Mushroom
| |
| Mushroom | |
| Type | Power-Up |
| Debut | Super Mario Bros. |
The Mushroom is the most prominent and basic type of item appearing throughout the Super Mario series, most often as a power-up. There are a variety of variations on the mushroom item, but the most common is the Super Mushroom.
Information[edit]
Normal Mushrooms[edit]
Seemingly normal mushrooms appear throughout various spin-off games with a variety of usages. In the RPG series, mushrooms are normal items that are used to restore health (30 HP in Super Mario RPG, 5 HP in the first two Paper Mario games, 10 HP in Super Paper Mario and 25 HP in Mario & Luigi and its sequels). Each series also had advanced versions of the mushroom that restored higher HP - Mid (80 HP) and Max (full HP) Mushrooms in Super Mario RPG, Super (10 HP in first two, 15 in SPM) and Ultra (50 HP) Shrooms in the Paper Mario series and Super (50 HP or 40 in Partners in Time) and Ultra (120 HP or 80 in Partners in Time) Mushrooms in the Mario & Luigi series.
Mushrooms also appear as items in the Mario Kart games, where they are used for quick speed boosts. Mushrooms may sometimes be gained in bunches of three. They have similar speed-boosting functions in Mario Power Tennis, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged. Golden Mushrooms temporarily allow the player to boost over and over again. Mushrooms also appear in the Mario Party games from Mario Party 2 on, where the mushroom allows the player to use an extra dice block and thus move potentially move farther than originally possible during the turn. The advanced version, the Golden Mushroom, allows the player to use three dice blocks.
Super Mushroom[edit]
The Super Mushroom is the type that appears as a power-up in various Mario games and that originally appeared in Super Mario Bros.. Using it will cause Mario (or Luigi) to double in size and enter his well-known "Super Mario" form. In this form, the player has several advantages, with the most evident being the ability to smash brick blocks (indicating an increase in strength as well as height). Most importantly it gives the player an extra hit, as being hit will shrink Mario back to normal size instead of killing him. In most games, it is required for the player to be in Super form in order to reach other advanced power-ups such as the Fire Flower.
The Super Mushroom appears in its most familiar form in Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Land, Super Mario World, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In the American Super Mario Bros. 2, the Super Mushroom adds a heart to the player's meter (and this is also the only game in which Princess Peach and Toad achieve Super form).
A variation of the Super Mushroom appears in Super Mario 64 DS, where it is more akin to a mixture of the Starman and the Mega Mushroom in that it temporarily transforms Mario into an invincible giant.
Other Appearances[edit]
Video Games[edit]
- The Super Mushroom has appeared as an item in the Super Smash Bros. series starting in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It temporarily grows a fighter to a larger size and makes them stronger. A Super Mushroom Hat has also appeared as headgear for Mii Fighters in the 3DS/ Wii U game and Ultimate. The Super Mushroom has also been represented by a trophy in Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, a sticker in Brawl and an Advanced-rank Support Spirit (which raised a player fighter's stats whenever they ate food) in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Trivia[edit]
- Shigeru Miyamoto has compared it to the mushrooms from Alice in Wonderland (which also gave the protagonist growth) but has said that he was actually inspired to use the Super Mushroom item by the general connection between mushrooms and fantasy realms.
- The original Super Mario Bros. manual referred to the item as the "Magic Mushroom", but this was later changed to the Super Mushroom in order to prevent drug comparisons.