What's not to like about this series?
Most people take three things into consideration when voting on a movie: its humor, its animation, and how overrated/underrated it is, which really isn't fair, because everyone has a different sense of humor, and the heart of a movie past its graphics is what really matters most.
I personally find the Super Mario Bros. Z series to have it all. Every episode is full of fresh hardcore battle action, dialogue fitting to each character, plot twists, crazy camera angles, and varied gags which are often visual. Plus, it has a great deal of creativity among sprite movies, both in its usage of already-existing concepts and in its never-before-heard-of characters and areas. The storyline of this series reigns over others with good guys and bad guys because you can tell the villains never hesitate on their decisions and will stop at nothing to get what they truly want, which makes for some pretty intense battle sequences and close calls.
I found myself laughing at most of the jokes in this episode, even the meme ones. You've got to love Luigi's insecure determination. I think the close-ups and vector art were done just right, because they weren't alarmingly out-of-place. The 3D Doomship designed also seemed fitting in its Star Fox-esque simplicity.
Some of the pieces in the movie got me thinking. I hadn't really paid much attention to the silhouetted Dr. Robotnik until this episode where he looked at Sonic on the screen. In an earlier episode, it looked like Mecha Sonic destroyed him along with most of the Death Egg, yet somehow he seems to have landed in the Mushroom Kingdom, helping Bowser. I'm guessing since Eggman's still a dark, shady figure, this isn't meant to be revealed until he meets with Sonic again.
I really like Basilisx, for some reason. His similarities to a basilisk--the way he hisssses and freezes others into stone with a simple look--might be part of it and maybe his virtually indestructible outer body and wolverine claws might be another part of it, but I think most of it is his particularly evil cunning nature. He's a much darker character than most of the others, with his quick-thinking resort to trickery to take Mario down by using Luigi as his shield. I'd love to see more of Basilisx's demonic nature and battle ability.
This episode is not quite as epic as Episode 6 (which is definitely the most destructive episode, complete with the annihilation of an entire island), but with the cliffhanger of the Basilisx battle, this one definitely has that "has-all-hope-been-lost" intensity of the Metal Bowser battle in the second episode. I can't wait to see the next installment, and maybe--just maybe--it will take less than a year to make this time :P