other prize packs, again, check the link.

Sunday, March 9

• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey
  
• 7pm@ Hugs Drive-In Theater, 108 North 6th Street, Brooklyn

The myspace page is cryptic, but apparently this is free and you get free popcorn too. Presumably you don't need a car, but what do I know. I'll tell you what I do know...

...I used to watch this.

Nintendo News Blowout:Sonic Fights, Mario Bikes, You Download

Nintendo held its Fall Conference in Japan while I was sleeping, and they let out a lot of good news. The first, if you couldn't gather from the video above, is that Sonic is Joining Super Smash Bros Brawl! Seeing him beat up on all the Nintendo guys actually started making me a little angry. I decree that anyone who plays as Sonic and wins in my presence will get a punch in the gut from me. And the good news also comes with the bad news that the game is delayed into 2008.

More breaking Ninty news after the jump...

Nintendo Takes Wii Ware Seriously
Not content to have their Wii Ware downloadable game service wallow in crappy no-name properties, Nintendo has announced both a Final Fantasy game and a Pokémon game app will soon be a few clicks away from your Wii menu. The FF game is titled Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Young King and the Promised Country (breeaaath! I'm sure they'll come up with something shorter in the US) and it apparently sounds like it'll be a strategy game or something, with the player building and governing their own land. Please tell me it's just Settlers of Catan: Final Fantasy Edition. With online multiplayer. ::geeeks!:: Pokémon Farm sounds basically like Mii Plaza for your pocket monsters. You import the little bastards from your DS and get to walk among them... And raise them. Anyway, nice to see that Nintendo really wants to enter the downloadable games space by offering up two hot franchises to start things off with.

Mario Kart Wii Delayed, Pops Onto Two Wheels
First off, MK has been delayed, but just a bit, to Spring 2008. I didn't even know when it was slated to come out, so that's no worry. BUT! They've also announced that there will be motorcycles (or bicycles, depending on whose translation you trust) in the game. Motorcycles could be OK if they handle the same as the karts, but... I just remember Diddy Kong Racing had all those different vehicles and it was actually a real turn-off for me. After enjoying the back-to-basics-with-some-twists Mario Kart DS so much (and hating Double Dash) I really don't want them to F this one up.

Wii Acts as DS Download Station
You know how you can download demos of DS games at in-store kiosks? No? Well get with it, man! Well anyway, soon you will be able to download demos of new and unreleased games via your Wii's wi-fi connection. This is great news, I never liked having to walk into a store to get the demos. I was always on the way somewhere else, so I always had to rush my little gaming session. I'm going to enjoy this much more from the comfort of my couch. Fo sho.

Super Mario Stadium Baseball Announced
Who knows why it's taken them this long to expand one of the thrilling Wii Sports sports into a full game, but finally it's here in the form of Super Mario Stadium Baseball. It's a shame that 1) The title is so clunky, and 2) Wii Baseball sucked (Mario Tennis, please!), but it's good to know their hearts are in the right place.

News based on translations of conference from Kotaku and IGN.