Geno Reaches for the Stars!
Palette swaps based on Mario (red cape/hat, brown hair, blue symbol on hat), Mallow (white cape/hat, pink hair, light blue symbol on hat), Bowser (green cape/hat), and Peach (pink cape/hat, yellow hair, silver symbol on hat), along with
three of his capes from Mario RPG – the Fuzzy Cape, Fire Cape, and Stars Cape.
For a stage, most people would probably say Forest Maze since that’s where Geno’s introduced, but I’m going with Bowser’s Castle. Not only is it the cover and title screen of the game, and the shot of Exor embedded into the roof of the castle is a striking image, but seriously, how do we not have a Bowser’s Castle stage yet? That’s just baffling. Maybe it could have multiple areas like Garreg Mach Monastery (the roof with Exor clearly visible, the chandeliers where you fight Bowser and Boomer, a bridge suspended over lava…), or areas inspired by Bowser’s various castles throughout the Mario series.
For Geno’s entrance, it’s similar to his first appearance in Mario RPG – a Geno doll is sitting on the ground, and a star flies over it and possesses it, causing it to inexplicably triple in size in the process.
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Since Geno has five special moves and five weapons in the original game, I might have to make stuff up.
A --> AA --> AAA: Geno uses Finger Shot with his left and right arms before lifting up his arm to fire the more powerful Hand Cannon from his elbow.
Forward A: Star Gun – Geno shoots stars at his opponents, which are faster and more powerful than the Finger Shot, but don’t go as far.
Up A: Geno fires the Hand Gun into the air.
Down A: Geno does a slide kick – not all of my moves are going to be original.
Forward Smash:
Rocket Punch! Charge the attack to make it go farther
Up Smash: Geno Blast – it acts similarly to Palutena’s up-Smash, though the beam starts above him and goes down. The more you charge it, the higher the beam’s starting point
Down Smash: Double Punch – pointing his hands at the ground, Geno does a rocket punch with both fists, which loop in a tight circle before returning to his wrists.
Neutral Air: borrowing a weapon from Mallow, Geno clangs two cymbals together, creating a shockwave around himself. (alternatively, the star comes out of his body and shines brightly, knocking opponents away)
Forward Air: Star Rain – Geno borrows a move from Mallow by throwing out a star that launches diagonally downwards, bouncing if it hits the ground. However, since he hasn’t mastered it (somewhat ironically), it’s much smaller than Mallow’s version, being only a little shorter than Geno himself. (alternatively, he fires some pellets straight ahead - I just thought that Star Rain seemed fitting)
Back Air: Double Punch – Geno shoots both of his fists behind himself, though his body doesn’t change direction.
Up Air: Geno tosses a small version of the orange ball from Geno Flash into the air, which explodes, showering four red triangles similar to the fire plant enemies in Super Mario World. However, these only go to the height that Geno was at when he used the move.
Down Air: Geno tries lifting the Ultra Hammer, but the weight is too much for him, and it plummets to the ground, carrying him along with it. (alternatively, Geno shoots a projectile straight down while in the air - I picked my original idea because I wanted to go with something different from what Mega Man or Mii Gunner might have, but I realize that it's not exactly in-character)
Dash Attack: jumping up a bit as he runs/floats (not sure which would suit him better), Geno headbutts the opponent before skidding to a stop on the ground.
Wake-Up Attack: a star spins around Geno as he gets up, knocking enemies away
Climb Attack: Geno fires pellets from his fingers before pulling himself up
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Grab: Geno has a tether grab… sort of. His hands launch out, grabbing the opponent and pulling them back to him. Unlike other tether grabs, this does not act as a tether recovery, since there’s nothing to pull his body back to his hands.
Pummel: Geno headbutts the grabbed opponent.
Forward Throw: Hurly Gloves – taking a page out of Bowser’s book, Geno lifts the opponent over his head and tosses them straight forward.
Back Throw: Geno’s top half spins around (though his bottom half remains in place) before tossing the opponent in the opposite direction, similar to his forward throw.
Up Throw: Geno uppercuts the opponent, mixing it with a rocket punch to take the opponent higher.
Down Throw: jumping up a bit, Geno fires the Star Gun at a downed opponent.
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For his Up Taunt, Geno takes off his hat, pulls out a Honey Syrup, and uses it, causing the same visual effect from the game. It has no practical use, but it works as an explanation for how he can keep using his specials.
For his Side Taunt, he goes limp as the star floats out of his body, circles around it, and goes back in.
For his Down Taunt, he face-faults, which is a common reaction to foolishness in Mario RPG.
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The main gimmick for his specials, much like the game that he originates from, is timed hits. Pressing the B button at a certain time causes an extra effect, and usually does more damage or makes the special more effective in some way.
B: Geno Beam – I feel like I had to have this one. If you press B, it fires a quick beam similar to Fox’s, but it does less damage and like Fox’s, it doesn’t cause flinching or knockback. If you hold B, red stars will appear above Geno’s icon on the bottom of the screen. Let go when the third one appears, and Geno will fire the Geno Beam at the size that it is in the game, giving it much more range, power, and knockback. If you hold B for too long, the beam fires on its own as the small, weak version, so knowing when to let go is crucial.
Up B: Geno Flash – turning into a cannon, Geno points the mouth of the cannon straight down and fires. The recoil launches him upwards, leaving a glowing orange ball behind that explodes. If you press B at the peak of the jump, the explosion is much larger, gaining a face like in Mario RPG (I’m assuming that’s possible from a coding standpoint – I don’t know what’s practical)
Side B: you’d think that it would be Geno Whirl, but actually, it’s something that I’m calling Playtime. Floating off the ground a little bit, Geno dashes forward, ramming into his opponent. I wanted to give him some horizontal recovery. Normally, Geno stops shortly after he makes contact (or automatically, after a certain distance), but if you press B right as Geno hits an opponent, a giant ghostly Gaz appears, holding on to Geno, and Geno moves much farther than normal, regardless of whether or not anyone else is in the way. (he just smashes through them) I included this as a reference to Geno’s first appearance, where Gaz runs into Mario with enough force to knock him into a wall.
Down B: Geno Boost – red arrows move up Geno’s body as smoke billows around him, temporarily boosting his attack. If you press B right as the animation is about to end, it boosts his defense as well. However, the animation takes a bit of time, he doesn’t get any kind of a boost if he’s attacked while using it, and there’s a bit of a cooldown – trying to overuse it causes him to raise his hands over his head while nothing happens.
For Geno’s Final Smash, Mallow appears and uses Shocker – I had to include him somewhere! If it misses, Mallow has a surprised reaction and disappears. If it hits, it transitions into a cutscene where characters are transported to the roof of Bowser’s Keep. While the opponents are stunned by the lightning bolt, Geno throws out three Geno Whirls. The animation slows down before they hit, before suddenly returning to normal speed as they cut through the opponent in a flash. 9999 appears over the heads of opponents caught in it, and in the background, Exor is slashed in half diagonally, sliding apart anime-style. (if you’re on Bowser’s Keep in that part of the stage, Exor inexplicably repairs himself – I just figured it would be a cool shot, and a nice reference to how effective the move is on Exor) If the opponent’s at 100% damage or more, they’re KO’d. Once the game transitions back to gameplay, Geno and Mallow face the camera and do their victory poses before Mallow disappears. I figure this could be used for Geno’s classic mode ending, with Mario, Peach, and Bowser taunting while the two of them strike this pose.
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For his victory poses, one would be his win pose from Mario RPG, where he faces the camera and nods. Another references the ending of Mario RPG, where the seven stars surround him and he vanishes into a beam of light, returning to Star Road. His third has a scarecrow wearing blue sitting there, before Mallow dumps an Able Juice on it, causing it to turn back to Geno. Geno looks shocked, while Mallow laughs. His victory theme, of course, would be
the victory theme from Mario RPG.
When Kirby copies Geno, he gets Geno's hat, along with the Geno Beam ability. Like with Geno, three stars will appear above Kirby's icon to show the timing. Kirby's arms are a bit stubby to work as laser cannons, so instead, Kirby will fire the beam from his mouth, like how he uses Bowser Junior's cannon.
