Pinch Crane

The Pinch Crane.

The Pinch Crane (nicknamed Mr. Pinch by one of Bowser's Koopa Troopa minions) is a feature of the Koopa Cruiser seen only in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. As its name implies, it is a somewhat small crane tipped with a pinching device used to pick things up.

Although a similar lifting machine appeared to snatch Luigi (then thought to be one of the Bowser Baddies) up into the Koopa Cruiser earlier in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the Pinch Crane itself did not appear until Mario and Luigi reached the second hold of Bowser's monstrous vehicle. Here, they found their destination of the Koopa Cruiser's deck blocked off by excess cargo, but one of Bowser's Koopa Troopas suggested that they use the Pinch Crane, or "Mr. Pinch", as he called it, to move the crates blocking their way. Striking a ! Block, the Mario Bros. managed to activate the Pinch Crane, although it targeted Luigi rather than the cargo. Once another Bowser Baddie noticed the Mario Bro. caught up within the crane, he proposed that they use him (what with his boosted position) as a lookout. This suggestion was decided upon, and, when Mario and Luigi finally reached the Koopa Cruiser deck by unknown means, Luigi did indeed watch over the path of the cruiser. As he did this, he eventually spotted Cackletta, who attacked him and knocked him off of the Pinch Crane. Throughout the scenes that followed (which included a simple battle with Fawful), the Pinch Crane simply acted as a background element, and it, along with the Koopa Cruiser itself, ultimately crashed into an unknown location.

However, Luigi had yet another run-in with the Pinch Crane during his solo quest to retrieve the Beanstar in Bowletta's poorly-repaired version of the Koopa Cruiser. Here, Luigi (partially disguised as Princess Peach) once again hit a ! Block to activate the Pinch Crane while running away from Bowletta and Fawful, and things worked out better this time as the crane moved a collection of crates in the path of the villains, allowing Luigi to save the Beanstar and complete his mission. The Pinch Crane was not seen again in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and, even though a past version of the Koopa Cruiser did appear in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (and even retained some of its recognizable features), the Pinch Crane was nowhere to be seen.