Reviews for Super Mario Bros. Z (Episode 1)

[Grand-Sir-Thebus]

Oh man, I have been wanting this, but never thought it would happen!

I'm going to give some criticism, but I want to be clear that I really liked the video.

I thought that the use of old tropes (like "I've been training for this day", the obscuring smoke shtick, hostage taking tactic) would have been better done if they had a different spin on them. I understand that this is taking from both Mario and DBZ and both made a lot of these tropes famous, but these things have been seen in a lot of other media and it could end up feeling like watching the same scene for the Nth time for some. The fact that the this new format doesn't allow manual text skipping sharpens this, as we know what's going to happen and need to wait for it to unfold. Something as simple as shortening, deconstructing, or putting a different spin on them could work. Use them, for sure. Just not too much. <3

The use of sounds and visual effects was amazing. You used sound bytes from many different sources and were able to apply/modify them to fit into the show perfectly. The visual effects, while occasionally a bit wonky, all looked appropriate and only enhanced what was going on.

The combat... oh lordy, the combat... beautiful! Almost all the time when I watch shows that involve some sort of combat there's just a bunch of actions with no tactical context. YOU, however... you gave panning shots to show positioning, showed characters using a series of actions to trap the opponent into a disadvantage, and many other things that I'm not able to think of right now. As a watcher of smash tourneys, it was VERY pleasing to see this. The fighting in this show is such an exhilarating pleasure to watch. If I was to criticize however, I would say that the random items appearing out of nowhere was a tad offsetting, it came off kinda deus ex machina-ish. I understand that this was based on smash bros and items spawn randomly in that game, but the items spawning was never shown as well as the character's actions.

All in all, you did a damn fine job, Alvin. I'll be watching every single one you put out.

[Sincere420]

I didn't get to finish it but I will definitely get back to it later, just got on to play some games before knocking out for the night. Was definitely awesome to see though dude keep it up! Actually laughed at the Hercule reference before it was made obvious lol

[SpectraGeko]

I loved it more than I did 10 years ago. The only problem I found (I watched it at full volume) is that some of the effects were way louder than others. For example the charging sound effect whenever someone reaches a higher level of power. Sometimes the music and the movement sound effect overwhelm the voices.
I watched this with headphones on and I think that you'd be able to properly distribute sound if you learned to (or hired someone to) work with sounds and music in terms of panning the sounds, adding bass to certain rumbling sounds, reducing the volume on some of the sharper sounds, and even dampen certain sounds when the object or person producing sound is inside the ground, an object, or being gagged.
I love the references it made to other popular series because it adds so much to the cartoon aspect, the comical aspect, and the ability to relate to what going on. So while Mario punched more times than the Fist Of The North Star series, Bowser and Wario were dishing out some new moves they had learned from the most recent Smash Bros. This adds so much more depth to the animation, immediately invoking the phrase, "I was waiting eagerly to see that move!"
I love this series. Keep up the great job! You're moving forward FAST.

[TerryB01]

Thank you SO MUCH Alvin for doing the series again. I hope people don't bug you like last time so you'll finish it.

Please let Koopa Red and Axem Ranger Red live and join the good guys to avenge their fallen brothers and teammates.

[BensonObama]

Good lord, when I heard that there was going to be a reboot, I flipped out. Watching the original was awesome and I loved every bit of it. Seeing this now makes me feel all nostalgic and such, but it feels new, and this type of new is good.
The overall animation is great, and the certain scenes with detailed characters are very impressive. I love how the story is laid out, and how the characters tied in. I do miss the Mario Kart scene, but as I said new is good. Also the references from the previous SMBZ made me chuckle a bit as well. I enjoy the fact that you put OPM and Undertale music in, it did fit in somewhat. The ONLY thing I did not like about this was the atatata from Fist of the North Star. I thought the usage of the cape which resembles the Mario Tornado was better, but that's just my worthless opinion.

This was greatly made and there is no questioning that. I hope the next episode arrives faster, but you can't rush a masterpiece.