Mario's Circus Fun
Okay, I started reviewing Captain N and the New Super Mario World over two years ago, and I'm ready to get back to the series now. So here's the third show summed up for your pleasure.
Send in the Clown - King Koopa has a circus at his Neon Castle, and invites all the cave people to attend. When Mario and company find out about it, they take the Star Road there, and attend the show. Despite his connection to circuses, Lemmy Koopa doesn't show up in this episode. Instead, the ringmaster is Big Mouth, the cartoon's version of Morton Koopa Jr., whose main character trait is that he never shuts up. While in the ringmaster role, he wears some kind of red pimp outfit.
After the show, the Rexes take off their clown costumes, and Mario shouts out, "Dinosaurs!" So he couldn't tell what they were before? Those red noses must have been really realistic.
The whole thing turns out to be a scheme to feed the cave people to the dinosaurs. Not one of Koopa's most elaborate schemes, but whatever. He traps Mario in a cage with some Dino-Rhinos, but the Princess throws him a Fire Flower that she just happens to have on hand. In fairness, she DID show this flower in the opening scene, so it fits the old rule about the gun being on the table in the first act. Mario burns up the rhinos, makes his escape, and runs through the castle to a song about the circus with only one verse that's repeated over and over again. How lazy can this show get? Well, Mario also isn't in his Fire Flower colors anymore, despite not having been hit by anything. Come on, I know it's cheap animation, but can't they even keep the COLORS consistent? Anyway, Mario gets a Cape Feather, and then fights Bowser in a shorter version of the final battle from the game. I guess it makes sense for the Clown Car to appear in a circus-themed episode. Mario wins, everyone returns to the Dome City, and Mario's team puts on a circus themselves. Not a whole lot to this one, really.
Return to Castlevania - This one is based on Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, which is actually a prequel to the first two games. So how does Captain N handle this? Well, it starts with Simon Belmont being honored for the deeds of his great-grandfather Trevor, who defeated the Count (for some reason, the show never calls him "Dracula," despite that obviously being who he's supposed to be) one hundred years previously. Apparently it was later decided that Castlevania III took place about 200 years prior to the first game (Trevor defeated Dracula in 1476, and Simon in 1691), but we can't fault the show's writers for not being aware of future changes to the story. The Poltergeist King, who plays a major role in the episode, is mentioned only in the English manual for the game. The King accuses Trevor of having stolen the glory from him, but it turns out Dracula has kidnapped the Poltergeist King, stolen his magic staff, and impersonated him in order to shame Simon. The Count appeared several times in the first season, but not at all in the second, and his clothing is less ridiculous this time around.
On the other hand, the show's portrayal of Alucard as a skateboarding slacker teen is pretty ridiculous.
Anyway, Kevin and Simon visit the graveyard where Trevor is buried, and an old wizard who was friends with the old Belmont somehow comes back to life. So who is this wizard supposed to be? Well, he'd pretty much have to be Sypha Belnades, the magician character in Castlevania III, except that this character is actually female. Once again, I think we have the English instruction book to blame, as it referred to Sypha as male.
Kevin, Simon, and pseudo-Sypha visit the Poltergeist King's domain in order to find out the truth, and it turns out the Count's transformation isn't water-soluble, leading the good guys to find out what's really going on. Alucard leads the heroes to his father's castle, but then switches sides again. The heroes beat the two vampires, which basically just means knocking them back into their coffins. While this episode doesn't fit with later Castlevania continuity, it was pretty good for its time, and one of the better ones of this season. The plot works, it manages to involve a prequel without having to resort to time travel or anything, and Simon is pretty funny.
Send in the Clown - King Koopa has a circus at his Neon Castle, and invites all the cave people to attend. When Mario and company find out about it, they take the Star Road there, and attend the show. Despite his connection to circuses, Lemmy Koopa doesn't show up in this episode. Instead, the ringmaster is Big Mouth, the cartoon's version of Morton Koopa Jr., whose main character trait is that he never shuts up. While in the ringmaster role, he wears some kind of red pimp outfit.
After the show, the Rexes take off their clown costumes, and Mario shouts out, "Dinosaurs!" So he couldn't tell what they were before? Those red noses must have been really realistic.
The whole thing turns out to be a scheme to feed the cave people to the dinosaurs. Not one of Koopa's most elaborate schemes, but whatever. He traps Mario in a cage with some Dino-Rhinos, but the Princess throws him a Fire Flower that she just happens to have on hand. In fairness, she DID show this flower in the opening scene, so it fits the old rule about the gun being on the table in the first act. Mario burns up the rhinos, makes his escape, and runs through the castle to a song about the circus with only one verse that's repeated over and over again. How lazy can this show get? Well, Mario also isn't in his Fire Flower colors anymore, despite not having been hit by anything. Come on, I know it's cheap animation, but can't they even keep the COLORS consistent? Anyway, Mario gets a Cape Feather, and then fights Bowser in a shorter version of the final battle from the game. I guess it makes sense for the Clown Car to appear in a circus-themed episode. Mario wins, everyone returns to the Dome City, and Mario's team puts on a circus themselves. Not a whole lot to this one, really.
Return to Castlevania - This one is based on Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, which is actually a prequel to the first two games. So how does Captain N handle this? Well, it starts with Simon Belmont being honored for the deeds of his great-grandfather Trevor, who defeated the Count (for some reason, the show never calls him "Dracula," despite that obviously being who he's supposed to be) one hundred years previously. Apparently it was later decided that Castlevania III took place about 200 years prior to the first game (Trevor defeated Dracula in 1476, and Simon in 1691), but we can't fault the show's writers for not being aware of future changes to the story. The Poltergeist King, who plays a major role in the episode, is mentioned only in the English manual for the game. The King accuses Trevor of having stolen the glory from him, but it turns out Dracula has kidnapped the Poltergeist King, stolen his magic staff, and impersonated him in order to shame Simon. The Count appeared several times in the first season, but not at all in the second, and his clothing is less ridiculous this time around.
On the other hand, the show's portrayal of Alucard as a skateboarding slacker teen is pretty ridiculous.
Anyway, Kevin and Simon visit the graveyard where Trevor is buried, and an old wizard who was friends with the old Belmont somehow comes back to life. So who is this wizard supposed to be? Well, he'd pretty much have to be Sypha Belnades, the magician character in Castlevania III, except that this character is actually female. Once again, I think we have the English instruction book to blame, as it referred to Sypha as male.
Kevin, Simon, and pseudo-Sypha visit the Poltergeist King's domain in order to find out the truth, and it turns out the Count's transformation isn't water-soluble, leading the good guys to find out what's really going on. Alucard leads the heroes to his father's castle, but then switches sides again. The heroes beat the two vampires, which basically just means knocking them back into their coffins. While this episode doesn't fit with later Castlevania continuity, it was pretty good for its time, and one of the better ones of this season. The plot works, it manages to involve a prequel without having to resort to time travel or anything, and Simon is pretty funny.