Super Mario Bros. Z, better known by the acronym SMBZ, is a Flash-animated series created by Alvin-Earthworm. The series started on April 22, 2006 on the popular site Newgrounds.com. It combines elements of Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dragon Ball. Although the series borrows many elements of Dragon Ball as the choreography of fighting scenes, power increases and air-fighting (without using the free flight of Dragon Ball), the series contains no Dragon Ball characters. The series has reached the peak of its popularity during the year 2006 and continued during 2007 and 2008.
Plot
There is an evil robot named Mecha Sonic looking for the Chaos Emeralds, gems of incredible power, and those who manage to collect the seven Emeralds become invincible. To stop Mecha Sonic, two hedgehogs named Sonic and Shadow teleport the Chaos Emeralds to the Mushroom Kingdom, where they meet two plumbers named Mario and Luigi. The four heroes decide to team up, on a difficult and turbulent adventure to collect all seven Emeralds before Mecha Sonic does, and save both Mario and Sonic's world.
Primary Characters
Mario
Mario is the hero of the popular video game series of the same name. He is the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom for saving Princess Peach and the kingdom many times from the clutches of Bowser. When he's not out rescuing the Princess, he performs what plumbers do. Although he short and pudgy, he is very strong and very versatile in combat. His specialties are fighting with his jumping abilities and using his hammer. He also uses various objects to change appearance and increase his power. In SMBZ, he, along with his brother Luigi, Sonic, and Shadow, attempts to find the Chaos Emeralds and prevent Mecha Sonic from destroying the world.
Luigi
Luigi is the younger brother of Mario. He participated in many adventures with his brother, and even two games in which he is a hero: Luigi's Mansion and Mario is missing!. He is also a plumber. Like Mario, his specialties are his jump, his hammer, and also to the ability to change his appearance after contact with a power-up. Although he is weaker and more awkward than his brother, Mario, Luigi jumps higher than him and uses techniques that Mario does not possess, such as the Green Missile, and the Super Fist Stir. Despite Luigi's timid nature, he is an asset for the other three heroes. But his combat capabilities should not be taken lightly because they are very strong, and his usefulness should not be underestimated. Everyone underestimate Luigi because he is easily frightened but in the battle he is stronger than he look like.
Sonic
Sonic is the hero of the popular series of video games Sonic The Hedgehog, born in the world of Mobius, He is known for his exploits to thwart the plans of world domination by evil evil Dr. Robotnik. His main quality in combat is his speed.He can run at the speed of sound and even exceed it, and can roll into a ball to perform his famous technique, the Spin Dash. If he gets quite enough power, such as from the 7 Chaos Emeralds, he changes his appearance and becomes golden, his pupils turn red, and then becomes Super Sonic. He went into Mario's world with Shadow to stop Mecha Sonic.
Shadow
A character known to the Sonic series, whom first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2. He is a living species created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik, Dr. Robotnik's(aka Dr. Eggman)'s grandfather. Mysterious and proud, he does not hesitate to treat the three other heroes like wimps, and will go search for the Chaos Emeralds himself, while complaining that his teammates are no help at all. He has roughly the same style of fighting that Sonic has, although the Spin Dash is not really his specialty. He is equal to Sonic in every way, but he knows few attacks Sonic can't perform, such as Chaos Control. He is the most powerful of the four heroes, but his abrasive personality sometimes poses problems in the group. Shadow keeps the same power throughout the series, but the other heroes catch up little by little. Like Sonic, he too can change into his super form, but only with the 7 Chaos Emeralds, though he doesn't glow gold, but more of a pale yellow.