A Super Mario World Episode 2

The Enemy is the second episode of the flash animated series A Super Mario World. It was released on August 3, 2005.

Plot summary
Mario and Link enter Bowser's Castle. They discover that the castle has been rebuilt to be all high-tech, and Mario feels a bit shocked because of this, as the castle did not look like it used to be at all. Link tells Mario to not let his guard down just because of that. They keep moving and soon come across a room with a lava pool where Bowser, riding on his Koopa Clown Car, appears as an hologram. He warns the heroes that he did not leave the area unguarded and soon disappears. Soon, Sonic and Knuckles enter the scene. They explain their reasons to oppose them is only to fight them and prove once and for all that SEGA is the best game company, breaking the fourth wall.

Link points to Mario a ? Block that may be useful for him, but when Mario tries to reach it, he is quickly repelled by Knuckles. Mario asks Link to fend off Sonic and Knuckles while he gets to the ? Block. Mario reaches the ? Block and gets a Cape Feather from it, transforming into Cape Mario. Mario quickly rushes at Link, who is getting badly beaten by Sonic and Knuckles. Mario saves Link's life in time by quickly tackling Knuckles into the lava. Sonic then runs away into another room. Mario and Link the go on his pursuit. Inside the room, Sonic uses one Chaos Emerald to transform into Super Sonic. Mario and Link prove to be no match for Super Sonic and as he is about to finish them, Super Sonic is attacked by Cloud from behind, reverting him to his regular form and defeating him. Cloud reveals to Mario and Link that everything was a trap intended kill them. He also informs them of an enemy way more dangerous by Bowser. The three then head to confront Bowser at the roof of the castle.

The heroes catch up to Bowser, who tells them that he is impressed that they have gotten way too far. Doctor Eggman then reveals himself, riding his Egg Mobile, revealing that he helped Bowser to build their "Bowser-Eggman Cruiser". Having concluded his job, he gets away. Bowser tells the heroes that he is not the true enemy and does not care about being defeated anymore. He also explains that Princess Zelda was just a bait to get them together and, thus, she is no longer useful to him, so he tosses her out of his Clown Car. Infuriated by this, Link rushes at Bowser and decapitates him. Knowing what is coming, Cloud asks Mario to take Link and Zelda to a safe place while he battles the greater foe Bowser warned them about. Mario takes off with Link and Zelda and flies away from the castle. Cloud prepares for battle, and suddenly Riku reveals himself to be the mastermind of everything. Cloud is at first disappointed (as he thought the foe was Sephiroth), but nonetheless, he engages in a battle to the death with Riku. The cartoon ends, leaving the battle unfinished.

As the credits begin to roll, it is revealed Mario took Link and Zelda to the border of Hyrule. Both bid a farewell to Mario (with Zelda even thanking Mario with a kiss) and enter Hyrule. Meanwhile, Mario goes the opposite way.

Characters

 * Mario
 * Link
 * Bowser (first appearance)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog/Super Sonic (first appearance)
 * Knuckles the Echidna (first appearance)
 * Cloud Strife (first appearance)
 * Princess Zelda (first appearance)
 * Dark Riku (first appearance)
 * Jigglypuff (cameo on bloopers)

Extras
Episode 2 is the only episode in the series to include bonus material known as "Extras". It includes a bloopers reel, video game ringtones composed by Cleod9 for his old Motorola cellphone and anime sketches drawn by Cleod9, as well.

Bloopers
These are the bloopers included in "Extras":
 * When Bowser leaves Mario and Link to confront his guards, rather than Sonic and Knuckles, the two guards are revealed to be other Marios (based on the sprites from Super Mario Bros. [from the NES] and Super Mario Bros. 2 [from the All-Stars remake] respectively), much to the surprise of the real Mario.
 * When Sonic is about to transform, rather than transforming into Super Sonic, he transforms into Jiggylpuff, Mario is embarrassed of this and easily knocks Jigglypuff.
 * Link does not move aside when the pillar comes down and is crushed to death, leaving a pond of blood.
 * Cloud crashes with the wall as he is about to save Mario and Link from Super Sonic.
 * When Mario is about to take off with Link and Zelda, he trips and accidentally drops them on the floor.
 * Rather than Dark Riku, the Burger King appears upon Cloud, much to his chagrin.

Reception
Episode 2 is among the most critically received works of McLeodGaming, only behind the original Super Smash Flash. Reviews on Newgrounds were mostly positive, with users lauding the action fighting scenes, the music selection and the animation improvement over the first episode. It was also praised for the extra content included. It was awarded a "Daily 3rd Place" trophy on August 4, 2005.

Trivia

 * Jigglypuff's sprites used on the blooper reel would be later reused for its playable appearance in the original Super Smash Flash.
 * This episode and Super Smash Flash are the only works of McLeodGaming in Newgrounds to have been awarded a daily trophy award.
 * If one takes out of consideration the intro of the first episode, this is the longest episode of the series with a running time of 7:40 minutes.