Super Mario

Director Takashi Tezuka, producer Shigeru Miyamoto, and composer Koji Kondo, pictured in 2015

Super Mario Bros. was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and is the first side-scrolling 2D platform game to feature Mario. It established many core Mario gameplay concepts. The brothers Mario and Luigi live in the Mushroom Kingdom, where they must rescue Princess Toadstool (later called Princess Peach) from Bowser/King Koopa. The game consists of eight worlds of four levels each, totaling 32 levels altogether. Though the worlds differ in themes, the fourth level is always a fortress or castle that ends with a fight against Bowser (or one of his minions disguised as him).[4] This is one of the best-selling video games of all time.[5] The game even had its first indirect sequel by Hudson Soft of the PC-8801 that was agreed to be ported by Nintendo but turned mostly into a different game altogether called Super Mario Bros. Special.[6]

Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan is the first sequel to the original Super Mario Bros., and was re-released as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels worldwide on SNES. It uses the Super Mario Bros. engine, with additions such as weather, character movements, and more complex levels, altogether yielding a much higher difficulty. The game follows the same style of level progression as Super Mario Bros., with eight initial worlds of four levels each. The last level of the eight worlds is a lava-filled castle that culminates in a battle against Bowser. At that time, this sequel was not released outside Japan since Nintendo of America did not want the Mario series to be known to players outside of Japan for frustrating difficulty. It remained inaccessible to a steadily broadening market of American video game players, becoming stylistically outdated by the time the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 could be eventually delivered to America.[7] The game later debuted outside Japan in 1993 as "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" in the compilation game Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The original Famicom version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in September 2007, listed as "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels" outside Japan. A later Super Mario All-Stars Wii port, Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition, features the SNES gameplay and adds Wii Remote, Classic Controller, and GameCube controller compatibility.

In Super Mario Bros. 2 (Super Mario USA in Japan), Mario and his companions are out to stop the evil frog Wart in the Subcon dreamland. Based on a discarded prototype,[8] the game was instead originally released as Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic in Japan, and was ultimately converted into a Mario game for the rest of the world as Super Mario Bros. 2, before being released in Japan as Super Mario USA as part of Super Mario All-Stars. One of the game's most defining aspects is the four player characters: not only Mario, but Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad are available for single-player action, each with defined character movements: Luigi jumps higher, the Princess glides through the sky for a short amount of time, etc. Characters here also can pluck vegetables from the ground to throw at enemies. This is also the first Super Mario game to use a life meter, which allows Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad to be hit up to four times before dying. Mushrooms count for two lives, and coins are used for inter-level slot machine minigame.[7] In 1996, a sequel was released exclusively in Japan under the name BS Super Mario Bros. USA Challenge on the Satellaview system.[9][10][11]

Super Mario Bros. 3 is divided into eight themed worlds, each with 6–10 levels and several bonus stages displayed as locations on a mapped overworld. These locations are not necessarily in a linear order, and the player is occasionally permitted to skip levels or play the game out of order. Completed levels cannot be replayed. A world's final level is a boss stage. The penultimate boss stage in each world is a side-scrolling level atop an airship ("Doom Ship") with a fight against one of Bowser's seven Koopalings. The game introduced a diverse array of new power-ups, including flight as Raccoon Mario or the level-long P-Wing allowing permanent flight through a whole level. Bowser is again the final boss.

Super Mario Land is the first handheld Super Mario game after the Game & Watch conversion of Super Mario Bros., and was released for the Game Boy. As with other games in the series, it is a sidescrolling platformer in which Mario sets out to save Princess Daisy by defeating a mysterious spaceman named Tatanga. Power-ups include hearts, which gives Mario an extra life (similar to a 1-up mushroom) and small bouncing ball which Mario throws referred to as "superballs". The game consists of twelve levels split across four worlds.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins introduces Mario's rival, Wario, who had taken over Mario's castle during the events of Super Mario Land and forces Mario to collect the six golden coins in order to reenter and reclaim his castle. While its predecessor is similar to the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land 2 has more in common with later games. The player is no longer restricted to only moving towards the right. A bell at each level's end activates a minigame, where the player can try to get extra lives. There are 32 levels, based on several themed worlds each with its own boss. Three power-ups return: the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Super Star. The game introduces the Carrot power-up, which gives Mario large rabbit ears that let him glide when falling for a limited time. Its story was continued in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, which retroactively became the first of a spin-off series, Wario Land.

Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the best-selling game of the system

Super Mario World was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and consists of nine worlds displayed via a world map overworld. It is a direct successor to the Super Mario Bros. games, with the subtitle Super Mario Bros. 4 in Japan. Unlike Super Mario Bros. 3, however, where each world map is individual, the world map here is unique and covers the whole game. Most of the 72 levels have one exit, though some have hidden second exits. Mario's new moves include a spin jump and the rideable Yoshi who can eat enemies and either swallow or spit them out. Power-ups include the returning Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Super Star, and the new Cape Feather, based on Super Mario Bros. 3's Super Leaf, which lets Mario and Luigi fly with a cape.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was released for the SNES in 1995. To reunite baby Mario with his brother Luigi, who has been kidnapped by Kamek, the player controls Yoshi as the primary character through 48 levels while carrying Baby Mario. Yoshi runs and jumps to reach the end of the level while solving puzzles and collecting items. In a style new to the series, the game has a hand-drawn aesthetic. The game introduces his signature abilities to flutter jump and produce eggs from swallowed enemies. The game is well known for its unique artstyle, which heavily contrasted with the pre-rendered artstyle of contemporary games popularized by Donkey Kong Country. Some of its special effects were powered by a new Super FX2 microchip. Yoshi's Island received "instant" and "universal acclaim", according to IGN and review aggregator Metacritic, and sold over four million copies. Reviewers posited Yoshi's Island as a masterpiece and one of the greatest video games of all time. Yoshi's signature characteristics established in Yoshi's Island would carry throughout a series of cameos, spin-offs, and sequels, including the 1997 Yoshi's Story, 2006 Yoshi's Island DS, 2014 Yoshi's New Island, and 2019's Yoshi's Crafted World. It is the final 2D game in the Super Mario series released on a home console until New Super Mario Bros. Wii more than a decade later. Sources have debated on whether Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where the player primarily controls a Yoshi carrying Baby Mario, should count as a Super Mario game.[12][13][14] Miyamoto responded affirmatively when asked if Yoshi's Island is a Super Mario game, with Tezuka later adding:

"When that game debuted, I wanted people to understand that Yoshi was part of the Mario world, and that be conveyed whether through title or gameplay. To me, it's part of the Mario series, but today's Yoshi games? They've changed from those origins, so I think it's okay to think of Yoshi living in his own universe. You can think of it separately from Mario's world."[15]

Three games in the series feature primarily open-ended, 3D platform gameplay with greater emphasis on exploration.[16]

Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 (pictured) is the first 3D and open world entry

Super Mario 64 is the first 3D and open world game in the series, and a launch game for the Nintendo 64 home console. Each level is an enclosed environment where the player is free to explore in all directions without time limits. The player collects Power Stars that appear after completing tasks to unlock later courses and areas.[17] The Nintendo 64's analog stick makes an extensive repertoire of precise movements in all directions possible. The game introduced moves such as punching, triple jumping, and using a Wing Cap to fly. It is the first Super Mario series game to feature Charles Martinet's voice acting for Mario. Mario must once again save Princess Peach from Bowser, and collect up to 120 Power Stars from the paintings and return them to her castle, the overworld. There are a total of 105 Power Stars in the paintings, with 15 hidden in the castle. The game's power-ups differ from previous games, now being three different hats with temporary powers: the Wing Cap, allowing Mario to fly; the Metal Cap, turning him into metal; and the Vanish Cap, allowing him to walk through obstacles.

Super Mario Sunshine is the second 3D Super Mario game. It was released in 2002 for the GameCube. In it, Mario and Peach travel to Isle Delfino for a vacation when a Mario doppelgänger, going by the name of Shadow Mario, appears and vandalizes the entire island. Mario is sentenced to clean the island with a water-squirting accessory called F.L.U.D.D. Super Mario Sunshine shares many similar gameplay elements with its predecessor Super Mario 64, yet introduces moves, like spinning while jumping, and several other actions through the use of F.L.U.D.D. The game contains a number of independent levels, which can be reached from the hub, Delfino Plaza. Mario collects Shine Sprites by completing tasks in the levels, which in return unlock levels in Delfino Plaza by way of abilities and plot-related events.[18] Sunshine introduces the last of Bowser's eight children, Bowser Jr., as an antagonist. Yoshi also appears again for Mario to ride in certain sections.

Released in October 2017 for Nintendo Switch,[19] Super Mario Odyssey is a return to the open-world "sandbox" 3D style of game last seen in Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64. After Mario's cap is possessed by a spirit named Cappy, he is able to use it to temporarily "capture" enemies, harmless life forms and objects and utilize their powers. Like previous sandbox 3D games, the game's worlds contain a large variety of objectives that can be achieved in a non-linear order before progressing. Super Mario Odyssey was critically acclaimed, and earned multiple awards. This game adventures through many different kingdoms, in addition to the standard Mushroom Kingdom Mario's adventures usually take place in; and is the very first one to include a vocal theme song, "Jump Up, Super Star!".

New Super Mario Bros. series logo

New Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo DS in 2006. In it, Mario and Luigi set out to save Princess Peach from Bowser Jr. The gameplay is 2D, but most of the characters and objects are 3D on two-dimensional backgrounds, resulting in a 2.5D effect. The game uses an overworld map similar to those of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. Some levels have multiple exits. The classic power-ups (Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Super Star) return alongside the Mega Mushroom, Blue Shell, and Mini Mushroom. The Mega Mushroom briefly turns Mario (or Luigi) into an invincible giant that destroys everything in his path, enemies as pipes and blocks. The Blue Shell protects Mario from harm and allows him to slide (depending on speed), where the Mini Mushroom shrinks Mario to a much smaller size, allowing him to fit through tight spaces and access places normally.

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Princess Peach is captured by Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings during her birthday party in her castle, and Mario, Luigi, and two Toads (blue and yellow) spring into action to save her. The game features 4-player co-op and new power-ups: the Propeller Mushroom, the Ice Flower, and the Penguin Suit. The Propeller Mushroom allows the player to launch its character high into the air through shaking the Wii Remote. The Penguin Suit enhances sliding traction, speed and agility of swimming abilities, in addition to the ice ball projectiles that are provisioned by the Ice Flower. All characters can ride Yoshi. The levels are organized into individually themed open-worlds reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. 3. Like in its predecessor, there are three hidden Star Coins to find in each level, which can be used to unlock movies with gameplay tips. It was released in November 2009 to an important commercial success, and won several awards.[20][21]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in July and August 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. The player, as Mario or Luigi, tries to save Princess Peach from Bowser and the Koopalings, with the game's secondary goal to collect one million coins. Several gameplay elements were introduced to help achieve this goal, such as the Gold Flower, a rarer variant of the Fire Flower that turns items into coins.[22][23]

New Super Mario Bros. U, the Wii U follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was released in November 2012, in North America. It plays similarly to the previous New Super Mario Bros. games, and introduces both a Flying Squirrel suit that lets the players glide through the air, and asymmetric gameplay that allows the player holding the GamePad to influence the environment. In June 2013, New Super Luigi U was released as a downloadable content (DLC) package for the game, featuring shorter, but more difficult levels, starring Luigi as the main protagonist instead of his brother. Subsequently, it was released as a standalone retail game on August 25 in North America.[24] Unlike the downloadable content version, the standalone retail version of New Super Luigi U does not require having New Super Mario Bros. U to play it. The Nintendo Switch port New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe includes both the main game and New Super Luigi U, and new playable characters Nabbit and Toadette.[25]

Super Mario Galaxy was launched in 2007 for the Wii. It is set in outer space, where Mario travels between "galaxies" to collect Power Stars, earned by completing quests or defeating enemies. Each galaxy contains a number of planets and other space objects for the player to explore. The game's physics system gives each celestial object its own gravitational force, which lets the player circumnavigate rounded or irregular planetoids by walking sideways or upside down. The player is usually able to jump from one independent object and fall towards another close object. Though the main gameplay and physics are in 3D, there are several points in the game where the player's movements are restricted into a 2D axis. Several new power-ups appear following the new game mechanics. All of them return in the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, besides the Ice Flower and Red Star power-ups.

Super Mario Galaxy 2, the sequel to Super Mario Galaxy, was initially developed as an expansion pack to the latter, although it eventually developed into its own game, released on May 23, 2010. It retains the basic premise of its predecessor and includes its items and power-ups. These include the Cloud Flower, which allows Mario to create platforms in mid-air, and the Rock Mushroom, which turns Mario into a rolling boulder. Mario can also ride Yoshi along. This time, the galaxies each have less Power Stars, three regular Power Stars and three green stars instead of the original six Power Stars, with a few exceptions. Each galaxy has one or two main Power Stars, and either a Prankster Comet or a hidden Power Star, or both. It was released to widespread critical acclaim, getting better reviews than its predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy.

Nintendo 3DS

Super Mario 3D Land was released for the Nintendo 3DS in November and December 2011. It is the first original 3D Super Mario game on a handheld console, since all previous games were either 2D or re-edits of former games. As an attempt to translate the gameplay of the 2D games into a 3D environment, it tried to simplify the control scheme of the 3D games through using more linear levels. It also brought back several older gameplay features, including the Super Leaf power-up last seen in Super Mario Bros. 3. This game was released to critical acclaim.

Super Mario 3D World, the sequel to Super Mario 3D Land, was released for the Wii U on November 22, 2013 in North America, and utilized the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor.[26] It introduced three power-ups, the Super Bell (which turns the characters into cats able to attack and scale walls in order to reach new areas), Lucky Bell, and Double Cherry (which creates a clone of the character that collects it). Like Super Mario Bros. 2, it features Princess Peach and Toad as playable characters in addition to Mario and Luigi. Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy is also unlocked later in the game. It is to be re-released on Switch in 2021 with new content.

Super Mario Maker is a creation tool released for the Wii U in September 2015[27] which allows players to create their own levels based on the gameplay and style of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, as well as to share their creations online. Based on existing games, several gameplay mechanics were introduced for the game, with existing ones also available to be used together in new ways. A Nintendo 3DS version of the game called Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, was released in December 2016. It features a few new pre-installed levels, but no online level sharing.

Super Mario Maker 2 is very similar in design to its predecessor, Super Mario Maker. It introduced many new items, themes, and enemies, as well as an online multiplayer mode. The game was released on June 28, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.

Super Mario Run is a side-scrolling and auto-scrolling video game released in December 2016 on the iOS platform, then in March 2017 on Android. It is the first official Mario game developed for non-Nintendo hardware (since previous attempts all faced cancellation), as well as the first official Super Mario game developed for mobile devices. As such, it features simplified controls that allow it to be played with only one hand.

In this game, Mario runs automatically, and the player's in charge of controlling the jumping action so that Mario avoids all hazards. This is achieved by touching the tactile screens these devices are built with, and the longer the player touches the jump button, the higher Mario jumps. Collecting all coins in a precise level unlocks a set of 5 pink coins in said level for Mario (the player) to collect, allowing extended replayability. Collecting these 5 coins unlocks another set of 5 purple coins, which upon collecting unlocks another set of 5 coins, black this time and much harder to collect. This further multiplies the game's length, through requiring the player to beat a single level 4 times to fully complete it.

This game also includes a "Toad Rally" mode, quite similar to the "VS Boo" mode of Super Mario Bros Deluxe, in which players have to complete a level faster than a computer-controlled Toad. Success in this mode earns the player access to in-game money to spend in customization options for it to create its own "Mushroom Kingdom" map, using mechanics similar to Farmville, into Super Mario Run's third gameplay mode.

Much of the original Super Mario Bros. music and sound effects have become iconic to the series and incorporated into modern games. The original Super Mario Bros. theme, composed by Koji Kondo, has become one of the most well known video game themes around the world.[30]

Super Mario Galaxy, released in 2007, became the first game in the Super Mario series to feature orchestrated music,[31] which would return in its sequel and other subsequent games such as Super Mario 3D World.[32]

Most items in the Super Mario series appear from item blocks when hit, which originated in Super Mario Bros. and persisted throughout the series, where Mario hits a block to receive either coins or power-ups.

UGO described the Super Mushroom as "the quintessential power-up".[36]

Mushroom power-ups appear in almost every Super Mario game. The most iconic of these is the Super Mushroom.[36][37] The Super Mushroom increases Mario's size, turning him into "Super Mario", and allows him to break certain blocks. When hit by an enemy, Mario reverts to his smaller size instead of losing a life.[36] When Mario is in his "Super" form, most blocks that would contain a Super Mushroom instead offer a more powerful power-up such as the Fire Flower. The Super Mushroom is similar in appearance to the Amanita muscaria, with an ivory stalk below a most commonly red and white (originally red and orange) spotted cap. Created by chance, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that beta tests of Super Mario Bros. proved Mario too tall, so the development team implemented mushrooms to grow and shrink Mario.[38]

The Poison Mushroom, first introduced in the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, is a mushroom that causes damage when touched.

The Mini Mushroom is a small blue mushroom, a recurring item in the New Super Mario Bros. series, which shrinks Mario into miniature size, allowing him to access areas and pipes that Mario normally cannot reach. Mini Mario also jumps higher, floats midair, bounces off enemies without hurting them except by ground pounding, and can run across the surface of the water and then jump from it as if he was on land. Mario is more vulnerable in this form and loses a life upon receiving one hit in miniature form. The Mini Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros. U allows Mario to run up walls.[39]

The Mega Mushroom, introduced in New Super Mario Bros. and further appearing in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World, is a more recent addition to the series that grows Mario into a towering, invulnerable giant who destroys enemies and the environment by running through them. It has an orange-yellow cap with red spots, like the Super Mario Bros. Super Mushroom, but with an inflated cap. Super Mario 64 DS features an item simply called "Mushroom"[40] that grants the same abilities as the Mega Mushroom.

In the Super Mario Galaxy franchise, the Bee Mushroom gives Mario the Bee Suit, and the Spring Mushroom puts Mario inside a metallic coil.

The 1-Up is a common item shown as a green and white mushroom that gives Mario an extra life. The 1-Up was introduced in Super Mario Bros., sometimes hidden in invisible item blocks, and displayed as having an orange cap with green spots. In Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2, the 1-Up is shown as a heart. 1-Ups can take other forms, such as the 3-Up Moon from Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U.

The flower power-ups let Mario shoot projectiles. The Fire Flower, introduced in Super Mario Bros., transforms Mario into Fire Mario, who can throw bouncing fireballs at enemies. Super Mario Galaxy is the first 3D Mario platform game to have the Fire Flower. In Super Mario Land and Super Mario Maker 2, the Superball is a bouncing ball obtained from a Super Flower, which Mario can use to defeat enemies and collect coins. The Ice Flower transforms Mario into Ice Mario, where he can shoot balls of ice as projectiles similar to that of the Fire Flower; it freezes enemies in a block of ice, to be used as platforms or as thrown projectiles, as seen in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U.[21] In Super Mario Galaxy, the Ice Flower turns Mario into ice and lets him walk on lava or water for a limited time by freezing the surface. Lastly, New Super Mario Bros. 2's Gold Flower lets Mario turn bricks into coins and earn bonus coins for defeating enemies.

Invincibility is an effect first appearing in the three Super Mario Bros. games, where it is granted by a "Starman",[41][42][43] an anthropomorphized, flashing star. The star has also been named the "Super Star" in the two Super Mario World games as well as the New Super Mario Bros. games[44][45] and the "Rainbow Star" in the two Super Mario Galaxy games. Picking up the star makes Mario temporarily invincible, able to resist any harm. Use of the item is accompanied by a distinctive music track that appears consistently across most of the games. The player character flickers a variety of colors — and in some games, moves with increased speed and enhanced jumping ability — while under the Star's influence. While invincible, Mario defeats any enemy upon contact with it. In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the star gives the normally immobile baby Mario the ability to run as well as become invincible. In Super Mario 64, invincibility is provided when Mario wears the metal cap or the vanish cap. The Mega Mushroom provides temporary invincibility with the addition of giant size and environment destruction (see Mushrooms).

The games often feature collectibles found in levels in order to progress in the overworld, most frequently with the visual motif of a star. They are typically situated in locations that are not readily found or reached, or awarded for completing stunts, or objectives given by NPCs. They include the Power Stars in Super Mario 64 and the Super Mario Galaxy games, Shine Sprites in Super Mario Sunshine, Star Coins in the New Super Mario Bros. series and Super Mario 3D Land, Green Stars in the Galaxy games and Super Mario 3D World, and Power Moons in Super Mario Odyssey. In Super Mario Land 2, there are six Golden Coin tokens that must be collected to finish the game.

Flight is a common theme throughout the series, first enabled with the magic carpet item in the international Super Mario Bros. 2. The Super Leaf and Tanooki Suit items, first appearing in Super Mario Bros. 3 provide Mario with an animal-suited tail, which in turn acts as a flight propeller. The Tanooki Suit returns in Super Mario 3D Land, and the Super Leaf returns in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and the Super Mario Maker series. In the New Super Mario Bros. series and Super Mario Maker series, the Propeller Block and the Propeller Mushroom let Mario spin up into the air and slowly descend. In Super Mario Land, Mario pilots a yellow airplane with unlimited ammunition called the Sky Pop. Super Mario World introduces various forms of flight: the feather item provides a cape, the P Balloon puffs Mario into a floating balloon figure, and Yoshi can carry a blue Koopa shell which gives him wings. In Super Mario 64, flight that is granted by a Wing Cap. In New Super Mario Bros. U, Mario has limited flight and gliding capabilities in a Flying Squirrel suit and can also command a pink Baby Yoshi to puff up into the form of a floating balloon. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario can obtain a special red star that transforms him into Flying Mario for a limited time. Lakitu's cloud can be commandeered in several of the side-scrolling games.

Several suits work as power-ups, many of which are based on animals. Debuting in Super Mario Bros. 3, the Raccoon Suit (provisioned by a Super Leaf) and the Tanooki Suit each provide Mario with a tail which acts as a flight propeller. In addition, the Tanooki Suit lets Mario spontaneously change into an invincible statue for about five seconds. In Super Mario 3D Land, the Raccoon Suit reappears and is accompanied by a silver-colored variation called a Statue Leaf.[46] Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a Hammer Bros. suit, which allows Mario to throw hammers as projectiles, to defeat enemies at a distance, taking what the Hammer Bros does to Mario and turning it around. While wearing the suit and ducking, Mario is invulnerable to fire attacks. The Hammer Suit was so powerful that in later games, it was downgraded. Super Mario 3D Land features a "Boomerang Suit" which provisions long-distance boomerang projectiles. Other animal suits include the Frog Suit, Penguin Suit, Cat Suit and Bee Suit.

Super Mario level design traditionally incorporates many distributed coins as puzzles and rewards. Most Super Mario games award the player an extra life once a certain amount of yellow coins are collected, commonly 50 or 100. Several coin variants exist, such as silver coins, dragon coins, star coins, and more.

In Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, coins replenish health (and air, when Mario is underwater). In Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, collecting 100 coins in a level results in a Power Star or Shine Sprite respectively. There are also stages in that game reward a Power Star for collecting eight red coins in a level, worth two normal coins each. In Super Mario 64, a blue coin is worth five normal coins. In Super Mario Sunshine, blue coins act as a side quest when brought to the Delfino Bank and for every ten blue coins deposited, Mario will earn a Shine Sprite.

In the Super Mario Galaxy series, after finishing each game once, stages unlock where Mario can collect 100 purple coins to earn a Power Star. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, they can also be used to feed some hungry "Luma" characters that can turn into either an item or another planet.

The series often features the option to play as characters other than Mario, usually Luigi. Earlier games have offered an alternating multiplayer mode in which the second player controls Luigi on their turn. Luigi is often only playable by player one in a second, more challenging iteration of the base game, such as in The Lost Levels, Galaxy 2, New Super Luigi U and the special worlds in 3D Land; these feature lower gravity and reduced friction for Luigi. Later games allow four player simultaneous play. Playable characters other than Mario and Luigi have included Toads, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Rosalina, Miis, Toadette, Nabbit and Daisy. Characters are sometimes differentiated by special abilities. Super Mario Maker (though not Super Mario Maker 2) includes costumes that depict many more characters.

The Warp Pipe is a common method of transportation used in many of the Mario series games. Warp Pipes are most often green but also appear in other colors (early games included silver pipes, newer games have introduced red, green, blue and yellow pipes), and have many uses in the series. Warp Pipes can also contain enemies, usually Piranha Plants, and sometimes launch the player into the air (most commonly seen in the New Super Mario Bros. series). In early Mario games such as Super Mario Bros., special, well-hidden areas known as Warp Zones contain pipes that allow players to skip several worlds (handfuls of levels) at once.[47] In the New Super Mario Bros. series, pipe-shaped Warp Cannons work similarly to the Warp Zones of the earlier games and are unlocked by finding secret exits in levels. Cannons appear in most of the 3D games in the series starting with Super Mario 64. Mario uses the cannon by jumping into the barrel, aiming himself and being fired at a distant target. This allows Mario to progress through a level or reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi has appeared as a mount to the player character in several Super Mario games since Super Mario World. In the sequel, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a tribe of Yoshis finds Mario and helps him to save Baby Luigi. In this game and Super Mario 64 DS, instead of the player merely riding on Yoshi's back, Yoshi is the player character. Yoshis generally have abilities including eating enemies, flying, and breathing fire. Miyamoto had originally wished for Mario to be able to ride a dinosaur in Super Mario Bros., but this wasn't possible due to the technical restraints of the system.

Games in the Super Mario series have had consistently strong sales. Super Mario Bros. is the second best-selling single video game (second to Wii Sports), with 40.23 million units sold. It is also the best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System game, with its two sequels, Super Mario Bros. 3 (18 million copies) and Super Mario Bros. 2 (10 million copies), ranking in second and third place respectively.[68] Super Mario World is the best-selling game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System console, selling 20 million copies. Super Mario World is also the seventh best-selling game of all time. Super Mario 64 sold the most copies for the Nintendo 64 (11 million), whereas Super Mario Sunshine is the second best-selling game (5.5 million) on the GameCube (second to Super Smash Bros. Melee). Super Mario Galaxy has sold 12.80 million units as of March 2020, which was the best-selling 3D game in the series until 2019, and is the ninth best-selling game for the Wii.[78] Its sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2 has 7.41 million units sold, placing in twelfth.[49] Super Mario Odyssey has 18.06 million units sold as of June 2020, making it the best-selling 3D game in the series to date, and among the best-selling games for the Nintendo Switch.[91] New Super Mario Bros. Wii has sold 30.30 million copies worldwide, the fourth best-selling game on the Wii, as well as one of the best-selling video games of all time.[78]

The Super Mario series also sold well on handheld consoles. Super Mario Land has sold 18.14 million copies, and is the fourth best-selling game for the Game Boy. Its sequel, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, sold 2.7 million copies, placing sixth. New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS sold 30.80 million units, making it the best-selling game for the console, and the best-selling portable entry.

For all console and handheld games that have not been bundled with a console, Super Mario Bros. 3 is the fourth best-selling game, whereas New Super Mario Bros. is fifth, Super Mario Land is eleventh, and Super Mario 64 is eighteenth.