Super Mario RPG: The WA Gang Invasion (1999)
Platform: Nintendo/Phillips UltraPlay
"Hey, Mario. The boss called while you were out. He says he wants us to see Peach."
"Who's the boss? That's King Toadstool, remember?"
- Luigi (Charles Martinet) in one of the few fully-voice acted lines for the character prior to Charlie Day's iteration for the Nickelodeon Super Mario Universe.
Released as one of Nintendo's big titles for the Holiday 1999 cycle, this game is the direct sequel to the 1995 SNES title Super Mario RPG: Legend of The Seven Stars. Although this game was developed by the same Nintendo and Square coalition behind the original game - complete with composer Yoko Shimamura - this game also saw major contributions from a team led by Fumihide Aoki of Camelot - particularly in terms of many characters introduced in the game. Graphically, the game is largely an upscaled version of the 3D art style from the original Super Mario RPG, albeit with additional changes such as the characters being given individual eye colors. Another embellishment for this game compared to the original is the inclusion of limited voice acting for some characters; such as Peach, her father The King, and younger brother Prince Cream being voiced by their respective voice actors from the same year's
Super Mario Ultra 2: Leslie Swan, Simon Prescott, and Penn Badgely. Other voice-acted characters include Princess Daisy (Grey DeLisle, in one of her first major voice roles [1]) and Kooper (Tony Oliver [2]), as well as Wario and Waluigi (Charles Martinet, who also provides Mario and Luigi's voice clips as usual) and Donkey Kong (Grant Kirkhope). That said, most of this voice acting is limited to in-game quips or cutscenes which move the story along in some way.
Gameplay wise, the game plays similarly to the original game, but with several major differences. The first major difference is the inclusion of counterattacks, which can be performed if an attack if successfully blocked and can not only reduce damage from the attack, but can also damage certain enemies and bosses more than regular attacks. Yet another embellishment is the introduction of combination and ultimate attacks, which were absent from the original game. Last but not least the game also uses a Badge Power system where than one badge can be equipped by each party member but certain badges use more badge power than other badges, which can be remidied by optionally expanding the character's Badge Power when they level up. Likewise, the Health Power, Flower Power, and Badge Power are individualized for every character unlike in the first game, and characters can also level up to 100 unlike in the original game.
This game features a total of seven playable characters, with four of them being able to be used in battle at one time, and aside from Mario and Luigi each has a "Field Ability" that helps the team traverse the overworld in one way or another. The game's roster, with two returning characters from Legend of The Seven Stars and five newcomers, includes:
- Mario: Returning from the first game, Mario reprises his role as the lead jack-of-all-trades in the game. In contrast to the first game, Mario uses a moveset that is based around jumping and using his hammer as well as other more weapon-based attacks, including a paint gun at one point.
- Luigi: Mario's more talkative but also more soft-spoken brother, whose moveset consists mainly of using Fire Flowers and Ice Flowers to do damage - especially to enviromentally-based enemies like Fire Goombas or Ice enemies.
- Goombella: The team's expert on enemies and their stats. Her Field Ability is to give explanations on the location they're in or remind the player of what they must do to progress in their adventure.
- Princess Peach: Reprising her role as the healer from the first game, Peach also uses a frying pan in combat, with her field ability being a parasol which she can use to help the team traverse over gaps that are too wide for Mario and Luigi to jump across on their own.
- Kooper: A young blue-shelled Koopa Troopa from Bibinba, a republic which broke away from Bowser's Kingdom during the events of the original Super Mario RPG. His field ability is retreating into his shell, which lets Mario kick in him in a straight line to press switches, reach items, or attack enemies.
- Princess Daisy: Peach's closest friend and fellow princess. Daisy mainly uses plant-themed offensive magic with a few physical attacks. Her field ability is summoning vegetation that the team can use to climb up walls that would otherwise be unscaleable.
- Donkey Kong: The heir to the throne of Kongo Bongo, and the team's brawler in Bowser's abscence. His Field Ability is using his Coconut Gun to blast through various destroyable obstacles in the overworld.
Our adventure begins with a fairly casual mission by Mario standards: Mario has ordered a pizza for him and Luigi to have as lunch back at their apparent in Brooklyn. When he returns from the pizzarea though, he finds that Luigi recieved a phone call from King Toadstool asking them to come meet him and Peach at the palace. On their way in the forest however, the brothers are assaulted by several thuggish bat-like aliens known as the Komohito. Upon finally arriving to the palace Mario and Luigi tell the Fungarian Royal Family what happened, and The King explains that those same creatures were the ones that they needed Mario and Luigi to help eliminate, as they have been spreading across the kingdom like wild fire and have also caused trouble for a neighboring Republic of Bibinba. At first Mario is willing and Luigi is reluctant, but the latter becomes placated when Peach offers to help them on their mission. Prince Cream also asks for permission to join them, but The King refuses. Peach tries to console Cream by saying that it's only a boring day trip, and she and the brothers won't be gone for long, but Cream is still sad about being left behind.
Eventually a storm begins while Peach and the brothers are on their way to Goomba Village, where more of the same bat-like beings were reported. While looking for a place to hide, Peach and the brothers end up separated which leads to Peach being captured. As the storm finally clears, they're rescued by a Goomba girl known as Goombella, who lives with her family as the oldest child. When asking the family about Peach's location, Goombella's brother Goombario remarks that he saw Peach with some of the alien and two other men, one of who smelled like raw garlic. The brothers quickly realize that Wario is one of these men, and Goombella joins the brothers on their quest to confront Wario and the mysterious second man. This takes the trio to an old castle where they not only find Peach, but also that Wario's partner is his brother Waluigi. The gang battles Wario and Waluigi and rescue Peach, with Goombella joining the party full time after seeing her Goomba village again. Back in the palace, Prince Cream decides to go for a stroll in the garden when he sees another one of the aliens. He fights off using just his yo-yo. Cream sees the alien drop some strange weapon, examines it, and carries it as he runs back to tell his father what happened.
During the attempt to further expel the aliens from their planet, Mario and gang venture across a young koopa soldier in the Bibinba mountains. The koopa identifies himself as Kooper, and he's looking for his comrades and their Sergeant Kolorado. Further explanation is given that Kolorado and his men were also sent to investigate the alien disturbances but they disappeared after being attacked by different things in the hostile jungle. After tracking down and freeing all of Kooper's comrades including Sgt. Kolorado, the group enters a hi-tech underground base where they see Wario and Waluigi again. Only this time they're joined by Wapeach - who unlike OTL is clearly an adult, and seeks to usurp Peach's position as princess of Fungaria so that she can rule is as a puppet for her own boss. Once again, the party fights and defeats all three villains then escape the lair before it can collapse. However, Wapeach soon recieves more orders from their boss, who demands that they start following the Mario Gang so they can keep being a thorn in their side. Meanwhile, the heroes return to Fungaria, where they learn that The King changed his mind and is allowing Cream to join them - on condition that Peach leaves him behind in a safe spot when they're going to places she thinks are too dangerous for Cream.
Following the escape, Mario and Luigi observe some of the weapons and supplies they took from the base before escaping. Mario and Peach deduce that they might know who Wapeach's boss might be, and decide to seek out Princess Daisy of Sarasaland for confirmation. When they get to Sarasaland though, they find that Waluigi has captured Daisy for himself, hoping that the boss will let him marry her to become puppet ruler of Sarasaland. However, Daisy breaks free and joins the crew to beat the daylights out of Waluigi. Sure enough, when Daisy sees the weapon Cream took from the alien, she confirms that the Komohito are led by her old enemy Tatanga, who also is employing the WA Gang to serve as his puppets. Just then, the group recieves a report about an ancient snow demon haunting the Tibet/Sichuan-esque Chai Province, and go to investigate. Sure enough, they find that Wapeach, Wario, and Walugi are indeed trying to revive a snow demon, and now they have to fight said demon AND the WA Trio. Back in the village, Cream is bored and escapes Toadette's eye so he can explore the town. Eventually he wanders into a tea shop where he tries to order a tea, but the Pinopi lady serving turns out to be a disguised monkey who captures him with the help of its friends. Fortunately, Toadette followed Cream and sees this just in time so she can alert authorities.
Mario's gang returns from the ice demon fight soon after, and they come across the scene of the kidnapping as Toadette explains what happened. Almost immediately, Peach insists that they take action, and they learn that the kidnapper was one of the Ukiki Tribe, who live in an isolated jungle miles from civilization. This does not stop the gang however, as they promptly head off to civilization closest to said jungle. On the way by boat however, the gang have a chance encounter with Donkey Kong, who is also pursuing the Ukiki as revenge for them destroying most of his banana horde. The party, with Donkey Kong as the resident brawn and Kolorado providing backup, makes their way through the hostile jungle until coming across a tribal village, where the locals identify the Ukiki Tribe as living in the lost city of Bandarjodaro. The village elder warns the group against trying to enter the ancient ruins, but Kolorado assures the elder that his men will be able to hide out in the jungle to provide backup if needed, with a signal being developed that the Mario Gang will use to alert his men when the time comes. Eventually, Mario's gang makes their way to the lost city where they go through a boss battle with a monkey-themed voodoo priest. However, the gang ends up being tricked and dropped into a dungeon cell. Soon after though, Cream sneaks to the cell where Peach tells him about Kolorado. Cream sneaks out to the top of the tallest building in the city, and alerts Kolorado who storms the ruins with his troops. The priest tries to take everyone with himself but fails as Mario's Gang and Kolorado's men escape.
Following this ordeal, the group makes their way to various other locations where the Waru Gang has been sighted or otherwise where other Komohito have caused disturbances. First up is a portal located in a toy box, which leads to a toy world dominated by Shy Guys and includes a confrontation with General Guy - who operates a more realistic looking tank. Following this encounter is a visit to Flower Fields, where Mario & Gang face off several odd incidents, like the vain rose Rosie being transformed into a Rafflesia before their very eyes. At last, Wario and Waluigi kidnap Prince Cream and Mario's crew follow them west to the bushlands of the Kalamari Desert, where the WA Gang is planning to contact their leader. Eventually, they come across a UFO that they sneak aboard in order to attack, only for Wapeach to make herself grow in size, leading Mario's team to fight her as they stand on a canyon edge. After this fails, Wapeach and the Wario retreat to their boss' spaceship, with Mario's gang taking advantage of their supidity to keep following them. Eventually they are bought to their boss, who naturally turns out to be the Komohito emperor Tatanga. The alien emperor reveals his intention to conquer their world once again, but the difference being that this time he's going to kill all the rulling families and their allies as an alternative means of doing so. The Mario gang naturally fights him, with the WA Gang initially joining but then bailing when they learn Cream will be no exception. Mortified at the idea of killing a child, the WA Gang instead jump to the sidelines to root for the Marios.
As can be expected for a Mario game, Tatanga is defeated, and the Mario Gang escapes with Cream as Tatanga's spaceship malfunctions then explodes. Everyone returns home to a heroes' welcome, whereas it's revealed in a post-credits scene that the WA Gang also escape, hinting at possible future appearances.
[1] Much like in Player Two Start - one of my inspirations - Mary Kay Bergman's suicide was butterflied so she still voiced Daphne from Scooby-Doo. So I imagined that Grey going into non-union stuff like anime-dubbing and video games would suit her well. Princess Daisy would end up being one of Grey's defining roles as a result.
[2] In TTL, Tony Oliver does become the official voice of Shaggy starting in 1996. Though he remains a non-union voice actor in TTL.
