Fact: The Mandibug clan is a group of bugs, lead by Bugaboom, with mandibles and concentric circles surrounding their pupils. They are the neighbours of the Honeyhive Kingdom and often cause trouble for the Bees who live there.
It’s time for a beetle! A beetle you can battle! But not Battle Beetle! It’s Mandibug! Check out its mandibles! You wouldn’t want to stick your hands between those! Or your entire body for that matter! Because Mandibug is huge! While we do like to talk about how most Donkey Kong enemies are the size of a gorilla, we still must recognize that most Mario enemies are still the size of an entire human person.
Unfortunately, bigger bugs mean bigger bruises, as these Weird Mario Enemies are in fact... enemies! As is true to the blog’s title. They’ll charge from a short distance, back up, and charge again to bite Mario in the behind! Or the front. They’ll bite Mario’s front too. They don’t discriminate!
While bigger bugs may seem like bigger buddies, if you don’t want a big bug bite, then you know how to take ‘em out, right? Give ‘em a stomp like any other enemy, and they will... hide! They have exoskeletons, a measly hop isn’t gonna take them out like all the OTHER enemies with exoskeletons you can take out in one hop! You gotta go the Full Randall. Check out the symbol on their back! That’s a symbol that appears throughout the series that says “Hey you! Time for a Ground Pound!” If you Ground Pound on a Mandibug’s back, it will be flattened, and it will die.
But maybe you’re not satisfied. You might be saying “Hey! I want TWO of these bugs!”
Well then get ready for the Mandibug Stack! On the bottom is an especially big Mandibug internally named the Stink Bug Parent, but I think we can do one better and call it the Mandibug Mom. With the Mandibug Stack, you get a big bug and a baby bug! The best of both worlds! Mandibug Stack is apparently treated as something pretty special by the game, it has its own boss theme, and even returned in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but for a miniboss, it’s not really that hard at all. It’s pretty much JUST a Mandibug that takes two ground pounds instead of one.
In the Puzzle Plank Galaxy, there’s this puzzle block that summons a Mandibug Stack when completed! So if you want to let a big bug into your life... you now know how. C’mon! Give it a try!