Mario (universe)

Mario
File:MarioSymbol.png
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto Takashi Tezuka
Genre(s)	Platformer Puzzle Racing Sports Party Action-adventure
Console/platform of origin	Arcade
First installment	Donkey Kong (1981)
Latest installment	Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Mario

The Mario universe refers to the Super Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from Nintendo's expansive and highly successful Mario video game franchise. The Mario universe is Nintendo's most lucrative franchise, and it is flat-out the most successful game franchise in global sales and in history. The Mario universe is a franchise of fantasy video games, and the most popular games are the fantasy adventure platform games called the Super Mario games. Mario himself is Nintendo's mascot and is considered the most well-known, most famous, and most popular video game character in the world; in fact he is more popular to Americans than other very well known characters like Sonic, Pac-Man, Bugs Bunny, and Mickey Mouse. He, along with his many friends and nemeses, have appeared in dozens-upon-dozens of Nintendo's video games, many of them best-sellers and several of which are considered some of the greatest games ever released. Directly as a result from this, there are more Mario-themed characters, items, and properties to be found in the Smash Bros. series than any other Nintendo franchise, not the least of which are eleven distinctive playable characters who originated from the series between Brawl and Smash 4: Mario, his clone Dr. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess Peach (who has Toad as an attack), Rosalina (who uses Lumas to attack), Bowser Jr. (who has the Koopalings as palette swaps), Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Wario. The Mario universe is so expansive, in fact, that the last four characters are considered stars of their own sub-universes: the Yoshi universe, the Donkey Kong universe, and the Wario universe. The Wrecking Crew universe is also a sub-universe of the Mario universe, although no playable characters hail from it. It is the most heavily represented universe in the Super Smash Bros. series, by far - Trophy, sticker, and item count from the Mario universe is higher than any other series. The amount of playable characters, though, falls second to the Pokémon universe (7 to 9).

Franchise description

By the beginning of 1981, Nintendo had developed a series of cabinet arcade games which were moderately successful in Japan, but its efforts to market them to Western audiences had fallen flat. In the most spectacular representation of this performance, thousands of units of an arcade shooter named Radar Scope, the first game Shigeru Miyamoto ever helped develop, were left sitting in warehouse storage. The president of the newly-founded Nintendo of America division, Minoru Arakawa, faced financial disaster, so he pleaded with Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi to provide him with a new game which he could install as a replacement into Radar Scope machines. Miyamoto agreed to the task of "fixing" the game so it would appeal to gamers, and instead of tweaking the original, he designed an entirely new coin-op game out of the Radar Scope hardware, and created new characters that could then be marketed and used in later games.

The finished product, Donkey Kong, became a huge success for Nintendo and moved 60,000 units by 1982. Its popularity was owed to the many differences from the maze and shooter games of the time that being the first example of a platform game with actual jumping mechanics afforded it; these included its multiple-stage structure and its visual approach to story and characterization. It is considered to be the earliest video game with a storyline that unfolded on the screen itself, with cutscenes in between levels establishing a love triangle between characters inspired by the Popeye comic. The eponymous ape Donkey Kong is the de facto villain, shown stealing away a damsel-in-distress (later given the name Pauline), and it is up to the player-character, a carpenter named "Jumpman" at the time, to save her. This was the earliest incarnation of the character that came to be known as Mario, and his design's most iconic elements were necessitated by severe pixel-based graphical limitations; he was given a mustache because that was the only way to show he had a human face, and he was depicted wearing colorful overalls to show he was wearing something more defined then a shapeless blob. Mario was given his official name in Miyamoto's modestly successful 1983 arcade follow-up Mario Bros., which also introduced Mario's palette-swapped brother Luigi, changed his occupation from carpenter to plumber, and introduced the idea of him using superhuman jumping abilities to fell turtle-like enemies.

Over the course of the North American video game industry recession that lasted from 1983 to 1985, Nintendo released the Famicom (the Western equivalent of which was the NES), which eventually found success as a hardware platform in its own right. Miyamoto began development of a successor to Mario Bros. for the console, and the game went through many ideas before settling as a side-scrolling platformer with a very clearly-defined diversity to its gameplay elements, onscreen characters, and setting. The 1985 release of Super Mario Bros. is labeled by many as the single most influential video game involved in not just the popularization of the side-scrolling game genre, but the direction the video game industry itself would take following the 1983 crash, and is often described as the game that began the modern era of video games. Almost all of the game's aspects have been praised on separate occasions; the precise controls, creative power-up system, and well-tuned speed and momentum mechanics came into play against a varied set of level-design obstacles and distinctive enemies, and Mario's whimsical quest through his newly-established setting, the Mushroom Kingdom, to rescue his love interest Princess Toadstool from the dragon turtle-like Bowser was timeless. The game became the best-selling title in the history of the industry, a record it held for over twenty years.

The Super Mario franchise indisputably became Nintendo's foremost property immediately, and Mario himself earned a permanent position as the company's mascot. It became a custom to release a steady stream of Mario-related titles for each and every Nintendo console and handheld launched in the company's history, and as of 2013, over two hundred games featuring Mario characters in some way, shape or form have been released. While many entries into the series enjoyed a high level of success, none of the subsequent Mario games necessarily had anywhere near as much influence on video game genres as Super Mario Bros. itself had, but there is one clear exception: Super Mario 64 was the core platform-based series' inaugural transition into the third dimension, released in North America in September 1996, with a free-roaming, non-linear design and an overarching collection aspect. A launch title for the Nintendo 64, it became the system's best-selling game and is given much of the credit for allowing the Nintendo 64 to attain the success that it had. The game set many precedents for the 3D platformer genre that would forever reappear in 3D platformers to follow, including player-character movement precisely dictated by the controller's analog joystick, a hub-based level design where each level accessible from the hub was a self-contained area containing a large variety of objectives to complete, and the first-ever "free" camera in a game with 3D environments, where the camera could be controlled independently of the character and was not rigidly fixed either to the character's position or a specific point in the level itself.

The Mario setting itself most often stars Mario, a free-spirited and heroic man with superhuman jumping abilities who is, by this point at least, a celebrity in the colorful and cartoon-like Mushroom Kingdom. His love interest and the ruler of the kingdom, Princess "Peach" Toadstool, regularly gets taken away by Mario's at-times-comedic trouble-making arch-nemesis, Bowser, and the most common setup for a Mario game is that Mario goes on an obstacle-laden quest to defeat Bowser and save Peach. Mario games rarely devote focus to lore or characterization; Mario, his world, and the established personalities that are his numerous allies and enemies represent Nintendo's primary "tileset" for creating colorful games of various genres that prioritize the quality of the gameplay itself, and Mario games sometimes satirize some conventions in video games. The Mario franchise is so big, and its side characters so thoroughly established, that several of these characters are the stars of their own semi-regular releases: Donkey Kong has starred alongside a simian supporting cast of his own in various games that, for a time, were primarily handled by British company Rareware; a pet-like dinosaur companion for Mario named Yoshi was introduced in the SNES launch title Super Mario World, and has been the focus of several of his own games; and a mischievous anti-hero equivalent to Mario who debuted in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins for the Game Boy, Wario, has starred in both his own platformers and a series of party games that deliver a more outward parody of video game trends.

The many games of Mario have explored a large variety of video game genres, and one genre the series seems to avoid making a purely Mario-centric title for is the fighting genre, a gap the series regularly fills in with its guaranteed appearances in every installment in the Super Smash Bros. crossover series:

• 2D Platforming: The genre most closely associated with the Mario brand, which was begun by Super Mario Bros. for the NES. These are linear side-scrollers that follow the same basic formula, for the most part (the Western Super Mario Bros. 2 played very differently because it was a Mario-series conversion of an unrelated game named Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic). While there was an extended period where new Mario games were no longer two-dimensional platformers, a sub-series focused on the official return to the 2D platforming formula, New Super Mario Bros., began releasing for each of the most recent Nintendo platforms, starting with the Nintendo DS in 2006.

• 3D Platforming: The seminal Super Mario 64 paved the way for 3D Mario platformers on each of the Nintendo home consoles that followed the Nintendo 64. In some ways, these are the "biggest" Mario releases; Super Mario Sunshine for the GameCube incorporated a radical gameplay twist in the form of the F.L.U.D.D. spraying device on Mario's back; a pair of Super Mario Galaxy games on the Wii placed all of the action on tightly-spherical settings; and the most recent games in this genre are Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS and Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U, both of which exchange the free-roaming world aspect for a more linear level design.

• Racing: All high-profile Mario titles in this genre belong to an officially-recognized sub-series called Mario Kart. Like several other Mario releases, the first Mario game in this genre, Super Mario Kart for the SNES, is credited for essentially popularizing a new genre in the video game industry, in this case the weapon and obstacle-based kart racing sub-genre. It is an as-of-yet-unbroken Nintendo tradition to release one Mario Kart game for each and every Nintendo home console and handheld system. As of the most recent generation in gaming, the most recent entries are Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS and the just-released Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U.

• Party: Yet another genre the Mario brand influenced, the first installment in the long-running Mario Party series was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999. The most recent game in the main console series is Mario Party 9 for the Wii, and a 3DS entry, Mario Party: Island Tour was released late 2013. In any Mario Party game, multiple players roll dice to move characters across a board like a board game, then compete in one of many dozens of available mini-games to amass a high coin total.

• RPG: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Star was a result of an out-of-the-ordinary partnership between Nintendo and Square, grafting the Mario aesthetic and reflex-based gameplay onto a JRPG format. This was the starting point for what would become a fair number of Mario-centric JRPGs that differentiate themselves from other titles in the genre by incorporating elements of timing and reflex to some of the standard battle commands. These are some of the only Mario games that feature a heaver slant towards storytelling. Mario has since established two entirely separate RPG-based sub-series: Paper Mario, where all characters are presented as flat paper-thin illustrations occupying three-dimensional areas, and Mario & Luigi, which is centered on cooperative combat between Mario and Luigi. The most recent Mario RPGs are Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, both for the Nintendo 3DS.

• Puzzle: Dr. Mario was a Tetris-style puzzle game for NES that starred Mario in a Doctor's costume throwing pills to combat differently-colored viruses. There have been some occasional puzzle games following this, but an official puzzle-based subseries entitled Mario vs. Donkey Kong began on Game Boy Advance, which pays homage to Mario's original rivalry with Donkey Kong. The most recent release is Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move for the Nintendo 3DS' eShop.

• Sports: Mario has a long-standing tradition of applying its aesthetic to a variety of team sports-based games and incorporating specific Mario-flavored twists. The two longest-running Mario Sports sub-series are Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, both of which are regularly developed by Camelot Software Planning, and Mario Sports games have also been based on soccer, baseball, and basketball. Even the Olympics have received one game per season (starting with 2008), and in an unprecedented twist, this series of games was the first-ever crossover between Mario and its former "rival" franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog.

In Super Smash Bros.

The Mario universe easily outnumbers every other universe represented in Super Smash Bros. in playable characters, stages, and items.

Characters

With two of the twelve fighters hailing directly from the Mushroom Kingdom and two other fighters (Donkey Kong and Yoshi) from branches of the franchise, Mario is the most extensively represented franchise in the Smash Bros. series from the start. HAL Laboratory originally planned to include Bowser as part of the Smash roster, but was removed for unknown reasons.

• 
  Mario: Appearing as a mustachioed man with a big nose and blue overalls, red cap and shirt, and white gloves, Mario is the undisputed mascot of Nintendo and is the most well-known video game character in the world. His apperance is based off Super Mario 64. He has appeared in many, many Nintendo games spanning a large variety of genres, such as platforming, kart racing, sports, and puzzle games, and in almost every appearance he is playable as the most balanced character of that game. He is made to be the most balanced character of the Super Smash Bros. roster, of which this is his first appearance in a fighting game, and new Smash players are encouraged to try out the game as him because of that. While he does not have glaring weaknesses, the fact that he is designed to have no especially powerful strengths either makes only high tier, not top tier.

• 
  Luigi: Mario's younger, lankier brother in green rather than red has always been relegated to the role of Mario series co-star. In many Mario games where Luigi appears, he is a selectable alternative character to Mario, such as in the Mario Kart and Mario Party game series. His apperance is based off Super Mario World. Games that came out after Smash 64, however, gave Luigi more important roles. In Super Smash Bros., Luigi appears as an unlockable, alternative fighter to Mario, with his own unique quirks in his fighting style.

Also see Yoshi and Donkey Kong.

Common Enemy

The Mario series is one of two universes in Smash 64 to feature a stage where a minor character appears as a stage obstacle, the other universe being the Pokémon universe (Silph Co.).

• Piranha Plant: A long-standing common enemy in Mario games resembling a sentient plant with a bulbous head with a gaping, fanged mouth. It first appeared in Super Mario Bros. as a common enemy hiding in the warp pipes that Mario would either jump over or travel through, and they damaged him either by appearing when he was about to collide with them or by breathing fire balls in his direction. The Piranha Plants appear from out of the Warp Pipes on the unlockable Mushroom Kingdom stage and will damage whichever fighter they come into contact with. These are, however, very easy to avoid, as they will not appear out of these pipes if the character is on them or standing very near them to begin with.

Stages

The Mario universe is the only franchise to feature in more than one stage in this game. Super Smash Bros. features the following stages that are specifically Mario:

• Peach's Castle: An elevated stage representing Princess Peach's castle from the Mario games, but many feel that it does not resemble Super Mario 64 enough. It has a decidedly non-traditional layout of platforms and an aerial bumper.
• Mushroom Kingdom: The game's one unlockable stage, Mushroom Kingdom is an audiovisual throwback to the original Super Mario Bros. It features suspended platforms and pipes to travel through with Piranha Plant hazards, like in the old game.

Also see Yoshi's Island and Congo Jungle.

Items

Likewise, there are more items based on Mario-based games than any other franchise. Including the Donkey Kong universe as part of this list will consequently include the Hammer as a Mario item:

• Bob-omb: A walking bomb that usually patrols around and explodes when it feels like in the Mario games, making it very dangerous to Mario to run into in his games. In some games Bob-omb can be picked up and thrown at an opponent as a volatile projectile; this is the style of Bob-omb usage featured in its appearance as an item in Smash.
• Fire Flower: A semi-sentient flower imbued with the power of fire. In many Mario platformers, Mario and Luigi can pick this up and gain the ability to launch fireballs from their hands. In Smash Bros., however, it is used more as a weapon that can be wielded to project a continuous stream of fire into the area in front of the wielder.
• Green Shell: Bowser's army of turtle underlings, called Koopa Troopas, come in several colors of these protective shells. Green-shelled Koopas often walk off the edges of platforms, and if jumped on by Mario, the Koopa will be ejected from its shell. The now-empty Green Shell can then be used as a weapon, either kicked at enemies or thrown at them. As a Smash item, it can be picked-up and thrown at enemies to do damage and often cause them to be sent flying a far distance.
• Red Shell: Unlike their green-shelled counterparts, red-shelled Koopas often patrol platforms from either end and do not fall off the edges, but can be ejected from their shell and the shell used as a weapon in the same way. As a Smash item, when set in motion, the red shell will spin by itself on the ground and head towards the X-position of the nearest character on the stage for a short period of time, and characters hit by it will receive some damage and be bounced.
• Starman: This coveted power-up found in many Mario platformers is a five-sided semi-sentient glowing yellow star that bounces around, and if Mario can touch it, he will be made invincible for a short period of time, during which any enemy that touches him will be defeated. It functions much like that in Smash, though opponents won't be damaged for touching you, but while under the influence of a Starman, you will not take damage nor will you be knocked back by anything.

Music

These are the following Music entries in the Sound Test related to the Mario series:

• 5: A remix of the original stages music from the original Super Mario Bros. It is in fact, a mixture of the World Ground and Underground themes. It is heard in Peach's Castle.
• 13: A perfect preservation of the original 8-bit theme from the first stage for the original Super Mario Bros, heard in Mushroom Kingdom.
• 14: A perfect preservation of the original 8-bit "Hurry Up" version of the normal stage music heard in the original Super Mario Bros. for NES, appearing in Mushroom Kingdom to replace the previous track when there are 30 seconds left to the end of the match.
• 15: The victory fanfare of Mario and Luigi is an orchestration of the standard "Stage Complete" theme heard in the original Super Mario Bros.
• 27: A remix of the "invincible" music that would occur when Mario picks up a Starman in Super Mario Bros. and other platforming games, and it occurs when you pick up the Starman item during a match.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee is far more substantial than Super Smash Bros., and the amount of properties from the Mario universe are increased proportionally.

Characters

Five of the 25+ fighters are Mario characters. Again, if counting the sub-universes, Yoshi And Donkey Kong may be considered additions to this list:

• 
  Mario: Mario returns, again designed to have neither egregious weak points nor any especially powerful strengths, and new Melee players are encouraged to try out the game as him as a result. His apperance is now based off Mario Kart 64 rather than Super Mario 64. His new side special move is the cape from Super Mario World. As a new player-friendly "jack of all trades", he is not a high-tier fighter.
  
• 
  Luigi: Returning as an unlockable character and alternative to Mario, Luigi gains his Green Missile as his new side special move. Like Mario, Luigis apperance is based off Mario Kart 64. Luigi is not a high-tier character, but his very long and floaty wavedash makes him excellent as a character to practice with when in the process of learning advanced techniques.
  
• 
  Bowser: A new fighter to the series with Melee, Mario's arch-enemy was heftier and slower than any other fighter thus far. Bowser is often made to be a final boss in many Mario games, while in several other cases he is a selectable character in games like Mario Kart. Bowser is constantly trying to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom with his army of Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and others. A brutish, oafish, and sarcastically witty character with the ability to breathe fire in all his appearances in games, Bowser is one of the most recognizable videogame villains, though there have been cases where he shows a limited capacity for good. As a fighter in Melee, Bowser wields great power and bulk, but is lacking in agility to the point where he is considered very hard to use effectively in the competitive metagame.
  
• 
  Peach: Another new fighter to the SSB series, Peach is Mario's love interest and is traditionally a damsel-in-distress for Mario to rescue from Bowser's clutches in the Mario series. She is the princess who assumes lordship over the Mushroom Kingdom with her half-sized mushroom-headed servants named Toad. She is often playable in Mario Tennis, Golf, and Kart games, however, and in many cases she will play in matches against Bowser himself. While she has always had a leading character role in Mario games, and had shown fighting abilities in Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario RPG prior to her appearance as a fighter in Melee, in 2006 she got her first starring role in Super Princess Peach for the DS. In Melee, Peach is able to spend a long time in the air with her ability to float. Somewhat ironically, Peach herself is the highest ranked character from the Mario series.
  
• 
  Dr. Mario: A new, unlockable, fighter that functions as a direct clone of Mario. Dr. Mario was a puzzle-game spin-off of the Mario franchise, released for the NES and Game Boy in 1990, in which Mario dons the garb of a medicine man and throws Megavitamins into a bottle to destroy three species of Viruses trapped within. It was re-released in several compilations and remakes for several different systems in the years afterward, with only one true sequel in Dr. Mario 64 in 2001. Dr. Mario himself as a fighter is a copy of Mario with slightly altered all-round specifications. In general, "Doc" is a little heavier and stronger than Mario but with a shorter reach, and he shoots out Megavitamins instead of fire balls. Some consider Doc higher-tier than Mario.
  

Half-Mario property

• In addition, a boss character named Giga Bowser is featured at the end of Melee’s adventure mode, and he is a character belonging to the Smash Bros. universe, but since his design is an alternative, mutated, and enlarged form of Bowser above, some consider him a "half-Mario" property.

Common Enemies

Melee features several non-fighter enemies as easily KO'ed obstacles in some stages of the Adventure mode. The first stage of the Adventure mode, Mushroom Kingdom, features set assortments of the following Mario-series common enemies:

• Goombas: These squat, walking brown mushrooms with faces are described as traitors to the Mushroom Kingdom that operate under the employ of Bowser. In classic Mario platformers, Goombas sidle from side to side and damage whoever they bump into, but they are easily defeated by bouncing off their heads. This is fully reflected in their appearances in Melee.
• Green Koopa Troopas: These turtle-like henchmen of Bowser's army retract into their shells when jumped upon, and while withdrawn the shells can either be kicked picked up and thrown at other enemies in many Mario platformers. Their green shells indicate that they and their shells will walk or roll right off the edge of a platform if they get to the edge. This is fully reflected in their appearances in Melee. Since most attacks will only force them into their shells, all varieties of Koopa Troopa must be grabbed to KO them.
• Green Koopa Paratroopas: An upgraded version of the Koopa Troopa, these sport wings and fly around in set patterns, and when Mario jumps on them in midair, they lose their wings and convert into Koopa Troopa enemies, in effect giving these enemies additional life. This is fully reflected in their appearances in Melee.
• Red Koopa Troopas: A red palette swap of the Koopa Troopa enemy, the red shell indicates that a Red Koopa Troopa will turn around and walk the other direction when it walks to the edge of a platform.
• Red Koopa Paratroopas: The upgraded Paratroopa version of the Red Koopa Troopa, this will become a Red Koopa Troopa when it is hit or bounced on once.
• Fly Guys: These appear as obstacles on the Yoshi's Story stage, however, carrying food. While they originated in the Yoshi universe, their main-species Shy Guy debuted in Super Mario Bros. 2, creating a cross-over between the universes.

Stages

Super Smash Bros. Melee features no less than ten stages representative of the whole Mario franchise, though only the four Mario-centric stages are covered below. For Yoshi-universe stages, see Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and Past Stages: Yoshi's Island, while for Donkey Kong-universe stages, see Kongo Jungle, Jungle Japes, and Past Stages: Kongo Jungle.

• Mushroom Kingdom: Princess Peach's Castle: Taking place on the rooftops of Peach's castle, this stage is far more representative of the castle in its Super Mario 64-onward incarnation. Giant Bullet Bills routinely dive into the stage and let off huge spherical explosions.
• Mushroom Kingdom: Rainbow Cruise: In homage to the final stage of Super Mario 64, itself an aerial obstacle course, this stage has a scrolling camera and players must battle along with it amongst the many moving and collapsing platforms.
• Mushroom Kingdom: The spiritual successor to the Mushroom Kingdom stage of the original Smash Bros., Kingdom is a similar throwback to the old Super Mario Bros., with appropriate graphics and audio.
• Mushroom Kingdom II: This stage functions as a throwback to Super Mario Bros. 2 much like the previous Kingdom. Pidgit and Birdo make appearances as stage obstacles.

In addition, a stage based on the Goomba trophy is used as the battlefield for the Event mode match Trophy Tussle 1. It is not available as a multiplayer arena. Completing the Event match earns the Goomba trophy itself.

A stage featured in Melee’s Adventure Mode but not available for multiplayer Melee matches shares the name Mushroom Kingdom. As the first stage of the Adventure mode, this designed in the style of a classic Mario platformer, complete with Koopa Troopas and Goombas as common enemies.

Items

Likewise, there are more items based on the Mario universe than any other franchise. See Barrel Cannon and Hammer for Donkey Kong-centric items:

• Bob-omb: Returns from Smash 64, essentially unaltered as a very potent throwable projectile.
• Fire Flower: Returns from Smash 64 essentially unaltered in function and purpose.
• Freezie: A new item hailing from Mario Bros. In Melee, when it appears, it slides in one direction and will fall off the stage if not picked up in time. It can be hurled at an opponent to encase that opponent in a slab of ice, and he will be temporarily immobilized as you whale on him and pile on the damage without any knockback.
• Green Shell: Returns from Smash 64, essentially unaltered in function and purpose.
• Metal Box: A new item based on the Metal power-up box introduced in Super Mario 64, which would change Mario into Metal Mario and give him much greater power but weight as well. It does just that as an item in Melee, turning the character temporarily into a living metal model of themselves and increasing his resiliency but also his dropping weight.
• Poison Mushroom: A new item. After the release of Super Mario Bros., a direct sequel was released in Japan afterward that would later be released stateside as "The Lost Levels", part of the package for Super Mario All-Stars for the Super NES, and it featured mushrooms that looked similar to Super Mushrooms but would actually hurt Mario instead of make him bigger if he grabbed it. The Poison Mushroom is a Melee item that looks like the Super Mushroom but will cause the character it touches to temporarily become tiny, and therefore much weaker.
• Red Shell: Returns from Smash 64 essentially unaltered in function and purpose.
• Starman: Returns from Smash 64 essentially unaltered in function and purpose.
• Super Mushroom: A new item based on the classic Super Mushroom powerup of many Mario games, starting from Super Mario Bros. onward. In many of its appearances, the Super Mushroom increases whoever grabs it in size and extends his life meter by 1. In Melee, touching it enlarges the character to make it bulkier and stronger for a duration of time. It looks nearly identical to its polar opposite, the Poison Mushroom, so if both items can appear in a match, it is hard for the player to tell what kind of mushroom it is when one of these two mushrooms appear, so grabbing it may be a risk.

Music

• 1: Princess Peach's Castle: An orchestrated remix of the famous stage music from the original Super Mario Bros, with elements of the same game's "underground" stage theme overlapping with it. It is heard on the Princess Peach's Castle stage in Vs. Mode, and also as the primary music of Mushroom Kingdom Adventure.
• 2: Rainbow Cruise: A medley of two Mario series tracks. The first half of the track is the remixed first half of an energized tune heard in Super Mario 64, while the second half is a remix of the underwater stage tune heard in Super Mario Bros..
• 21: Mushroom Kingdom: A perfect preservation of the original 8-bit normal stage music heard in the original Super Mario Bros. for NES, appearing in Mushroom Kingdom as the primary track.
• 22: Mushroom Kingdom (Finale): A perfect preservation of the original 8-bit "Hurry Up" version of the normal stage music heard in the original Super Mario Bros. for NES, appearing in Mushroom: Kingdom as the primary track when the match's timer is running low.
• 23: Mushroom Kingdom II: A perfect preservation of the original 8-bit normal stage music heard in the original Super Mario Bros. 2, appearing in Mushroom Kingdom II as the primary track.
• 24: Mushroom Kingdom II (Finale): A perfect preservation of the original Boss music in the original Super Mario Bros. 2 for NES, appearing in Mushroom Kingdom II as the primary track when the match's timer is running low.
• 30: Super Mario Bros. 3: A synthesized rock-based medley of the first stage music and the first overworld music in Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES. It is heard as a secondary track in Yoshi's Island and the single-player Mushroom Kingdom Adventure.
• 36: Dr. Mario: A synthesized remix of the first of two primary musics heard in Dr. Mario for NES. This is heard as a secondary track of both Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom II.
• 38: Mario's Victory: The victory fanfare of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and Dr. Mario is an orchestration of the standard "Stage Complete" theme heard in Super Mario Bros.
• 76: Hammer: Sped-up 8-bit version of the music that occurs when the player picks up the Hammer, in homage to the music that would occur when Mario would pick up a hammer in the original Donkey Kong.
• 77: Starman: A remix of the "invincible" music that would occur when Mario picks up a Starman in Super Mario Bros. and other platforming games, and it occurs when the player picks up the Starman during a match.

Full trophy list

The Mario & Yoshi trophy, a special trophy obtainable in the NTSC and PAL versions of Melee only via special events in Japan, or by hacking the game.

This list counts the Mario universe and all of its sub-universes.

• Mario's three game trophies
• Bowser's three game trophies
• Peach's three game trophies
• Luigi's three game trophies
• Dr. Mario's three game trophies
• Birdo
• Bob-omb
• Boo
• Bucket
• Bullet Bill
• Coin
• Daisy
• Fire Flower
• Freezie
• Goomba
• Green Shell
• Koopa Clown Car
• Koopa Paratroopa
• Koopa Troopa
• Lakitu
• Mario and Yoshi
• Megavitamins
• Metal Box
• Metal Mario
• Paper Mario
• Pidgit
  

  The Raccoon Mario trophy, in reference to Super Mario Bros. 3
• Plum
• Poison Mushroom
• Princess Peach's Castle
• Raccoon Mario
• Racing Kart
• Red Shell
• Starman
• Shy Guys
• Super Mushroom
• Thwomp
• Toad
• Vegetable
• Viruses
• Waluigi
• Wario

Relevant trophies from other sub-universes include:

Yoshi series:

• Yoshi's three game trophies
• Baby Mario
• Baby Bowser

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In a maneuver both traditional and expected, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is rife with Mario-based content. In addition to every previous character from the universe (sans Dr. Mario) returning, the sub-franchise revolving around series anti-hero Wario has been recognized as its own universe for this game, as well as Diddy Kong joining Donkey Kong as the second Donkey Kong rep. Yoshi returns as well. Discounting the sub-universes, Mario is third only to Pokémon and Zelda in terms of total characters (counting the Pokémon Trainer as three separate characters and Zelda/Sheik as two) and has twice as many stages as the next most represented franchise.

Characters

Four characters from the Mario franchise are playable in Brawl, not counting any sub-franchises, in which case the total number is eight. On the final character select screen (after all characters are unlocked), the first two columns are dedicated to the playable Mario characters, with the first column being the Mushroom Kingdom denizens, and the second column being the sub-series stars.

• 
  Mario: Mario, the face of gaming, was given a slight character model redesign for his appearance in Brawl. He is also armed with the F.L.U.D.D. this time around, replacing the Mario Tornado from the previous games. Like the rest of the Brawl roster, Mario has a new Final Smash. His is a massive fireball that expands as it engulfs the stage, called the Mario Finale. Mario is ranked 31st in the current tier list, his balance an impediment when others excel in many areas.

• 
  Luigi: Luigi returns as an unlockable veteran once again. He remains similar to his brother, but has been further differentiated from him with several new attacks. In addition, Luigi still retains his Luigi Cyclone, giving him another special move unique from Mario. Luigi's Final Smash, Negative Zone, creates a huge circular field of energy that has random effects on enemies caught inside. He is currently 28th on the tier list, his bizarre physics both a boon and a curse.

• 
  Bowser: Bowser also makes a return after first appearing in Melee. His newfound Final Smash is Giga Bowser Transformation, in which he transforms himself to Giga Bowser for a short period of time to increase his power substantially. Bowser is considered the least viable of the Mario universe characters, even when subseries are taken into account, clocking in at 33rd on the tier list.

• 
  Peach: Peach reappears from Melee. Her new Final Smash, Peach Blossom, involves Peach blowing numerous kisses that damage all enemies and put them to sleep while a vast amount of peaches fall from the sky. Though she has fallen from her high Melee showing to 19th on the tier list, she is still a solid choice and is still the highest ranking Non-subseries Mario character .

Boss

• 
  Petey Piranha: A recurring character in contemporary Mario games, Petey appears in the Subspace Emissary mode as the first Boss fought. He captures Peach and Zelda in cages, and uses them to attack the player. The player's goal is to free one of the princesses by attacking their cage. When Petey is defeated, the most damaged cage is broken, and the princess inside is saved. The unsaved one is then turned into a trophy by Wario.

Assist Trophies

The Mario franchise features easily the most commonly summoned Assist Trophy characters with a total of three (whereas no other represented franchise has more than one) - this total goes up to four when Kat & Ana (from the Wario series) is counted.

• Hammer Bro: A single member of the duo that Mario has fought since Super Mario Bros., Hammer Bro somewhat predictably tosses hammers at the foe when summoned, and then disappears.
• Lakitu and Spinies: Appearing in his original 8-bit form from Super Mario Bros., Lakitu throws Spinies at the ground, which wander around damaging players like they did in the original game.
• Waluigi: Luigi's mischievous and villainous answer to Wario, known almost exclusively through his Mario spin-off appearances. Waluigi runs to an opponent, stomps them into the ground, and then either finishes them off with a solid kick or a smack with his tennis racket.

Common Enemies

• Goomba: Appear as common enemies in the Subspace Emissary. They can be seen helping several of Bowser's minions in stealing Donkey Kong & Diddy Kong's banana hoard to lure the two Kongs into Bowser's clutches. They appear in later stages as well, such as the Great Maze, as common enemies.
• Koopa Troopa: Appear as common enemies in the Subspace Emissary. They also help steal Donkey Kong's and Diddy Kong's banana hoard.
• Koopa Paratroopa: Appear as common enemies in the Subspace Emissary. They also help steal Donkey Kong's and Diddy Kong's banana hoard. They float in midair, as well as hop to and fro. They are typically defeated in one or two hits.
• Hammer Bro.: Appears as a common enemy in the Subspace Emissary mode. They also appear as Assist Trophies. They throw several hammers at foes, however because they do not aim at enemies directly, the hammers are fairly easy to dodge, and do little damage.
• Bullet Bill: Appear as common enemies, and behave similarly to how they acted in Mario platformers, shooting across the screen to hit the player character.

Stages

In total, when sub-franchises are accounted for, 12 of the 41 playable non-custom stages are based off the various Mario-related games. Only the 6 stages with the Super Mushroom icon are listed below. For the Yoshi stages, see Yoshi's Island (SSBB) and Yoshi's Island (SSBM) (for info on the Melee stage). For the Donkey Kong stages, see 75 m, Rumble Falls, and the Melee stage Jungle Japes. For the Wario stage, see WarioWare, Inc. (the only Wario stage in the whole game).

• 
  Delfino Plaza: Based on the main hub area from Super Mario Sunshine. Taking place at first on a platform, the stage flies around and through the plaza area and touches down at certain parts, where the current area in the plaza itself then becomes the ground for the stage for a period of time, and then the platform swoops in and carries you to another area. The stage's movement mechanics seem similar to Melee’s Mute City.

• 
  Luigi's Mansion: Luigi's Mansion is based on the game of the same name. There are pillars in the mansion that can be destroyed to make the whole mansion fall apart. The Mansion eventually comes back together again.

• 
  Mushroomy Kingdom: While the two previous Smash games have featured Mushroom Kingdom stages based on the original Super Mario Bros., Mushroomy Kingdom is a full recreation of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros., apparently aged since the original Super Mario Bros from a vibrant green land into a barren desert. However, there is a twist—while the previous Mushroom Kingdom stages were in a pixel-art style, the Mushroomy Kingdom stage is a completely enhanced version of the stage, even featuring a fitting mix of the original Overworld theme. From time to time, World 1-2, an underground level, will load, instead of World 1-1.

• 
  Mario Circuit: This stage is taken from the Mario Kart series, and takes place at an intersection of a figure-8 track thats a bit like Figure-8 Circuit from Mario Kart DS, with Shy Guys racing through it on karts. Players can be damaged if they make contact with any passing Shy Guys.

• 
  Mario Bros.: A recreation of the classic Mario Bros. game, complete with enemies. A stage that almost completely throws the rules of Smash out the window, KOing opponents normally here is notoriously difficult due to the way the stage is arranged. Instead, the enemies are a player's main means of scoring KOs by using them as projectile weapons.

• 
  Melee Stages: Rainbow Cruise: A returning stage from Melee. It is basically unaltered.

Items

All these items are classified within the main Mario series. For information on the Hammer and Spring items, see the Donkey Kong universe page.

• Banana Peel: A staple "weapon" from the Mario Kart series which racers typically drop behind them so that racers behind run over them and spin out and get slowed down. In Brawl when it is thrown on the ground by a character, his opponents will slip on it and fall down if they step on it, getting slightly damaged and being temporarily incapacitated.
• Bob-omb: The Bob-omb returns from Smash 64 and Melee, essentially unaltered as a very potent throwing weapon.
• Fire Flower: The Fire Flower also returns from the previous Smash Bros. games without notable alteration in function or purpose. However, thanks to the new physics of Brawl, it can now be used while moving around and jumping.
• Freezie: The Freezie returns from Melee without significant changes.
• Golden Hammer: The Golden Hammer is an item in Brawl, originating from the game Wrecking Crew. It acts similarly to a regular Hammer, but it improved in every way. It is more powerful, is swung faster, and can even let the user float in midair. However, it is exceptionally rare. Also, like the Hammer's Headless Hammer, the Golden Hammer can become the Golden Squeaky Hammer, which is useless and a liability the character is trapped into "using" until it disappears (but at least its hammer head does not fall off so that opponents can pick it up and throw it at you).
• Green Shell: The Green Shell returns from Smash 64 and Melee, essentially unchanged.
• Hothead: A new item hailing from Super Mario World. This fiery sun-like entity travels across and around platforms and walls, damaging what it collides with, both in the original game and in Brawl when picked up and thrown by a character. The Hothead does not harm the character that activates it.
• Lightning Bolt: Hailing from the Mario Kart series, it does exactly what it does in the Mario Kart series, shrinking all characters on the field except for the one who used it. However, it occasionally backfires, and shrinks the player who activated it. It also may shrink every player.
• Metal Box: The Metal Box returns from Melee with the same basic function and purpose. It is also a mode on Special Brawl.
• Peach: Although debuting in Brawl, it can't be considered a part of the Super Smash Bros. universe as it only comes after Peach's Final Smash, Peach Blossom. It also heals some damage for the characters that take them.
• Poison Mushroom: The Poison Mushroom returns from Melee without significant changes, and also returns as a mode in Special Brawl.
• Starman: Returns from Smash 64 and Melee essentially unaltered.
• Super Mushroom: Returns from Melee basically unaltered in function and purpose.

Music

See List of SSBB Music (Super Mario Bros. series), and List of SSBB Music (Mario Kart series) See also Donkey Kong, WarioWare, Inc., Yoshi and Nintendo (which features some tracks originating from Mario games)

By far, the Mario series has the most music tracks in the game (not counting tracks based on musical motifs that originated in the Smash 64 series). Only tracks from the main Mario series are listed here (even then, not all are classified in-game under the Super Mario Bros. series).

• Delfino Plaza - Taken directly from Super Mario Sunshine, this was the music that played in the hub overworld of Delfino Plaza, with the "Yoshi" woodblock rhythm inserted at a point. It is the theme of the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Title/Ending (Super Mario World) - A remix/medley of two songs from Super Mario World--the title screen music, as well as the credits music. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage. This song is also played during both Mario and Peach's Classic Mode credits.
• Main Theme (New Super Mario Bros.) - A completely redone version of the theme that plays on the generic overworld stages in New Super Mario Bros. accompanied with the "Level Complete" theme at the end. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Ricco Harbor - This is the background music of Ricco Harbor, the second level of Super Mario Sunshine. This track is taken directly from said game, and it is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Main Theme (Super Mario 64) - The music that plays on many levels (with several variations) from Super Mario 64, this is taken directly from the same game. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Luigi's Mansion Theme - A haunting orchestrated version of the main theme to Luigi's Mansion. It is the theme of the Luigi's Mansion stage. This song also plays during Luigi's Classic Mode credits.
• Airship Theme (Super Mario Bros. 3) - An orchestrated remix of the Airship theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. A similar remix is heard in Super Mario Galaxy. It is used on the Luigi's Mansion stage.
• Castle/Boss Fortress (Super Mario World/SMB3) - A techno styled medley of the fortress music from Super Mario World as well as the boss music from Super Mario Bros. 3. It is used on the Luigi's Mansion stage.
• Mario Circuit - A techno styled remix of one of the most used track themes from the original Super Mario Kart, starting with the first Mario Circuit track. It is the theme of the Mario Circuit stage.
• Luigi Circuit - A remix of an oft used racetrack background music from Mario Kart 64, the first being the eponymous Luigi Raceway. It is used on the Mario Circuit stage.
• Waluigi Pinball - Completely redone, this is a version of the Waluigi Pinball racetrack background music from Mario Kart DS. It is used on the Mario Circuit stage.
• Rainbow Road - Taken directly from Mario Kart Double Dash!!, this was the background music that played on Rainbow Road, the final track in both this title as well as all other Mario Kart games excluding the retro courses featured in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii. It is used on the Mario Circuit stage.
• Mario Tennis/Mario Golf - A medley of various songs from both Mario Golf games as well as both Mario Tennis games for the N64 and GCN. It is used on the Mario Circuit stage.
• Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.) - A soothing remix of the very well known Mario theme song. It is theme of the 1-1 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Ground Theme 2 (Super Mario Bros.) - A more upbeat remix of the same Mario theme song. It is used on the 1-1 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Gritzy Desert - A completely redone version of the Gritzy Desert background music from the DS RPG Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. It is used on the 1-1 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Underground Theme (Super Mario Bros.) - An ambiance laden remix of the popular underground theme from the original Super Mario Bros. It is the theme of the 1-2 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Underwater Theme (Super Mario Bros.) - An eccentric song that remixes Underwater Theme from Super Mario Bros.: it first starts off as the original NES version, then becomes a orchestrated version and finally turns into a bluegrass version. It is used on the 1-2 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Underground Theme (Super Mario Land) - A remix of the underground theme from the original Game Boy hit Super Mario Land. It is used on the 1-2 variant of the Mushroomy Kingdom stage.
• Mario Bros. - A medley of the of stage starting theme based on Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik and the title screen jingle from the original Arcade game Mario Bros. It is the theme of the Mario Bros. stage.
• Power-Up Music - Taken directly from Wrecking Crew, this was the song that played when Mario grabbed the Magic Hammer. It is used on the Mario Bros. stage, and also plays when any character grabs a Golden Hammer.
• Chill (Dr. Mario) - A remix of the "Chill" music from the popular puzzler Dr. Mario. It is used on the Flat Zone 2 stage.
• Rainbow Cruise (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is the theme of the Rainbow Ride stage.
• Peach's Castle (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Rainbow Ride stage.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Yoshi's Island (Melee) stage.
• Dr. Mario (Melee) - Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the PictoChat stage.
• Mario Series victory theme - An orchestrated version of the "level complete" fanfare from the original Super Mario Bros.
• snd_bgm_A11_MLRPG02 - This track was originally going to be in Brawl, but was cut for unknown reasons. It is assumed that the track is a track from Mario & Luigi Partners in Time.
• snd_bgm_A12_MORINOKINOKO Japanese translates Mushroom Forest, this track was also going to be in Brawl. It is assumed that this track was the theme for Toadwood Forest, also from Partners in Time.

Trophies

Mario Mario Finale Bowser Giga Bowser Princess Peach Peach Blossom Luigi Negative Zone Striker Mario Striker Daisy Paper Mario Paper Luigi Paper Bowser Paper Peach Wedding Bowser Wedding Peach Goomba Koopa Troopa (Green) Koopa Troopa (Red) Koopa Paratroopa (Green)

Koopa Paratroopa (Red) Bullet Bill Giant Goomba Piranha Plant Lakitu & Spinies Hammer Bro Petey Piranha Buzzy Beetle Shy Guy Boo Cheep Cheep Blooper Toad Toadette Toadsworth Goombella Fracktail Wiggler Dry Bones Chain Chomp

Perry Bowser Jr. Birdo Kritter (Goalie) Ballyhoo & Big Top F.L.U.D.D. Poltergust 3000 Luigi's Mansion Ghosts Super Mushroom Poison Mushroom Starman (Super Star in the PAL version) Metal Box Lightning Golden Hammer Fire Flower Bob-omb Freezie Hothead Green Shell

Banana Peel Soccer Ball Waluigi Shellcreepers Sidesteppers

Stickers

Toad Rawk Hawk Starman Pianta Dice Block Toadette Super Mushroom Baby Bowser Bowser Space Kammy Koopa Perry (Super Princess Peach) 1-Up Mushroom Ballyhoo & Bigtop Banana Barrel Train Boo Bow Bowser Bowser Coin Bowser Jr.

Chain Chomp Coin Daisy Donkey Kong (Mario Superstar Baseball) Dry Bones Female Pianta Fly Guy Goombella Hammer Bros Item Box Koopa Kooper Lakitu Lighting Ludwig von Koopa Luigi Mario Mario & Yoshi Mega Rush Badge Millenium Star

Misstar Mouser Noki Peach Peach & Daisy Plum Red Fire R.O.B Shine Sprite Sidestepper Snifit Spiny Super Mario Bros Toad & Toadette Toad Turbo Birdo Vivian Waluigi Wario Yoshi

In Super Smash Bros. 4

In terms of the primary Mario universe, all four of the "main-universe" characters that made appearances in the previous game were confirmed to make return appearances in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U no more than three months after the games' official showcase at E3 2013. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi and Wario also return, while the actual Mario series gets two newcomers as well as a returning veteran:

Characters

• 
  Mario: In Mario's appearances in the two games, which were revealed as expected alongside the June 11, 2013 announcement of the games themselves, his blue overalls are brighter and less detailed than his appearance in Brawl.
• 
  Luigi: Luigi was revealed during the Nintendo Direct of August 2013, as part of Nintendo's "Year of Luigi" commemoration. His overalls are similarly slightly brighter and less detailed. Perhaps to make him more distinct from his brother, Luigi's trademark jump where he flutters his legs is being added to his character.
• 
  Bowser: Bowser, confirmed at the same time as Mario, has received the largest redesign of all four of the Mario series' veteran fighters and of all currently-confirmed veterans. His hunched-over posture from previous games is replaced with the more upright stance - and brightly-colored modeling - featured in modern Mario games, and this translates into various differences in his moves and attributes.
• 
  Peach: Peach's confirmation for a return appearance was posted on the official website in September 2013. She has also received aesthetic changes that exchange some of her texture-detail for brighter colors, and a new swirling-ribbon effect is emitted by her up smash. In addition to the ribbon Peach has been given some new heart and rainbow affects to her smashes as well.
• 
  Dr. Mario: Dr. Mario returns as a veteran from Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is the first character, along with Mewtwo, to skip one game and appear in the next. His moveset is mostly the same from Melee with little changes, now making him a more differentiated from his pure clone origins. His Final Smash is a variation of the Mario Finale that uses giant Megavitamins.
• 
  Rosalina: Rosalina was introduced in Super Mario Galaxy in 2007 as a central non-player character that Mario must ally with and work for on his latest quest to rescue Peach from Bowser. Rosalina, though sharing many design similarities with Peach, has a much different origin story as an enchantress who travels across the universe in her spacecraft, the Comet Observatory, and watches over the stars with her many star-shaped companions, the Lumas. In Rosalina's appearances in both versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, Rosalina is provided a variety of unique moves and mechanics centered on summoning Lumas and having them attack in tandem with her own physical motions and wand twirls, as well as letting them move toward and attack enemies on their own.
• 
  Bowser Jr.: Bowser Jr. is Bowser's spoiled son, introduced in Super Mario Sunshine in 2002 and from that point forward being one of the most recurring villains in the Mario series, alongside his dad. Bowser Jr. has also competed in sports and other activities alongside the heroes, often as Bowser's partner. He uses several different tactics in battle, including throwing Green Shells at Mario and flying around in his own miniature version of the Koopa Clown Car. He was leaked as a playable character in SSB4 during the ESRB leaks.

Assist Trophies

• Chain Chomp: It appears to act as how it did in the mainstream Mario games, dashing at the player to hurt them, but gets stopped by its chain.
• Hammer Bro: Acts the same as in Brawl.
• Lakitu & Spinies: It retains its 8-bit appearance from Brawl. The assist trophy has been sped up, making it more reliable.
• Waluigi: Wario's partner in mischief for the Mario series, Waluigi appears to function similarily to the way he did on Brawl, where he dashes at a random opponent on stage and stomps them into the ground.

Common Enemies

• Goomba: Appear as enemies in Smash Run for the 3DS version.
• Giant Goomba: A larger version of the Goomba appearing in Smash Run.
• Hammer Bros.: Returning from Brawl, Hammer Bros. are back as enemies in Smash Run.
• Lakitu: Similar to their Brawl appearance, Lakitus will throw spinies at players as a means of attack.
• Magikoopa: Appear as enemies in Smash Run.
• Bullet Bill: Appear as enemies in Smash Run.
• Fire Chomp: Appear as enemies in Smash Run.
• Shy Guy: Shy Guys appear as enemies in Smash Run for the 3DS version of the game.

Other

• Koopalings: The seven Koopalings (Ludwig, Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Wendy, Morton Jr., and Larry) all serve as Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes, using their own complete models, making all 7 of them (to an extent) playable characters new to Super Smash Bros..

Stages

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Mario Galaxy: A stage based on Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 The players fight on a planet reminiscent of the Gateway Galaxy from the first Super Mario Galaxy. The Starship Mario from Super Mario Galaxy 2 can be seen presumably flying past the stage with one of Bowser's airships in pursuit. The ship's captain Lubba can be seen piloting the Starship Mario. Two moons can be seen as well. It has been stated that the gravity is stronger towards the center of the stage, therefore players must use new tactics to win.
• Mushroom Kingdom U: A stage based on New Super Mario Bros. U; its setting will change among multiple variants when Kamek uses magic on the stage. These variants include Acorn Plains and Rock-Candy Mines.
• Mario Circuit: A stage based on Mario Kart 8's version of Mario Circuit. Unlike the similarly-named stage from Brawl, the stage travels to several parts of the track in a vain similar to Delfino Plaza from Brawl and Rainbow Road from the 3DS version.
• Mario Circuit (Brawl): The Brawl version of Mario Circuit also appears as a Familiar Stage. The graphics seem to have been updated.
• Delfino Plaza: The stage returns from Brawl with updated visuals. Beyond the higher quality graphics, the stage appears to be unchanged from Brawl.
• Luigi's Mansion: The originally unlockable stage also returns from Brawl, but it is now available from the start. No gameplay changes have been discovered yet, but the stage has been updated aesthetically with HD graphics.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• 3D Land: A scrolling stage based on Super Mario 3D Land. The players fight through both an area resembling World 1-1from said game as well as an area taking place on spinning platforms suspended above water and spiked pillars that destroy the platforms.
• Rainbow Road: Rainbow Road - in its numerous incarnations - is a reoccurring racing course in the Mario Kart series. Here it appears as it did in Mario Kart 7. The stage will be cruise-type, taking place on a central rainbow platform which flies through the entire course, landing in certain locations. Shy Guy racers can be found on the stage, colliding into players.
• Golden Plains: A stage based on New Super Mario Bros. 2. The stage is filled with coins, and by collecting 100 coins a character becomes a gold version of themselves and can dish out more damage.
• Paper Mario: A stage based on several locations from the Paper Mario games, including Hither Thither Hill from Paper Mario: Sticker Star and the S.S. Flavion from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
• Mushroomy Kingdom: remains unchanged from Brawl, albeit with World 1-2 removed.

Items

• Banana Peel: The Banana Peel returns in Smash 4.
• Fire Flower: The Fire Flower returns in Smash 4.
• Green Shell: The Green Shell returns in Smash 4.
• Bob-omb: The Bob-omb returns in Smash 4.
• Super Mushroom: The Super Mushroom returns in Smash 4.
• Lightning Bolt: The Lightning Bolt returns in Smash 4.
• Golden Hammer: The Golden Hammer returns in Smash 4.
• Hothead: The Hothead returns in Smash 4.
• Poison Mushroom: The Poison Mushroom returns in Smash 4.
• POW Block: A new throwable item introduced in the April 2014 Smash Bros. Direct. It launches grounded opponents into the air when hit, much like the POW Blocks in the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario Bros. stages in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl respectively. Much like it's previous appearances as stage elements, it shrinks after each consecutive hit and can be hit a total of three times per block.
• Fire Bar: A new battering weapon introduced in the April 2014 Smash Bros. Direct. It consists of several fireballs projecting from a metal block. Every second time it makes contact with something, it loses a fireball.
• Spiny Shell: A new throwable item introduced in press images. When thrown, it locks onto an opponent, hovers for a moment, then strikes.
• Super Leaf: A new item shown in one of a number of press images released at the same time as the April 2014 Smash Bros. Direct. It gives the user raccoon-style ears and a tail, and is known to give characters the ability to float in midair. It has also been stated that attacking with the tail is an idea that has not yet been put into action.
• Boomerang: A new item shown in one of a number of press images released at the same time as the April 2014 Smash Bros. Direct. The Boomerang can be thrown at opponents as a throwable weapon. When caught, its power increases. Boomerangs can be caught by opponents for their own use.
• Bullet Bill: A new item first revealed in the Director's Room Miiverse community. A player who picks it up can transform into a Bullet Bill and ram into opponents.
• Starman: The Starman is confirmed to return in Smash 4.
• Freezie: The Freezie returns in Smash 4.
• Metal Box: The Metal Box returns in Smash 4.
• Soccer Ball: The Soccer Ball returns in Smash 4.

Music

• Super Mario 3D Land Theme / Beach Theme: A combo of the World 1-1 theme and beach level theme from Super Mario 3D Land. Plays on 3D Land and Delfino Plaza.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 Medley: This track is a medley of five songs from Super Mario Bros. 3: the "athletic" theme, the level clear theme, the World 4 map, the Hammer Bros.' theme, and the fanfare when Mario dies. Plays on 3D Land in the 3DS version and Mushroom Kingdom U in the Wii U version.
• Athletic Theme / Ground Theme (New Super Mario Bros. 2): This is a remix of the "athletic" or "ground" theme that appears in New Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2. Plays on Golden Plains and Mushroom Kingdom U.
• Delfino Plaza: Taken directly from Super Mario Sunshine, this was the music that played in the hub overworld of Delfino Plaza, with the "Yoshi" woodblock rhythm inserted at a point. It plays on the returning Delfino Plaza stage.
• Main Theme (New Super Mario Bros.): A returning remix from Brawl.It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Main Theme (Super Mario 64): The music that plays on many levels from Super Mario 64, this is taken directly from the same game. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Rainbow Cruise (Melee): Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Princess Peach's Castle (Melee): Taken directly from Melee. It is used on the Delfino Plaza stage.
• Mario Circuit: A returning remix from Brawl. It plays on Mario Circuit from Brawl.
• Rainbow Road Medley: A medley of different versions of the Rainbow Road track music from three Mario Kart handheld titles: Mario Kart 7 for Nintendo 3DS, Mario Kart DS for Nintendo DS, and Mario Kart: Super Circuit for Game Boy Advance. Plays on Rainbow Road and Mario Circuit.
• Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 7): The Rainbow Road track taken directly from Mario Kart 7. Plays on Rainbow Road and Mario Circuit.
• Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 8): The Rainbow Road track ripped directly from Mario Kart 8. Plays on Mario Circuit.
• Paper Mario Medley: This track is a medley of three songs: the fields theme from Paper Mario: Sticker Star, the Rogueport track from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and then Bowser Jr.'s Flotilla from Sticker Star. Plays on Paper Mario and Woolly World.
• Try, Try Again: A remixed version of the real world battle theme from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Plays on Paper Mario and Woolly World.
• Title/Ending (Super Mario World) - A remix/medley of two songs from Super Mario World--the title screen music, as well as the credits music. It plays on Yoshi's Island from Melee.
• Ground Theme (Super Mario Bros.): This remix of the World 1-1 music from Super Mario Bros. is taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Plays on Mushroomy Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom U.
• Underground Theme (Super Mario Bros.): This remix of the World 1-2 music from Super Mario Bros. is taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Plays on Mushroomy Kingdom.
• Underground Theme (Super Mario Land.): A returning remix from Brawl. It plays on Luigi's Mansion.
• Rainbow Cruise: Rainbow Cruise is a medley of the "Slider" theme from Super Mario 64, which is also the Rainbow Ride level music, and the Underwater Theme from Super Mario Bros. This medley is taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Melee, where it played on the Rainbow Cruise stage. It also played in Brawl on the same stage. This plays on Delfino Plaza.
• Dr. Mario: A returning remix of the Fever theme from Dr. Mario, this arrangement appeared in both Melee and Brawl. Plays on Pictochat 2 in the 3DS version and Flat Zone X in the Wii U version.
• Good Egg Galaxy: The first full level of Super Mario Galaxy. It was initially heard during the Wii U stages segment of the April 2014 Nintendo Direct. It plays on Mario Galaxy.
• Gusty Garden Galaxy: Also from Super Mario Galaxy. It was initially heard during Rosalina's debut trailer and again heard during the April 2014 Nintendo Direct. It plays on Mario Galaxy.
• Comet Observatory: A new take on the music that would play in Super Mario Galaxy's HUB, the Comet Observatory. It was heard during the Rosalina segment of the April 2014 Nintendo Direct. It plays on Mario Galaxy.
• Ground BGM / Undeground BGM (Super Mario Brothers): A remixed version of the World 1-1, World 2-2, and World 1-4 songs from the original Super Mario Bros. It plays on Mushroom Kingdom U in the Wii U version and on Golden Plains in the 3DS version.
• Mario Bros.: A returning remix from Brawl. It plays on the returning 75 m stage.

Trophies

These are all of the known trophies from the Mario series.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• Mario
• Luigi
• Bowser
• Peach
• Dr. Mario
• Rosalina & Luma
• Bowser Jr.
• Toad
• Goomba
• Paratroopa (red)
• Bullet Bill
• Bill Blaster
• Buzzy Beetle
• Piranha Plant
• Cheep Cheep
• Blooper
• Fire Bar
• Super Mushroom
• Question Block
• Thwomp
• Chain Chomp
• P-Switch
• Magikoopa
• Wiggler
• Paper Peach
• Boomerang Mario
• Shy Guy
• Blue Sky Guy
• Yellow Shy Guy
• Green Sky Guy
• Bruiser
• Waluigi

Games with elements from or in the Super Smash Bros. series

Mario Bros.

Mario Bros.

The first Mario game introduced Luigi. It also contributes a stage that is based on the first level.

• Luigi, who premiered in this game, is an unlockable character for all games other than Smash 4, where he is starter. Luigi's white costume is also reminiscent of what he wore in the NES version of this game. Additionally, his fireballs are identical to the green ones that are seen in this game.
• The Freezie enemies in this game became an Item in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• The Shellcreeper enemies are the predecessors to the Koopa Troopas, which play many roles in the series.
• Coins make their first appearance in this game as collectable bonus items.
• Fireballs also make a debut, though the Mario Bros. are unable to control these. They would later do so in the successor to this game, Super Mario Bros., but only the red fireballs exist.
• One of the levels appear as a stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl under the same name as the game, but Freezies, Red Fireballs, and Fighter Flies are not present.
• The way a character respawns in most modes is similar to how the brothers respawn in this game after losing a life (see revival platform).

Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. box art

Mario and his brother Luigi were the only two characters representing their series in Super Smash Bros., and have become staples in the games ever since. Bowser and Princess Peach were originally intended to be playable as well. However, technical limitations forced their removal. However, they are playable in both Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. 4.

In addition, many items from this game, namely the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, the Starman, the Springboard, and the Green and Red Shells made their first initial appearances in this game. Other characters and enemies, such as Toad, Goomba, etc. appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series either as trophies, common enemies, or parts of character's attacks.

Also, the Mushroom Kingdom stage in Super Smash Bros. and Mushroom Kingdom stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee are based graphically on how they looked in Super Mario Bros. In addition, Brawl’s Mushroomy Kingdom is a recreation of the game's World 1-1 and World 1-2.

Additionally, Mario's outfit when Fire Mario is present in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as his white costume. Likewise, Luigi's outfit as Small/Super Luigi is present in Smash 64 and Melee. It is also in Brawl, but it favors his Fire Luigi outfit in later games more. (In Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, Luigi and Mario share the same Fire colors.)

The game is avaible as a masterpiece.

In addition, the game's name may have inspired the name of the English versions of the Smash games.

The helpless animations of Mario, Luigi and Dr. Mario are based on the pose that Mario and Luigi take upon death in this game.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

Released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan, this game was very similar to its predecessor in appearance and gameplay, but introduced the Poison Mushroom.

It also introduced differences between Mario and Luigi, where the latter could jump higher, but with less overall agility. This difference is a recurring feature in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 box art

The Mushroom: Kingdom II stage is based on Subcon, the setting of Super Mario Bros. 2 (called Super Mario USA in Japan). Also, many characters from this game, such as Birdo, Pidgit, and Shy Guys appear in Super Smash Bros. Melee either as enemies, trophies, or stage elements. Lastly, Shy Guys were introduced in this game, appearing in the Yoshi's Story stage. The character Peach has the down special move Vegetable, which originated from SMB2 as well as her ability to float if the jump button is held. The idea of Luigi jumping higher than Mario also comes from this game.

In Brawl, Peach's Vegetable and float abilities return. This game is also available as a masterpiece by winning in Versus mode with Peach five times. The game starts you with Peach, yet the player can change their character to either Mario, Luigi, or Toad once they make Peach lose all her lives.

Luigi has the same fluttery jump in Smash 4 as he did in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 3

The alternate music for the Yoshi's Island stage in Melee is titled after this game, and is a rendition of its main theme and the over world theme of Grass Land.

The Super Leaf power-up that debuted in this game appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

The Koopalings, who made their debut in this game, appear as playable characters as alternate costumes for Bowser Jr. in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Dr. Mario

Dr. Mario was a puzzle-game spin-off of the Mario franchise, released for the NES and Game Boy in 1990, which begot Mario's "Dr. Mario" alter-ego seen as a separate character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In the game, Mario uses vitamins to destroy three different colored viruses by lining up three vitamins the same color as the virus, which became Dr. Mario's Megavitamins in Melee. It was re-released in several compilations and remakes for several different systems in the years afterward, with only one true sequel in Dr. Mario 64 in 2001.

Super Mario World

Super Mario World box art

Yoshi, a starter character in all three Super Smash Bros. games premiered in this game. Also, the stage Yoshi's Island, available in Melee and Brawl, was based on the levels of this game. In addition, the music to Yoshi's Island is a rearragnement of the athletic theme of Super Mario World.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Yoshi's Final Smash, Super Dragon, is based on powers Yoshi could obtain in Super Mario World, depending on what color Koopa shells Yoshi eats.

• Red Koopa Shells have Yoshi spit out fire.
• Blue Koopa Shells allow Yoshi to fly.
• Yellow Koopa Shells allow Yoshi to stomp and release dust clouds, which damage enemies.
• Blinking Koopa Shells give Yoshi all these powers.
• Green Koopa Shells do not do anything.

Also, a remix of the "Ending" and "Title" music can be used on the Delfino Plaza stage, thanks to the My Music feature.

There is also a Trophy of Mario riding Yoshi in Melee which was distributed at certain Nintendo events.

The Mario Tornado and the Luigi Cyclone may come from the spin jump of this game, as well as Mario's down aerial in Melee and Luigi's down aerial in Melee and Brawl.

Mario's side special, Cape was almost certainly based on the Cape Feather powerup in this game which gave Mario a cape he could use to swing and damage enemies.

The Koopa Clown Car, used by Bowser in the final boss of Super Mario World, appears as a trophy in Melee and Bowser is seen riding on it twice in The Subspace Emissary. Bowser Jr.'s move set also revolves around the Koopa Clown Car.

One of Luigi's specials, Green Missile, could be loosely based on the pipe cannons, where if Luigi (or Mario) entered a pipe that took them underground and found the exit, they would sometimes fire out of a cannon upon exit. The game itself is also available as a playable masterpiece in Brawl.

Stretch Blocks, which made their debut in this game, appear on the Mushroom Kingdom U stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as platforms in the Acorn Plains section. Additionally, the mountains from Acorn Plains, which are very similar to and likely based on the slanted mountains from this game, also appear on the stage in the section based off this world.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Many of Yoshi's attacks and moves are from this game. Egg Lay, Yoshi Bomb, and Egg Throw are primary attacks in the game. Also, Yoshi's second jump (known as the Flutter Jump) originated from this game (although the signature grunt of effort did not appear until Yoshi's Story - subsequently, that game's vocal effects for Yoshi would be used in the Game Boy Advance port of Yoshi's Island).

Characters from this game, such as Baby Mario and Baby Bowser, became trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Also, a new stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl takes on Yoshi's Island's general look, a doodle-like appearance.

Super Mario 64

• Mario's standard attacks are based on the "punch, punch, kick" move he used in this game.
• Mario's down smash is based on a move in the game which required Mario to crouch and press the attack button.
• Mario's dash attack is based on a move from this game in which the player has to run, crouch, and attack.
• Mario's back throw in all four games mimics how he threw Bowser in this game's three boss battles with him.
• Mario's sleeping position comes from this game, where Mario would fall asleep after standing still for a certain amount of time.
• The design of the coins from Mario, Luigi and Dr. Mario's up special comes from this game.
• Metal Mario, one of Mario's forms in this game, appears as a boss in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee.
• The Metal Box from this game appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• The Peach's Castle stage and the Rainbow Cruise stage are both based on areas from this game.
• The athletic levels and sliding themes from this game can be heard during in the music for the Rainbow Cruise stage (although it's also heard on Rainbow Ride in Super Mario 64, which is probably why it's heard on this stage).
• Mario's and Luigi's voice clips in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee are from this game. Luigi wasn't in the game, but his voice clips are Mario's voice clips sped up and Luigi has his own voice in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• The main theme music of this game is featured Brawl on the Delfino Plaza stage. It is unlocked by playing a combined total of 50 hours of Brawls.
• Mario's ability to wall jump in Melee and Brawl comes from this game.
• The Thwomp from this game appears in Kirby's down special move, Stone (up until Super Smash Bros. 4).

Paper Mario

• A trophy of Mario from Paper Mario appears in Melee.
• Trophies of Mario, Luigi, Fracktail, and both Peach and Bowser with and without their wedding clothes from Super Paper Mario appear in Brawl.
• The 3DS version features a stage, simply titled Paper Mario, consisting of various locales and elements from the series.

Mario Tennis

• Waluigi, who debuted in this game, appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and as a assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros 4. Waluigi's colors also appear as a palette swap for Luigi in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 and a palette swap for Mario in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Luigi's Mansion

Vacuum Luigi, which is Luigi carrying the Poltergust 3000 on his back as he appears in this game, is a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Luigi's Mansion itself is a playable stage. The mansion along with the Poltergust 3000 are trophies in the game as well.

Super Mario Sunshine

Delfino Plaza, the main "hub world" of Super Mario Sunshine, is a stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and F.L.U.D.D., which was first featured in this game, replaces Mario's previous down special move, the Mario Tornado. Also, there are many stickers from the game, including one of a Shine Sprite. The songs Delfino Plaza and Ricco Harbor (both not remixed) from this game are featured in Brawl on the Delfino Plaza stage. Bowser Jr. also appears in Super Smash Bros. 4 as a playable character.

Mario & Luigi series

• Stickers of the Mario & Luigi series can be found in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl".
• The theme music "Gritzy Desert" can be heard in the stage Mushroomy Kingdom.
• The theme music "Try, Try Again" can be heard in the stage Paper Mario.

Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged

The Soccer Balls in Brawl get the design from Strikers, but the act of it catching fire might be based on Toad's skillshot from Strikers Charged, the Fire Meteor.

The Striker Mario, Striker Daisy and Kritter (Goalie) trophies mention Strikers Charged and are taken directly from the game. Striker Mario mentions the Mega Strike, a move the captains can pull off in Mario Strikers Charged.

Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2

The stage Mario Galaxy originates from the first Galaxy and contains elements from its sequel. Rosalina is also a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4, using the Lumas from these games in battle.

Mario Sports Mix

Several of Luigi's moves involve him performing an attack similar to his dash attack and even a move that largely resembles the Green Missile.

Mario Kart series

The Mario Kart Series is a racing series that has appeared on many Nintendo consoles, starting with the SNES. The games feature primarily Mario characters. In addition to normal racing, players can also attack each other with items such as Red & Green Shells and Banana Peels.

• A track based on Mario Circuit appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Many of the music choices for the Mario Circuit stage come from these games.
• Mario's kart appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
• Some items from the Mario Kart series appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series, such as the Banana Peel and Lightning.
• A track based on Rainbow Road appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• In the trailer for Rosalina in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Mario, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Peach, and Luigi are seen driving their standard karts from Mario Kart 8. The particular iteration of Rainbow Road they're driving on seems to have been inspired by the one from Mario Kart Wii, which is the only Mario Kart game to feature Rosalina accompanied by Luma (it was also her debut as a playable character in the Mario Kart series).
• In addition, the Mario Kart 8 version of Mario Circuit is a new stage exclusive to the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. 4.

New Super Mario Bros. U

The stage Mushroom Kingdom U in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is based on this game. It features several worlds from this game, including Acorn Plains and Rock-Candy Mines.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Luigi's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. 4 is the Poltergust 5000.

Super Mario 3D World

Mystery Houses in this game focus on Mario and friends using one of their abilities to perform a certain task within a time limit. In World 2, there's a Mystery House called "Mystery House Melee", in which every enemy must be defeated. Later in World Mushroom, there is another called Mystery House Brawl, where again players must defeat every enemy that appears (being a little more difficult because of obstructing brick blocks). These houses and their objectives, which involve fighting, are obvious references to Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. Also one of Peach's and Rosalina's alternate outfits appears to be based on their fire forms from that game.

Trivia

• The Mario and Pokémon universes are the only universes with multiple characters in all Super Smash Bros. games.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the only game to not introduce a new Mario character.
• The Mario universe has the most playable characters in a single installment, with 7 playable characters in Super Smash Bros 4, but has the second most overall, behind Pokémon, which has 9 total.
• The Mario universe is the only one to have more than two series symbols, having the version used in the original Super Smash Bros. and Melee, the one used from Brawl on, and the one used by Metal Mario in the original game.
• Mario is the only universe with more than one playable villain.

External links

• Super Mario Wiki