Super Mushroom

Not to be confused with Mushroom (Mario franchise), for Mushrooms in general, and Dash Mushrooms, a recurring item in the Mario Kart series.

Super Mushroom
Super Mario 3D World artwork
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Latest appearance	‎Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022)
Effect	Turns Small Mario into Super Mario (most appearances) Restores health (Yoshi's Safari, RPGs, and Luigi's Mansion for 3DS) Allows player to roll three Dice Blocks in one turn (Mario Party series) Turns Mario into Mega Mario (Super Mario 64 DS)

A Super Mushroom (also known as a Magic Mushroom, a Power Booster Mushroom, a Power-Up Mushroom, or simply a Mushroom) is a power-up item featured throughout the Mario franchise, with it first appearing in Super Mario Bros.. The function of a Super Mushroom varies between its appearances, although its purpose is mostly associated with the fact that touching one turns Mario or another character into their Super form, about twice the height. In the role-playing games, the Mushroom is a healing item.

It usually has a white stalk below a red and white-spotted cap, an appearance shared with regular Mushrooms and Dash Mushrooms, although in Super Mario Bros., the cap of a Super Mushroom is instead yellow with red spots. The Super Mushroom is around the size of Mario when he is not in his Small form.

Because the Super Mushroom is the usually most basic power-up, without which other powers such as the Fire Flower cannot be granted, the Super Mushroom often denotes basic rewards or easier skill levels.

Concept and creation

Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that the Super Mushroom was created by chance. The first sketches of Mario turned out to be too big, for which they were forced to shrink them. Then the development team thought it would be interesting to have Mario grow and shrink by eating a magic mushroom, just like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In the novel, Alice eats pieces of mushroom to change her size. This concept is explored further in New Super Mario Bros., with Mini Mushrooms that shrink Mario into an even smaller size than he usually starts out in, and Mega Mushrooms that turn Mario into a colossal giant.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros.

A sprite of a Magic Mushroom from the original Super Mario Bros. (left) and its Super Mario All-Stars remake (right)

In Super Mario Bros., they are named Magic Mushrooms, and emerge from a certain ? Block when Mario or Luigi jump from beneath it. Upon emerging, the Magic Mushroom begins to slide to the right and then on to the ground, continuing in the same direction until hitting an object causing it to begin traveling in the opposite direction or into a pit. Upon touching a Magic Mushroom, Mario or Luigi turn into their Super form, making them twice the height, and the player earns 1,000 points. If Mario or Luigi touch are in their Super or Fire form, any ? Block normally containing a Super Mushroom instead has a Fire Flower, and touching a Magic Mushroom has no effect aside from giving the player 1,000 points.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Magic Mushrooms act similarly as in Super Mario Bros.. However, Magic Mushrooms had their sprite redesigned to now depict a pair of eyes, something that they retain in all subsequent appearances, while still having the yellow cap with red spots like in Super Mario Bros.. The game introduces a variation of Magic Mushrooms, the Poison Mushroom, which has the opposite effect of damaging Mario or Luigi upon touching it.

Super Mario Bros. 3

A sprite of a Super Mushroom from the original Super Mario Bros. 3 (left) and its Super Mario All-Stars remake (right)

They return as an item in Super Mario Bros. 3, and have been renamed to Super Mushroom, a name they have retained since. Super Mushrooms are very similar in function to their appearances in earlier Super Mario series installments. Because more power-ups have been introduced, such as the Super Leaf and the Hammer Suit, only certain ? Blocks yield a Fire Flower while Mario or Luigi are in their Super form, whereas other certain ? Blocks contain one of the other power-up items. Unlike a Super Mushroom's earlier Super Mario appearances, the Super Mushroom travels the direction opposite of Mario or Luigi hitting the ? Block either left or right.

If a Mushroom card is won from three consecutive level goals, Mario or Luigi earn two extra lives.

The cap of a Super Mushroom has been recolored to white, although the spots are still red. In both the N-Mark Spade Panel and Spade Panel minigames, the cap is instead colored yellow.

Super Mario World

The Super Mushroom returns in Super Mario World. Since this game, the coloration of Super Mushrooms has been standardized to having a red mushroom cap with white spots.

Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mushrooms reappear in the Super Mario All-Stars remakes for Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros. 3, having the same role as in the original version of the respective games. The sprites for a Super Mushroom now have the same coloration as they did in Super Mario World, and the Super Mushroom sprites in the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels remakes have been made the same.

Super Mario 64 DS

In Super Mario 64 DS, they are named Mushrooms, which do not appear in the original version. Touching a mushroom causes Yoshi, Mario, Luigi, or Wario to grow into their Mega form for a short period of time, a function that would later be repurposed for the Mega Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros..

Super Smash Bros.

The Super Mushroom is also an item in the Super Smash Bros. series, in which touching one makes the character larger temporarily. For Mario characters, this is larger than their Super form in the Mario franchise. Given that the Mario characters do not take on their Small form in the Super Smash Bros. series, using the Super Mushroom is essentially an enlargement of their Super form.

Animal Crossing series

The Super Mushroom is a recurring furniture item throughout the Animal Crossing franchise.

In Animal Crossing, the Super Mushroom could be obtained from Tom Nook by inputting the secret code #SbaUIRmw#gwkYBh66qeLMscTY%2, revealed in the May 2003 issue of Nintendo Power. It has a yellow cap with red spots, like in Super Mario Bros..

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, the Super Mushroom was only available via DS Download Station for a limited time, shortly after the game's release. Like in Animal Crossing, the Super Mushroom reuses its design from Super Mario Bros..

Nintendogs series

In the Nintendogs series, the Super Mushroom is featured in the form of an item named Rubber Mushroom, an item under the Sports category. Like in earlier Animal Crossing games, the item depicts its appearance from Super Mario Bros..

Cameo appearances

The Super Mushroom also makes a cameo in World of Warcraft as a picture of a mushroom with a red and white cap and eye-like slits that represents some items.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	キノコ Kinoko スーパーキノコ Sūpā Kinoko パワーアップきのこ Pawāappu Kinoko	Mushroom Super Mushroom (officially romanized as "Super Kinoko") Power-up Mushroom
Chinese (simplified)	超级蘑菇 Chāojí Mógu	Super Mushroom
Chinese (traditional)	超級蘑菇 Chāojí Mógu	Super Mushroom
Dutch	Superpaddenstoel Super-Paddenstoel	Supermushroom Super-Mushroom
German	Superpilz Super-Pilz	Super Mushroom
Italian	Super fungo Fungo Magico (NES Super Mario Bros. instruction booklet) Fungo Superfungo	Super Mushroom Magic Mushroom Mushroom Supermushroom
Korean	슈퍼버섯 Syupeo Beoseot	Super Mushroom
Portuguese	Supercogumelo	Super Mushroom
Romanian	Ciupercuță (McDonald's Romania, Fall 2013 Happy Meal promotionMedia:McDonaldsRomania2013Banner.jpg)	Diminutive of ciupercă ("mushroom")
Russian	Супергриб Supergrib Гриб ускорения Grib uskoreniya	Super Mushroom Boost Mushroom
Spanish	Superchampiñón Súper Seta	Super Mushroom
Spanish (NOA)	Superchampi (some games) Súper Hongo (Super Mario World) Hongo (Super Mario Land 2)	Champi from champiñón ("mushroom")