Actually it was right before Brawl came out. My graphic novel A LEGEND (of some sort) is basically a comedic homage to "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" and for a while, I was thinking about what Zelda game I could do as a sequel. I then realized the biggest comedic potential would be to have the "Link" character thrust into Smash Bros - and having to battle it out with people who are way more competent than him!
I needed a story hook, so I thought "what if one of them dies during the tournament?" which led to "What if Link has to solve Mario's murder?" which led to me plotting and doing partial scripts on A MURDER (of some sort), coming to Tapastic... some day? It wouldn't be "Mario", it would be analogue characters duking it out for a mysterious overseer while dealing with the pressures of this contest and the secrets everyone is hiding. Basically, Smash Bros as a mystery comedy.
...Steal my idea and i'll