Super Mario Background

Description

New Super Mario Bros. U, the Wii U follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was released on November 18, 2012, in North America. It plays similarly to the previous New Super Mario Bros. titles, and introduces both a Flying Squirrel suit that lets the players glide through the air, and asymmetric gameplay that allows the player holding the GamePad to influence the environment. On June 20, 2013, New Super Luigi U was released as a downloadable content package for the game, featuring shorter but more difficult levels, starring Luigi. It was subsequently released as a standalone retail game on August 25, 2013, in North America. Unlike the downloadable content version, the standalone retail version of New Super Luigi U does not require having New Super Mario Bros.


Super Mario 3D World

Super Mario 3D World, the sequel to Super Mario 3D Land, was released for the Wii U on November 22, 2013, in North America, and utilized the same gameplay mechanics. It introduced three power-ups, the Super Bell , Lucky Bell, and Double Cherry . Like Super Mario Bros. 2, it features Princess Peach and Toad as playable characters in addition to Mario and Luigi. Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy is also unlocked later in the game.


Super Mario Maker

Super Mario Maker is a video game creation tool released for the Wii U in September 2015 and allows players to create their own levels based on the gameplay and style of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, as well as share their creations online. Despite being based on existing games, several gameplay mechanics were introduced for the game, with existing ones also available to be used together in new ways. A Nintendo 3DS version of the game called Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, was released in December 2016. It features a few new pre-installed levels, but no online level sharing.


Super Mario Run

Super Mario Run is a side-scrolling and auto-scrolling video game released in December 2016 for the iOS platform and March 2017 for Android. It marks the first Mario game to be developed for mobile devices, and featured simplified controls, to the point that it was promoted as being playable with only one hand.


Super Mario Odyssey

Released on October 27, 2017 for Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Odyssey is a return to the open-world "sandbox" 3D style of game last seen in Super Mario Sunshine. After Mario's cap is possessed by a spirit named Cappy, he is able to use it to temporarily "capture" enemies and objects and utilize their powers. Like previous sandbox 3D games, the game's worlds contain a large variety of objectives that can be achieved in a non-linear order before progressing. Super Mario Odyssey was critically acclaimed, with many describing it as one of the greatest games of all time. This game adventures through many different kingdoms outside the Mushroom Kingdom as well as the Mushroom Kingdom itself.


New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe.

New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe is a port to the Nintendo Switch it will had two new characters and will be released on January 11, 2019 World Wide.


Releases
Below is a table showing releases of Super Mario video games. It does not include games released on LCD systems.

^ AS Remake included in SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars.
^ DS Nintendo DS version.
^ eR Exclusive to e-Reader in Japan for selected Animal Forest+ players.
^ GBC Included within Super Mario Bros. Deluxe Game Boy Color version. Not playable on original Game Boy.
^ JP Japan only.
^ JPPAL On eShop in JP and PAL regions only.
^ N64 Nintendo 64 version.
^ NES NES/Famicom version.
^ SMA Game Boy Advance remake released under Super Mario Advance name. Release on 3DS applies only to ambassadors.
^ SNES SNES version. Not playable on original Nintendo 3DS.


Common elements

The objective of the game is to progress through levels by defeating enemies, collecting items and solving puzzles without dying. Power-up use is integral to the series. The series has had installments featuring both two and three-dimensional gameplay.
In the 2D games, the player character jumps on platforms and enemies while avoiding their attacks and moving to the right of the scrolling screen. 2D Super Mario game levels have single-exit objectives, which must be reached within a time limit and lead to the next sequential level. Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced the overworld, a map of nonlinear levels that branches according to the player's choice. Super Mario World introduced levels with multiple exits.
3D installments in the series have had two subgenres: open world exploration based games and more linear 3D games with a predetermined path. Levels in the open world games, 64, Sunshine and Odyssey, allow the player to freely explore multiple enclosed environments in 360 degree movement. As the game progresses, more environments become accessible. The linear 3D games, whose titles include either "Galaxy" or "3D", feature more fixed camera angles and a predetermined path to a single goal.


Items
Most items in the Super Mario series appear from item blocks, which originated in Super Mario Bros. and persist throughout the series, where Mario hits a block to receive either coins or power-ups.


Mushrooms

Mushroom power-ups appear in almost every Super Mario game. The most iconic of these is the Super Mushroom. The Super Mushroom increases Mario's size, turning him into "Super Mario", and allows him to break certain blocks. When hit by an enemy, Mario reverts to his smaller size instead of losing a life. When Mario is in his "Super" form, most blocks that would contain a Super Mushroom instead offer a more powerful power-up such as the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom is similar in appearance to the Amanita muscaria, with an ivory stalk below a most commonly red and white spotted cap. Created by chance, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that beta tests of Super Mario Bros. proved Mario too tall, so the development team implemented mushrooms to grow and shrink Mario.The Poison Mushroom, first introduced in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, is a mushroom that has the same effect as getting hit by an enemy or spike when touched. In later games, the Poison Mushroom looks almost exactly like the Super Mushroom with a red cap but has a meaner-looking face.
The Mini Mushroom is a small blue mushroom, a recurring item in the New Super Mario Bros. series, which shrinks Mario into miniature size, allowing him access areas and pipes that Mario normally cannot reach. Mini Mario also jumps higher, floats midair, bounces off enemies without hurting them except by ground pounding, and can run across the surface of the water and then jump from it as if he was on land. Mario is more vulnerable in this form and loses a life upon receiving one hit in miniature form. The Mini Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros. U lets Mario run up walls.The Mega Mushroom, introduced in New Super Mario Bros. and further appearing in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World, is a more recent addition to the series that grows Mario into a towering, invulnerable giant who destroys enemies and the environment by running through them. It has an orange-yellow cap with red spots, like the Super Mario Bros. Super Mushroom, but with an inflated cap. Super Mario 64 DS features an item simply called "Mushroom" that grants the same abilities as the Mega Mushroom.
In the Super Mario Galaxy franchise, the Bee Mushroom gives Mario the Bee Suit, and the Spring Mushroom puts Mario inside a metallic coil. The Mystery Mushroom in Super Mario Maker provides a "costume" based on one of many characters in addition to the abilities of the Super Mushroom.


1-Ups
The 1-Up is a common item shown as a green and white mushroom that gives Mario an extra life. Its appearance is similar to the Super Mushroom's. The 1-Up was introduced in Super Mario Bros., sometimes hidden in invisible item blocks, and displayed as having an orange cap with green spots. In Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2 , the 1-Up is shown as a heart. In the 3D games, 1-Ups will sometimes appear when walking in particular areas. 1-Ups can take other forms, such as the 3-Up Moon from Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U.


Projectile flowers
The flower power-ups let Mario shoot projectiles. The Fire Flower, introduced in Super Mario Bros., transforms Mario into Fire Mario, who can throw bouncing fireballs at enemies. Super Mario Galaxy was the first 3D Mario platformer game to have the Fire Flower. In Super Mario Land, the Superball is a bouncing ball obtained from a Super Flower, which Mario can use to defeat enemies and collect coins. The Ice Flower transforms Mario into Ice Mario, where he can shoot balls of ice as projectiles similar to that of the Fire Flower; it freezes enemies in a block of ice, to be used as platforms or as thrown projectiles. In Super Mario Galaxy, this item turns Mario into ice and lets him walk on lava or water for a limited time by freezing the surface. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U, it instead allows Mario to throw ice projectiles that freeze enemies inside an ice cube, rendering them immobile. Mario then has the option of picking up this resulting ice cube, for use as a projectile. Lastly, New Super Mario Bros. 2's Gold Flower lets Mario turn bricks into coins and earn bonus coins for defeating enemies.


Invincibility
Invincibility is an effect first appearing in the three Super Mario Bros. games, where it is granted by a "Starman", an anthropomorphized, flashing star. The star has also been named the "Super Star" in the two Super Mario World games and the "Rainbow Star" in the two Super Mario Galaxy games. Picking up the star makes Mario temporarily invincible, able to resist any harm. Use of the item is accompanied by a distinctive music track that appears consistently across most of the games. The player character flickers a variety of colors — and in some titles, moves with increased speed and enhanced jumping ability — while under the Star's influence. While invincible, Mario kills any enemy upon contact with it. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the star gives the normally immobile baby Mario the ability to run as well as become invincible. In Super Mario 64, invincibility is provided when Mario wears the metal cap or the vanish cap. The Mega Mushroom provides invincibility with the addition of giant size and environment destruction .


Power Stars and course tokens
The games often feature collectibles found in levels in order to progress in the overworld, most frequently with the visual motif of a star. They are typically situated in locations that are not readily found or reached, or awarded for completing stunts, or objectives given by NPCs. They include the Power Stars in Super Mario 64 and the Super Mario Galaxy games, Shine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine, Star Coins in the New Super Mario Bros. games and Super Mario 3D Land, Green Stars in the Galaxy games and Super Mario 3D World, and Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey. In Super Mario Land 2, there are six Golden Coin tokens that must be collected to finish the game.


Flying
Flight is a common theme throughout the series, first enabled with the magic carpet item in the international Super Mario Bros. 2. The Super Leaf and Tanooki Suit items, first appearing in Super Mario Bros. 3 provide Mario with an animal-suited tail, which in turn acts as a flight propeller. The Tanooki Suit returns in Super Mario 3D Land, and the Super Leaf returns in New Super Mario Bros. 2. In the New Super Mario Bros. games, the Spin Block and the Propeller Mushroom let Mario spin up into the air and slowly descend. In Super Mario Land, Mario pilots a yellow airplane with unlimited ammunition called the Sky Pop. Super Mario World introduces various forms of flight: the feather item provides a cape, the P Balloon puffs Mario into a floating balloon figure, and Yoshi can carry a blue Koopa shell which gives him wings. In Super Mario 64, flight that is granted by a Winged Cap. In New Super Mario Bros. U, Mario has limited flight and gliding capabilities in a Flying Squirrel suit and can also command a pink Baby Yoshi to puff up into the form of a floating balloon. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario can obtain a special red star that transforms him into Flying Mario for a limited time. Lakitu's cloud can be commandeered in several of the side-scrolling games.


Power-up suits
Several suits work as power-ups, many of which are based on animals. Debuting in Super Mario Bros. 3, the Raccoon Suit and the Tanooki Suit each provide Mario with a tail which acts as a flight propeller. In addition, the Tanooki Suit lets Mario spontaneously change into an invincible statue for about five seconds. In Super Mario 3D Land, the Raccoon Suit reappears and is accompanied by a silver-colored variation called a Statue Leaf. Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a Hammer Bros. suit, which allows Mario to throw hammers as projectiles, to defeat enemies at a distance, taking what the Hammer Bros does to Mario and turning it around. While wearing the suit and ducking, Mario is invulnerable to fire attacks. The Hammer Suit was so powerful that in later games, it was downgraded. Super Mario 3D Land features a "Boomerang Suit" which provisions long-distance boomerang projectiles. Other animal suits include the Frog Suit, Tanooki Suit, Penguin Suit, Cat Suit and Bee Suit.


Coins
Super Mario level design traditionally incorporates many distributed coins as puzzles and rewards. Most Super Mario games award the player an extra life once a certain amount of yellow coins are collected, commonly 50 or 100. Several coin variants exist, such as silver coins, dragon coins, star coins, and more.
In Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, coins replenish health . In Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, collecting 100 coins in a level results in a Power Star or Shine Sprite respectively. There are also stages in that game reward a Power Star for collecting eight red coins in a level, worth two normal coins each. In Super Mario 64, a blue coin is worth five normal coins. In Super Mario Sunshine, blue coins act as a side quest when brought to the Delfino Bank.
In Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, after finishing each game once, stages unlock where Mario can collect a certain amount of purple coins to earn a Power Star. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, they can also be used to feed some hungry "Luma" characters that can turn into either an item or another planet.


Warp Pipes and Warp Cannons

The Warp Pipe is a common method of transportation used in many of the Mario series games. Warp Pipes are most often green but also appear in other colors , and have many uses in the series. Warp Pipes can also contain enemies, usually Piranha Plants, and sometimes launch the player into the air . Disney Crossy Road
. In early Mario games such as Super Mario Bros. Toon Blast
., special, well-hidden areas known as Warp Zones contain pipes that allow players to skip several worlds at once. Checkers ・
. In the New Super Mario Bros. Jurassic World™: The Game
. series, pipe-shaped Warp Cannons work similarly to the Warp Zones of the earlier games and are unlocked by finding secret exits in levels. Pet Rescue Saga
. Cannons appear in most of the 3D games in the series starting with Super Mario 64. Mario uses the cannon by jumping into the barrel, aiming himself and being fired at a distant target. This allows Mario to progress through a level or reach an otherwise inaccessible area.


Yoshi
Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi has appeared as a mount to the player character in several Super Mario games since Super Mario World. In the sequel, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a tribe of Yoshi's finds Mario and helps him to save Baby Luigi. In this game and Super Mario 64 DS, instead of the playe