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Super Mario
Super Mario Logo
A stacked Super Mario logo used since Super Mario 3D Land
Developer(s) Nintendo
Genre(s) Platformer
Spinoff(s) Yoshi
Wario
Bowser
See Mario (series)
First Game Super Mario Bros.
Most Recent Game Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Super Mario is the main series of videogames in Nintendo's Mario media franchise. It consists of 2D and 3D platforming games, starting with Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64 respectively.

The exact definition of the Super Mario series is open to interpretation, and varies between sources, including official websites. For the purposes of this article, entries in the series include:

  • the original series of numbered Super Mario Bros. games that are not in the Yoshi's Island series, including both "Super Mario Bros. 2" games and Super Mario World (numbered Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan)
  • the Super Mario Land games that are not in the Wario Land series
  • the 3D Super Mario games that are not in the Captain Toad series, including the Galaxy and 3D duologies and Bowser's Fury
  • the New Super Mario Bros. series, not treating New Super Luigi U separately from New Super Mario Bros. U
  • the Super Mario Maker series
  • Super Mario Run
  • remakes and rereleases being treated as versions of the original games, rather than as unique entries

The series has also spin off into the Yoshi, Wario and Bowser franchises through backdoor pilots with limited Super Mario branding, as well as the Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker game, each starring a major character that debuted in a Super Mario game.

Canon games[]

Super Mario Bros.[]

SMB Boxart

Super Mario Bros. boxart

Super Mario Bros. is the first game in the Super Mario series, originally for the Famicom and NES. It is a horizontally sidescrolling 2D platformer that introduced staple characters, items, and enemies, as well as the recurring premise of Bowser kidnapping Princess Toadstool.

The game features eight worlds with four courses each, ending in one of Bowser's castles where the player fights a Fake Bowser to rescue a mushroom retainer. The other courses take place across land, sky, and sea (with swimming based on the controls of Balloon Fight), establishing recognizable course themes such as the underground. Some courses have secret Warp Zones that allow the player to skip ahead.

Super Mario Bros. is widely credited with helping revive the North American gaming industry from the crash of 1983, and was the best-selling videogame for decades until Wii Sports outsold it. It also lives on as a popular game in speedrunning; hundreds of runners have completed the game in under five minutes.

The game was adapted into VS. Super Mario Bros., a two-player arcade game, and a simplified Game & Watch version (and later, a full port with extra features, Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.). It has also been edited into All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. and a 25th anniversary edition. Super Mario Bros. is also considered to have two sequels, both titled Super Mario Bros. 2 in their respective regions. There is also Super Mario Bros. Special, an officially licensed Hudson Soft sequel for Japanese and Korean PCs. Decades later, the game was reworked into a limited-release battle royale, Super Mario Bros. 35.

Setting Characters Items Enemies

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Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels[]

Super Mario Bros The Lost Levels logo DSSB

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in-game logo from Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario Bros 2 00-00

Super Mario Bros. 2 Famicom title screen

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, or Super Mario Bros. for Super Players, is a direct sequel to Super Mario Bros., using the same engine and set in a parallel world with the same story. Among the changes from the first game are 13 worlds of new courses (five being unlockable), new course mechanics such as wind, and retouched graphics.

The Lost Levels was initially only released for the Japanese Famicom Disk System as Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo of America considered the game too frustrating and similar to the original game, leading it not to be released in Western countries until the later Super Mario All-Stars SNES compilation. Some fans still consider the game design to be unfair.

Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels were remade with extra content for the Game Boy Color, as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.

Setting New boss New item New enemy

Super Mario Bros. 2[]

Super Mario Bros 2

Super Mario Bros. 2 boxart

Super Mario Bros. 2 is the sequel to Super Mario Bros. in western regions, later released in Japan as Super Mario USA. A modified port of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2 features distinct gameplay mechanics and enemies, some of which have become recurring series elements. Rather than stomping enemies, the player character must carry objects and enemies and toss them to attack.

The story describes Mario dreaming about climbing a staircase and opening a door to Subcon, the land of dreams, which then reappears to him after he wakes up. After one of the four playable characters defeats Wart and saves the land, Mario wakes up again and wonders whether the events of the game were real or another dream.

Super Mario Bros. 2 received a semi-sequel for the Satellaview, titled BS Super Mario USA. The game was rereleased as Super Mario Advance.

Setting Characters New items Enemies
  • Subcon

Playable:

Supporting:

  • Subcon
  • Whale

Bosses:

Super Mario Bros. 3[]

Super Mario Bros 3 boxart

Super Mario Bros. 3 boxart

Super Mario Bros. 3 is the final Super Mario game for the NES. The game is more expansive than previous entries, featuring a world map with an item inventory, nearly 100 courses with diverse themes, two-axis scrolling, a variety of new power-ups, and slidable slopes. To this day, it has been considered one of the best games of all time.

The story follows Mario and Luigi saving seven of the lands of the Mushroom World, after Bowser and the Koopalings turned the Mushroom Kings into animals. At the end of each world, the player character boards an airship to fight its Koopaling and return the world's king to normal. Meanwhile, Bowser kidnaps Princess Toadstool, leading the Mario Bros. to go to his castle in Dark Land to rescue her.

Super Mario Bros. 3 has been rereleased for the Game Boy Advance as Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. This version used the e-Reader through a new world to receive extra power-ups, watch superplay demos, and unlock bonus courses. In the Wii U Virtual Console rerelease, all World-e courses are unlocked by default.

Setting Characters New items New enemies
  • Mushroom World

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Super Mario Land[]

Super Mario Land Game Boy box

Super Mario Land boxart

Super Mario Land is a simplistic adaptation of Super Mario gameplay to the Game Boy. It includes 12 courses, with two being vehicle-based shoot 'em up sections where Mario pilots the Marine Pop or Sky Pop.

Although it is comparable to Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land is set in the four kingdoms of Sarasaland, whose denizens the space monster Tatanga has hypnotized. Princess Daisy and Tatanga fill the respective roles of Princess Toadstool and Bowser. The game uses a variety of new enemies, which can behave differently from the established cast of the NES games. The Fire Flower is replaced with the Superball Flower, which would next appear a record-setting 30 years later in Super Mario Maker 2.

Super Mario Land is the first Super Mario game not to be developed by the Nintendo EAD division, instead being by Nintendo R&D1 with Gunpei Yokoi. That team later developed a sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, also for Game Boy.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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Super Mario World[]

Super Mario World Box

Super Mario World boxart

Super Mario World is the first 16-bit Super Mario game. It is a launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World has been considered one of the best games of all time.

In Super Mario World, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool are vacationing in Dinosaur Land when Bowser and the Koopalings kidnap the princess again. The game includes many courses, 24 of which have secret exits for a total of 96 exits, and two bonus worlds accessed using Star Roads on the world map.

Additionally, the Mario Bros. team up with a new sidekick, Yoshi, who the developers had long wanted to introduce into the series. Yoshi would go on to star in his own platforming games, starting with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Although these games are usually considered as a separate series, with some debate as to the status of Yoshi's Island, later Super Mario games have reused certain gameplay elements and musical themes from Yoshi platformers.

Super Mario World augments many of the series' core mechanics, such as by adding the Spin Jump, replacing Brick Blocks with Rotating Blocks, allowing carried objects to be tossed upwards, making Goombas carriable, having stomped Koopa Troopas eject from their shells, and including four colors of shells that affect the behavior of their wearers and of a Yoshi that carries one. Another concept that the game introduced were Switch Palaces, which would also feature in Super Mario 64.

Super Mario World may be considered the series' only SNES entry, depending on whether the Yoshi's Island game is counted. It is also the final game that has been included in a version of the Super Mario All-Stars compilation. Super Mario World has been rereleased as Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. A canceled Philips CD-i game by NovaLogic, Super Mario's Wacky Worlds, had used the same sprite style.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins[]

Super Mario Land 2 6 Golden Coins

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins boxart

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is a sequel to Super Mario Land, still for the Game Boy. After Princess Daisy's rescue, Mario returns to Mario Land to find that Wario, a longtime enemy since childhood, took over his castle. Mario must collect the titular 6 Golden Coins to unlock the castle and confront Wario.

The game's visuals and gameplay are closer to Super Mario World than to its predecessor, using elements such as the Spin Jump, the Fire Flower and a hovering power-up, a checkpoint object, and a world map with secrets. Additionally, Super Mario Land 2 features a unique open-ended structure where the player can clear the six zones (worlds) in any order.

Super Mario Land 2 betrays the tradition of 100 Coins granting an extra life; Mario can save up to 999 Coins and spend them at a casino for a chance for power-ups and more lives. The score is replaced with an enemy counter that grants a Star for every 100 enemies defeated.

An educational video titled Mario Kirby Meisaku Video was based on the game. Like Super Mario World, Super Mario Land 2 has a "sequel" in name starring a character that broke out into their own series; Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 is the first main-series title in the Wario franchise. The canceled VB Mario Land for Virtual Boy is thought to have been a direct follow-up to Super Mario Land 2.

Setting Characters New items New enemies
  • Mario Land

Playable:

Supporting:

  • Heavy Zed
  • Hippo

Bosses:

  • 3UP Heart
  • Carrot
  • Golden Coin
  • Moneybag
  • Antotto
  • Aqua Kuribō
  • Battle Beetle
  • Bear
  • Bee
  • Bēro
  • Bomubomu
  • Bopping Toady
  • Būichi
  • Chikunto
  • Dondon
  • F Boy
  • Floating Face
  • Honebōn
  • J-son
  • Jack-in-the-Box
  • Karakara
  • Keipu
  • Kiddokatto
  • Kurokyura
  • Kyororo
  • Kyotonbo
  • Minikyura
  • Mōgyo
  • Neijī
  • No.48
  • Noko Bombette
  • Pikku
  • Poro
  • Ragumo
  • Rerere
  • Shark
  • Spikey
  • Stars
  • Tamara
  • Terekuribō
  • Toriuo
  • Tōsenbo
  • Unera
  • Unibō

Super Mario 64[]

Super Mario 64 box cover (3)

Super Mario 64 boxart

Super Mario 64 DS Logo

Super Mario 64 DS logo

Super Mario 64 is the first 3D Super Mario game and a launch title for the Nintendo 64 and iQue Player. It is considered one of the most important games of all time for pioneering and codifying the conventions of 3D videogames, and, due to its popularity, has inspired many urban legends. The game also canonized Charles Martinet's voice performance as Mario, and Princess Toadstool being named Peach in western regions.

After receiving an invitation to come to the Mushroom Castle for cake, Mario discovers that Bowser has used the castle's Power Stars to imprison its inhabitants and create portals to other worlds. Mario must explore the castle, which is the game's hub world, to retrieve the Power Stars, battle Bowser, and release Princess Peach from the castle's stained-glass window. Along the way, Mario can unlock three power-up caps.

Due to development limitations, Super Mario 64 mostly diverted from linear courses, instead using open-ended courses that the player would revisit to complete various objectives. The game has only 15 main courses, but an expanding selection of 120 Power Stars that gate progress in the hub world. Mario also has a variety of moves, some of which were introduced in Yoshi's Island. All of these elements are heavily associated with the 3D Super Mario games (although the punching and kicking moves remain unique to 64), and have influenced every 3D entry to some extent.

Super Mario 64 was developed alongside the similarly acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which used a modified version of the Super Mario 64 engine. A sequel, Super Mario 64 2, started development for the 64DD but was canceled due to the accessory's commercial failure. An updated version of the game, Super Mario 64 DS, was a launch title for the Nintendo DS. It introduces three control modes, three new playable characters with different stats and abilities, new courses and power-ups, 30 more Power Stars, a competitive local multiplayer VS Mode, and minigames unlocked by catching additional rabbits.

Like Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64 is notable for speedrunning and superplay accomplishments, likely due to its popularity, open-ended nature, and the ensuing discovery of various glitches. The game can be beaten without pressing the A button on the Wii Virtual Console rerelease.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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Super Mario 64 DS–exclusive:

Super Mario Sunshine[]

Box NA - Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine boxart

Super Mario Sunshine is a Nintendo GameCube game in a similar style to Super Mario 64. It introduces many new characters and friendly species, and a unique cast of stylized enemies. It is also the first 3D Super Mario game to feature a rideable Yoshi.

Using several voice-acted cutscenes, the story follows Mario, Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and company prepared to vacation on Isle Delfino. Bowser Jr. has framed Mario for magic graffiti that forced the island's guardian Shine Sprites to flee. After his wrongful arrest and conviction, Mario must use the water-pump jetpack F.L.U.D.D. to clean up the island, collect the Shine Sprites, and defeat Bowser and his son.

Compared to Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine places more limitations on which episodes (missions) the player can pursue before they are properly unlocked. Reaching the final boss also requires the player to complete the seventh episode of every course. The game includes 120 Shine Sprites in total, 24 of which are traded for 10 of the rare Blue Coins each.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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  • Shine Sprite
  • Water Bottle
  • Water Barrel
  • Water Rocket
  • Nozzle Box
  • Squirt Nozzle
  • Hover Nozzle
  • Turbo Nozzle
  • Rocket Nozzle
  • Fruits

New Super Mario Bros.[]

New super mario bros logo

New Super Mario Bros. logo

New Super Mario Bros. is a revival of the 2D Super Mario games released for the Nintendo DS; it was the first new 2D entry in over 13 years, after Super Mario Land 2. The success of the game and its home-console follow-up has been credited with the revival of 2D games in the industry's mainstream.

Considered 2.5D, the game uses animated sprites and 3D models in a parallel-perspective 2D playfield, and transplants some moves, characters, and other features from the 3D games. It features new items, with the Mega Mushroom featured on the boxart in place of a flying power-up, and an original cast of bosses, aside from Bowser and two characters from Super Mario Sunshine.

The main Mario Game mode features a subplot between Bowser Jr. and his father, who becomes a new Dry Bowser form. New Super Mario Bros. also features Mario Vs. Luigi, a unique competitive local multiplayer mode, alongside a selection of new and returning minigames from Super Mario 64 DS.

New Super Mario Bros. received a Wii follow-up, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and a Nintendo 3DS sequel, New Super Mario Bros. 2. Due to the amount of material shared between them compared to their 2D predecessors, the "New Super Mario Bros." games are often considered their own subseries, which arguably includes Super Mario Run. Cutting the other way, this game reuses several assets: for example, the lose-a-life jingle is taken from Super Mario 64 DS minigames, and remains unchanged through New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario Maker 2.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

Super Mario Galaxy[]

Super Mario Galaxy - North American Boxart

Super Mario Galaxy boxart

Super Mario Galaxy is the series' first 3D entry for the Wii. The player usually progresses through linear sequences of planetoids, but has a similar choice between which goals to complete as in Super Mario 64. The health system is simplified from the game's predecessors'. There are various power-ups reminiscent of the sidescrolling games, but their use is still localized to certain missions and does not augment Mario's health.

The plot involves Bowser lifting Princess Peach's Castle off of the ground during the Star Festival, leading Mario to be launched into space. A special Luma follows him to a planetoid where he meets Rosalina, protector of the cosmos, and helps her retrieve the Power Stars for the Comet Observatory in exchange for help rescuing Princess Peach. Rosalina has an optional backstory expressed through a storybook.

Bowser's defeat at the center of the universe causes his new galaxy to collapse into a supermassive black hole, which the Lumas sacrifice themselves to destroy. The universe collapses into a singularity and goes supernova. A giant Rosalina explains the cyclic, imperfect rebirth of the universe to Mario, who then wakes up in the Mushroom Kingdom of a new galaxy among Peach, Bowser, and several minor characters.

Set in deep space, Super Mario Galaxy uses a variable direction of gravity, interplanetary flight, and a predominantly orchestral soundtrack with synthesized sci-fi samples. The gravity mechanics are based on the Super Mario 128 tech demo and informed the game's setting. Many areas pull Mario towards the nearest planetoid's center, allowing him to walk all the way around, while others use gravity fields indicated or controlled by arrows.

The game uses the Wii Remote for motion controls: most notably to use the Star Spin (an attack and aerial course-correction move), and to collect and fire Star Bits with the infrared pointer. The drop-in Co-Star Mode adds a second-player pointer with additional powers. There are also various minor sequences that use other gyroscopic and pointer motion controls.

A line of trading cards promoted the release of Super Mario Galaxy. Due to the game's creative potential, work on a follow-up started immediately after release. This expanded into Super Mario Galaxy 2, a sequel for the same console. Super Mario Galaxy has been ported to the Nvidia Shield, and is the final game included in the limited-release Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation.

Setting Characters New items New enemies
  • Outer space
  • Comet Observatory

New Super Mario Bros. Wii[]

NSMBWiiTitle

New Super Mario Bros. Wii boxart

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. set during Princess Peach's birthday, released for the Wii. It offers the series' first 2D platforming experience on a home console in 19 years (since Super Mario World), and is presented with much more consistently 3D-modeled visuals than its Nintendo DS predecessor. It introduces the Propeller Mushroom and Penguin Suit power-ups, and retains the Mini Mushroom from New Super Mario Bros..

New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduces simultaneous local multiplayer—a feature that Shigeru Miyamoto had long struggled to implement into the main mode of Super Mario games—for up to four players. The first player controls Mario, and the others can choose between characters who all control identically. Some courses feature platforms that are motion-controlled by the first player to land on one. The game also features competitive Free-for-All and Coin Battle multiplayer modes, both using the main campaign's courses with five additional courses exclusive to Coin Battle.

Due to the multiplayer focus and the Wii's graphical capabilities, courses tend to be larger, and the camera can zoom out farther than previous 2D Super Mario games, apart from a few areas in its Nintendo DS predecessor.

The game introduces a Super Guide assist feature where Luigi demonstrates how to clear a repeatedly failed course, letting the player take back control partway through or skip the course entirely. A similar feature appears in several subsequent Nintendo games. Hint Movies that demonstrate various techniques can also be unlocked at Princess Peach's Castle.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii notably redesigns the Koopalings, who had been absent from the series since Super Mario World and have continued to appear since this reintroduction. Other elements are reused from Super Mario World, but are not implemented to their original extent: Yoshis now part ways at the flagpole (which continues in New Super Mario Bros. U where only Baby Yoshis persist between courses). The Spin Jump does not protect against spikes and fire; it is instead used to activate propellers and Screwtop Platforms, clear fog, and earn Coins from decorative flowers. The player character can also twirl in midair when the Wii Remote is shaken. Additionally, elements like protective bubbles, Magikoopa's involvement, and secret foreground walls reappear from Yoshi's Island.

During development, many elements of the Mario franchise were standardized with specification documents. New assets and designs from this entry, like the midway point, would appear in various later works in the franchise. The game engine was reused for the New Super Mario Bros. Mii Wii U lost tech demo, which became a sequel, New Super Mario Bros. U.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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Super Mario Galaxy 2[]

SMG2 Logo HQ

Super Mario Galaxy 2 logo

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the sequel to and a very loose retelling of Super Mario Galaxy, still for the Wii. The game follows Mario into outer space and aboard Lubba's starship to rescue Princess Peach from a giant-sized Bowser. It is intended to be more difficult than Super Mario Galaxy, but also contains more tutorial and assist features and was packaged with a beginner's DVD in most regions.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 shows the beginnings of a level design formula that would eventually be realized with Super Mario 3D World. Galaxies are selected from a world map familiar to the 2D games, but in which collecting enough Power Stars is still required to progress. The first mission of each galaxy has a Comet Medal collectible, which now causes the Prankster Comet missions to appear.

Yoshi can be ridden in certain missions, and has his own set of power-ups. As for the Mario Bros., there are three new power-ups among others returning from Super Mario Galaxy.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

Super Mario 3D Land[]

SM3DL

Super Mario 3D Land boxart

Super Mario 3D Land is the first Super Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS, featuring optional stereoscopic visuals that can assist with platforming. It has a home-console sequel titled Super Mario 3D World, originally released for the Wii U.

Being the only 3D entry to be designed for a handheld system (as of 2020), Super Mario 3D Land is massively streamlined compared to its 3D predecessors. It applies the gameplay style and power-up system associated with the 2D games to a compact 3D space, and snaps horizontal movement to 12 angles. Even still, Star Medals must be accumulated to progress (like Power Stars in the form of Star Coins), and many moves are retained from the earlier 3D titles. The game is 16 worlds long.

Super Mario 3D Land prominently brings back elements of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Super Leaf is its mascot power-up, here granting a more limited Tanooki Mario form, and is applied to several enemies to give them tails. Boom Boom returns as a recurring boss alongside a new weapon-wielding counterpart named Pom Pom. The game is created by the Super Mario Galaxy development team and also uses elements from that duology, like returning course gimmicks and the ten-second Mystery Box challenges based on the sequel's Teleporters.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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New Super Mario Bros. 2[]

NSMB2

New Super Mario Bros. 2 boxart

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the third game in the New Super Mario Bros. subseries, released for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the first Super Mario game to offer downloadable content, in the form of paid Coin Rush course packs. It supports two-player co-op.

The game contains an exorbitant amount of Coins, and new items, courses, and a Coin Rush mode all dedicated to generating them, with a goal across all modes to collect one million. It also reuses elements from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, such as the Super Leaf (again granting Raccoon Mario) and P-Meter, Reznor, and another appearance of the Koopalings.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

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New Super Mario Bros. U[]

New Super Mario Bros

New Super Mario Bros. U logo

Box RAR - New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe boxart

New Super Mario Bros. U is the sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and a launch title for Wii U. As such, it is the first high-definition Mario game.

New Super Mario Bros. U introduces the Super Acorn, adds Boost Mode where a Wii U GamePad player can place Boost Blocks for the other players, and remixes concepts—like Baby Yoshis, 3-Up Moons, and a more seamless world map—from Super Mario World. It comes with three "Play with Mii" side modes: Challenges, Boost Rush, and Coin Battle. In the courses exclusive to the latter mode, the GamePad player can edit Coin layouts, reminiscent of the later Super Mario Maker.

For the Year of Luigi, the game received an additional content pack, New Super Luigi U. It has new courses with short timers in place of each course in the base game's Story Mode, as well as new Luigi-style physics. Mario is removed from New Super Luigi U; Nabbit joins as a new fourth playable character with special properties. On Wii U, New Super Luigi U is available both separately from and bundled with New Super Mario Bros. U.

The two games were rereleased for Nintendo Switch as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which makes many tweaks to the game engine and interface. It adds Toadette as a playable character, who can use a Super Crown power-up that first appears in this port. Mechanics that used the Wii U GamePad were removed.

Setting Characters New items New enemies

Super Mario 3D World[]

Box NA - Super Mario 3D World

Super Mario 3D World boxart

Super Mario 3D World is a 3D entry released for the Wii U, and an HD follow-up to Super Mario 3D Land. It follows the same general level structure and design as its predecessor, with the addition of drop-in cooperative multiplayer like in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

This game introduces the Super Bell and Double Cherry power-ups. It offers a choice between the playable characters of Super Mario Bros. 2, who retain their unique stats, and Rosalina as an unlockable character. The game's level design is typically linear with divergences to Green Star collectibles, a certain number of which must be accumulated to progress through the game.

Super Mario 3D World is set in the Sprixie Kingdom, where Bowser has kidnapped the Sprixie Princesses and created his own amusement park. It also introduces Plessie and gives Bowser a new powered-up form, Meowser.

After beating the game, Luigi Bros., a modified version of Mario Bros., unlocks. Super Mario 3D World served as a precursor to a puzzle-platformer spinoff, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, as it featured additional courses where the player would control Captain Toad. 3D World later received an updated Nintendo Switch rerelease titled Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, which adds the Bowser's Fury campaign in addition to tweaks to the base game. Among said tweaks, this version adds online multiplayer, makes the Toad Brigade playable in Captain Toad levels, and adds a new Invincibility Bell power-up in both campaigns through amiibo support.

Setting Characters New items New enemies
  • Sprixie Kingdom

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Supporting:

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Super Mario Maker[]

Super Mario Maker Artwork

Super Mario Maker boxart

Super Mario Maker is the first entry in an eponymous subseries. Using touch controls and a palette of familiar course parts, players can create courses in the style of four prior 2D games (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U). At the time, courses could be uploaded online and receive comments through Miiverse. Uploaded courses are played through the Course World hub or its stamina-focused 100 Mario Challenge mode.

Super Mario Maker started as an internal development tool before being pitched as a Wii U game. It required the developers to establish how new combinations of game objects would interact. The interface uses visual aspects of Mario Paint in a minimalist vector style.

The game was released days before the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.. It was ported to Nintendo 3DS with limited features as Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS; course uploading and certain parts like the Mystery Mushroom have always been unavailable in this version. A sequel, Super Mario Maker 2, was released for the Nintendo Switch.

Characters Course parts





amiibo:

Super Mario Run[]

Super-mario-run-icon-r225x

Super Mario Run app icon

Super Mario Run is a 2D Super Mario autorunner in the aesthetic style of the New Super Mario Bros. series, developed in Unity for mobile devices. It is free-to-start with a one-time purchase for the full game.

Super Mario Run features simplified, one-handed controls and new gameplay elements built around this, such as automatic enemy vaulting, blocks that modify the player character's speed or jump, and a bubble-based lives system that lets the player backtrack and does not carry over between courses. There are various playable characters with unique abilities. The game also features an enemy bestiary, as defeating enough of an enemy can level it up into dropping better rewards.

Other modes include Toad Rally, a ghost-racing mode based on accruing Coins and Toad spectators; Kingdom Builder, where the player can place various, mostly-aesthetic buildings and decorations; and Remix 10, a rapid-fire series of short courses where Princess Daisy is unlocked and rare decorations can be earned. The latter mode may be a rare reference to the Rhythm Heaven series in a main Super Mario game.

Super Mario Run has featured cross-promotional events for other Nintendo mobile and Mario games. Notably, a promotional Kingdom Builder statue marks the first in-game appearance of Cappy, a major character in Super Mario Odyssey.

Setting Characters New items New enemy

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  • Poison Bubble (v3.0.4)

Super Mario Odyssey[]

SuperMarioOdyssey - NA boxart

Super Mario Odyssey boxart

Super Mario Odyssey is a 3D game and the first Super Mario title released for the Nintendo Switch. It returns to open-ended exploration in the vein of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, which Nintendo classified as "miniature garden exploration 3D" (Japanese: 箱庭探索3D), in contrast to the "course-clear-style 3D" (コースクリア型3D) of Super Mario Galaxy through Super Mario 3D World.

The plot of Super Mario Odyssey starts after Bowser's theft of artifacts from various kingdoms of the world, which he plans to use to forcefully marry Princess Peach. Mario and his new partner Cappy take chase to prevent the marriage, and to save the kidnapped Peach and Cappy's sister, Tiara. The game introduces the Broodals, a group of wedding-planner rabbits who work for Bowser and serve as recurring bosses.

Mario must collect enough Power Moons to fly the Odyssey ship to new kingdoms. Unlike the game's predecessors, there is no hub world, kingdoms are visited in a predominantly linear order, and only Power Moons found in the newest kingdom count toward progress (until the postgame). However, there are significantly more Power Moons than past games' Power Stars and Shine Sprites, and many are much easier to get, to allow for progress in short handheld play sessions. The game also abandons the lives system; depleting Mario's health causes him to lose Coins before respawning. Coins and kingdom-specific Regional Coins can buy items at Crazy Cap shops throughout the game.

Mario can throw Cappy like a boomerang and bounce off of him in midair. If Cappy is thrown at certain entities, he lets Mario "Capture" them to control their bodies and use their abilities. This system replaces the power-ups of other Super Mario games, save for Heart items that restore Mario's health like Coins used to. Cappy is also the second player's character in co-op mode, in which he has greater maneuverability.

Super Mario Odyssey served as Nintendo's major release for the Nintendo Switch in late 2017, contrasting it against launch title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Following its release, the game has received several updates and patches adding additional content to the game, such as the online-hosted Luigi's Balloon World minigame.

Settings Characters New items New enemies
  • Various kingdoms
  • The moon

Playable:

Supporting:

Bosses:

Capture targets:

Capture targets:

Other:

  • Astro-Lanceur
  • Bitefrost
  • Burrbo
  • Chincho
  • Komboo
  • Magmato
  • Moonsnake
  • Stairface Ogre
  • Trapeetle
  • Urban Stingby
  • Yoofoe

Super Mario Maker 2[]

Super Mario Maker 2 logo

Super Mario Maker 2 logo

Super Mario Maker 2 is the Nintendo Switch sequel to Super Mario Maker. In addition to new course parts and themes, it includes a separate "extra" game style based on Super Mario 3D World, a Story Mode, clear conditions, four-player online modes, and new button controls for Course Maker. It requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership to access Course World.

The game introduces highly requested features such as slopes, online play with friends, and a World Maker. At the same time, some fans criticized the lack of feature parity between the returning and new game styles, and certain Story Mode courses; the limited implementation of other new features; and the online multiplayer connection quality.

Characters New course parts

Terrain:

Items:

Enemies:

Gizmos:

  • Banzai Bill / Bull's-Eye Banzai / Cat Banzai Bill (SM3DW)
  • Icicle
  • Twister
  • ! Block (SM3DW)
  • Tree (SM3DW)
  • Crate (SM3DW)
  • Cursed Key (SMB)
  • Warp Box ((With Key)) (SM3DW)
  • P Block (v2.0.0)
  • Red POW Block (SM3DW)
  • Cloud Lift (SM3DW)
  • Seesaw (SMB, SMB3, SMW, NSMBU)
  • Swinging Claw (SMB, SMB3, SMW, NSMBU)
  • ON/OFF Switch
  • Dotted-Line Block (SMB, SMB3, SMW, NSMBU, v3.0.0 SM3DW)
  • Spike Block (SM3DW)
  • Track Block (SM3DW)
  • Mushroom Trampoline / ON/OFF Trampoline (v3.0.0) (SM3DW)
  • Dash Block (v2.0.0, SM3DW)
  • Blinking Block (SM3DW)

Story Mode courses:

  • Stone (SMB3, SMW, NSMBU, SM3DW)
  • Toad (NSMBU)

Bowser's Fury[]

Bowser's Fury logo

Bowser's Fury logo

SM3DWBF Bowser Art

Bowser's Fury key art

Bowser's Fury is a standalone open-world campaign introduced in the Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury port for Nintendo Switch. The game repurposes many assets from Super Mario 3D World (making many even more cat-themed), but has an original game structure in a single vast, mostly seamless world, where Fury Bowser periodically awakens to attack Mario. This can lead to strategy over which objectives to prioritize to take advantage of his presence.

The premise of Bowser's Fury sees Mario and Bowser Jr. exploring Lake Lapcat as a team to neutralize Fury Bowser: a behemoth, beastly form of Bowser that pollutes and rampages across the kingdom. Mario collects Cat Shines across various islands to activate lighthouses, awaken the three Giga Bells, and take on Bowser as Giga Cat Mario. Plessie helps Mario traverse the lake.

The Item Storage is expanded to hold up to five of each storable power-up; collecting 100 Coins also grants a random power-up.

Setting Characters New items New enemy
  • Lake Lapcat

Playable:

Supporting:

Bosses:

  • Fury Shadow

Related games[]

For various reasons, many fans consider games such as Super Mario Bros. Special, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, New Super Luigi U, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, and Super Mario Bros. 35 to be related to the Super Mario series, yet either not main entries, or strictly part of other series. As stated, this is not universal among official sources nor fans, and there are differing sentiments as to the extent of the series.

Settings[]

  • Mushroom Kingdom: The main recurring location, ruled by Princess Peach. It contains several recurring biomes, Toad Town, and Peach's Castle.
  • Subcon: A vast dream world, home to the fairy folk of the same name.
  • Mushroom World: The eight lands each ruled by a king (or Bowser), sometimes also considered to include the Mushroom Kingdom.
  • Sarasaland: Princess Daisy's sovereignty, consisting of the Birabuto, Muda, Easton, and Chai Kingdoms.
  • Dinosaur Land: An archipelago that is home to such dinosaurians as Yoshis, Rexes, Dino-Rhinos, and Reznors. It is the greater location of Yoshi's Island.
  • Mario Land: A kingdom of six zones ruled by Mario, with Mario's castle in the center.
  • Isle Delfino: A dolphin-shaped tropical island guarded by the Shine Sprites. It is used as a vacation resort. Its inhabitants, such as Piantas and Nokis, usually enjoy a peaceful lifestyle. The island's largest city is Delfino Plaza.
  • Outer space contains various planetoids and galaxies, some of which are known to be created by the transformation of Lumas. Space is the true location of at least one of the courses that had been accessed by a painting in Peach's Castle. Naturally, outer space also surrounds the moon, upon which are locations such as the Moon Kingdom.
  • Sprixie Kingdom: Generally described as a kingdom of the fairies in other languages, it is ruled by the Sprixie Princesses. Bosses like the Hisstocrats seem to have also had influence on the kingdom.
  • Other kingdoms on Mario's planet include the Cap, Cascade, Sand, Lake, Wooded, Cloud, Lost, Metro, Snow, Seaside, Luncheon, Ruined, and Bowser's Kingdom.
  • Lake Lapcat: A lake which contains many islands, in which almost everything is cat-themed. It is guarded by the Giga Bells and lighthouses. Ruins with hieroglyphic markings and Hisstocrat-themed pillars both suggest there is some history to the lake, but it is now sparsely inhabited by kittens and parent cats.

Characters[]

Mario Characters - Simon Mall Promo Artwork

Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, and Toad (clockwise from bottom) are four major characters in the Super Mario series.

The Super Mario series incorporates a wide cast of characters and species, and has introduced many characters to the franchise at large.

Holdovers from before the Super Mario series include Mario, Pauline, and Donkey Kong, who first appeared in Donkey Kong, and Luigi, who debuted in the Mario Bros. Game & Watch game. Since then, the Super Mario series has largely defined the cast of major characters.

The following gallery lists characters that debut in Super Mario games.


Still, some later characters introduced outside the Super Mario series have appeared within it. Examples of this include the Super Mario Bros. 2 characters that debuted in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Poochy (as long as Yoshi's Island is considered a spinoff), Goomboss from Paper Mario, King Boo from Luigi's Mansion, and Toadette from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Power-ups[]

Power-Up Chart SM3DL

A partial chart of Mario's power-up states in Super Mario 3D Land

Power-ups are a central mechanic in the Super Mario Bros. gameplay formula, and have appeared in some form in every Super Mario game. They typically change the user's size or outfit, while giving them new abilities such as strength, projectiles, flight, and temporary invincibility.

Power-ups are typically integrated into the health system. However, some 3D games use a separate health meter and have power-ups expire by a timer, goal, or benign environmental obstacle.

While most power-ups are typically used by Mario and company, secondary playable characters like Yoshi and F.L.U.D.D. have received their own sets of power-ups.


Fanon content[]

Due to Super Mario being one of the most successful Nintendo series and game series in general, fanon content has long been prevalent on Fantendo. Hype for upcoming official games has inspired influxes of new fan ideas.

Compounding its prevalence on the wiki is the fact that the series was receiving a new game at least biennially from 2006, a year before Fantendo was founded, to 2017. The popularity of the New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Maker series, and of the Super Mario Odyssey game, have especially inspired sequel articles to these installments, with at least one hub article or category dedicated to each of these canon subjects.

However, it is difficult to weigh this against Mario content at large. The wiki treated this main series roughly interchangeably with the general Mario franchise until this article was split in 2021. The interchangeable treatment involved mergers of the Super Mario (series) category (whose contents are automatically listed below) back into Mario (series).


Following is an attempt to filter the Mario (series) category for Super Mario games. It returns the articles that match these conditions:

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