Super Mario Adventures Review: Awesome

“Nintendo Power” was the magazine to have back in the late 80s/ early 90s when “Nintendo’s” popularity was at its peak. One thing that magazine had in its early years was comics based on “Nintendo” video games. One of the more popular comics was “Super Mario Adventures” written by Kentaro Takekuma with art by Charlie Nozawa. ‘Viz Media” has collected all chapters that were originally published in “Nintendo Power” from January 1992 to December 1992 into one collection and it’s a “Nintendo” and “Super Mario Bros.” fan’s dream come true.

Bowser has decided to once again capture Princess Peach. This time, he wants to marry her in order for the Koopalings to have a mother. Mario and Luigi must once again rescue Princess Peach while going through locations and meeting characters that are now recognizable to many fans.

This story has more in common with the cartoon from the “Super Mario Bros. Super Show” thank any of the games. There is plenty of corny dialogue that has one-liners and mentions of Italian food. There is a lot of comedy, such as Mario dressing as a psychiatrist and using psychiatry to defeat a bunch of boos.

The best character here is Princess Peach. She is awesome! While other “Super Mario” titles portray her as a damsel in distress, here she is cunning and puts up a fight. She takes on the Koopalings in many scenes and even goes after to fight him. She even busts out of her prison cell all by herself and uses bombs in one scene. She is without a doubt the best version of Princess Peach in any form. This is how you make her protect herself and not like in that atrocity that was “Super Princess Peach.”

That doesn’t mean the other characters are lame. They are all larger than life and full of character. Every character here is likable, well-written and has a purpose of being in the story.

Nozowa’s art gives the comic a manga look while retaining the design of the “Super Mario” games. It works well since the story is meant to be light-hearted with plenty of comedy. The manga style won’t putt off fans since Nozowa did a great job of making every character look like how fans want them to look. The only character that looks 100% manga Princess Peach. It’s not a terrible design; in fact, it fits perfectly with what Takekuma has her do.

There is also a bonus comic called “Mario VS Wario” where Wario invites Mario to his house to get revenge on all the bad stuff Mario did to him when they were kids. It’s basically a reimagining of “Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins” with Mario fighting all the bosses from that game. It’s a funny side story that’s a welcome addition to this collection.

“Super Mario Adventures” has a great story with great art that fans will like. If you’ve never had the chance to read these comics when they were in “Nintendo Power” this is your chance to do so and share it with future gamers.