Nintendo

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 18:38, 4 September 2009

"The Adventures of Lolo? You better have saved the receipt!"

Nintendo is one of the biggest video game companies today, known for its influence and impact on the video game industry. The Brothers Chaps have praised Nintendo in many interviews and have made many Nintendo references in the Homestar Runner body of work.

The probable reason for the prevalence of Nintendo allusions throughout Matt and Mike's work is the central part the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) played in their upbringing^[1]. Along with cartoons and breakfast cereal, the NES was an important part of their Saturday mornings as children. As one of their motivations in creating Homestar Runner has been to recreate this lost cultural experience^[2], it is not surprising that they have infused their work liberally with references to Nintendo.

Appearances by system

Game and Watch

• Pigs on Head LCD Version — This game is specifically designed after the generic look of the Game & Watch series of LCD games produced by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991.

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

The obscure origin of Strong Bad

• Super NES — The page title, "Super Homestario Bros.", is a reference to Super Mario Bros.
• The House That Gave Sucky Treats — When the pumpkin is placed in The Poopsmith's mouth to reveal an Easter egg featuring Homsar, the "secret" music from The Legend of Zelda plays.
• The Best Decemberween Ever:
  • When Homestar Runner is looking through Bubs's box to get a Decemberween present for Strong Bad, the first thing he pulls out is a Tag Team Wrestling cartridge.
  • This NES game featured a team called "The Strong Bads", which is the source of Strong Bad's name.
• Email sb_email 22 — In the beginning, the tune Strong Bad sings before he checks his email is the theme from Donkey Kong for NES.
• Email invisibility — Before dying, the Tandy 400 reveals the famous Metroid password "Justin Bailey ****** ******" (in which the lower-case letters should be replaced by upper-case letters and the asterisks should be replaced by hyphens).
• Pumpkin Carve-nival:
  • The King of Town dresses as Mario, and says "Sorry, King, but our princess is in another castle..."
  • An Easter egg features the beginning of Stage 1-1 of Super Mario Bros., complete with a Goomba.
• Email japanese cartoon:
  • In an Easter egg, you can click on one of Homestar Runner's tapes labeled NES endings to view the endings from various NES games.
  • Also from this email, the "credits music" is directly taken from the first level of Rad Racer.
  • Additionally, the credits themselves are taken from The Legend of Zelda.
• Email mascot — An NES is among the old electronics that The Cheat pummels with a golf club.
• Population: Tire game — The Engrish page title "I FEEL ASLEEP!" quotes the game Metal Gear for the NES.
• Email mile:
  • The rhythmic part of the "song" being played during the parade is from Super Mario Bros. 3, played during the airship, tank, and battleship levels.
  • The sound that the fireworks make at the end of the parade is from Super Mario Bros.
• Under Construction:
  • The entire fight scene is taken from the game Ninja Gaiden.
  • Also, the credits include references to well-known Nintendo employees and the Metroid Morph Ball powerup.
• Email lunch special — Clicking on the words "Larry, legend" reveals a screenshot from the NES version of Jordan vs Bird: One on One.
• Email pom pom:
  • When Pom Pom beats up Strong Bad, sound effects from Super Mario Bros play.
  • He also scores a "1-Up" after hitting Strong Bad several times.
• Peasant's Quest game:
  • When the player attacks Kerrek with the bow and arrow, the game responds, "Here goes, Kid Icarus."
  • The save screen in this game resembles that of The Legend of Zelda.
• Email montage — An Easter egg features a modified clip from the NES game Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!.
• Email Videro Games — The controller Strong Sad is holding in the instruction manual is very similar to an NES controller.
• FAQ — The page title includes the words "Ouch. What do you do?" In The Goonies II, non-player characters in mazes would respond with this Engrish phrase when attacked.
• Stinkoman 20X6 :
  • The entire game is an allusion to the Mega Man series, and contains a plethora of NES references, such as the Negative Zone, an obvious refrence to the similar Minus World from Super Mario Bros.
  • Particularly the Famicom Disk System version.
• Email bedtime story — The Cheat and Moses Malone play the NES games The Adventures of Lolo and The Adventures of Bayou Billy in "The Ch8t's Cheatventures in Moses MaloneLand".
• Halloween Potion-Ma-Jig — The Cheat dresses up as Toad.
• Email highschool — Baby Strong Bad plays "better video games" with an NES controller.
• Sbemail 150?!? — Homestar wears the mask of a Snifit from Super Mario Bros. 2.
• KOT's VOQPCS! — The King of Town addresses his men as "Beezos", Wart's henchmen from Super Mario Bros. 2.
• 8-Bit is Enough:
  • When Marzipan turns into Lady Crate Ape, she behaves like the title character of Donkey Kong.
  • Also, when you miss the ghost in Redcoat Ghost Patrol, The Cheat laughs at Strong Bad in a manner similar to the dog from Duck Hunt.

Game Boy (GB)

The Game Boy in a blender

• Thy Dungeonman II — When you try to give away something you do not have, the game states: "Just like ye to giveth away something thou doesn't have. And ye STILL has my Game Boy."
• Email 2 emails — Homestar claims to have built a time machine out of Strong Bad's blender and Game Boy.
• Teen Girl Squad Issue 10 — Tompkins plays the original 1989 Game Boy and claims to have Bowser "on the ropes", which is immediately followed by So and So getting hit by a Koopa shell.
  • Because Tompkins mentions Bowser and gets hit by a koopa shell, it can be assumed he is playing Super Mario Land. However, Bowser never appeared in any original Game Boy games.
• Email alternate universe — The Cheat purchases an alternate universe portal made from a Game Boy in a blender.
• Teen Girl Squad Issue 13 — Tompkins is again seen playing his Game Boy, this time with a virtual pet.
• Twenty THANXty Six — Pan Pan sucks up 1-Up and Stinkoman in a manner similar to Kirby.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

• Super NES and Strong Bad is a Bad Guy:
  • Both of these toons were made using Mario Paint.
  • The title of the former also references the SNES.
• Email modeling:
  • An advertisement for foot cream includes the phrase "GOT STINKFOOT?".
  • In the SNES game Parodius, gaining a power-up will sometimes result in the main character saying "GOT A STINKFOOT?!" out of a megaphone.
• Sample of Style Too: Some Outtakes — The Brothers Chaps can be seen playing an SNES.
• Let us give TANKS! — In an Easter egg, the "next generation Gamepad" seen with Reynold's brother's action figure resembles that of an SNES, which was the next generation of consoles when GI Joe was still on TV.
• RhinoFeeder game — This game is apparently playable on the Super FunMachine, a parody of the SNES.
• Email specially marked — Strong Bad gives a piece of his brain, which is based on the second form of the final boss in the game Contra III: The Alien Wars.
• SBCG4AP Advertisement — Strong Bad states the game was made with the Super FX chip, which refers to the Super FX enhancement chip installed some SNES games, such as Star Fox, allowing the system to render Polygons.
• Strong Bad often mumbles the names of SNES games while half-asleep on the couch (as well as one NES game, Super Contra).

Virtual Boy (VB)

• StrongBadZone game and Vector Strong Bad — The 3D vector graphics mimic those of the ill-fated Virtual Boy, particularly the game Red Alarm.

Nintendo 64 (N64)

Thy Dungeonman 3

• Halloween Potion-ma-jig:
  • Homsar is costumed as Tingle from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
  • The list of "choices" he offers to Homestar borrows a phrase from the bank teller in Majora's Mask: "THAT'S A LOT! A LOT! A LOT! A LOT!"
  • Also, The Cheat's costume and some of his actions and noises resemble those of Toad from Mario Kart 64.
• Thy Dungeonman 3 — One of the possible presents that the hag might have gotten is a Nintendo 64 Controller (called an N64 Paddle in this game).
• SBCG4AP Advertisement — Strong Bad states the game was made with "that red thing you stuck in the N64", referring to the Expansion Pak.
• The phrase "Come on in here...", spoken by the Rocoulm, is very similar to that of King Boo in Super Mario 64 at the beginning of Big Boo's Haunt.

Nintendo GameCube (GCN)

• Why Come Only One Girl? — In the commentary, Mike and Matt mention The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The game mentions that The Hurricane was possibly canceled due to a new Legend of Zelda game being released.
• Weekly Fanstuff — One of the entries was a stop-motion video featuring a Pikmin.

Nintendo DS (NDS)

Homebrew Poptire DS

• Weekly Fanstuff — The May 24, 2007 entry was a Nintendo DS port of Population: Tire.

Nintendo Wii

• Viidelectrix — This section of Videlectrix's website, named after the Wii, includes versions of classic games available for play through the Wii's internet channel.
• Weekly Fanstuff:
  • The entry for February 22, 2007 depicted Mii versions of the Teen Girl Squad characters.
  • The entry for March 13, 2008 depicted a custom Super Smash Bros. Brawl level that was shaped like Trogdor.
  • The entry for September 4, 2008 depicted cover art for a Wii Guitar Hero game starring Limozeen on the cover and The Cheatar as the controller.
• Limozeen Live! — There is a Wii in the background.
• Strong Bad Gameways — The entire short is a parody of the Wii's ubiquitous safety warnings, done in the style of an airline safety film.
• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People — WiiWare game series developed by Telltale Games and Videlectrix. The corresponding advertisement and gameplay trailer both feature the Wii.
• Workin' on the Game — In preparation for the SBCG4AP game, one of the Videlectrix Guys attempts to use a Wii remote on an old-fashioned computer.
• Several Homestar videos have played on the Nintendo Channel.
• Baddest of the Bands — The King of Town eats a Wii remote.

Miscellaneous

The Brothers Chaps' personal gaming lounge?

• 2003 Pulse interview — Matt says, in Bubs's voice, "There was this one time when I hooked up my lawnmower to my Nintendo. And after that, I got the high score every time!"
• Email lackey — In a DVD Easter egg, Strong Bad says that he is "already playing Nintendo in the other room" by the time that Strong Sad finishes reading the Strong Lib.
• Bug In Mouth Disease:
  • When Strong Bad removes his head from the TV, a room with an NES 2, an SNES, a black GameCube, and some Nintendo 64 game cartridges are visible.
  • The game in the NES 2 is Kirby's Adventure.
• Scrolling Shooter Games Menu — The text in this game menu makes reference to the Mega Man and Star Fox series.
• Teen Girl Squad Issue 10 — The Ugly One asks her party guests to "get it on like Diddy Kong".
• Why Come Only One Girl?:
  • Ganondorf, the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series is mentioned.
  • Homestar Runner catches Marzipan in a bottle in the same way fairies can be caught in bottles in the series.
• Fan Costumes '06:
  • Two people are shown dressed as Homestar and Mario.
  • Upon noticing the face of the person in the Homestar costume, Strong Bad asks Homestar if he ate Luigi.
  • Homestar then comments that Luigi tasted like mushrooms.
• Email the chair:
  • A hidden picture reads "nice try dodongo!"
  • Dodongos are unintelligent dinosaur-like monsters in The Legend of Zelda series.
• Hallrunner game — When talking to mother, she calls Nintendo "intendro".
• Duck Guardian game:
  • The falling robot heads resemble the original thwomp.
  • The eggs falling resemble those of Yoshi.
• Most in the Graveyard — Strong Mad is dressed as a Thwomp.
• Several of the video game titles in the floppy disk container have been released for the NES or the SNES.

Sources

1. ^  The Boston Globe Interview - 9 Aug 2003
2. ^  All Things Considered Interview - 8 May 2005

See Also

• Video Games (allusions)
• Atari 2600
• Donkey Kong
• Mario
• Mario Paint Character Variations
• Pikachu
• Retro Gaming Character Variations
• Sega Tapes
• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
• The Legend of Zelda
• Sega