Born to Ride

"Born to Ride" is the seventh episode of the Super Mario World animated series.

Plot
In the Dome Castle, Mario and Luigi are trying to install a sink made of bamboo piping in the place; in true Flintstones fashion, all the tools Mario uses are small animals. While Mario and Luigi are discussing their pipe installation and how they could possibly make a shower, Princess Toadstool appears and greets them and reminds them to just work on the sink for now. Deciding to show the Princess the new sink, Mario and Luigi are surprised to see it doesn't work. Venturing outside, Mario and Luigi find the source of their unworking sink; Yoshi has been munching on the recently laid water pipes. Becoming extremely angry at Yoshi, Mario and Luigi yell at him and tell him to stay out of their way. After this scolding, a disheartened Yoshi decides to run away and leave Dome City. As Yoshi, taking what little possessions he has, leaves Dome City, he encounters a rabid Caterpillar, which he quickly gobbles up. After eating the caterpillar, Yoshi is approached by three motorcycle-riding dinosaurs. The bikers introduce themselves as Duke, Lulu and Rockman, the Dino Riders; after introductions are done, Yoshi asks the Dino Riders if he can be a biker like them. At first Duke, the leader of the Dino Riders, is hesitant, but when Yoshi mentions he knows Mario and Luigi, Duke gladly lets Yoshi join, planning on using him to get to Mario and Luigi so he can capture them and turn them over to King Koopa for a reward.

Deciding that Yoshi needs to pass a "test" before joining the Dino Riders, Duke orders Yoshi to vandalize a dome-house and throw a "Stink Bob-omb" through the window of a caveperson's house. Yoshi is about to eat the paint until Duke whacks him on the head, and he vandalizes the house with a smiley face instead, displeasing Rockman and Lulu. Yoshi is then given the Bob-omb, but at first hesitant, Yoshi does throw the Bob-omb after being forced to do it by Lulu. After doing these deeds, Yoshi is made an "official" member of the Dino Riders by Duke and given a biker helmet and jacket. After giving Yoshi these items, Duke tells Yoshi to tell Mario and Luigi to meet him at the Tar Pit Milk Bar, saying that himself, Rockman and Lulu are going to "teach the Mario Bros. a lesson" for "disrespecting" Yoshi earlier.

Back at the Dome Castle, Princess Toadstool asks Mario and Luigi where Yoshi is; the two reply that they haven't seen Yoshi since they scolded him earlier. A shocked Princess Toadstool scolds the heroes for getting mad at Yoshi, reminding them that he's still a baby and doesn't know any better. Mario reassures her that Yoshi will come crawling back and will forgive them. Then Yoshi, in biker garb, appears to tell Mario and Luigi about how he joined the Dino Riders and about how Duke wants to meet with them. Princess Toadstool thinks they should do so to fix the mess that Mario and Luigi made, and the three set off to see the Dino Riders. Inside the Tar Pit Milk Bar, Mario and Luigi are ambushed by the Dino Riders, while Yoshi waits outside. After several minutes of waiting, Yoshi becomes curious as to what is taking so long and looks in a window and hears about the Dino Riders' plan to hand Mario and Luigi over to Bowser and how they are going to eat him and the Mario Bros. after they get their reward. A panicking Yoshi rushes off to get Princess Toadstool to help him rescue Mario and Luigi.

Getting the Princess, Yoshi manages to track down the Mario Bros. and Dino Riders, who are camped out in a field. Duke steals a dish from Rockman to give to Mario and Luigi as their last meal, but after realizing it's Goomba Quiche, they lose their appetite. Jumping from his hiding spot, Yoshi frees Mario and Luigi by chewing through the ropes that bind them and eat the Goomba Quiche thrown at him as weapons. Stealing Lulu's motorcycle and knocking the motorcycles down to slow the Dino Riders down, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Princess Toadstool take off with the Dino Riders in pursuit.

Using a Triangle Block, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Yoshi drive up a cliff, but even though Rockman accidentally destroys the Triangle Block, the Dino Riders are still following them, with Rockman going after Mario and Luigi and Duke and Lulu going after Yoshi and Princess Toadstool. Using a pair of Magic Wings, Yoshi manages to evade the Dino Riders, while Mario, as Fire Mario, manages to take out Rockman's motorcycle, plunging the biker into some nearby lava. Duke and Lulu subsequently end up crashing into a wall and get covered in coins after crashing into a cactus while Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and the Princess escape into a nearby Warp Tube. Yoshi is reluctant to leave his motorcycle and outfit behind, but he decides to do so after choosing to not be a biker. After they go down the pipe, the Dino Riders arrive and look down the pipe to witness the loss of their possessions. Once back home, Mario reveals that he promised to never yell at Yoshi again, and Mario and Luigi have finished working on the sink, but then Yoshi walks in eating bamboo again. Mario starts to get angry when thinking that Yoshi had not learned his lesson, but he remembers his promise and keeps his anger to himself, and Yoshi declares that he's just joking with normal bamboo and the sink, to their delight, works.

Cast

 * Walker Boone &mdash; Mario
 * Tony Rosato &mdash; Luigi
 * Andrew Sabiston &mdash; Yoshi
 * Tracey Moore &mdash; Princess Toadstool
 * Paulina Gillis &mdash; Lulu, Female singer, Cave Lady
 * Michael Stark &mdash; Duke
 * Dan Hennessey &mdash; Rockman, Male singer, Catipillar, Caveman

Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Yoshi
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Duke
 * Rockman
 * Lulu
 * Caterpillar
 * Cavepeople
 * King Bowser Koopa (Mentioned only)

Animation and continuity errors

 * In several scenes of the episode, the "L" on Luigi's hat turns white against a black background.
 * Lulu's helmet continually switches colors throughout the episode.
 * Duke freezes mid-animation as he hits Yoshi over the head for trying to eat the paint.
 * When the Dino Riders chase after Mario and Luigi, Lulu is on Rockman's bike instead of Duke's.

Trivia

 * The music played during the intro of this episode sounds quite different from the music that is normally played, sounding somewhat like a rock and roll remix.
 * Despite the Dino Riders working for King Koopa, he and the Koopalings don't actually appear in this episode.
 * This episode could be seen as a commentary on peer pressure and particularly street gangs, an issue that was on the rise at the time in the early 1990s.
 * The episode title may be a reference to the Bruce Springsteen song "Born to Run".
 * Beggining with this episode, Yoshi has been redesigned with a more amphromorphic look that more closely resembles his official game artwork.
 * One of the bikers is named Rockman. Rockman is Mega Man's Japanese name. Mega Man 4 for the NES was released in the US around the episode's premiere date.