Super Mario
Developed by Shigeru Miyamoto.
The core elements of Super Mario include:
A focus on movement and platforming with Mario being designed in a way to feel natural and intuitive to control
Power-ups and transformations
The Super Mario series can be categorized as:
Super Mario (2D)
Super Mario (3D)
Spin-Off Titles
Super Mario (3D)
Super Mario made the transition to 3D with Super Mario 64 which defined the “collect-a-thon” platformer genre. Subsequent 3D Super Mario games would follow this format while adding interesting gameplay mechanics.
Games
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario Odyssey
Bowser’s Fury
Super Mario 64 (1996)
The game begins with a letter from Princess Peach inviting Mario to come to her castle for a cake she has baked for him. When he arrives, Mario discovers that Bowser has invaded the castle and imprisoned the princess and her servants within its walls using the power of the castle's 120 Power Stars. The Power Stars are hidden in the castle's paintings, which serve as portals to other worlds where Bowser's minions keep watch over the Stars. Mario explores the castle and enters these worlds, gaining access to more rooms as he recovers more Stars. Mario unlocks doors to different floors of the castle with keys obtained by defeating Bowser in hidden worlds.
After getting at least 70 of the 120 Power Stars, Mario breaks the curse of the endless stairs that block the entrance to Bowser's final hiding place. After Mario defeats Bowser in the final battle,, he obtains a special Power Star which gives him the Wing Cap, and he flies back to the castle's courtyard. Peach is released from the stained-glass window above the castle's entrance, and she rewards Mario by kissing him on the nose and baking the cake that she had promised him.
F.A.Q.
Dire, Dire Docks Mission 3: Mission 3 can not be completed until the player completes “Bowser in the Fire Sea”. Completing “Bowser in the Fire Sea” moves Bowser’s Submarine out of the Dire, Dire Docks level allowing Mission 3 to be completed.
Reward for 120 Power Stars: Collect all 120 Power Stars and complet “Bowser in the Sky” to unlock Yoshi who appears on Peach’s Castle's roof in the hub world. Yoshi can be reached with a cannon that opens on the castle grounds. Talk to Yoshi who rewards the player with 100 lives and an improved Triple Jump that gives Mario a trail of stars on the 3rd jump without fall damage.
Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
The game takes place on Isle Delfino, a dolphin-shaped tropical island mainly inhabited by the Pianta and Noki people.
Mario sets out for Isle Delfino for a vacation with Princess Peach, her steward Toadsworth, and several other Toads. Upon arrival at Delfino Airstrip, they discover a mass of paint-like goop. After acquiring the Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device (F.L.U.D.D.), a water cannon created by Professor E. Gadd, Mario defeats a slime-covered Piranha Plant that emerges from the goop. However, Mario is arrested on suspicion of vandalizing the island with graffiti, which has caused the source of the island's power, Shine Sprites, to disappear and the island to be covered in shadow. After being convicted, Mario is assigned to community service in order to clean up the island and track down the real criminal.
The culprit is revealed to be a shadowy blue doppelgänger of Mario known as Shadow Mario. Using a magic paintbrush, also developed by Professor E. Gadd, Shadow Mario created the graffiti. He attempts to kidnap Princess Peach, but is thwarted by Mario. After the player collects 10 Shine Sprites, Shadow Mario successfully kidnaps Peach and takes her to Pinna Island. Upon arriving at Pinna Park, a theme park on the island, Mario encounters and destroys Mecha Bowser, a giant Bowser robot controlled by Shadow Mario. Afterwards, Shadow Mario reveals that his true identity is Bowser Jr., Bowser's son, and that he framed Mario because his father, Bowser, told him Peach is his mother, whom Mario was trying to kidnap. Mecha Bowser's head then transforms into a hot air balloon and Bowser Jr. takes Peach to Corona Mountain.
After the player defeats Bowser Jr. in his Shadow Mario disguise in the 7 main levels, Delfino Plaza floods and the entrance to Corona Mountain is opened. Mario travels through the lava-filled caverns and finds Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Princess Peach in a giant hot tub in the sky. Mario defeats Bowser and Bowser Jr. by destroying the hot tub, causing everyone to fall from the sky. Bowser and Bowser Jr. land on a platform in the ocean, while Mario and Peach land on a small island. However, F.L.U.D.D. is damaged by the fall and powers down. Mario and Peach watch as the Shine Gate's power is restored while a group of Piantas and Nokis celebrate. Meanwhile, Bowser admits to his son that Peach is not his mother, to which Bowser Jr. replies that he already knows, and that when he is older he wants to fight Mario again. Mario and Princess Peach watch the sunset at Sirena Beach, and the Toads present Mario with F.L.U.D.D., who has been repaired, and he declares the vacation begins now.
F.A.Q.
How to Obtain Sunglasses & Shirt: To obtain the sunglasses, the player must collect 30 Shine Sprites and talk to the pianta in Deflino Plaza who will outfit Mario with sunglasses. The sunglasses have no apparent function besides slightly darkening the screen, thereby reducing the bright effects of the sunlight. To obtain the shirt, the player must defeat Bowser at Corona Mountain and talk to the same pianta who will outfit Mario with a sky-blue shirt with small Shine Sprite images printed on it.
Reward for 120 Shine Sprites: After collecting all 120 of the Shine Sprites and defeating Bowser in Corona Mountain, the ending graphic is replaced with a group picture of friendly characters in the game posing in Casino Delfino, with text reading "Have a relaxing vacation!" on the bottom.
Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
The centennial Star Festival is held to watch a comet in the Mushroom Kingdom. On the night of the Star Festival, Princess Peach discovers a star-shaped creature called a Luma and invites Mario to come to the festival to see the Luma she discovered. Just as Mario arrives at the town, Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom in a fleet of airships, littering the landscape with fireballs and petrifying its citizens in crystals. He invites Peach to his creation of his galaxy and removes Peach's castle from its foundations using a giant flying saucer, and lifts it into outer space. Kamek, one of Bowser's minions, launches Mario, who tried to rescue Princess Peach, into space and he eventually lands on a small planet from Kamek's magic while the Luma escapes from Peach's hands.
On the planet, Mario wakes up and meets the Luma that Peach found earlier, along with Rosalina and her star-shaped companions, the Lumas. Rosalina describes herself as a watcher of the stars who uses the Comet Observatory to travel across the universe. However, Bowser has stolen all of the Power Stars that act as the Observatory's power source, rendering it immobile. Bestowed with the power to travel through space through one of the Lumas, Mario sets off on a journey across the universe to reclaim the Power Stars and restore power to Rosalina's observatory. Along the way, he finds friends from the Mushroom Kingdom such as Luigi and the Toads while fighting Bowser and Bowser Jr. at certain points.
Upon collecting enough Power Stars, the Comet Observatory flies to the center of the universe, where Bowser is holding Peach captive. While confronting Bowser, Mario learns that he plans to rule the entire universe with Peach at his side. Mario defeats Bowser and frees Peach, but one of the galaxy's planets collapses on itself, becoming a supermassive black hole that begins consuming the entire universe. The Lumas sacrifice themselves and jump into the black hole to destroy it, causing the black hole to collapse into a singularity and the universe is recreated as the singularity explodes in a huge supernova. Rosalina appears to Mario, revealing that dying stars are later reborn as new stars. When the universe is recreated, Mario awakens in the Mushroom Kingdom, which was recreated in the supernova, alongside Peach and Bowser, and he celebrates the new galaxy that has emerged in the skies. Rosalina, with the reborn Lumas, leave aboard the Comet Observatory to travel the cosmos again.
F.A.Q.
Reward for 120 Power Stars / How to Unlock Luigi: Collect all 120 Power Stars and defeat Bowser to unlock Super Luigi Galaxy which allows the player to play through the entire game again as Luigi. Luigi controls slightly different than Mario.
Reward for 240 Power Stars / How to Unlock Grand Finale Galaxy: Collect all 120 Power Stars as Luigi and defeat Bowser to unlock the Grand Finale Galaxy for both Mario and Luigi.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
In a retelling of Super Mario Galaxy’s story, Princess Peach invites Mario to share a cake at the Star Festival, a centennial celebration that occurs when Star Bits rain down from the skies over the Mushroom Kingdom. On his way to Peach's castle, Mario finds a lost Baby Luma, who immediately befriends him and grants him the ability to spin.
Shortly thereafter, Mario's nemesis Bowser, who has grown to an immense size after abusing the power of the Grand Stars, attacks the castle. Kidnapping Peach, Bowser escapes into outer space to recreate his empire at the center of the universe. After finding two Lumas who offer their help to Mario, one of them transforms into a Launch Star that launches Mario into outer space. After landing on and venturing through the first galaxy and obtaining his first Power Star, Mario arrives on a small planetoid functioning as a spaceship and meets Lubba, a large purple Luma who leads a small band of Lumas. Lubba explains that Power Stars are needed to power the spaceship and that he and his crew were attacked by Bowser earlier, with some Lumas having been thrown overboard. Lubba has realized that Bowser kidnapped Peach and offers his help in tracking him down and saving the princess. He offers to grant Mario temporary ownership of the spaceship in exchange for him bringing back more Power Stars. After Mario agrees, he instructs his Lumas to rebuild the ship in honor of Mario and they do so, rebuilding it in the shape of his head. Mario is then given control of Starship Mario. Starship Mario then sets off on its journey towards the center of the universe to save Peach. As Mario travels the cosmos, explores more galaxies, and obtains more Power Stars, he meets new species and joins up with his companion Yoshi, the Toad Brigade from the Super Mario Galaxy, and his brother Luigi, all whom join Mario on the starship.
As Mario and his allies travel the universe, he encounters Bowser's son Bowser Jr. who he defeats twice. All the while, Mario collects Grand Stars, which are enhanced forms of Power Stars that create portals allowing access to another part of the universe. After traveling through various galaxies throughout the universe collecting Power and Grand Stars, Mario and his allies finally reach Bowser's giant starship generator, which is draining energy from what appears to be a comet. Mario infiltrates the starship and engages Bowser in a final battle.
Once again, Mario defeats Bowser and causes him to revert to his normal size and fall to his presumed death. Just as he falls, the last Grand Star appears. Before Mario can grab it, Bowser emerges, having survived the fall. He consumes the Grand Star, once again increasing his size and making him more powerful. Another battle ensues, in which Mario manages to finally defeat Bowser by ground-pounding meteorites onto him, causing him to once again shrink and fall into the abyss. Mario grabs the last Grand Star and saves Peach. They return to Starship Mario and Rosalina and her Comet Observatory from appear before Starship Mario. Rosalina thanks Mario for watching over Baby Luma, who then returns to the Comet Observatory, taking Mario's hat with him. Mario and his friends return to the Mushroom Kingdom and celebrate their victory, whereas Bowser is revealed to once again have survived. However, he is enraged at having been shrunken down to a comically small size. The game ends with Starship Mario flying above Peach's castle, with the Comet Observatory streaking across the sky.
F.A.Q.
Reward for 120 Stars / How to Unlock Green Star Missions: Collect all 120 Power Stars and defeat Bowser to unlock 120 Green Star missions scattered throughout the worlds.
Reward for 240 Stars / How to Unlock Grandmaster Galaxy: Collect all the Green Stars for a total of 240 Power Stars to unlock the Grandmaster Galaxy.
How to Unlock Grandmaster Galaxy Prank Comet: Collect 9999 Star Bits in the Star Bank after unlocking the Grandmaster Galaxy to unlock the Grandmaster Galaxy Prank Comet.
Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach from the Mushroom Kingdom and takes her aboard his airship, intent on forcibly marrying her. Mario, also aboard, attempts to rescue her but is knocked off the ship by Bowser's hat after a brief fight and falls into the neighboring Cap Kingdom. With Mario gone, Bowser stomps on Mario's cap and lets it drift into the ship's rear propellers, shredding it to pieces. A piece of the hat is grabbed by Cappy, one of the Cap Kingdom's sentient hat-like creatures called Bonneters. The two meet, and he explains to Mario that Bowser also kidnapped his sister, Tiara, to be used as Peach's wedding tiara. Cappy joins Mario and takes the shape of Mario's cap, providing him with the ability to throw his cap and temporarily control or capture other creatures and objects and utilize their abilities. They travel to the nearby Cascade Kingdom, recover an airship called the Odyssey, and begin hunting Bowser down.
Mario and Cappy explore the various kingdoms to collect Power Moons to fuel the Odyssey and battle the Broodals—a team of anthrophomorphic rabbit wedding planners hired by Bowser—who steal items including a dress, a cake, and a bouquet from different kingdoms to set up Bowser's wedding. Eventually, they catch up to Bowser in his own kingdom; however, Bowser subsequently departs for his wedding on the Moon and leaves the two to fight the Broodals in their Mecha-Broodal. They defeat the Mecha-Broodal and follow Bowser to the Moon.
Mario and Cappy fly the Odyssey to the Moon's surface and confront Bowser inside a cathedral. After Mario falls through Bowser's trap, the two battle in the Moon's interior, where Bowser is defeated and Mario frees Peach and Tiara, however the cavern quickly begins to collapse. Upon landing deeper in the moon, Mario takes control of an unconscious Bowser using Cappy and escapes to the surface with Peach and Tiara. Back on the surface, Mario prepares to propose to Peach, but Bowser regains consciousness and proposes as well. The two fight over her hand in marriage before an overwhelmed Peach demands they stop, and she boards the Odyssey with Cappy and Tiara. The rivals are both heartbroken until Peach tells Mario to come home with her. Mario boards the ship just in time, leaving Bowser stranded on the moon.
The Odyssey lands in the Mushroom Kingdom near Peach's Castle, where Cappy says that he enjoyed the adventure and wishes to continue traveling with Mario to collect more Power Moons. They do so, going through the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as Rabbit Ridge of the dark side of the moon and Culmina Crater of the darker side of the moon in the process. Meanwhile, Peach and Tiara travel the kingdoms on Peach's "own terms," while finding Power Moons themselves that they give to Mario when he meets up with them.
F.A.Q.
How to Unlock Dark Side level: collect 250 Power Moons to unlock a new level Dark Side.
How to Unlock Darker Side level: collect 500 Power Moons to unlock a new level Darker Side.
Reward for 999 Power Moon: collecting 999 Power Moons results in Peach’s Castle being adorned with a giant top hat and the Odyssey balloon turning gold. At the top of the hat, spinning Cappy will trigger a small cutscene of appreciation.
Bowser’s Fury (2021)
While on a walk, Mario discovers a mysterious black sludge M (resembling Shadow Mario's logo from Super Mario Sunshine) in the Mushroom Kingdom. After being absorbed by it, Mario finds himself in an archipelago of cat-themed islands called Lake Lapcat that have become overrun with black sludge. Upon his arrival, Mario encounters Fury Bowser, a dark version of Bowser that has grown to colossal size. Mario collects a Cat Shine, causing Bowser to retreat. Bowser Jr. appears and pleads for Mario's help to restore his father to normal, and Mario reluctantly agrees.
The two travel across Lake Lapcat in order to obtain Cat Shines, aided by Plessie the aquatic dinosaur. After obtaining a certain number of Cat Shines, Mario gains access to the Giga Bell, a super-powered variation of the Super Bell. The Giga Bell transforms Mario into Giga Cat Mario, a colossal version of cat form, allowing him to battle Fury Bowser.
After using the Giga Bells to fight Fury Bowser several times, Bowser is drained of the sludge which transformed him. Despite this, he remains colossal and out of control, and steals the three Giga Bells. Mario manages to retake the Giga Bells, using all three to turn Plessie into a giant and crush Bowser. Bowser is returned to his normal size, and Bowser Jr. breaks off his alliance with Mario as the two retreat. Mario and the cats of Lake Lapcat celebrate atop the still-giant Plessie.
A series of paintings by Bowser Jr. shown during the credits explain that he was responsible for accidentally creating Fury Bowser, having painted Bowser's face with his magic paintbrush while he was sleeping as a prank.
F.A.Q.
Reward for 100 Cat Shines: collecting 100 Cat Shines will result in the final Fury Bowser to be slightly harder and Fury Bowser now appearing silver. Once Fury Bowser is defeated, Mario’s regular cat form will be replaced with a smaller version of the Giga Cat Mario form. Bowser Jr. will also appear with cat-like features called Meowser Jr.
Super Mario (2D) | Nintendo
The classic Super Mario platformer genre.
Spin-Off Titles
Various game styles with the Super Mario theme.
Party Game: Mario Party
Racing: Mario Kart
RPG: Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario
Sports: Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, etc.