A Spoof/Advertisement of "Power Star"
I advise viewers to watch the entire "Power Star" series before playing this Flash for the fullest effect. Under no condition will it work any other way.
JonBro made several attempts at a worthy sprite spoof that sucks up to the masters. Daniel Sun's magnum opus in terms of sprite cartoons, "Power Star", receives similar treatment here. In "4.5", JonBro makes a slaphappy out of everything that the fourth installment simply was not. In a sense, watching them one after the other is cathartic.
Okay, if you didn't get the plot of Daniel Sun's works, Mario got possessed by boos, and Luigi and the whole of Mushroom Kingdom's retainers fight a losing battle to contain the creature's insatiable appetite for Power Stars. It doesn't end well, and while it's not the first Mario sprite cartoon modeled as a tragedy, it was heart-wrenching. JonBro, having considered imitation the finest form of flattery, knew that he might not go anywhere in particular doing so, but he took us for quite a ride in lampooning every last nugget of the final episode of "Power Star".
By itself, it looks like a classic spoof of Mario that's as senseless and random as they come. JonBro's do-it-yourself voice-over venture did not fall flat on his face; it's better this way anyway, since I doubt D-Mac would have went along with this idea. The sprite customs are noticeably JonBro and lack the polish of the originals, although he can get away with it in this context. Finally, the soundtrack is goofier, almost ridiculous and totally unnecessary.
Spoofs are meant to derail or pop the inflation of ego inherent in something serious. There is always a lot of rough surrounding each diamond. Naysayers who believe that JonBro is disingenuous and irreverent towards Daniel Sun's brutal opus ought to reconsider the author's angle: yes, that's true, but it's no insult. Think about it: if you made a Flash and submitted it... would anyone want to lampoon it? This Mario spoof is unique in that it not only pokes fun at Mario, it also pokes fun at another author's dramatic vision of Mario. Besides... isn't it better to tease someone you like, rather than someone you don't?
"Power Star 4.5" ain't perfect and doesn't set out to be perfect. It's just a spoof... not to be taken seriously or out of context. In fact, had it not been for this cartoon, I never would have reviewed the "Power Star" series and recall instantly that, yes, I have seen that horrific scene before! It brought me back. If a Flash spoof can pull that off--to make you interested in reliving the source material... then that, my friend, is a Flash worth your time. Of course, "Power Star" itself is even better, though that goes without saying....