Summary
Nintendo’sSuper Mariohas over the years grown into a large and popular gaming franchise, with a lore all of its own. Most of the titles have been very successful with both players and critics, which has helpedMarioremain a household name for over 35 years.
Naturally then, in such a vast franchise there are bound to be somehidden goodies and referencesfor the most keen players. Both throughout the games, and even inTheSuper Mario Bros. Movie(not to be confused with the 1993 film), many Easter Eggs are scattered throughout. Some of these are definitely weird, due to the seeming randomness of their placement, or how theydon’t really fit with the rest of the game.
Super Mario Odysseyis an incredible entry in the series and introduces some amazing new concepts to the games. With an adventure spanning wonderful, varied worlds, Mario now has new abilities. Thanks to Cappy, he can ‘become’an iconic enemy, from a Goomba to a Bullet Bill. Mario can even dress in various outfits!
Some players may have seen a few of Mario’s outfits before playing the game. This is because certain clothing didn’t debut inOdyssey,but beforehand in an obscure way. Mario, wearing his Japanese Noble, Samurai, and Swim Wear outfits, was originally seen in a 2016 Club Nintendo reward: a desk calendar depicting various characters in different outfits.
Super Mario Sunshinewas thesecond 3D platformerin the series, released for the GameCube in 2002. It sees Mario on a mission to collect the Shine Sprites to restore Isle Delfino. The fifth unlockable location is Sirena Beach, a quiet secluded bay home to the Hotel Delfino.
Interestingly, the resort seen from the correct angle looks exactly like a GameCube controller. This is reflected in the placement of the pools and the huts, which also are in the same shape as various controller buttons. The hotel itself bears a resemblance to the distinct cubic shape of the console, with the path leading from it almost like the controller’s cable. Also, Hotel Delfino is a four-star hotel, just like the GameCube has four controller ports.
8Mario Movie Map
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
This animated title was a commercial success and, as expected, is packed full of Easter eggs. Some are more hidden than others, and some segments have so many hidden references it’s hard to keep up with them all. One such scene is the Mario Bros. plumbing advert: The map shows many streets with weird names.
There’s “Link St.” which seems to reference the iconicZeldaprotagonist. Also seen briefly is “Hanafuda Avenue”, which directly references the history of Nintendo. The company originally manufactured playing cards. Hanafuda was Nintendo’s very first product when the company was founded in 1889. And that’s another reference, hidden in “1889th Street” seen on the map.
This group of mischievous young Koopas first appeared on the NES console. Since then they’ve appeared often, as antagonists in theNew Super Mario Brosseries, and even playablein certainMario Karttitlesto name a few. In a unique move, these characters were nearly all named after famous musicians. The job of naming them fell to Nintendo employee, Dayvv Brooks.
Brooks was tasked with localizingSuper Mario Bros 3for the American audience. He was a huge music fan and gave most Koopalings the names of iconic musicians:
6Map of Japan
Super Mario Bros 3
In this NES game, Mario and Luigi must stop the Koopalings from wreaking havoc upon the kingdoms of the Mushroom World. They traverse colorful and varied locations, from Grass Land to Ice Land, and Giant Land to Water Land.
Upon closer observation of the map of Water Land, there’s a group of islands that look like the shape of Japan. The castle is situated at the bottom of the biggest island. Interestingly, on a map of Japan, the city of Kyoto would roughly be where the castle of Water Land is. Nintendo’s headquarters have always been in Kyoto.
5News Bulletins
The movie contains no shortage of references to other Nintendo franchises. The “Punch-out Pizzeria” (which just happens to be another Easter egg, referencingPunch-Out!!, one ofthe hardest NES gamesof all time.) has some hidden references. One example is the bulletin on the television behind Mario and Luigi. It reads: “Stolen Vegetables Recovered By Ice Climbers,” referring to the plot of the NES titleIce Climber.
Another notable bulletin can be glimpsed in Mario’s room. This mentions the “Star System FS-176”, a directMetroidreference. Do these news items mean that theMetroidcast and the Ice Climbers share the same universe as the beloved plumbers?
The two titles in this series are some ofWii platforming’s greatest entries. Central to these games is the need to collect the colorful Star Bits. Getting enough of them yields an all-important 1-UP. They’re also needed to feed hungry Lumas who, when full, will transform into other galaxies. This opens up the opportunity to collect more Power Stars.
If players are able to reach 9,999 Star Bits something rather random occurs. The green coconuts seen in galaxies like Deep Dark, Shiverburn, and Good Egg Galaxy, all turn into watermelons. What’s more, this is a permanent feature; even dropping back below 9,999 won’t revert them back to coconuts. It seems anything is possible in Mario’s vast and varied universe.
The second in theSuper Mario Landseries for the Game Boy was released in 1992. This is a notable title for being the last of Mario’s 2D side-scrolling games untilNew Super Mario Bros.in 2006, as well as marking Wario’s first-ever appearance. Wario has taken over Mario’s castle, thus this game sees Mario having to collect the 6 Golden Coins which are the keys to it.
A unique Easter egg here, is the appearance of “N&B” written onto a brick in Mario Zone’s final stage, the ‘Block Course’. This references a series of Nintendo’s own toys, which were created to rival the LEGO franchise. The whole stage is made up of these blocks, though the N&B blocks were a short-lived Nintendo brand.
In the original game, held as one of thebest 3D platformers on the Nintendo 64, Princess Peach has a pet rabbit, MIPS. The bunny can be found in the Castle’s basement, after obtaining 15 Power Stars. He can later be found in the basement again after 50 Stars have been collected. Catching the rabbit rewards the player with a Power Star on both occasions.
‘MIPS’ might sound like a cute name for a bunny, but he’s actually named after the Nintendo 64’s microprocessor. In full, the microprocessor is called “Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages”. Like another Easter Egg, much of MIPS’ dialogue is akin to the White Rabbit’s fromAlice in Wonderland.
This unique galaxy is home to one of the strangest and weirdest Easter eggs in the series. Located in World 5, this galaxy utilizes a really ‘cool’ concept: fire and ice co-existing. Some tasks even require Mario to use ice to cross lava. This bizarre idea executed brilliantly makes Shiverburn Galaxyone of the best locationsin this game.
As for the weird Easter Egg, it can be seen using the zoom feature. It seems there are three humanoid beings staring down at Mario. It seems really random as to why they’re there, but interestingly, they share a similar appearance to a creature in Japanese mythology, the “Kodama”. In folklore, it’s said they reside in trees. Japan has large areas of forested land, which covers approximately 68% of the country’s land area.
