Nintendo

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 19:15, 4 January 2007

"The Adventures of Lolo? You better have saved the receipt!"

Nintendo is one of the biggest video game companies today, known for its impact on the video game industry and influential games. The Brothers Chaps have praised Nintendo in many interviews and have made many Nintendo references on the Homestar Runner site.

The probable reason for the prevalance of Nintendo allusions throughout Matt and Mike's work is the central part the Nintendo Entertainment System played in their upbringing. Along with cartoons and breakfast cereal, the NES was an important part of their Saturday mornings as children. As one of their motivations in creating Homestar Runner has been to recreate this lost cultural experience, it is not surprising that they have infused their work liberally with references to Nintendo.

Appearances by system

The obscure origin of Strong Bad

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

• Super NES — The page title, "Super Homestario Bros.", is a reference to Super Mario Bros.
• The House That Gave Sucky Treats — When the pumpkin is placed in The Poopsmith's mouth to reveal an Easter egg featuring Homsar, the "secret" music from The Legend of Zelda plays.
• The Best Decemberween Ever — When Homestar Runner is looking through Bubs' stuff for a Decemberween present for Strong Bad, the first thing he pulls out is a Tag Team Wrestling cartridge. This NES game featured a team called "The Strong Bads" which is the source of Strong Bad's name.
• Email sb email 22 — In the beginning, the email 'song' (the tune he sings before he checks his email) is a song from the NES game Donkey Kong.
• Email invisibility — Before dying, the Tandy 400 reveals the famous Metroid password "Justin Bailey ****** ******" (in which the lower-case letters should be replaced by upper-case letters and the asterisks should be replaced by hyphens).
• Pumpkin Carve-nival — The King of Town dresses as Mario, and says "Sorry, King, but our princess is in another castle..." An Easter egg features the beginning of Stage 1-1 of Super Mario Bros., complete with a Goomba.
• Email japanese cartoon — In an Easter egg, you can click on one of Homestar Runner's tapes labeled NES endings to can view the endings from various NES games.
• Email mascot — An NES is among the old electronics that The Cheat pummels with a golf club.
• Population: Tire game — The Engrish page title "I FEEL ASLEEP!" quotes the game Metal Gear for the NES.
• Secret Collect and 50K Racewalker games — These games are apparently playable on the FunMachine, a parody of the NES.
• Under Construction — The entire fight scene is taken from the game Ninja Gaiden. Also, the credits include references to well-known Nintendo employees and the Metroid Morph Ball powerup.
• Email pom pom — When Pom Pom beats up Strong Bad, you can hear sound effects from Super Mario Bros. He also scores a "1-Up" after hitting Strong Bad several times.
• Peasant's Quest game — When the player attacks Kerrek with the bow and arrow, the game responds, "Here goes, Kid Icarus." The save screen in this game resembles that of The Legend of Zelda.
• Email montage — An Easter egg features a modified clip from the NES game Mike Tyson's Punch Out!!.
• Email Videro Games — The controller Strong Sad is holding in the instruction manual is very similar an NES controller.
• FAQ — The page title includes the words "Ouch. What do you do?" In The Goonies II, enemies would respond with this Engrish phrase when attacked.
• Stinkoman 20X6 game — The entire game is an allusion to the Mega Man series and contains a plethora of NES references.
• Email bedtime story — The Cheat and Moses Malone play the NES games The Adventures of Lolo and The Adventures of Bayou Billy in "The Ch8t's Cheatventures in Moses MaloneLand".
• Email highschool — Baby Strong Bad plays "better video games" with an NES controller.
• Sbemail 150?!? — Homestar wears the mask of a Snifit from Super Mario Bros. 2.

The Game Boy in a Blender

Game Boy

• Email 2 emails — Homestar claims to have built a time machine out of Strong Bad's blender and Game Boy.
• Teen Girl Squad Issue 10 — Tompkins plays the original 1989 Game Boy and claims to have Bowser "on the ropes", which is immediately followed by So-And-So getting hit by a Koopa shell. Shortly afterwards The Ugly One mentions Diddy Kong.
• Email alternate universe — The Cheat purchases an alternate universe portal made from a Game Boy in a blender.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

• Super NES and Strong Bad is a Bad Guy — Both of these toons were made using Mario Paint.
• Emails morning routine, cheatday, other days; The Li'l Brudder Show, Sbemail 150?!? — Strong Bad often mumbles the names of SNES games while half-asleep on the couch.
• RhinoFeeder game — This game is apparently playable on the Super FunMachine, a parody of the SNES.
• Email modeling — An advertisement for foot cream includes the phrase "GOT STINKFOOT?". In the SNES game Parodius, gaining a power-up will sometimes result in the main character saying "GOT A STINKFOOT?!" out of a megaphone.
• Sample of Style Too: Some Outtakes — The Brothers Chaps can be seen playing an SNES.

Nintendo 64

• Halloween Potion-ma-jig — Homsar is costumed as Tingle from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The list of "choices" he offers to Homestar borrows a phrase from the bank teller in Majora's Mask: "THAT'S A LOT! A LOT! A LOT! A LOT!" Also, The Cheat's costume and some of his actions and noises resemble those of Toad from Mario Kart 64.
• Thy Dungeonman III — One of the possible presents that the hag might have gotten is a Nintendo 64 Controller (called an N64 Paddle in this game).

Nintendo GameCube

• Email the facts — Homestar sings a song to the melody of the theme song from Pac-Man Vs. in an Easter egg.
• Why Come Only One Girl? — In the commentary, Mike and Matt mention The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The Brothers Chaps' personal gaming lounge?

Miscellaneous

• In the 2003 Pulse interview, Matt says, in Bubs' voice, "There was this one time when I hooked up my lawnmower to my Nintendo. And after that, I got the high score every time!"
• Bug In Mouth Disease — When Strong Bad removes his head from the TV, a room with an NES 2, an SNES, a black GameCube, and some Nintendo 64 game cartridges are visible.
• Several of the video game titles in the floppy disk container have been released for the NES or the SNES.
• Pigs on Head game — The LCD version is specifically designed after the generic look of the Game & Watch series of LCD games produced by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991.
• Scrolling Shooter Games Menu — The text in this game menu makes reference to the Mega Man and Star Fox series.
• Why Come Only One Girl? — Ganondorf, the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series is mentioned; Homestar Runner catches Marzipan in a bottle in the same way fairies can be caught in bottles in the series.
• In Fan Costumes '06, two people are shown dressed as Homestar and Mario. Upon noticing the face of the person in the Homestar costume, Strong Bad asks Homestar if he ate Luigi.
• A hidden picture in the chair reads "nice try dodongo!" Dodongos are unintelligent dinosaur-like monsters in The Legend of Zelda series.

See Also

• Atari 2600
• Sega Tapes
• Retro Gaming Character Variations