161 Fun Facts About Super Mario

Under which name did English-language manuals first introduce Princess Peach in 1985?

Princess Toadstool was the West's name for her from the first game's manual; in Japan she was always Peach, and Western releases only began to catch up in 1993 with Yoshi's Safari.

What power-up makes Mario grow bigger in the original Super Mario Bros.?

The Super Mushroom turns small Mario into Super Mario, twice his height and able to smash bricks; a hit from an enemy then shrinks him back instead of costing a life.

What color is Luigi's hat and shirt?

Green was all that set Luigi apart when he debuted in 1983's Mario Bros. as a straight palette swap of his brother; he only later gained a look and a personality of his own.

In Super Mario Bros., what does Mario grab at the end of a castle bridge to drop Bowser into the lava?

An axe waits at the far end of every castle bridge; touching it cuts the supports and sends Bowser into the lava, so Mario can win without landing a single hit on him.

Which small brown enemies are the first you encounter in World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros.?

Goombas, designed to resemble shiitake mushrooms, were added late in development; their walk was animated by flipping a single image back and forth to save memory.

Which company created Super Mario?

Mario has become the company's mascot, and games featuring him have sold hundreds of millions of copies across every Nintendo console.

What does Mario collect 100 of to earn an extra life?

Coins by the hundred earn an extra life in the original game, a rule most sequels kept; Super Mario 64 changed the prize, handing over a Power Star for 100 coins in a single course.

What profession is Mario officially described as?

Mario is a plumber. He started out as a carpenter because Donkey Kong is set on a construction site; the switch to plumber came with 1983's Mario Bros., set in sewers.

In Super Mario Bros., what happens when Mario touches a Super Star?

He becomes invincible for a few seconds and knocks out any enemy he touches; a fall into a pit or a clock that runs out still costs him a life, though.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, what flying vessels do the Koopalings use to invade the Mushroom World?

Airships end each of the first seven worlds; Mario boards one, reaches the Koopaling's cabin and recovers the magic wand stolen from that world's king.

Which actor voiced Mario in the 2023 animated Mario movie?

Chris Pratt's casting was greeted with scepticism, yet the film went on to gross about $1.36 billion, the first movie based on a video game to pass the billion-dollar mark.

In Super Mario 64, what loops endlessly under Mario's feet until he has collected 70 Power Stars?

A staircase guards the final Bowser fight and never ends until Mario has 70 stars; it feels endless partly because its music is a Shepard scale, an illusion of a pitch that keeps rising.

What is the name of the ghost enemy in Super Mario that stops moving when Mario looks at it?

Boo owes its two moods to a Nintendo designer's wife: Miyamoto said she was normally very quiet, but one day exploded over all the time her husband was spending at work.

In his 1981 arcade debut, what does Mario leap over as a giant ape rolls them down the girders?

Barrels are the first stage's hazard, sent down the sloping girders one after another; Mario can also grab a hammer and smash them for extra points.

Which mushroom-headed character tells Mario 'our princess is in another castle' in Super Mario Bros.?

Toad delivers the line after each of the first seven castles; it inspired a 2008 song of the same name by The Mountain Goats and Kaki King.

What is the name of Mario's hat-shaped companion in Super Mario Odyssey?

Cappy is a sentient hat from the Cap Kingdom who becomes Mario's companion in Super Mario Odyssey (2017). Mario can throw Cappy to capture and control enemies and objects.

Which item, introduced in 1988, turns Mario into Raccoon Mario, complete with tail and ears?

The Super Leaf, introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3, turns Mario into Raccoon Mario; after a running start he can take off and then float gently down.

What is the name of the realm that Mario calls home in most Super Mario games?

The Mushroom Kingdom is ruled from Peach's castle by a princess rather than a king: the Mushroom King named in the first game's English manual has never appeared in the games.

Who composed the iconic main theme music for Super Mario Bros.?

Koji Kondo found this theme the hardest of the game's six to write: he scrapped every draft that did not fit the rhythm of Mario's running and jumping, then started again.

Which Mario Kart item hunts down whoever is in first place, no matter who throws it?

The Spiny Shell, better known as the blue shell, arrived in Mario Kart 64 to keep races close to the end; Mario Kart 8 later added a way to fight back, the Super Horn, which can destroy it.

Which name did Donkey Kong's 1981 arcade instructions give the hero later called Mario?

Jumpman was the name in the English instructions; Miyamoto's own choice had been Mr. Video, and he later joked that a hero called that might have disappeared off the face of the earth.

Mario was dressed in overalls in 1981 so that players could see which part of him move?

His arms would have blurred into a one-colour body on so few pixels, so Miyamoto gave him overalls over a contrasting shirt; the mustache, likewise, saved him from drawing a mouth.

In Super Mario Galaxy, what celestial object serves as the hub world?

The Comet Observatory sits stranded when Mario arrives, because Bowser has stolen the Power Stars that drive it; as he wins them back, it regains the strength to fly across space again.

Which was the first Mario game to sell 60 million copies?

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe began as a 2017 re-release of a Wii U game that had sold about 8.5 million copies, yet on Switch it passed 60 million by the end of 2023.

Who was the voice of Mario for Nintendo from the early 1990s until 2023?

Charles Martinet crashed the audition as the crew was packing up, was asked to play an Italian from Brooklyn, and kept talking in a soft, friendly voice until the tape ran out.

Which is the final world of Super Mario Bros. 3?

Dark Land opens with a nasty surprise: each rescued king has come with a letter from the princess, but the seventh brings one from Bowser, boasting that he has kidnapped her.

What can Mario do in the Tanooki Suit that the plain Raccoon form cannot?

Become a statue: for a few seconds he turns to stone that enemies cannot hurt, and doing it in mid-air slams him down on whatever is underneath.

The Mario Kart series launched in 1992 on which console?

Super NES owners got it thanks to another racer: the game began as a two-player take on the solo F-Zero, and Mario's cast was only added a few months into development.

Which real-world metropolis inspired the Metro Kingdom's capital in Super Mario Odyssey?

New York is the model for the capital, a city of realistic-looking humans; the developers chose that look so the place would feel different from anything players expected of a Mario game.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, which Smash Ball move has Mario send a widening wall of flame across the stage?

Mario Finale fires twin streams of fire that spread as they travel, dragging rival fighters along with them towards the edge of the screen; it has been his big move since Brawl.

What is the name of Wario's partner who first appeared in Mario Tennis (2000)?

Waluigi debuted in Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 in 2000 as Wario's doubles partner, designed by Fumihide Aoki to give Wario a counterpart to Luigi.

Which feature of the Nintendo 64 controller steers Mario in Super Mario 64?

An analog stick reads any direction, where a D-pad knows only eight; the game leans on that precision, asking Mario to creep up on enemies on tiptoe and edge along narrow walkways.

In the Super Mario speedrunning community, what does "BLJ" stand for?

BLJ stands for Backwards Long Jump, a Super Mario 64 glitch: long-jumping backwards again and again on a steep slope piles up enormous speed, enough to fling Mario through solid walls.

Besides the basic spray, which F.L.U.D.D. nozzle does Mario start with in Super Mario Sunshine?

The Hover Nozzle is Mario's second nozzle from the outset, letting him float briefly in mid-air; the Rocket and Turbo nozzles are unlocked later in the game.

The Koopalings were long billed as Bowser's children; what has Nintendo called them since Miyamoto denied it in 2012?

Minions is Nintendo's word for them now: in 2012 Miyamoto said the seven are not Bowser's children and that Bowser Jr. is his only child, overturning what the manuals had said since Super Mario Bros. 3.

In Super Mario World, a Yoshi holding a Koopa shell of which colour can spit three fireballs?

A red shell in Yoshi's mouth lets him spit three fireballs; a blue shell gives him wings, a yellow one stomps out dust clouds, and coloured Yoshis hatch from Star World eggs.

What is Mario's cream-coloured star companion who grants the spin move in Super Mario Galaxy called?

Baby Luma joins Mario at the start and grants the spin; in the finale it throws itself into a black hole that is swallowing the universe, and the other Lumas follow to stop it.

Which animal does Mario become after grabbing a new fruit power-up in his 2023 side-scrolling adventure?

An elephant: the Elephant Fruit turns him into a burly elephant who swats enemies with his trunk, smashes through blocks and carries water in it to spray where it is needed.

Mario Segale, the man Nintendo's mascot was named after, was what to the company?

Its warehouse landlord, near Seattle: the famous story has Segale storming in over late rent, but a former warehouse manager says the name was a joke about a recluse none of the staff had met.

In Super Mario 64, who operates the camera that follows Mario?

Lakitu stops Mario at the castle door, introduces himself as a cameraman reporting live on the adventure, and from then on trails him with a camera dangling from a fishing rod.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, which Koopaling is the boss of World 1, Grass Land?

Larry Koopa, the youngest of the seven, steals Grass Land's magic wand and uses it to turn the king into an animal; beating him wins the wand back and restores the king.

In Super Mario Sunshine, which part of island life makes Yoshi vanish on contact?

Deep water makes Sunshine's Yoshi vanish the moment he falls in, an odd weakness on a tropical island; he also fades away unless Mario keeps feeding him fruit to top up his juice.

Which actor voiced Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)?

Black co-wrote the improvised love song "Peaches", which was released as a single and earned the film a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.

In Nintendo's 2023 Flower Kingdom platformer, what collectible rewards finishing a course?

Wonder Seeds are handed over at each course's goal, and a second waits inside the course's reality-bending Wonder effect: grabbing that one snaps the stage back to normal.

In Super Mario Sunshine, Bowser Jr. frames Mario for graffiti while disguised as which lookalike?

Shadow Mario is Bowser Jr. with a magic paintbrush: the watery blue double smears Isle Delfino with goop, and the real Mario is found guilty and sentenced to clean the whole island.

In Super Mario Odyssey, what does Mario collect to fuel the Odyssey, his hat-shaped ship?

Power Moons fuel the Odyssey; only a minimum number is needed to leave each kingdom, and once Bowser is beaten every kingdom is restocked with more to find.

Donkey Kong was first planned as a game starring which cartoon characters, before Mario was invented?

Popeye, Bluto and Olive Oyl were the planned cast; accounts differ on why they went, a lost licence or hardware too weak to draw them, and a new hero, ape and lady took their places.

In Super Mario 64, what is the name of the first course Mario enters through a painting?

Bob-omb Battlefield is the only course open at the start; its first mission, Big Bob-omb on the Summit, is won by grabbing the boss from behind and throwing him down three times.

Who is the final boss of the Western Super Mario Bros. 2?

Wart, a frog tyrant who hates vegetables, is the final boss of Super Mario Bros. 2; Mario beats him by throwing the vegetables spat out by a Dream Machine into his open mouth.

In Super Mario Bros., what does holding A while pressing Start on the title screen do after a Game Over?

Resume your last world: Mario restarts at the first stage of the world where he lost, with a fresh set of lives, instead of being sent all the way back to World 1-1.

In Super Mario Bros., what are the secret pipe rooms that let Mario skip to later worlds called?

Warp Zones hide in Worlds 1-2 and 4-2, where rows of pipes lead as far as World 8; with them, a game of 8 worlds and 32 levels can be finished by playing just eight.

Which Famicom Disk System game was reskinned to become the Western Super Mario Bros. 2?

Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic was a tie-in for a Fuji Television expo; it was reworked with Mario's cast because Nintendo of America judged Japan's own sequel too hard and too like the first game.

When the Western Super Mario Bros. 2 finally reached Japan's Famicom in 1992, what was it titled?

Super Mario USA was the title when the reworked game finally came home in 1992, four years after the West got it; Japan had been playing a different, harder sequel since 1986.

Which 1989 film famously previewed Super Mario Bros. 3 in its climactic video game tournament?

The Wizard got its scoop from a delay: a shortage of memory chips helped hold the game's American release back to 1990, and Nintendo used the wait to promote it on cinema screens.

Which 1992 Mario title came packaged with a mouse and a mouse pad?

Mario Paint was sold with its own mouse for drawing, animating and composing; its simple music tool outlived the hardware, as fans still use its sounds to build covers and remixes.

Which company produced the animated series inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3?

DIC Entertainment began work on the 1990 cartoon before the game's English character names were settled, so its Koopalings answer to different names from the ones players know.

What is the setting of Super Mario World called?

Dinosaur Land is where Mario, Luigi and the princess go on holiday after Super Mario Bros. 3; she vanishes while the brothers nap on the beach, and the rescue begins.

Who directed Super Mario World, with the series creator producing?

Takashi Tezuka had drawn every course of the first Super Mario Bros. with Miyamoto, the pair working on paper and waiting a day to see each one running in the game.

Which bouncing projectile replaces Mario's fireball in Super Mario Land?

The Superball, this game's stand-in for the fireball, does not skip along the ground: it ricochets off surfaces at right angles, and the flower that grants it can be won in the bonus game.

Which alien villain kidnaps Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land?

Tatanga is the last of the game's five bosses and shows himself only once the fourth is beaten; Mario fights him in the air, firing from the cockpit of a small plane.

Which game beat Super Mario Land to become the Game Boy's pack-in title?

Tetris became the Game Boy's pack-in after Henk Rogers convinced Nintendo of America's Minoru Arakawa it would reach a broader audience than Super Mario Land.

Miyamoto conceived a 3D Mario game during production of which 1993 title?

Star Fox was in production when Miyamoto, struck by what its 3D models could do, first imagined Mario in 3D; the idea was realised three years later on the Nintendo 64.

Which handheld received a remake of Super Mario 64 in 2004?

The DS launched with Super Mario 64 DS in 2004, and the remake reshuffles the cast: Mario himself is missing at the start and has to be unlocked, along with Luigi and Wario.

Which Super Mario 64 course holds Bowser's submarine?

Dire, Dire Docks holds Bowser's submarine: taking the star on its deck slides the course entrance back to uncover the way to Bowser in the Fire Sea, and beating that level makes the sub vanish.

In Super Mario Sunshine, where does Mario fight Mecha-Bowser?

Pinna Park, Isle Delfino's amusement park, stages the Mecha-Bowser fight: Mario rides the roller coaster and fires water rockets at the giant robot until it explodes.

Which 2020 Switch collection bundled 64, Sunshine and Galaxy?

Super Mario 3D All-Stars bundled Super Mario 64, Sunshine and Galaxy for the Switch in September 2020, sold only until March 2021 as a 35th-anniversary limited release.

Super Mario Galaxy's spherical planets grew out of which GameCube tech demo shown in 2000?

Super Mario 128, shown at Nintendo Space World 2000, had 128 Marios wandering a board that warped like a saucer; Miyamoto later said its ideas fed Super Mario Galaxy's spherical worlds.

Super Mario Galaxy was the first in the series to use what for its soundtrack?

A symphony orchestra was a change of course: composer Mahito Yokota first wrote Latin-flavoured tracks that were set aside, and Super Mario Galaxy became the series' first orchestral score.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Mario's spaceship is shaped like what?

Mario's own head is the shape of his ship in Super Mario Galaxy 2: its crew rebuild their wrecked craft in his honour, and he flies the giant face from galaxy to galaxy.

Which hidden galaxy unlocks in Super Mario Galaxy 2 once all 240 stars are collected?

Grandmaster Galaxy, unlocked by gathering all 240 stars, is Super Mario Galaxy 2's final challenge; its Perfect Run gives Mario one hit point and no checkpoints, so a single touch means starting over.

Which Mario game was the DS's best-selling title, with over 30 million copies?

New Super Mario Bros. (2006) sold about 30.8 million copies, the DS's best seller ahead of Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS, and its success launched a run of sequels on Wii, 3DS and Wii U.

Which fairy-like creatures does Mario rescue in Super Mario 3D World?

Sprixies, the fairy-like rulers of the Sprixie Kingdom, are bottled by Bowser in Super Mario 3D World; rescuing all seven is the goal, while the Super Bell turns players into cats.

Super Mario 3D World's 2021 Switch re-release added which subtitle?

Bowser's Fury is the open-world add-on in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (February 2021): a giant, corrupted Bowser rampages around Lake Lapcat, and his own son teams up with Mario to stop him.

What is Bowser's plan for Princess Peach in Super Mario Odyssey?

A forced marriage is Bowser's plan, and Mario chases him across kingdoms to stop the wedding, with his new ally's capture ability letting him possess enemies and objects.

Which accessory gained Super Mario Odyssey support through an April 2019 update?

The Labo VR kit's cardboard goggles gained Super Mario Odyssey support in an April 2019 update, which added a separate VR mode of short missions rather than the whole adventure.

What magical item does Bowser use to fuse with Prince Florian's castle?

The Wonder Flower lets Bowser merge with Prince Florian's castle and become a living fortress; in ordinary courses, touching one warps the level with effects like pipes coming to life.

Which 2005 DS title was Princess Peach's first starring role on a games console?

Super Princess Peach (2005, DS) was Peach's first starring console game; she uses Perry, a talking parasol, and emotion-based vibe powers to rescue Mario and Luigi from Bowser.

First imagined as an ox, Bowser was redrawn as which animal?

A turtle: Miyamoto pictured an ox like the Ox King of the anime film Alakazam the Great, but a colleague said the boss should be a turtle, so Bowser became king of the Koopas.

In Super Mario Bros., fireballs reveal the first seven Bowsers to be what?

Disguised enemies: only the Bowser of World 8 is real, and felling an earlier one with fireballs unmasks an everyday foe such as a Buzzy Beetle or a Hammer Bro wearing his shape.

Yoshi's tongue attack began as his surprise at Mario doing what?

Hitting his head: Mario struck the back of it, a blow later passed off as him pointing the way, and artist Shigefumi Hino's first lizard-like sketch was sent back as too reptilian.

Which two Yoshi abilities did Yoshi's Island introduce in 1995?

Flutter jump and egg-spawning arrived with Yoshi's Island (1995), which swaps the usual roles: Yoshi is the hero, turning swallowed enemies into throwable eggs while carrying Baby Mario on his back.

Which villain snatches Baby Luigi from the stork in Yoshi's Island?

Kamek, a Magikoopa, ambushes the stork because he foresees that the twin babies will bring disaster to the Koopas, but he grabs only Luigi, and Baby Mario falls to Yoshi's island.

Which Japanese name for Toad comes from kinoko, the word for mushroom?

Kinopio is Toad's name in Japan, a play on kinoko, the Japanese word for mushroom; Miyamoto has said he expected people to mix it up with Pinocchio.

Wario's name combines Mario with which Japanese word?

Warui, meaning bad, was fused with Mario to name the greedy rival who seizes Mario's castle in his 1992 debut, so for once Mario fights to win back his own home.

Which game first made Wario the playable hero?

Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994) made Wario the hero: thrown out of Mario's castle, he raids the pirates of Kitchen Island for treasure to buy a bigger castle of his own.

What symbol adorns Waluigi's purple cap?

Waluigi's purple cap bears an inverted yellow L, mirroring the upright L on Luigi's cap, just as Wario's cap flips Mario's M into a W.

In Super Mario Galaxy, how does Rosalina tell her backstory?

A storybook read aloud in her library reveals Rosalina's past, chapter by chapter, as Mario collects stars; director Yoshiaki Koizumi wrote it late at night so that nobody would find out.

Which Mario Bros. enemies were the forerunners of the Koopa Troopas?

Shellcreepers appeared in Mario Bros. (1983), where they can only be beaten from below: Mario punches the floor under one to flip it, then kicks it away, unlike the stompable Koopa Troopas that followed.

Why were Goombas added late in Super Mario Bros.' development?

Koopa Troopas proved too hard for testers, so Goombas were added last; with almost no memory left, the team drew a single image and flipped it back and forth to make it walk.

Which US arcade flop did Nintendo salvage cabinets from to make Donkey Kong?

Radar Scope flopped in the US, leaving Nintendo of America with about 2,000 unsold cabinets; Hiroshi Yamauchi handed the rescue project to first-timer Miyamoto, and Donkey Kong resulted.

Which fairy tale, alongside King Kong, inspired Donkey Kong's scenario?

Beauty and the Beast and the film King Kong are among the influences Miyamoto has named for the story, in which the ape is the hero's own pet, escaped and carrying off his girlfriend.

Which chief engineer co-designed Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. with Miyamoto?

Gunpei Yokoi, later the Game Boy's creator, persuaded a doubtful Miyamoto to let Mario survive long falls in Mario Bros., and suggested beating enemies by hitting the floor beneath them.

In Super Mario Kart's Battle Mode, what do hits cost a racer?

Balloons pop one per hit: both players start with three circling their karts, and whoever loses all of them first loses the duel in one of four special arenas.

Which new driving mechanic did Mario Kart 8 introduce to the series?

Anti-gravity sections let Mario Kart 8 racers drive on walls and ceilings with their wheels folded sideways; bumping a rival inside those zones gives a spin boost.

Booster Course Pass city tracks first appeared in which Mario Kart?

Mario Kart Tour, the smartphone racer, supplied the pass's city courses; its 48 tracks, released in six waves from March 2022 to November 2023, doubled the size of the Switch game they joined.

Which farm animal became a playable racer in Mario Kart World?

A cow: the Moo Moo Meadows bystander joined Mario Kart World's 24-racer grid after a designer's joke sketch of one driving a truck won the team over.

Why was the title Mario Kart World chosen over Mario Kart 9?

Nintendo's developers said they chose World over Mario Kart 9 to flag the open-map approach, with every course sitting inside one connected world; development began on Switch in 2017 and moved to Switch 2 in 2020.

Which animation studio made the 2023 Super Mario Bros. film with Nintendo?

Illumination, the Despicable Me studio, made the film with Nintendo, and the partnership carried on into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in 2026.

How did Miyamoto first meet film producer Chris Meledandri?

Miyamoto met Chris Meledandri through a Universal theme park project, the Super Nintendo World deal with Universal Parks; the two then developed the film together.

In the 2023 Super Mario Bros. film, Bowser pours out his love at the piano in which song?

Peaches, Bowser's lovesick piano ballad, escaped the film to become a real chart hit, debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 83.

Who voices Bowser Jr. in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)?

Benny Safdie voices Bowser Jr., who kidnaps Rosalina and hauls a castle into space in his bid to free his captive father, in the 2026 sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Who played Mario in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. film?

Bob Hoskins played Mario opposite John Leguizamo's Luigi in the 1993 film, with Dennis Hopper as President Koopa and Samantha Mathis as Daisy; Hoskins later called it his worst job.

The Super Mario Bros. theme was the first video game music added to which US archive?

The National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress added the Super Mario Bros. theme in 2023; its composer had scrapped a slower, laid-back first draft when it no longer fitted the game.

Which wrestling personality played Mario on television in 1989?

Captain Lou Albano, a wrestling manager turned actor, played Mario in the live-action scenes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, voiced him in the cartoons and danced through its closing number, 'Do the Mario'.

Super Nintendo World first opened at which park in March 2021?

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka opened the first Super Nintendo World on 18 March 2021 after pandemic delays; Universal Studios Hollywood followed in 2023 and Epic Universe in Orlando in 2025.

Which 2015 Wii U game marked the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.?

Super Mario Maker arrived in September 2015 for the anniversary, having begun as a course-building tool for Nintendo's own developers before the team saw it could be a game.

Which studio developed Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars in 1996?

Square developed Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996), bringing turn-based battles from its Final Fantasy series, and for the first time Bowser fights on Mario's side.

Which villains scatter the seven star pieces of Star Road in Super Mario RPG?

The Smithy Gang's giant sword Exor smashes into Star Road, scattering its seven star pieces across the world in Super Mario RPG; Yoko Shimomura composed the score.

Which developer made the first Mario Party games from 1998 to 2007?

Hudson Soft made the series from the 1998 original to Mario Party DS in 2007; when its key designers left for Nintendo's NDcube, that studio took the series over with Mario Party 9.

Which 2016 game was Nintendo's first mobile title from a major franchise?

Super Mario Run reached iPhones in December 2016 as Nintendo's first major-franchise mobile game; Mario runs on his own, so the whole game can be played with one hand.

Which four NES-era games are remade in Super Mario All-Stars?

Super Mario All-Stars (1993) remade SMB, Lost Levels, SMB2 and SMB3 in 16-bit style; The Lost Levels was Japan's original Super Mario Bros. 2, kept from the West until then as too difficult.

Toadette's Super Crown power-up transforms her into what?

Peachette is the result: the Super Crown, added in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, gives Toadette a Peach-like form with a double jump and slow fall, and its 2018 reveal inspired the fan-made character Bowsette.

What is Birdo's name in Japan?

Birdo is Catherine (Kyasarin) in Japan; the Super Mario Bros. 2 manual described the character as a boy who thinks he is a girl and would rather be called Birdetta.

Which childhood experience inspired Miyamoto's Chain Chomp?

Miyamoto said the Chain Chomp came from being chased by a chained dog as a child, the chain yanking it back just short of him; in Link's Awakening a Chain Chomp called BowWow helps Link.

Pauline returned in Super Mario Odyssey holding what job?

Pauline returned as Mayor of New Donk City, singing 'Jump Up, Super Star!' at its festival; she had been Donkey Kong's original damsel in 1981.

Why was Captain Toad chosen to lead his own puzzle game?

His backpack justified not jumping: the puzzle levels needed a hero who couldn't jump, an idea first pitched with the swordsman Link, and Captain Toad's heavy pack explained it when they surfaced in Super Mario 3D World.

Who supplies Luigi's ghost-catching vacuum in Luigi's Mansion?

Professor E. Gadd, a ghost researcher, saves Luigi from his first ghost with the Poltergust 3000, then hands over the vacuum so Luigi can search the mansion for Mario.

Wario, Mario's antihero rival, headlines which party-game series built from rapid-fire microgames?

WarioWare began in 2003 with Wario founding his own game company to get rich quick; its microgames last only a few seconds each, so players must grasp each one almost instantly.

Super Mario World was released in Japan with what subtitle?

Bros. 4 completed the Japanese title, Super Mario World: Super Mario Bros. 4, marking the game as the direct follow-up to Super Mario Bros. 3; Western boxes dropped the number.

When Yoshi is hit, Baby Mario floats away inside what?

A bubble carries him off, wailing, while a timer counts down; if Yoshi can't grab him before it reaches zero, enemy toadies swoop in and carry the baby away.

Which power-up made its debut in New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS?

The Gold Flower lets Mario hurl golden fireballs that turn blocks into coins and make enemies pay out more, fitting a game whose stated goal is to amass a million coins.

Which Japanese prime minister emerged from a Warp Pipe dressed as Mario at the Rio 2016 Olympics?

Shinzo Abe was promoting the Tokyo 2020 Games: a video showed him turning into Mario to travel by pipe from Shibuya Crossing to Rio's Maracanã Stadium in time.

After Mario Party's stick-spinning minigames hurt players' palms, Nintendo agreed to hand out what?

Gloves were part of a settlement with a state attorney general after about 90 complaints. Supplying an estimated 1.2 million of them could have cost up to $80 million.

In the original Super Mario Bros., the bushes are a recolour of which other background sprite?

The clouds and the bushes share one sprite in two colours. Tricks like it squeezed the whole game into 32 kilobytes of code and data plus 8 of graphics.

Bolted-on scenery and drop shadows hint that Super Mario Bros. 3 is presented as what?

A stage play put on by the Mario cast was a long-standing fan rumour, and the creator of the series later confirmed it.

In the 1982 arcade sequel Donkey Kong Jr., Mario takes on which unusual role?

The villain of the sequel is Mario, who has locked Donkey Kong in a cage. The ape's young son is the hero trying to rescue his father.

Mario makes a cameo doing which job in the NES boxing game Punch-Out!!?

The referee in the ring is Mario himself. The game went on sale as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, with the real heavyweight champion of the day as its final boss.

Bowser is called Kuppa in Japan, a name that his creator borrowed from which unlikely source?

A Korean dish, gukbap, is known as kuppa in Japanese. Two more menu items, yukhoe and bibimbap, were also considered as names for the Koopa king.

Which date is celebrated as Mario Day because its abbreviated form looks like the hero's name?

March 10 can be written Mar 10, which resembles the word Mario. Nintendo has officially observed the day since 2016 with game promotions and events.

The cartoons and films make Mario and Luigi natives of which borough?

Brooklyn is home in the 2023 animated film too, where the brothers start a business of their own after leaving Foreman Spike's Wrecking Crew.

Before her Japanese name took over, English-language Mario games called Peach 'Princess' what?

Toadstool was her name in the English manual of the 1985 original. In 1996 she used both names in a letter to Mario, signing it Peach.

From 1988, the NES Action Set bundled Super Mario Bros. on one cartridge with which light-gun game?

Duck Hunt shared the dual cartridge, and the Action Set put a Zapper light gun in the box to play it, alongside the console and two controllers.

What is the name of the ghost-catching vacuum cleaner that Luigi carries through Luigi's Mansion?

Poltergust 3000 blends the words poltergeist and gust. It is only the first model in a line, and the sequels hand Luigi upgraded versions.

Which track, usually the last in each Mario Kart game, traditionally closes the Special Cup?

Rainbow Road is typically among the hardest tracks to finish, because most versions have few or no guardrails to stop drivers falling off the edge.

A 2007 Olympics tie-in was the first crossover game to pair Mario with which former rival mascot?

Sonic was created by Sega in the early 1990s as a mascot to rival Mario. Relations warmed after Sega stopped making consoles in 2001.

The letter that opens Super Mario 64 invites Mario to the castle because Peach has made what?

A cake is the lure, but Mario arrives to find the castle taken over. He gets it only in the ending, when the freed princess bakes the one she promised.

The Warp Whistle in Super Mario Bros. 3 plays the six-note tune of the recorder in which other game?

The Legend of Zelda's recorder plays the identical six notes, and both instruments summon a whirlwind that whisks the player somewhere else.

Which actor played Luigi in the live-action Super Mario Bros. film, with Dennis Hopper as Koopa?

John Leguizamo's Luigi helps rescue Princess Daisy from a dystopian parallel universe, in the first American live-action feature film based on a video game.

Which graphics technique, also used in F-Zero, gives Super Mario Kart its pseudo-3D tracks?

Mode 7 lets the console rotate and scale a flat plane freely to fake three dimensions. The kart game itself began as a multiplayer prototype of F-Zero.

Seven years before the live-action Hollywood version, Mario's first movie opened in Japan as what?

An anime film arrived in 1986, the year after the original game. It shares the honour of first film based on a video game with another released the same day.

Ludwig von Koopa, the Koopaling with the wild blue mane, is named after which composer?

Beethoven inspired the look as well as the name: the Koopaling's long blue mane is styled after the composer's.

Which Koopaling, the smallest of the seven, is nearly always seen balancing on a circus ball?

Lemmy Koopa is named after Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, because the man who named him saw a character who would do his own thing whatever anyone thought.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, what does each Koopaling steal from the king of the land they conquer?

A magic wand is then turned on its owner: each king is transformed into a different creature and stays that way until Mario wins the wand back.

The seven Koopalings first became playable characters in 2014, joining a Mario spin-off as what?

Kart racers was their first playable role: all seven joined the roster of Mario Kart 8, where they can be heard saying their own names.

Roy Koopa, the Koopaling in pink sunglasses, owes his name to which singer known for dark glasses?

Roy Orbison's namesake is the second largest of the seven after Morton, and at first his shell was pink to match his head and shades.

The Koopalings were named after celebrities, but their looks were modelled on which real people?

The game's developers inspired all seven as a thank-you for their work. In Japan the characters shipped without individual names at all.

Hotel Mario, a 1994 puzzle game with Koopalings as hotel bosses, was released for which console?

Philips CD-i owners got the game through a licence left over from an abandoned plan for Philips to build a CD-ROM add-on for Nintendo's 16-bit console.

After their SNES heyday, the Koopalings returned in 2003 in the first game of which spin-off series?

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga had the brothers fight all seven at Bowser's Castle. Six more years away followed before a full redesign in 2009.

Morton Koopa Jr. is named after Morton Downey Jr., who was famous in the 1980s as what?

A talk show host who pioneered 'trash TV' in the late 1980s, Downey lent his name to the Koopaling because of his loud-mouthed style.

Which Koopaling guards the first castle in Super Mario World, fought on a platform floating in lava?

Iggy Koopa cannot simply be stomped out: Mario has to knock him off the platform into the lava. His name is a nod to the singer Iggy Pop.

Ludwig von Koopa, the last Koopaling fought in Super Mario Bros. 3, is the boss of which world?

Pipe Land's king is stuck as a Piranha Plant in the NES original, or as a Yoshi in the All-Stars remake, until Mario defeats the Koopaling who transformed him.

Most Koopalings fire straight magic blasts, but Wendy O. Koopa conjures which ricocheting shapes?

Rings bounce off every surface of the room. The shape fits her look: she wears big golden bracelets where the male Koopalings have spiked cuffs.

The Koopalings serve as the bosses of which Wii U entry in the Paper Mario series?

Color Splash has six of the seven guard the island's stolen paint supply; Roy is the exception, fought at the start of the final castle instead.

Morton Koopa Jr., usually the largest of the Koopalings, is known for which marking on his face?

A star is painted over his left eye on an otherwise white face. He also stands out from the other six for his much darker skin.

Among the seven Koopalings, Ludwig von Koopa is usually portrayed as which of these?

The eldest of the seven is also said to be conceited: he styles himself the group's leader, a claim the other six flatly deny.

How do the seven Koopalings appear on the roster of the Super Smash Bros. fighting games?

As alternate costumes for a single fighter, all seven are model swaps, so even the biggest and smallest of them stand roughly the same height.

Wendy O. Koopa is named after Wendy O. Williams, lead singer of which American punk band?

Plasmatics shows were notorious for chainsawed guitars, sledgehammered television sets and cars blown up live on stage.

In Super Mario World, Morton Koopa Jr. tries to crush Mario with which gravity-defying trick?

Climbing the walls and across the ceiling lets him drop on Mario from above, and Roy copies the same attack pattern later in the game.

In the 1990 puzzle game Dr. Mario, the player lines up coloured capsules to destroy what?

Viruses come in three colours and sit still until removed. Line up four matching capsule halves and viruses in a row and they vanish.

Mario's Tennis was the North American pack-in game for which short-lived Nintendo console of 1995?

Virtual Boy players peered into a binocular eyepiece at a single-colour display, promoted as the first system capable of stereoscopic 3D graphics.

Which type of vehicle did Mario Kart Wii add to the series, alongside races for twelve drivers?

Motorbikes can pull wheelies for extra speed on straights. The idea had been turned down years earlier, around Double Dash, because Mario on a bike seemed too bizarre.