The Adventures of Sherlock Mario

"The Adventures of Sherlock Mario" is the eighteenth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Plumbers of the Year". This episode, along with Jungle Fever, Toad Warriors, and Raiders of the Lost Mushroom, were released on VHS in 1992.

Plot Synopsis
In Victoria, Mario and Luigi are riding atop a carriage being pulled by a horse traveling down a street in search of a great detective by the name of Herlock Solmes, with Toad and Princess Toadstool riding in the carriage. As Luigi and Mario steer their horse and carriage around a street, Princess Toadstool says that Herlock Solmes was to meet them on this street at midnight; after saying this, she goes on to say that she hopes Herlock Solmes can help her free her kingdom from King Koopa. Hearing the Princess' comments, Toad says that finding Herlock Solmes may be hard, saying the fog surrounding Victoria is thicker than mushroom soup, a comparison which prompts Mario to stick his head into the carriage and begin to talk about food. As Mario continues to talk about food with Princess Toadstool and Toad, Luigi comments that Mario can eat everything in a pasta factory and still have room for dessert.

After complaining about Mario's large appetite, Luigi, as well as Mario, Toad and the Princess, hear a cry for help from somewhere nearby. As Mario and Luigi hop off the top of their carriage, Toad and Princess Toadstool exit the carriage and begin to run towards the voice yelling for help. Eventually, after some running, Mario, Luigi, Toad and the Princess find a hat and magnifying glass in the middle of the street, which Princess Toadstool says belongs to Herlock Solmes. As Toad stares at Herlock Solmes' hat and magnifying glass, he wonders where Herlock is; as Toad ponders, Mario surmises that Herlock was kidnapped and after being asked by Luigi who would want to kidnap Herlock, Mario says that he will find out and proceeds to switch his own hat with the hat of Herlock and refers to himself as Sherlock Mario.

Later, as the carriage of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool travels down a street, down below, in a sewer, Professor Kooparity, Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa are in the midst of taunting Herlock Solmes, who is tied to a chair. As Professor Kooparity taunts Herlock Solmes, Koopa Troopa laughs so hard that he bangs his head on a nearby pipe; ignoring Koopa Troopa, Professor Kooparity proceeds to ask Herlock what his next crime will be, with Professor Kooparity saying that there is no way Herlock can guess what it is. Koopa is left dumbstruck though, when Herlock correctly guesses that Koopa plans on breaking into the Tower of Victoria to steal the Retro Router. After staring blankly at Herlock for a few seconds, Koopa proceeds to turn to Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa and demand who revealed his plans to Herlock Solmes; Professor Kooparity's accusations cause Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa to begin fighting, with each one laying the blame on the other.

As Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa fight among themselves, Herlock tells Koopa that his plan to break into the Tower of Victory is just the sort of thing a Koopa like him would do. Koopa, enraged, proceeds to break up his underlings' fight and grabs them by the neck and tells them that they should go ahead with their plans to steal the Retro Router.

Elsewhere, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool are in the home of Herlock Solmes on Bonkers Street; after Toad asks him what they are looking for, Mario says aloud that they are searching for clues, a statement which prompts Luigi to say that wearing Herlock Solmes' hat seems to be making Mario believe he is a detective. After crawling around the floor of Herlock Solmes' house, Mario tells Luigi, Toad and the Princess that a good detective needs to use their head, just as he accidentally bangs his head on a nearby dresser. Afterwards, the device on top of the dresser, a dictating machine (which Luigi calls a dictator machine) begins to speak with Herlock's voice, saying that Professor Kooparity will steal the Retro Router from the Tower of Victoria; when the dictating machine stops speaking, Luigi expresses surprise at the mentioning of Professor Kooparity while Princess Toadstool says that she bets Professor Kooparity was the one who abducted Herlock. After Luigi and Princess Toadstool make these comments, Mario makes a vow to catch Koopa and stop his nefarious plot to steal the Retro Router.

Elsewhere, in the Tower of Victoria, Professor Kooparity, Tryclyde, Mouser and Koopa Troopa are walking down a hallway disguised as red guards, with Mouser saying that Professor Kooparity's idea to sneak into the Tower of Victoria dressed as guards was a great one. As Koopa agrees with Mouser's compliment about him, while complimenting himself, he, Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa reach the chambers where the Retro Router, which is behind bars, is being held. Taking out a Magic Potion, Koopa throws it at the bars which the Retro Router is behind; upon impact with these metal bars, the Magic Potion thrown by Professor Kooparity causes a door to appear in the bars. With the Retro Router almost in his grasp, Professor Kooparity begins to gloat aloud, saying he will flood all of Victoria with sewer water.

After Koopa finishes his gloating though, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool, who are all wearing armoring while hiding in suits of armor to catch Professor Kooparity, Tryclyde, Mouser and Koopa Troopa, reveal themselves and claim that Koopa will never enact his plan. Angered by the appearance of the heroes, Koopa, as well as Mouser and Koopa Troopa, grab some nearby weapons on a wall and charge forward, with Tryclyde slithering behind them. As Professor Kooparity and the Koopa Pack charge towards them, the heroes raise several plungers as weapons and charge towards the villains as well.

As Mario duels Koopa, who is dueling with an axe, the Princess battles Tryclyde, Toad fights a mace-holding Mouser, and Luigi battles Koopa Troopa, who is wielding a sword. As he battles though, Luigi has the top of his plunger cut off by Koopa Troopa, who forces Luigi back. As he steps backwards, Luigi bumps into Mario, Toad and Princess Toadstool, who have also been forced back by Mouser and Tryclyde. Seeing Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool grouped together, Koopa pulls a nearby lever on a wall, which activates a giant magnet suspended from the ceiling; turning on, this magnet pulls Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to the ceiling, where they become stuck to the magnet. With the heroes effectively trapped, the villains taunt them.

Later, after Professor Kooparity has tied Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool, he begins to taunt them as the Princess demands Koopa set them free. Ignoring the Princess, Koopa pulls a nearby lever which causes a swinging axe to begin to lower from the ceiling above the heroes. Giving one last glare to heroes, Professor Kooparity leaves the room, with Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa, who are carrying the Retro Router, leaving with him.

After Koopa and the Koopa Pack leave, Mario says that he wish he could get the meatball sandwich out of his pocket, a statement which causes Luigi to ask how Mario could be thinking about food with a giant, swinging axe quickly approaching. Ignoring Luigi, Mario manages to reach the meatball sandwich in his pocket, which he manages to put in his mouth after some struggling. After eating his sandwich, Mario's stomach expands to such a length that it snaps the ropes holding him; once free from his restraints, Mario tears away the ropes keeping Luigi captive. Right before the axe cuts into the table they are on, Mario and Luigi hop off it, carrying Toad and Princess Toadstool who are still bound by ropes. Tearing the ropes off them, Mario tells them that they need to catch Professor Kooparity.

In his sewer headquarters, Koopa is watching as Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa prepare the Retro Router; as he works, Mouser tells Koopa that the Retro Router is almost complete. After being informed of this, Koopa turns to Herlock Solmes, who is still tied to a chair and begins to taunt him, saying that once he floods Victoria, he will be the worst villain ever and proceeds to ask Herlock what he thinks of him now; answering Koopa's question, Herlock begins to list several of Professor Kooparity's secrets, all of which are embarrassing. Enraged at all the revelations Herlock Solmes has made about him, Professor Kooparity turns to the hysterically laughing Tryclyde, Koopa Troopa and Mouser, the latter of whom he grabs and kicks into a wall before telling Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa to start working on the Retro Router again.

Up above, on the streets of Victoria, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool are walking around, with Toad asking how they can find Professor Kooparity. Responding to Toad's question, Mario, who is crawling along the ground with a magnifying glass, points to several claw prints on the ground, which he surmises belong to Professor Kooparity. After showing the others, who drop to the ground, Koopa's clawprints, Mario begins to follow them, with the others following him. Following Koopa's claw prints, the heroes go up and across such things as the street, a wall, down the road, up a telephone pole, across the telephone wires, down another telephone pole and finally to a manhole. Stopping at this manhole, which is where Koopa's clawprints end, Luigi pulls the manhole cover off the manhole, which he, Mario, Toad and Princess Toadstool drop down into.

Down below in Professor Kooparity's headquarters, Koopa is informed by Koopa Troopa that the Retro Router is in full working order. Moving over to the Retro Router, Koopa prepares to pull a lever on it, only for Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to fall from the ceiling into Professor Kooparity's headquarters. Despite the heroes appearing and threatening to stop him, Koopa, unfazed, simply taunts them and pulls a lever on the Retro Router, which causes the device to pump a large amount of water on to the streets of Victoria. As Victoria begins to be rapidly submerged in water, Koopa orders the Koopa Pack to attack; rushing forward, Mouser, Tryclyde and Koopa Troopa are defeated by Toad, Princess Toadstool and Luigi, who knock them away by head butting them. Koopa is eventually defeated when Mario, after swinging from some pipes on the ceiling, flings himself towards Koopa, who Mario kicks into the Retro Router, destroying it. With the Retro Router destroyed, all the water that was flooding into Victoria begins to seep back into the sewers. With the Retro Router destroyed and the Koopa Pack defeated, Professor Kooparity, before he can be arrested by the freed Herlock Solmes, uses a Magic Potion to open a portal into a Warp Zone.

At his house on Bonkers Street, Herlock Solmes is in the middle of thanking Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool for vanquishing Professor Kooparity from Victoria, as Mario looks around the house for some food. Finding a case on Herlock Solmes' shelf, Mario opens it, believing it to be a lunchbox. After Mario opens the case and reaches inside it though, he doesn't find food; instead, he is bitten by the Killer Kitty of the Caskervilles, which everyone begins to desperately try to yank off of Mario's hand.

Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Toad
 * Professor Kooparity
 * Mouser
 * Tryclyde
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Herlock Solmes

Cast

 * Lou Albano &mdash; Mario
 * Danny Wells &mdash; Luigi
 * Jeannie Elias &mdash; Princess Toadstool
 * John Stocker &mdash; Toad, Mouser, Koopa Troopa
 * Harvey Atkin &mdash; King Bowser Koopa, Tryclyde
 * Greg Swanson &mdash; Herlock Solmes

Animation and continuity errors

 * Official summaries of this episode, as well as Princess Toadstool, refer to Professor Kooparity as "Professor Koopa-arity".
 * Professor Kooparity leaves clawprints on the streets of Victoria despite wearing shoes.
 * Mario's detective cap is replaced with his trademark "M" cap when him, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad are tied up during the zoomed-out shot, and is later shown to be the detective cap as usual.
 * When Professor Kooparity grabs Tryclyde, Mouser, and Koopa Troopa after assuming that they "spilled the beans" to Herlock Solmes, Koopa Troopa's eyeballs are altered significantly twice, the first making them appear much like normal human eyes, and the second with just being plain yellow, blending in with his face.
 * The colors of Tryclyde's red guard disguise change.
 * During the scrimmage in the Tower of Victoria, Toad and Mouser are the only characters dueling in one scene, with everybody else absent.
 * When Mario's gang infiltrate Professor Kooparity's hideout, all of Tryclyde's eyes are much bigger than normal (as seen from the distant view).
 * In that same scene, when Koopa Troopa states "Rotten cheese balls! It's those pepperoni plumbers!", his voice sounds as if it has a cowboy accent (which is somewhat odd when the setting is Victoria, England).

Trivia

 * This episode is a clear parody of the Sherlock Holmes series of books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with Herlock Solmes being a parody of the series' titular character Sherlock Holmes, and King Koopa's guise of Professor Kooparity being a reference to Sherlock Holmes' archenemy, Professor Moriarty. In addition, Victoria, the city that the episode takes place, is a reference to Queen Victoria, who reigned in the time period the Sherlock Holmes books took place. In Herlock's flat, a violin can be seen in a recliner, which is based on one of twelve things Holmes does that Watson took note of in A Study in Scarlet.
 * This episode appears as a bonus feature on the single-disc DVD release "Mario's Greatest Movie Moments" as a reward for finishing the DVD's trivia game. However, due to a glitch, the episode restarts right after the commercial break midway through the second act, with speaking sounds accidentally shifted to one of the sides. It is then followed by the second half of the live-action segment (the first half is absent).
 * In this episode, Luigi performs a diving headbutt similar to his Green Missile attack from the Super Smash Bros. series, predating his move in Super Smash Bros. Melee by twelve years after this episode was aired.