Koopenstein

"Koopenstein" is the twenty-first animated episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. It is paired with the live-action segment "Baby Mario Love."
== Plot ==
Mario and his crew arrive in the Swiss Cheese Alps to rescue the villagers from King Koopa, now calling himself Dr. Koopenstein (hence the episode's title). Mouser observes the group has arrived and runs off to tell Dr. Koopenstein. Koopenstein is delighted at the news of his enemies' arrival since he has just finished building his Robot Monster Troopa, but the only thing that it is missing is a brain. King Koopa deems Mouser's brain too stupid to use, so he sends Mouser to capture Mario and Luigi so that he can use their combined brainpower for the Robot Monster Troopa.
Meanwhile, the Marios arrive at Dr. Koopenstein's castle and Mario stupidly announces their arrival so that they can be let in. Toad scolds him for his foolishness and decides to scale the walls and let them in from the inside. However, while Toad climbs, Mouser arrives with a troop of Shy Guys and captures the Marios and Princess Toadstool. Koopenstein attaches them to a machine to test the combined brainpower of the Mario Bros. and is sorely disappointed with the results ("What!? Impossible! A potted plant scores higher than that!").
Toad continues his climb but also runs into a group of Shy Guys. He uses a coin toss as a distraction and manages to escape. While Koopenstein curses about his failed attempt to get a good brain for his monster out of the Marios, Toad jumps in and creates a distraction. The Princess manages to free the Marios while Koopenstein clumsily falls into his own brain machine. Lightning strikes the tower and Koopenstein is hit with a surge of power, turning him into the Koopenstein Monster. The Monster then kidnaps the Princess and goes to terrorize the village.
The Marios confront the Monster but are no match for the creature's strength. Realizing they'll never beat the transformed Bowser alone, they go to get his Monster Robot Troopa. Using a joystick control (which kinda renders Bowser's need for it to have a brain in the first place utterly pointless), they manage to bring it to "life" and go for a rematch. The two monsters fight and seem to be evenly matched. Mouser attempts to steal the joystick, but Toad trips him. The joystick ends up near the fighting monsters and is stepped on by the robot. Mouser and the monsters are both hit by a power surge and fall into the river. Koopenstein is restored to normal and doesn't seem to remember anything about being turned into a monster.
With Koopenstein defeated, the group returns to the village where they are given Swiss cheese pizza as a thanks.
== Trivia/Goofs ==
* The episode's title is a spoof of the early 19th century gothic novel by .
* In the Region 1 DVD release, this episode was relegated as a "bonus" episode (in Disc Two) because its accompanied live-action segment was not included due for unknown legal reasons.
* The Monster Robot Troopa occasionally looks like a horn has been broken off.
* Though Mario claims his pizza is full of holes, it looks like any other pizza on the show.
== Availability ==
File:TSMBSS - Volume 2 (DVD, 2006) Shout Factory.png|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume 2 (DVD, 2006)
File:TSMBSS - Once Upon a Koopa (DVD, 2007).jpg|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!: Once Upon a Koopa (DVD, 2007)
File:Koopa Kronicles (DVD, 2010).jpg|Koopa Kronicles (DVD, 2010)
File:TSMBSS - Volume 2 (DVD, 2012) NCircle re-release.jpg|The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume 2 (DVD, 2012) (NCircle Re-release)
Category:Episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!