Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi’s Adventure Land :
An animated short meant for Bandai’s Terebikko system (an interactive telephone toy… thing) So there are moments Mario Dora the explore style pauses and talks into a telephone. There are also questions/ minigames that the player would have completed. Super cute animation! Subbed version here (x)
Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros. :
Mario mashed up with classic Japanese/ European fairy tales, such as Princess Peach in a Snow White situation, Mario as a tiny boy, Mario being born from a peach and being raised by some loving koopas, ect. Very surreal and great imagery. It has three episodes: (All can be found subbed here (X))
Mario Kirby Masterpiece Video:
A strange little Japanese educational video. Unfortunately not subbed of yet and is really text heavy. Can be found here (x)
Super Mario’s Fire Brigade:
Mario and Luigi scold and teach fire safety to some dumb kids lighting fire crackers, then save a woman and her baby from a burning house. They only show up for about a half of the short animation, but once is in some adorable firemen outfits. Currently i can’t find a sub of it (x)
And finally the most well known
Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!:
God this movie is glorious! A Mario anime movie that was only realised in japan, this is slowly becoming well known to the western Mario fans. The mushroom people in this are adorable and the animations is amazing. Very cute and whimsical twist on the Mario lore. A subbed version can be found here (x)
This here is Damsel, my pfp, my avatar, self insert, whatever you call it, it's me. She's kinda how I picture myself when I think about myself, what I want to look like... who I feel I am on the inside.
There's one more drawing of her... which is special, however she's not done
So uh... I kinda accidentally came out to family yesterday as trans, & while the reaction wasn't the greatest. I'm terrified with the world right now, but I want to be proud, so my first step was drawing what I hope to look like, but cartoon. Goodbye PrincessQueer, hello Damsel
I was inspired to draw Melee Peach and I had so much fun with it I wanted to create my own version of Daisy in Melee. I love them both, and think they turned our cute.
The next Smash Bros. game should cut the entire fighter roster and replace it with all the assist trophies from Ultimate like this would legitimately be a banger lineup
So... if you don't follow smash bros mods, there's this mod called Smash 1 who's adding Daisy to the 1.5 update and it's got me a little excited. That on top of me just always wondering, What would Daisy's alts be in Melee?
So the first five (classic, lavender, Blue, Green, red) I believe is what she would have if she was in Melee. The following 3 (orange, cyan, black) I thought of, if Melee had 8 colors to choose from like Ultimate and Smash 4.
I also added a sped up video of me making the drawings, also, there is a flash warning because near the end I flip through the various layers.
Colors:
Yellow - original
Lavender - Mario Tennis 64 Alt
Blue - NES Open Tournament Golf Start screen
Green - Original Gameboy Screen colors
Red - "ports" of Super Mario Land's Daisy sprites on the Gameboy Color and Super Gameboy, also doubles as Pauline
Orange - Based on Azalea, Daisy's unconfirmed sister and Beta design for Modern Daisy
Cyan - Based on the classic version of Captain Syrup, as that would've been her then design
Black - Evil Daisy from the KC Super Mario Kun Comics in Japan, acts as a counterpart to Peach's white
Mario is probably most well known for being the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, but before that, he used to be the hero of another place, a wide-spread bustling metropolis known for towering skyscrapers, constant construction and rampaging gorillas.
For this edition of Marioverse Sightseeing, let's hire a flying cab and take a look at the history of the city known as the Big-City, the City that Never Leaps, the Big Banana: the one and only New Donk City!
Arcade and the Game & Watch - 1980s
The concept of New Donk City can be traced all the way back to the very beginning of Mario's history, with many of the early 80's arcade games being set in construction sites or other industrial settings. Heavily featuring girders, barrels and conveyor belts, these elements would become iconic characteristics of the setting that would eventually be named New Donk City.
The first direct reference to the setting of these games is in Donkey Kong (Game & Watch, 1982), which featured a backdrop of tall buildings behind the Construction Site. Besides that, some interviews have described the setting of Mario Bros. (Arcade, 1983) as having "the feeling of an underground New York sewer system."
And then when we made the original Mario Bros. game, that was the first game that had pipes in it, [...] it had the feeling of an underground New York sewer system. [...] I thought what kind of guy would be there working on the pipes? A plumber!
- Shigeru Miyamoto, 2009
Donkey Kong - 1994
Released for the Game Boy, Donkey Kong is a sequel to the Donkey Kong series, taking place some time after Donkey Kong 3 and reimagining/expanding the gameplay from the original Donkey Kong.
It is the first game to firmly establish the location where the series is set in. Its first world is a direct homage to the original, featuring a construction site with similar layouts. It's second world, however, is that of the Big-City, a sprawling urban area filled with girders and construction equipment. This visual aesthetic for the setting of the Construction Site would remain prevalent throughout many games in both the Mario and modern Donkey Kong series.
As an additional connection, this game's second world, the Forest, seemingly takes place in the same forest Donkey Kong Jr. took place in, featuring a Stage inspired by the first level of that game, complete with Snapjaws as well.
Donkey Kong Land - 1995
The next appearance of the city was in Donkey Kong Land, also for the Game Boy. The game's fourth and final world (reached via zeppelin) is known as Big Ape City, and is stated to be "Donkey Kong's [now known as Cranky Kong] favorite stomping ground, Big City."
Like its predecessor, Big Ape City is a sprawling urban area filled with many skyscrapers and construction zones, making its link to Donkey Kong '94's Big-City (and later New Donk City) apparent.
Donkey Konga 2 & Donkey Konga 3 - 2004 & 2005
During the story mode of Donkey Konga 2, for the GameCube, Donkey Kong and his friends visit a large city seen off the coast of DK Island. As a main city in the Donkey Kong series, located near DK Island and featuring the iconic red girders, it's certainly the same one as the Big-City/Big Ape City seen previously. Cranky Kong being the one who suggests the DK crew go on tour there, solidifies this connection, as he'd already be familiar with the city.
Additionally, in the main singleplayer mode (Street Performance), Donkey Kong performs on the street of the city, while New Donk City will eventually be shown to be known for having a big music theme, with the New Donk City Festival and plenty of street performers.
The same city can also be seen in Donkey Konga 3. Reappearing in many of the game's menus once again.
Bonus: Donkey Konga 2 locations
In addition to featuring the iconic big city, Donkey Konga 2 also features a wide set of interconnected backgrounds which paint a clearer picture of the area surrounding the city: Snowy Mountain, Port City and Konga Land.
For starters, the city can be seen in the main menu of the game, seen from Donkey Kong Island. Assuming that city to be New Donk City, that would place the island somewhere south of the Metro Kingdom. The menu background also shows a large mountain to the east of the city, likely intended to be the Snowy Mountain.
Additionally, Port City is visible from Snowy Mountain, possibly being the near the port Donkey Kong (now Cranky) used to escape Mario during Donkey Kong (1994), placing Port City on the foot of the mountain, on the shores directly across from Donkey Kong Island.
The Konga Land theme park is also likely nearby, given the locations of the other stages. It features extensive Kong theming, such as the volcano, a Rambi carousel and even its own name, fitting right in with the other Donkey Kong theming found in New Donk City (street names) and Port City (which features bridges decorated with Rattly statues, as well as cafes named Cafe DK and Deli Conga! Conga!).
Given the DK-themed Snowy Mountain region also features winter villages and ski lifts, could it possibly be the location of Mario Kart tracks DS DK Pass and Wii DK Summit, as well as Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast’s own Snowy Mountain Courses?
Super Mario Odyssey - 2017
The latest and most prominent iteration of the city was in Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch. In it, the city (now named New Donk City, probably its official name) is shown to be a part of the Metro Kingdom, located halfway across the globe from the Mushroom Kingdom, and Pauline is shown to be its current mayor.
We know this is the same city as the previous ones, not only due to the abundant construction and metropolitan skyline, but also due to the city's New Donk City Festival, which commemorates the city's history via a series of large electric billboards depicting the events of the original Donkey Kong.
The city later reappeared in Mario Golf: Super Rush as its own golf course, complete with two different layouts built on top of the New Donk City Plaza and its surrounding buildings.
Honorable Mentions
Not every large metropolis seen in a Mario game is New Donk City, and while the ones described so far are all but confirmed to be the same, other locations can be speculated and theorized to be as well.
For example, the game Mario vs. Donkey Kong (a successor to the Donkey Kong '94 game and the original Donkey Kong series in general), takes place largely around different areas of a city filled with construction equipment, specifically World 1, World 6 and the final boss battle of both the regular and extra modes. Adding to that the fact that along the series, DK travels from his jungle island to said city (later even working at Mario's Toy Company) frequently, and that Pauline is often present, it's possible this city is also an appearance of New Donk City.
The game Mario Party 7 takes place in a cruise said to be on a World Tour, visiting various locations around the globe. One of these boards is Neon Heights, taking place atop skyscrapers over a city inspired by american cities such as Las Vegas, Hollywood, Cape Canaveral, and most importantly for this post, New York City. This makes Neon Heights another possible candidate for being New Donk City.
Thank you!
And that concludes our brief look into the history of New Donk City, a city that has always been strongly associated with the Mario and Donkey Kong series, going by many names such as Big-City or Big Ape City. A big thank you to @seandwalsh for helping tremendously with the research and basically co-authoring this post alongside me.
As always, I hope this was an enjoyable and informative read, and if you enjoyed this type of post, make sure to check Marioverse Discord server for more theories and discussions on Mario lore!
https://discord.gg/ARUSxjmcSS
