Super Mushroom

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The Super Mushroom is a power-up from the Mario series of video games. It is, traditionally, about the size of "regular" Mario, and has a white stalk below a red and white (originally red and orange) spotted cap.

It debuted in Super Mario Bros. for the NES/Famicom, and the powers it grants the player lent itself to the game's title. (In Super Mario Bros. only, these mushrooms were called, "Magic Mushrooms".) It emerges from flashing blocks marked with a '?' when they are bumped from below (a convention carried over from Mario Bros., where bumping platforms was the main form of attack). Upon emerging, it then begins to slide to the right (this was later changed for Super Mario Bros. 3, where, depending on what side of the block was hit, the mushroom would head toward the opposite side.) If the player catches it, they become Super Mario: it doubles Mario's size and allows him to take an extra hit. It also allows him to gain better powers, such as Fire Mario (shoot bouncing fire balls). Furthermore, Super Mario can break bricks, whereas regular Mario can't.

In some Mario games, it heals Mario and friends, such as in Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi. In the Mario Kart series of racing games, it gives the player a short boost of speed. In Super Mario 64 DS, the Super Mushroom causes the player's character to grow immense and become virtually invincible, capable of plowing through many obstacles with ease, but the effect is only temporary. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, a player will grow immense after touching a Super Mushroom.

Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that this item was created by chance. The first sketches of Mario turned out to be too big, for which they were forced to shrink them. Then they thought it would be interesting to have Mario grow and shrink by eating a magic mushroom, just like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. [1] In the novel, Alice eats pieces of mushroom to change her size.

Image:Super mushroomizedSHORT.PNG Because the Mushroom is the most basic power-up, without which other powers can't be granted, it is occasionally used in the Mario series to denote basic rewards or easier skill levels. Winning three consecutive Mushroom cards from the slot-machine goal boxes at the end of each level in Super Mario Bros. 3 will earn the player two extra lives, whereas winning three consecutive Starman cards will earn them five. In Mario Kart games, the first (and easiest) tracks belong to the Mushroom Cup.

Other mushrooms

Image:Mushroommario3.jpg The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 (also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels) features Poison Mushrooms, which have the same effect as being touched by an enemy. It was originally a brown palette swap of the typically red Super Mushroom, but in enhanced remakes of the game, it was given a different sprite. The only games since The Lost Levels to have Poison Mushrooms as items are Super Mario Kart, Luigi's Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and some Mario Party games. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Poison Mushrooms bear a very close resemblance to Super Mushrooms, but are darker and have "angry" eyes. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Poison Mushrooms are known simply as "Poison Shrooms" and are small, green mushrooms (they have no eyes) with purple spots. They are made by having Zess T. mix you up a Slow Shroom and Inky sauce. In the Mario Party series, they are purple and limit the maximum roll on the dice block to 3 or 5, depending on the game and situation. In the original Mario Party, finding a Poison Mushroom caused a player to miss a turn.

The 1-up Mushroom featured in most of the Mario games is a green palette swap of the Super Mushroom, and gives the player an extra life. They are usually found in hidden places.

Golden Mushrooms in the Mario Party series let players hit 3 dice blocks in one turn. In the Mario Kart series, the Golden Mushroom gives the player an unlimited amount of boosts for a short time. It is usually only available to racers in low positions, or in the case of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! only to gamers playing as Toad and Toadette as it was their special item.

Reverse Mushrooms appear in Mario Party 3, and make players move backwards instead of forwards. Mushrooms with question marks on them appeared in the Battle Game in the Super Mario All Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3, and would make the two players either switch positions, or, if one player was big and one player was small, it would make them switch sizes.

In Mario Party 4 there are Mini Mushrooms that make anyone smaller. With this they can fit through small pipes, although you can only roll a dice block from 1-5. There were also Mega Mushrooms that made anyone bigger and allowed one to roll two dice blocks from 1-10 and steal 10 coins from anybody that he or she passes. However, the user is also forced to skip board events, like buying items or stars.