#albatoss

Every Mario Character Update #30 (WIP 2)

Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario Bros. 2 (FDS / NES, 1987 / 1988)

Name: Albatoss

Debut: Super Mario Bros. 2/ Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

Really pigeonholing myself with these birds, huh? It’s like I can nary contain myself from bringing them up! I better be casso-wary of how many puns I parrot, or people will be tired of heron’ them sooner than later, and that’d be a hoat-sin! Geococcyx velox.

Albatoss is, admittedly, a pretty normal and straightforward enemy. These birds will fly forward, and often drop Bob-ombs onto the player, as depicted in its artwork! But with such a plain design and concept, it’s easy to see why this enemy was never popular. In fact, its own purpose was upended by Bob-ombs themselves once Parabombs rolled into town!

Its English name, Albatoss, is a portmanteau of “albatross” and “toss”, but unfortunately, that’s where the similarities begin and end! A shame, because not only are albatrosses such a goofy animal, but it doesn’t even need to flap its wings to soar long distances! It probably would have made for a more memorable enemy than Albatoss, but at least Goonies were introduced later to fill this role!

You might be wondering why I brought up Albatosses if I don’t think of them as weird at all. The answer to that is I felt a sudden investment in the history of the Bob-omb, and while reading about Albatosses on the Super Mario Wiki, I found this!