We have witnessed the great Super Mario bash enemies from near and far, both large and small, and even inter-galactic scum, and of course who can forget the king of all Koopa’s? Bowser Koopa has infiltrated areas of the Mushroom World and kidnaps Princess Peach constantly, it’s like his profession. As usual, Mario appears to hear about the kidnapping and comes to the rescue. He inevitably rescues Princess Peach and defeats Bowser, forcing King Koopa to fall back and admit defeat. We are aware that Bowser is up to no good again for New Super Mario Bros. U, but what about for the 3D Super Mario title we will absolutely see on Nintendo’s next home console? Will Bowser finally be replaced? Can’t answer that, but I can offer main villain suggestions for the next 3D Mario title, which will make the series take a more interesting route.
It’s not an illegal action to do as such. Nintendo reserves the rights to all of its characters created for the games they publish. It’s all within the margin of whether EAD feels the necessity for such a change. Based what many know about companies: if something currently works, don’t try to fix an idea or concept that isn’t broken. But one has to admit that seeing Bowser constantly ruining the Mushroom Kingdom is getting a bit old. Perhaps a change regarding the main villain is in order, and the entire Mario franchise is opened to quite the candidates for such a position.
A good new main villain candidate for a 3D Super Mario title comes from the second Mario and Luigi RPG title: Princess Shroob. The Elder Princess Shroob seems to have great power within her being the leader of all Shroob operations, and her younger sister is no joke either. Imagine battling her tentacle self at the Shroob planet as a final boss battle, now that would be something else. The Elder Princess Shroob did in fact state that one day the Shroobs would once again attack the Mushroom Kingdom and ruin it, and obviously her younger sister would follow (if they’re still alive). This could be their shot next shot to do so.
The Shroobs are a species like no other from a distant planet elsewhere in the Galaxy. Most new species created for these spin-off Mario titles have great potential to show up in a main 3D Super Mario title; however I believe the Shroobs have the most potential. Unlike the Koopa Troop, these Shroobs actually work in a very convenient manner. Bowser tends to place traps and goons all over the Mushroom Kingdom as Mario travels about trying to save Princess Peach, but he doesn’t execute his plans in an intelligent manner. The Shroobs on the other hand are very tactical; in fact they seem to plan everything out in advance. They possess both the power to defend current operations and invade/attack other locations all at the same time. Being as intelligent as they are, a game with them as the main enemies in 3D would be quite the experience; as they seem to have a larger potentiality than those enemies of the Koopa Troop. The Shroobs come in all shapes and sizes, and they have been proven to have the technology to brainwash even species of the Mushroom Kingdom, so enemies can even originate from within the Kingdom.
The entire game can go along something like this: Mario and Princess Peach are hanging out around the castle viewing the night sky as it fills with stars and beautiful light from the gasses of the galaxy. Suddenly, they spot large objects coming from outside the planet and those objects begin to fire several attacks. This could be an attack similar to how Bowser infiltrated the area around Peach’s Castle in Super Mario Galaxy, but obviously the Shroobs would be able to deal larger amounts of damage with their advanced technology.
What should be their motive in doing something as crazy as this? Well how about revenge for what happened in the past? Princess Shroob was defeated in the past by Mario and Luigi (both in adult and baby forms) and she obviously wouldn’t let some pesky plumbers get away with this. The Shroobs should cause complete turmoil in the Mushroom Kingdom, infect the entire kingdom with whatever they have in their arsenal (being fungi, they should have no problem doing this). After attacking the Mushroom Kingdom, both Princess Shroob’s return to the Shroob planet whilst leaving several Shroob armies in the Mushroom Planet. The two continue watching their enemies suffer at the hands of the Shroobs as they prepare for something even more devious.
This time Princess Peach wouldn’t be kidnapped, instead she would act as support for Mario. Mario will need to travel all around the Mushroom Kingdom defeating Shroob enemies and restoring the place to its former glory. The infection of fungus from the Shroobs would extend to even the far reaches of the Kingdom, and Mario must stop the sources (similar to the paint mess which occurred on Isle Delfino). This would hopefully lead to a more opened world exploration Mario title we have been waiting so much for.
After fixing up the 15 or so places of the Mushroom Kingdom, enough Power Stars would be used as energy to travel large distances towards the Shroob Planet, which seems to be a planet far away from the Mushroom World. The planet might not even be within the same star system, so interstellar travel is necessary with Rosalina and her Comet Observatory being absent (unless she happens to appear!). When Mario arrives at the Shroob Planet, he isn’t greeted by friendly little mushrooms, but instead is attacked by vile fungi. What could be the reason? Oh yeah, they are simply unhappy with the unwelcomed visitor from outer space. Mario must defeat the enemies that fight against him while taking advantage of whatever is around him, and he must scour the planet in search for its capital. The Capital is the probable place where Princess Shroob will be located.
Who knows what the Shroob leaders have in store, they could be creating a machine powerful enough to completely annihilate the Mushroom Kingdom leaving nothing behind but the aftermath of destruction. Mario must defeat the source of the idea: Princess Shroob. Maybe include a companion to both of the Princess Shroobs, a Prince Shroob or a King Shroob. If there is a princess, there must be a king or queen. The Shroob species has so much potential, it’s sad to leave it rust away to only be used in a 2005 title that left more questions than answers.
This will be a short series of considerations for new enemies from Super Mario spin-off titles which would work very well with the main 3D Super Mario series. The Shroobs are obviously there, and there will be more considerations to come from countless enemies throughout the Mario Universe. Do you believe that the Shroobs would make excellent foes in a future 3D Super Mario title?