Power-ups are to theSuper Mariofranchise like items are toThe Legend of Zelda: intangible and plentiful. So when oneSuper Mariofan set out to create pixel art of every power-up in the franchise, they were in for a lot of work as there are dozens to depict.
Back in the originalSuper Mario Bros., the power-ups at the Italian plumber’s disposal were a bit more streamlined. Players could get a Super Mushroom to grow in size and take an extra hit, a Fire Flower to both grow and shoot fireballs, or the Star to become invincible for a short period of time. As the series would progress though, and especially from 2D to 3D, with every new title it seemed like there were new power-ups being introduced. Many of thesepower-ups are uncommon in the greaterSuper Marioserieslike the Gold Block fromNew Super Mario Bros. 2, that gave Mario coins as he sprinted.
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Reddit user BausOfBacon has painstakingly created pixel art of everySuper Mariopower-up in the style ofSuper Mario Bros. 1. There are 52 sprites in total (51 when not counting theblank space forSuper Mario 64’s Vanish Cap), all of which fit inside the 32 by 32 pixel count used in the original Super Mario Bros. The power-ups ofSuper Mario Galaxyare very prominent in BausOfBacon’s work, those being Spring Mario with his coil body, Bee Mario whose overalls alternate brown and yellow, the self-explanatory Boo Mario, and the entirely light blue Ice Mario.
BausOfBacon speaks a bit about the work that went into this project in the comments of their post. According to them, there were a handful of really easy power-ups to make, them being the Super/Rainbow Star, the Ice Flower, and the Super Bell as were “just a couple of easy palette swaps.”
On the other end of the spectrum, the hardest power-ups were the Master Sword and Cloud Flower, the former transforming Mario into Link fromThe Legend of Zelda, and the latter giving Mario a large cloud hat. Rather than simply using theLink sprite that was used inSuper Mario Maker 2, BausOfBacon made a unique design more akin to Super Mushroom Mario.
Some players may be wondering where power-ups like the Coin Box andCannon Box fromSuper Mario 3D Worldare, and based on BausOfBacon’s work, they may just not consider them as power-ups like the rest. In the games they are present in, they can be used in addition to a traditional power-up like the Fire Flower or Super Bell which in turn, detracts from the Coin Box and Cannon Box uniqueness. Integrating those power-ups here would mean for a lot ofSuper Mariosprites to be rendered.
